It's a BOY!

Never doubt mother's intuition - it's a boy! Yesterday, we got our first sneak peak at a detailed ultrasound. We may not have been able to get him to sit still enough to take a profile picture, but he had no problem spreading his legs on the first try. James and I are so excited, and we can't wait to welcome Noah Jackson into the world this May. (Little explanation on the name - we both love Noah's faithfulness in the Bible, and Jackson is the town in Tennessee where my dad grew up and the town James claims as home - so his name is dear to our heart!)

We had to go back to Arlington for our final appointment there, so yay for another 3 hour drive. (I had to drive back and forth between Arlington and Austin twice last week - once to sign the contract on our house and another time to actually move!) But this one was well worth it - I was bouncing with excitement the entire ride.

At first, she began measuring Noah's head, brain, arms, legs, arms, etc., just to make sure that he was developmentally on track. Her measurements came back completely normal. Noah weighs about 8 oz. and is about 7.5 inches long now. He was moving around a lot, so he wasn't making it easy on our sweet ultrasound tech.

However, she had no problem getting him to spread his legs. Very quickly, she asked, "Do you want to know?" After my quick "YES!," she said. "It's a boy. No doubt about it."

I squealed. I've said this from the beginning - I would have been happy either way - I really would have been - but I am so excited to be able to give my parents their first grandson. (It's the first grandchild on James' side, so either one would have been just as exciting for them!) I watched in amazement and she went through in detail to show us as much as she could about our little boy. James, of course, is ecstatic too.

She never could get him to sit still long enough to get a profile shot. (As my loving father quickly says..."Payback!") However, we were able to get a shot of his face, which I can't scan yet since we are still unpacking...but I will tell you - this is the scariest ultrasound! Right now, Noah looks like cross between and alien and a skeleton...so I look forward to him filling out just a little bit! :) The only other thing she got a picture of was his foot...which was no surprise to me! I've been getting kicked for about a week and a half now!

His heartbeat was 158 bpm, and everything else looked good. We had an opportunity to pay for an additional test to check for Down's Syndrome, but we opted not to. After all, it doesn't matter. Noah is our son, and while we pray faithfully for a healthy baby boy, we will love him and raise him the same, no matter what.

Thank you for sharing in our excitement! I'll post the new pictures as soon as I can.