Yesterday was our big ultrasound and Eric and I were both able to take off work a little early to go. It worked out great too, since Grandma was at home with Natalie (Kaiser doesn’t allow little ones under 12 in the radiology department). Anyway, it was so fun to see baby floating around happily. It made me remember what it was like to see Natalie dancing around on the screen for us to see- it makes the pregnancy feel and seem far more real. And it is just amazing what the technicians are able to make out. For the most part, I couldn’t tell what she was looking at, except when we saw a profile or a clear limb here or there. But the technician was able to get all the measurements she needed. She was very kind. Actually she was the same technician we had with Natalie.
We weren’t exactly decided whether we wanted to know the gender or not at the appointment. Eric kept asking, and I honestly wanted to stick with our original plan of being surprised. But then I was reminded of my response to learning Natalie was a girl and how I was so glad that I was able to prepare myself ahead of time. It wasn’t that I was disappointed that she was a girl- I just had some sort of momentary freak-out that I was becoming my mother and that she would eventually grow up to hate me. A day or two later, after moving past my fears, I started getting excited about having a girl! And I was so relieved that those unexpected feelings weren’t saved for delivery day. I would have felt terrible and she didn’t deserve that. I still feel bad enough about my reaction at her ultrasound. But I was able to enjoy Natalie’s birth and that’s what mattered. Had I not known, I think it would have been too much to take in at once. Plus, being able to visualize and prepare was really helpful for me.
At this point during our appointment, the technician had me take a little break to move around while she checked on another patient. It was then that I kind of decided that I did want to know the gender- I didn’t want to grow really anxious over the next few months and then feel disappointed in some way on delivery day. And luckily baby was a little more cooperative after our break. The technician was able to show us very clearly what we were expecting- a baby GIRL! I was super happy to hear the news. Not only will we be able to re-use a lot of our stuff, but we already have a name narrowed down! But most importantly,Natalie will have a sister, just like I have Elaine. I’m so happy that I’m able to give that to her! That’s really what I had wanted.
Eric was all smiles as he sat and took in the news- he said that he was happy of course, but it would have been fun for him to experience a boy. I guess I can understand that. Maybe next time, we figure! We’ll take them one at a time. I told him that he’s such a great Daddy to a little girl, it’s no wonder he’s being given another. We went home with some great ultrasound pictures once again. Here are a few of our new baby:
The full profile shot above is my favorite- and I noticed immediately that it is nearly identical to one we had of Natalie at the same time. Makes me wonder if they will look alike! I can already tell that they have the same little nose and cute round head. We also have a very clear picture of baby girl's girly area, complete with an arrow, but I'll refrain from posting that one... there was no question she was indeed a girl!
Yay for little girls!!
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