Here we are waiting to see the doctor. Notice Michael's creepy mustache.
This is a second year tradition here at GSIS. The men are participating in Movember...where they grow mustaches to raise awareness as well as money for prostate cancer. If you'd like to support him in this effort, please go to this link to donate:
http://us.movember.com/mospace/1037346
So anyway, we went in to the ultrasound room and the doctor did a loooong ultrasound...it lasted about 35-40 minutes. She started with the head and worked her way all around the body, checking all the parts of the brain, head, face, ears, nose, etc. (you get the picture)...she showed us every area of the baby and thoroughly inspected it to be sure everything looked good. When she got to the genital area, she told us...
"here are the genitals...your baby is a girl" and then just kept going, talking about the legs, etc. I was like, "wait, go back...so it is a girl? Really? How sure are you that it is a girl?" because she had just breezed on by the topic! And she said, "about 95% sure." So...we're about 95% sure that baby Raindrop is a girl! We're having a little baby girl. I have to admit that I was completely shocked as I have just been thinking its a boy this whole time, but I am definitely very happy and extremely excited, and so is Michael. We honestly have not had a preference...just want a healthy baby. Now it seems so much more real! Now we can seriously consider names (though we will not share her name until she is finally here--I want to keep something a secret). And now we can refer to our baby as "she" instead of "it." So, we're really excited about the next steps. I guess that includes figuring out what all we will need and registering for baby gifts. What fun!
So, the visit continued with her checking out the heart, very thoroughly. She spent a lot of time looking at the 4 parts but told us that she was having a hard time seeing everything because Raindrop was moving around so much! She kept telling us that she had a lot of good movement and that was a good thing. :) Michael said that was because she has him for a dad. haha I have to think he is partly true! The doctor did some 3D images and we got to see her face some, but the actual images that they saved and printed for us look a little creepy to us, so we don't want to scan and post them. But the doctor at one point said that she thinks she looks more like me than Michael. haha I have no idea how you can tell from those ultrasound images! It just amazed me all of the parts that she could see on that screen and I had no idea what any of it was. Guess that's why they get paid the big bucks! Anyway, she basically told us that every part looked fine, normal, and healthy, and that the baby was growing just fine. She did mention that I should take iron tablets but I am not sure where I should go to get some. I'll have to look into that. We've got another appt scheduled in 4 weeks and then I go in for some glucose testing. We left the hospital and called our immediate family members to tell them the news first, so that once we got back to work we could tell our co-workers. Everyone was really excited. Our 3 1/2 yr old niece, Phoebe, was so excited to find out it was a girl, because that's what she wanted. We asked her what we should name it and she first said Phoebe. Then she decided on Rapunzel. There you have it, people!
So, anyway, we will be welcoming a little girl into our family somewhere around the end of March. We are really excited! Please pray for us as we make preparations and plans, that everything will continue to go smoothly with the pregnancy and labor/birth and that we will be the parents that God desires us to be.
I'll make another post later telling more about our hypnobirthing classes. We've had two now, so we're halfway done with those!
Oh, and I guess I'll post a couple of photos of me so you can see the progress. I was up to 63.35 kg today which means I have gained about 7.5 lbs (after losing about 15 during the first trimester). So, I guess that means baby is growing and doing well!
About the pink ribbons: when we got back to work today we called my parents to video Skype with them and Andy and Serena were over there too (my younger brother and his fiancee). I was wearing a black shirt today so I found some pick ribbon really quickly off of a bouquet of flowers that a student had given me a week or so ago, and so I decided to put the ribbon up to my stomach and then stand up so that they could see the color. :) I thought it was kind of a cute idea. They were all excited and screamed, I wish I could have gotten it on video! I think the best part was my dad saying that we would call it an "alleged" girl. I'm not sure if he was just really hoping for a grandson, or if he just doesn't trust the Korean doctors...haha. Oh, Dad.
Here you go! Until next time...
