THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410130074
SECTION: HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
In July 1993, Debra Owen, art director at the Virginian-Pilot/Ledger-Star, decided to change her lifestyle - not go on a diet - to lose weight. Instead of dieting, she ate healthy, low-fat meals and exercised regularly.
She invited Hampton Roads Woman staff writer Debra Gordon to chronicle her journey.
But after 10 months and a loss of 64 pounds, Owen became pregnant. The story doesn't end, though. We've continued to follow her through her pregnancy as she maintains the healthy eating habits and exercise routine.
So far, it's working. In her sixth month of pregnancy, Owen has gained only eight pounds.
IT'S EARLY September, and we're at the diagnostic center in Chesapeake. Debra Owen, five months pregnant, her husband Keith and the inveterate reporter who is tracking every moment of this pregnancy.
Here for what we hope will be the definitive ultrasound - the one that shows the baby's sex. Oh, and of course we want to make sure the baby is healthy, has all its parts, etc., etc.
``The only thing that's 100 percent certain is the delivery,'' says the technician, Nancy Flader, dryly.
Up on the table. Cold jelly squeezed onto Debra's stomach. Flader moves the ultrasound wand, a thick instrument that looks like a rounded remote control, over her stomach, spreading the glop around.
And on the video screen appears a baby. It's definitely a baby. You can see the arms waving, the legs kicking.
``Can you tell yet what it is?'' asks Debra eagerly.
``I'm looking for the things that are supposed to be there, first,'' says Flader, pressing some buttons on the machine. She checks for two kidneys, two arms, two legs. Looks down at the feet to see if they're clubbed (which could indicate other problems), measures the width of the head.
``That's why the sex just isn't on my list,'' she says.
The baby weighs 11 ounces, and is right on schedule for the Jan. 26 due date, she tells Owen.
The essentials covered, she turns to explanations for the beaming parents.
``Here's an elbow, a leg here, a foot there.''
Suddenly, you can see the baby's face in profile, and it's sucking.
``Oh my goodness,'' says Debra with a catch in her voice. ``That's so great.''
A few more minutes, and the ultrasound is finished. ``I've seen everything I need to see,'' says Flader.
Everything except the sex.
So she probes a bit longer. Turns the wand this way and that, trying to get an angle that will let her see between the baby's legs.
She sees something. ``That could be a the tip of the penis there,'' she says, pointing at a tiny point on the screen.
``Yup, I definitely think it is,'' agrees Keith.
``Well, I may be creating that,'' cautions Flader. ``It could be a thumb.''
More twists with the wand.
``Oh, that looks like a scrotum.''
Then she makes her disclaimer: ``But there are no guarentees. I could be wrong.''
The Owens don't hear her. They are both grinning ear-to-ear, ecstatic at the thought of a brother for their 9-year-old daughter, of the boy for which they'd given up hope.
``I know it's a boy,'' says Debra confidently. ``It acts like a boy.'' MEMO: What do you want to know about Debra Owen and her pregnancy? Call the
Hampton Roads Woman voice mailbox at 446-2273 and press 3. Leave your
suggestions for future stories. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
GARY C. KNAPP
Brooke Owen, 9, bends an ear to feel her younger sibling kicking
inside her mother, Debra, who now is six months pregnant.
by CNB