Genes are strange...

Today we drove down to Springfield for some genetic tests on little Sprout. They don’t do the tests here in Corvallis, so our choice was OHSU, or Riverbend, so we chose Riverbend, since it was closer, and it’s a nice facility. My neurologist is there, as is my dad’s cardiac surgeon. It is a pretty campus, and the people there are always great to work with.

We first met with a woman named Kathryn. She was our genetic counselor. The first thing she questioned was the due date of the 15^th of October. She put it more at the 9^th of October instead. She then discussed a bunch of stats with us, and also a bunch of different things that could happen with Sprout. It was very clear and she explained things to us in a way that made sense, but also didn’t make us feel stupid. She discussed the chances of Sprout having Downs, Cystic Fibrosis, and Spinal Bifida. She also talked about some other things if those things might have been hinted at, given the results of our tests from today.

Kathryn was also very inclusive of me, which was fantastic. She had me involved in the conversation, and asked a lot of questions of both of our backgrounds, even though mine doesn’t have much to do with Sprout. She also asked a lot about our donor. He came from OHSU, as did her donor. She and her partner did a lot of what Shannon and I are doing now, with the donor from OHSU and she gave us some advice on keeping the number, for Sprout, for later in life, if s/he meets someone. The number could become important, which is something we have already considered. She was appalled that some of her friends don’t still have their donor numbers. Actually, I am too! What are they thinking??

After our counseling session, we went back to the waiting room and waited for the next thing on the list: our ultrasound! We went in the room and the tech found our little one. Right as she did, little Sprout started kicking and wiggling and seemed to get angry and flipped over to the side so we could see the spine. It was kind of funny. We have a shy little sprout in there. Every time the tech tried to move around to see a different area of Sprout, the little legs would start kicking and arms would start flailing, and the whole body would wiggle around. We have a little wiggler!

It was SO much different from the last time we saw Sprout! There’s a baby in there now! Little Sprout looks like a little baby, instead of a little bean. It was so amazing. S/he has a big brain, a perfect spinal cord, ribs, cute little hands and finger buds, a little booty, little legs and feet, so cute. I could have watched that little sprout all day long. The heart rate was at 162 beats per minute. All signs are pointing to a healthy little one and at 13 weeks development. We still don’t know gender yet, but maybe next time.

The doctor came in soon after the tech left and congratulated us first thing. He was super cute and very peppy. He found little Sprout, too, and again, Sprout flipped over and away from the pressure of the ultrasound. She started moving and wiggling. He pointed out things again, and pointed out the little “feetsies” and the spine and the heart. He was almost more excited about it than we were! It is so fun when the doctors are like that. He gave us an A+ for the day, so that is a good sign. All the measurements for Sprout were good, and things look great so far.

The last step was to get some blood drawn from Shannon. That took about three seconds, and then we were off back to Corvallis, with four new pictures of our little one, and a new feeling of “this is so real”. It is more and more real every time we go for a doctor’s appointment. Seeing Sprout moving makes it even more real. It’s amazing. Sprout is amazing. Shannon is amazing.

Speaking of genes, one strange thing happened today, that really doesn’t have anything to do with babies. We were walking from the parking garage sky bridge, and came out into the area where they have a little café. I kind of glanced around and saw an older gentleman sitting there in a chair, sipping a cup of coffee. He was wearing a beat up leather jacket, and an old trucker style hat. I looked to the hall we were heading down, and then I turned back to look at this guy and said “Oh my God” just as Shannon was going to say “that guy looks like your Poppa”. It was frightening how much he resembled my Poppa Reed.

There have been some strange things occurring in relation to Poppa Reed. We got inseminated close to the anniversary when he passed away. The night before we went in, I talked to him, and asked him for help. Our due date got changed, so the exact date between the two we were given for our due dates is when his birthday was.  It is very strange.  I have a feeling he has been helping us out a bit with our little Sprout, and I can’t be more thankful for that or for him.  

Beating Hearts

We had our second appointment today. Sprout is near the end of week 11 today. We were originally supposed to see the doctor who had done my hysterectomy, but she ended up being sick, so our appointment got rescheduled with someone else, at an earlier time, which was more than fine with both of us! Her name is Susan Heinz. She was very nice to both of us, as everyone in the practice has been, mostly. It has been a great experience for both of us.

She went over Shannon’s records and test results, and everything was great. Then, she got out this little radio looking device, and put some jelly on the end of a microphone looking thing. She put that end on Shannon’s belly, and searched for a little tiny heartbeat. She found Shannon’s pretty easily, which was strong and loud. Finding Sprout’s was a bit harder for her to do, but she did find it. At first, it was very quiet and faint, and soon she lost it. When she found it again, there was no mistaking it.

Sprout’s heartbeat was strong and loud and ferociously beating. I couldn’t stop smiling hearing my little one’s heart beating so healthily in there. Then, there was this really loud, almost scratching noise. Susan said that was little Sprout moving for us! I sat there listening, with my hands over my mouth, hearing Sprout’s heartbeat, hearing the random movements from Sprout, looking over at Shannon grinning at me, seeing Susan turn to me smiling and giving me a thumbs-up sign. It was awesome.

I am in so much awe at this little being growing in my wife’s belly. It’s amazing to me that such a little thing can have such a strong heartbeat and can be moving and growing so fast. Just a few weeks ago it was the size of a pea, and now it’s the size of a lime! In a few more weeks, it will be as big as a peach! There is so much development going on in this short amount of time. It’s just amazing to me.

I can’t wait until our next appointment when we will get to see our little Sprout again and be able to see how much bigger s/he has become! And maybe then we will be able to see if it is a he or she!

