Pink or Blue?

Every year for Thanksgiving we travel to Tennessee to hang with the Ragland clan. It was a particularly long travel this year, 15 hours in the car with a pregnant woman who has to pee every 30 minutes. They say that little side effect goes away in the second trimester, but they lie. It was so nice to be able to relax and not worry about anything, with my only task being to eat.  I love eating. 
My stomach had been flat until the day we left Tennessee, finally deciding to pop out at 17 weeks on the dot. Still not looking pregnant, but happy to know my tummy will only get bigger now. It's like a reminder, Hey I'm in here.
The day after we arrived back in Oklahoma, I had my next appointment. The Doc had told me he wanted to check the organ development of the baby this visit, so when I got there I had high hopes of finding that little organ that would tell me if I was going to be buying blue things or pink things. Once I sat down on the exam table, he let me hear the heartbeat again. Still the most amazing sound I've ever heard. But after that, he said my ultrasound wasn't going to be for another 2 weeks. I asked if he thought it was because I wasn't far enough along and he said not at all, but the 'big' ultrasounds they do at the hospital and not his office, and in a small town booking an ultrasound appointment takes a couple weeks. (lots of preggo ladies, not a lot of appointments) So I left, blatantly disappointed.

Then I remembered a few weeks ago having some nurses come and give a briefing on base. They each talked about locations in the city who would give ultrasounds to determine the sex of the baby, also 4d ultrasounds. They each had went there, even working at the hospital it was hard to get an appointment. So I called the Doc and he recommended a place in the city, called Stork Vision, run by doctors and nurses. He could tell I was bummed out and encouraged me to make the call. He said it wasn't uncommon to be impatient when it comes to bonding with your child. They had ONE appointment left the next day.

With Taylor working from 5-5, and the appointments at the hospital and Stork Vision being M-F, we both knew either way, he wasn't going to make the gender ultrasound. My hubby isn't the emotional type, so he was fine with me finding out without him. Luckily, I am also not the emotional type, and I had no problem making the drive to find out the big news alone. So I drove up to...

..my heart beating out of my chest. I told myself if they told me it was a girl, I was going to wait until my hospital ultrasound to confirm. Because they say it could still be a boy, with the goods tucked underneath him. However, confirming a boy is a lot easier. His  goods would be showing from all directions.

So I walked inside and it was extremely glamorous. Like a baby palace. My sonogram room had velvet couches, a chandelier, thick carpets, a huge flat screen. I was impressed. Then the next minute my little nugget was on the flat screen. This is so much cooler than a hospital ultrasound. The nurse probed my tummy and I got to watch the little one squirm around until finally she paused it, pointed to a little part and said..."You're having...a little boy."  Again, I'm not the emotional type, but hearing those five words took my breath away. She explained to me the image, and also showed where the umbilical cord was, to assure me she was not mistaking the parts. Then she showed me how they were apparent from every angle. Yep, definitely 100% a boy.  

I couldn't stop smiling. When I left, they gave me a DVD of my entire ultrasound, so Taylor could watch the whole thing too. So I zipped over to Target, might as well while I'm in the city, just to buy something real and tangible, that I could hold and know my son would be wearing it one day. I landed on this...

Perfect, since his Daddy is a pilot. As I was driving home, my husband called and I told him yes, I found out. I said but would you rather wait till I come home? Absolutely not, he says. So I told him I was carrying our son. WHAT! Taylor had been convinced we were having a girl since the beginning. I however, felt opposite. Needless to say he was over the moon. For those of you who know Taylor, I am expecting our little boy to be identical in attitude. Scraped knees, giving his mother a heart attack jumping off things twice his height, more scraped things, lots of band aids. I deal with these things from my 24 year old husband, so I am fully prepared.


So now, I am just waiting for these last five months to fly by. Now that I picture my son every moment I am awake (and when I'm fortunate, when I'm dreaming), I cannot wait to meet him. Hold him and snuggle him and smell him.

Now, I get to start the fun part of designing his nursery and buying boy things..