Wednesday, January 7, 2015

January 6, 2015 - Find out if Nugget is a girl or a boy

I have to be honest: I've never been able to see a baby in a sonogram.  And more than that, I've usually faked surprise or understanding when handed one. To me, it normally looks like the lucky couple is having some kind of weather anomaly.  "Congrats on your high pressure system, looks like it has your eyes!"

All of that changed when I saw Nugget for the first time during our initial ultrasound appointment.  Maybe it was being in the room while the technician was sliding the scanner around.  Maybe it was some sort of parental connection to my unborn child.  Maybe I was so nervous and so hopped up on firing neurotransmitters that my eyes converted to 20/10 vision.  Whatever the reason, I was clearly able to see Nugget that first time, and it was astounding.  One second, the ultrasound screen was black. The next...BABY!

This happened back in November, which was too early to determine if Nugget was a girl or a boy.  It's amazing how fast things are happening inside of the womb, and how after a certain point it is full speed ahead.  I find myself checking back to thebump.com on an hourly basis to see if anything else has developed (we're into the "moving like crazy phase," so apparently Nugget is having a little dance party in there).

In regards to finding out the sex of the baby, we decided early on which way we would go.  I have known couples that decide to wait and see what they are having when the baby makes it's first appearance into the world.  It's a personal decision, and there is no wrong way to go with it.  I can see the appeal of having another incredible surprise...

...but that wasn't for us.  We were surprised enough already by the fact that there was a Nugget to begin with.  We didn't need to add anything more to that.  We had to know. (I pictured a scenario where we didn't find out but the technician put the answer in an envelope for us to open later.  I made it 2 seconds in that dream scenario before I ripped the envelope open. In real life, I probably wouldn't have made it 1 second).

So yesterday, we went back to the midwife's office to find out.

Elizabeth and I went in saying that we didn't care either way, as long as Nugget was healthy then we were happy with a boy or a girl.  The technician went through the motions of taking different measurements.  Again, most of these were a blur to me, and I felt like Nugget was either going to be a girl, a boy, or a typhoon.

Nugget was not very helpful in regards to showing gender.  The technician said that Nugget was either a very modest girl or a very typical boy.  Hands and feet kept blocking the area that we were most looking forward to seeing.  I was getting anxious.  Would we find out?  Would I know if it was a Luke or a Leia?  A Riker or a Troi?  A Leonardo or an April O'Neil? Damn it, Nugget, show us!

Finally, after Elizabeth got up and walked around a bit and tried to get Nugget to move, we saw it...




I'm having a son!

We are still going to refer to him as Nugget for the time being.  We have a list of names picked out, but we want to meet him first to see which one really fits.  The anxiety is still through the roof, but it is SUCH a relief to find out what we are having.



In addition:
Learned something else new today!  Elizabeth has been having trouble sleeping throughout the night.  We told the midwife this, and it's apparently a common problem during pregnancy.  The cure, the midwife said, was to have a snack before bed, preferably one with protein.

What happens is that during the night, your glucose level drops, causing your body to heat up and you to wake up.  Diabetics often figure out that they have diabetes because they keep waking up during the night and don't know why.  Having some Greek yogurt or a protein bar before bed helps keep the glucose level up throughout the night. This is also why a warm glass of milk is a prescription for sleep.  It's nothing to do with milk making you sleepy.  Instead, it's the protein in the milk that keeps your blood regulated.

And now I know...and knowing is half the battle...







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