it's a......

BOY!!!

hmmm, "we are excited" just doesnt really cover the emotions of the visit to the doctor that we just had. to start with, jesse would NOT stop taking pictures from the car to the ultrasound table. i had to threaten to suspend him when he took a picture of the check-in desk. when we got settled in the room and got started, the technician pretty much found the important parts immediately. we were so surprised because we were nervous that they might not be able to tell the gender AT ALL today (because 16 weeks is the earliest to tell and i am exactly 16), so when she said after like 30 seconds, "do you want to know what youre having?" we freaked. when she said "boy" we both started crying and laughing hysterically.

we also saw the stomach, the bladder, both arms and legs, and some other random anatomy. and we found out that he weighs 6 ounces right now. so tiny! we will get the full health inspection on january 9th at our "serious" ultrasound. this one was just for funsies and gender-spotting. they gave us a a boy-themed prize pack including a little blue onesie with a bunch of baseballs, basketballs, soccer balls and footballs on it. talk about making it feel real. that onsie is TINY! and BLUE!

here is a little proof of what we're working with (picture him sitting on a glass table and taking the picture upwards. the bright white "stuff" between the little thighs is where the action is):

we also got a few more random shots. the 3D ones are kinda sucky because after he flashed us, he decided to squnch up into a little ball. it was adorable, so we didnt even care that we couldnt see more details. here is the best 3D one we got, just good details of the little arms and legs. the head was all blurry and tucked into his chin and partially obscured by the placenta.

and then we wanted this one too of his little leg. i dont think the label was necessary, even to the untrained eye, but there you have it.

Show me the baby!

So I'm really excited about the appointment that we have coming up in 5 days, mostly because I think this whole baby process is about to get very tangible finally. You see, for me thus far, this whole having a baby process has been largely theoretical up until now. Sure I believe we're having a baby, but I wasn't the one with morning sickness, or swollen body parts, or inexplicable weight gain, or the bladder of a squirrel. No, for me the changes have largely been related to running more errands, or dealing with bouts of pregnancy hormone attacks.

So like I said, I'm pretty pumped to see some arms and legs, to count some toes, to make some twig and berries jokes, and more than that to just actually begin dreaming about what this new human entering our lives is going to be like. You know, are we going to play tea party or cowboys and Indians? Am I building tree houses or doll houses? Am I saving up for a wedding or (if he follows after his dad and uncles) bail money? Do I need to worry about one penis, or ALL the penises in the world.

Scary.

But fun at the same time. I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep Sunday night. The coolest part will definitely be to settle on a name. I'm big on names and there will be more on this later so stay tuned.

-Jesse

the apple of our...uterus

today: the baby is as big as an apple right now. we had our 3rd prenatal visit (15 weeks) and got to hear the heartbeat and the baby's movements on the baby doppler machine. dr. cook told us that you can "hear" movement in there because the machine actually doesnt detect noise (its not like there is any noise really in the womb); instead it takes vibrations like the heartbeat or the baby wiggling around and translates them into noise. then, he let us put our hand over the speaker of the machine to retranslate the sound back into vibrations and kind of "feel" the heartbeat and the movements. so cool! everything is going well, i am feeling great finally and-bonus-i have only gained 4 pounds in the first trimester (yes!).

next up: the day that we have been waiting for for what seems like eternity: December 15. we are having the optional 3D ultrasound to find out the gender. we are beyond excited. i have no idea or premonition of what it is going to be. i have had exclusively "boy" dreams so far, but i also picture a little pink bundle plenty. we think we are hoping for a boy slightly more, but we can find tons of things to feel so excited and blessed about no matter what the sex of the baby. we are excited just to SEE the little fella/gal. the last time we saw anything was the 7 week ultrasound and it was pretty much all umblical cord, heartbeat, and blob (see below), so we are ecstatic to see something that looks like a human!

7 week ultrasound