It's a....

GIRL! 

Bring on the sugar and spice and everything nice!

Yesterday, we found out our baby's gender!  Ever since I saw the sweet flicker of the baby's heartbeat for the first time, I had an inkling it was a boy. My husband on the other hand, has been pretty confident from early on that our baby was a girl.  Turns out, he was right!

This ultrasound was such an wonderful, memorable experience.  After rushing in late due to heavy traffic, we were immediately soothed by the glimpse of our precious gift.  The ultrasound tech highlighted all of the body parts; the vertebrae of the spine, chambers of the heart, and sections of the brain...it's truly amazing to me how we were able to see this little life we created, beating inside of my belly.  About mid-way through, she pointed out the evidence and told us, "it's a girl!" To which I asked, "Really?!" repeating "It's a girl!" for myself, just to say it aloud. 

We saw her curl her tiny fingers, point, and do a "hang loose" hand motion of sorts.  She continued to wriggle around, kicking her little feet.  At one point we even saw her swallow and stick out her little tongue, so amazing!  It was such an awe-inspiring moment, and one I will remember always.

Afterward, we celebrated our big news over brunch at Portage Bay, and slowly let the reality of "We're having a girl" sink in.  Following brunch, we popped into Nordstrom to pick out our first little girl outfit to wrap up to tell me parents the gender.  We picked this pink polka dot outfit with a matching hat!  I think my husband was slightly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of ruffles, bows, and PINK in the baby girl...Get ready!

To tell his parents, who are back in Michigan, we called a local bakery in their neighborhood and had them whip up a gender reveal cake, with "Boy or Girl?" written on the outside, and a layer of pink frosting inside.  My sister-in-law picked up the cake after work, and brought it over for my in-laws to cut into (which she videotaped for our benefit of reliving their reactions).  Priceless.

My husband and I went to my parents house and presented my mom with our little pink outfit.  Both sides of the family were surprised but extremely excited!  My mom even had presents waiting; two outfits (one pink, one blue) all wrapped up.  We opened up the girl one obviously.  Looks like we're going to have plenty of pink in our life!

All in all - it was the best day, filled with delight, joy, and the excitement of what is to come.  Certainly one special day that I'll never forget.