20 week gender scan...it's a....

Caution: Some of this may be TMI/obviously very unscientific....

We had our gender scan scheduled for over five weeks, and Monday was FINALLY  the big day. My husband and I had anxiously been awaiting this appointment. We are people who don’t like surprises/can’t keep surprises from each other. It is our first baby and we are so excited!

The doctor’s office had already changed our appointment from 9:00am to 1:30pm and then they called AGAIN on Monday to change the time from 1:30pm to noon. Ok, earlier is better, so I can’t complain too much. But, let the record show we are accommodating people.

We arrived and we got called back to the room fairly quickly. Everything is all set up. The nurse and technician came in. The technician says, “Sorry, we have to use this to measure your cervix.” UGH. Not the “wand.” I hate the wand…aka the transvaginal ultrasound.

(Hubby did promise that we could go to lunch at the place of my choosing due to the fact that the wand was used during this appointment.)

Then, they put the goo on my belly. The technician asks us if we want to find out the gender.

“YES! We can’t wait.”

She asks, “What do you think it is?”

“Honestly, I think it is a boy. But, my grandmother is fairly sure it is a girl because of how low I am carrying this baby.” (Really, I have no idea.)

So, she starts measuring and pushing on my belly to get the images she wants to see. She starts with the brain. Everything looks good. Then, she moves t o the spinal cord. Everything looks good. Heart has four chambers.  Next, she takes pictures of arms, legs and feet. Everything still looks good.

After about 20-30 minutes, the technician still has not told us if we are having a boy or girl. She hints that she knows what Baby Campbell is. Finally, I can’t take it anymore.

“What is it?” I ask.

“A……..girl.”

Wow. So much for mother’s intuition. However, I could not be more excited!  Girls are awesome! And, I can’t wait to see my husband holding our beautiful baby girl when she arrives in October.  That will be the coolest moment of all time.

We can’t wait!

And a baby makes three..well, four if you count Chauncey

Well, it is official. After almost nine years of marriage, my hubby and I are having a baby.

A baby was totally out of the question up until…well, I turned 30. There was a time when I thought; maybe we would never have kids?

We were always too poor, we didn’t have enough time, we were too selfish, and we had any and every reason not to have a baby.

Until...we finally grew up.

Yes, we now have a nice house with fenced in back yard for our doggie and potential baby to play in, we have two cars that work (that we are still paying on), and we both have decent-ish jobs as teachers. Mr. Campbell is finishing up his masters degree this summer in Administration, I finally have a job that I like, and my parents are moving to Texas this summer—so it is as good a time as any.

I am almost 12 weeks along. Our official due date is October 28, 2012. I am hoping to be off for maternity leave until after we get back from Christmas break. I have about 8 weeks banked, so I should be ok. (I am keeping my fingers crossed that I won’t have any crazy complications or have to go on bed rest.)

Truly, I am starting to feel better as the pesky first trimester is coming to an end. However, it still doesn’t feel real. Besides a growing belly, my brain has not fully processed I am pregnant. Maybe I am waiting for flashing lights, or some sort of figurative lightning to strike my brain to say, “hey there, this is finally real…YES, there is a baby in your belly!”

One of my friends told me, it will start to feel real when I feel the baby kicking for the first time. She said the first flutters “feel like a June bug is flying around under the covers of your bed.” I am totally paraphrasing her, but, I think I have it fairly close.

Yesterday, my mom sent me this really cool Pregnancy Calendar from Hallmark. Leave it to my mom to find something like this; I can keep track of all sorts of memorable moments along the way. It has room for pictures and includes some really cute stickers, and funny quotes. For example, “Hormonal changes in your body can cause major mood swings. Try exercise, plenty of sleep, and doing things you enjoy…which at this point may include crying, cursing, and/or throwing things.”

I think I need to take a little time to start working on this calendar. I want to remember this pregnancy and all the fun stuff/not so fun stuff about being pregnant.

Maybe, in a few more weeks this whole baby thing will seem real?