Friday, 20 November 2009

A Little Boy

That's who is coming our way in April. We're beyond thrilled and have been making plans and looking at gorgeous boy-baby clothes since finding out yesterday. We also got some pretty rad ultrasound pics, which I'll scan and share once we unpack the proper equipment to do so. I know it's sort of the done thing to post a pic that clearly shows, in all of its leg-parting glory, that the baby is a boy or a girl. No offense to those that choose to do this, but I'm gonna pass on this tradition. If my son wants to publicly reveal himself, then that should be his decision- preferably made while on Spring Break in Daytona Beach, while helping an 80-year-old Jerry Springer judge a wet tee-shirt contest, and under the influence of several kamikaze shots. But for now, as his mama, I'm not going to post pictures of his boy-parts for all to oggle.
Anyway, back to the ultrasound. It went great! The little one looked healthy, and still measuring 4 days ahead, so right on target! He's still very relaxed and mellow, some might say lazy, but we prefer "laid back." When the scan began he was curled up and looked so comfy, with his head tucked down on his little chest and his legs curled up. The tech thought I might have to take a break and drink something to get him moving, but it worked out fine- she was able to get some initial measurements and then he started moving around a little bit more. I think the pressure from the little scanner-thingy (and yes, that is the technical term for the device) started to piss him off, which is why he started moving more.
The only thing that they found that gave any cause for concern was what they believe is a cyst on one of my ovaries. The only thing is that it's not the usual shape of a cyst. So a doctor was called in to have a look, but she didn't seem too concerned, she said the reason for the shape might be because it's collapsing and degrading. Some other doctors will take a look and if they feel the need to follow-up then they'll contact me, which would just probably mean another ultrasound. At any rate, it doesn't present any risk to the baby or to me, so nothing to be worried about!
Now a word on names, because people have been asking- yes we do have a name chosen for this child. We will not be revealing this name until the baby is born (cue "pregnant women are smug" video). I will tell you that the last name is Jones.

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

Living without internet is no fun...

How did we used to do it? Richard Branson sure took his sweet-ass time sending his pawns out here to hook us up...
Anyway, all is well and here we are settled into the new house. Well, by "settled" I mean we know where the kettle, peanut butter, and TV are, and have made a pretty valiant effort at unpacking the mountains of boxes (either that, or stuffing them into the spare-room wardrobe...). At any rate, we're comfortable and thrilled to be here, and proud as punch to be in an actual house rather than a flat.
I love that the baby also has an actual room- not that we've done much beyond placing inside of it a bag consisting of a stuffed lamb, 5 receiving blankets, and 3 items of unisex clothing- but stay tuned because it's our next project!
Speaking of the bambino, tomorrow we get to find out if it's a boy or a girl, barring any tragedies of the modest leg-crossing kind, which would result in perhaps the world's first in-utero time out (still figuring out the logistics of an in-utero time out, but trust me, I'm creative). But in all reality I'm much more excited then I'm letting on, because I fear that if I fully let the excitement wash over me then I will basically be paralyzed with it. No matter what, for the rest of our lives we will have either a son or a daughter, there's nothing that can or will change that fact- and the magnitude of that is immense. This is the last night of our lives that we won't have that knowledge, the last night that we'll have to say "him or her", the last night that we'll be without this tiny little window into the person our child will become. From tomorrow we'll be asking ourselves if she'll be a tomboy or a girly-girl, if he'll cheer for Wrexham like his Daddy or if he'll be Cardiff City boy?
I never completely believed people when they said they don't mind if their baby is a boy or a girl, but I totally get it now. I would love to have a daughter and have the experience of that bond, to read "Anne of Green Gables" and "Little House on the Prairie" with her, to plan sleepovers, and do arts and crafts projects involving lots and lots of glitter! But equally, I'd love to have a son. To see my husband racing around with our little boy, getting all excited over the dinosaurs in the museum, and to watch him grow into a smart, polite, and good man. Both dreams fill me with joy, I think because they are centred around a happy and healthy child, which in the end is all that we want.
To that end, I'm trying to remind myself that the reason for the ultrasound scan tomorrow is not so we can see our adorable baby and find out the sex, it's an actual medical procedure to check on the baby's general health and well-being, everything else is secondary, albeit exciting.
Look for an update some time tomorrow!