ITS A ...

Well, we finally found out the sex of the baby last Friday! It felt like a long time to wait only to hear what I already knew. Damien and I are both excited to announce we will be having a son. A SON!!! I don't know what we're gonna do with a boy in this family, but I'm hoping we will be able to figure it out as we go. ;) Actually, I think I will be a good mom for a boy since I'm more of a get down and wrestle around than a prissy, shopping type of girl. And although I think it would have been nice for Damien to have a daddy's little girl, I think he will be a great example to this little boy I hope to raise to be a gentleman. Of course we would have been happy to hear either gender, we really are thrilled with the news we got. Not only did we find out that the baby is a boy, but also that he appears to be healthy. No clubbed feet or cleft pallet and everything is measuring normal. YAY!!!

The entire day was perfect! It started very quietly. No alarms were set. We were able to wake up when our bodies said it was time, not by the irritating buzzer that annoys you out of bed. We had some breakfast and got ready for the day. Damien and I picked up my grandma and met Mom, Naomi, Starr and Harmony at the doctor's office. The wait was short, then we all piled into the ultrasound room. I was excited to have Mary Ellen, a former coworker, do our ultrasound, but was disappointed when she was less than friendly to me and my family. I quickly put that out of my mind and focused on the little bun in my oven that was the reason we were there. I was a little nervous because I only wanted to hear good things about what Mary Ellen was seeing on the ultrasound screen with her searching, well trained eye. Luckily we got just that...good news all around! It was so amazing to be able to sneak a peek inside at one of life's most precious miracles in the making! We saw his little face. We saw his little feet. We saw his arms and fingers. We saw his growing brain. We saw his little belly. We saw his perfect spine. We saw his little leggies. We saw his strong, little heart beating valiantly. After Mary Ellen checked everything out, she made a video recording for us to keep. I wish she would have recorded it from the start of her searching, because the picture she got before making our tape was a lot more clear. But oh well, at least we have something. As we left, we were all happy about the news except for the two girls. They were hoping for a girl. Somehow, I think that once they get to meet this little baby boy they will forget all about wanting it to be a girl and love him just the same.

From there, we had a nice lunch at Mimi's Cafe. Grandma kept saying how, in the ultrasound, she couldn't really tell what a lot of it was but that it made her heart stop when she saw the little heart beating. She knew what that was right away. I am so glad she was able to come. This was the first ultrasound she has seen other than on tv. After lunch, Michael and Yvonne met us to pick up Grandma so she could rest at their place while we shopped for groceries for the celebratory dinner we would be having that night. During the time we were waiting to meet them, Damien and I reminded Grandma that she couldn't tell anyone the sex of the baby. She promised she wouldn't and even practiced a couple times saying that we "are having a healthy baby," just in case anyone tried to get it out of her. When Michael pulled into the parking stall next to ours, Damien, Grandma, and I got out of the car. I gave Michael a hug and introduced Damien to him. They shook hands then Grandma gave Michael a hug and giddily got into the car while she said, "How exciting! A great-grandson!"...So much for surprises!!!

Michael and Yvonne were nice enough to host the festivities, and Mom provided a delicious steak and baked potato dinner. There was a good turnout by most of the family and the ones who couldn't make it were missed! As each guest arrived, they were instructed NOT to speak to Grandma and to first put in their official predictions of the baby's gender, weight and length at birth, date and time of birth, hours in labor, size of my belly at delivery, name suggestions, and any advice they may have for Damien and me. After dinner, we snapped a few pictures of everyone with their predictions then put in the video of the ultrasound. It seemed everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting to see what the baby held between it's legs. There were oohs and aahs as we saw the head, body, arm, hand, leg, and feet. Then an eruption of cheers and applause arose when the revealing parts appeared and were labeled as BOY. All in all, it was a wonderful ending to a perfect day. Thanks to everyone that was able to come and share this special day with us!