20 Week Ultrasound

Today was our scheduled 20-week ultrasound. What a fun day! Brett had the day off on account of snow but by mid morning, the roads were mostly clear. We decided to make a day of the experience. We took Corban to my parents' house for him to eat lunch and take a nap. He's our wild man and we didn't want to wrestle him in the doctor's office. Caden went with Brett and myself for a special date. We ate lunch at Genghis Grill and then spent some time in Barnes and Noble. Caden continues to impress us with his self-taught reading skills. We arrived at my doctor's office a few minutes early and the anticipation was killing us. I told Brett that before today I would have said I was 80% sure this baby was a boy but today I feel like it's a 50-50% chance. I've told everyone, "I'm expecting it to be a boy but a girl would be a nice surprise."

Finally, the ultrasound technician called me back but asked Brett and Caden to wait. She took lots of measurements and looked for any abnormalities. She couldn't find anything to be concerned about. She was even able to count 10 fingers and 10 toes! The baby measured 20 weeks and one day and weighed 12 oz. (a can of coke). After gathering all her medical info, she invited Brett and Caden to join us. She spent a few minutes showing them all the things I had already seen: brain, head, face, eyes, legs, finger, toes, heart, and stomach (we even saw hiccups). Each time she was reassuring us that everything looked perfect. Then she paused and said, "Well, I know what you're having...it's a girl." (insert shocked look here and tears with quick glances to Brett who had the same reaction) I touched her arm and said, "Are you serious?!! Are you sure?!" "Oh yes, I'm sure." "How sure are you?" (Remember we received two different opinions with Corban, so I'm not very trusting when it comes to ultrasounds.) She replied "I've very sure and I haven't been wrong in the 27 years I've been doing this." "Well," I said, "I guess that makes it official." She then showed us on the ultrasound what she was looking for to declare it was a girl. Three little lines. Yep, they were there. Wow.

Now Caden had a slightly different reaction. He had made it clear before this special day that he really wanted our baby to be a boy. Can you blame him? It's all he's known. So when she announced it was a girl I heard a slight "hmphh" come out of my first born's mouth. He sat with his Daddy very patiently listening and watching the ultrasound technician describe everything to us. One minute later, he reached up to whisper in his Brett's ear, "Daddy, I changed my mind." "Changed your mind about what?" asked Brett. "I want a baby sister first and then a baby brother." So sweet! He's going to be a huge help and quite the protective big brother. And what did Corban think? He just mirrored our reactions. Needless to say, we've got some practicing to do with him of how to be gentle with a baby...especially a baby girl.

A GIRL. I still can't believe it. I keep replaying that scene in my head of her telling us it was a girl. I'm not sure it will sink in 100% until she is born. SHE, ha! I never thought I'd say that. You see, I had convinced myself I would only be a mother of boys the rest of my life. I was totally OK with that and actually quite excited about it. I'm definitely excited about adding a little girl to our mix, but it's going to take some time to adjust my "future family picture" for our life.

Enjoy this sweet video of the boys and their reactions once we were all in the car headed home.