Congratulations! It’s a…girl?

My advice to first time fathers, and couples in general, when it comes to expert opinions and theories about determining the sex of your baby—take absolutely no stock in any of it. We heard the whole gamut as I blogged about before—the baby is active, so it must be a boy; the heartbeat is fast, so it must be a boy; mom-to-be is carrying the baby in this particular way (high, middle, or low) so it must be a girl (or boy). We’ve heard and read all sorts of allegedly sound theories, but the real truth is that none of it is reliable.

But we had more to go on than just old wives’ tales. Our own doctor, after last month’s appointment, chimed in with her confident proclamation that it’s a boy. She even went as far as saying she would put money on it in Vegas. Well after that assessment, how could we not be influenced? She is the expert! Ever since then we’ve been eyeing boys’ clothes and boy-themed bedding sets, while vainly trying to keep an open mind.

Good thing no money changed hands.

The enormously anticipated second ultrasound appointment put the kibosh on all of the rampant speculation. As we both silently expected to hear the confirmation announced at any minute, the tech dropped a surprise: IT’S A GIRL. Cue the sound effect of the record player needle being scratched against vinyl.

A girl? Not a boy? The tech explained the evidence, and it just goes to show that medical science gets to have the last laugh. My instant reaction was not disappointment (I truly didn’t care either way), but rather stunned excitement. Visions of car seats, blankets, and onesies went from shades of blue to pink. Wow, a girl. Daddy’s little girl, I love the sound of that.

She’s Daddy’s active, rambunctious little girl too.

Arms and legs flailed to and fro in the gray, splotchy image. This girl wouldn’t stay still for ten seconds. An image of a foot appeared, a hand, a face, and profiles from opposite sides of the screen. She’s over here…now she’s over there. Cart wheels and somersaults were performed with ease. No wonder it was so hard to get fix on her the first time the doctor looked for a heartbeat. My wife had yet to feel anything but flutters so far, but we both anticipate a lot more as she continues to grow. The kicks will come, and there will probably be a lot of them.