Once again, Daniel and I made a breakfast date of the ultrasound, dropping the kids off at 7:20 and going to Starbucks for a sandwich and coffee before our appointment.
Of course, we were dying to know the baby’s gender! I say ‘we were’ but I should really say ‘I was.’ Daniel kept saying, ‘Why does it matter? It doesn’t change anything. We will be happy either way.’
Well, for one: we can start thinking of names! Maybe this one won’t be called “Scudder, Boy” in the hospital for three days (like Micah was) before his parents name him!
Before the ultrasound, people kept asking if I had a boy/girl preference. (Not that it matters–I would completely love either one!) But I had mixed feelings. Part of me thought, if this one isn’t a girl, Mara will never have a close friend in a sister. Once you’re five years apart or so, that’s a pretty wide span when you’re a child! But three years apart isn’t terribly far apart. They could still be good friends.
At the same time, a part of me thought of Micah having a brother, only 21 months younger, a buddy to play with. And it could be hard for the little guy to be sandwiched between two sisters, one 17 months older, the other 21 months younger.
But he adores baby girls–he coos at them and nuzzles noses, and gently rocks their carseats. (Both with cousin Sophia and baby Eilidh, who lives a couple blocks over.) On the other hand: He tries to push baby boys right off my lap! So for the baby’s sake, maybe it should be a girl.
Then there was Mara: adamantly sure it was a baby brother! Constantly making comments like, “I’m going to be the sister of the boys, because there’s a baby boy in Mommy’s tummy!” Or (when my mom said to Mara on Skype, ‘Maybe it’s a little sister‘)
Mara shot back convincingly, “Maybe it’s a little brother!”
Which made me sure it was going to be a girl! This baby has kicked much less frequently and forcefully than Micah did. Who knows whether or not that means anything? But it contributed nonetheless to my its-a-girl theory.
Daniel, contented with already having a girl and boy, didn’t have a strong preference.
So we entered the ultrasound, really quite open-minded, except for Mara.
While we waited, the ultrasound tech we had last time entered the waiting room, and (thankfully) she called for another patient. So I was pretty sure we would have a different tech. And I was pretty sure that any other ultrasound tech would have a better bedside manner. When I saw our tech, I was relieved.
She was great! She narrated the whole time and answered most all my questions.
I love how they leave you in suspense about the baby’s gender. They look at every possible baby feature–other than those particular organs. . .
We heard the baby’s little heart beating at 149 bpm, and the tech said, “Without looking I’d guess it was a girl.”
We told her Mara’s adamant declaration that it was a boy, and the tech said more often than not, the other kids in the family guess correctly about the baby. Since those two theories contradicted each other, I wanted to shout ‘just tell us now!’
I couldn’t believe how this baby remained curled up in a ball and continually put legs, arms, hands over its face. I really don’t remember the other two doing that quite as much.
Having already experienced two previous pregnancies really doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the ultrasound. I love tiny baby feet. Tiny baby hands. And it was so exciting to watch the baby grabbing its toes with its tiny hands. As we were watching the baby gave a very clear “thumbs-up” which the ultrasound tech captured for us. That was a fun moment too.
Finally, after full examination of the placenta, the cord, the heart, the liver, the kidneys, the diaphragm, the arms, legs, head, brain (and I’m sure I’m missing something there), the tech moved on to answer our big question: boy or girl?
Naturally the cord was in the way, and she had to poke and prod the baby and say ‘you’re going to make things difficult for us, aren’t you?’
At last she announced, “I see girl parts!”
It’s a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!
I wondered what it would be like telling Mara. But she was not stubborn about it at all.
“The doctor told us we’re going to have a girl! It’s going to be a little sister,” I told her, expecting an argument.
She ran down the last couple of stairs into Grandmom’s living room–and squealed, “Can I hold her?”
Apparently she thought we went to the doctor and came back with the baby!
On the way back home, Daniel said to Mara, “Now we have to think of a name for our little girl.”
“I think we can just name her ‘little girl,'” Mara said decisively.
Daniel and I laughed, and he said, “We’ll tell her that was your vote, Mara.”
Woo-HOO! It’s a girl!!!!!
