A Wee Little Surprise

Last week we had our first midwife appointment in our new location.  I do hate having to always find a new midwife, because you really develop a relationship with a midwife (as opposed to a doctor who's in-and-out), and we loved the last 2 that we had.  It's kind of similar, in a way, to a romantic relationship, in the sense that you're always comparing the new one to the old ones with what you like better and what you don't...and I start to feel nostalgic and miss the old ones, even if I fully love the new one. 

8 weeks

We are limited here in our new location, as the closest midwife is 1 hour 15 minutes away (praying labor doesn't go TOO fast!), so we feel like we really only have one option.  This past appointment was in reality just a consultation to see if we liked her and visa versa, but since I was already 19 weeks along, she also went ahead and did a check-up.  And it was a rather exciting checkup...

12 weeks

As a bit of background, there has been a little bit of confusion in this pregnancy up til now.  My uterus size and position has been measuring larger and higher than it should, causing the midwife to wonder if I was farther along than we thought.  In addition, my pregnancy symptoms have been much stronger for this entire pregnancy, and I've been feeling pretty much constant movement for the last few weeks.  All of these factors caused our newest midwife to question multiples, which I had actually been suspicious of for some time. 

16 weeks

Then, during the check-up last week, we heard 2 distinct heartbeats in 2 different locations with 2 different heartbeat rates...I can't even tell you how thrilling that was--and also terrifying!  The midwife did tell us that the heartbeats didn't necessarily mean twins:  It is possible for the baby to move really fast and for the heart rate to change within seconds.  But the evidence seemed so convincing, I just couldn't imagine that it WASN'T twins!

20 weeks (current)

20 weeks with Jack

20 weeks with Safita

 Today was the day we found out for sure.  It was momentous...

And.....

Surprisingly, there is only one baby.  Apparently a large and very active baby.  (Considering my last baby weighed in at 9 lbs 11 oz, and they supposedly get successively bigger, I'm a little concerned!)  We also found out that it's a boy!!!  We are very excited for a new baby boy (!!), but it's also taking some time to readjust our mindset about this baby, because I was convinced it was either twins or a girl, because of how I've been feeling.  The kids also desperately wanted a baby girl, and Jack is still in denial.  When the ultrasound technician announced it was a boy, Jack contradicted with great certainty, "No it's not!  It's a girl!"  He seems to be coming around, though, since we've been telling him how fun it will be to have a superhero playmate and how the boys can outnumber the girls, etc.  And it was Jack who initially nick-named this baby "Baby Blue," which seems a bit intuitive about the gender!

Baby's profile with hand up by his face

top of Baby's face--super cute, even if the ultrasound quality makes it look creepy!

Now we get to have fun picking out a boy name before we welcome this little one into our arms somewhere around March 27!