The Big Reveal!!!

After a very very busy week at work, I took Friday afternoon off for our Level II ultrasound.  Immediately the Ultrasound Technician asked us if we wanted to know the gender and we told her yes, but not right now.  She had an envelope ready to put any gender pictures in and the result written down.  In order to make sure Baby Stafford was awake and wiggly, I chugged an entire Dr. Pepper in the parking lot before and it worked!  She began at the baby’s head measuring the circumference, looking at the brain, then the spinal cord and face for clef palate.  She looked at the heart and saw all four chambers, but Peanut was moving around too much to get the other measurements (oops-too much sugar and caffeine)!  She continued looking at the stomach, kidneys, bladder and umbilical cord.  They showed us the blood flow in and out of the umbilical cord, which was one of the coolest things I have seen.  The tech measured most of the bones and it looks like Baby Stafford will have Ben’s long legs and high arches. 

She then told us to look away while she determined the sex and luckily Peanut cooperated!  After she went back to the heart where we saw again the four chambers, valves and heard the heartbeat again.  This was the most clear sound we have heard so far…another perfect heartbeat at 146!  Then, it was Dr. Reddick’s turn to take a look and she did the checks all over again.  We got to watch our little one for 45 minutes, which flew by.  Dr. Reddick confirmed the gender and said they definitely got the shot they needed. 

We got some great pictures, especially the sweetest profile picture and pictures of the feet.  We were handed our secret envelope and sent our way with a perfectly little healthy baby…all that we could ask for! 

The rest of the afternoon we spent doing some errands before dinner at the Melting Pot for the Big Reveal.  I’m so glad we waited to find out over dinner with just the two of us.  We had some time to kill, so I took Ben’s for his first tour ever of Babies R Us.  Everything we saw there we gravitated towards Boy.  Finally it was time for our reservation.

We had a private booth in “Lover’s Lane” at the Melting Pot, put in drink orders.  Blackberry Sage Lemonade for me and a beer for Ben, then made our dinner orders and opened the envelope! 

It’s A BOY!  The tech had written us a sweet note Congratulating us on our son.  We toasted to our son, Tippett Jefferson Stafford and called our family and friends between courses.  Tipp will be named after Ben’s grandfather, Miller Tippett Marple and my dad and grandfather, Don Jefferson Senior and Junior.  It’s so special for us to honor three great men in our lives, and being my dad has four daughter’s we can pass down a piece of the family name.  The rest of our dinner and dessert was awesome as usual and we’re so glad we we made the big reveal so special.