It's a BOY!

On Monday, August 3, just a day after my final baby shower, I spent the day writing thank you notes on the couch. While I was definitely suspicious of my slowly climbing blood pressure, I certainly didn't think that I'd have a baby the very next day!!!

Monday morning I woke up feeling nauseous and immediately knew I would have to take it easy. Despite doing that all day long, by 4:00 pm, Brandon, Dr. Kirchner, and myself had reached the conclusion that we were going to induce. 

Nine and a half hours after we started the induction, Brandon and I welcomed the cutest, quietest, most alert little BOY into the world! We were both beside ourselves and, no, we couldn't believe it was really a BOY!!!

Boone Scott Westerholm

August 4, 2015 at 5:25 am

6 pounds 12 ounces

19 3/4 inches long

As soon as Dr. Kirchner held him up she said, "It's a..." then stopped and looked at Brandon. He smiled while he just stared at our baby. I stared at him and said, "What is it?!"

He laughed a little to himself and looked at me and said, "It's a boy!" While overwhelmingly surprised by this news, I'm certain I didn't show it. Once I knew I had a baby and that the baby was OK, I laid my head back instantly desperate for some SLEEP! Ha! I was utterly exhausted, y'all, but so thankful, at-ease, relieved, and a whole bunch of other emotions all wrapped up into one.

We had so many excited people in the waiting room waiting to find out the gender of our baby: Nana, PawPaw, Grandma DiDi, McKenna, Gigi, Lefty, Aunt Mary, Aunt Kimmie, & Uncle Ross! Here's the video of Brandon walking into the waiting room to tell them. I asked him to video so I could see all of their reactions, too!

Oh, and don't worry! We managed to take umpteen pictures before leaving the hospital too, but I'm going to save them for another time.

Many, many thanks to everyone who shared in our excitement as we welcomed our sweet boy. He has definitely changed our world and we're slightly obsessed with him! Life with him is going to be so much fun!

Here are just a few more pictures from Boone's birthday...

Boone & Mommy

Boone & Daddy

We were blessed with many visitors who were thrilled to meet our sweet boy. Some of them were...Lefty & Gigi (Mark & Sharon), PawPaw & Nana (DeWayne & Melissa), Grandma DD (Darla), Auntie McKenna, Uncle Nic, Aunt Malorie, Cousin Dax, Aunt Mary Koehler, Great Grandma Carolyn Westerholm, Great Grandma Doris Roessing, Great Grandpa Arlon & Great Grandma Jerrie Jahns, Great Grandma Mary Lakey, Uncle Ross & Aunt Kim Roessing, Uncle Rocky & Aunt Jennifer King, Uncle Bob & Aunt Kathy Seeger, and Carlie, Josh & Connor Tucker.

Yes, we got in trouble a couple of times for having so many visitors and were pretty exhausted, but we honestly wouldn't change it. We know how exciting it was for everyone to meet Boone & we're blessed (ten times over!) to know so many people who love him!

Gender Prediction Results

As most of you know, Brandon and I don't plan on finding out the gender of Baby Westerholm. Initially, this was my idea and I got Brandon on board with me. He first tried arguing, "If it's a girl, I HAVE to know."

He thinks he's destined to have nothing but girls because he apparently has always said he doesn't want them. He's always told me, "What would I DO with a girl?" I always tell him, "The same thing my dad did with me - take her hunting!"

I figure that there aren't many genuinely happy surprises in life, and this is one of those rare times. I've said it over and over again and always will - we've seen and experienced too much to worry about anything other than a healthy baby!

Honestly. Truthfully. So don't pull your, "Oh come on! I know you have a preference!" card. I really, seriously don't. If we have a boy, there will be someone to carry on our family name. If we have a girl, well, that's like a real-life game of dress up...FUN! There's nothing like being a mom to a boy, and nothing like being a dad to a girl - and vice versa, I'm sure!

Even though we're not finding out the baby's gender via blood test, or sonogram, I'm still curious as can be about what our baby will be. I'm looking forward to that moment when the doctor says, "It's a -----!!!!" It gives me chills just to think about how overwhelmingly full our hearts will be.

For fun, here are some gender prediction test results...

Chinese Gender Predictor - GIRL
Weird thing about this one is that I've done a couple version of this test - all very similar. Two say girl, but one says boy.

Baby's Heartbeat - GIRL
Baby's heartbeat has been over 140 at every appointment, which says girl. Our sonogram tech swears she doesn't believe in this predictor. I also talked to a mom of 10 at church and she said all her babies had heartbeats in the 140s.

Wedding Ring Test - BOY and GIRL
Two people have done this test on me, but they've varied. The first person was a woman who asked me to lay down and used a wedding band; she said girl. The second person was a man who did the test while I was sitting in a chair and it was with an ordinary ring, not a wedding band; he said boy.

Cravings - BOY and GIRL 
I've had cravings for both sweet and salty things. Twins? NO.

Morning Sickness - BOY
Fortunately, I've had no morning sickness, which indicates boy.

Carrying - BOY
Most days I think I'm carrying the baby low, which many people think is a sign of a boy.

Of course, everyone has varying versions of each of these wives tales, too!

Here are some predictions from some of our family members and us...

Brandon - BOY*

Jessica - GIRL**

DeWayne - GIRL

Melissa - BOY

Darla - BOY

McKenna - GIRL

Mark - BOY

Sharon - BOY

*He changes this weekly, and sometimes daily. In fact, I originally drafted and had "girl" there (because of the above statements that he's made), and had to change it when I asked him at 10:29 pm on Monday, June 1. I obviously didn't publish this post immediately since it's July, but I bet if I asked him again he would say girl. Ha!

**This is what I'd pick if you absolutely forced me to make a guess. And I mean forced me. I am confused and often go back and forth like my husband. I've always thought I would have girls, but something - I don't know what or why - something makes me think it could be a boy.

Many other family members not listed above think BOY.

On June 8, I uploaded the picture above to Facebook and out of the 22 people that guessed the baby's gender, 16 of them said GIRL. I love that this baby has confused us all! So...what do you think?