70% Sure

We saw our doctor again today--and more significantly, we got to the see the baby.  My husband wasn't at the last appointment, so it's been four weeks since he's been around for the ultrasound.  Our baby looks so much more like a "baby" at 16 weeks than he/she did at 12 weeks.  Don't get me wrong--it was a beautiful image at 12 weeks too!  But fingers and toes and face are so much more well defined now.

During the ultrasound, she pointed out the umbilical cord, and I mentioned that my mother-in-law had thought the umbilical cord was "boy parts" when she noticed it (until I pointed out that it would be in a really weird location if it were indeed "his package" protruding from his abdomen).  When I mentioned this, the doctor offered to try to determine the gender.  Although the baby was moving around a lot, she couldn't ever truly capture the shot she wanted in order to confirm.  So she shared that she was "70% sure"...but we'll know more at the big anatomy scan on May 5th.

Yep...May 5th...three weeks from now.  The doctor asked if I wanted to come back in two weeks, but since I knew that we would be scheduling the anatomy scan in 2-3 weeks, I figured that it was "unnecessary" to have two appointments within days of each other (as we did at 12 weeks, and then days later for the Ultrascreen to test for Downs Syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities).  So I'm going to be brave(r) and  (more) patient and (try to) wait the three weeks instead of two.  It has been such a blessing to see the baby every two weeks, but my doctor keeps reassuring me that everything is "totally normal", and I guess I want to be able to act that way.  Also, I absolutely LOVE seeing the baby, but I wonder if such frequent ultrasounds are kind of like a "crutch" for my faith.  It's easy (well, "easier") to trust God when I can visibly see that the baby is growing--but I want my faith to be constant, and not just in two-week intervals.    So three weeks it is (and besides, that also gets me past the extremely busy time at work).

Today's blessing is my group of student leaders who make my job so fulfilling.  I see most students once per year, or maybe once per semester.  But I get to see this group of students at least once per week--sometimes even twice.  I've known them each since their Freshman year, and it's so fun to see the types of leaders they have become since that time.  I shared our news with them last week, as they were making plans for selecting new members, and were counting on my involvement for the Fall.  Although they are now (kindly) wondering what they will do without me while I'm on maternity leave during the Fall semester, they are really excited for us in a "I'm still in college and can't think that far ahead...but it's still really cool for you" kind of way.  It's nice to know that our larger leadership organization for first-year students will be in good hands with them.