Let's Hear It for the 'Y' Chromosome!

February 4th could not have come soon enough.  I was so nervous and anxious to hear the heartbeat of our baby more so than finding out if we were having a boy or a girl.  I prayed to God for weeks to please give me the gift of feeling my baby move, please give me the reassurance the baby was thriving.  And He did.  The week leading up to our appointment, I'd lay in bed so still and wait.  What a relief, joy and pure happiness overwhelmed me on the few times I'd get a little flutter or a sharp kick.  What a blessing!!

We were very shocked when Dr. Luzietti told us in January we would get to have our big sonogram in February.  We'd be 18 weeks along and just at the very earliest point when they like to do those sonograms.  With Carli, Dr. Luzietti made me wait to past week 20 and I had come to terms with having to wait.  With Ava, I literally begged with tears in my eyes to get the sonogram at 18 wks which was just before Christmas.  Keith and I had even talked of taking the girls and having an independent sonogram done so they could see the baby and be with us when we found out the gender.  What a blessing to not have to wait or go somewhere else!

We did not tell the girls of our plans.  We just told them all week that on Wednesday we would have a special surprise for them.  Grammy came with us and we picked Carli up early from school, then picked Keith up on the way to the doctor appointment.  The girls were guessing their surprise would be a trip to the park, maybe some ice cream or a visit to the Discovery Science Center.  When we pulled into the parking garage, I told them I had to see the doctor to check on the baby before they got their surprise.  They seemed perfectly fine with that. 

The doctors office actually does not allow children in their waiting room so Grammy stayed with the girls in the big lobby downstairs.  Before they told us gender, etc the technician did a lot of measuring to check on growth and all that fun stuff.  All I cared about was a heartbeat and seeing the baby move!  What a relief that as soon as the sonogram popped up the baby was moving constantly!  With a heartbeat of 150, the baby kept the technician on her toes never cooperating with being still long enough to get a really good clear 4D picture, but after several attempts she did capture a good profile picture.  The technician even commented on how active the baby was, at one point the baby looked right at us and promptly did a 180 and showed us its back! 

Here is the best we had at a 4D picture of the baby.  The technician had a nice clear shot of the baby's face and as soon as she switched to 4D, up went that hand right over that cute little face!  I do believe we will have our hands full!  :)

 

After all the measuring was done Keith went and got Grammy and the girls.  They were completely amazed.  The technician did a wonderful job of showing them the baby's hands and feet and heartbeat.  She showed them how the baby was moving around and kicking constantly (that's what I get for praying for movement right?).  The girls were beyond excited.  And then she showed us that we were having a precious baby boy!  Oh the smiles on the faces around the room!  We would have been overjoyed with another girl, but a boy!  The girls had been praying for a boy since we told them the baby was on the way and I'm sure Keith was a wee bit nervous about having three girls! 

 

After we left our appointment, we asked the girls what they thought of their surprise.  Ava promptly said she would have liked ice cream better.  So, we got ice cream to top off the afternoon!

 

 

Baby boy is measuring right on schedule for his July 4th due date.  He is extremely active and healthy.  We are all so excited to get ready for a new little baby boy!

 

With Carli, I craved Apple Juice and literally broke down in tears one day when I could not get the bottle open and Keith would not come home from work to open it for me!  With Ava, I had a lot of snickers bars.  And it seems with this pregnancy I am drinking an awful lot of Cran-Grape Juice.  It's some really, really good stuff!  :)