The Gender Reveal

The verdict is in! Baby Gaultney No. 2 is a GIRL!

But wait – our anatomy ultrasound isn’t until November 1. So how do I know the sex, you ask? Well why don’t I just tell you!

Our five-year anniversary was on Saturday, October 27. We had big plans for celebrating in San Antonio, the city where we got married. I had won a two-night stay with valet parking at the Westin Riverwalk, and Brad made us a bunch of reservations at really fun and yummy and occasionally shi-shi restaurants. Yay!

I wanted to get Brad a really good gift, but he doesn’t particularly love/need “stuff.” He likes experiences. So after I tried to get him a couple of anniversary “experience” gifts that fell through (a pack of Crossfit training sessions was one, but I won’t tell you the other in case I try to resurrect it later), I thought, “Hey, he’s so eager to know the sex of the baby – what if there’s a way we can find out early?” I contacted El Centro Community College, which has an ultrasound school, and after a few emails, I had an appointment to come see the clinical director for an ultrasound! Since it didn’t work with my timeframe to do one in the classroom for instruction purposes (I wanted to do the appointment before October 27, but they didn’t have an ultrasound class until October 29), I had to pay $35. But all of that money goes toward student enrichment programs, and it is a very reasonable price compared to an ultrasound at a doctor’s office or at a vanity ultrasound place. So on Tuesday, October 23, I secretly went to El Centro for my appointment. Brad watched Ford while I “ran an errand.” The technician could not have been sweeter, and she spent TONS of time with me! She showed me the baby’s face in 3D, the heart, the cord, bloodflow, kidneys, bladder, hands, feet… everything! It was such a beautiful moment. Then when it got to the gender part, I looked away and she wrote the sex in a greeting card I had brought. She also sealed up all of the pictures inside.

In the interest of full disclosure, at the beginning of the ultrasound she was calling the baby “he, him,” etc. I asked if she was hinting at something and she said, “Oh no, I always call babies ‘he.’” Then after the part where she identified the sex, she started saying “she, her” and so forth. So I had an inkling, but I didn’t want to start thinking a certain way.

I had planned to wait until October 27 before telling Brad about the card. I had these visions of us walking along the San Antonio Riverwalk or sitting at a fun restaurant, and I would just pop out the card and say, “Here’s your gift!” But within about 20 minutes of me getting home that afternoon following my visit to El Centro, I couldn’t stand not knowing. I asked Brad if he wanted his anniversary present early. He said, “sure.” So I asked him if he knew what it was, and he said he thought so. So I asked him if it was a big present or a small present. He said “medium.” Then I asked him, “If you could know RIGHT NOW if we’re having a boy or a girl, would you want to know?” That caught him totally off guard! He said yes, so I handed him the card. He peeked inside, we saw the words “Sweet Baby Girl!” and started jumping up and down and cheering. Of course, that totally freaked Ford out, so the celebration calmed down pretty quickly.

It was so fun to find out together like that. And we are so excited to welcome a sweet baby GIRL in March! Bring on the ruffles and bows!

Boy v. Girl - What the Old Wives Say

Image via Getty Images

I did this same exercise before we found out Ford's sex (click here to read that post). Thought it would be fun to update it for this pregnancy! Just for fun, I'm going to do a run-down of how I compare to the old wives tales. Again, anatomy ultrasound is scheduled for Nov. 1!

Old Wives Tales Comparison 

(Adapted from Smonk You and With Two Cats)

The baby's heartbeat was clocked at over 140 = Girl (It has been consistently 140 or above)
According to the Chinese gender chart = Girl
Sleeping on left (boy) or right (girl) side = BOTH (No matter which way I start off sleeping, I end up on my back. No lectures about sleep positions, please.)
Short time to conceive = Girl
I feel no nausea = Boy (I felt nauseous for about two weeks REALLY early, but never threw up, so I don't know. I haven't felt nausea since I was about six weeks)

I'm not craving citrus = UNDETERMINED (I like citrus... but I don't really have any cravings. I have been drinking a lot of Fresca, which is a grapefruit soda... so maybe girl? I don't know.)

I am gaining weight = Girl (this seems like a weird question, because at 20 weeks, of course I'm gaining weight. But even though I feel bigger than I did with Ford, I'm gaining slower... so I don't know.)
I'm not breaking out = Boy
I'm feeling clumsy = BOTH (I have always felt clumsy, so no change)
No weight gain in my face (I hope) = Boy
I'm craving salty and sour stuff = Boy (I'm not craving anything, but I actually want cookies and cake and other sweets WAY LESS than before I was pregnant)
I'm not moody = UNDETERMINED (I don't know. I don't think I'm stereotypically hormonal, but being a parent has made me a lot more emotional. Sometimes I cry at news stories when kids die or get separated from their families. And yesterday I was pretty short with Brad. :( So maybe yes??? But 95% of the time I'm a cool customer.)
I'm carrying high (girl) or low (boy) =  Girl (SO high!)
My hair has become thicker and shiny = Boy
Hair on my legs is not growing faster than before = Girl
Feet are not colder than before I was pregnant = Girl
Brad has not been gaining weight = Girl (he's been losing weight! And looks awesome! He works out really hard.)
Craving fruit or meats and cheeses = BOTH (again, no cravings, but I'll eat any of these.)


Grand total:
Girl = 8
Boy = 5
Either = 5

It looks like the old wives tales have us paying for a wedding in a couple of decades. Of course, there's parental intuition too. Brad says he can feel it in his bones that it's a girl. I honestly have ZERO feeling. I guess because this pregnancy has felt different than my last, I wouldn't be surprised if it were a girl, but I could also see us having a house full of boys. We will be OVER THE MOON excited either way. Truly.

Last time I was so excited to find out the gender so that I could register and start planning a nursery! I am still undecided if I'm going to register this time, and it looks like our babies may share a nursery... so there's not a lot to do! But we will be ecstatic to know for sure, pick names, and just imagine our life with baby no. 2!!! And we'll probably make a Facebook announcement when we know the gender, so that's really something to look forward to!

Pink or Blue?

Brad and I are taking our time with telling friends we are expecting again. I just love that period of having a “secret” that only we know, so I like to enjoy each little announcement as a milestone, and I don’t feel rushed to spread the word. We started telling friends around 14 or 15 weeks, but even then we didn’t make a big Facebook announcement or anything (we’ll probably do that after we know the baby’s sex). As we ran into people at church or had dinner dates with friends, we would just kind of say, “Oh by the way, guess what! We’re on the baby train again!” 

And often when we tell someone, we get a question or comment along these lines: “Are you hoping for a girl?” or “Do you have a ‘girl’ feeling this time?” or “OH, I hope it’s a girl!” or “How fun would it be to have a boy and a girl?!”

                                                                                                                                                            

With Ford, I don’t remember getting asked what I “hoped” for in terms of gender more than a handful of times. This time, it’s often the first thing people ask or comment on. I can honestly say I will be equally happy with a boy or a girl. I have had a hunch I would be a “boy mom,” but then this pregnancy has been different from my first in a lot of ways (some nausea and fatigue early on, and now the occasional headache), that I’m starting to wonder if a girl may be in our future after all. Brad, meanwhile, is TOTALLY hoping for a girl, and he is pretty convinced it’s a girl, too. It makes me a little nervous—like, the expectations are REALLY high, I just don’t want him to be disappointed if we have another boy. He insists he won’t be, but I don’t know.

We set our anatomy ultrasound for November 1, so it won’t be long now until we know for sure!