Sprout's first appearance!

Written February 28th... 

We had our first doc appointment with the nurse mid-wife today. Katie Robbins was her name, and she was FANTASTIC! We both really liked her a lot. She pretty much did a typical annual for Shannon, but she was very nice and gentle. She also was very nice to me, and included me in everything she spoke about, telling me to do my breast exams and all that. Also told me that if I wanted to breast feed our little one, they could help me do that, too. I declined. After all the first info and getting all of Shannon’s medical info, and NENO’s info (what we fondly call our donor), we got into the actual baby exam. Katie brought in the wonderful little internal ultrasound machine and got it all hooked up and ready to go. I went over to the far side of the room to hold Shannon’s hand and get a better view of the screen. She found what she was looking for. I was in total awe. There it was on the screen: our tiny little one, our little sprout, with a strong, wonderful, 167 beats per minute, little heart, and a body looking like a little kidney bean. It was the most amazing thing I think I have ever seen in my entire life. I think at that moment it all became real, that we are really going to have a baby. It was real before, but now it’s really real. There is a little sprout growing in there, a tiny little one, with a beating heart, growing arms and legs, a brain, bones, nerves, everything…all just growing and growing, ready to join the world around October 15^th. It’s the most amazing thing in the world. Our little sprout, our little baby, is real, is growing, and was right there, on the screen, so close. I fell in love all over again. I haven’t felt such joy many times in my life, and this ranks very high up there. I never thought I would see the day where I would see my baby on a screen in front of me, but there was little sprout, right there. It was so amazing. I am counting the moments until I will get to see sprout again, until our next appointment, where I can see how much sprout has grown and developed. I can’t wait to hear the heart beat and see it again. See if sprout is a boy or girl. See how sprout has developed. It is so amazing and fascinating to me. I can’t wait until October when we get to meet Sprout and hold a little, tiny hand…that will be one of the best days of my life. Just as today was.

Bonding time!

Written February 9th....


On January 31^st, Shannon sent me an email asking if I could go to lunch. I asked why, and the response was “I thought we could talk about how to decorate the nursery.” She is pregnant! It worked! I am going to be a dad! We are going to be parents! There are so many thoughts and emotions going through my body, and there have been since the day I found out. I have experienced everything from sheer joy to sheer panic. My reality has almost set in, and now I am just trying to enjoying the ride. I still get moments of “holy crap, I am going to be a parent” but I know it will be ok.

It is funny how things change so quickly. Not two weeks before we found out, we were getting ready to attend our first adoption class. The day before that class is the day we went in for the insemination where we had the Dragon Lady of Doctors do the honors. Actually, I did the honors, but she did the work to get to the point, so I guess we can’t be too mad at her, though we will be discussing bed-side manner with our provider next time we get to see her.

We were ready to take on a kid from the system and give them a home, give them our love and be the best we could for them. Now, we put that on hold. We haven’t given up on adopting; we just know it wouldn’t be fair to a kid to bring them into our home at this point when we are expecting a birth child. When the time comes, we will go back and explore the possibility again.

I find it fascinating that our little sprout is growing so fast and just a mere few weeks after the little sperm and little egg attached to each other, the little cells are already forming and the heart is almost ready to take its first beats, and the brain is already forming. It is amazing. Our little sprout is growing and it’s happening so fast. I can’t wait to greet him/her and be there to welcome him/her to the world.

I also find it fascinating that I am already so in love with someone I haven’t even met yet. I don’t even know what Sprout looks like and already I feel so much love and want to do everything in my power to keep him/her safe at all costs. It is quite an amazing feeling to have. I would do anything for this little person I don’t even know.

I’m finally going to know what it feels like to hold a tiny hand…and I can’t wait!

Sperm and Tubby

Written January 26th...


January 17, we went in for our second attempt at insemination. We went to the lab to pick up our sample, affectionately called NENO (the number OHSU attached to our donor is 9890, so we call him NENO, for the first letters of each number). While there, we waited a while as our little spermies were being washed. The tech finally called Shannon to the window to pick them up, and she handed them to me, where I kept them warm in between my breasts. I never thought I would have a little vial of sperm stuck in my cleavage, but there you go.

We walked over to our doctor’s office, and checked in, where we waited some more. Our appointment time came and went. We waited another fifteen minutes, then Shannon asked the person at the front what was going on, and soon after, we were whisked back to a room, where we sat and waited even more.

Upon entering, the doctor started in on a speech about “slipping through the cracks” and explained that Shannon had done so. We weren’t really sure what was going on or where this was going, until she pulled out this piece of paper, which showed that Shannon has a higher BMI than she would like, and to inseminate her would be like “handing her a loaded gun” according to the doctor. Uh, excuse me? I know plenty of people with higher BMI’s than Shannon who’ve had kids naturally and they are just fine. I was furious, but all I could do was hide my face in my vest, for fear that I would say something to prevent her from doing the procedure. Please also understand that this doctor’s BMI is probably as big as mine (which is NOT small, by the way), but since she wasn’t being inseminated, I guess it was ok to bag on someone else.

After that uncomfortable discussion, the doctor did the procedure anyway, since we were there, but let me push the button to get the sperm going. It was great; holding Shannon’s hand with one hand, and doing the deed with the other. The doctor left us in the room for twenty minutes to let the little guys make their way to the egg. We are hoping they found their way, and soon we will know.

Shannon’s temperature has been steadily up since we did the insemination, which is a good sign. We will continue to keep our fingers crossed and hope that we are pregnant! And hope that we don’t have to go see that doctor again.

Shannon and I have been joking with each other about being "fat" and "lard butt" and "tubby" since. We at least have had a good laugh about it!