We're Having A Boy

Friday was our 20 week ultrasound. To be honest, I set my expectations very low. In China they are not supposed to tell you the gender of the baby because it is again the low to tell a national in the event that they abort because they don't want that gender. What often ends up happening is that the technicians or the technology isn't able to tell you accurately the gender so you often get a "I think, possibly, maybe, could be, probably..." before the gender. Both of the girls were told to me in that way and so we really weren't too sure they'd be girls after all. So when we went to the ultrasound, I was skeptical. I didn't want to get all excited that we'd find out and then be disappointed, as I was with both the girls, when they couldn't give me a confident answer. So we went in to the hospital, the girls in tow, and waited for our appointment. The night before we had made a really big deal about it so Maddy kept saying, "We're going to the doctor to hear to baby's heartbeat in Mommy's belly". 

For those of you who haven't had these ultrasounds before, they are pretty long. This ultrasound is to tell the gender but more specifically it is where they check the bones, heart chambers, head circumference, length of bones, etc. all to be sure that there are no difficulties or concerns. 

I took full advantage of asking as many questions as I could since I could understand what she was saying :-) I do understand and speak Chinese, but I never learned the medical lingo. I loved seeing the little feet and arm and leg bones. The girls were super well behaved, sitting in chairs and watching the screen like it was a movie or sitting and reading books. I was so impressed! Nathan just handled them so well so that I could relax and just stare at the screen and see this amazing little body growing inside of me. 

She got halfway through and asked if we wanted to know the gender. We told her yes but had already assumed it was going to be a girl, since we have two beautiful daughters already. She took this picture above  and said, "It looks like you're having a boy!" I was in shock! My first question: How sure are you? She kindly said, "Do you see that thing right there where the mouse is pointing to? If it were a girl, that would not be there." She laughed, I told her of our previous experiences and we all laughed together. Nathan immediately texted his dad and was so excited. It appears that having low expectations was a blessing because I was just so overwhelmed by the realization that he was a boy. I am a bit intimidated with the thought of raising a boy, since I seem to have the girl thing in a routine, but I feel so blessed to be able to have both. In China, when a woman has twins they always say that she is blessed because she gets two children (with the one child policy that is a luxury). I felt like having one of each was such a blessing as well. My girls love their daddy and I know, from being a daddy’s girl myself, that there is a special bond between father-daughter and mother-son. Now I get to experience that!

As if we weren't excited enough, it ended with a beautiful interaction between the screen and our kids. Maddy pushed a chair over, stood by my head and said, "Mommy, when do we hear the baby's heart in your belly?" The technician asked her if she'd like to hear it again, to which Maddy excitedly nodded. She turned on the volume and Maddy's face lit up. She looked at Nate and said, "Daddy, did you hear the baby's heart in Mommy's belly? Did you hear it, Daddy?" Then as they scanned through the 3D images Maddy and Emma kept pointing at the screen with "oohs" and "ahhs" as they recognized a face and hands. I said, "Maddy, you're gonna have a baby brother." To which she replied in an of-course-tone, "yes". And we left. We texted family and close friends and all were excited about the great news. 

Later when we were doing errands, I tried to entertain the girls by showing them the pictures of the baby. I showed the picture of him chewing his fingers, which Emma is doing right now. Maddy said, "Like this mommy," and put her finger in her mouth to suck on it. 

 

Then I showed her this one with his little hand on his face and she said, "Like this mommy" and did the same thing. It was so precious! They are going to be great big sisters and Maddy is already telling me that she's the mommy and helping me cook, clean and even get their cups out of the fridge when it's time for snack. When Emma gets impatient Maddy looks at her and says, "No, Emma" and begins to sing the "Be Patient" song. My heart is so full of excitement and I can't wait to meet our little man. I am now going through little girls clothes and trying to find what can be gender neutral and realizing just how much pink and frilly stuff we have :-) We have gotten a few boy things, which make this emotional preggo woman cry with excitement at the thought.