Ultrasound Results: Turtles, Heartbeats, and the Whole Kit and Kaboodle.

Today was a huge day: ultrasound day. Finding out information that will affect us every single day for the rest of our lives.

Dan and I were both up by 4:30am, unable to sleep with nerves and excitement. For me, the creeping anxieties I've had - which are completely unfounded- that something may be wrong with the baby were laying heavy on my heart. We were just incredulous that by the end of the morning we would know so much more about this little baby we are halfway to meeting.

I showed up first for the appointment and promptly announced to the office staff that I was so nervous I felt like throwing up. They laughed very graciously and kindly pointed out the available wastebaskets should the need arise. Dan came a short time later and looked about as bad as I felt- I could see the anxiety seeping out of him. He, in particular, wanted this baby to be a boy so badly he had done all he could to prepare himself to be ready for whatever news came his way.

They finally called my name and we went in and I got comfortable on the table. "We want to know what sex the baby is and we have two girls already," we started right out with. "O-kay," said the tech. "We'll see what we can see."

She gets the first views of the baby and it's curled up in a little ball. I've never seen an ultrasound picture that looks like this: the baby actually looks like a little turtle, head almost touching it's knees. "Mmmm," the tech says. "It may be tough to see anything."

And I immediately feel like a total nimrod because I've told approximately HALF OF OUR ENTIRE COUNTY that we're finding out today.

But she starts with the head and I am thrilled that there is a brain, everything measures perfectly, and looks great. She checks out the face, nose and lips- all there, all beautiful and perfect- and the rest of the spine.

I start to breathe easier.

She gets to the heart and measures the heartrate. It comes back as 138. And that's when I knew it was a boy.

Michaela and Jenna never had heartrates below 155. Something in the 130's is a totally different animal to me.

"Well, if you're looking for a boy, that's a good sign... that's low and boys run low," the tech says.

"IT IS???????????" Dan practically shouts. Honestly. He was LOUD.

She moves down to look at the stomach, kidneys, legs, arms, bladder, and again, all measure perfectly. I am just waiting for her to find the kit and the kaboodle that will confirm that it is a boy. The baby thankfully changes position and all of a sudden she says, "Yup! Look! There's the scrotum!"

"REALLY????????!!!!?????" Dan says, practically on top of me looking for this glorious image of his son's kaboodle on the screen.

"OH MY GOD!" I say, with a huge smile on my face.

"Yup... that's a boy!" she says. "Let's look a little bit more... oh yes. Here it is: it's a penis. 100% positive. That's a boy in there."

"A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" says Dan.

"OH MY GOD!!!" says I, my brain so thrilled for him and us and our families and the millions and millions of little details going through my head.

Dan is kissing me and beaming.

The tech wraps things up, says that everything looks great and measures perfectly. We leave the office, stunned and happy and... well, just stunningly happy.

And that's when Dan, with an incredible amount of self-satisfied smugness, says to me:

"Well, my work here is done."

And I think I will laugh about that for the rest of my life.
A boy. Can you believe it? A BOY!! With the whole kit and kaboodle.

Signs of Spring.

After a long, cold, snowy, nauseous winter, nothing feels better than seeing signs of spring.

Here are the sights from around our house:

The forsythia is blooming.

I love how the early hosta growth looks like little soldiers standing at attention.

Michaela bought this little fan for school, which is roasting in our 88 degree mini-heat wave. She also wore it all through dinner last night.

The red maple leaves are also sprouting out.

Waiting for the bus this morning. Jenna's pretty decked out for preschool: pearl necklace and two bracelets.

We got this outfit for Jenna on Friday and she has insisted on wearing it almost every day since. She especially loves the shoes.

Of course Bitty Baby and her bag is never too far from Jenna. This is a retake of an earlier picture because "Bitty wasn't loo-ting at the tamera" in the first shot.

Happy Spring!!

Random Thoughts, Postscript.

I forgot to add two items to my previous post.

... Jenna is on Augmentin, an antibiotic, for a bad ear infection. I read the labels on the side of the bottle and one said, "WARNING: This medication may interfere with some forms of birth control." Hmmm... I better check with her and make sure no accidents happen, if you get my drift.

...I've read some really good books in the last month, and highly recommend the following:
- Lisey's Story by Stephen King: Remarkable, intimate portrait of a couple and secrets kept.
- Testimony by Anita Schreve: I love Anita Schreve and this is her newest. It's about a private school rocked by the discovery of a sextape involving a freshman girl and senior boys. The consequences for all are poignant and harrowing. I cried and cried while reading it. Sooo good.
- Run by Ann Pachett: Great family story of grown children, adoption, and discoveries.
-A Mercy by Toni Morrison: Not my favorite of Morrison's (my all time favorite book is her brilliant and incomparable Beloved) but an interesting little book. Tells the story of a slave girl given up by her mother in the 1600's New World. The last chapter is told from the mother's point of view and tells why she did what she did.
- The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller: Excellent, satisfying book about two marriages, one starting out and one coming to a long, hard ending and how they intersect. One couple copes with infidelity in sort of an interesting fashion.
Check them out and if you read any, let me know what you think.

