Here Comes The Son...

There are certain decisions or events in your life, where you know disagreements and debates are inevitable. Like when you decide to get married, you know you're going to debate where to have the wedding, how many people to invite or what kind of tux she'll let you wear.

Same with getting pregnant. Having a child commits you to a lifetime of debates on everything from what the nursery theme should be, to what foods you should let them have, to how old they should be before taking over lawn mower duty. On that last one, I say the earlier the better, 8 years old sounds good.

Within a few days of confirming our pregnancy, Cristy asked me "Do you want to find out the sex of the baby?" Of course I did! If you know me, you know I can be pretty impatient when I want something, so there was no way I could wait until August to find out. So, without tipping my hand, because let's be honest, we were going to do whatever Cristy wanted to do, I shyly said, "Well, kind of, what about you?" "I kind of do to!", she said almost immediately.

First debate cleared without any bloodshed. It was probably the easiest thing we've ever agreed on. I can only assume the anticipation is getting to us both.

So on March 12th, 2010, I found out I was having a son (I assume Cristy heard about it as well, since she was in the room with us). I think we were both a little surprised, because up until that point, everyone around us was calling the baby a "she" or "her". I can honestly say, I didn't care either way and I don't believe Cristy did either. But it is a little satisfying to know we were able to carry on the Elrod name on the first try... so take that Henry VIII!

As for the appointment, this was my first time around an Ultrasound machine and I have to say, I was totally amazed by what they could do with it. This guy was measuring his legs, the size of his head, etc. I believe he even got his vertical leap and 40 time. And before you ask...yes, I have submitted all measurements to the NFL Combine for the 2031 draft.

Once we got in with the actual doctor and she looked over all the results, she told us everything was going really well. Although, according to the measurements, the due date shifted slightly to August 7th, though they typically go with the first date if it's within a week or so. The next morning we were up and at 'em and heading to Nashville to begin looking at cribs, crib sets, nursery ideas, etc. Clearly, the next battlefield has been prepared, not to mention the Battle of Baby Names!

Any suggestions...

Breaking News.....

Our baby is going to be a boy.

More info to come...

What...Me Worry?

Anytime you go through a pregnancy, you're going to have a certain level of worry and paranoia throughout the process. You worry about eating the right things, laying a certain way, making sure the temperature of the water is not to hot when you take a bath, etc. That last one created a nice little panic one day when Cristy called me hysterical at work because she read you shouldn't take hot baths. She was convinced she had melted poor little peanut, right there in his/her home. Subsequent checkups have showed a strong heartbeat, though we're afraid he/she will want to make out with Snooki/The Situation in a hot tub when it grows up.

Once we made it through the first trimester and heard a heartbeat, I was feeling pretty good. Our last check-up went great. Healthy heartbeat, weight is good, etc. Then the doctor asks if we want to do these blood tests. One that checks for Cystic Fibrosis and one that checks for Downs Syndrome. I was kind of caught off guard. Here I thought worry had taken a nice long vacation, only to find out it forgot it's wallet and decided to stick around for the party.

Turns out, they ASK if you want to do the tests, so you have the option to abort the pregnancy if one of the tests is positive. Let me digress for a second and tell you that my brother recently had a beautiful little daughter with Downs. Her name is Bella and I couldn't imagine not having her in our lives. She is so adorable and an absolute joy to spoil!

We made the decision to do the tests. Not because it would change our decision on having the baby, but so we could prepare in either case. We had to wait a couple weeks to do the tests, then wait a week or so for the results. In the meantime, I called my brother to get a feel for the process they went through, just to know what to look for. I like to have as much info as possible when I'm unsure of a situation. It definitely eased my mind, though there's really nothing we can do or would do based on the results.

The good news came late last week, when both tests came back negative. Obviously, the worry is not over. Shoot, we're not even half way through this thing! But, it was nice to get over one more hurdle and continue on this strange and wonderful journey.

We are now 19 weeks and on Friday, we'll go back to the doctor to find out the sex. We'll also find out if there is just one peanut in there or a reality show worth of peanuts. Regardless, let's home their shells are strong, so I don't have to worry about breaking them all the time.

Be sure to answer the poll question at the top of this blog. I left an option for "Other", just to see how many smart-asses read this.

Until next time...