Sunday, February 24, 2008

It's a Girl!


Yessiree, there are no Y chromosomes in sight. We went in for the ultrasound last Friday. Everything looks normal: She has the right number of limbs, her heart has four chambers beating together, she has a spine, stomach, kidneys, etc. As far as the doctors can tell, she is perfectly healthy.

Actually, most of that information was an afterthought for me. I had no doubt that she was healthy, I just wanted to find out that she was a she. After I learned that, the health information was just a special bonus.

I found the whole process fascinating. I stood there staring at the screen with my mouth open, looking in wonder at the perfect little person growing inside my lovely wife. I'm surprised an orderly didn't need to come in after us and wipe drool off of the floor where I was standing.

The whole experience really drove home the idea that we are having a baby. Before the ultrasound, I believed my wife when she said we were having a baby, but the only evidence I had was Kate's thickening middle and strange behavior. Neither of those things really did it for me. It shouldn't be surprising though. Being a film major during my undergrad, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that seeing something on a screen would be much more understandable to me. I saw it on TV, ergo it must be true.

As you can see, here are a couple of the pictures. Now you see the real reason we set up this blog. Our child isn't even born yet, and we are plastering up pictures for all to see.

We'll get full motion video up once I get the VHS tape digitized. The medical industry is so slow with technology. I mean, come on, VHS? A paper printout? Can't I get a digital copy? Can't you email me the pictures? If we can clone sheep, why can't we get some digital imaging in the hands of the people who really need it?

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Goodbye and Hello

Blair and I have had a very busy and emotional month. On top of our (mostly my) insane school schedules, we fit in two weekend trips to Arizona to visit Blair's family. Unfortunately, the trips were not merely for pleasure. Blair's mom entered hospice care the third week of January so we went that weekend to be with her and the rest of the family. Her last request for her final days on earth was to be with family and "have fun" so we had a family party while everyone was there. She hung on to life until the morning of Tuesday, January 22. The following Saturday we found ourselves back in Arizona to celebrate and honor the life of Carolyn Larsen. It was a beautiful memorial service and we really enjoyed being together with Blair's family. While we will miss Carolyn and mourn her absence in our family's future, we are relieved that she no longer suffers from her physical ailments. 

The same day Blair's mom passed away, Blair and I went to the Dr. for our first prenatal visit. While we were there we heard our baby's heartbeat for the first time. We felt an interesting mix of emotions as we moved from saying goodbye to Blair's mom to hello to our little one. It really is possible to feel sadness and happiness at the same time. Blair's sister later suggested that mom left that morning so she could be with us in the afternoon when we heard the evidence of new life. Maybe she really was there. 

After this long and emotional month, we are moving on with good memories of Blair's mom and the hope of making good memories with our baby. Stay tuned and we'll let you know how things go.