The Fourth Appointment - Gender Reveal

Friday, March 6 was the big OBGYN visit to find out baby's gender.  The waiting room was more packed than I'd ever seen.  There were about 20 people in there.  Of course, some were husbands or kids, but it was so crowded.  They update a board with estimated waiting times as people check in and out.  I had two appointments - the lab and the doctor.  Thankfully, neither one had a wait time listed which means the wait would be 30 minutes or last, which, if you ask me, is still a wait, but two doctors had a one hour wait time.  One lady walked in, looked at the board, and just dropped her shoulders in disappointment.  We waited about 20 minutes before being called back to the ultrasound lab.  The lady was very nice and said she wouldn't tell us the gender unless she felt 100% confident in her declaration.  She spent the first ten minutes looking at  various parts of the body and taking measurements: femur, skull, heart, kidney, spine, umbilical cord.  It was fascinating, but I was wanted to shout, "Ok, get to the point here.  Boy or girl???"  She had some trouble getting baby V to cooperate.  Her legs were crossed.  So ladylike already!  The tech had me roll over on my left side, and eventually she got the money shot and wrote on the screen, "I'M A GIRL!"  A little tear rolled down my cheek; I was just so happy.  I had just known all along that we'd have a daughter, but it was nice to have it confirmed.  

Isn't she beautiful?  Such long, dainty legs!

After the appointment with the lab we went back out to the waiting room to be called in for our appointment with our doctor.  This appointment was fairly fast.  They measured my stomach and baby's heart rate (160 bpm), and then just asked if I had any questions.  I'm still struggling with round ligament pain, but unfortunately/fortunately that's normal, and you can't really do anything about it (no heating pad on the stomach).  My only other question was about the prevention of varicose veins, and in a few short days I will be the proud owner of super attractive prescription grade graduated compression hose.  Woot woot!  Robert has gotten to experience all sorts of new things with me while I've been pregnant.  Now he can add watching his wife get measured for custom-fitted pantyhose to the list.  I know that aren't super trendy, but it's a small price to pay in order to have healthy veins for the rest of my lift.  Also, I was ready the pamphlet and it's supposed to really help with swollen ankles which is always an issue during pregnancy.  It hasn't happened to me yet, and hopefully it won't have the opportunity to get too bad.  Having good circulation also gives you more energy.  Who doesn't need that?

We're having a daughter!

After hitting up the medical supply store we went to Build A Bear in the mall to make our gender reveal item.  This rabbit will be baby girl's stuffed animal, and it was the perfect way to tell me family that there's going to be a new princess in town.

After FaceTime-ing and calling family that lives out of town, we hit the road to meet up with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and Pepaw for dinner and a party.  Jim and Taylor were the hosts and did such a lovely job.  We new the gender of course, but nobody else did, so they decorated with pink and blue.

Mom made a poke cake with pink Jello and blue Cool Whip

Dinner was so fun!  I love living close to family again so we can do things like this.  After ate it was time for the big reveal.  We had wrapped up the rabbit and had Mom and Dad open it.  Just about everyone already had their money on girl, so it wasn't a total shock, but everyone was still very excited and happy.  We recapped the appointment and Facetimed Aunt Pam and Uncle Nelson, Memaw, and Aunt Cathy.

I think finding out we're having a daughter has made everything seem even more real.  We no longer have to say him or her, he or she, baby, but instead we can say her, she, our daughter, little girl.  It's just lovely.  I know I can't forget my mom role, but I'm just so excited to have a best friend one day like my mom and me.