IT'S A GIRL!!

WE'RE HAVING A BABY GIRL!! She's 7oz. and approximately 7 inches long from crown to rump and looks very healthy. The sonographer looked at all her organs, her brain and heart, her fingers, toes, her face, everything. She also said that she has long slender feet with very little arch... I guess she has her daddy's feet!! Her hands and fingers are also long and slender.

We got lots of pictures and a video. My placenta is low (but not problematically low) and attached to the front of my uterus. Both the sonographer and the midwife said that a front-lying placenta can keep you from feeling movement very early, but this little girl must be a kicker because I've definitely felt her. The past couple days I have felt her moving around really, really strongly - stronger than ever before. She's really been kicking or punching me hard (for being such a little thing). I can't wait until John can feel it from the outside too and share it with me. It's such a cool feeling! The sonographer tried to get a better profile picture of her, but she wouldn't move her face away from my placenta, no matter what we tried. She had her little nose squished up against it.

We've been talking about names, but don't have one picked out yet. And we've talked a little about the colors for the nursery. I think neither one of us is really crazy about pink (although that could change, who knows?) and we have tossed around colors like lavender or really light aquamarine.

And I've started to eat more protein and less bread and fruit. I was eating every couple hours and feeling shaky and crappy in between each meal. I think I was getting too much sugar and not enough protein. It's going to be difficult, because I still can't even fathom eating cooked vegetables or chicken, *shudder*, which really limits what I eat because I'm not a very creative cook (or a very good one either). I feel much better already after only a few days. I don't feel shaky and crappy between meals, I don't eat as often, and I don't feel as heavy, yucky, and distended. You can probably tell from the picture that I'm feeling better...

We are both really, really thrilled that we got to see our little girl today. Driving to the ultrasound appointment was kind of like driving to the airport to see someone you haven't seen in so long and you are super excited to see. And it's really great to finally know that she is a girl and that she is healthy.