It's a BOY!!

This is so late, I know.  So much for starting a blog and thinking I was going to write in it like once a week.  Maybe I'll do better in the future!  I can only try...  But yes, Thursday the 24th of February we found out that little Peanut (who certainly is no "peanut" anymore!) is indeed a BOY!!  I would say we were thrilled, but of course we would have been thrilled either way.  But I guess there are different kinds of emotions that come with it either being a boy or a girl, so we just had lots of happy emotions about our little boy :).

I was so eager to get that ultrasound started, and Kelly, the nurse-midwife taking care of us for the ultrasound, was great with it, jokingly saying "So I shouldn't try to find the sex until after I've done all the measurements and everything, right?" after we came in there saying "WE WANT TO FIND OUT!!!"  She made the experience fun, and explained all the different measurements she was taking.  It was amazing all the different things you can see - she measured his brain, his heart, his blood flow and heart rate, and all kinds of other things I can't even really remember.  He was 12oz at that visit, which was a little big for being about 20 weeks along...  And the image was so clear, we could count all his fingers and toes right there on the screen!  He's a little contortionist too - his whole body was completely folded in half, with his knees up in his chest and his feet wrapped over his head.  But, after much searching, Kelly revealed this image:

That would definitely be little boy parts!  Before Kelly said anything Justin shouts, "Is that a BOY!!??"  And Kelly said, "I'd say so!  No mistaking that!"  For those of you wondering, this is a view looking right at his little butt, one leg stretched out and the other bent.  I don't think that's a finger!  Here's a little profile picture so you can see a little more than just his little boy junk :) :

We're naming him Harlee Dennis.  Here's why:  Dennis was definitely decided as the middle name, after Justin's late father, and after some thought and multiple disagreements on boy names, Justin suggested, "Let's pick something that starts with an H, so his initials would be 'HD' like Harley-Davidson!"  Oh boy, I thought, of course he wants to name the poor kid after our hobby...  And what H names are there that we like and/or haven't been used by someone we know?  Not many...  Until we both said, "Well, why not Harley?"  And it turns out we actually both liked it.  We tossed the thought around a little more, wondering if naming our kid after our pastime and our bike was really a good idea, but we really liked it and couldn't agree on anything else!  So Harley it was.  But then spelling was the next question.  I'm Jami, which is commonly spelled Jamie, and I kind of like having something different like that.  It's been frustrating at times, but all in all I really like having something a little unique about my name.  Then we got to thinking, Harlee would be kind of neat, and doesn't seem to lose its masculinity by being spelled differently, and then the light bulb went off - ending it in "lee" is perfect, because Justin's middle name is Lee!  And that was that, Harlee Dennis was decided and agreed upon :).

As for finding out the gender... I shared some thoughts in my last post and got some great comments from people on the subject, but I want to go into it a little more now that we DID find out.  I am SO GLAD we did!!!  I've been told I'm crazy, I'm ruining it, I'm spoiling the surprise, but these comments must be coming from people who haven't had the joy of experiencing it first hand.  My mom even said it's like knowing what your Christmas presents are before you get to open them.  I think now she would agree it's not quite like that :).  As one friend commented in my last post and many other friends have said and I agree, the surprise isn't just in the gender when he/she is born, it's in what the baby looks like, feels like, sounds like, even smells like!  And I know I can't even fathom what that experience will be like yet, as I haven't gotten there, but I'd say knowing the gender ahead of time will in no way ruin any surprises that await us.  Having him enter this world and then be in our arms for the very first time ever, holding him, feeling his energy, hearing his breath and his cries, that's where the surprise will lie.  Thinking of it that way, it doesn't seem like finding out the gender that day will even hold a candle to all those other elements.  Well, okay, maybe it would, but there are enough surprises going on that I don't think we're missing out :).

Also, as one of my good friends pointed out when I first got pregnant, you find out at the half-way point.  You're past the excitement of finding out you're pregnant and everyone's all buzzing and giddy with excitement for you, and you're too far from the excitement of the baby's birth, and when you're at that half-way point all the buzzing giddiness from everyone has pretty much died down, and life has returned to somewhat normal besides the anticipation of the birth date approaching, and here you are, the pregnant one, still trying to adjust to your new lifestyle - the extra weight load to carry that keeps getting bigger, the achy joints and muscles, fatigue, hormones still surging around (though not as bad as the first trimester, thank god!).  It's kind of nice to throw in an extra surprise right in the middle of all that, because I think we pregnant ladies need a bit of a pick-me-up!  I know I did!  Of course everyone's excited the whole 9 months, but having that buzzing, giddy energy back is indescribable.  And indeed, that energy picked up immediately as we told everyone our little BOY is still cookin and kickin away! ♥  It felt so good, it was so much fun!  And it wasn't days later that Justin's mom gave us the most ADORABLE little blue Harley-Davidson onesie set that included the outfit and all-matching blanket, bib, and best of all a little do-rag!!  Hehe!!  We've already got a little camo outfit from a friend, but that could have and would have gone either way for a boy or a girl (though it's definitely more fitting for a boy, so it's perfect!), and then my mom decided that while everyone's nurturing the hunter/biker boy, she's going to nurture his intellectual side, and got him a pair of little khaki pants, a little yellow & blue pinstriped collared onesie, and a little blue sweater vest!!  (So much for spoiling any surprises, huh Mom? ^_^)  Shortly thereafter came a little set of baby boy onesies from a friend, and another good friend got us a little onesie that says "Mommy's New Man" :-D  They all just keep getting cuter!  Okay, I digress, but what can I say, I'm excited about our little boy, and I'm so glad everyone else is too.  And yes, to the first friend I mentioned, this was a MUCH needed break in the monotony that pregnancy has fallen into, and I love all the new excitement buzzing about :).

Another thing too, is that I'm glad my instincts were right.  I had a slight feeling we'd be having a boy, but I didn't feel certain about it.  Needless to say the suspense was killing me!  It was exciting to find out I was right!  And then in response to another friend's comment last time, the bonding experience is on a new level.  Finding out we've got little Harlee Dennis cooking in there rather than just "Peanut" or "Baby P" just opened up a whole new world for me.  I felt so connected to him after that, and it felt so good to use his name when we talk to him.  It's such a warm fuzzy feeling when Justin kisses my belly in the morning and says "Bye, Harlee!" before he goes to work, and it's so fun to daydream about all the little hunting adventures they'll have, and all the things we can do with our little boy as a family.  But the bond is amazing.  It was growing little by little anyway as his flutters and kicks got stronger, but once we knew it was a boy that bond just shot up to new levels I didn't even know I could reach.  And I love that feeling.  I feel like I know when he's happy, or sleepy, or any other kinds of emotions a growing baby can have, and I feel so much stronger of a connection every time he kicks.  I love it.  Pregnancy is definitely on a whole new level now, that's for sure :)

I applaud those who wait til the end to find out, I don't know how you do it because I couldn't handle the suspense that long!  And nothing against waiting, either, my opinion is it's your baby, and it's your decision, and nobody should tell you what you should and shouldn't do.  We made the decision together to find out, and that was our decision alone, and I'm so glad we did :).  No matter what, you should always do what makes you feel good and happy!