Operation Boy or Girl

When I told Luke that we were going to have a baby, one of the very first things he asked (after "Are you sure?" and "Shouldn't you take another test?") was "When can we find out if it's a boy or a girl?" He seemed slightly shocked and dismayed when he heard it wouldn't be until August. I think he wanted me to take another test right then that showed up pink or blue.

Those of you who know Luke know that he likes to know what he's up against and make a plan of action. If it was a boy, Luke had a very clear plan of what he felt needed to be done. After all, he is a boy himself, the sibling who grew up in his home is a boy, and he works with (now, and in the Marine Corps) pretty much all boys.

A girl, however, is a different story. Girls, according to Luke, are...different. More complicated. Wonderful, admittedly, but they also bring with them more to worry about. Granted, at work Luke often sees young girls in distressing situations. These are the cases that are harder for him to let go of when he gets home, and they only add to his theory that a little girl might give him a heart attack, so it's really better for all of us to avoid that situation.

So, on Tuesday, when we headed to the doctor at 18 weeks and 2 days along, Luke was very ready to know what he was up against. Was it time to buy Where the Wild Things are and start brushing up on "important questions they are going to ask" like "Where does lightening come from?" and "Why do spiders have eight legs", or was it time to start two-a-days to become as physically intimidating as possible in preparation for giving the evil eye to the baby boys who might be looking at our baby girl while she was in the hospital nursery? I warned him the night before that, you know, it's possible the baby won't be in a good position and they won't be able to tell. He froze, gave my belly a warning look, and said "Oh, heck no. We aren't leaving without finding out."

After an interminably long 10 minute wait, our fantastic ultrasound tech, Nancy, called us back to the ultrasound room. As she carefully measured the vital organs and bones in our baby's body, we smiled and breathed a sigh of relief each time she said "Right on track!" or "Very healthy!" or "Measuring ahead" or "Looking great!" I have never, though, heard a sigh of relief like the one over my left shoulder when she said "And, wow, no doubt about it...anyone want to make a wild guess at what you're having? It's 100%, definitely a BOY!"

I laughed, cried one happy tear, and turned to see a look on my husband's face that can only be rivaled by the one I saw on our wedding day. His was grinning his wonderfully infectious grin and his whole face was just beaming. "A healthy baby boy!" he said, looking completely ecstatic and enamored. "I couldn't ask for anything more!" And then, after all that, he adds, "NOW we can have a baby girl! I just needed one on my team to help me out before she gets here."

So, our little boy, John Thomas Paiva ("Jack" to us), named for our wonderful dads, appears to be big and healthy, with an expected arrival in January! Let the boy preparations begin!