It's a GIRL!!!

The long awaited moment is here! We found out we are having a girl coming in December. We no longer have to refer to her as baby or it. :)

I was able to take my computer to the ultrasound and Skyler watched the whole process via Skype. She was very active kicking, moving her arms, swallowing, and touching her face which seems a little unreal still. The ultrasound tech measured her bones in arms and legs to make sure she was growing. Afterward we measured her head circumference and body to make sure they are on schedule. Last of all we tried to get a good shot between her legs to find out the gender. She was really shy and didn't want to be bothered so it took almost 45 minutes! I had to turn on each side, sit up, lay back, etc. and we used the ultrasound stethoscope to try to make her wiggle with no luck. Finally we switched to another ultrasound probe hoping she would stay in the same place. After another few minutes we were able to see a quick shot enough to see "girl parts". I had always thought that "girl parts" were just a lack of "boy parts" but apparently you can see certain structures showing it is a girl.

I know this may sound strange to some people but I had a feeling it was a girl all along. My family and several friends kept telling me how they guessed it was a boy all along. Call it the spirit or mother's intuition or whatever but I did have a feeling.

Here are some pictures of our sweet little girl

These are going to be jabbing me in the ribs in the next couple of months

Nice healthy spine

Since then I have thought I have started to feel her move. About 2-3 times a day I feel this little tap inside me body. I went back and forth telling myself it is probably just gas or stretching but I asked the doctor at my appointment and he said it probably is kicking as I described it. I think of it as a gentle reminder that she is still in there and making her presence known.

At one of the hospitals I work at there are Labor and Delivery equipment available for the patients when they come in since they labor, deliver, and recover in the same place. One day last week when I was there I had sent two patients home so I had some time to spare. I went into an empty room and used the doppler to listen to her for a few minutes. Here is a recording I was able to get on my phone. She is pretty active still so I had a hard time balancing the phone, doppler, and sound.

After my appointment I have had trouble not glancing at the baby clothes wherever I go. This week I went to the mall and decided to stop by one of the dress stores for little girls. I fell in love with the store and wanted to buy everything. I limited myself to the sale items to be safe. Here are the two dresses and bows I bought.

Wedding

Last month my college roommate got married in Idaho Falls. With being pregnant/sick and Skyler in Seattle there was a chance I would not be able to make it. With a ton of planning I was able to take a shuttle to Salt Lake, another to Idaho Falls, rent a car, and stay in a hotel near the temple. On Friday I was able to attend the sealing in the temple. This was exciting for me because it was the first I had been to other than my own. Although some aspects of it were unique the important parts were still the same. The spirit was very special and gave me time to reflect on my own sealing and what it has meant for the last two years. I can't describe how it feels to know that the things that happen in that room are eternal.

Afterward we waited outside for the happy couple and then headed to the luncheon. Here are some pictures that we had outside.

Roommates left to right: Casey, Heidi, Me, Jocelyn

Sight Seeing in Seattle

Last month I was able to visit Skyler in Seattle for a week. Although I wasn't feeling really well we were able to do a little bit of shopping and sight seeing over the weekend. Here is us eating dinner on the space needle one night. The restaurant sat at the top and rotated the full circle every couple of minutes so we were able to get a good view of Seattle.

I was also able to visit one of my favorite new shops in Seattle. It is called Lush and they make homemade soaps, etc. I bought a couple of soaps, bathbombs, and some chapstick. We took a short walk through the store trying to find the most appealing scents while I am nauseated. Here is a link to their website www.usa.lush.com.

Here are some pictures of some of the stuff I bought