Part of the Wait is Over

So we're at the OB-GYN on Friday, where the wife is getting the ultra-sound which will help determine the gender of our baby. The technician asks if that is the plan, do we want to know the sex. We say yes. First, however, he has to go through a litany of measurements and photos, though I suspected he did all that just to keep us in suspense.

We did find out the baby is doing great, and the measurements are all normal for this point in time. We got to hear the heartbeat (which I used as a clue to the kid's gender) and I saw it fluttering away like it should. He showed us the kid's lips, making my wife think (to herself) that the technician was giving us the gender in a rather crude fashion! But alas, it was the mouth's lips...

Finally, after the battery of tests and measurements were completed, the technician blithely says, "Oh, right, you wanted to find out the sex." Again, I think he was secretly pulling our chain. After a few movements of the scope over my wife's belly, I could see the legs pretty clearly and realized we were starting to look up the kid's bum area. Then, even more clearly, I suddenly saw the writing on the wall, and shouted "That's a boy!" even before confirmation from the guy. He saw the same thing I did and agreed, then the wife saw it, too. The baby was on it's back (I guess) with his legs bent but spread wide open, and there was his little twig and berries, with the twig part practically standing at attention for us to take notice.

After we all saw what it was, we asked the tech to go back and see if he could get a picture for us, I guess for bragging rights. When he tried to get into the same position, we saw that the boy had clammed up and lost his bravado. We did end up with a photo, but not nearly as good as the first glimpse.

I think we were both pretty surprised at the outcome. A poll of our family and friends was about equal, but we both thought it might be a girl. When I heard the count for the baby's heartbeat (132) I had a good feeling it was a boy. Traditionally, or so we have read, boys have heartbeats up to 139, whereas girls are 140 or over. It was a lame clue, but hearing the number popped the idea into my head that we could be seeing a boy on the screen.

So far everyone is pleased, of course. Both of our fathers thought it was going to be a boy and they turned out to be right. I told my dad our family name would be carried forth proudly, which may be slightly important since I am pretty much the last/only hope of that happening naturally (besides a brother adopting, I mean). We were excited enough to make a quick trip to the Baby Gap and Gymboree sale racks! We found some cute things, and it just made the whole day's news end on a sweet, thrifty, and happy note.