Ultrasound!

This afternoon I had my 20 week ultrasound at Bethesda.  I drove there, and Bob metro-ed in from the Pentagon.  Once again (like the other ultrasounds I've had at Bethesda only), the tech took me back and conducted the first part of the ultrasound, with all the measurements and images for the doctor to look at, in complete silence.  I took a nice nap, since I couldn't see the screen at all, while Bob just waited in the waiting room and read.

Eventually I realized it seemed to be taking a long time, and the tech was really pressing around.  I must have looked questioningly, because then she told me that the baby was facing away from her, and she was trying to get a picture of the face!  Eventually she told me to get up, use the restroom, and try to get the baby to change positions, while she showed the pictures to the radiologist.  I did all that, she came back with the radiologist, and when I laid back down and she tried again, the baby had turned, so the tech could get the pictures she wanted, and the doctor was happy with that.  While the tech went out to get Bob, the doctor did sit down and scan around himself, but he never said anything, so I don't know what that was about.

After Bob got there, and the doctor left, the tech spent about 3 minutes showing us the baby (everything looked good to me, for what it's worth, LOL), told me the due date from her measurements was Sept. 25, which is exactly the date from my LMP, and said she thought everything looked good, but that the radiologist would look at all the pictures and give a final report to the OB.  Then she tried to get a shot between the legs, and the baby was not really very cooperative!  The baby kept turning away from the screen, and one leg was raised.  I guess the tech hadn't looked at that area before . . .?  Anyhow, eventually the baby deigned to turn and move the one leg, so we could get a brief glance, and it *appears* that this baby is a girl!  The glance was brief, but the tech immediately started calling the baby "her", so maybe the tech actually had looked earlier and gotten a better view?  She didn't seem to be that concerned about the uncertainty!

So we're thinking it is a girl, which is what I had sort of thought it might be.  I have been more tired this pregnancy, and I was very tired in my pregnancy with Anna, who was also the first girl after boys.  Also, I had a terrible time with itching with Anna, and my left hand has had the same sort of rash I had with her off and on since I found out I was pregnant.  These aren't very scientific clues, obviously, but they led me toward thinking this baby might possibly be a girl!  Maybe some sort of hormonal difference?  My boy pregnancies are basically symptom-less.  I don't have many issues with girl pregnancies either, so any difference is bound to be a little thing!  Luke has been thinking it's a girl too--because a girl would complete the pyramid of first 4 boys, then 3 girls, then 2 boys, and finally 1 girl on top.  As a math major, I am all about the patterns, LOL.

Now we move on to considering names (I guess we will still have to come up with a boys name, just in case, but there we are really scraping the bottom of the barrel!), and to where this new little one will eventually fit, bedroom-wise.  It's a good thing we have a big walk-in closet, with a window, even!  Drew had the closet as a bedroom for over a year, and this one will follow in his footsteps.  I will say it is hard to believe that even as we think about where to put another kid, we have to also start thinking about kids moving out.  : (  That is so sad!  But we will have about a year together before Nathan graduates, so right now we will just think happy thoughts about that, and not weepy, hormonal, pregnant thoughts about him leaving . . .