Somewhere Over the Rainbow

How many times have I thought about starting a blog post only to succumb to fatigue and lack of motivation? According to my last blog post, I’ve been doing this for about 11 weeks!

I haven’t been meaning to keep you in the dark for so long but it’s just been easier to always “wait for the next milestone” to blog. Plus, I still have issues with my past and fear that hold me back, but that’s another story that I won’t go into. Had I blogged, my posts just would have contained worries and obsessions, so you haven’t missed much.

My pregnancy is going great. I have the usual symptoms, mostly fatigue, chronic constipation (and I do mean chronic), constant urination, and a strong desire to accomplish nothing. You know how some people can’t wait to get as much as possible accomplished in a day? I am very happy to get as little as possible done while lounging about in bed.

Yesterday, was a day that was a long time coming–my 20 week ultrasound. The night before I got very little sleep, envisioning about a thousand scenarios and worrying. After all, it had been about 8 weeks since the last time that I had seen my baby on-screen. I found myself going between desperately hoping for one gender to preparing myself for the other. When that was done, I prayed over and over that my baby would be healthy no matter what the gender (yes, the baby is healthy which is obviously the most important thing!!). Then, the process repeated itself over and over.

Are you ready for the gender reveal?

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You know I can’t just blurt it out. There has to be a little buildup.

Let’s look at some vital data:

• According to old wives’ tales, babies with a heartbeat over 140 are girls and anything below is a boy. My baby’s heartbeat has leveled out to the 140’s.
• If you carry your baby high, it’s a girl. If you carry your baby low, it’s a boy. I really don’t know which way I carry. Middle, I guess. Plus, don’t all stomachs eventually rise as the pregnancy progresses up past the naval? I don’t know. At this point, I feel like I have a rock in my stomach.
• Everybody knows about Chinese Gender prediction. If you don’t, Google it. Mine says a girl. Accuracy is 50%. Absolute science or just for fun? It’s up to you to decide!
• Personal history: my family has a history of boys. I have three older brothers, two of which had boys for a first child. My husband has one younger brother. His father had two brothers. His mother had 4 sisters. My father is an only child and my mother has 1 brother, 2 half-brothers, and two half sisters. Not sure about the effect family history has on gender.
• And then there’s the thing that I did when I was 14 year’s old.  You tie a string around a straight pin or other item and dangle it over your wrist. It is supposed to reveal the number and gender of children you will have in the future. If the string goes back and forth like a vertical line, that means a boy at some point for you.  If the string goes in a circle, that means a girl for you in the future. That test revealed 1 boy and 2 girls for me. Of course, that test was done 24 years ago so take it for what it’s worth. Plus, there’s the validity of the test to consider.
• On one of the early ultrasounds, my baby couldn’t stop twerking! I immediately associated this with boy behavior. Trust me, you just had to see it. Then on a later ultrasound, the baby seemed to be clapping it’s hands excitedly, like a girl.  More vital data to consider!
• As for my baby’s appearance, my baby has looked like a frog, a turkey, and a dinosaur. I think these animals are more associated with boys. By the way, the baby now looks like an alien.

Ok enough data! Are you ready?

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Are you sure?

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It feels so good to announce that we are having a baby girl!!!

This is all I’ve ever wanted and dreamed about.

There are no words to describe the emotion that I feel. I feel so blessed, physically healed  by God and for the first time in a long time, at peace. There she was on the screen, all wiggling and moving about, hiding her little face and turning away when she was tired of being measured.

Throughout this entire pregnancy, I’ve always referred to her as “she” without even thinking about it. Maybe it’s just instinctual. I’ve been thinking a lot these last couple of weeks about my first baby, how she was a girl. There’s just something so redeeming about this baby and what she means.

So there you have it. Of course my family knows about my pregnancy by now and our parents and one friend know the gender. The gender will be revealed to the rest of the family and others this Saturday at the gender reveal party where I will present the same set of compelling data I did here.

This means that I have to get up and clean the house, which means getting something accomplished. I meant to blog all of this yesterday, but after the day was said and done and I had gone and bought two adorable girl outfits at the mall, all I could do was go to bed. Speaking of sleep,I desperately need to go purchase one of those pregnancy body pillows that I made fun of and blogged about a few years ago.

That’s it for now!