It's a.... (and other news)

...boy!!!!!

Profile shot of our son

"He" was not incredibly cooperative in getting measurements, etc.,  but the fact that the tech was able to say "boy parts" (as she put it) three separate times during the ultrasound makes me feel pretty confident. I asked her before we left the room if she felt confident that it is a boy, and she said that they can't guarantee 100%, but she thinks a boy is very likely. 

So, the planning begins.  We've already taught Evie how to say "brother."  And the spare bedroom in our house, which will become the nursery, is already decorated for a boy.  (The family that we bought our house from had a little girl and a little boy.  Even before we had kids, we always referred to the rooms as either the "little girl's room" or the "little boy's room."  Ironic that we had the same gender of kids in the order that we chose to use the spare rooms!)

It's a little underwhelming to know that it's a boy, but to now have to wait another 20 weeks to meet him.  If it goes as quickly as the past 15 weeks have, hopefully it will be here before we know it.  :)

In other news, I leave tomorrow for Panama!!  I had a great idea a month ago to line up some bloggy friends to do some guest posts, but that fell through (due to my own poor planning) while I was in Spain.  I'm not sure what my internet access will be in Panama, but I will post if I can.  It's going to be a very different trip with a group of high school students, rather than a toddler.  

I know I'm going to miss Evie (and M!) like crazy, but in some ways I'm looking forward to a little me time too.  One other teacher (who is also a very good friend) is coming along, and I think we are going to have a great time.  I can't wait to see the kids explore a new culture, and see another way to live in this world.  I hope that they are able to learn a lot.  

Hopefully I'll be in touch soon!!! 

Boy or Girl???

I love all of the old wives tales associated with determining the gender of a baby.  When I was pregnant with Evie, we did not find out the gender at our 20 week ultrasound, so we tried all of the tricks and 2/3 of them said that we were having a boy.  The Chinese gender predictor chart said that we were having a boy, and in my gut, I was sure that we were having a boy.  In my mind though, I thought I had seen the tell-tale "three white lines" (aka: it looked like lips, if you know what I mean) at the ultrasound, so a girl wasn't a huge surprise to me. 

With this pregnancy, we are finding out, and tomorrow is the big day.  We (potentially) find out if this baby is growing a peen or a vag.  Since the time to try out all of the fun old wives tales is running short, I thought I'd try a few and determine today, what will be proven by science tomorrow.

Chinese gender predictor: It depends on which month we conceived.  That's iffy, it was either the end of February or beginning of March.  If it happened in March (more likely), we are having a girl.  If it happened in February (less likely), we are having a boy.

Old Wives Tale Quiz:  This predicts that we have a 60% chance of having a girl and a 40% chance of having a boy.  That's not much better than 50/50....


Acne while pregnant: The tale goes that if you have more acne, you will have a girl.  My skin has been the same as always, so I guess that means boy??

Cravings: Salty cravings mean that you're having a boy, and sweets means a girl.  From this post, I think that predicts a girl. 


Previous kids: If your older child's first word was momma, you'll have a girl.  If it was "dadda," you'll have a boy.  Evie said "dadda" long before "momma," so, boy it is with this one!

Moodiness: If you are moodier than usual, you are having a girl.  That definitely means a girl for me!!!!  I have had to keep myself in check more than once this pregnancy!

Boob size: Supposedly, a larger left breast means girl, and a larger right breast means boy.  Righty has always been a little bigger, but I guess this still points to boy. 

Morning sickness: If you have little or no morning sickness, it predicts a boy.  I had some morning sickness, but not nearly as much as I had with Evie....boy???

Dreams: The tale goes that that you dream about what you will have.  I always dreamed that I was having a girl when I was pregnant with Evie.  This time, I've dreamed of having a girl 1 or 2 times, but just the other night, I had a dream that it was a boy. 

Finally, what do I think???  70% of the time, a expectant mother's intuition is right about the gender of her baby.  I'm really not sure.  I think that I'm being swayed a little by the fact that I know that M wants to have a son.  (Disclaimer: He would love any child that we had, but I know he would feel like he was missing out if he never had a son, and I think two babies are as much as our family can handle.)  I keep thinking it's a girl, but maybe I just want Evie to have a sister because I'm so close to my sisters.  I think there are too many outside influences at play here for me to make a rational decision.  (Also, that's a really good cop-out because I have no idea!)

Conclusion: I am having a hermaphrodite.   Of the wives tales I listed, four say girl, four say boy, and two are inconclusive.  In the end, whether this baby is a boy or a girl (or other), he/she will have two loving parents, an adoring big sister, and an extended family that will love the crap out of him/her.  :)

I found a great list of old wives tales here at www.hisboyscanswim.com

Losing Myself

This is one of my biggest fears.  I feared it when I was pregnant with Evie, and I fear it even more now as I expect my second child.  How do I maintain my own identity while wrapped up in the needs of two other human beings?

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't upset when I found out I was pregnant.  Even though M and I probably would have eventually had more kids, this was very unexpected.  I don't want to sound ungrateful.  I know that there are millions of women (including my own sister) who have struggled with infertility, who would give their left arm for an unexpected pregnancy.  I'm over the shock, and I'm definitely looking forward to the new baby, but I still have doubts.

