Surprise!

We had our first ultrasound on Saturday.  Shani has always been uneasy with ultrasounds based on research regarding heat production and cell destruction so we have forgone ultrasounds up until this point.  We  compromised to have one, but under the condition it would be later in our pregnancy (23 weeks), quick, and we wouldn't find out what we were having.  Our midwives referred us to a great place and they joined us for our ultrasound.  It was very quick (4 minutes!) and the tech knew exactly what he was doing.  As soon as he put the soundhead on it was right on the baby's profile.  The first comment from one of our midwives was "look at the nose."  We saw the head, spine, ribs, heart beating, etc.  For the most part Shani wasn't watching and John's eyes didn't leave the screen.  Don't we balance each other perfectly?!  Everything looked great as far as they could tell and that was great to hear.  Shani was concerned about the placenta position, but it was high and out of the way, so no concerns there.  When we finished they said they'd be out with the DVD of the ultrasound in a couple minutes. Shani said not to bother because she didn't want to see it again, but John on the otherhand, wanted it (can you say foreshadowing?).  Yes, we ended up getting it.

US picture of baby Mac

Afterward we headed to the baby store to look at car seats and cribs.  Shani had done her research on car seats and wanted John's help deciding color.  We then looked around at all the cribs.  There were so many to choose from.  We think we narrowed it down to a few different ones.  We'll still have to figure out the color and get it ordered.  John found a wooden train that he liked and decided he was going to buy it.  So after a couple hours there, we were ready to head home. 

Once we were home for a bit, Shani decided to watch the ultrasound DVD (this is why she didn't want to get it).  Shani noticed that there was a point when the US Tech scanned down towards the legs.  Although it was a quick flash, Shani thought she saw something.  She rewatched it and froze it for John to come see.  Yep, we were pretty sure she saw boy parts!  Shani was really upset that she watched it because she has always wanted the surprise of discovering the gender at birth.  She broke into tears with disappointment for ruining the surprise.  She however, couldn't pass up the joy in also knowing that we were having a little boy.  After some wonderful consoling from John, we decided to find out for sure if it was a boy so that we could be happy and embrace this wonderful news, instead of being sad for the rest of the pregnancy that the surprise was spoiled. We emailed the midwives for confirmation.  They said they were pretty sure and that nothing else is really in that area (the view we had is not the one commonly used for gender determination).  So there we have it, it's a boy.  Our midwife then wrote something sweet to help Shani with her disappointment from finding out early.  She reminded us that we had wanted to find out together, at home, and that is indeed what we did--just a little sooner than planned.  John on the other hand, could not be more excited!  He completely supported Shani in not wanting to find out the gender, but at the same time really wanted to know.  Now that we know, it all feels more real to John.  This could be one of the reasons it was meant to be that we found out when we did.  We later shared the news with our family that they should expect a nephew/grandson.  Everyone was overjoyed and excited about the news.  

So although our surprise came much earlier than we planned, God always has a way of making things work out how they should.  We will take this early surprise as a blessing and enjoy the next four months preparing for the birth of our son!