Because most philosophies that frown on reproduction don't survive.

Thursday, February 02, 2017

Jolly Good Fellow

Yesterday I went down to the Pregnancy Resources Center in town because they were looking for volunteers past 14 weeks of pregnancy to help them learn their new ultrasound machine. I had a lovely long look at baby, and was told, "Definitely a boy."

Now this threw us all a bit, because we were all convinced we were having a girl -- just because that's happened so often before, and because of the literary antecedents of five daughters, etc. At least now we don't have to all stake our positions for our favorite girl names, but now we're back to square one because we didn't have a boy name in reserve. Also, I've never had two boys in a row, so hoo boy. I expect it's going to get hairy around here in a few years.

But the young man is already fine fellow. The guy was kicking and squirming, thrusting his legs straight out in exuberance or protest or just baby fidgets. The tech caught a clip of it on the monitor and replayed it so it looked like baby was dancing. "If you ever see those videos on Youtube where it looks like the baby is clapping to music, that's just me fooling around with this function," he said. Baby himself did no clapping, but he did push some hands around. At one point he had a hand up near his jaw. "Watch, I'll make him move," said the tech. He pushed down on the stomach, and baby immediately punched back. Also, he kicked the ultrasound wand.

Baby is in the pink of health, it seems. We saw the four chambered heart and the two halves of the brain, and the carotid artery and the three vessel umbilical cord and the epiglottis. There was his little empty stomach and his bony feet, and there was his little you-know floating around between his legs, large as life. It was a treat to see him.

I wish all of you could have the opportunity to see a live ultrasound. There's nothing like matching the sensations to what baby is actually doing -- although watching a newborn gives you a pretty good idea of the kind of fidgets babies have. And donate to your local pregnancy center! They do great work, and necessary work, giving mothers who might not have the opportunity otherwise the chance to see their babies in wonderful action. Donate newborn or preemie diapers. Almost no newborn ever, no matter how big, fits right into the size 1 diapers. Even if it's only for a few days until baby fills out, the smallest diaper sizes fit more snugly -- key for a period when a baby is going to be pooping black meconium, which stains like the deuce. Ask me how I know.


6 comments:

Jenny said...

Congratulations! I have to say--I'm tickled by how close some of our stats are: we found out a couple of weeks ago that this (baby #7) is also a boy--our second, too. And like you, we were sort of expecting a girl, I guess, (since we have 5 others)--but now it's on to boy names.

Anyway, congratulations again!

fillyjonk said...

It made me smile to read that.

Yay healthy baby! Yay all the baby parts developing! Yay for surprise!boy!

I don't have children myself but I got to see lots of ultrasound photos of my niece developing - her mom was an "older" first-time mother, so they were extra careful to make sure everything was going properly.

Mary said...

Congratulations! I'm sure his brothers were thrilled with this news!

Finicky Cat said...

Two boys in a row is a delight! They will be best of buddies.

You may already know about this...but on the subject of meconium, if you oil up baby's entire diaper area immediately after birth - organic coconut oil is great - and repeat after each diaper change for the first few days, the sticky poo wipes right off, easy-peasy. For my last few, I actually used coconut oil on their entire bodies and it also seemed to reduce the peeling skin between the toes and some of the other allergic-to-the-world irritations.

mrsdarwin said...

FC, to my surprise I've become a devotee of coconut oil for various applications -- not so much cooking, but as a moisturizer. Poor newborns, they have such a hard time adjusting to the outside world, with the peeling and the pimples and the cradle cap and the little ingrown hairs on the top of their heads... An extra layer of protection is a good thing. I'll try slathering baby up this time.

Agnes said...

Congratulations! I'm very happy for your healthy-looking and jolly baby! Praying for you both to go on in the same way!