Why do we even bother? (Photo by @nationalzoo)

It took two tries, but the National Zoo was able to coax female giant panda Mei Xiang out of her shelter today to submit to an ultrasound procedure to determine whether or not she is pregnant. Or possibly pseudopregnant. Because according to the zoo, the indicators for pregnancy and pseudopregnancy are very similar.

As the zoo’s veterinarians fed, shaved and scanned Mei Xiang, the publicity staff made good on their promise from yesterday to live-tweet the procedure. And a nation held its collective breath to see if Mei Xiang, who was subjected earlier this year to artificial insemination using frozen sperm samples collected from Tian Tian (remember, he’s a clueless breeder with flawed technique), is carrying a little sibling for Butterstick or if, as usual, the pandas are just messing with our heads.

Seriously, why expect a baby panda is on the way? The last five times Mei Xiang has been thought to be pregnant, she turned out to be pseudopregnant. The artificial insemination procedure in April came with only a 10 percent chance of success. And even though today’s ultrasound revealed uterine enlargement that suggests pregnancy (or pseudopregnancy), the zoo’s veterinarians said it’s still “too early to tell” if the insemination took hold.

Pandas. Why do we even put up with their nonsense? Anyway, here’s what it looked like on Twitter: