baby girl easter

Well if the new look on the blog hasn't given it away already...it's a girl! As of about noon Thursday, the technician told us she was 100% certain that it was girl parts, and no one has come back to tell her she's wrong in twenty years. We'd had a hint at gender four weeks ago, but it was still pretty exciting to get it confirmed. As soon as we knew, it seemed so much easier to start imagining this little person and who she is going to be.

Also, the baby was awake, and we finally got all the measurements we needed. Everything looked good -- brain, spine, heart. She said that the baby has really long legs for someone her age. I'm not sure if that's a good thing for me or not! I am still measuring about a week earlier than my due date, but they probably won't officially change it at this point. I'll be doing my glucose test in four weeks, but she said they probably won't do another ultrasound until 34 weeks or so in late June.

So now it's off to start picking paint colors and bedding and all those fun things. I think we're both pretty excited to finally know. We went out to lunch after the appointment, and Steve was pretty funny. Every so often a look of sheer panic would cross his face. I'd ask him what was wrong, and it was always something different...usually relating to the thought of having a teenage girl. We'd better start shopping for modest clothes now! There won't be any older brothers, so I'm going to have to chase all the boys away! What if she wants to play club sports, and we have to travel all the time? Plenty of time to worry about that later, but we're excited to finally know which questions to ask!

On a related note, Baby Girl Easter did NOT like our little wake-up call Friday morning. I woke up first at 4:37ish thinking that Steve's leg was twitching. I woke him up, and then we realized the whole bed was shaking back and forth horizontally. I think it lasted for 20-30 seconds. Then after that, non-stop baby kicking started and lasted for about 25 minutes. I think the aftershocks scared her a bit too, because she was really active all day. Maybe babies are like dogs and are more sensitive to these things than we are? Who knows!

And we have...

...a seemingly healthy but frustratingly shy baby! The ultrasound on Thursday morning was really cool, but it was a bust in the gender-prediction department. Team Easter is now 0 for 3 in showing off at the 20 week scans! We have a guess from the technician based on a fleeting one-second glimpse that it may be a girl. But apparently the umbilical cord can mimic that and she was far from certain...so everything's gender-neutral for at least four more weeks.

We went in at 8:30, fully hydrated and ready to find out. The sonographer fished around and saw quite a few things -- functioning stomach and kidneys, arms, legs, spinal column, two chambers of the heart. But the baby was asleep, not moving much, and had its umbilical cord tucked firmly between its legs, which didn't change for both mini ultrasound sessions.

Steve and I have talked about this, and the coolest part for both of us was after about 5-10 minutes. The baby started waking up, moving the little body and arms a bit, and then tilted its head back, opened its mouth and let out two big yawns. It was just amazing to see it in that kind of detail and realize it really is a little person in there. We also got to see the baby drinking and see its tongue move.

She gave us a few minutes while she did the paperwork, and Steve was talking to my belly and trying to coax the baby into moving. At one point, he demanded the baby uncross its legs, and then followed up with the comment "If you're a girl, that's the only time you'll hear that from me!" After the tech came back, the baby was just not cooperating on necessary measurements, so they said we could come back after the appointment. So I drank a Cherry Coke in the waiting room in an attempt to help things along. This was only the second caffeinated beverage this little one has had, but alas...didn't work like I'd hoped.

We did go back in for about 15 minutes and got to see all four chambers of the heart and a few other organs. Then the technician had me do all sorts of acrobatics on the table...but to little avail. The baby squirmed around quite a bit, and tech thought she saw the telltale three lines at the very end but firmly stated it was only a guess. They also couldn't get several measurements that they wanted, so we are scheduled for another ultrasound in four weeks. Maybe we'll really find out then.

I wasn't certain how I'd react if I found out it was girl. Some of you know, I've been kind of terrified at the idea of having a daughter. I'm just more comfortable with boys. I can't stand pink, don't do well with girlie stuff, and don't relish the thought of being at war with a teenage girl for years. But when she told us her guess was a girl, it was like all the worries melted away and I was really excited. So now we know that either way will be wonderful.

Know this is a long-winded post, so I will sign off for now. Will try to post our new picture from Thursday when time allows later!