Breastfeeding and Guilt - My Take

Breastfeeding. One of the hottest button issues to talk about with fellow moms, or in general. I've wanted to write about my experiences with breastfeeding for so long, but I've hesitated. I've written about 10 posts in my head and have 2 in my drafts folder, but they never seemed right. I've never posted a comprehensive post about what I've basically spent the past 3 years doing every few hours.

There's been a lot of talk about breastfeeding in my Twitter stream lately, and Arwen wrote a wonderful post on the subject of Breastfeeding and Guilt. Go read it; it's great. Also check out Emily's comment, which is spot on. Rather than completely take over Arwen's comment section with my take on the situation, I thought I'd write about it here. I want to have a post talking about my experiences, especially since the situation with Teddy was atypical.

I've been very fortunate. Both of my children have had breastmilk for at least 17 months. But guilt has fueled both of these experiences. It's an odd guilt -- guilt that I'd failed Teddy in utero and in the first days of his life.

Tongue-tie runs in Dave's family. Dave is tongue-tied, and we always joked that if we had boys, they'd have it. While pregnant with Teddy, I knew that he'd probably be tongue-tied. I spoke to my midwives and my doulas about it as well as the nurses at the hospital. I lined up a 'breast-feeding buddy' through a city-run program so I could get support and I knew when all the clinics were all over the city. We took courses, I watched videos and bought reference books. Being a first time mother who'd never breast-fed before, I think I did as much as I could.

Teddy was born with a posterior tongue-tie. It's so far back that it's difficult to diagnose. The nurses and midwives didn't spot it. I knew that something was wrong, but it wasn't until we went to a lactation clinic that the IBCLCs spotted it, realized that he wasn't really latching, and got me pumping at the end of Day 2. I couldn't even pump enough to cover the bottom of the bottles; I don't think I've ever cried so hard in my life as I tried. By the time my midwife came by the next morning, Teddy was down from 8lbs 4 oz to 7lbs 3 oz with his clothes on.

Day 3 postpartum ranks up there as the worst day(s) of my life.

So Dave had to race out and get formula, and he bounced back right away. Every two hours, we fed him any milk I could pump and topped it up with formula. My milk started to come in that day, and he just kept gaining and gaining. The midwives came every 12 hours to check on him (LOVE them) and he was great. But we struggled to find ANYWHERE that would do a tongue-tie release.

He had the release done on Day 5, but it was only partial. He still couldn't get much when he latched, but I pumped my way into an oversupply so that he'd be drowning in milk. No word of a lie - I was getting over 1.5 L per day (50 oz). But when he was 2 weeks old, we got thrush and kept passing it back and forth. After several weeks of that, I gave up trying to get him to nurse and just pumped.

Oh, that pump. It SUUUUUCKED. And the stupid flanges (even 3 sizes up) were awful and kept giving me plugged ducts which lead to mastitis. Weeks and weeks of awful mastitis. The pump couldn't move the milk, so I had to hand-express to keep the milk moving. In the midst of all this, my Aunt Floriana died, so we were dealing with all her funeral, mourning, and I was just a hot mess.

Everyone around me told me that I could stop (maybe should stop) because it was too much. But I was like a woman possessed; my kid was going to get breast milk no matter what. Also, my supply was bullet-proof. Even with mastitis it didn't drop for long.

So I kept on going. I switched to hand expressing full time, and the mastitis cleared up, as did all the pain. It was SO MUCH more convenient and easier (especially during a 12 hour power outage), so I just doing it. I slowed down gradually when I realized that the entire bottom of our massive chest freezer was full of milk. I kept it up until Teddy was 14 months old, and I was over 5 months pregnant with Veronica. He had enough milk in the freezer to take him past 17 months.

I look back now and why was I so consumed with it? I think it's because I felt like I'd failed him as a tiny baby. I hadn't been able to advocate for him and he'd lost all that weight. I'd been unable to find a doctor to address the issue. I couldn't help my baby in the way he needed to be helped, but I COULD DO THIS. So that's what I clung to.

Now Veronica does not have a tongue-tie. She, however, had a complicated delivery. She was intubated 3 times and had chest compressions, and she just did not want to nurse right away. But her latch didn't hurt like Teddy's and she wasn't losing as much weight, so I thought we were on the right track with nursing.

