Gender Reveal : IT'S A.....

BABY! Bahaha!

We went for our 20 week ultrasound yesterday. For about a week I had been crying and panicking. I was so worried that my baby had died. Being 20 weeks along, even with anterior placenta, (I had it with either Lilah or Will I still felt movement at 16/17 weeks) and not having felt any movement, I was really starting to freak out. They got us right back and with the wand on my tummy, baby wasn't moving. I asked if the ultrasound tech could check the heartbeat first, she was super nice and started looking right away. And there it was. A perfect little heart, all four chambers just beating away.

I can't even begin to tell you the relief I felt. I started bawling, the ugly kind, and thanked the tech. Luke held my hand and just let me cry. Once I got control of my emotions, the search continued for all the important parts. Baby continued to hold still not really moving at all. During the whole ultrasound I may have felt a bump or two, but that was it. Maybe my placenta is super thick, maybe this baby is just super chill. But every woman who's ever been pregnant knows how much you come to rely on counting those kicks. And when they're absent, lots and lots of stress follows.

After finding out that baby is growing healthy and strong and everything is where it should be, baby's gender is usually what everyone is so excited about. Even before I got pregnant, we desperately wanted a baby brother for Will. But once I saw that perfect little heartbeat, I knew it didn't matter. Boy, girl, either way, I have a healthy baby and that is really all I wanted. The tech kept trying to move baby around to get a look at the goods, but those legs were closed up tighter than a drum. So she had me got to the bathroom and do a little stretching and get back on the table. After one minute of looking I saw it as clear as day. Before anyone said anything, I said, "We have ourselves another baby GIRL!"

Luke and I were both shocked. We thought a baby boy was a for sure thing. A few weeks ago I was worried that I would be so disappointed if we found out this baby was a girl. But all I felt was joy. She is our beautiful unexpected little surprise. Since we both know for sure that there is another boy, Luke said that Heavenly Father planned it this way to make sure we would try again. :) Well played.

We came home to tell the kids and maybe we should've waited until they weren't sick and super emotional, hindsight right? William started crying, Emma looked super disappointed and Lilah had the biggest smile on her face. "Yay! We get a baby sister!" Which is what she wanted all along. Will on the other hand had been praying every night since I've been pregnant for "A baby brother, to play with." He just kept crying and saying, "What about my baby brother?" After calming him down, we told him that we would get a baby brother someday, but that this baby sister was going to need him to be such a good big brother to protect her. He was still pretty sad, but this morning woke up saying, "Yay baby sister! I will give her my diapers and feed her the bottles! And she's going to be so cute! But right now she looks like a skeleton (ultrasound pics) and she needs to stay in your tummy for two more days to look like a baby." So glad he's on board! Emma reassured me that she was only sad because she really wanted a baby brother for Will, but that she's super excited for another sister.

So there is my gender reveal. A stolen picture of someone else's balloons! Yes! Sorry guys. My body is racked with fever, my cough is so bad I fear my throat will close up and my diet consists of bag after bag of cough drops. Once we all start feeling better, we will be on a mission to collect baby girl clothes. When I was pregnant with Will, we thought we were done and gave away all of our girl stuff from Newborn to 12 months. Hopefully we'll find some stuff or this little girl may be dressed like a boy!

Happy Friday! :)