Warning: super long, text-heavy post ahead. This one is really more of a journal entry. But read if you would like!
I felt like for little one's sake I should write down what it was like and my feelings surrounding finding out she was a she. Now, I will start by saying that age-old-smug-pregnant adage, "all we cared about was that the baby was healthy, we would have loved a girl or a boy equally." It's really true, though, we obviously would love either gender! Going into it though, I kept saying that I thought and hoped it was a boy, and Dave kept saying that he thought and hoped it was a girl, but we later revealed that we were doing that because we thought that was what the other person really wanted, haha. Your classic Gift of the Magi type thing (don't think about that too hard, it's really not that much like the Gift of the Magi...).
In all seriousness, I was a little scared of the thought of having a boy, just because obviously with all sisters I am more used to girls. I totally would have loved a boy, but it just seemed natural to me to have a little girl. I kind of thought of the baby as a girl and had to remind myself that it could be a boy. I wouldn't go so far as to say I was hoping for a girl, but I just felt like a girl would help ease me into this whole motherhood thing.
Like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I am participating in the NuMom2B study at UVRMC (they obviously didn't consult me when picking the terrible cutesy name because I would have advised them not to) which is AWESOME and if any of you reading this are getting pregnant with your first baby in the next few months, you should totally check it out! They do it at the major hospitals all up and down the valley. You get three extra ultrasounds with the study, way more than the typically-insurance-covered ONE you get at an OB's office. So we knew we would have a few shots and finding out the gender since we would get one from the study and then another ultrasound a few weeks later at my doctor's office. So off we went one April evening to the hospital hoping that the first shot would be fruitful.
Sure enough, the little punk had the cord between (at that point) his/her legs. She was moving around but not in the way that would move that cord! Because she was so active the tech couldn't get a good shot even when she kind of got her to move the cord a little. This is where faith came in because I was seriously PRAYING so hard that we could find out because I wanted to know so bad! Later I found out Dave was too, haha. Heavenly Father heard our prayers because the technician finally got a good shot and was like "I wouldn't paint anything yet, but I think that's a girl." I was stunned! I really thought it was going to be a boy just because I had jinxed it or something by kind of secretly hoping it might be a girl :)
I looked back at Dave and he just looked stunned, haha. He later revealed that his first thought was just "I have no idea about teenage girls or what to do with them. (remember, I have all sisters, he has four older brothers and just one sister, and she was out of the house when he was pretty little)" I reassured him that he still has like 13 years before he has to really worry about that. Little girls are easy, they love their dads no matter what!
We were so excited, but we decided not to tell anyone besides family until the official gender ultrasound at my doctor's office a few weeks later, just to be safe. We wanted to tell my sister Anne, who was in the MTC at the time, in a fun way though, so our first stop was to the grocery store to buy some pink candy to send her in a package. We made a little card that said "it's a girl!" and sent it off the next day (I was glad it was pink candy, it would be way harder to find enough blue stuff and I am very particular about candy). Oh, and I forgot, I actually told my students right away too because somehow they found out that I would know the next day and they freaked out. I had them all vote on what they thought it would be and I bought candy for the winners (although I am a pushover and ended up giving some to everyone). Our families were way excited, although they all thought it would be a boy, too!
Since then, we have had two more ultrasounds and both (with different technicians) have said it is definitely a little lady in there. I feel like, since I am a girl (obviously), I have had a really easy time sort of "bonding" with her because she's just my little friend in there. But maybe it would be the same with a boy? I have no idea. I really hope we do get a boy someday so I can experience what that is like, and if it is any different. And we want at least two of each gender so they can have little playmates--like it's in our control, ha! I will admit that shopping for a little girl is pretty fun :)
Sorry this post was so long and boring. I just wanted to remember what it was like finding out. We love our little one already and can't wait to see HER!
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