Then Day 3 rolled around and we discovered that she'd lost 10% of her birth weight. She wasn't anywhere as dehydrated as Teddy had been, but it was not good. I am not ashamed to say that I sobbed like I'd been stabbed in the heart. But Jackie, my amazing midwife, realized that her suction reflex had been thrown off by the intubation. She suggested that we finger-feed her using the last lonely bag of Teddy's breast milk from the freezer. And she reminded me that on Day 3, the tears bring in the milk.

I HATE YOU DAY 3.

So I nursed Veronica and then Dave would finger-feed her as much extra milk as she wanted. But about 12 hours later, my milk came in with a vengeance. Seriously -- I felt my entire torso was undergoing electric shocks. She was no longer interested in finger feeding, and when Jackie came back to weigh her 24 hours later, she'd gained 7 oz. She regained her birth weight before she was 1 week old.

And yet - I was PETRIFIED that I wasn't producing enough milk. She was consistently in the 95th percentile for weight, and I was nervous before every weigh-in. I still catch myself worrying and she's 17 months old!

My terrible time with Teddy and my rough start with Veronica have caused me to stress about my supply. I won't chance cold medicine, as it is known to make your supply drop. I worried about missing feedings so much that I was never away from her for more than 3.5 hours until she was 14 months old. She never took a bottle. I am still rarely away from her for more than 4 or 5 hours.

I suspect that I'm also trying to atone for my failure to effectively nurse Teddy by nursing her as often as she wants for as long as she wants. I'd have given anything to have had it work with Teddy, so I'd better not take this for granted. Am I turning it into penance for my belief that I let her brother down?

This guilt comes entirely from my own psyche. Everyone around me has been so supportive of me and was so proud of how hard I worked for Teddy. Heck - I'm proud of how hard I worked to feed Teddy. But man - did the Mom guilt ever start early for me.

Craziest.afternoon.EVER

Oh you guys. I was planning to write about Veronica's turning 3 months old. But this afternoon was insane and I need to share.

My parents came to visit today. I generally try to get a whole bunch more done with the extra hands around, and my Mom loves to clean. These points are salient in today's tale. Also important - the fact that we have an alarm system. And a house built in 1967.

Over the holidays, we've asked the youngest daughter of Teddy's babysitter to look after our cats. To make it easier on her, we wanted to add a special code to our alarm system. The system we have is the same as the one we had in my childhood home, so I figured that my Dad would know how to set it up.

So - my Dad and I begin trying to add the new alarm code. And somehow - we manage to screw up the master code and arm the alarm. As such - we are trapped in the house with the alarm on and we cannot turn it off.

We call our alarm guy, who happens to live around the corner AND is the son of them woman from whom we purchased the house. He attempts to fix the problem remotely, but to no avail. He realizes that he has to come over to fix it, and that the alarm siren will have to go until he deactivates it.

While I am on the phone with Ken (alarm guy), my Mom and Teddy are upstairs, swiffering. He poops, and my Mom gets ready to change him. But before she can, she turns her back after they exit the guest room, and Teddy closes the door, locking her out. And the door would not open. It's an original door from the house, and it stuck when Dave's mom was here. It has no screws so there is no way to remove it.

To recap:

- trapped in the house by the alarm, with a siren about to blare; and
- Teddy trapped in the guest room, with the door stuck shut.

We tried and tried to get the door open. We tried to get the 22 month old to open the door -- he kept trying to turn the knob, but it wouldn't turn. He would touch my fingers, which I'd slipped under the door, and say "Mama???", then would play with the door stop. He wasn't thrilled - he was in a poopy diaper, after all, and trapped. But he did ok.

Then - Ken arrived and the alarm went off. It scared the heck out of poor Veronica (not to mention the cats), who started bawling. Teddy started whimpering on the other side of the door. And I realized that I'd have to break the door down.

I started throwing myself against the door, to no avail. I kept telling Teddy to back away from the door, just so he wouldn't get hit. And, after about 8 tries, I managed to unstick it. Poor Teddy was struck as it opened, but not too hard. I detached the plate and cracked the door casing, but my toddler was free.

And Ken managed to fix the alarm; it took a few minutes, but we figured it out and reprogrammed it. The baby stopped crying and the diaper got changed.

But oh! What a few minutes!

We've created a Glee monster.

