"Yep, that's a peepee if I ever saw one!"

Okay, so we went to the doctor yesterday for a regular checkup. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a chance for the doc to check out the progress. We got to the doctor's office at about 4:45pm, and found it packed to the gills with patients. It seems that Thursday evenings are reserved for folks who can't make it during the day. Our appointment was for 4:45pm, but it was about 5:30pm before we were seen. Hey, no problem - we were in no hurry.
We had another ultrasound scheduled for January 30th at MUSC, and at that appointment we were hoping that the Bean would be a little less bashful than the first view we had of him.
...
What's that? Oh, I see your eagle eye has noticed the fact that in that last sentence I referred to the Bean in a single gender manner, rather than the now familiar "he/she, his/hers" manner. So how are we now so sure about the sex of the Bean? Well, after the doctor had finished checking Margaret out, she said to us, "Since you guys had to wait so long this evening, why don't we try to see if we can determine if it's a boy or a girl." Naturally we were game, and after a bit of coaxing to get the Bean out of his shell, the doctor uttered those magic words, "Yep, that's a peepee if ever I saw one!" This woman went to medical school, so the delivery of the revelation struck me as a bit amusing, but I wanted to pick the little lady up and hug her. I ultimately resisted that urge, since she would probably be delivering the Bean.
Margaret and I looked at each other and just beamed. I think the news surprised us, more because we weren't expecting to get said news until January 30. It had nothing to do with being disappointed with the result of the ultrasound. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are both thrilled. But I guess somehow we both got it in our heads that it would be a girl. Margaret has said more than once in the past that I seem like the potential father of a girl. Hey, it's not as if we can't have another later, or adopt.
So we're having a boy. Wow. The Bean is a He-Bean. ...WOW... Once again I am humbled by something far smaller than me in stature, yet unbelievably immense in terms of the people I care about on this Earth. I considered running home and making a blog entry, but I chose to wait, to let the news sink in. Of course I immediately called family and told them, and everyone was of course thrilled.
So now here I am, 24 hours after finding out we're having a boy, and I am still giddy. Don't get me wrong, it would have been the same if it was a girl. I'm not one of those guys who must sire a male offspring to carry on the family name...but since it seems just that very thing has happened, I have to say it feels good.
For now we will continue to refer to our son as the Bean. Yes, we have names chosen for both a boy and a girl, but we are choosing to keep the name under wraps unil the birth. I will say that had it been a girl, we would have named her Claire Veronika. Claire after Margaret's late Great Aunt Claire, a unique woman if ever there was one, and Veronika because we both have always liked that name. The different spelling of Veronika (different here in the US, at least. Most American's spell it with a "c" rather than a "k") is in honor of my dear friend Veronika, who lives in Germany. She and I, along with our mutual firend Anna, used to go to movies and concerts together when I was stationed in Karlsruhe, Germany while in the army. As for the Bean's chosen name, well, you'll just have to wait and see.
Okay, so that is that. If you don't mind indulging me in a bit of parental bravado, let me just say, "IT'S A BOY! IT'S A BOY! IIIITTT'S A BOOOOOOOY!!!!!! WOO-HOO!!!!!

Thank you, you can now return to whatever it was you were doing.