The history of the Bean

I had my first sonogram when I was 8 weeks pregnant, July 6th to be exact. I had no idea what to expect and went to my doctors by myself. As she slathered up my flat belly (I can say that now cause it ain't lying so flat anymore) and the image appeared on the screen. I had no idea what I was looking at.

So, this is what I am seeing and I am thinking, OK, it looks like a big black blob. Dr. Diaz is looking at me all expectantly like I am suppose to start bursting out in tears with how joyful I am. Meanwhile, all I can think is that I am going to be giving birth to a bean. A Lima bean. Well, at least it won't hurt. What are my parents going to think? I put red parenthesis around the spot you are suppose to be looking at. I found that out later on. Needless to say, I disappointed Dr Diaz for not being overly emotional and went home with this photograph. The first sonogram. I showed mom and explained to her that much to our surprise Terry and I had spawned a bean. Hence forth, we began calling our little growing man the bean. You might hear me reference the bean which has become his nickname and now you understand why.

My second sonogram was on July 24th. Thankful, this one looked slightly more human, which was a big relief. You could actually make out the head, legs, and hands when it moved. Yes, it was moving. If there ever was a doubt in my mind it was effectively erased when I saw the bean moving. I became engrossed, obsessed, and quite attached. This picture I took home and flashed around when friends and family didn't believe that I was pregnant. It currently resides on our refrigerator like my proud hand made drawing.

The last one that I had was again on the scary side which I totally blame on the 3D machine. Mom and the sisters, Becca and Lizzy, came with me to this one. It was pretty swanky. We were in a big room with a leather couch, soft lullaby music, and the ultrasound was projected on a flat screen TV mounted on the wall for all to enjoy. They measured the hemispheres of the brain, the four chambers of the heart, the spine, bones, all of it. The doctor said his heart was big and perfect, that we were going to have a romantic on our hands. Every time a foot or a hand came up, I was counting like a obsessive compulsive. They also told us it was a boy which made all of us start crying. I really wanted a boy. I don't quite know how they knew but they said that they could see the testicles and penis bud. They pointed at the penis and of course being me I said "Well I hope it gets bigger". Yeah, go me.

We were in there for over an hour at which point the technician turns and gives Rebecca a DVD of most of the sonogram. Pretty wicked cool right?! Word to the wise when watching this: it is very difficult to decipher unless you use your imagination. It is like one of those pictures that are all blurry but if you stare at it long enough it makes an image. Look for: the heart beating, you can see that a bunch of times. The legs very long, crossed at the ankles and you can see him move a little bit. She does a lot of stuff trying to make the image 3D (the sepia toned image) where you can the see the head face on. She said that either he was praying or sucking his thumb with his arms and hands very close to his face. He looks like a little skeltal but give this one pound guy some more time to cook and he'll be a healthy baby bean! So, have fun and remember be imaginative.