Boy Parts? Must Be a Mistake

We have a birth plan in mind. The plan does not involve an OB. It involves a midwife. Her name is Karin and I start seeing her next month (more about that plan in another post). Until then, I've been seeing an OB.

I like the OB. However, she's a bit nervous. She's all about testing for everything possible (we don't test for anything except routine blood and urinary testing to make sure I am healthy). I look forward to the relaxed disposition of my midwife. During my three-month check-up today, she flipped on the ultrasound machine. I thought she was just pulling out the doppler to get a heart rate reading.  Instead of immediately asking her to turn it off (I don't think multiple ultrasounds are necessary and the jury's out as to whether too many do more long-term harm than good), curiosity got the best of me.

She took some measurements. Showed me arms, legs, spine, heart, and so on. The baby is measuring 13-weeks and two days. Pushing my due date from early October to the end of September.  I then asked her if it was too early to tell if it was a boy or girl.  The legs were clearly crossed and a hand kept venturing down over his/her "parts." Quietly, she moved around the doppler and got a shot of the underside of the baby's bottom (I believe this is a "potty shot"). In the past, I've seen an empty space or a just a crack. This time, however, I saw a bulge. A very clear bulge. She then says, "See that? Looks like a boy."  She then did some more measurements, came back, checked again, showed me the bulge again, reassuring me that it was not the umbilical cord. She then took a couple pictures of the length of the baby and then went back again for a peak. The bulge was still there - looking suspiciously like a scrotum.

I've read, in a few places, that it's kind of a crap-shot to determine the sex of a baby before 16-weeks. The "parts" that look boy could be swollen girl parts.  The OB doesn't think that's the case here. I told her Lila was going to cry if it was a boy and she said, "Oh, her poor world is about to change."  I think she looked one more time before saying, "Yes, since it's early on and in Germany we are not really supposed to tell you at this point, I'll say that there is an 80% chance that it's a boy and 20% chance that it's a girl."

Am I excited? Not yet. Honestly, I can barely believe it and am kind of with the doubters who say, "Yeah, probably enlarged/underdeveloped girl parts."  In mid-May, we'll have our anatomy ultrasound.  Until then, I will be cautiously optimistic!