Random Thoughts Edition.

Happy Monday! I have lots of little things to talk about today, but not one would fill a whole post, so I'm mushin' 'em all together. Here's what's been going on at the Libutti Household as of late:

... I am carrying this baby so high that I may choke on it. Perhaps when labor and delivery time comes, I can just clear my throat and cough it out. The last week has been one of explosive growth for my girth (what a great phrase- I'll be saying that to myself all day!). Most nights I am uncomfortable just because everything is so tight and trying to stretch. But I am feeling great overall. Ahhhh... second trimesters rock.

... Only three days until we find out the sex of the baby!!! No one seems to have a strong feeling either way, including me. I can't wait to find out. I am beside myself with excitement. The joy of finding out has been a great distraction from worrying that the baby may not be 100% healthy, which we have no indication that it is not. But I have come a long way in my anxiety and feel sort of prepared now to deal with whatever comes our way. The power of prayer!!

... Entering the second trimester, and feeling better and flooded with maternal-type nesting hormones, is like waking up from a 3-4 month nap. You wake up, look around, and say, "What the hell happened to my house? Why is everything such a mess? Why hasn't anything been DONE?" and you rip into fairly ridiculous projects, like cleaning out the laundry room. Next up: reorganizing our home office, which needs to be able to handle many, many more toys currently living in the girls' rooms. And at least now I have the energy to tackle some things.

... I did have to wimp out a bit and started grocery shopping on the weekends so Dan can help me carry the bags in and up the stairs. The last time I went, last Monday, I dreaded it all morning and then it took me honestly about three hours to recover from the lifting. It doesn't help that the girls want to come with me and during the school break, both Jenna and Michaela wanted me to push them in that ridiculously large car-type cart, so right off the bat I'm shoving at least 95 pounds around the store. By the time we were in the frozen food section, I was ready to pass out and I kicked Michaela out of the cart. It's just too much for me. So yesterday I went by myself and Dan helped me carry and I was able to lead a normal life for the rest of the day.

... We came awfully close to getting the minivan last week and then decided against it for now. We would take just too much of a loss on Dan's one year old car to be comfortable with the trade in. We'll re-evaluate after the baby is born and again in a few years. We did get the baby seat out- Jenna's old one! Such memories!- and put all three car seats in the back seat of the Pilot and they did indeed fit.

... Dan and I went to three Open Houses yesterday; one house we totally fell in love with. It was spacious and airy and a new kitchen and four bedrooms and great details throughout. Oh, and a HUGE patio surrounding an in ground pool. We could easily fit almost EVERYONE WE KNOW in the downstairs of the house for a party. But the upstairs needed lots of work and new bathrooms and new flooring and new doors and lots of painting and sprucing up. So, alas, we are staying in our own house for another week. Sometimes going to Open Houses makes you appreciate your own house even more.

... The girls have discovered the deliciousness of sherbet this week. And they are in love. Michaela, especially... she tried to weasel FOUR BOWLS of it out of me the other day. I told her three was way more than enough. She keeps saying, "But it's just SO DELICIOUS!!!" I giggle at her passion for certain foods. She and I are engaging in a long term battle over Ring Dings. I bought myself a box- which I never buy, ever- and have one maybe twice a week. And I don't let her have any. And she has writhed around on the floor, whining and moaning about the unfairness of my Ring Ding hoarding. Literally. On the floor. It's not FAIR!

... The other morning both girls were in their own room, getting dressed and both were singing nonsensical songs to themselves. They sounded so cute. I tried to grab my camera so I could record them both and post it but didn't get to it in time. They both do a lot of singing around the house.

... We are all enjoying this gorgeous, warm, sunny weather (except for my ankles, which have swollen in protest... soooo attractive). There is no time like spring and summer to be barefoot, pregnant and not working.
I've got the life of Riley and I'm loving every minute of it.
We are blessed!

Disney Flashback.

I don't think I shared with y'all the absolute screaming, crying fit Jenna had while waiting in line for the "It's A Small World" ride. I mean, how can you go to Disney and not ride the fun little boat and listen to that infernal song 396 times while watching the small animatronic dancing children? It's a classic slice of Americana.

It was our last day, Jenna was waaaay overtired, overstimulated and over-everything and totally not into the ride. She almost threw up because she worked herself up so good. We sort of forced her to go on it- because, really, it's just a gentle boat ride- and though she cried the whole time she did get over it. Eventually.

As we were disembarking, a very helpful "It's A Small World" Disney ride operator mistook her tears about being on the ride for tears about having to get off the ride and she offered us another go around, which we quickly declined.

So fast forward about two weeks. The other day, out of seemingly nowhere, Jenna says to me with a very high level of irritation in her voice, "Why do they tall it a SMALL WORLD??? It's not a SMALL WORLD!! It's a BID, BID WORLD!! Why do they tall it that???"

"I'm not sure," I answered as vaguely and lightly as possible.