Girl or Boy?

Our 20 week ultrasound appointment was a landmark event in our pregnancy, as it is for most families. Finding out the baby's gender (for those who wish to know) is almost as exciting as learning you are pregnant. For weeks I've been carrying this little one and wondered which it would be, knowing that at the moment of conception gender was already decided.

I drank my monumental 32 0z. water bottle as instructed before my visit and waddled into the hospital with Brian -waddling because with a bladder near overflowing and having to wait to pee for over an hour a pregnant woman can hardly walk otherwise.

We didn't have long to wait and were soon ushered into radiology by a small, top-balding, bespectacled technician with a "regulation" mustache. We had been told not to talk to the technicians and not to ask what gender the baby was. Apparently the techs were getting bothered by talkative parents constantly asking, "What's that? So what does it mean? Is it a boy or girl? Is there anything wrong with it?" This man looked all seriousness and I tried my best to obey the rules, though "Constant Comment Kelly" had a bit of a time doing so.

We began the ultrasound and saw all sorts of things that we had faith were baby parts -mainly everything looked like a head. A good heart beat -wonderful! I thought I saw an ear -always good to see. Mainly our 40 minute up close and personal with the newest member of the family was a series of mysterious blobs and a smattering of "Ah! An arm! Look, the legs!" What was truly amazing to see was the profile from rump to crown which showed the developing spinal column.

And the news you've all been waiting for... Brian says as he was watching the screen, attempting to decipher what we were viewing, he thought he saw a "little package." After a minute the technician said, "It appears to be a boy," pointing out what Brian had spied earlier. No more fretting, the Patton line will continue! Folks, we're having a son!

We decided on a name awhile ago and are still leaving ourselves room to change our minds, but that being said I see no reason why not to share our choice. We plan on naming him Wilder Scott. And, like "Donavan Covey" and "Savannah" I have no other explanation for it than it just came to me. Perhaps influenced by the names Oscar Wilde, Sir Walter Scott (most likely), Laura Ingles Wilder, or even Joan Wilder (character from "Romancing the Stone") but on the whole there is no reasoning for the combination other than we love it!

The past weeks leading up to this day I was sure I would have plans from sunrise to sunset: A quiet breakfast at home, go to our appointment, a celebratory lunch out somewhere special, and of course buying the first baby outfit. Brian had to work a 24 shift starting Sunday and came home around 9:30am today, absolutely bushed as you'd expect. He laid down for a morning nap and I puttered around the house, walked the dogs and did a little business for Donavan Covey. I felt surprisingly calm when I had expected to be fluttering about, nearly bouncing off the walls with excitement. After our appointment we were both radiant. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant for a late lunch, came home, snuggled and now Brian's out like a light again. Baby shopping will come later this week, I am sure, but right now I am floating serenely on the news of our new little boy and the midway point of pregnancy.


Picture: Left profile of Wilder's face. Crown of his head on left moving up to the bump of his nose and mouth with his chin resting on his chest. Above in the background you can see a very faint outline of his raised left arm.