I have posted in the past about Teddy's love for Glee. I should qualify - not ALL of Glee, just selected musical numbers. The awesome ones. Like the Journey medley in the season 1 finale, or "Empire State of Mind", or any of the big duet numbers ("Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "River Deep, Mountain High" or "Lucky" from 'Duets', my fave S2 episode to date). He has watched each more times than I can count, and loves to listen to the tracks, too.

Great, right? Except for the fact that he now thinks that any music is called "Glee". We've been trying to reinforce the word 'music', but it has not yet taken. It's also difficult to ascertain which song from Glee he'd like to hear, as he wants to hear "GYEE!", but if the wrong song is chosen, it's accompanied by a chorus of "Nononononono!"

The worst (though possibly the funniest) occurs during mass. When we arrive in church, he announces "GYEE", so excited is he for music. Any piece of music during the mass - even quick parts of the Doxology - are huge hits. And as soon as they end, he announces "AGAIN!!". I've never been so happy that music is interspersed throughout mass! Hey - anything for a toddler to look forward to during that time is a bonus.

Strangest. Hallowe'en. Ever.

Saturday night, driving home from a visit to family in Kingston, the temperature kept dropping as precipitation fell. As we neared Ottawa, it became clear that it was happening - we'd have snow for Hallowe'en.

The high for the day was a balmy 3 degrees C (the heck?!?), which may have accounted for the fact that we had a grand total of SEVEN trick-or-treaters. Our street is just sedate, I guess. Our friend Isobel (who lives behind us...well, across the park and behind us) had the happening street. We ended up doing an emergency candy run to her place as she was running out of candy. Oh well - less for us to eat.

We did, however, let a mystified Teddy wander around outside after dark. He was really good at saying "Dank u", less consistent at "Tick o t'eat". He prowled around as Tigger. He wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but he warmed up to it, as you can see from photo 2.

He was adorable with his loot, which he thought was "Cheese". He placed it in a toy school bus one piece at a time, then wheeled that around. Mmm...cheese bus. Or bus cheese. Both are totally adorable and totally unappetizing.

As for Miss V, she dressed up in a 'Little Princess' outfit. But since it was freezing, she went outside in a teddy bear bunting bag. Check her out in all her chubby glory.

Let's hope that next year is a tad warmer!

Saturday Night Leftovers - 37 Week Edition

Before we get going, I must give credit to Jen for this idea.

1) I couldn't get my act in gear for a "7 Quick Takes" post on Friday, so I thought I would harness this unexpectedly quiet Saturday night for an update. I apologize in advance for the lack of a cohesive theme.

2) Why is it unexpectedly quiet? Because we are supposed to be eating dinner at my cousin Erin's wedding right now. :( Erin is my only cousin on my Dad's side of the family (she and I are both only children) and she is 6 years younger than me. Her wedding, however, is a four hour drive from here and I am just too uncomfortably pregnant to get there, celebrate, stay overnight, head to a brunch at my Aunt's house tomorrow (an hour in the other direction) while wrangling a toddler. I also didn't want to risk the situation that Arwen had with Camilla - heading out of town for a wedding and going into labour unexpectedly. I am sad to miss it, though. That said - her fiance Ashley is wonderful and they will soon be moving almost around the corner from my Nonna as Erin embarks on her PhD at the University that all our parents attended. We'll get to see them more often, so that's great.

So - Congratulations, Erin and Ashley! We cannot wait to see the photos and to hang out with you again in person. I hope that my parents and Nonna are behaving themselves!

3) Also about to start University at that same school (albeit her undergrad) is my next cousin on my Mom's side - Rachel. She just turned 18 and she got into one of the most competitive programs in the province (so proud of her). But man - she's going to University! I was 14 when she was born (Aunt Pat and Fred's first) and she was the first baby that I spent lots of time with. And now - she's 5 ft 11 and off to school. I FEEL OLD!

4) It is also my mother-in-law's birthday. Not a huge milestone, but a special day nonetheless. Happy Birthday, Nanny!

5) So - I am now officially at full term. HOORAY! I suspect that I won't be going into labour in the next day or two -- I am not yet in full on nesting mode. The baking soda, though in the bathroom, remains in the box and I have not yet stolen Dave's toothbrush to scrub grout. I do have insomnia and...other...issues, but that's just normal. And I really want to eat some ice cream! But baby is measuring exactly on for dates (just like her older brother). I wonder if she'll be on her due date like he was? Bets? It's Aug. 27th, for those of you keeping track at home.

