Almost Halfway There!

At our midwife appointment yesterday, Boo's heart sounded like a galloping horse! 143 beats per minute, and detected immediately, which was a big relief after last time when it took FOREVER to find the woosh-woosh sound. I'm also happy to report that my "uterus is exactly where it's supposed to be." What a relief,  Ms. Midwife, I was worried it might be migrating!

Monday will be 20 weeks, and last night I felt small kicks for the first time. I can't wait till Tommy can feel them too. It will also be amazing when Brie is lying on my stomach and feels it move from the inside. She's going to flip out.

I officially need to wear maternity pants, but thankfully many of my empire-waist dresses are functioning just fine to cover the bump. A generous donation of clothing from our friend Jen Lai is also saving us plenty on shirts and sweaters. There's one hooded wrap in particular that I love to cozy up in after the gym or just around the house.

With the kicks and my growing belly, I'm more aware of Boo's presence daily. I find myself talking to her any time we're alone. Nice to know she can hear me now.

Dude Looks Like a Lady!

So we had our second ultrasound this week. And finally the answer to the question we've been wondering for months. Turns out those 3 parallel lines the tech kept pointing our weren't some weird deformation on our baby but actually her LADY PARTS! 

Lots of friends had guessed what we were having, one even had a dream about it, but it took a long time for this new information to really sink in. I had to keep repeating it throughout the evening. "We're having a girl. We're going to have a daughter. The Dude is a girl." You get the idea. It just wasn't clicking.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against girls. It's just that I have so much more experience with boys. Five years teaching in an all-boys school and I like to think I learned a few things. Plus I just feel like there's so much less to worry about with boys, so much more to protect girls from. Maybe it's that growing up as a girl I know firsthand how hard it is to become a woman that you can be proud of. There are just so many... pressures. Quite frankly, when you think about them all, it's terrifying.

Add to that the fact that Tommy's just waiting to spoil her rotten. I've gotten a small glimpse of what this might look like given his special treatment of our rescue kitty Brie, and I just have a feeling I'm going to have to be the heavy.

But a few deep breaths and a few days later, I'm ready to accept the challenge. I'm reading up on raising girls right and interviewing all the parents of girls I know for tips and wisdom. I'm reflecting on all the AWESOME parts about being female, imagining all the special ways she might add to our family and even dreaming about how she might change the world. And I'm announcing happily to friends and family that The Dude is undergoing a name change to reflect her new reality. For the next 4.5 months, we're going to refer to the little one as Boo.

(Don't worry, we'll have a more permanent moniker ready by June. The website's going to keep its name, however. And she will most definitely wear the Dude shirt she was gifted for Christmas!)