Boy oh Boy!!!!

It's a boy....and boy was he all too ready to show us who he was!

What an amazing day this has been! We started the day with our 20 week ultrasound appointment at John Muir in Walnut Creek. I must say, the doctors and ultrasound techs there are the kindest, most professional, wonderful folks ever! We have been so impressed with them every time we have been there. The tech began the ultrasound, and talked us through every step. Immediately, we could see the baby's back and spinal cord, looking incredibly human and adorable. The tech took a close look at every part of Tucker, showing us the brain, every chamber of the heart, the bladder, the lenses of the eyes, the nose and lips, and so on. Then Tucker gave us a little wave, and we could see each little finger. Somehow, we got on the subject of Eagles football and the Super Bowl (ahem....Sean?!) and it turns out that the tech's husband was from Voorhees, NJ (one town over from where Sean grew up!)and they had lived in Mt. Holly. Soon we (they?) were talking at length about the Eagles, Route 38, and WaWa. Umm....hello, people? I'm up on the table here, with my belly covered in ultrasound goop, and we're getting a birds-eye view of our child's insides, and you're talking about the Super Bowl?? And then it hit me....yep, we must be having a boy! Then little Tucker's hand floated up, and gave Dad a "thumbs up"....go Eagles!
And then....the tech said to us "Here's baby's butt...." and we said "uh-huh" and she slowly turned her head and looked at us, with a questioning smile. "And here's the baby's legs...and what's this, right here?" It was amazing, she let US say "It's a boy"! And it sure was! There was our son, legs spread wide open as if to say "There's no mistakin' this folks....I am all boy!". Or as Sean lovingly said, "He was in the "kiss my ass" position"! Some babies need some time to uncross their legs in the ultrasound. Some are a little shy, and squirm away. Not our son! In fact, when the doctor came in to verify everything that the tech had done, he said to us "Do you know what you're having?" "Yes, I think" I replied, just to test him. "What do you think?" I asked. "I don't think, I KNOW" he laughed. "You are definitely having a boy!" The doctor went on to tell us that our little guy looked great....very healthy....the tech even said that all of the health checks looked "fabulous". Our son, OUR SON, is thriving and doing well, moving around and getting comfortable for the home stretch. Ultrasound pictures will make their debut later today...

After the appointment we were on Cloud 9. After many hugs and smiles of shock and joy in the doctor's office, we walked out in to a beautiful summer day (in January!) We sat in the courtyard, hugged some more, and jumped on our cell phones to share the great news with everyone. I think that the construction workers nearby were trying to piece together why we were both standing there, screaming into separate cell phones, saying things like "and then, there was his penis, for all to see!"

We had some lunch, and then took a long walk in downtown Walnut Creek. We continued to chat with family and friends, and got some wonderful congratulatory calls and texts. To add to the celebratory mood, I even found not one, but two pairs of maternity jeans at A Pea In the Pod. Our little boy needs to have a stylin' mama....more on that later!

Then we went to Dublin to do a little research on a fun (huge) surprise that I won't talk about on this blog just yet. For those of you who think you know what it could be....yes, you do.

After that, we headed over to Susie and Matt's to share the great news with them over dinner. And guess what folks, SUSIE AND MATT ARE HAVING A BOY TOO!!!!!! A few choruses of "It's Raining Men" later, we were off to Stacy's restaurant for some food....I mean, we do have growing boys to feed! We had some great laughs about what the rest of our lives would look like, offended everyone in the restaurant with some (loudly shared) hypotheses (from the dads) about just how one goes about "making" sons, and then when the Dads were well into their umpteenth cocktail and high-five about how they could now store their sports memorabilia in the nursery....we headed home.

What an amazing day, and what a wonderful milestone in this incredible journey. Sean and I will be the parents of a son. A little boy. We'll have afternoons racing through the park, and weekends spent at Little League games. We'll have cute little tees and sneakers, and first bikes with training wheels. Sean will have a little buddy to watch the game with, and our child will grow up having a best friend who was born at nearly the same time that he was.

The dreams that we have imagined for so long are finally starting to take shape. Welcome to our family, little guy.