Predicting the Gender of our Little One

Some people claim they have a "feeling" and just KNOW what the gender of their little one is.  Well, I don't have a feeling - but that hasn't stopped us from guessing!  Bryan and I have our anatomy scan appointment on May 18, which is when we have decided to find out the gender of our little one (if he/she cooperates)...but in the meantime we've decided to have a little fun and test out some Old Wives Tales to predict the gender of little one. 

Old Wives Tale #1:  Chinese Gender Chart

Based on my age at conception and the month of conception we are going to have.....

A BOY!

Old Wives Tale #2:  The Baking Soda Test

According to this Old Wives Tale, if you pee in a cup of 1 tsp of baking soda and it fizzes - it's a boy!  If nothing happens, it's a girl.  Yes, I did pee in a cup of baking soda (it's all in good fun, right?) and our outcome was......NOTHING.  Which means, IT'S A GIRL!

Old Wives Tale #3:  Ring Test

According to this Old Wives Tale, you hold a string with your wedding ring over your belly.  If the ring swings in a circle it's a girl and if it moves back and forth it's a boy....My ring definitely moved back and forth, so IT'S A BOY!

Old Wives Tale #4:  Morning Sickness

According to this Old Wives Tale, if you have had a smooth pregnancy with little or no morning sickness, it's a boy.  If you have experienced bad morning sickness, it's a girl.  I have been pretty lucky to have little to no morning sickness, so IT'S A BOY!

Old Wives Tale #5:  Mayan Tale

The Mayan tale adds the mothers age at conception and the year of conception.  If the result is a even number then mom is having a girl.  If the result is an odd number then a boy is on the way!  According to this, we are having a BOY (2011 + 30 = 2041)

Old Wives Tale #6:  Acne

If you have acne while pregnant, it’s a girl.  It’s thought that acne during pregnancy is caused by the extra hormones.  My skin has actually gotten more clear, so I guess it's A BOY!

Old Wives Tale #7:  Heart Rate

We've heard this one a lot...Apparently, if the baby's heart rate is above 140 bpm, it is said the baby will be a girl.  If it is under 140 bpm, then it will be a boy. At our last ultrasound the heartrate was 149 and before that it was 160.  I guess this menas we are having A GIRL!

Old Wives Tale #8:  Moodiness

According to this one, if you are really moody, you are having a girl since you have extra girl hormones in you.  If you are less moody and smile more you are having a boy.  Well, Bryan even admits that I have been more relaxed and less moody since becoming pregnant so I guess we are having A BOY!


Well, it seems that according to these Old Wives Tales (there are so many more out there!) that we are having a BOY!  I guess we'll just have to be patient and wait until May 18...

 

12 - week NT Scan

As is with most things in life, you never really know about something until have actually lived it.  Since we've been pregnant, we have learned so much...about the process and about ourselves.  We've had to evaluate our morals and lifestyle because now we are planning for something that is so much bigger than us.
One of the big decisions we had to make this pregnancy was whether or not to have a 1st Trimester NT (nuchal translucency) Scan.  This is a type of genetic screening that couples an ultrasound and bloodwork to assess your baby's risk of being born with Down's Syndrome or Trisomy 18.  This procedure is strongly suggested for women over the age of 35, but offered to all women.  It is a screening test, not a diagnostic test so the results will not tell you "yes (or no), you will have a baby with Down's Syndrome."  Rather, the results will lower or increase the risk you are already assigned, based on your age. 

The decision

There are many people who choose not to have the procedure done because, they claim, that even if they found out their risk was increased substantially they would not terminate the pregnancy or, they claim, they would not want to have to live the last 6 months of their pregnancy agonizing over whether or not their baby would have a genetic disorder.  The other camp of parents, the one which Bryan and I are in, decide to have this procedure done because we want to know - everything we can - and in the event that our risk is increased we can be more prepared - emotionally, mentally, and financially.  This doesn't mean we would terminate, we absolutely would not.
My mother falls into the first category.  I have a younger sister who was born when I was in 6th grade and my mother was in her early 40s.  I remember thinking that I was probably going to have a new sister that had Down's Syndrome.  My youngest sister was not born with Down Syndrome or any other genetic disorder and I just remember feeling that our family got "lucky."  I finally asked my mother, after our NT Scan was already scheduled, why we thought my sister was going to have Down Syndrome.  Just as I suspected, she had the NT Scan done and her risks had increased substantially.  She said to me, 19 years later, that she wished she had never gotten the test done because it had caused her such grief in the last months of her pregnancy. 

