Snips & Snails & Puppy-Dogs’ Tails

That’s right! We found out today - at our gender ultrasound - we’re having a BOY!

(And the pressure is off us spending the next 18 years massaging the self-esteem of a possibly seven foot tall girl with size 16 feet.)

Mom and Gary met us at the OB’s office at 10 a.m. We didn’t know how many people were going to be allowed in the ultrasound room, so we were pleasantly surprised when all four of us were allowed to go in. (I mean, I knew I would be allowed to go in.)

The technician got right to work, busily examining the inner parts of my anatomy and making notations on the screen. She measured and weighed, letting us know how everything looked.

A little ways into the ultrasound, she asked us if we wanted to “know.” Since we are not complete cheese balls (wink, wink), we said we most definitely wanted to know.

At first, Brett thought he might not want to know. But, he said he figured eventually Mom or I would let it slip, and he’d find out anyway. He said if he was going to find out and hadn’t been able to see the actual ultrasound, he would be disappointed.

“Well, I think you have a son,” the technician said. “But I’m not totally sure, so let’s keep looking.”

A minute or so later, the baby - our son - spread his legs wide open and left no room for doubt.

The technician pointed up, then down on the screen, and said, “Yep. You’re definitely having a son.”

I was thrilled! With Brett’s family history - 10 of the 11 grandchildren being of the male persuasion - I had been assuming from the outset that the baby would be a boy. We had chosen the baby’s name and were just acting as though we were having a boy. And now we KNOW we are!

Mom was holding out hope for a girl, but she couldn’t help oohing and aahing during the ultrasound. None of us could. It was so gosh darn cute.

The technician took stock of all the baby’s vital signs with everything getting the thumbs up.

The baby is 10-12 inches long and weighs 13 ounces. Right on target for 20 weeks. There were no immediate signs of problems. The baby doesn’t have a cleft palate, and the kidney and heart functions were quite good. His little spine is curving as it’s supposed to and makes him look just a tiny bit like a lizard. (My own personal opinion).

I was a bit concerned, because I’ve yet to feel the baby move. To put me at ease, the technician held the scope absolutely still on my stomach, and we all watched as the baby flipped, swam, and changed positions.

“You may not be able to feel it, but he’s definitely moving around in there,” she reassured me.

We also saw a nice big yawn and were awestruck when the baby started sucking his thumb right in front of us!

“I wonder why he’s sucking his thumb.” Gary asked later.

“Well, Gary,” I countered. “There’s probably not a lot to do in there.”

The technician was nice enough to give us several photos, including some 4D ones, along with the definitive photo that proved her “boy” prediction was correct.

Afterward, we stopped by Annie’s where Mom bought me my first official “baby boy” gift. It was a mostly-white onesie with blue trim and a fuzzy bunny on the front. Underneath the bunny, it said “Bunsie” and came complete with a little round, fuzzy white cottontail stitched on the back.

Say it with me, “Awwww”

We had picked out a boy’s name a long time ago. We had decided, if we had a boy, we would name him after our remarkable fathers. We had chosen "Robert Alan Soderstrom" and were quite content with it.

I figured we would call him “Rob,” and if he wanted to change it to “Robert” or “Bob,” he could.

After my last heartbreak with infertility, I began to find comfort in the book of I Samuel, in the story of Hannah.

Like me, Hannah had a husband who loved her. Like me, Hannah was infertile and wanted a child. Like me, Hannah cried out to God.

And, unbeknownst to me, I was about to have my prayer answered by God, just as He shed his abundant grace on Hannah and her barren womb.

In my reading, I came upon these verses:

I Samuel 1:20, 27-28a
“Now the time came when Hannah, being with child, gave birth to a son; and she gave him the name Samuel, Because, she said, I made a prayer to the Lord for him.

My prayer was for this child; and the Lord has given him to me in answer to my request:

So I have given him to the Lord; for all his life he is the Lord's.”

The verses struck a chord with me, and I began to wonder what it would be like to tell my son he had been “asked of God” and named thusly. Those verses would become his own, as well as mine, a special symbol and promise of God’s graciousness written ages ago.

I tried out the name “Samuel Soderstrom,” then “Sam Soderstrom,” and finally, “Samuel Robert Alan Soderstrom.”

I approached Brett and asked his thoughts.

This was one of those times I was especially grateful to have such a laid-back husband. He said the name out loud a couple of times, and then, “I like it!”

And since then, the baby’s been Sam to us.

We had two girls’ names picked out as back-up, but in my heart, I was treasuring the name “Sam” for what it had come to mean to me.

Today, when we learned we were having a son, I was able to look at Brett and say, “Sam.”

The unspoken conversation as our eyes met was so much more than that simple word. It was a worship song of thankfulness to God our Heavenly Father who, as my Pastor’s wife said at the outset of this journey, “is the giver of all good gifts.”

Like our beautiful little boy. Our precious, perfect, asked-of-God, Sam.