It's a . . .

GIRL! We had the 20-week appointment today, which was the day of the anatomy ultrasound. As we pulled up to the hospital, the song "My Girl" came on the radio, and Kyle looked at me and asked, "Do you think that's a sign?" I wasn't sure. The whole time I had been thinking it was a boy, but in the last few weeks, I haven't been so sure.
So we began the ultrasound with so much anticipation. I hadn't seen any pictures since 12 weeks, and the baby has grown so much since then - she actually looks like a baby now! The ultrasound technician (who reminds me a lot of Kyle's mom, which is great) took measurements of her head, and checked her brain, heart, kidneys, stomach, and measured her femurs and arm bones. Everything looked great - she's symmetrical, all organs look like they're developing as they should be - we could even see the different chambers of the heart. She was moving around a lot, so we got to see a somersault in action:

And hands and feet! She has huge hands! Then after all the measurements were done, she checked the baby's sex, and she was sure it is a girl. She looked a couple times, and then said, "Yep, it's a girl . . . I'm not second-guessing myself on this one!"

So we are both thrilled. Neither of us really cared about what it would turn out to be - we just wanted to hear the clean bill of health. But now that I know, I am thinking about her in a whole new way - she's a person, already gaining an identity. I have a picture on my wall of my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mom holding me when I was a newborn. All three women are looking at me and smiling. I am just laying there, with my bright red hair and puffy new face, probably asleep, but basking in the love surrounding me. I was the first girl granddaughter born on that side of my family, and these three generations of women look so proud and happy to add another girl to the family. It's so strange to think that I was the newborn in that photo, and now I'm adding another person to the world.

I keep thinking about the huge family this little girl is joining - our own parents, the aunts and uncles and cousins already vying for the title of "favorite," our friends who are like family, and the gaggle of our friends' kids that she will grow up with. It's funny - for the first part of my pregnancy, I felt like the baby was just our secret that we got to share with just a few people. But now that we know she's a girl (and since we've blasted that info into the universe via Facebook), I am recalling the feeling I had at our wedding when I felt surrounded by a strong network of family and friends: so much support and so much love. But now it's for a little girl who will join that tightly knit web and be nurtured by it. I am very grateful to have all this love to share with her.