Mid-point Ultrasound & Gender Reveal

Many people had been asking me my preference for a boy or a girl ever since I announced I was pregnant. Honestly, I didn't feel a strong urge to "want" either one. Of course, having one of each gender has its advantages - seeing how different girls and boys can be both physically and emotionally as they grow, learning how to parent a child of each gender, having a boy to play trucks with and a girl to dress up. But, having a girl after having a boy the first time also brings more expense and a little more stress, honestly. We already have all boy stuff so having a boy would just be "easier". Well, as we all know, we have no control over the gender of our children so I was happy to just know that our baby was healthy.

Keith and Jacob really wanted this baby to be a boy. Keith has admitted that having a girl makes him a little nervous since he doesn't know "girl stuff". And, there is the expense that I already mentioned. He is happy to have another son, but he also said he would not be disappointed if it is a girl.

I honestly don't think Jacob really understands or grasps the concept that another little person is going to be joining our family in a few short months. Although, he has been telling me for the past few weeks that he wants to have a brother (he said "I want a brother like Pierce"). He made it clear that he doesn't want a sister and when I said "Well, what are we going to do if it is a girl?", he said "If it is a girl, we aren't bringing her home." I guess he really has his mind made up! haha

This past Thursday, I had my mid-point ultrasound and we were able to finally find out the gender of our sweet baby. I am often amazed at the number of people who do not find out the gender of their baby until he/she is born. I have a hard time waiting 20 weeks, much less nine months!! I must say, these 20 weeks have gone by sort of fast though!

Similar to the mid-point ultrasound that we had with Jacob, the ultrasound tech did not take much time before she said "Are you sure you want to know the gender?". It appears that our little ones are not modest at all and, thankfully, we were able to hear her say (and see for ourselves!) that it is a BOY!

We were all really excited and glad to hear that he is doing really well. The tech did have me get up twice during the exam (once to walk around & once to lay on my side for a bit) to see if the baby would change position. He was laying with his back up and it was hard for her to see some things on his left side, such as the left side of his heart and his left arm. Needless to say, as much as he was moving around (he wouldn't stay still throughout the entire exam), he never moved his entire body so she could get good pictures of what she needed. She did say that she saw enough to know that he is 100% healthy and everything looks great. His heartbeat was measured at 151 bpm and she said he weighed approximately 1 lb 2 oz (exactly what Jacob weighed when we found out his gender!).

At the end, I asked the tech if she could get a good profile picture of the baby. Like I said, he was moving around so much that it was hard to get a really good one. But, she did get this one:

I am so happy to know that our sweet baby boy is growing strong and he is right where he should be. I am excited and anxious to meet him on the outside, but I am also definitely NOT ready for him to arrive anytime soon. We still have a lot of planning, purchasing, possible redecorating, and furniture moving to do before his arrival. We are unsure if Jacob will remain in the room he is in now and the baby will take the 3rd bedroom (which is currently the playroom) or if Jacob will move to the bigger room. When I asked him, he said that he wants to stay in his room but we will see if that changes in the near future. I will hopefully have the opportunity to blog more about all of that as it happens. Stay tuned...