Sugar, spice and everything nice.

It's a girl!

I've been dying to say that since I found out Baby Sweet Pea was probably a girl at 14 weeks. But, being the paranoid person I am, I wanted to wait until my 18-week anatomy scan to make sure the guess was correct. From the beginning, I thought she was a girl - not just because my first tri was a little different from my boys, but just a feeling I had. I had the same feeling with JJ [I just knew he was a boy, even though I had wanted a girl at first] and Devon [even though I doubted my guess for a little while because first tri was SO hard with him], and now I'm three for three. :)

I'm still a little shocked that Sweet Pea is a girl. After two boys, I was almost sure I'd be destined for another one if we decided to have more children. To feel like she was a girl - and get that confirmation - was just amazing. I may or may not have cried when the tech told me at 14 weeks that baby was a girl; it was so hard to believe at first. All of our family members were surprised but thrilled; it took J awhile to come around to the fact that we are in fact having a girl and not another boy. But I know he will spoil her rotten.

My anatomy scan went well overall, which was a huge relief. I was so apprehensive since I hadn't had any sort of ultrasound in 4 weeks...and even though the doppler has been a source of comfort for me, it still isn't the same as actually seeing her and knowing she's OK. My sister went with me to the scan, which was awesome - I think she was fascinated by seeing the baby.

The baby was super active for awhile, then she got tired of being poked at and curled up in a ball. We didn't get any profile shots like we did with our boys, but the tech was still able to get some shots of her as she was getting all the measurements. She even flipped on the 3D mode and got a couple of pictures of her that way; that was SO COOL. I now want to do a 3D elective scan later on down the road. Seeing her like that was awesome. It took awhile to get all the measurements, but she is measuring on track [a couple of days ahead, even], and has all of her parts and is looking good.

Our only concern is that she has a bright spot on her heart. It is some sort of growth thing [the MFM and other moms-to-be have said what it's called, but I don't remember], and it will hopefully resolve itself in the next few weeks. However, it's a potential soft marker for Downs Syndrome, so that got me for a little bit. But she has no other signs, so we are confident that she is fine; our odds are low that she will have Downs. We're considering more testing, but we'll see what happens. Testing will not change anything; we just want her happy, healthy and in our arms in January. The absolute last thing I want is another late loss or the potential to lose her...we can handle just about anything else, but again, we're all confident she will be fine. Besides that bright spot, she looked fantastic.

It's so hard to believe that we are having a girl, and that I am nearly halfway to my due date. First trimester dragged on FOREVER, but now that school has started and JJ is in school, time is starting to fly. I go back to the MFM for another scan at 28 weeks, which will be the beginning of November - and I'll be in third tri by then. Holy crap. November seems so far away right now, but considering how busy work is about to become, the time will just fly. I will continue to see my regular OB routinely until my next scan, then we make plans for baby!

I'm so grateful that Sweet Pea is looking great, that we are headed towards our rainbow baby. I am still cautious, and still using my doppler every other day or so to check her heartbeat. But I'm starting to feel more movement, and before long, I hope that she's kicking away all the time until she arrives in the new year.

Keep baking and looking great, baby girl. You are so very much loved already.

3D of baby girl and her little arm/hand. :)

Sweet little feet!