6am: Crap, gotta go pee. Try not to trip past the fireplace, make it to the bathroom. Go back to sleep.
8am: CRAP! Gotta go pee again! ... Can't go back to sleep. Wishing I could so that I could wake up again later, closer to show time!
8:05-8:30: Mess around on my iPhone, check email, Twitter, Facebook. Get a text from my mom that says something to the effect of "You'd better tell me today" hinting at the fact that she'd seen the details of my pink or blue party.
8:30: Get a call from my mother-in-law. She too was trying to get the details of our appointment. Nope, not this morning, I wish! Yes, it's this afternoon, yes, I'll call or text you as soon as I know!
9:00: Have conversation #20 about our thoughts on the day's events. Make a plan to go exercise (him, not me... I stayed on my computer), get ready, go to the bank, go to the store, the post office (none of which actually happened). Talk about how he's doesn't care if it's a boy or a girl and that I don't either!!!... I just am ready to shop! ... Make a plan to go to Babies R Us after the Ultrasound.
9:30-11:30: Goof around online, get on Twitter, answer work emails that can't wait until Wednesday, start writing blog post drafts, ANYTHING to kill time. Wait... Did the clock just move BACKWARDS?! I think it did!!
Fast forward to 1:30 pm. We're in the parking lot waiting to go in. I'm drinking orange juice and eating hash browns, my husband is downing a Quiznos sandwich. My stomach started to turn in knots as it always does before my appointments. I hadn't really felt Spawnie kick all day and I was beginning to worry a little... I'm not sure why, it's habit I guess.
When we went and checked in I took off my jacket and revealed my "Alien on Board" Tee from Speggwear. It's one of the only maternity shirts I have so far and I enjoy showing it and my little bump off. I calmed down in the waiting room and tweeted my updates. After just a few minutes we were called into the ultrasound room.
It was dark, I'm not sure why but I didn't expect that at first. The woman who greeted us was a nice lady, older, she seemed like she had been doing this awhile. I wanted to ask her how experienced she was but my courage went out the window as my nerves kicked in.
I laid on the table and got lathered up with jelly... Cold jelly. Then I fixed my eyes on the screen.
The first thing I noticed was Spawnie's head. Spawnie was upside down in what looked like the most uncomfortable position. Chin to chest, head stuck in a corner near my bladder. I saw its head, torso and legs. But no arms.
The tech was pointing out Spawnie's head and "nice spinal cord" "great heart" but WHERE WERE ITS ARMS?! I was overcome with nervousness, all this time I'd been worried about my child's gender, praying for good health, yes... But now I was starting at what appeared to be my armless baby and limbs immediately became the only thing that mattered. My eyes began to water as I thought about this. Perhaps it was my punishment for calling my baby Alien Spawn for so long.
As the tech moved the wand around my belly different body parts began to focus. Spawnie's femur bones and... Wait... Yes, ARMS! And hands, and fingers! I counted five fingers on each of Spawnie's little fists!! I silently thanked the Lord.
The tech moved around explaining each body part and all I could do was smile and nod. When she hovered over Spawnie's bum, sticking straight up, I was looking for boy parts. I had studied about 50 ultrasound gender-determining pictures on About.com the night before and was sure I'd be able to decipher between a boy and a girl if the position was right. I saw three white lines, and no turtle head when the tech asked us if we wanted to know what it was. We both said "yes" (I knowing I couldn't wait another second) and she told us it was a baby girl! A very... Non-shy girl! I was so shocked, surprised and completely excited. I turned to my husband who had an elated look on his face. He gave a fist-pump showing his excitement. I cried after realizing we were really having a baby girl.
My OB later examined the photos and said it was a very obvious girl!
I knew it! It was my gut instinct from the beginning and my husband's all along. I think he also wanted it to be a girl just so she would prove Intelligender wrong. I was mentally preparing myself for a boy but I'm so happy to be having a little girl! SO HAPPY!
Seeing her on that screen made yesterday undoubtedly one of the best days of my life! I can't wait to meet my little girl... Our daughter!
(horrible picture I know! I don't have a scanner so gotta go to Kinkos!)
