It’s a…?

18 Weeks, 3 Days

Today we found out the sex of Baby V! Vicente joined me for our anatomical survey ultrasound this morning at 8 am. I’ve been counting down the weeks, days and minutes since scheduling the appointment more than a month ago. It was one of the most nerve-wrecking movements of my entire life. I’m not going to reveal the sex on this blog just yet. We’re waiting to tell our parents in person this week as we make our way home for Thanksgiving and don’t want to spoil the surprise. As soon as we arrive in Houston on Wednesday evening, our parents and siblings are going to meet us at my mom’s house for the “grand reveal” – or as my stepdad Van likes to call it, the “Sexing Party.” 

I’ll post pics and details about the party soon, but in the meantime, here’s a quick recap of this morning’s events:

I popped up at 5:59 am just before my alarm went off. I tend to do that when I’m anticipating something exciting that day. I quickly showered and wolfed down breakfast, then patiently waited as my sweet husband Vicente dressed and gathered up his things. Poor guy; I might have been a little impatient with him this morning as I was more-than-a-little antsy to get us out the door on time. We all know Childres women hate being late.

On the way to the hospital, I was incredibly nervous. Not only was I anxious to find out what we were having, I was worried about the health of the baby. The anatomical survey U/S isn’t just about finding out the sex of the baby, it’s to determine whether or not it’s developing as it should. My Mommy Worry is already on high alert and Baby V is still months away from being born.

The ultrasound took about 45 minutes to an hour. Baby V was stubborn and refused to change positions the whole time, although he/she did kick and punch quite a bit. The baby was lying on its side throughout the entire ultrasound which made certain screenshots challenging due to the positioning. The radiologist had to come in at the end to get a better shot of the heart because the technician was having trouble finding the major blood vessels around it. Turns out, nothing was wrong, it was just an awkward position. Our ultrasound tech was incredibly sweet though and explained what she was looking at as she scanned our little nugget. She took measurements of all the major body structures and organs. We saw a perfectly round head, the eyes, nose and mouth, all fingers and toes, and vital organs such as the heart (all four chambers included), kidneys, and stomach.

At least 30 minutes passed before she got to the tail end of the baby (aka: the money shot!) The technician positioned the wand so that we could see an underneath shot of the baby’s bottom which included the tush, the hips, and the legs. We could see straight between the legs and she asked us, “Well, any guesses?” It wasn't as easy as you'd think; it is a grainy black and white image after all. I had already done a little research prior to the appointment by Googling "girl ultrasound" vs. "boy ultrasound," so I made an educated guess. I answered, “Is it a BLANK?” Turns out, it was!

I immediately burst into tears of joy. What an overwhelming moment to find out whether you’re going to raise a son or daughter.  Vicente had a huge smile on his face and was a bit teary-eyed as well. No matter what baby V had turned out to be, we would have been thrilled. It’s incredibly awesome to finally know and be able to envision the child that we’re going to bring into this world.

Ok, enough sappy shit. I’m having a hard time holding it together while typing this during my lunch break at work. I wasn't able to keep it quiet among a few work friends, but they have been sworn to secrecy until we reveal the sex to our families. Hopefully nobody spills the beans on Facebook.

 Stay tuned to find out what Baby V is later this week! I can’t wait to see the expressions on our parents’ faces. It’s going to be so much fun!