.day 140: the big reveal.

So, it's official! Our little Jelly Bean is... wait for it... a little girl!

As soon as the technician put that ultrasound wand on my bloated belly, I knew. He asked, "Do you want to know the sex?"

I thought to myself, "Uh, already I KNOW the sex. That, my friend, is a girl; there ain't a 'dangle' anywhere to be seen," but Hubs and I both just said, "Yes."

I watched as he typed on the screen the word I already knew was coming: girl.

I glanced at Hubs, worried that he might be crushed, but he was grinning from ear to ear. I was grinning, too.

We both enjoyed seeing our baby wiggle and move as the tech took measurements and saved pictures onto a flashdrive for us to take home. When he tried to get a profile shot, she kept her face turned just out of sight.

After a few minutes of trying to get a good close-up, the technician asked if I would push on the opposite side of my belly to try to get her to move. I did. Her response: to turn a little, but only to position herself  better to give my hand several good kicks, as if to say, "Mom! Knock it off! You're crowding my space!" I had to laugh at her saucy antics. She has quite a personality already!

Our little girly bean is measuring four days ahead, is healthy as can be and, obviously, feisty to boot. Seeing her move around on the screen made me a little weepy. She is perfect. *happy sigh*

It may take a little while for the shock to wear off, since Hubs and I were both convinced that this one was a boy, but we are both thrilled!

And heck, we already know we make super cute girl babies; Ladybug is awfully adorable!

Here, for your viewing pleasure, are some pictures of Jelly Bean! The first is the best profile we could manage and the second is the series of pictures the tech took while she was kicking at my hand while trying to get said profile picture (click the image to make it larger). That last picture in that sequence shows her kicking with some pretty impressive force for a person who weighs less than a pound!

Isn't she just precious?

P.S. Today just happens to mark my 20th week on the nose, so even though I will likely be pregnant for longer than the typical 40 weeks, I'm counting today as halfway there! Huzzah!

.day 126: over the moon.

I was just now, this moment, sitting on the couch, watching the History Channel and folding laundry while Ladybug is taking her morning nap. Deciding that one load folded was worthy of a little break, I sat back and put my hand on my stomach... not expecting it to be kicked by the tiny baby currently hanging out in my belly!

That's right! I just felt Jelly Bean from the outside!

I kept my hand there for a few minutes and felt several more bursts of movement. I am so excited! There really is a baby in there! I mean, of course I already knew that there was a baby in there (if there wasn't, my growing waistline would be real cause for concern), but to actually feel, from the outside, the little movements of the child I'm carrying is overwhelming!

.day 95: first appointment.

Well, it's about dang time! After finding a midwife a couple of weeks ago, we finally had our first appointment. We got to sit down and ask Heather, our midwife, any questions we hadn't answered in our initial midwife interview... which wasn't many, because I asked every birth related question I could think of at our first meeting.

Heather calculated my due date, which we are very certain of because I was "charting" at the time I got my positive pregnancy test. So, the official due date is still February 22, 2011 (even though I'm preparing myself for a March baby).

As our appointment progressed, Heather offered some morning sickness advice, we discussed what lab work we wanted done at our next appointment, and I (of course) had to give the standard pregnancy appointment urine sample. We also spent a fair amount of time just chatting and swapping stories. We were the last appointment of the day and instead of an hour long appointment, we ended up staying for nearly two hours.

The best part of our visit by far was the end of the appointment, when we got to hear Jelly Bean's little heartbeat. It took her a minute to find him with her doppler and once she did, Jelly Bean kept kicking and wiggling, causing load pops to come over the speaker. Heather announced that we had one very happy, very active kiddo in there. That made my whole month.

Of course, now that we have made sure the baby is doing well, it's time to tell the rest of our extended family and friends about Jelly Bean's impending arrival. I think a Facebook announcement is in order...