Something New and It's Blue!

Today, we got gender confirmation.  I don't know how all of you post your vivid ultrasound pictures on your blogs and circle things.  This is as good as it's gets for me (Obviously, I need a better photo-editing program). Anyway, I think you can figure "it" out.

I'm so used to seeing girly parts around this time of pregnancy.  This was such a new and welcoming sight!  The doctor, last month, was right on when she predicted boy!  Looking back, I don't know why I doubted her for one second, despite people warning me.  I can still vividly see her checking gender three times, nodding her head and saying, "Yup. Yup. Boy."

Today, it took the ultrasound doctor about three seconds to identify gender.  He did not even hesitate.  I believe Matt had, "That's my boy!" out of his mouth before the doctor even finished confirming it.  I love an obvious, easy gender confirmation.

As I've mentioned earlier, I have three sisters, no brothers and two daughters.  I am more than thrilled to be having a son.  I know that it will be a big change in my life.  Everyone is sure to start telling me all about it.  As of right now, I can't even imagine being a mother to a boy.  I'm sure, just like with the girls, I'll figure it out as I as go along!  What a journey it's going to be!

Excuse me while I hop online and buy some cloth diapers in BOY prints and start packing up a box of girl clothes for my niece to have!

You Get What You Get and You Don't Get Upset...Or Do You?

I've been stewing for a couple of days now.  I walked out of my doctor's appointment on Thursday feeling elated. It finally looked like we were going to have a boy.

I came home, blogged about it and sent off a few messages. By the end of the day, no less than two friends had emailed me links to "nub" theory. I'm not really going to get into detail about it here. You can Google it. Basically, I was reminded that a labia and boy parts look so much alike at this point, I was crazy to believe the 80% chance of boy my doctor gave me.

I had already heard something about "nub" theory. That's why I asked her a few times if she was seeing swollen labia/undeveloped girl parts. It's also why I asked her if she was looking at the umbilical cord. If any of my readers were there with me, you would have asked me to shut up and let her do her job. I had her looking at genitalia no less than three times because of what I knew. So, I thought, "Well, she does ultrasounds up to a dozen times a day. Probably for an upwards of ten years. I asked the right questions. She'd be cruel to give me that high of a chance if she didn't see something very boyish" and I walked away happy as a lark.

I would have liked to live in my fairytale world for a while. While I'm not mad at my friends, I am disappointed (however well-meaning) the links were sent to me. I've looked them over and looked them over and looked over other sites and am now mad at my OB. At the time, it looked so clear. Legs closed with a bulge hanging down in between. A small sac. After looking at the website pictures, I have no idea what I saw or what the heck she was looking at that has her almost convinced it's a boy. It was unprofessional for her to give me any percentage at all. She could have said something like, "Well, I think I may see boy parts - but, it's so early, I'm keeping it at 50-50%, I'm sorry."  Better yet, she could have thought to herself that she saw boy parts, but told me it was too early.

Here's the thing though. I already love the baby growing inside of me. Boy or girl, it doesn't matter. Not in the end. I hate it when people imply I won't love another little girl. Of course I will. I cried for nearly two weeks, almost all day, every day, when I found out Lila was a girl.  Slowly, I came around, pulled out all Liv's infant clothes and moved on. When I held her in my arms for the first time, I forgot all about wanting a boy. I loved her instantly and realized I had loved her all along.

So, will I be heartbroken if this is another girl? Yes, I will. So will Matt. For a little while, at least. Then, we will move on. We will love our little girl and so will her sisters. That's life. What a journey it is!

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!