Boy, Oh Boy!

What a wonderful weekend we had! Not only did we celebrate my wonderful husband's 30th Birthday, but we also learned that Baby Shepherd is definitely a baby BOY! We are so excited!

For Hunter's birthday, I wanted to surprise him with something special that he would always remember. Once I realized that I would be 17 weeks pregnant on his birthday, I knew that we should be able to find out if we were being blessed with a baby girl or a baby boy, and I knew that's how I wanted to surprise Hunter.

Several weeks ago, I called my doctor's office to see if they could work me in for an early "gender only " ultrasound. They offered to do it at my 16 week appointment, but I knew there was absolutely no way that I could keep that big of a secret for over a week. So I asked if we could just move my 16 week visit back a week, and do it when I was 17 weeks and 1 day. Thankfully, they agreed. I told Hunter that I had my 16 week appointment on Friday, but failed to share the slightly important detail that I also had an ultrasound scheduled. Hunter's mom knew my plan, and she offered to go with me to my appointment. I thought this would be a great way to convince Hunter that he didn't have to go with me. Not to mention, I would at least be able to share the news with someone else!

Last week seemed to be the L-O-N-G-E-S-T week of my life, waiting for THE appointment on Friday morning. It was SO hard to not talk about it to Hunter! I was literally losing sleep over it- I kept having dreams that I had either missed my appointment, or I would go on the wrong day, and I would wake up and not be able to go back to sleep. On Thursday night (the night before the appointment), I had the worst dream of all- I dreamed that during the ultrasound, the tech told me the baby had BOTH boy and girl parts! Talk about crazy pregnancy dreams!

So Friday morning finally arrived, and I was so nervous! Everyone kept telling me to make sure I had a "full bladder," and also encouraged me to drink some caffeine before the appointment (to ensure that Baby was fully awake and moving). I did consider having a cup of coffee, but once I realized how nervous/anxious I was, I figured that was probably the last thing that my nerves needed. So I settled for a bottle of water on my way to my appointment, and a glass of OJ right before they called me back, to give the baby a little sugar spike!

Because my mom couldn't be there, we planned to call her and have her on speaker phone when the ultrasound tech announced to us the news. I had heard that it can sometimes it can take a while to get "the shot," so I asked the tech to just let me know when I should call my mom. She put the wand thing on my tummy, and almost immediately said "Well, you can go ahead and make that call!" I was looking at the screen and saw what she saw when she said that, and realized that Baby Boy was ready and willing to give us everything we needed to see!

Just seeing that ultrasound, seeing those little arms and legs moving around, and seeing the side profile of that sweet baby's face, and hearing the heartbeat was enough to send me over the emotional edge once again. As if I hadn't cried enough already that week, I cried again. It was just almost too much to see that sweet miracle baby growing away in my tummy, and knowing that was OUR baby. We hadn't seen pictures of him since 8 weeks, when he look like a little blob inside of a little circle. It is just amazing to see how much he has grown, and how much he is moving, without me even knowing it!

Once our appointment was finished, I had to go to work, but to say that I was distracted that day is a complete understatement! It's so hard to keep such exciting news to yourself, much less from your husband! So finally the day ended, and I hurried around town to get everything I needed for the big surprise that night.

We planned to have Hunter's family birthday dinner around 6 or 6:30 that evening, even though his birthday wasn't until Sunday. I knew there was no way I would be able to hold that secret in any longer than I had to! Prior to dinner, we had some entertainment from sweet little Caroline. She has gotten so animated lately, and is so much fun to be around!

 After we finished dinner, it was finally present time for the birthday boy. I got those same jitters that I had before my appointment, and it was all I could do to act "normal."

I strategically arranged the gifts so that my gift was the last to be opened. It was a big box, filled with blue balloons to "reveal" my secret.

 He was confused, shocked, and excited at the same time! He didn't initially have the reaction that I had hoped for and I immediately started wondering, Is he mad at me for not telling him when I went? Is he mad that I told him in front of his family? Is he upset that we're having a boy instead of a girl? But he came around, and told me he was first confused because he couldn't figure out how I knew- he thought I was just messing with him. Then he was shocked that Baby Boy wasn't a girl, and then it hit him that this is real. We are really having a baby, and we are having a baby boy. Once he got over the initial shock, the excitement finally set in when he realized this meant he would have a little buddy to take to football games, fishing, golfing, and all the fun stuff that boys live for. So he is definitely excited, it just took him a few minutes to process everything!

 Then I pulled out the pictures for him to see the undeniable proof that no, this was not a joke!

 I will spare you with the exact proof that we have a baby boy on the way, but these are 2 of the sweet pictures we got from Friday.

This is a side profile of our little one, with his little knees bent on top of his tummy.

This is of his leg and little foot. Isn't it amazing how detailed this is?

We are so blessed, and so very, very excited about our little baby boy, and we absolute can NOT wait to meet him! As a disclaimer, of course we want him to continue to bake until he is fully developed and ready to come into the world. But that day can't get here fast enough!