Decision 2008

Gary asked his kiddos the other day if they thought we were having a boy or girl. The overwhelming majority (almost 66%) said we were having a girl. When Gary asked the class why they thought this, one kid piped up and said, "I can't see you playing sports with a boy." I think Gary almost had heart failure. I can just imagine that all that soccer, football and basketball he has played flashed before his eyes. Anyhow, I thought this was a cute idea, so I am adding a poll. Do you think we are having a boy or girl?

Girl Trip to Washington, DC

A few weekends ago Jess and I flew to DC to visit Julie (and to tell her my good news)! We had loads of fun and, apparently, our theme for the weekend was "Self Portraits." Just a few of the fun moments that we captured on film:

At the zoo. That place is great, however, one of us needs to wear a watch next time.
It's hard to see but they are weighing an elephant behind us. That's kind of how I feel when I go to the doctor's office lately. At least there isn't a public viewing area.
In front of the City Hall in Old Town Alexandria. We took numerous pictures of that City Hall but none of them showed up. Maybe that should have been on our ghost tour.
Eating at the best hamburger joint in the U.S.: Five Guys.

Food for Thought: even if there are three of you, don't split the large fries.

Old Wives' Tale

There are several Old Wives' Tales about gender predication, but the one Gary and I were most interested in goes as follows: If your baby's heart rate is under 140 bpm, you're having a boy. If your baby's heart rate is over 140 bpm, you're having a girl. The doctor quickly dispelled this myth, but if it holds true, we're having a girl.

Update From Dr. Klein

Gary and I went to the doctor yesterday. It was fantastic! I didn't actually think I would get to see the baby this time, but he did an abdominal ultrasound. Here is the brief synopsis: 1.) I lost two pounds. 2.) We saw the baby and lots of baby parts! We could see the head and both arms and both legs. Cutest baby I've ever seen! 3.) We also saw the heart beating. I was slightly disappointed because I thought we would get to hear the heart beat, but I will not deny an opportunity to actually see my baby. The doctor said the heartbeat was about 150 bpm. He also said this does not determine gender... see my next post for why he said this! 4.) The baby is 49mm long. That is two inches! I took a ruler out today to get a visual... that's huge! I can't believe it! Last time he/she was only 8mm. 5.) Because of the size of the baby, Dr. Klein feels that his due date might be wrong (I have said this from the beginning). However, he thought the baby might come two weeks earlier than his previous due date of April 15th (putting it at late March). I disagree again. I think the baby will be here between April5th-8th. That's just my guess, but for some reason it feels right! 6.) We scheduled the day of our Anatomy Scan... November 14th! The baby will be between 18 and 20 weeks old and hopefully we will be able to see if it is a boy or girl!

I'm Blaming This One on Erica

When Erica was pregnant, she had this great idea that would make her pre-pregnancy clothes last a little bit longer. She took a rubber band and placed one end on the button of her pants and then looped it through the button hole and placed the other end around the button. Ingenious! It gave all her pants another inch or so of wiggle room. So, I try that this morning. Works great! I love it! Off to work I go. About 20 minutes after arriving at work, I take my first bathroom break. As I am undoing my fancy new latching system, the rubber band falls into the toilet! No kidding! There is no way I can button my pants... luckily, no one is really at work yet, but I can not find another rubber band! The supply closet doesn't have any and I never use them, so I start rummaging through other people's desks (the whole time I have one hand holding up my pants). Doesn't anybody use rubber bands anymore? I finally spotted one on the floor next to the fax machine. I run to pick it up. It's one of those extra-large, extra wide, Superman-type rubber bands, but I am desperate! So I loop it through three times and take a sigh of relief. Some ideas are great for some people, but I always seem to have a way of messing them up! PS Love ya, Erica! :)

Finally...

... I had a gender dream the other night. I don't remember many of the details, but I definitely had a little girl. We will see how reliable this is as a predication tool! Our next doctor's appointment is Wednesday, September 19th. I can't wait to hear the little heartbeat! :)

Baby's Gender?

I have several friends who believe in a mother's intuition about her baby's gender. Two friends from school were asking me if I had had any dreams revealing the gender to me. My reply was, "I haven't had a dream either way. I'm probably having a hermaphrodite." Everyone laughed and we went on with our day. That night I had the following dream: Gary and I lived in an apartment in Paris (it's my dream... leave me alone) with this great view of the Eiffel Tower. There was a child with us that I immediately recognized as my own, but I couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl. The child was probably 18 months old or so. We decided to go for a walk and I suddenly turned around and I didn't see the child anymore. I turned to Gary and said, "Where is Audrey/Tyler?" Yes, I actually said, "Audrey slash Tyler" in my dream.