It's a ... Girl!

Please allow me to interrupt your online holiday shopping and perusal of holiday-themed blogs, and let me acquaint you with the newest member of our family - Baby Girl H! And she's a healthy and blossoming baby girl, at that.

I can hardly believe it still, and don't even know where to start. But let me try. 

Soon after Sammy was born, I decided that I could have all sons, and be perfectly happy and content. I love having a little boy. My particular little boy has been the greatest first baby anyone could ask for. He's so easy, happy and so much more fun than I ever could have imagined.

Besides, I had witnessed many friends who have daughters dealing with so much drama. The screaming, whining, complaining just seemed to be so much more apparent with little girls. Everyone told me, boys are so much easier.

Also? I detest tutus. I'm sorry, but they just are not for me. And apparently it's a rule in my town that all little girls must wear a tutu as part of their daily outfit. I'll take little boy corduroy pants, a collared shirt and a puffy vest over ghastly colored mesh any day.

Upon venturing through a few weeks of this second pregnancy, experiencing basically the exact same feelings and actions that I went through with Sammy, I became convinced that baby #2 would be another boy. And I felt fantastic about that. I know boys now. Being that the majority of offspring on James' side of the family are boys, we live and breathe boys. Words like excavator have become part of my daily vocabulary. I now embrace anything related to cars, trucks and trains. Is there anything cuter than little boy Adidas sneakers? Finally, what could be better than brothers that are close in age, who will inevitably go on to become best friends?

But then one day a tiny thought crept into my head. Maybe I'm not having a boy. Maybe - just maybe - it's a girl this time. I quickly brushed it out of my mind though, as it just couldn't be possible. I was having a carbon copy pregnancy of what I experienced with Sammy. No morning sickness, no insane cravings (minus those of the artifically yellow and sugary variety), and my thighs didn't seem to be expanding all that much (yet).

During one of my last doctor appointments, the heart rate seemed a bit high, and the doctor said, "Well, you know what they say about a higher heart rate - girl!" I tried to brush what she said out of my mind, as the heart rate wasn't all that high, though I may have spent a few evenings going through the girl section of our baby name book....

In the days leading up to yesterday's ultrasound, I was asked many, many times if I had a preference for a boy or girl. I finally answered a few people honestly.

What girl doesn't want a girl? Girls are more fun to shop for! Girls wear cute accessories! Girls enjoy tea parties, Anne of Green Gables and pretty flowers, but can also go out and dominate on a soccer field and outhit boys on a tennis court! And when they get older, girls call their mothers on an almost daily basis! You can throw bridal and baby showers for girls, and get caught up in all the fun that is wedding planning with girls! (Though I still fear for Sammy's future fiancee when it comes to planning their wedding.)

Of course with all that said, I truly would be so happy to have another boy. Especially if he is even half as wonderful as Sammy.

My heart was beating a mile a minute before the ultrasound tech finally revealed what I had secretly wished and hoped to hear - we are having a healthy little baby girl. I still can hardly believe it.