The appointment

Bryan and I still went ahead with our appointment.  It started with us watching a presentation about the screening, and then we met with a genetic counselor to answer any of our questions.  I did ask our genetic counselor about my mother, and she basically told me that 20-years ago any woman in her early 40's encountered an increased risk.  We then went in for the scan and our little one did not want to cooperate!   One of the measurements that must be taken during this ultrasound is a measurement of the fluid present at the back of the fetal neck, babies with Down's Syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities tend to have more fluid present, was proving impossible to get!  The tech had me do all sorts of things to get the baby to more and be positioned correctly - and after about :45 minutes she were able to get a measurement.
This appointment was also so much more to us - it was the first time we were actually able to tell that we had a little one in the making!  Our first ultrasound of this pregnancy was at 6 weeks, and little one looked like a blob.  This appointment we were able to make out the profile of an infant, see him/her flipping around and moving limbs.  It was amazing.  Here is a picture of our little one at 12 weeks 4 days:

The results

We got the results of our tests back in a little over a week and were ecstatic to learn that our risks for having a baby with a chromosomal abnormality (of those tested) were lowered significantly based on my age at delivery!  Yay! 

Could this be the beginning of my "bump?"

And now for the first "bump" pic!  I have definitely noticed that my waist has been getting thicker for awhile,and my pants have been getting tighter and tighter...I actually bought my first pair of maternity pants this weekend!  I've been waiting to have some sort of a noticable "bump," I'm not sure if this qualifies, but I wanted to start taking pictures early so I can compare!

Here I am at 15 weeks 2 days (disregard the messy hair - I was working from home!)

We are more and more excited each day, as it gets more "real."  We've started researching baby furniture, strollers, and the like.  Our next appointment is next week - April 21.  It is just a regular prenatal check-up, so we probably won't learn much.  The BIG appointment is on May 18 and we have decided to find out the gender!  Can't wait!

We are SO happy to announce....

That we are having a baby! I am due October 3, 2011 and am days away from the 2nd trimester!

It has been a long 12 weeks ... but we finally are ready to spread the word and let others in on our "little secret!" Over the past few months our lives have been filled with excitement, anxiety, hope, uncertainty, and NAUSEA....but it was all worth it today when we heard a strong heartbeat at our 12-week prenatal appointment and then saw our little babe, looking like an actual baby during our NT Scan. It (we don't find out the sex until May 18) had a strong heartbeat of 149 bpm and was somersaulting around :) I can't even put into words how it made me feel...pure happiness.

Spreading The News!!

After nearly reaching the end of the first trimester and hearing a strong heartbeat at a Dr. appointment last Tuesday, we decided to start telling all of our family and close friends. Last weekend presented itself with two perfect opportunities to tell our families: 1) A planned trip to Kansas City to see my family (we hadn't been back since November) and 2) Bryan's dad's Birthday.

To tell my family, we all went out for Chinese at one of my sister's favorite restaurants. At the end of the meal, the server brought a bowl of fortune cookies that had some shockingly accurate fortunes!

I had personalized fortune cookies made, and had spoken with the server before dinner! It worked perfectly! Everyone was so excited (once my mom finally got her cookie open!) and so happy for us! It was such a perfect night and I felt so blessed to be able to share this great news with my family.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to tell Bryan's family in person. We struggled with this - but it was important to us to let all of the family know around the same time and try to find a fun way to tell them. So, we took advantage of the timing of Bryan's dad's Birthday. Before we left for Kansas City, we sent Bryan's dad a birthday card...but not just any birthday card....it was a "Happy Birthday Grandpa" card. It was killing us not knowing when they might get it, but on Sunday morning (right on cue) we got a phone call from his family - the had read our card and were also super excited! We wish we could have been there to see their faces, but hearing the enthusiasm in their voices was just enough.

And So It Begins...
We hope you will check back for updates of how things are progressing in our quickly changing lives and in the mean time I want to quote a text I just got from Bryan that pretty much sums up how we are both feeling about this whole thing:

"Today has been probably the best day of my life."