Thursday, November 20, 2008

pondering personality

Before having children, I probably would have said that personality developed over time, based on how you were raised, your experiences, etc. Having Sarah cured me of that notion. Although parents certainly have a responsibility to mold and shape a child's personality and to develop their character and instill values and what not, the personality is pretty much there at birth! Sarah came into this world already being Sarah. And for those who say a fetus is not human, well, all I will say is this: she was already Sarah even in the womb.

I have shared before how Sarah is NOT a morning person, and she does NOT like having to get up early or engage in any sort of activity right at the start of her day. As I was looking at pictures of our new baby's ultrasound from last week (yes, I know we need to get those posted), I remembered a story that proves Sarah has always been this way.

Because of the health problems I was having with my pregnancy, I had a myriad of ultrasounds with Sarah. Toward the end, I was having at least one per doctor visit; the doctor wanted to ensure that my issues weren't negatively affecting Sarah. One of the last ultrasounds I had was a biophysical profile. There were certain things the technician needed Sarah to do, and then a score was given. This particular ultrasound was conducted at 8:00 a.m. No matter how the tech poked or prodded, Sarah would not do any of the things needed. She "failed" the profile, for lack of a better way to put it.

The doctor grew deeply concerned, as this could indicate that Sarah was having some sort of problem as a result of my own. He ordered another biophysical profile to be done the next day. If Sarah "failed" this one as well, he would induce labor.

However, the next ultrasound was scheduled later in the day. And this time, Sarah cooperated beautifully, doing absolutely everything the tech needed her to do. The tech concluded that the previous day, Sarah had simply not been awake or alert enough at that early hour to do the tasks successfully.

So even in utero, Sarah wasn't a morning person! ;) It will be interesting to see what kind of personality baby girl #2 possesses at birth--and even before!

3 comments:

Tara said...

How funny!! Cute story! :-)

Tana said...

That's fabulous! Throughout Sean's time in the womb, he was very acrobatic (still is), but if his dad put a hand on my belly to feel our growing son, Sean would instantly quiet. Sometimes it was the only way my tired muscles got any relief from being pounded! Our children are conceived with a complete and complex soul, definitely.

Carey said...

me too! I would have said the SAME things about personality... but the more time goes by, the more I realize just how little I have control of when it comes to "who" my kids are!