Floating

My sweet little Boy,

That's right, beautiful Baby, we found out today that you are FOR SURE a BOY!!! By the way, I'll warn you in advance that this is going to be a long post - lots and lots of updates :)

Your daddy and I have been so sure for so long that you were a boy, and we were right...and we're beyond excited, beyond thrilled to have been right.

The ultrasound was amazing.

The ultrasound technician was so sweet. She was personable, friendly, and genuinely excited for us.

First things first, she asked if we wanted to know the gender, and when we said, "Yes," she did that right away, so we wouldn't have to wait in suspense.

She got the right angle, looked at us, and just said, "Well, there you go!" It was so blatantly obvious that you're a boy that she didn't even feel the need to clarify. Your dad and I just looked at each other with this knowing smile. We had been right. You are were so obviously a boy.

Then, when the tech moved on to the measurements and such, she was such a sweetheart. She explained everything in great detail so we would know what she was looking at, what measurements she was taking, and what we were seeing. I know she wasn't technically supposed to tell us whether or not the measurements and everything looked good, but she did anyway, which I really appreciated.

The way she conducted the ultrasound, if I hadn't known any better, I would have thought that this was one of her first ultrasounds...not because she wasn't professional (she certainly was), but because she took such joy in performing the it...it was as though, even after 14 years of doing ultrasounds, she never lost that initial joy and excitement she had her first time. Which, in my humble opinion, makes for a great technician.

She kept commenting on how beautiful you were, how perfectly formed, how adorable. I felt like a proud Momma just sitting there having her admire you.

She especially kept commenting on what "a beautiful four-chamber heart" you have. So I guess we know you don't have any heart problems!

She also gave us about eight pictures of you - she just kept on snapping those photos!

And she really took her time. The ultrasound ended up taking about 50 minutes all together, and I really think she would have gone longer if she didn't have other people to see.

She never got annoyed with my questions, and just chatted and laughed and joked with us while she took all the measurements and such.

Point is, she was exactly what we were hoping for...especially after our not-so-nice tech experience last time. I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful experience this time. We really got to truly take in every beautiful moment of looking at your perfectly-forming little body.

But back to the main point.

As wonderful as it was to find out that you are a boy, and as much as I expected that outcome, it still feels so surreal. I cannot get over the fact that I have a SON. It really makes me feel like a mother. I finally feel like a mother. This is real. This is happening to me. No one can ever, ever take away from me the fact that I have a son. No matter what happens. You will always and forever be my little boy.

Probably the most amazing thing to me was that, at one point during the scan, she paused over your face for a few minutes, so we got to see you move. You kept opening and closing your mouth - almost like you were chewing something in there!

You are quite the squirmer, too; you kept moving around and changing position, which ended up being good, because the tech was able to get all of the measurements she needed. It is so hard to believe that you could be moving around inside of me as much as you are, and I can't feel it at all!

In the end, you're measuring about a week ahead of schedule, your heartbeat was in the 160s (I think it was 167, but your dad remembers it as 164), and you weigh about 10 ounces. You're definitely growing just as you should be!

Then, about an hour later, we had our next prenatal appointment, which was also wonderful. It was our first time at the birth center, and the midwife was awesome - so sweet and patient. She also really took her time to talk through everything with us and answer all of my questions. She confirmed, as well, that your ultrasound was perfect and that you and I are both looking super healthy.

We got to listen to your heartbeat there, too, and it was about 140, which would have worried me, since it was higher only an hour earlier, but the ultrasound tech mentioned to us during the ultrasound that your heartbeat would show up as slightly higher or lower depending on your position...so no worries!

While we were listening to your heartbeat, we kept hearing this weird static, which the midwife said was you moving around in there. It's so crazy we could actually hear you moving...and again, it's especially weird since I can't feel it at all yet!

Lastly, today I hit 140 pounds. I have never in my adult life weighed more than 135 or less than 130 - my body is actually really good at regulating my weight. But today, I hit 140. It feels like a milestone to me...a milestone that I am more than happy to embrace :)

In between the ultrasound and prenatal appointment, your dad and I did confirm your name, as well. We had chosen two boy names that we really liked, and we just needed to decide which one we were going to use for your first name and whether or not we wanted to use the other name as your middle name. But on the way to the prenatal appointment, I had to admit to your daddy that since the day that we narrowed it down to those two names, I have been referring to you in my head by one of them, and not the other. And he just said, "Okay." So, it's settled. Now we just need to decide if the other name will be your middle name, or if we are going to save it for the brother we hope to give you someday. We'll just see on that one. For now, I'm just happy to officially be able to call you by your name, especially now that my intuition was confirmed that you are a boy.

After all of these exciting events, your dad and I decided to head out and do a bit of registering. And it was so intimidating. There is so much to register for. There is so much to decide between. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there and didn't come even close to finishing the registry. We'll work on it, though, and hopefully finish it soon. But it was definitely fun to be able to look at specifically boy things, knowing that someday soon, we will have you, our precious son, in our arms.

It is so surreal to me to be able to refer to you with personal pronouns. We no longer have to talk about when "it" arrives or when "the baby" comes. We can say, "When he gets here," and even use your name when we talk about you together (of course, not with anyone else, since we're keeping your name a secret until you get here).

So, today has been quite the day: determining your gender, having our next appointment, deciding on your name for sure, registering.

What a wonderful, wonderful day.

I literally feel like I'm floating. I'm so thankful for you, Little One - so very blessed.

I love you, dear Son.

All My Heart,

Momma

ps...everyone else is so excited you're a little boy, too! And the midwife said I should for sure be feeling you by the time we have our next prenatal appointment, so I'm looking forward to getting to feel you move in the next couple weeks!!!

*Sonogram pictures to come when I finally figure out how to get them in the computer :)