What if I can't handle two kids?  Some days (like last Friday), I feel like I can't handle the one I already have!!   There are lots of days and weeks when I feel like I don't have any time for myself.  How will I ever get any time with two children?  I resent M because I feel like he doesn't have to sacrifice as much.  Will our marriage be able to handle the addition of another child?  Evie is pretty comfortable as an only child.  How will she deal with this transition to big sister?  Will I still be able to give her enough?

On down days, these thoughts rule my mind.  We can prepare for all of this as much as we'd like, but until this baby arrives, there's no way of knowing what it will be like.  Nothing is ever exactly what you expect it will be.  I just hope that I can keep some shred of myself, and I will be recognizable on the other side.

Summer Fun!

It may seem that we've had all of the summer fun that we can handle here with our big trip and all, but we're just getting started!!  We have tons of plans this summer for when we're actually in this country.

To recap a bit: our Spain trip was amazing!!  We saw a lot of the country that I hadn't seen before, and lived with a great host family (I will not be posting their pics, as I did not ask permission).  We started in Barcelona, where we spent 3 days.

Chasing pigeons in a plaza in Barcelona

Then we moved on to Valladolid to stay with our host family.  While we were there, we took a few day trips.  We went to a city called Ávila which is a walled in city that is about 1500 years old.  We went to a city called Segovia with a 2000 year old Roman aqueduct, and we also were able to visit Santander, a beach town on the northern coast.

Skyping with M from our homestay

Our remaining summer plans are quite as exotic, but at least we'll be able to do (most) of them as a family.  Well, after I get back from Panama on the 15th that is.  I am taking a group of students to Panama for 9 days where we'll stay with Panamanian families to learn more about the language and culture there.  We will also be doing some work in a Panamanian orphanage as a service learning project.  We leave on Saturday, and as much as I'm looking forward to the trip, I'm also looking forward to coming home to stay for a while.  ;)

M is on vacation for a week and Evie's birthday is coming up!!  We plan to take her to Bay Beach amusement park in Green Bay during that week.  I went there a ton when I was a kid, and I can't wait to take Evie too!  I have such great memories of it, and it's so exciting to pass that on to her.

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It's going to be a busy summer, but I'm looking forward to spending some time just the three of us before the new baby is born.  Next summer will be a whole new adventure!!

This post was written for Toddle Along Tuesday, sponsored by Growing Up Geeky.  This week's topic is Summer Fun.  

Link up and join the fun!!

19 week update

Because of our trip, it's been 4 weeks since I posted an update.  Do I look a lot different???

15 Weeks. 

   

19 weeks

 I swear these are different pictures...I just happened to be wearing the exact same thing.  I think that bump has grown a little in the past four weeks, but from looking at the pictures, not as much as I felt like it had.  I've been feeling H-U-G-E!!!!!  I know that I still have a long ways to go, but I wish that I had faithfully taken photos every week when I was pregnant with Evie, I think I'm much bigger this time around.

So, onto the survey!

Weight gain/loss: +3 lbs. from 4 weeks ago, putting my total weight gain at 9 lbs.  I am excited that I'm still hovering around my pre-pregnancy weight with Evie.  :)

Fruit of the week: This week baby is the size of a mango.  

Feeling: Tired.  I think that my trip is still catching up with me.  I'm also a little overwhelmed with the fact that I leave for Panama with a group of my students on Saturday.  I didn't plan on being pregnant for all of this traveling!!!! 

Sleep:  Good, but I would like more of it.  I went to bed at 8:30 last night, it wasn't even dark out.

Food cravings: Milk.  For being a Wisconsin girl, I'm not much of a milk drinker, but yesterday I think I had 4 glasses. 

Movement:  Definitely feeling a lot of it these days.  I had an anterior placenta with Evie, and I feel like it must be posterior this time with all of the movement I'm feeling.  This is by far my favorite part of pregnancy, so I'm enjoying it.

Maternity Clothing: I love everything about them, expect how the pants fall down all the time.  I've been wearing more dresses with the heat anyway, so not a huge problem.   

Gender? We are definitely finding out.  A lot of people have been saying they think I'm having a boy, but I think that's just because I already have a girl.  In Spain they call a boy/girl combination "la parejita," which means "the perfect little pair."  I think that everyone over there was just biased towards that.   

What I miss?   Having cocktails with M on summer nights.  All weekend, I just wanted to put Evie to bed and sit on the patio with a cold drink, talking to M.    

Best moment this week: Getting home.  I had the most amazing trip, but I know how much Evie missed M.  I missed him too.  It was nice to be a family all together again. 

What I'm looking forward to:  Taking my students to Panama.  As much as this is a strain on my family, it's the opportunity of a lifetime for my students.  A trip like this one when I was in high school truly changed my life.  I had never really been out of my little town before, and it opened my eyes to how big and interesting the world is.  I hope that this trip will do even half of that for my students. 


Next Appointment: The big anatomy scan this Friday, July 6th.  Yup, that means we're finding out the gender on Friday!!!