The Most Amazing Thing I’ve Ever Seen

Baby Opus @ 10 Weeks

This is one of those images that truly speaks for itself. I’d thought I’d have all kinds of witty and pithy things to say—after all, that’s my child you’re looking at—but the more I stare at it, the more inadequate I feel to describe what I see.

When Renae and I went into the midwife’s last week, we went in hoping to hear a heartbeat even as we knew that it still might be a bit too early for that.  So when she couldn’t find the baby’s heartbeat, we were disappointed, but not too much so.

Still, we jumped at the chance for an ultrasound, and the result was more than we could’ve imagined.  We were both surprised at the sheer amount of activity that we saw from the little bean.  As we stared at the monitor, we saw the little guy/girl moving about, twisting and turning, and flailing his/her little arm and leg buds with wild abandon.  We saw the heartbeat pumping away at 180bpm(!), we saw the beginnings of some facial features, and we even saw the spine.

Right now, he/she is a little bigger than a lime, with the head taking up half of the overall body mass (I hope that means we’ve got another geek on our hands).  All of the organs have formed, the fingers and toes have separated, the hair and nails are growing, and as a result, this entire event has suddenly become a lot less abstract—though it’s still very surreal to look at Renae and remember that there’s another human being inside her.

I promise that I won’t turn Opus into one of those dreaded baby blogs, but I hope you’ll forgive the occasional outburst of amazement and awe during the course of the next few months.  After all, there’s a miracle taking place before my eyes.

(And if you’re the praying kind, Renae and I would appreciate the occasional good word.  All of the baby books say we’re almost past the most critical stage, but a little extra peace never hurts.  Plus, I’ve realized that I suddenly need to develop some mad home improvement skills if Baby Opus is going to get that Totoro-themed nursery.)

9 Comments

  1. Gravatar for Jose Caicedo
    Commenter
    Jose Caicedo
    Posted
    August 21, 2007

    *sweeeeet!* this is awesome news Jas. Congratulations to you and Renae! I’m very exited and happy for you guys.

    Best of luck with everything,

    -jose

  2. Gravatar for Paul
    Commenter
    Paul
    Posted
    August 21, 2007

    DUDE!!  Congratulations Jason!

  3. Gravatar for Dave
    Commenter
    Dave
    Posted
    August 21, 2007

    Congrats.  I am very happy for you.  You needn’t apologize for sharing yourself on opus.  That is what has made opus great over the years, it is an extension of you.  You would have to apologize if you didn’t share some of this with your friends via opus.  And most fortunate, the kid is already better looking than you!!!

    Dave

  4. Gravatar for hewhocutsdown
    Commenter
    hewhocutsdown
    Posted
    August 21, 2007

    Congratulations. As the new father of a baby girl, the joys of the pregnancy are just the beginning. God bless

  5. Gravatar for The Visitor
    Commenter
    The Visitor
    Posted
    August 21, 2007

    congrats, man!

  6. Gravatar for Kelly Anne
    Commenter
    Kelly Anne
    Posted
    August 21, 2007

    How exciting!! I hope you WILL share occasional outburtst of pre-parental joy on here! Can’t wait to read it. You guys will be fantastic parents! :)

  7. Gravatar for Patrick Beagan
    Commenter
    Patrick Beagan
    Posted
    August 21, 2007

    I can’t tell you enough how amazing it is to be a parent! I should thank you as a dad for having turned me on to Miyazaki years ago, which turned into a long tradition of me and my son watching the movies (in age appropriate order) over the years together as “pals”. The films quickly became one of our many bonds that we continue to share.

    I wish you and your wife the same treasured times as parents. I’ll echo the sentiment that you both will rock as parents! Enjoy it all…

  8. Gravatar for neil
    Commenter
    neil
    Posted
    August 21, 2007

    When Shelli and I were anticipating Asher’s birth, one of the most fun things about it was learning the word that midwives described each growth phase with: your little person is the size of a lime, etc. I remember half-pea, peanut, bean and grapefruit, as well. What a crack up. It’s funny to look at him now in his 2 and a half year-old body and remember how we described him at each stage.

    I’m happy for you both that you get to experience such a thing. And it’s crazy to think we all had arm buds once! Arm buds!

    I wish I could be in Lincoln for the baby room painting party: Totoro would be fun!

  9. Gravatar for Jon Anderson
    Commenter
    Jon Anderson
    Posted
    August 21, 2007

    Got one past the goalie.. Nice work!

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Jason Morehead

Opus is a website masquerading as a blog masquerading as a webzine. It’s where I (that’d be Jason Morehead) write about music, movies, art, web design, religion, family, and whatever else happens to interest me at the time. More...

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