Wednesday, November 21, 2007

what a day (Josh)

Today was one of the best days of my life. I'm sure there will come times when this will hit me in other ways, and there will be a sense of grief over the changes that will happen in my life, especially in my relationship with Shey...but today was a day when things became the most real thus far in preparing to have a child and add a new member to our family. Hearing the heartbeat of our child was absolutely wonderful. I couldn't help but smile, laugh, and become wide-eyed (which is saying something right Shey, my eyes don't open very wide!). I couldn't believe my eyes today, as I watched on the screen this mass of cells, beginning to take shape in my wonderful wife's womb...I was struck by the amazing intricacies of new life. More than that, I heard the heartbeat of our child. The strong steady beat, at 140 beats per minute.

Along with the joy in hearing the heartbeat we were relieved to see that things are moving along smoothly, with her/him being an appropriate size (1.10 cm from head to tail-like thing that will eventually become tailbone). I feel like as I drift off to sleep tonight, I can rest in a new way, having seen and heard of the joy to come.

I realize we must be careful in getting ahead of ourselves, but after the first ultrasound today, I honestly am thrilled, excited, and relieved for things to have gone smoothly thus far. I hope that Shey will start to feel better, she's been getting pretty sick these last couple of days...though a stronger morning sickness usually implies that the placenta and baby are developing well at this point (so maybe it is sort of good that she's not feeling so well).

I've added the ability to listen to the the heartbeat from the ultrasound today, you can check it out below, or if you'd like to download it, right-click here and "save as."

2 comments:

Brendan O'Connor said...

Hey, SO many congratulations Shey, and again to you Joshy Josh, i bet you guys will be wonderful parents. This is a great little thing to keep people posted via the blog, i love the idea of hearing some about such a wild process through people i know. The very best to you guys with it, and i'll hope for much sickness for you Shey, in the name of the baby as Josh said there :C)

WOW, what a beat though, i can't believe the heart beats that fast when they are so tiny, 140/min. Did they tell you guys why it's that fast when they're still SO small?? I remember from a recent trip to the doctor that between 60-100 at rest is normal for an adult, what an interesting difference.

Josh said...

Thanks for the congrats B. we look forward to sharing this with you too man! Shey might remember why the heartbeat is so fast, but i think it has a lot to do with the amount of energy and blood needed to develop in the early stages.

or maybe the baby is running laps in there, and we caught them after a workout...who knows?