Nov
23
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
by Leslie
“I don’t even have an inkling,” I lied to Dave. I didn’t even know I was lying. “I have no idea if this kid is a girl or a boy.”
“It’s a boy,” Julia told us.
“No,” Lucy argued. “It’s a girl. I want a girl for The Sister’s Club.”
“We’ll know soon enough,” Dave said, rubbing my belly. Then he shifted into drive and started off to the ultrasound appointment where we’d get a peek at our Caboose.
One hundred and six minutes later, our whole crew was sitting in the dark and staring at a big screen. Julia and Lucy sat on either side of my mom against the wall. Phoebe sat on Dave’s lap near my head, with a gorilla grip on my shoulder. Occasionally, she’d touch my cheek and murmur, “Mama?” so I’d look at her and she could tell that I was okay. She wasn’t so sure about what they were doing to my belly.
“Look, Bee.” I pointed to the screen. “Do you see the baby?”
“Baby?”
“Mmm-hmmm. The baby in mommy’s belly.”
“Look! A bubble! Baby in dere!”
We listened to the baby’s heartbeat and Julia and Lucy asked a ton of questions. The ultrasound technician was wonderful – she answered them all and took her time pointing things out – the four chambers of the heart, the stomach, the bladder, the cord insert, arms and legs.
She measured the baby’s belly, head, and leg from hip to knee. And finally, Julia asked the big question: “So, is it a boy or a girl?”
The baby didn’t want to tell us right away. (In fact, the baby was keeping a lot from us. I have to go back for a follow up ultrasound so they can check out all that they couldn’t see this time around.)
After a bit more looking, a second ultrasound technician came in and said, “I’m going to help finish things up here. Are we finding out the sex?”
“Yes!” We all shouted in unison.
“Okay then, let’s see what we have.”
She moved the transducer all over my belly, but regardless of the view, a little hand was in the way. “Come on, baby. Let’s see what you got,” she said as she poked and pressed on my belly, stirring up some movement. “And there,” she froze the image on the screen and pointed. “Alright. Here’s a leg, here’s a leg, and what’s that in the middle?”
Lucy jumped up, “It’s a girl!?!”
“No…” Then the ultrasound tech punched a button on the machine and the words it’s a boy!! appeared on the screen.
Julia raised her arms over her head and whooped, “Woohoooo!”
Lucy screamed, “NOOOOOO!”
“A boy? You’re sure?” I asked.
“Absolutely.”
“You’re 100% certain? It’s a boy.”
“You’ve got a son. Are you surprised?”
It wasn’t until that moment that I realized I had really expected this child to be a girl. Expected isn’t even the right word. Believed. I believed this baby was a girl. I mean, we have three girls. What are the chances?
I’m not disappointed. (Lucy isn’t either. She’s actually pretty excited about having a brother. She just wasn’t exited about guessing wrong. She was even less excited that Julia was right.) I’m feeling a little surprised. And scared. I’ve got a man to raise, people. I don’t know anything about doing that.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” my mom tried to reassure me. “He’ll be a baby first. You know about babies. Just start there.”
So here we are, my beautiful baby boy, Jackson.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
Comments
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Tears of joy! So exciting!
Yay!! So happy for you guys.
Oh, a BOY! A BOY!
I completely believed (without realizing I believed it) that my firstborn was a girl. I remember that shock of adjustment.
I was sure my caboose was a girl and after being right about the first two I was especially sure. And totally wrong. Boys are wonderful. Different, but wonderful.
I am so excited for you guys! Congratulations.
Congratulations! It is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful indeed!
I remember when we found out our bundle was a boy. What a sight my husband was with his 3 girls and wife. The tech offered to tell us what we were having and I am sure it was because he thought my husband needed to know he was getting some testosterone in the house (even our cat is a girl)
He jokingly figured if the baby was another girl he was going to a) grow some ovaries b) start sitting to pee…..
P.S. Can I get your address pl n ty
P.P.S Every ultrasound I had after the 1st one I always asked if baby was still a boy? Was still shocked I suppose
Sorry for all the comments lol
Congrats!! What a lucky boy, he is going to have lots of loving little mommies to help take care of him!
We knew it! Yay! I’ll start saving all the twins’ clothes now for hand-me-downs. Oh my….boys are so different. You’re going to wonder if you gave birth to an alien! I wish I had kept all their baby clothes, but I gave them to Journey’s End. Woohoo…I’m so excited for you.
Congratulations to everyone!! Can’t wait to meet Kelsey’s beau… :p
Is it weird that I got teary reading this!? I’ve been following your blog for 5 years, so I’ve read all about your amazing girls. You are a wonderful Mommy to your girls and I KNOW you’ll be a terrific Mommy to your boy too! Raising boys is definitely a beautiful thing. Congratulations from the bottom of my heart!
Congratulations!! So happy for you and your family. Also the mother of 3 girls and 1 boy…he is the best! You’ll be a wonderful mother to your son and looking forward to his arrival.
Congratulations! I have to say I am shocked it’s a boy, but ecstatic for you all!!
Hope to see you soon!
I’m crying. That is beautiful.
I’m catching up after a crazy November.
Tears! A boy. That’s brilliant. Boys are crazy and wonderful and amazing. Much like girls
Better late than never, but here I am to comment on the Grimmett boy. Congratulations and you will do great raising a boy. Piece of cake. ;P
Congratulations!!
somehow I also expected it to be a girl. Funny