Drumroll Please...

Don't ask me who, what, where, when, why or how, but almost from the beginning I was absolutely positive that the little one in my womb was in possession of the "cash and prizes", if you will. I was so confident as a matter of fact, that I effectively saved myself some time and completely skipped over the girl section in our "10,001+ Baby Names" book in order to only have to read the 5000 1/2 + names only meant for those bundle of joys born with a hoo hoo dilly. All those glorious do-it-yourself nursery ideas that come free of charge nestled in with the multitudes of free literature and coupons you inevitably receive, pink rooms were instantly glazed over in favor of the blue ones while I was skimming the pages. So, imagine my surprise when during the ultrasound we were finally privy to see the view as if we were "looking up from inside a toilet" and Bobbi the ultrasound technician informed us that our "little boy" was a girl!!!! She pointed out all of the specific lady parts to us, so there was no mistaking the fact that this is indeed not just a case of a hidden extremity. For a sneak peek into Ricardo's fathering technique, judge now by his very first comment when the gender was made definitive: "The curfew starts now", he said. I can see him now grilling her like Guantanamo Bay when she arrives home just a few minutes late!

The fact that we are having a little girl in light of the fact that I was expecting the opposite has been one of the most amazing surprises that I have ever received. It just feels so right to be able to refer to our child as "her" now and there's something so sweet about thinking that inside of me grows a precious, delicate little girl. I am so excited to meet her!

The rest of the ultrasound went without a hitch. Our little girl is healthy and perfect in every way as far as we can tell. She is in the 50th percentile which means that she is absolutely right in line with the majority of other babies her age. My due date was penciled in at September 2nd at my very first prenatal appointment and she is now measuring at September 4th, so we are definitely still looking at the first week of September. Who even knows...If she comes just a tad early, Labor Day 2008 could take on a WHOLE new meaning!

The only minor issue that came to light was the fact that I have a low-lying placenta which is really no big deal. It happens to 20% of all pregnant women and my situation is the best-case scenario. Protocol is to take note of it if it appears 2 cm or less near the cervix and to schedule a follow up ultrasound 4 weeks later to ensure that it has since receded. Bobbi said that she has been an ultrasound technician for 25 years and has not had one case where it did not recede. In the extremely rare case that it doesn't, it is of no harm to the baby but would just require that I had a Cesarean as opposed to a natural birth. With that being said, I am looking at this minor issue as a blessing in disguise, as I am able to get one more look at my beautiful baby a full month older!!!!

Here is another picture from the ultrasound! To get a perspective if you haven't grabbed it yet, she is laying on her back with her head to the left. You can see her nose, lips and chin! The below picture is a little bit closer-up, but the blur to the upper left of her head is her hand:

Other adorable ultrasound happenings:

• When Bobbi would push on my stomach to get her to move around she would push and swat back as if to say "Leave me alone!"
• She seems to suck on her fingers.
• She was sitting Indian style blocking the goodies when we were trying to find out if she was a girl. How proper!
  

Of course, I promised the girls at the office that I would text them the verdict as soon as I found out. Imagine how fun it was when I walked into work this morning and Carrie had decorated my office! Hooray for festivity!


And lastly, it wouldn't be a blog post without the belly pics! These were taken at 19 1/2 weeks!



Talk to you soon!

Hugs,
Danielle