We had our ultrasound last week before we went out of town and found out we will be having another little girl! Michael and my first words to each other: "Well, at least we don't have to repaint the nursery!". And then I started commenting on all the cute clothes we have that I would love to see another baby in and we both kept going down the line of thinking that it will be so much cheaper to not have to buy boy clothes, toys, books, etc.
Neither one of us teared up. That is so unlike us (especially me!). Why the lack of emotion? I think it's safe to say we were both in shock. When I was first pregnant with Shaelyn, I had no preference of baby gender whatsoever. I just wanted a healthy baby and was ecstatic I was finally pregnant. After about 10 weeks however, I became convinced I was having a little girl. I even started referring to her as "she". So when we went to the ultrasound appointment and it was confirmed that Shaelyn was in fact a girl, it was wonderful to find out that this little baby I had already come to know was who I thought she was.
This pregnancy I actually did have a preference. I told Michael I was hoping it was a little girl, because I wanted Shaelyn to have a little sister close to her in age that she could do girly things with - that's what I had growing up, and it was a blast! Michael and I are planning on having a million kids (well, a few more at least), so I wasn't worried about this being the boy. Plus, I just don't think that way. Boys or girls, a new spirit coming into the world is all that is important to me. I'm not holding out for any kind of gender. I just want to help as many of Heavenly Father's children get bodies as I can.
But at about 10 weeks again, I told Michael I was convinced we were having a boy. I started referring to the baby as "him" and eventually even started calling him Andrew - the name we have picked out if in fact we ever do have a boy. I think I had Michael convinced, too. Suddenly, I was drawn to boy clothes at the store, boy toys, and I was dreaming of green and blue walls. Again, not because I was hoping for a boy, but because I was envisioning the future of this particular little baby. I had a few girl's names picked out just in case (Ella and Lily, both now thrown out), but the thought that this baby could be a girl was so far in the recesses of my brain I hadn't really processed it.
Fast forward to Michael and me in the ultrasound room. The tech asks "Do you want to know the sex?" and we of course say yes. I'm so dead sure she's going to say it's a boy that I already hear the words coming out of her mouth. And then, "It's a girl!". And then silence. And then me saying "It's a girl?". And then us talking about not repainting the nursery and all the convenience of having a girl. I thought that if I found out I was wrong and we were in fact having another little girl, there would be a one-second delay, and then I would be right on board. But instead it took me the rest of the appointment (about another 30 minutes) to get over the shock. I felt like this baby growing inside me was a stranger that I needed to start an all new bonding process with. It didn't become a reality for me until I told Shaelyn "you're having a little sister!". Then all the dreams of having two giggling girls came back to me and I was ok - more than ok. I was ecstatic!
Michael and I have been going through the "baby naming process" with this little one. Shaelyn was the only name we had previously picked out that was still applicable by the time we got around to actually having a baby. So we're starting from scratch. My top pick was Ella (to replace our previously loved, now way over-used Emma), but when we watched the baby in the ultrasound video, I knew she was not an Ella. So I threw it out myself. We've gone through some baby naming books with two criteria: 1) the name had to be somewhat unique (you can't have a Shaelyn and then have a Jennifer) and 2) we wanted this girl to have a French name. We have not 100% decided on a name (although I have - and it's a name Michael picked, so it's a done deal in my mind), but we have one we are almost positive about. We don't want to reveal it until we know it's going to be the baby's name, but if you want to guess it, here's the fill-in-the-blank clue:
What's your guess?
