We are having a.... (edited to re-add pictures)

The baby's teeny-tiny foot
19 weeks, 4 days

Holy cow, the emotions that have been flowing around and through us over the past few days after having our ultrasound...you thought I was emotional BEFORE!

Hand, arm and ribcage
19 wks, 4 days

We had "THE" ultrasound on Wednesday, September 2 at our local hospital's health center (basically, it's a professional building with doctor's offices, fitness center, pharmacy, ultrasound and is all connected by a walkway to the hospital).

Up until now, we had always had our ultrasounds done at the Imaging Department in the main part of the hospital - I think, mostly, because all of them were emergency type. Our insurance also requires a 20% co-pay if we have the ultrasounds done in the OB's office, so we request in the hospital. We weren't exactly sure what to expect in the ultrasound office but were met with a very nice tech, Penny. She got our room set up and quickly got us back - we were also the only ones in there (that I could tell) so that was nice. The tech had asked us at the beginning of the ultrasound our past history with pregnancies (which we told her) and she was very empathetic and told us we had every reason to be nervous.Hand and arm again

I literally held my breath from the time I laid down on that oh-so-lovely paper covered table until we saw Sprout.

And then I cried a bit.

Baby's profile 19 wks 4 days

Sprout. is. beautiful

The tech kept saying how photogenic Sprout was because for what seemed like the longest time, the baby just laid down and didn't move a ton while the tech got profiles, and many, many measurements of the femur, head, space in the brain, abdomen, heart, heartbeats, spine, neck.... Throughout this, the tech is pointing out fun things like the babe's kidneys, bladder and the spine. It was SO crazy to be able to see all the bones - the tech did a frontal shot (looking at the baby straight on) and it seriously looked like a skeleton. Kinda freaked me out. But I just couldn't get over that we had a baby. A real, honest, breathing, moving, kicking, pursed-lipped baby. And it was ours :)

Baby with their legs up by their nose!

While we're doing all of this, Caleb was sitting in a chair to the left of me. He didn't say much because, as I was, I really think he was just in awe and taking it all in. I so wanted to hold his hand while we were doing this because I was so fearful that something would be wrong. And with good reason.


She also asked us if we wanted to know the gender of the baby if Sprout cooperated. We said yes, knowing from other people's stories that sometimes the baby doesn't want to cooperate and sometimes the ultrasound is wrong. But we held out hope :) The tech passed over the legs about three times before saying anything. I had to turn my head some but still wasn't entirely sure what I was seeing. The tech laughed and said that Sprout wasn't at ALL modest, as the baby's legs were WIDE OPEN and in perfect position to check the genitalia. She showed us three times, and told us that she usually looks herself at least three times before saying anything to the parents. She said she was very sure (although I guess she could still be wrong) that this was

a perfectly healthy baby.....

GIRL !
Our beautiful, healthy baby girl

We couldn't stop smiling :) I teared up a bit, only because I thought of our nephew. JR has two older sisters and a younger sister. When his younger sister was born in April, he was very sad - he wanted another boy to play with! Caleb and I had talked about how fun it would be to have a boy and to have another grandson for his dad, a grandson for my dad and the only second great-grandson for his grandfather.

BUT, instead we got a daddy's girl - something Caleb has wanted since our last miscarriage. And we couldn't be happier. We are beyond excited that it's a girl and even more so, elated that the baby is happy, healthy and thriving!

Towards the end of the ultrasound, the tech was still measuring things (my placenta, the cervix, Sprout's head and neck) and evidently, Sprout had had enough. She was laying pretty quietly, only moving a bit through the majority of the ultrasound. The last ten minutes or so, however, she REALLY started moving around - feeling that against the ultrasound wand was beyond stranged but it tickled and made me laugh :)

We don't have any names picked out yet, although we do have a few names we like and two that we really like. We're going to wait until she arrives before making any decisions...and who knows, maybe we'll find a name that grabs us even more!

To tell our parents, we gave them each a bag of various shades of pink/red Jelly Belly jelly beans in a sealed bag. My in-laws were going to visit my brother-in-law, his wife and four children, so they called us when they opened it. My nephew opened the bag and everyone asked what it was. He replied, "It's a BAG OF CANDY!" :) He was super excited for the candy, not noting the color. So someone asked what the color was and one of my nieces said, "I think it's pink...does that mean it's a girl?" - Caleb was on the phone with them and laughed out loud at the antics going on :) My parents were equally excited as well to have a granddaughter and my sisters are beyond excited to have a niece to dress up :)

We are, too :)