And it's a ...

I was super excited to get the 'official' ultrasound scheduled at 18 weeks. Chris wanted to do a preliminary sonogram on his own to see if he could guess correctly if it was a boy or a girl. We decided to just wait and see what the ultrasound tech would come up with. I had been exuding 'girl' vibes since Chris had done the 12 1/2 week ultrasound so I felt that I would be shocked and have to adjust my mind frame quite a bit if it was a boy. I'd have to start thinking blue instead of pink.

The day of the ultrasound we had an early appointment so Chris could get to work once we were done. I was told to have a full bladder so I was guzzling water bottles on my way to the hospital. With the ever-present need to go to the bathroom I probably could have gone without an extra ounce and been okay. Not knowing how it worked, Chris showed up with me on time, but then was told he had to wait in the waiting room until the sonographer was done with the first part of the ultrasound. I felt bad for Chris sitting out there just waiting. However, I wasn't able to see the baby for the first part either. About an hour later, the ultrasound tech was done taking the necessary photos to send to radiology and Chris was able to come in. The tech gave us a baby tour and walked us through the body parts of Baby Bell. I was so excited to see the little hands and feet with fingers and toes. Even though Baby Bell seemed to be pretty calm and content to stay in one position we were able to see the mouth move. We heard the heart beat for the first time - ticking away at 136 beats a minute. The umbilical cord was between the legs making determining the sex a little more tricky. However, the tech was able to get a clear shot and gave us a pretty certain guess that Baby Bell is indeed Baby Girl Bell.

It was interesting looking at the current shape of Baby Girl Bell in contrast to the 12 1/2 week ultrasound. The head was more shapely and about a third of the body size instead of the same size as the body. We had a great view of the heart beating, and we could see the brain and bone structure more definitely. They were only ultrasound pictures, but Baby Girl Bell looked beautiful to me.

The ultrasound tech asked me during the first part of the sonogram if I had any idea what the gender would be or if I had had a 'dream telling me what the sex of the baby was'. I never did, but deep down I felt that we were having a girl. A few months after Chris and I had decided we wanted to start our family and having had no success, and because it was our first time trying to get pregnant and it wasn't happening right away, I worried that maybe there could be something wrong to prevent us from having children. On a day of discouragement I prayed to Heavenly Father telling him that I knew there was a little girl waiting to come to our family and that we were ready. About three months later were blessed with our pregnancy. I had always had an inkling that it was most likely a girl, but also knew that God works in his own way and that anything could happen. My mom and sister Jan also always supposed Baby Bell to be a girl. Although Chris attributes that to the tendency for girls to think it's a girl and boys to think it's a boy.

Since I had started cultivating a real belly bump I wanted Baby Girl Bell to know what she looked like from the outside the day we found out for sure that a girl was on the way. It mostly looks like I'm bloated or I had a big breakfast. Depending on what I was wearing I could easily hide my 'pooch', as my mom calls (my least favorite term for a pregnant belly).

We made sure to let the family and friends know so they could start thinking pink as well. They had some fun responses.

From Molly:

Yay! Girls are the best! (no offense boys). So happy for you both. Yet
another excuse to go shopping:)

From Lucy:

Yeehaw!  Now I can move forward with the baby gift! :)  What colors are you using in the baby's room?  Paige - I think you should field this one..... :)  Congratulations!

From Jim:

Congrats Chris and Paige! You guys must be very excited! Can't wait to
meet her next summer!

From Joe:

Congratulations you two - we're very excited for you!
....got a name yet?
Kidding

From Tracey:

That is awesome news!! She is going to be a cutie!!

On the Austin side I sent out a text with the most recent ultrasound picture.

Jan wrote:

Yay!!! Baby Jan!

From Heather:

Wow, What a great photo. You will have so much fun with a baby girl. We are so dang happy for you. Love you!

From Rich:

Ooh that is a good one! She looks cute already. Congratulations Sis!

From Mom:

She is beautiful

From Dad:

Looks just like here mom!! Love Dad

Some friends sent us replies as well.

From Laura Horne:

Yay! She is going to be gorgeous, so smart, a super athlete, and pretty much better than the rest of us in every way =)

From Kimberly Washburn:

Oh- I' so excited for you!!!!! She will be beautiful! I really do think we have the same life- maybe we were supposed to be twins :) Love ya!

I was glad to have a solid decision as to the sex so I could start doing the things all future mothers do - plan the nursery and buy cute girl clothes and accesories. Even though we weren't going to have a nursery due to living in our apartment and moving a few months after Baby Girl Bell was born, I could still think about it. I celebrated my new surety by buying my first little girl outfit. And that is just what it was, a little girl outfit - eighteen months. I was so excited to find such cute clothes for a girl that I didn't think about how long it would actually be until Baby Girl Bell would be able to wear it. Chris warned me not to go too nuts.  Okay, I guess...

I had heard that about this time is when I would start to be able to feel the baby move. Because the little arms and legs are so small and the baby isn't very strong, discerning between baby movement and intestinal movement was tricky. However, at times I would feel a little bump in the belly and it was different than anything else I had felt before. It would only happen on occasion, but I knew for sure I was feeling the little life inside me.