Right. So it’s a girl.
!
I admit it: I’m a little excited. I am also a little terrified, but never mind that part. I was a little excited and a little terrified with Mini, too, so this makes things even.
We found out yesterday at the 18 week ultrasound/horrible genetic disorder consultation meeting with the perinatologist. The doctor said, “This is not intuitive at all, but do you see these things? These are labia.”
I said, “I KNEW it. I KNEW it.”
Mr. Right-Click left the office by shouting, “I AM HAVING A DAUGHTER!!!” triumphantly at the front office reception nurses.
Initially, Mini declined to comment publicly on this news, but this morning he told me he thought he might like having a “girl baby,” citing as evidence for this claim a list of the names of all females he has met in his life thusfar who have been deemed acceptable to him. I told him that his uncle was a boy who had a sister, and his daddy is a boy who had two sisters, and besides, I bet the baby will like stuff like Thomas the Tank Engine and robots and stuff like that.
Then he asked if maybe he could show the baby about stuff like “the video store” someday, and I said yes. So I think he’s coming around.
++++++++++++++++++++
My OBGYN’s office had lost my blood sample for the second time so far this pregnancy (does not inspire confidence in care, I will assure you, though my OBGYN himself is awesome), so we still have not decided whether or not I will have an amnio. Right now signs are pointing to no amnio, but I won’t decide for sure until I hear back about the blood results. The nurse at the perinatologist’s office was absolutely certain to make me feel like an old hag, though, when discussing genetic counseling — I explained that I had had genetic counseling the first time around, when I was 34, and that I didn’t see the point of doing it again unless there was going to be something radically different about it, specifically to do with my test results. So then she said, “Oh, but you were only 34 then. Now you are 37,” as if the bell was tolling, right then, for me and this hypothetical baby, because ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE! Alert! Alert!
I asked her if there was going to be anything new that I couldn’t get from googling about the statistical differences between having a baby at 34 versus having a baby at 37. No? Then suck it 
, lady. (The “suck it ” was implied, rather than articulated.) I have to wonder what it’s like in locales where they aren’t as used to seeing pregnant women over 35, if this is what I get in Los Angeles.
I don’t want to veer too closely to ripping off Ryan‘s maternity series, but now that I’m almost at the point where people can discern that I’m pregnant, rather than just fat, I thought I’d share.
As you can see, I don’t quite have the basketball yet, and I still have that cursèd dent in the middle of the stomach, but I’m getting there.
And now, so many baby blue things to purge, so much pink to buy.
Oooo, I’m a big fan of girl babies! So excited and happy for you! And I have the midsection dent, too. Ug.
Oh Anna, CONGRATS!!!
I just went through all Finn’s shit and there was a surprising amount of stuff that I could actually re-use for her, so hopefully you’ll have the same luck.
Congratulations! One of each is a nice way to go. (It’s how I lived my childhood, except we had older sister/younger brother, which is also nice.)
I was 39 when I had my first (and only). And despite the fact that my file said “AMA,” no one ever commented on it. A good reason to consider moving to VT, eh?
Oh, how FUN! Mini will have a little sister, and she will have a big brother! That is super exciting. You look great!
It’s one of those universal YAY moments, isn’t it? A boy would have been YAY, too. But, really, the girl clothes are so much better. The colors are brighter, the patterns are cooler. Boy clothes seem to be limited to brown and blue and dinosaurs and puppies. Or else is $50 for a pair of baby pants. Stupid boy clothes.
OMG! A girl! That is so great.
Now you have collected the set!
I promise you, this is going to be fantastic.
Also, you’re almost halfway done (and really close to the less-barfy half). So yay for that too!
Congratulations. And remember, girls can wear blue.
Fabulous news! She’s a lucky little girl getting to be part of your family.
Congratulations! It will be marvelous. And I was all “I am not falling into that pink thing” rah rah feminist hear me roar with my daughter, and everyone gave us pink everything. And then for years it was her favorite color. All of which I share to illustrate… I’m not sure. Embrace the pink, I guess.
Thank goodness for little girls right? Mini will be an awesome big brother to a sister, and you can now firmly embrace your pink side
One of each! Yay! It’s so perfect. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Congrats Anna!
