Survey Says...

Loyal blog-checker-inners may have noticed that the poll on the right has closed a bit earlier than originally anticipated...

This is because we got a nice surprise at our doctor's appointment on Friday when we went in for our routine monthly check-up. After conning our doctor into putting us on the sonogram schedule (I said I was concerned about the fibroid the technician detected at my last sonogram...which is mostly true) so that Sean could experience a live ultrasound, we got an unorthodox 15-week scan that-- lo and behold!-- left no question as to the sex of our baby, even five weeks before we expected to find out. We're having a boy!

The second to last scan at the left is an image of the baby as though he's sitting on the camera. His bottom is to the lower right, his left foot is top center--what a perfect little foot!!-- and you 

can make out his right thigh bone and right heel parallel to it. You will notice an unmistakable "object" between his two little legs.

I haven't determined what, if any, the prize will be for those who guessed correctly. You might all just have to be content with one "nah-nah-na-nooney, I told you so" aimed directly at me, who (despite all those tales of motherly instinct and the like), really thought it was going to be a girl.

Sean's reaction to the experience of the sonogram was very similar to mine at that first one three weeks ago. Although I spent countless hours trying to describe in full detail my surprise at just how active the baby was and the surreal-ness of seeing the baby wriggle and squirm like a real, live little person on the screen, Sean was nevertheless completely blown away at the sight of his son. He could hardly keep it together. It's so amazing  to have the images from two scans just weeks apart--they show just how rapidly the baby is  growing! In the last scan, his head was about 1/2 the length of his body, and in this scan, he is already much more proportionate. We could see his heart beating and his arms and legs moving, but he wasn't quite as hopped-up and hyper as he was a couple weeks ago when he was literally bouncing off the walls. In fact, it almost seemed like he was napping, and he seems to like to keep his arms up near his face so that when they're long enough, they'll reach over his head, which is, incidentally, the way I sleep. Like mother, like son.

Another fantastic surprise is that our doctor's office has the ability to do 3D ultrasounds! This was totally unexpected, and even though I've been pouring over the book our neighbors gave us that has 3D scans of babies on each day of gestation, it was a totally amazing experience to see our own baby in three dimensions. The first two scans (actually the last two pictures taken) are the 3D images.

Now Sean and I are getting used to the idea of having a son. It's so strange to know! We have our next appointment in two weeks for another series of tests, and then another routine visit with the 19-week scan a few weeks later. So far, he looks totally healthy and "normal," and pretty darned handsome in these pictures...but then, I'm biased.