Yes, it is possible to have several ultrasounds without knowing the sex of the baby. It's also possible to decide you don't want to know the sex of the baby (which is also commonly determined by amnio... Although what
this amnio would look like is anybody's guess...), change your mind later, but find that the doctor, respecting your wishes, didn't record the gender.
Oh, and yes, surprise is nice.
I also don't like NK in general (big surprise there, right?
) and agree that it's quite possible that Zara and Ching didn't leave behind a communications device of any kind.
I do think, however that it might be nice if both things were addressed within the story itself. Just a line or two for each. Let us know that they did have ultrasounds before, but that they still don't know the sex of the baby. Let us know that they thought of NK but found it beyond their reach or mention that NK doesn't exist in this story or something like that. If you'd rather not mention NK at all, that's fine. Just realize that some readers may wonder about it. It's annoying and stupid and it makes no sense (on several counts), but it is in canon. Since you're dealing with post S4 Clark's knowledge of his heritage, it seems natural to me that it'd come up.
As for my other question, it's not a spoiler, it's more a question about the story itself. Actually, I now have a vague memory that we talked about this story over AIM months back, I asked you then, and you said "no." I'll email you later when I'm on the right comp and I can verify that I have the punctuation and everything right on your addy. (Sorry to be so vague. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it at all.)
Off to read Part 2.
Paul
