Two lines are not balls

Wendy and I were up before the sun this morning, anxious and nervous about our ultrasound. I think Wendy woke up a bit before I did but not by much as we were both awake by 5:30am. Before every appointment, Wendy gets nervous and a bit on edge about the baby's health and well-being but this was the "big day"...the day we were to find out boy or girl so we were both nervous. But, you know how it is when you first wake up and aren't sure if your partner is awake yet, right? You kinda shift around in the bed and maybe reach over with a little pat to see if you get any response. Well, I barely shifted and Wendy's whisper voice says "It's Christmas!" Yes...yes it certainly is!

Now, being the planners that we are, we have spent inordinate amounts of time at every baby store in the area trying to pick out the baby's room furniture, the stroller, the car seat...well...pretty much everything. So, today was to be the moment of truth: did we buy the girl stuff or the boy stuff? And, you know that we've been holding off on buying much during our previous 23 visits to Babies R Us, right? Well, the itch to go buy something was about to kill both of us.

So...on with the story... In retrospect, perhaps Wendy started drinking the 30+ ounces of fluids that she was to consume at least one hour prior to the ultrasound a bit early (since we were up and awake so early). I say this because by the time we got to the hospital, she was already floating in fluid and needing to go pretty badly. We had to wait about 20 minutes before the tech came back to get us and when she got up to walk back with the tech, it took her a good 30 seconds to stand and push herself forward...I think all the clenching she was doing made it just a bit difficult to walk! :)

Anyway, the tech had a trainee with her who was going to watch and also do a bit of the scan so we got Wendy settled and began. The ultrasound jelly is usually very cold and Wendy was v-e-r-y pleased when it was toasty warm instead! Her bladder was so full that the baby was smashed in there pretty tight and for the first few seconds didn't move at all. But then, the tech moved over and we saw the heart beating strong and wonderful...whew! Within the next few seconds, the baby kind of spread her legs and rolled up on her shoulders and Wendy squeezed my hand tight. I knew what she was thinking...we didn't see anything dangling besides two little legs. However, the tech didn't proclaim gender at that point...sigh.... Here's the first picture...a lovely little profile (we both think she's got a cute little nose!):


When the tech snapped this next picture Wendy kind of giggled and said "it looks like an alien baby"....hee hee....


The scan progressed with views of the arms, hands, legs and feet and all the in-between parts. The heartbeat was 150 and it was quite a sight to watch it beating away. She even waved at us:


After about 10-15 minutes, Wendy was so uncomfortable, they told her she could go relieve the pressure...but only a bit...and gave her this teeny cup and told her she could eliminate just that much. Come on people! When you've gotta go that bad, how do you stop?!?!?! Well...somehow Wendy managed and felt better after and was able to finish about another 25 minutes or so before they finally let her completely relieve herself. Yow!

During the intervening time, the student tech took over for a bit and was much slower than the original one. And, the student tech was also a bit more heavy-handed and pressed down on Wendy much more. Within a few minutes, Wendy announced that she was getting really light-headed and they had to roll her on her side to let her recover a bit before we could continue. But, continue we did...

Now, at this point, we'd been watching the biscuit intently and watched as the techs measured and labeled and pointed to all the parts, but they hadn't said a word about the gender. Finally, the main tech (now back at the controls) asked "so do you want to know the baby's sex?". Well, duh! "You bet we do!", we both scream at her! And, with a simple twist of the little ultrasound wand thingie, she got the angle, locked the view in and here's what we saw (I know it's hard to see but you gotta love the label "Special Parts"):


The tech is pointing and says something to the effect of "here's what we look for...these two little lines here"...and Wendy says "...and lines are not balls, right?". Guffaw! "Yes...that's right. Those are the labia. You have a girl!", says the tech. And that's how we came to first officially greet our little girl! I have to admit...I teared up! The tears were as much from laughing as from tears of joys and relief! I'll admit that I had really hoped for a little girl...had felt the baby was a girl from practically the moment of conception and had just tried to hold the thought of "healthy baby" (regardless of the gender) in my head during all these weeks of waiting. But, to actually know that what I'd thought and believed to be true, really was true, was just amazingly sweet.

The techs left the room to have the doctor take a look at things and gave us a few minutes alone and we both just hugged and laughed and shed a few little tears of happiness together. Our little girl has made herself known and we are so excited, happy and grateful.

We've had her name picked out from the beginning and today made it official. So, let me formally introduce her to everyone: ladies and gents, I give you, Kylie. We're pretty sure her middle name will be Read...so she'll actually have the same initials as mine as it turns out. :)

There's a couple more ultrasound photos on our Flickr site if you'd like to take a peek, but unless we decide to get a 3D/4D (which we're considering), that'll be the last peek at the little nipper until her birthday.

OK...I know this post is long but hey...I'm on a roll!

After the ultrasound we made all our calls to parents, family and friends who were waiting to hear the news and then made a quick stop at home before heading out to shop, shop, shop! So, the damage today was pretty hefty...we ordered the crib and changing table/dresser for Kylie's room, ordered the stroller we've been coveting since before Wendy even got pregnant and even scored our car seat (which we had a great discount coupon for at, you guessed it, Babies R Us). I'll have to post pictures of the furniture after it arrives: the crib will be here within a week and the dresser in about 4-5 weeks. The stroller is the extravagant Bugaboo Cameleon


and the car seat is the Britax Marathon convertible


We decided on the Bugaboo because we just loved it!! We decided that if we could drive a previously owned SUV (which we do) and buy alot of baby clothes at the consignment shop, we would splurge and treat ourselves to this grand indulgence. Go ahead...laugh if you will, but we are tickled to pieces with our extravagent new baby Rolls Royce!

Finally, we had to buy a few "girl things" to put in Kylie's closet. Fortunately, Babies R Us had a few clearance racks and we found some really cute things that should come in handy in the spring and early summer after she arrives:






And last, but not least...the woobie. This cute little thing caught our eye a couple of months ago. It's a blanket shaped like a little stuffed bear without the stuffing. It's so soft...we hope Kylie will love it as much as we do.


OK....that's it....whew! Thanks to everyone who sent their best wishes and were waiting to hear the news and for all the excitement you've shared with us. We're both tired and happy and as Wendy says "I'm as full as a well fed tick". (Yes, we are from the south...can't you tell?)

- Karen
[19w,0d]
[24 Babies R Us visits]
...and one baby GIRL in the oven!