It's a...

We went for our ultrasound today, and perhaps the biggest miracle of the day is that I managed to not pee myself. They required that I drank 36 oz of water no later than one hour before my appointment, so that my bladder would be full, pushing the baby forward in my abdomen, thereby making the baby easier to see. By the time the ultrasound tech came out to get me I was doing the potty dance in the waiting room, wishing I'd worn Depends or at least brought a change of clothes! She came to get me, and after apologizing that we were still waiting for the room to be cleaned, she informed me I'd have to wait in the dressing room...where the bathroom was...for just a second. I almost lost it at the sight of the bathroom door. Thankfully I made it through the first couple minutes of the ultrasound, when she determined that I was far enough along in my pregnancy that it wasn't necessary for me to have a full bladder - THANK GOD!

Past that, the morning went wonderfully! We got to see the baby in detail, and learn just a little more about this wonderful gift inside of me! We counted 10 fingers and 10 toes, 2 arms, legs, hands, and feet, 2 eyes, a healthy spine, and one BIG, strong heart chugging away at 141 bpm!

Here's the baby's profile. You can clearly make out the nose and mouth of this beautiful little being.

Here's the baby looking straight at you. The ultrasound tech said the baby was sticking it's tongue out!

Chris and I each had "That's my kid" moments during our ultrasound session today. Mine was when the tech happily told us that the baby was 'very photogenic', since she was easily able to find everything she needed to look at.

This was Chris' 'that's my kid! moment'....

Yep, it's a BOY!!!! It was the first pregnancy that even I could make it out before the tech told us. I said, "It's a boy!" The tech said, "Yeah, there's NO missing that." Then I quietly marvelled at Chris' restraint and silence, since I knew he was thinking proudly, "That's my boy!"

We are extremely excited. While we would've been thoroughly happy with either a girl or a boy, Chris and I both feel that a boy will be the best fit in our family. As much as Clara wanted at baby sister, I think she'll get more from being our only girl, our princess...more so than Jonathan would get from being an only boy. Not to mention, logistically, we live in a 3 bedroom house right now and we own a 3 bedroom house in VA that we hope to get back to in about a year. That being said, it will be easier to get the 2 youngest to share a room if they're the same gender. Could you imagine Clara, as a 5 year old having to suddenly share a room with a baby?

Now to start getting rid of old baby girl clothes...ask me again in a couple weeks as I travel down memory lane, looking at Clara's old clothes, if I'm still glad this little one is a boy!