It's a....wait? - 20 weeks 5 days

A week ago we found out the sex of the baby. I was surprisingly nervous about the whole ultrasound, more or less talk too much, eat too much sugar....pretty typical Alexandra anxiety. Our US was at 8:30am so Matt and I trekked out to Evanston bright and early. While waiting for the tech to prepare the US I was talking to Matt, referring to Z as a boy, which I've been doing for the last 5 weeks. The tech asked if we knew the sex of the baby since I was referring to Z as a boy, I told her no but I just knew in my bones that he was in fact a boy. She asked if we wanted to know for sure, we of course said uh duh. 

She first measured the baby's head and brain (all looked great, all the parts of the brain are there and intact), then the heartbeat clocking in at 158bpm. Baby's legs were completely sprawled open...."Well, looks like it's a girl!" My response first was looking at Matt going "Oh Matthew!" then "Wait, he doesn't have a penis?" No, she does not have a penis. She also has the internal female plumbing lol. Matt wins our bet.

I was floored. I honestly thought she was a boy, especially after seeing that nub at 16 weeks. But nope, there is definitely no junk. I am thrilled, I cannot wait to have a little princess and dress her in bows and tutus. I think it's still sinking in that I'm getting a Scarlett and not a Gavin. When the tech left to get the doctor Matt looked at me and just said "Scarlett Alexandra". He gets to pick her middle name since I was rather stead fast on her being Scarlett, he wants Alexandra. We played with Elise for awhile, but he likes Alexandra best. I'm alright with this. I do love my name, and it's an honor to have her named after me, and even more so that Matt wants her to have my name. The only thing is that Jordyn, my goddaughter, is named after me already. Two little girls named for me...and I'm only 23....and also not dead.

Scarlett, that's a name I've loved since I was a little little girl. I saw Gone with the Wind and fell in love with Vivien Leigh's character. Beautiful, resourceful, stubborn, and resilient. She broke all the norms of that time period. That's the kind of daughter I want to have. To me this name represents those descriptors, a sort of delicate name with a fiery overtone. I mean I never gave much thought to who her father would be, just that I'd have her, and I honestly can't think of a better name that blends Matt and my personalities. She'll be a Scarlett through and through.

The rest of the ultrasound went by very quickly, probably because I was in shock of the baby being a girl. She has all of her anatomy, I think I was most amazed at her heart (I think Matt was too). We watched her four chambers beat perfectly and even see the tiny valves open and close, open and close. It was absolutely amazing. She wasn't as active as she was in my previous ultrasounds, more lazy with her legs above her head for most of it. We got a 3D/4D view of her face, she wasn't real thrilled with being poked, and understandably so. Eventually she just put her hands over her face and was done with the shoot. We did get a quick peek at her face though, she definitely has my nose. That's really the only defining feature we could see. 

The reason I had the level 2 ultrasound to begin with was to look at the dermoid cyst (tumor) on my left ovary and to validate that's what it is exactly. And it is indeed the dermoid, it's doubled in size since they first saw it when I was 6 weeks pregnant. The doctor offered to remove it before the baby was born, but it's not worth risking Scarlett's safety so I'll have it done after she's born. If I have a c-section they'll take it out then, if I got vaginally (hopefully so) then they'll take it after 6 weeks via laparoscopic surgery. I'm really not pleased about having to have another surgery, but it needs to be removed. If it gets bigger it can cause ovarian torsion, it can possibly even be malignant. It's usually not a malignancy but it can become one so it needs to be removed. Right now it's 4cm, I'll have another US at 30 weeks to see if it's progressed, also take a sneak peak at the little lady.

Since then this week has been full of baby girl stuff. Mom went out that Saturday and got a crap ton of girls clothing, on Tuesday I got hand-me-downs from Amy and the girls. Literally 20lbs of baby clothing, all of it 0-3 months. We will NOT be needing any newborn clothes. It was surreal looking at the tiny clothing thinking that in 19 weeks my little girl will be in these outfits. It kicked the crazy (crazier) switch on and all I've wanted to do since is wash, fold and organize her stuff. Nesting is going to be real fun, I can tell.

How far along? 20 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain: 6 1/2lbs...yuck
Maternity clothes? Still on the no jeans kick, purely leggings and shirts I've already owned
Stretch marks? Not yet, I'm trying to gain weight slowly so hopefully my body will stretch adequately
Sleep:  Sleeping like a champ.
Best moment this week: Finding out that the baby is a girl. Matt getting kicked by his daughter for the first time, I'm happy he finally got to feel her.
Miss Anything? Sushi, omg do I miss sushi.
Movement: She's a busy girl, I notice her mostly at night when I'm laying down. I was up at 4:30 this morning because of a nightmare, she was kicking up a storm for about an hour before I fell asleep again.
Food cravings: Coke, the kind you drink, not snort.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Watching a baby being born in clinical, it was horrific and I wanted to gag.
Gender: Baby girl it is :)
Labor Signs: None thank God.
Symptoms: Stuffy nose, emotional...that's really it. Most days I don't feel pregnant.
Belly Button in or out? It's in, I don't think it'll pop out.
Happy or Moody most of the time: I sway between happy/content and sad. It just depends on the day and time.
Looking forward to: Sushi in 19 weeks, I really want sushi. And a healthy baby of course