Lawyerish: The Answer

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I'm lying on the table in the dimly lit room, watching the grainy images on the screen.

She goes slowly, starting with the head -- a nice profile shot of a perfectly round, Charlie Brown-like noggin, then a straight-on skullface ("they all look like that!" she says when we snicker at its ghoulishness); then she does a cross-section of the jaw and teeth, showing us that the baby has a fully formed palate; then the heart, thrumming along at 148 bpm -- we can see all four chambers, working valves, and the aortic arch; the diaphragm; the long bony chain of the spine with ribs arcing out to the sides; the kidneys, two dark spots in the ether alongside the spine; the blood flow of the umbilical cord, highlighted in blue and red; the legs, feet and hands with all the fingers and toes; the tibia and fibula, radius and ulna. Everything looks perfect.

And then, finally, she lines up the shot from underneath, with the baby's legs bent and splayed a bit -- the shot we've been waiting almost 20 weeks to see.

Tech: Now, what do you see?

Me: ??? (seriously, not a CLUE what I was looking at)

Joe: I see...nothing?

Tech: That's exactly right. Clear as day, there's nothing there.

Me: {blink....blink...blinkblinkblink}

Me: So...

Joe: It's...a girl?!

Me {sitting up a bit}: Are we 100% sure about this?

Tech: You've got a double-X here, unless that's a boy without a penis!

Me: !!!

Tech: You can go out and buy all the pink you want -- it's clear as day.

I'm still stunned. We'll be halfway to babyville on Thursday (the time, it FLIES), and I can hardly believe any of it is happening, despite all the evidence that yes, really, it IS.

We're having a baby. A daughter. A baby daughter!

Craziness.

(Belly shots and the like to come; things have been insane lately but I should be getting my life back in the next couple of weeks, hoo to the rah.)

Comments

How exciting! Congratulations! (I knew it!)

Posted by: H | November 02, 2009 at 09:33 PM

Also knew it *pretends a nonchalant shrug*

Posted by: Carolyn J. | November 02, 2009 at 09:53 PM

Had a gut feeling....SO PLEASED for you!

Posted by: daysgoby | November 02, 2009 at 09:58 PM

CONGRATULATIONS!! This is so exciting! Can't wait for you to get through the next half so we can SEE her! XOXO

Posted by: Emily | November 02, 2009 at 09:58 PM

Did you fall off the ultrasound table?? :) Seriously, I'm so happy for you! As the mother of two daughters I can tell you it's really fun!

Posted by: Lola | November 02, 2009 at 10:08 PM

craziness. happy happy craziness, right?

Posted by: beyond | November 02, 2009 at 10:25 PM

So exciting, glad to hear you know that she is a she! Go pink!

Posted by: Mauigirl | November 02, 2009 at 10:29 PM

Awesome! Baby girls are wonderful. I'm so happy for you!

Posted by: Mimi | November 02, 2009 at 10:39 PM

congratulations to you.. :)

Posted by: order ultram online | November 02, 2009 at 10:39 PM

SO EXCITING!!!!!

Posted by: jjm | November 02, 2009 at 10:39 PM

Also guessed girl! So excited for you!!!! Pink, pink, pink, pink, purple! And you'll be able to buy those gorgeous baby girl Christmas dresses AFTER Christmas, when they're so cheap! (I don't know why that's such an exciting thing for me, but it is.)

Posted by: Jennifer | November 02, 2009 at 10:41 PM

So freakin' excited for y'all!

Posted by: Mandee | November 02, 2009 at 11:11 PM

Congratulations! Baby girls are the best:)

Posted by: Amy K | November 02, 2009 at 11:26 PM