It's a.... BLESSING!

It’s funny how quickly total peace can lead to complete joy! Yesterday was off to a rough start when I discovered that someone hit and ran my car earlier that morning. Long story short, my side door will likely need to be replaced in its entirety and whoever did it didn't even leave a note. (Should this surprise me?) I resolved not to let this (or any other bad news) ruin what was to be such an important and special day for Michael and me. By 12:20 we were at the doctors and too excited for words... Once we had arrived, the issue with my car seemed trivial at best. We were about to get news that would change our lives and our family forever. (Sounds dramatic, I know, but it's really true, as anyone who has been through this process herself likely knows.) What past announcement could possibly have matched this in anticipation? None that I could recall.

That sense of peace I blogged about earlier had not left me. For the first time, I really did not care what the baby would be, I was just eager to know him or her by name. The minute the ultrasound began, with the very first image that appeared on the screen, I was positive -- 100% certain -- that I knew what the baby was… and I was right!


A beautiful baby BOY! Long story short (and without obvious explanation), even upside-down, our little baby was undeniably male.

Tears came streaming down my face as Michael held onto my hand while the technician gave us the news I happily suspected was coming. Happy tears. We were looking at our SON: Noah.


All along I had wanted for a strong biblical name for our child if it was a boy – and I could think of none better. Noah trusted God with all he had – to the point of ridicule and scorn. God tasked him with a mission that might have seemed too big or even impossible (perhaps at times even laughable) and Noah obeyed. I hope this name will be a blessing to our son and I look forward to the day he’ll be able to understand what it really and truly means. (AKA: It may have been the character in "The Notebook's" name, but that is NOT why we chose it. lol).

Noah was face down and breech, facing my spine, which made the ultrasound harder to conduct. It was no wonder to me that he had made himself more comfortable after I’d spent the day before feeling like target practice as he kicked and punched me in the ribs repeatedly between 2pm and 2am! He had finally turned around and settled down – or so we thought! Though he didn’t flip over and let us get a good profile shot of his little face, he did move around quite a bit. We even saw his little nostrils (his "nares") as well as his tiny mouth opening and closing – dare I say he has my husband’s kissy lips! I am thankful to God for that!

We did get another “scary” baby shot (unmissable - above), which is always nice! As far as I'm concerned no profile shot could ever be as precious as the very first we got of our baby boy back in February. I look at that picture everyday!




My favorite ultrasound photo from yesterday was when we got a glimpse of Noah's precious feet and toes -- which so far fortunately look nothing like either of his parents'!! LOL The technician made sure every one of them was there.

Michael and I got a glimpse of just about every vital organ our baby has and were assured that he is perfect… however, he is measuring even further ahead than last time. The technician recommended that our due date be set back based on the 16 week ultrasound to 09/02/09 (one week back) but that based on this one, that it be set back to 08/31/09. It seems our little guy is eager to see us too!

So right after finding out the news, I took my smashed in car and headed to Party City where I got some decorations to set up my surprise for the nursery. I could think of no better way to tell my family who would be visiting from New York that night the news. I made Nessa a blue Easter basket and moped about the fact that she’d have to wait 2 whole weeks to see it. I wished so much she could have been there...

After grocery shopping, I came home to a surprise of my own. I opened the door to the laundry machine at Michael’s request and there was my beautiful stepdaughter sitting on top of the dryer. I cried my eyes out. She was all that had been missing from such an important day for our family and I was in shock that she was actually there. It seems there was a mix-up about the visitation and she will be here until tonight. So it turned out that my nursery surprise which I’d been saving for my family ended up surprising Nessa first! Her reaction was too precious for words!
She was so excited about the prospect of having a baby brother that she immediately started making signs for the nursery expressing her love for him. Though I know she had been hoping for a baby sister, I could see that her joy and excitement were genuine.

The look on her face was priceless and I was thrilled to capture it! My family arrived at 2 in the morning and I shared the news again in the same manner. Because it was 2 in the morning I didn't get pictures but the responses were in no way muted by the time or travel that had brought them here.

It was a wonderful day – so much better than I had dreamed the night before and more than I had ever hoped for!

The baby we have unfortunately had to refer to for so long as "it" and lovingly called "Baby Luns" for lack of a better name is now Baby Noah - Noah Thomas Lunsford - and it’s all exactly as it should be. We could not be happier!