It's a . . .

GIRL!

Chris and I learned that we will be welcoming a little baby girl into the Ansell family! (Of course, there is never 100% certainty till the little one is born!!) Poor Chris will be highly outnumbered with me, a baby girl and two girl dogs. I guess he will know how my dad felt (he LOVED it, btw).

Just so you know, we will take suggestions for names, but when we decide on a name, we will be keeping it a secret! We want to be able to announce the name at the birth. So we are going to keep you in a little bit of suspense!! Hehe.

We are so excited! Chris had guessed it would be a girl and I had guessed it would be a boy. We have been going to a lot of weddings lately and Chris said that each time he loves watching the Father/Daughter dance. He was hoping we would have a girl so that he would be able to share that moment with his daughter some day. How precious! He will be such a wonderful father to this little girl!!

We are currently 19.5 weeks and just had our GRAND ultrasound. The whole process took a full hour! The technician measured every bone in the baby's body, the heart beat (we could see all 4 chambers of the heart!), the head and torso, the arms, legs, hands, and feet. It was such a joy! The technician said that everything looked normal. The baby is measuring a little big for our due date, but only by 5 days or so. (How can they tell!!??) So we may be looking more at a Groundhog Day baby then a Valentine’s Day baby. We won’t get the official results back until we go back to our normal doctor in October.

It was so reassuring to be able to see each little part of our baby looking and functioning normally. She is so BEAUTIFUL!! It was amazing watching all four chambers of her heart beat together. Heart rate was about 143 bpm (normal). She had her legs crossed at the ankles most of the time and her arms held up around her face. She continued to move around a lot! (I was preparing myself for an ADHD boy, but what will a hyperactive GIRL look like?? We will need to get her involved in sports right away!) She was waving her arms and stretching her legs. At one point while we were looking at her profile, she YAWNED! What a strange thing to see! Her little mouth opened up so wide! It took us by surprise.

Chris enjoyed watching the tech take the measurements. All the measurements were in cm, but Chris converted them to inches in his head. After he converted the measurements for the lower leg bone (between the knee and the ankle) and the feet, Chris asked, “Do the feet develop faster than the legs?” (He had figured out that the lower leg measured about 1.25 in and the feet measured about 1.5 in.) “Do the legs catch up later?” The tech replied, “No they grow at about the same rate. Your baby just has big feet!” We are hopeful that means that our little girl will be tall, like her daddy. It would be very awkward to be 5’2” and have huge feet! I’m sure I will get used to feeling those size 12 feet jabbing me in the stomach and ribs as she gets bigger and stronger!

The last thing we did was try to determine the sex. The tech got a good look “down there”. The baby seemed to be cooperating for the most part, although I don’t know if she every uncrossed her legs. Chris and I agree that there was no “package”. But more importantly, rather than just relying on the lack of a visible penis to determine gender, we were able to view the labia as well. It looks like 3 bright lines, or a “hamburger bun” if you will. I had looked up pictures on the web before this appointment so that I could know what to expect to see either way. From my amateur understanding of baby anatomy ultrasounds, I agree with the tech’s assessment that the baby is a girl!

So that is our big news! We can’t believe we are about half way through our pregnancy already! Our little girl will be here before you know it! We still have lots to do before she comes, but it will be so fun preparing for her.

A quick update on me before I show you the new baby pictures: I am feeling pretty good these days. I have really popped out or “blossomed” in the last couple of weeks. There is no more hiding this baby! I am sleeping well and haven’t had headaches for awhile now (hooray!). But I am using the bathroom ALL THE TIME!! I am also doing well eating all the different kinds of foods I need to eat for the baby. Chris has been a great pregnancy coach, asking, “What have you eaten today? Let’s make broccoli with dinner!” I am feeling the baby kick and move more consistently. Still feels a little bit like bubbles or popcorn in my belly! It’s still not strong enough for Chris to feel on the outside yet. Here is the latest picture of me:

Week 19.5

Chris says that finding out that he will have a daughter is helping new things to sink in. Until now we were just having “a baby”. Now we are having a daughter!! We definitely have lots to prepare for! I’m so excited to meet our little girl! I can’t believe how attached I am to something that I have never met and still barely feel. It is a miracle that God is using me to grow this precious little girl. I am glad He is in control, because I would have no idea what to do! But He knows! He knew this bundle of joy before the creation of the world. He knows every hair that will be on her tiny head and loves her more than I could ever fathom! That is reassuring for me to remember.

Alright, well, without further ado…

Baby's Profile
You can see the little legs pushing up on the left.

Profile Again
Here you can see the little hand up by her face.

Arms and legs!

Little Feet!

If you would really like to be amazed, check out our youtube video of part of the ultrasound!

Baby Ansell