As far as "surprises" go... this was our most eventful week yet. I think I'll begin with the traditional weekly photo:
Yes... the sign I'm holding is correct... at least that's what we're told. What a ride! Friday morning I had a doctor's appointment where we were doing a follow-up ultrasound to check the babies heart. Last time, the baby was moving so much that we just couldn't get a good picture. The first thing I noticed during the ultrasound is that Baby Hansen's hands were up next to the face. I remembered the doctor telling me at the previous appointment that most often, girls will keep their hands up by their face while boys have their hands down near... well, let's just say their "waist area". I was surprised to see the babies hands up by the face... especially after the hands clearly weren't there during the last ultrasound.
Baby Hansen was a little more cooperative this time around... not quite as much movement. As the doctor performed the ultrasound and moved down the body in order to confirm the gender, he made a comment... "see how she....". His words trailed off in my mind. I missed the rest of his sentence. Did he just say "she"... I wondered. I think he caught himself. The doctor then said "last time, we were pretty sure this was a little boy, right?" I nodded. The look on his face said it all. He showed me the genital area, pointed out the different parts and let me know we are having a little girl. I missed most of what he said... just trying to somehow digest this shocking news. He apologized for leading me astray the previous appointment. With all the movement last time, who knows what we were looking at that we thought was the babies private area. All three of us (Trent, the doctor, and myself) seemed 100% convinced that it was a boy. So... either the baby changed gender overnight... or... well, we were wrong. My instincts tell me it is the latter.
Now the doctor did try to add a little humor to the situation. He told me we could have a "tie-breaker" ultrasound during my next appointment. After reviewing the ultrasound pictures, I don't think that is really necessary... however, I'll still take him up on it. Who knows what to believe, right? It took me a couple days to really comprehend this sudden change in events. It wasn't the message that we're having a girl that really concerned me... it was just the shift in mindset. I was expecting a boy. From the moment we found out (thought we found out) it was a boy, my excitement for that has been growing. My response would have been the same if we were originally told we were having a girl and then found out it was really a boy. Trent's adaptability to the news was much quicker than my own. I can honestly say that we are both thrilled to be having (or at least think we're having) a little girl... and we're not the only ones.
Sharing the news with my niece, Morgan, was a highlight. She'll be four in December. When I asked her several months ago if she wanted a boy cousin or a girl cousin, she insisted she wanted a girl. When we told her we were having a boy, it took her a little while to be happy about it. She finally admitted "I guess that's okay". She was pretty confused at first when I explained to her that she's going to have a girl cousin.... she said "no, I'm having a boy cousin." Try explaining that one to a 4-year-old! When she understood we really are having a girl, she was very excited. Hopefully there are no more surprise changes in the babies gender... or Morgan might need a therapist to help her sort it out!
Everything makes sense now. I blogged a couple months ago about how my softball season was not going as good as I hoped it would and how Baby Hansen must be a girl... cause we're bad at softball. Once I found out we were having a boy, all my excuses left with that bit of knowledge. Now, however, it all makes sense. The baby and I really were bad at softball... and my initial impressions while we were playing that I had a girl growing in me were correct. It always feels good to be right!
Trent and I are moving on to the fun stage now... trying to come up with names that we both like and think our baby should go by. We're very excited to be having a baby girl for my brother's three daughters to play with. I've sure got a lot to learn... besides the normal baby things (like how to do a girl's hair)... but I'm certainly up for the challenge. We're hopeful we'll have another great week... with less surprises :)
If there were any other way around the maternity clothing, I'd take it. However, this will have to work... at least for the next 11 weeks. I don't have any symptoms or signs to add to the list I put out last week. I've actually felt really good this last week. Sleeping well at night is a "hit and miss" thing but I'm planning on enjoying the good nights as much as possible. My instincts tell me that a good nights sleep will be harder to come by once our baby girl joins us.
