Today was a big day. We had been looking forward to (and nervous about ) this day for quite some time. Today was our 20 week ultrasound. This was the big one where they took measurements, took pictures and (if desired) told you what the gender of the baby was. Missy and I wanted to find out (much to the disappointment of many) what the gender would be. Our reasons were completely selfish. We wanted to make our job of picking a name 50% easier. We also wanted to know how to shop and register. And most importantly, I wanted to prepare myself to see which sport I would become a fan of - baseball or softball.

Baseball, it is.

The tech, Missy and I all saw the "distinguishing feature" at the same time. A boy. Seeing our child again for the first time since he was just a lima bean with a strobe light in the middle to now being a human/alien mix was such an amazing moment. The coolest part (and what gave me the most pride) was seeing the child move. And man does this kid move. He was waving his arms and legs around constantly.

Our tech was trying to do her job by taking pictures and measurements. However, our son - and this is where the daddy pride came in - refused to cooperate. Way to stick it to the man, son. The tech, at first, was very patient saying "He sure is having a good time in there!" She later called him "a riot". Then, after stretching her neck (and probably her patience) said that he was "making me earn my money". That's my boy!

An insider piece of information that I never knew until today was that this magical moment occurs during a very torturous time for the mother. To see the baby clearly, Missy had to shotgun a gallon of water an hour before the appointment. Now making a pregant woman not pee is dangerous enough by itself - almost as treacherous as standing in between her and an all you can eat Chinese buffet - but making her down a big thing of water, prohibiting her from peeing AND pressing this thing (covered in warm gel) against her bladder for an hour should be a capital offense. So all the while we were witnessing this beautiful display, Missy was giving me the death grip because she was about to explode like Mt. Saint Helens.

One last thing that was revealed to me today was the early feeling of what it will be like to be a parent. While the tech was taking measurements and pictures (during one of the rare moments that our boy was not getting down like James Brown), I had these fears like, "that big black spot - is that normal?" "why is she spending so much time looking at the heart?" "Is something wrong?" "Does he have all of his fingers and toes?" I now understand why my parents (or at least my mom) couldn't sleep until I got home at night. It makes sense why I would have to call when I arrived back at college after driving all day. I can understand. I see this beautiful creation that God has given us and even though he looks a little like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, I have fallen deeply in love with him. Our son.

Oh and now that we know - NO, we are not telling names. Though after seeing him move today, we may just call him "Elvis".