6) Teddy is a riot. We are still contending with throwing - gah - but we remain consistent with consequences for actions. It has been a bit of a challenge lately -- his daycare provider has been away and we've had grandparents and others helping out (as I am still supposed to be resting). The lack of consistency has had him testing limits more and more, but the timeouts/putting the thrown toy in "toy jail" appear to be working.

7) His language skills have TAKEN OFF lately. His comprehension is awesome, and he's now able to modulate his wants by using "Yeah!", "Ok" or "Nah" when we give him options. He dances all the time, and spends much of the day giggling. He is particularly attached to Dave right now, which is not a bad thing (considering the imminent arrival of little sister).

8) Also hilarious of late - how easily he goes down to sleep. If we suspect that he is tired before nap time or bed time, we ask him "Are you ready for bed" and almost invariably get an "ok" or "yeah". He has, on occasion, walked up the stairs himself and waited by his crib for us to put him in. It's so nice to have a better sense of what he wants!

9) I should get some pics of him up here, huh? I am such a slacker. I will work on that this week. That and the post of lactation, since he is almost finished the final bag of frozen breastmilk in the freezer. Not too shabby for the kid who never could latch, as he is approaching 19 months.

10) I am nervous about breastfeeding with baby #2. I mean, I have no doubt that I can lactate after doing so for 14 months with Teddy. And I am very hopeful that we won't have to deal with tongue-tie again, though we have better strategies if it crops up. But I am nervous about getting the mechanics right. However, there is no sense borrowing trouble (especially since we have contingency plans in place). As I learned with Teddy, you just cannot predict how things will go until you have a real infant who is trying to get a meal at Restaurant Mom. But if you're praying folk - I'd appreciate any you can spare.

11) As I mentioned above, Teddy's beloved babysitter has been away for 2.5 weeks. My inlaws came to help, then my parents took him for a week at their place (we went out several evenings to see him). This week has been a blend of me, Dave and my Mom/Nonna helping out. My parents, grandmother and inlaws have been so awesome - we appreciate your help so much! He is a busy little guy, and tiring him out is a tiring prospect. You have been amazing - thank you so much.

12) My husband is a total and utter pro-star. He does a tonne around the house and is amazing with Teddy, but he has gone above and beyond lately. He has never made me feel guilty about resting and is just generally awesome. I am so very lucky to have him as my partner; there's no one else I can imagine doing this with. I love you, Dave! I hope that you are enjoying "Inception".

13) Speaking of "Inception", it was actually filming on the WB set when we toured in while in LA back in October. We saw Leo's hybrid on set, and saw a bunch of extras in fancy duds milling around on the backlot. It was very hush hush, but it's neat to have heard about the movie all those months ago.

14) We finally saw Toy Story 3 (thanks, Mom and Nonna, for letting us sneak out while you all slept on Thursday night). Toy Story 2 is possibly my fave Disney movie (that or the Lion King) and I liked #3 almost as much. But oh - did I cry. I am not surprised at all, but did I ever cry. What a delightful movie.

15) I think that is enough minutae for the moment. I hope that all is well with all of you. Anyone who read to the end of this deserves kudos -- you rock!

Seven Quick Takes - Waiting for the inlaws edition

-1-

Teddy's napping and I am awaiting the arrival of my in-laws from Georgetown. My family will arrive tomorrow; we are expecting 26 people (and 3 babies) for the baptismal celebration. It should be a great time! And a full house. I am not sure where I am sleeping tonight - on the couch? On a futon mattress on the floor of Teddy's room? Oh, the intrigue...

-2-

The thank you gift for my Aunt Pat and Fred (the godparents) got in just under the wire. Actually, I ordered it and it hadn't arrived by yesterday so I contacted customer service. They fedexed another one and they BOTH arrived today. Too funny. Sorry to be cryptic, but I don't want to blow the surprise in case they read this (hi Aunt Pat!).

-3-

I went in to sign my letter of offer for my new job this week; my future manager was not in the office as it was his daughter's first day of maternelle. I thought that I'd be in a blah building on a boring block. It turns out that the office is moving in October...to a different floor on the building I've worked in since January 2006. I just cannot get away!

