IT'S A .....................

*19 + 2*

Girl? With 70% confidence, the OB told us we're having a girl. That's not quite the percentage I was hoping to walk away with. Let me back track...

Friday (18+6) was our "20 week ultrasound". Not quite 20 weeks, but close enough. I'd pushed to get it on the early side because a) I wanted to see the baby/find out the gender, and b) I wanted to know how things were going, placenta wise.

I decided the afternoon of the u/s to eat a hot fudge sundae from McDonald's and a Little Debbie brownie with the intent of waking up the baby, not making things difficult. Apparently, I had a little too much sugar, because while we were waiting for the doctor (which took an eternity, thanks to the chick in the next room bemoaning her Lovenox shot), baby was going crazy. It was moving a ton, and while I thought I felt it a few weeks back, now I know I'm definitely feeling it, and have almost everyday since.

OB finally came in for u/s and asked if we wanted him to "look". We said heck yeah! And so it began, with a squirmy little baby, moving all over, making it hard for the doctor to get many good pictures. He did point out both sides of the brain, four chambers of the heart, stomach, arms, and legs, and took measurements of the head (right on target), torso (also on target), and legs (measuring 20 weeks, shocking). Several times, he tried to see between the legs. He tried going at it a couple different ways, but the baby, despite all the movement, would not spread it's legs.

Finally, in a last ditch attempt, there was an image that flashed by. He stepped the frames back, back, back, and then there were three lines, the telltale sign of a girl. But the way he said it, it was clear he wasn't certain. My heart was beating so hard in anticipation of the announcement, I thought it would pop out of my chest. But the "announcement" was anticlimactic. I had imagined that I would weep or jump off the table at the pronouncement of a girl, but nothing. Sadly, I had no reaction. I guess there was some disappointment that there was no clear answer, and also shock that there was potential that my second child could be a little girl.

The doctor helped me sit up, I asked him how certain he was it was a girl. He told me he was about 70% sure, but advised us not to start shopping for pink or painting the walls of the nursery. I asked about my placenta situation (which he had pointed out on the u/s screen) and whether the amount of movement was as expected. He said that it hadn't moved much, but that was what he expected based on the size of my uterus at this point. He said he'd do another u/s with my glucose test around 24 weeks. SO, we don't quite know the gender now, but at least I know that in another month or so, we will get a firm answer. It's gonna be a long month.

In the meantime, we are starting to talk about baby sister to Noah, and say "she" between the two of us. Outside of that, we are cautiously optimistic. I have the image of the "three lines", which are pretty clear, but obviously, I don't want to cling to the idea of a girl, just in case it is a boy. I will be happy either way because I know it's healthy and growing how it should be, but now that the more real possibility of a girl has been dangled in front of me, I think I want it to be so now more than ever.