Did you actually do those things that one is supposed to do to “get a girl”? I’m curious since I would also like a matched set. And I agree with Cherie Beyond that girl clothes are *much* better. I’m sure your girl will be VERY fashionable. But, more importantly, will she be allowed to wear black??!?
My baby girl made me both excited & terrified too. The same feeling with finding out this time around I was having another girl. Something about the girls…hmm…I blame all the years I spent as one (and as a woman now)
Congrats to you & the whole family!
Happy girl, Anna!
Congratulations on your girl! It must be nice to know who you are throwing up for
Girls are the bomb-diggety bomb. But then again, so are boys.
It will be a fun change-up from Mini’s baby days, and I hope that big brother and little sister will love one another with a fierce, loyal love that will last their whole lifetimes.
Congrats, Anna!
Ugh, amnios. I am 35, 26 weeks pregnant. I see midwives, and when I asked them about it, the answer I got was very “it’s a personal decision.” First trimester screening results said that my risks were low. The doctor who does the screening ultrasound says she’s recommending amnios only for patients 38 and up. So we go to our genetic counselor appointment and she greets us with, “When’s your amnio?” Um…
So we ponder, we discuss, we ponder some more. Some days we think, “We’re doing this.” Other days we think, “No way.” But we’re starting to get to the point where we have to make a decision.
Second trimester screening results are also low/negative, and the doctor who does the anatomy ultrasound says that given statistics, she wouldn’t get the amnio herself. OK, we’re not getting the amnio, I feel good about it, we move on.
My last midwife appointment? I get asked if I’m having the amnio and when I tell her why we’ve decided not to get one, she goes into this whole thing about how the screenings aren’t 100% accurate.
Fuck you, medicine.
Congrats!!
Kudos to you on showing the dent. I honestly thought I was the only woman on the planet who also got the dent. Sadly, with my second, the dent stayed for a very long time, until I was maybe 7-8 months. I think it’s because Mikey was a c-section? Whatever the reason, it annoyed me. By the looks of your stomach, I don’t think yours will last nowhere near that long.
Awesome.
I’m getting one of them In niece form. Yay!
I have two, 12 1/2 and 10 1/2. My 12 1/2 year old has braces & glasses just like I did. She’s also gorgeous & popular and has a loving, kind, supportive “boyfriend.” Obvs they are never allowed to be alone for a minute; I’m not CRAZY. So, to sum it up, my 12 year old is in a relationship that I didn’t find until I was 32. I can only surmise that I’M DOING IT RIGHT!!!
Neither girl has ever regarded food as anything more than a substance that sustains life. We never tie food to rewards or comfort, and I never cook anything fancy so they’re used to eating sandwiches or crappy Lean Cuisines like I do. My mom did the same thing for me, and I’ve never had any problems with a negative body image. And I’m 52. Size 12. Like to lose about 10 lbs. Not obsessing over it.
We don’t even fetishize the Family Sit Down Meal. I added that twist. I happen to believe that you might as well go all the way and make food a TOTAL non-issue. So we’ll usually make a simple meal at night. Last night was turkey burgers, baked oven fries, and frozen corn (well, we did heat it up for them
We adults both ate salads with barbecue chicken at midnight and I also had a dozen Reece’s peanut butter cups after they were sound asleep. (See: Like to lose 10 lbs) Candy is available, and neither one of them seem to find it fascinating or irresistible. We always had something around the house at home (Mom maintained her 110 lbs into Alzheimer’s).
I watched, and copied, and tweaked, and that’s what I came up with.
They have editorial control over content and pictures posted on my blog, and have read it from cover to cover, and have never complained about anything.
I’m raaaaather pleased!!! And congratulations to you!!!!!
A girl! YAY! Congratulations!
Can’t believe I am admitting this but I just finished reading Bethenny Frankel’s A Place Of Yes. She had a rough childhood as you may know. She says someone told her she had a daughter because she was meant to–maybe to right the wrongs she had gone through growing up. Perhaps there’s a little of that in your case too?
Congrats to all three of you! And I hope you are feeling a little better now.
Awesome! congratulations!
I have a boy and a girl, started out with the boy. In the beginning with my daughter, things were pretty easy – babies are just babies at that point. Now, she is almost 4, the boy is 5.5 and let’s just say that things are interesting. Heh.
So happy for you, Anna!