-4-

Only one month until our trip! One month from today, we'll be sailing away from Vancouver after having visited with Aunt Beth (and Tod) and others (hey Beth - I spoke to Deepa this week. We're getting together and she'd love to see you too). I mentioned this last week, too, so I'll stop talking about it.

-5-

Teddy was just crying while sleeping; he'd rolled over and felt stuck. Do other people's children do this? I assume that it's related to his burgeoning crawling ability, but the poor little button. These cries are invariably after one sleep cycle (45 minutes) and he can get back to sleep but I am sure it's no fun for him.

-6-

Speaking of sleeping, he has some hilarious snoozing habits. He spins around like a top in his crib. You'll lay him down, and when you gaze at him later he'll have turned 90 degrees and be touching the crib bars with his feet. It's a wide crib, but still. Also totally adorable is how he sleeps with his lovey. It's a bear/small fleecy blanket combo, and it was a gift from Aunt Leanne (Leanne - please try to remember where you bought it so I can pick up a spare!). The child likes to rub it on his cheek when he sleeps and it invariably ends up covering his face. It's about the size of an unfolded handkerchief, but it looks like the bear is trying the smother him. He loves to rub the softness on his skin.

-7-

What was your lovey as a child? I had two (of which I only remember adoring one). The first was Lolly, a striped doll that rattled. According to my parents, it was my favourite when I was 1 or so. The lovey I do remember was Amy. The character was a friend of Holly Hobby, so she had a green, Laura-Ingalls-Wilder-style dress and yarn hair and a bonnet. She was a stuffed rag doll and I took her EVERYWHERE. Amy #1 was so well-loved that parts of her face wore down to the stuffing. We did have a replacement, but I think my parents ran into problems procuring others. Hey Mom - did you have to write to the company to get another one? And did they send you a big and a small one because they no longer made the desired size? Feel free to tell the tale in the comments section.

More Seven Quick Takes can be found here.

Backstory -- Pregnancy Recap Part 2

After a wonderful trip to the West Coast, I returned home with a BRUTAL cold. Being pregnant, my only treatment was...hot lemon water. Woot! That was the only illness I had while pregnant, though, so I can't complain.

It was right around that time that I finally clued in - the weird 'indigestion feeling' I'd been having was actually the baby moving! In my defence, it was hard to tell, The 18-week ultrasound had shown us that I had an anterior, low-lying placenta. The bulk of the baby's early movements were masked by the placenta, so I didn't feel much until around 22 weeks. As time went on, the baby's kicks and movements became much more noticeable to others. Dave developed a ritual -- each night before bed, I would lay on my back and Dave would have a chat with the baby. "Hello, Humpy!" each conversation would start. The baby would respond enthusiastically to his voice (and/or the flashlight that Dave would shine on my growing abdomen).

I loved the second trimester and the majority of the third. And since Fall is my favourite season, it was a great time! Work was a bit wacky (factors unrelated to pregnancy), but I felt great and was in good spirits. And boy, did I start nesting! Car seats, co-sleeper, crib (thanks, GrandmaNonna and Grandpa!)...the baby stuff kept piling into the 'drowsy lavendar' room (a colour I'd chosen when we moved in because I thought it'd be perfect for a future nursery). The cats were sad to lose their 3rd bed on which to sleep, but Moe acquired a new sleep spot - the change pad that's atop the bureau (from my childhood). I have yet to change Teddy on that thing, but Moe sure sleeps there a lot!

The major happening during this period was the change to my prenatal care. Despite a nagging feeling that it was the wrong choice, I started to see an OB/GYN at 5 months. I specifically chose him because (a) all the online ratings said that the midwives loved him and (b) he delivered at the hospital near us with the new birthing centre, the hospital at which the midwives have privileges. He was a nice man, but during my 2 appointments the bulk of my care was with med students who could not find the heartbeat with the doppler (they were convinced that MY heartbeat was the baby's), then measured the uterus 4 cm off. They couldn't really answer my questions, either.

In the midst of this, we headed to a weekend of prenatal classes through the Ottawa CEA (who were AMAZING). Nerd that I am, I had been reading up on this stuff for a while so didn't have too many surprises. The classes were great for Dave, though. Also - Brandy, the doula and childbirth educator who was running the classes, let us know that both midwifery groups in town had spaces for January births. Then, on break, she let me know that, based on my questions and the concerns I'd expressed (not wanting interventions if possible, wanting to avoid pain meds and wanting labour support) that she felt that moving to midwifery care (with doula support) was a great idea.

