Follow-up Anatomy Scan

At the initial anatomy scan for this pregnancy, the tech had some difficulties getting Baby to hold still long enough for all the measurements she needed to take. She asked us if we'd come back in 4 weeks, and we said "OF COURSE!". Last week we went, and although the tech was able to finally get all the measurements, she also couldn't avoid it when Baby wanted to give us the Full Moon view of his bottom half.

Despite wanting to be surprised at the birth, we now know that the McGill family will be welcoming a son in February! 

I'll admit, I feel a little bit disappointed to have found out early. I was truly looking forward to finding out at the moment of birth, to letting T see and announce it to the room. I also loved the thought that we'd head into the birth with a short list of names for both boys and girls, and decide once we met Baby officially. Although we know we're having a boy now, we still plan to wait and name him after meeting him. I can't help but feel a little bit like something was taken from us. I'm not heartbroken by any means, but I was looking forward to the experience.

That all being said, I have very strongly suspected since I was 12 weeks along that this babe would be a boy, even sure enough to only refer to him in masculine terms. It was strange; I never expected to be THAT mother who had a strong intuition about it, I figured I'd be clueless and anything I thought would be simply a guess. But at 12 weeks, the midwife struggled to find Baby's heartbeat with the doppler, so she did a quick ultrasound to make sure everything was okay. The moment I saw that little seedling, there was a voice in my head that said, "Ah, there he is." It didn't feel as if that came from myself, so I trusted that I was being told something by someone who knew more than I.

This is the best image from my 24 week ultrasound. You can see Baby's profile, with his hand up close to his nose. 

The other thing we'd kind of hoped to avoid by waiting to find out is all the commentary about his gender. Now we get comments about how "it'll be so great to have one of each!" and "Ahh, you're done now since you have a girl AND a boy, right?". We just really dislike commentary on our family being based on gender. If I were pregnant with a girl, she would be no less perfect for our family and we would be no less happy. We may not be done, either, just because we have a girl AND a boy. No, he isn't already a troublemaker/heartbreaker/or any other label people slap onto little boys without knowing them. We may frustrate everyone with our desire to not plaster our kid in "Lil Slugger" or "A Treat for the Ladies" onesies - so be it. In fact, this baby will wear a good number of his sister's hand-me-downs. Heaven forbid!

I don't know who this little person will grow into. But it will be his choice, and I will not allow him to be labeled as anything other than himself. He is a person first, and a boy second. And we cherish all the people in our family.

Yes, we are thrilled. But we're no more or less thrilled about him because we know he's a BOY.

Although it is a bit easier now that we can tell E she definitely is getting a brother. <3

The Big Announcement

Yesterday was our deadline.  By yesterday, we were supposed to come up with some clever photographic announcement.  Yesterday came and went and still inspiration was lacking.  Instead here you go---

We are going to have another baby!!!!!

A is almost 12 weeks pregnant and due mid-February.  We are very excited and rather exhausted.  It's interesting to have swapped roles and go through her first pregnancy while chasing an almost-three-year-old.

Yesterday was our second appointment at the Birth Center. We arrived and were brought back to an exam room pretty quickly.  We were going to meet one of the few midwives we didn't know from my pregnancy. For the first time, we had to wait. And wait.  It was the first time we actually had to wait to be seen, so we were a little impatient.  Eventually she came and asked us the usual questions.  Then the part we were waiting for- the heartbeat. Since we know the date of conception, we skip the dating ultrasound and have to wait to hear a heartbeat on the Doppler.  Once we heard the heartbeat we would feel comfortable announcing to everyone and making it "Facebook official," so to speak. 

So the midwife dug around A's abdomen with the Doppler again and again. After a few minutes, I started getting nervous. Its not uncommon to have a hard time finding the baby this early, but it still was hard to not fear the worst.  She asked if we wanted to wait until the next appointment and try again or do a quick ultrasound.  We opted for the ultrasound. 

It only took a bit of searching to find our little one squirming around, heart happily beating away. And then it was over. And we didn't have the cute little print out to post in lieu of the clever announcement photo we were still lacking. Oh well.

So in case you're wondering how we got here, I've been blogging all along, and saving them to post when we made our announcement.  If you start at this blog, and read "Newer Posts" from there, you can read about the journey we've had over the last 6 months!

Anatomy scan!

Last night was a very restless night. I slept wrong the night before and my shoulder hurt, I was also worried about work things. A was sneezy and I think I kept waking her up. Plus, it was like Christmas when you are 7 years old and you just can't wait to wake up and tear through your stocking.

We met my mom in the parking lot at the hospital (our midwives have to send you to the hospital for any ultrasounds and testing). The ultrasound tech seemed very capable and once we were brought back to the room, she started right away. I asked if we could get a copy of the video and she was a little taken aback. She said that she would print us out pictures and the video stayed in my medical record. I pointed out that it is *my* record and I have a right to it. She agree and said she would talk to her manager about the actual procedure when he was back from vacation next week.

It was amazing. For us. I don't think the baby agreed. There was a lot of chasing the baby around my abdomen and TONS of kicks and punches. It was crazy to feel a kick and then see the little foot on the screen move.


The first attempt at seeing the sex was semi-failed. I think the tech could tell, but she wanted a better shot. A has been looking at so many photos on the internet of sonograms that she had a guess, but I missed it. The tech said she would come back and hope the baby's legs were open more.

She continued with measurements of the abdomen, and different angles of the heart, counting fingers and toes. You know, all of the actual medical things that make it a diagnostic tool that insurance will pay for.

the foot and a little bit of the umbilical cord

waving so we can count the fingers

Next she tried to get the brain measurements. This was the point where the baby decided to play tricks. Every time the tech would get close to the image she needed, the baby's head would move. She would use the ultrasound probe to shake my belly around, she had me lay on my side, she would dig the probe into my abdomen as hard as she could (I had to hold onto the side of the bed to keep from sliding or rolling back over), but she couldn't get the brain measurements. After a few minutes of this she stopped and told us we were in trouble because our baby was a stinker. Ha!

Eventually she got the necessary measurements and tried for the sex again. She sighed because the only image she could get was really not obvious (unless, like A, you have been studying them online). Just then, the baby moved and gave her the perfect shot.

We are having a GIRL!!