Early on in my pregnancy, I had great anticipation for the day of my ultrasound. My excitement grew as the weeks turned to days and finally the great day marked in red marker on our family calendar had arrived. I could not wait to see that first picture, the tiny black and white shiny image that detailed every bone in my growing baby’s body. It was also, of course, the day that with any luck, we would find out if we were having a little boy or girl. My stomach fluttered with butterflies as I debated my outfit for the day, the pink pinstriped button up shirt with my favorite pregnancy jeans or the soft blue sweater. I tried to close my eyes and see which outfit I gravitated towards as if it was any indication of the sex of the baby that I was carrying.
Prior to my own first pregnancy, I can remember seeing ultrasound pictures of my friends’ unborn children. I would exclaim, “Ahhh,” in a sweet motherly tone but secretly I would be thinking that the picture was so skeletal, creepy almost. What did I know? I wasn’t a parent yet. I didn’t get it.
My excitement and nervousness increased as my name was called in the waiting room. I was escorted back and soon was comfortably positioned on the table, belly covered in cold gel. The instrument used to see the baby pressed and moved over his tiny form as he kicked and shifted to move away from it. My husband held my hand as we stared at the computer monitor, amazed at the images that appeared on the screen.
It is like a weight lifted off your shoulders when you are told that your baby looks healthy and perfect. After most of the measurements are taken, you are given the opportunity to find out the sex of your baby. But not all babies cooperate with this and I have spoken to at least a few tearful mothers that are forced to wait until birth to find out how they will decorate their baby’s room.
We were able to find out every time. Each time we were delivered the wonderful news that we were having a boy. We were ecstatic each time about having a boy but looking back, I wonder how parents feel if they are expecting one sex and told they were having another. It reminds me of that Drew Barrymore movie, “Riding in Cars With Boys.” She and here best friend get pregnant at the same time and plan their futures around their little girls growing up together and also being best friends. Only when Drew Barrymore’s character has her baby, they hand her a little boy. She looks back at the nurses in disbelief and hands him back. “I had a girl!” She exclaims. They disagree and hand her the baby back again. Her deadbeat husband smiles down at his newborn son and wife and there is suddenly loud crying, from both mother and child. As the movie continues, that little boy changes her world for the better.
Even the unexpected can be wonderful.