It's a GIRL!

Josh and I had a doctors appointment this last Friday. We both were pretty giddy and nervous at the same time because we expected to find out the sex of the baby. Friday morning was possibly the longest morning of my life (the appointment wasn't until 3:30). Finally 3 o'clock came and it was time to go. The appointment was pretty normal, we discussed the typical things that are discussed at every appointment. The doctor then went to get the ultrasound machine and I got super nervous! We got to see that the baby still has a very strong and healthy heartbeat; we even got to watch the baby sucking and licking (yes, we have a licker) her thumb. It was exciting just for the fact that Josh hadn't seen the baby on the ultrasound yet. Sure, he's seen the pictures, but it's so much different to actually be there and get to watch the baby move around. When it came down to the time for the big reveal, baby decided that she was going to show that she's already taking after her daddy in the stubborn department... she crossed her little legs and refused to open them, haha. So, we left that appointment disappointed but we set up our anatomy exam at the hospital for that next Monday.

Saturday we decided that we would go and start a baby registry at Babies-R-Us. I wasn't sure how Josh would do with that... I was hoping it wouldn't cause frustration on his end. I'm happy to report that we had a very successful and stress-free registry. The place is overwhelming but we attacked that store with a plan. We started on one end and looked at everything until we had looked at about everything in the entire store (except the clothes, since we didn't know what baby was). We found a lot of neat items that I'm excited to get. That registry was so successful that Josh then actually agreed to go over to Target and do a registry there, as well. Success!

The weekend felt extremely long, but eventually Monday did come. Again, the appointment wasn't until 3:30 (I don't know why I do this to myself), so the day felt kind of long. My sister had just gotten back into town though, so I spent the morning running around to different stores with her. This time, Josh had to work and couldn't take any more time off so my mom went along with me. Josh had given me strict instructions that I was to have the ultrasound technician put the sex of the baby in an envelope so we could open it together (the idea came from a friend that we visited with on Saturday). When the technician asked me if I wanted to know the sex, I tried so hard to get her to tell me then put it in the envelope and I promised to act surprised when Josh and I opened it later... that didn't fly. She showed my mom, then made her promise that she wouldn't tell me and gave her the envelope to hold on to so I wouldn't be tempted to open it.
Josh didn't get home until 7:30 that night... it was killing me by the time he got home! I showed him the other pictures that the technician had printed off for us, then I handed him the envelope. He opened it and ta-dah, it was the money shot with the words "girl" written on it. We both started laughing... which was a relief. I was afraid he would start crying if it wasn't the boy he wanted. So, we didn't get the boy we were expecting but there's always next time! As for right now, we are both thrilled to have a healthy baby kicking around in my belly and we can't wait for her to come so we can meet her.

The technician measured all of the things that she was supposed to for the anatomy exam. Everything measured at the correct size, and I'm happy to say that baby has all the parts she's supposed to have. My fluid level was good and baby weighed in at a whopping 11 oz! Almost a whole pound already!

Ever since I felt the first kick, Josh has been trying to feel the baby move. He sits there and pokes at my belly, which always results in him not feeling anything, but proceeds to make the baby feisty so I get all of the kicks. I've figured out that if my hands are really cold and I put them on my belly, the baby kicks pretty much non-stop. On Tuesday I was feeling the baby kick and told Josh to try and feel. Again, he couldn't feel anything and continued poking around at my belly. He was sitting there with his hand resting on my stomach when out of no where the baby got superhero strength and let out one good kick. Josh shot his head up and I knew right away that he had felt it. He was so excited to finally feel a kick! I told him that she was annoyed with him poking around at her and she knew that if she didn't give him one swift kick he wouldn't stop poking, haha. I think baby is growing through a growth spurt or something because ever since then she's been kicking with more force... either she's growing or she's warning me that stronger kicks will come if I don't keep her daddy from poking at her!

Below is a profile shot of baby girl... That's all for now. Next appointment is April 7th.