Mover and a Shaker

First, I'd like to reassure you all that there is only one baby in this momma. I am so much bigger and feeling so much movement, I thought for sure they were going to find 2 or 3 in there. But just one, very busy baby.

This appointment was so much fun. Baby #3 was moving around like crazy, and I got to watch kicks as I felt them. Andrew and Lily both slept through their ultrasounds, so this was the first time I got to see a baby move. Baby flipped 3 times during the ultrasound. I just enjoyed every minute of it. This perfect, amazing little person already formed in there. Truly a miracle. Everything looks wonderful...good brain, nice 4-chambered heart, 2 bones in each leg, etc etc. Just so lovely and reassuring to see. Baby is about 9 oz...so how come I've gained 4 pounds?

I spent last night and this morning prepping Andrew for the possibility of having another girl. We talked about how fun Lily is and how much he loves her. We talked about how no matter how many babies Mommy has, there is no guarantee he will EVER get a baby brother. Does he really want 6 sisters? (Like a cousin of mine...the only boy of 7 kids). So I felt pretty confident going in that he wouldn't over-react to a girl verdict. I still asked the U/S tech to wait until the end to say anything, even if it was obvious to her and Jeff and I. Andrew was so funny. She was super nice to him, talking and explaining what was up on the screen. She would freeze shots of the hands and feet and face and show him. And every time, he would impatiently say, "Yes, but is it a GIRL or a BOY?" Finally at the end, she gave the big reveal to him. Jeff and I had already guessed. Having had a boy and a girl, we know what both parts look like on an ultrasound, so we kind of knew what we were looking at.

Andrew came out of the room holding the pictures. All the nurses asked him about it...whether he knew if it was a boy or a girl. He proceeded to tell them that he has 4 brothers and 5 sisters. Huh? The nurse looked right up at me in disbelief. I laughed and told him to stop telling stories, and after that he got the question right.

And, of course, I can't reveal it here. Jeff has this harebrained idea that it will be so fun to tell his parents in person at Thanksgiving. I personally don't think the reveal of a 3rd child's gender, especially in an evenly matched family such as ours, is THAT exciting. And how exactly do you keep a 4 year old from blabbing to his grandparents immediately? I guess we won't be able to let him talk to them for the next week. He's already told every person that we've come into contact with. I guess this secrecy lasts one day. I can just see my mother calling 7 times a day, hoping to get Andrew on the phone. She can't STAND that I know and am not telling her. Actually, this could be really fun. Maybe I'll keep it a secret the rest of the pregnancy. ;)