Monday morning, I made calls to both midwifery groups, hoping to get in to the one in the east end of town. By noon, I was in! I'd waited to late (I was nearly 27 weeks) that some clients had had to switch to OB care and they had space! My midwives (Paula and Ann) were assigned and I started to meet with them that week. Dave and I just LOVED them. Paula ended up taking a leave of absence, so our pair ended up being Mei and Ann, but they were incredible Ann and I were on the exact same wavelength; she has degrees in midwifery and biochemistry, so she took my science-nerd needs questions in stride. Mei trained as both an OB and a midwife in China, so here prespective was invaluable as well. Now, my family probably thought I was nuts for switching, but they came around (especially when they saw how the midwifery care model worked when we ran into problems 4 days postpartum).

At 32 weeks, I had another ultrasound to see if my placenta had migrated up. Had it not, a c-section would have been considered. Happily, the placenta was no longer considered low-lying, so I could stay with the midwives. Also, we got a lovely shot of the baby's massive scrotum. No doubt about it - this kid had outdoor plumbing!

Once it was clear that I could stay with the midwives, Dave and I started discussing a doula. While I knew that Dave would be supportive during labour, there would be a lot of pressure on him to help me cope with pain. In our relationship, I am the one who asks for lots of information to make decisions (especially science-related ones) and I was woried that I'd be too distracted to pull that off, putting even more pressure on him. Plus - neither of us had been through it before so had NO IDEA of how it'd go or how I'd cope. The midwives would be helpful, but they'd also be concerned with the medical side and wouldn't be able to coach me as actively. We loved the idea of a doula, someone who was trained in labour support and who'd been to numerous births so could decode what was going on, could gather information and help us make informed decisions even it we were really distracted. The pre- and postnatal visits were also a bonus. We decided to go for it.

I emailed the lovely Shannon at "New Arrivals" doula services. Shannon mentioned that she was full for January, but had another doula working with her who was free - Zoia. We met with both of them and signed on immediately! As it turned out, both were in there for the birth (totally unusual and AMAZING) and I cannot recommend them enough.

I'll close this entry with Dave's two best quotes concerning doulas:

"That was the best $600 we ever spent!" and "How is the word do people do this without doulas?!?"

Backstory -- Pregnancy Recap Part 1

Since Teddy will be five months old soon, I'd better buckle down and write about his birth. But first, I should document the pregnancy itself.

In truth, it was an uneventful pregnancy. It wasn't the first time I'd been pregnant (with one ending in a miscarriage in December '07). As a result, the symptoms of the first three months weren't a suprise. The constant nausea sucked (and oh! the bus rides!), but I managed to keep it at bay so that I could work. And this time, the washroom at my work wasn't being remodeled so I didn't have to run up a flight of stairs to dry heave over an unfamiliar toilet! Small blessings...

During the previous, ill-fated pregnancy, I'd always had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right. This time, I felt so much more hopeful. We let people know about the pregnancy at around 6 weeks, figuring that we could use all the prayers and good thoughts. The 12 week ultrasound (the point at which we confirmed that the first pregnancy was ending in December '07) was at the same place. I got incredibly nervous in the 30 seconds before the image appeared on screen, but seeing the baby flipping around and waving was just awesome. Dave was shocked that he could actually pick out baby parts on the screen, and the baby was measuring EXACTLY on for dates (this would be a theme).

Just like all the pregnancy books suggest, the morning sickness and nausea dissipated at 13 weeks, just in time for our mid-July trip to Georgia and Alabama. I started to show in early August, so began having to augment my wardrobe with maternity pieces. At the end of August, I headed out to Vancouver to see Beth, then went on an Alaskan cruise with my parents (Dave had run out of vacation time).

Due to technical problems, the 18 week ultrasound had to be rescheduled for 2.5 hours before my flight to Vancouver. I thought that I was carrying a girl; the very first shot at this ultrasound was a one between the baby's legs, showing me how wrong I'd been. It was confirmed by our francophone ultrasound tech who announced: "There's his manhood". Yep, we were having a son.