Finding out the Gender

It was finally time to find out the gender of the baby.  Bryan and I had an appointment at the hospital where we are going to deliver to find out and then a follow up with my doctor (next door) afterwards.

We were both a little excited to say the least.  My instructions were to drink 32 oz of water starting an hour before the appointment.  A sweet friend sent me a tip to drink orange juice before to make sure that the baby was awake and moving.  My appointment was at 1:00.  So at 12:00 I started chugging a combination of OJ and water.  We got checked in by 12:30 and they brought me back to a waiting/changing room and then they left.  Bryan couldn't be with me because there were other women only in robes too.  So we were in separate waiting rooms texting... bored out of our minds.  Thus these two pictures...

The socks had grips on the top and the bottom.  I was very stylish! 

My appointment was supposed to start at 1:00.  (Remember I had drunk 32 oz of fluids starting at 12:00).  At 1:45 I was still in this waiting room with no nurses around to ask if I was getting close.  I finally stuck my head out in the hallway--while doing the pee dance-- and asked a pink scrub if I could use the restroom before my test.  Ahh!  I felt better after that...

Around 2:00 the nurse/tech comes in and brings me back to get situated.  She left to grab Bryan and I was in this room alone... excited/nervous as all get out.  When they returned the tech had some questions for Bryan and me.  Possibly my favorite moment of the day happened next and I didn't realize it until later.  The tech asked me my height and then turned to Bryan and said "What's Daddy's height?"  Bryan stared at her but didn't answer.  I finally asked him how tall he was and he replied.  Later he told me he was thinking of his dad's height.  He didn't know why they needed the grandfathers height, but he was trying to figure that out.  He didn't immediately respond because no one had every called him Daddy before.

The tech was so nice.  She promised not to tell us the gender of the baby until she was 100% sure.  She wasn't going to say she "thinks" is a ____.  She will not announce until it is confirmed.  After the short interview we got started.  Within seconds we see the most amazing thing ever!

The tech starts snapping pictures left and right.  The baby was up and moving (the OJ was a good idea).  We got to see the most incredible things: the profile, the spinal cord, the brain, the kidneys, the blood flow to and from the kidneys, the 4 ventricles of the heart, all of the fingers and toes.  The tech measured the height and length of pretty much every bone in the baby's body.  Towards the end she had some troubles getting all of the pictures of the different sections of the brain that she needed.  It took a while and the help of one more tech, but she got it.    

She had figured out the gender and turned the screen to finalize the picture.  When she turned the screen back around we saw "It's a ____!"  I wish I could accurately describe this moment, but I don't know the right words. I will however remember it forever.

Before we left the baby did flash us and I-love-you sign  \ml/.  They are going to be a natural signer! :)   

We left and went to my follow up appointment with my doctor.  She said that everything looked good.  There was one spot on the brain (she gave a specific medical term that I had never heard of before) that showed an irregularity.  She went on to explain what that meant in laymen terms, but she wasn't worried.  She said that if there were 2 or more irregularities they would continue tests, but that this was a "normal variant" and that it would likely fix itself before the baby was born.  She was very encouraging.  I have been praying over this day and night.  I have decided that I cannot worry about it because what would worrying really do anyway?  God has breathed life into this little one, He can handle a "normal variant."  I will however ask you to join us in praying for it to go away. :)