It's a GIRL!!

A beautiful, little girl. We got our ultrasound done a few days ago at the Prenatal Experience ( theprenatalexperience.com). My friend Sabrina owns the place and we had such a great time. She has a huge leather sectional couch that my entourage was able to lounge on, get comfortable and watch our baby on the big projection screen. Peter and I have no family in town, but we brought some friends. My best friend Molly, my god daughter Ella, her sister Ava, their cousin Mackensie and Ava and Ella’s mom, Christina all came with us to find out the sex. Ella is 2 ½ and Ava and Mackensie are 3 and ½; it was so fun having them there and seeing their reactions. Sabrina had me lie on the table and pull my shirt up. She told me that she confirms the sex to herself three times before announcing it to the room. Finally, the picture of our baby came up on the screen! It was such an awesome moment. Peter told me later that he teared up when she first appeared (he also said; thankfully nobody noticed-such a guy). I watched with half dazed smile, it was so neat to be able to look at my baby and see what she is doing inside. After just a few minutes, Sabrina was able to announce that it was in fact a she! Everyone clapped and Peter gave me a big kiss. I was so happy; I really wanted a girl first! Peter had mentally prepared himself for a boy, so it took him a moment to wrap his head around being a father to a little girl, and he is very excited now-once he realized that little girls can fish too. We continued to watch her for several more minutes and it was just so cool. She was sucking her thumb, playing with her umbilical cord, kicking and stretching all over the place. I kept saying “look, how cute she is!” It was such a relief to know that I am having a girl and to see her sweet face. And now I can finally start planning and decorating!

1 in 4

I thought I was done with the throwing up part. I mean, I am in my second trimester now all the books and online resources say that “most women start feel better around the 10-12 week.” Usually there is always the pre-cautionary disclaimer of “but some unlucky women feel sick their entire pregnancy.” Awesome. I am actually feeling a lot better. I no longer feel like I want to die or think that I am about to die. I am still tired but it’s now safe for me to drive without fear of falling asleep at the wheel because I just can’t seem to manage to keep my eyes open. So my throwing up took me by surprise. I honestly think it was mostly due to the awful day I had. Early in the day I found out that a friend of mine that I have known since middle school, who was exactly one week ahead of me in her pregnancy, lost her baby.
It happened last week, when she was 15 weeks, just where I am. Two other of our friends from middle and high school are also pregnant, all of us due within a week of each other. We were so excited to be pregnant together, we had already planned a Fall prego girls weekend, where we would do belly casts together and take lots of pictures. When I first found out we were all pregnant, the statistic of 1 in 4 women suffering a miscarriage flashed through my mind. I cried to Peter that night, saying one of us is not going to make it if that statistic is true. He went on to try and explain a complicated statistical formula of why it wouldn’t apply to us (he’s an engineer). But I had a bad feeling. When we all heard heartbeats and got to 12 weeks, we celebrated and I thought all was well. And then we heard from Kelly. Of course I cried, and all day I was upset and finally at the end of the day my body was so stressed from being upset and crying that I threw up. Immediately after I found out about Kelly, I called the Birth Cottage and asked if they could fit me in to hear my baby’s heartbeat. I wanted reassurance that my baby was ok and I could not wait till my next week’s appointment. When I heard my baby’s heartbeat it made me cry again. Diana, the other midwife I see at the Birth Cottage, said the heartbeat was perfect and strong. When I finally got the courage to call Kelly and send my love, she was doing fine. She and her husband have a strong faith and know that everything happens on God’s timing.