It's a Girl!

Graham and I had our 20 week appointment on Friday. I was a nervous wreck Friday morning. I don't know why I was so nervous to find out the sex. It was like Christmas morning...you know you are going to get something, but you don't know what!

We weren't able to go to Dominick's (our first date restaurant) because we found out the road between there and the Doctor's office (literally less than a mile) was closed from the flood. We had to take a HUGE detour. I started wondering if that was a bad sign (will our bad luck streak continue?). Then, on our super long detour I found a Willy's! Willy's was my favorite restaurant my last 2 years of college. We don't have one near us, so I was definitely okay with it as a second choice. [I realize I just spent a paragraph talking about food...I must be pregnant].

We got to the doctor's office and they took us straight back. We didn't have to wait at all. Is our luck maybe improving?

The doctor started almost immediately with the ultrasound. He said he was having difficulty getting it the baby to move up as it was tightly down in my pelvis. He started through his checklist with what he could see. The brain was there, then there was the heart, beating with it's 4 chambers intact. Next were the kidneys, a look at the very straight spine, 2 arms, 2 legs, and etc. He explained everything in way greater detail than we ever needed to know. But on to the sex, right? He kept saying how difficult it was to see. He offered me candy, hoping the sugar would get the baby moving. He and I both pushed and shook my stomach as much as we could, but it didn't move. He FINALLY got a little peek at the baby's bottom. I mean LITTLE peek. It was only there for a second. He didn't see a little winky and he didn't see the 3 lines you look for in a girl. He did see some lines, and told us he believed with 75% certainty that it was a girl. He scheduled us for another ultrasound in a month since he wasn't able to see the bladder. He promised he'd look for the sex again.

I was sooooo disappointed! I felt like our bad luck streak was still here! I was so worried about bad news, or disappointment over one sex or another (even though I truly had no preference going into it), that I never considered we'd see NO sex. After Graham and I talked in the parking lot I realized he came to a completely different conclusion than I did. He thought the doctor seemed pretty confident on it being a girl, but wasn't going to give us higher odds. I talked to my friend Ellen who uses the same doctor and she sided more with Graham. Although Dr. Crone had given her higher odds on her 2 previous babies (85-90%), she said he'd never given her 100%. You never know for sure until it comes out. We just won't paint the room pink or cut tags off!

I called my sisters and sister-in-law and told them the news. It was starting to sink in more as I told people. Abby corrected me a few times when I called the baby "it". It was really starting to feel more like a girl once I got my pronouns correct. I went to party city and bought balloons, banners, and pink signs. Sinking in a little more now. Someone asked me if I was throwing my own baby shower. Ha ha.

When I got home, Abby came over and helped me decorate the dining room for a big surprise for our parents. She made the cutest "It's a girl" banner. We hung Hannah's pink baby clothes on a clothesline in the window. A while back mom gave me my baby clothes. I hung up the dress I wore home from the hospital and some of mom's favorite baby clothes of mine. Graham bought a bouquet of pink roses. We had a pink stork life sized balloon.

Pretty soon all of the parents were here. Mom kept asking when they get to find out. I told them not until they left, so she of course tried to leave. After enough suspense, I asked Mom and Carolyn to go set the dining room table. Abby ran around the other side of the dining room with camera ready and took their picture as the opened the door. Dad and George were 2 steps behind. It's a girl!! They were so excited, even Mom who has been praying for 30 years for a boy. My camera didn't cooperate, so as soon as I get Abby's pictures I will update the blog.

Friday night only became chaotic from there. We got so many phone calls and emails and I have not been able to return them all. I love my facebook and all of the sweet well wishes we got from so many friends. We had an even busier weekend than usual and hopefully this week I'll be able to catch up with everyone.

As fate would have it, Little Miss Tucker has been on the move since Friday. She's moved more in the last two days than she has in her brief little life. I'm sure she'll clam up again in time for the next ultrasound.

Since we aren't giving away her name yet, we've got a few code names for her. Hannah thinks we should name her Ariel, so that's the most popular. Mom and Dad are still calling her Junior. Our friend Terri calls her Teresa Ann. She's already gotten a few gifts. Our house is filling up with pink!