160

Beats per minute, a little heartbeat that was difficult to find right away, but which came through, crystal-clear with the little belly microphone that was concentrated in his/her direction. Apparently, 160 is right on target, as Little Bean 2 (we really need a new nickname, and fast) is only an inch and a half long at this point.

With our family coming out of a pretty stressful whirlwind of a six months and me, personally, being a bit overwhelmed by the number of spinning plates I have currently, there has actually not been all that much time to just sit back and reflect on the miracle we have growing steadily in our midst. For all the uncertainty we have surrounding our environment seven months from now, I remember how my initial reaction to the positive prenancy test was pure mirth and joy. It was a similar feeling yesterday, when we heard that heartbeat. I had forgotten what sort of first, enormous milestone that really is-that moment when all your nagging thoughts of "what if the test was just wrong?" or, worse, "what if something has gone wrong in these first couple months?" (the midwife reminded us yesterday that the vast majority of miscarriages, were they to occur, would have happened by this point) are laid to rest and the baby becomes real. Indescribable, the love & closeness you feel for your partner at a moment like that. More laugher ensued. And it was wild, having Lucy there. She really didn't get a whole heck of a lot out of much of anything else (although there was some curiousity during the actual "examination"), but she joined in the excitement during that listening session.

On a side note-the first night of auditions went well. We had a few no-shows, but also had some really talented performers come; some with surprisingly impressive resumes and professionally done head shots (publicity photos). We went out to Perkins (where the flag is bigger than the parking lot) afterwards with the director to sort of run through the auditioners and discuss callbacks. I had a short stack and, stupidly, a couple of cups of coffee which ended up keeping me from hitting the sack until 2:00 a.m. Got up at at 5:45 a.m. Based on my experience, 3:00 p.m. should be interesting.