Of Sonograms and Fathers

Hi. Yesterday we had our first sonogram ever. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen and I would highly recommend it to any expecting parents, especially for the fathers. Ever since my son was conceived I've always believed that, more or less, the father of an unborne child really isn't emotionally a father until the child is born. That was my experience, and even until a few weeks after Kent was born, I didn't feel like a father. As a father, when your child begins to look at you and smile and show signs of recognition for the first time, you begin to realize the emotional connection. Now I believe that mommies, on the other hand, experience this connection the first time they fell the baby move inside. There is always a more intimate connection due to the fact the the living child's presence is felt by his mother. I think I may have changed my philosophy yesterday, because seeing the baby on the screen of the sonogram machine, hearing her heart beat, and even actually seeing the heart pumping, has irrevocably tied my heart to that child. She is now mine as much as Kent and Katy are, and I will do anything to protect and provide for her just as I would for Kent and Katy. It would be impossible for me to effectively express the magnitude of the change in my attitude toward the newest member of our family.

I have heard that there is legislation on the books somewhere that will require all mothers that seek an abortion to have a sonogram prior to the "operation." After having experienced the emotional effect of a sonogram for the first time, I think that this law is an excellent idea. I also believe that if a sonogram can have this kind of effect on a father (even an engineer!), how much more will it affect the child's mother? Give the child a chance to plead for himself to the one "judge" on this earth who would be most likely to grant a stay of execution. His mother.