Meet Ryden
The newest member of the Garbooth family has made his existence known more than ever this week. Reaching a new height of awareness, not only has he performed well in ultrasounds but is starting to thrash a storm and ready to expend new energy with his new little body. We are excited to have him on board and by shaping the path of our lives from here on in, let us reminisce of past Friday.I was as anxious as ever, having dreams all night of the fateful appointment where we would finally know wether I was carrying a boy or a girl. Although a boy had been hinted at in the past, I'll admit, I had always envisioned a girl. Cam and I played upon this fantasy with a ring on a chain test and talked about people we knew whose child had been diagnosed the wrong gender. I had seen myself with a baby girl since the night I had a dream about her and two weeks later I found out I was pregnant. Even with these high hopes, the possibility of a boy loomed and I was struck by that reality at the last appointment.
Going into the ultrasound, the tech immediately asked if we were interested in finding out today. Cam and I were more than enthusiastic. It maybe took the tech 30 seconds to locate the group of pixels that she clearly identified as a scrotum. I was immediately accepting of this fact and gave Cam's hand a squeeze. The burden of mystery was off our shoulders but there was little time to dwell on it as the tech took us on a tour of other features our new addition had to offer. He had what looked like a handsome profile with no trace of a cleft lip or, my worst nightmare, missing facial features. He had the right number of kidneys and chambers in his heart. She traced the main arteries which showed up on the grey screen as red and blue and all seemed to be in order due to her bird like head reactions as she gauged the screen. Along the journey, she took some adorable pictures.
a beefy man leg complete with bones. 
boy bits complete with white arrow. 
The session was done in no time and soon we were wisked off to talk to the doc. She had nothing to report as nothing looked awry on the charts but before she could sneak off, I had her do a quick doppler of the heartbeat so I could record it for everyone. In a couple of weeks I should be able to hear it through a stethoscope!
With no crises to panic about, my mind wandered back to how to analyze my gender preferences. After calls and celebration drinks with Kim, I had to still push myself to believe I could get along with a baby boy. My reasoning wrapped around the fact that everyone I seemed to know had a boy. Good friends, coworkers, neighbors had all produced boys. Cam had only grown up with brothers and was ready for a change to the feminine perspective. The ratio seemed unbalanced, the world off kilter. By having a girl, I could be unique, standing out with an adorable pink clad being amongst the masculinity. Barbies and bows are what I know and Thomas the Tank Engine is not what I want to get into. My little breakdown didn't last too long while Cam and I talked it through when our new little guy broke into a fit of thrusting and kicking. Within minutes, the grins on our faces couldn't be removed. Already a little attention seeker, he soothed my mind with his eagerness. And with that he was graduated up from our baby boy to little Ryden. He told us we needed to buck up and stop whimpering and that he needed a double of mango juice asap. So wise for his years. Our little bub.
The next day I felt like the new chapter had begun. My life has been chartered and I'm pretty excited to get going. Quitting my job will be sad but giving Ryden the best start in life and staying home for a year or two will be ultra fulfilling. His room is coming together nicely with the new crib from Grandpa R and matching changing table that I picked up today. Despite that paper lanterns and paper crane mobiles sounds a little girly, I'm putting them together anyway because Ryden will like them regardless. He will need just a couple of more things to get him up to speed so I have put a registry together here. Many small things are playful and suggestive and I have collaborated a lot of sites together here so registries may not be at all sites visited.
Posted in: on May 23, 2010 at at 3:18:00 PM
I love the heartbeat!!!! So glad all is well. You look very happy and content. The boy will be fun to raise. Don't worry about that. Yes, different change of pace for you, but fun nonetheless.