It's a...

We found out earlier this week that we are blessed with a sweet little girl on the way!

All along, I've felt very strongly it was a girl. For no specific reason that I could describe, other than it's what I felt. Jon thought it was for sure a girl for the mere fact that I was more nauseous and tired this time than with Carter, and apparently "girls are trouble." Whatever. But hello? Mothering a needy toddler while trying to get through the first trimester...I started out fatigued for goodness sake, so of course I'm more tired this time. And I couldn't fight off the nausea as well as I did the first time because snacking constantly just wasn't feasible. Unless I was willing to share with said toddler, or deal with his wrath when he couldn't have what I had. Or actually remembered to pack myself a snack.

So, despite no real logical reasoning, I swore it was a girl, thought of her as a 'her,' imagined buying little dresses and decorating her room. And yet, in that moment that we saw she was a girl, I was shocked. So was Jon. We stared in disbelief, asked the tech if she was positive, and cried.

Our reactions surprised me a little, given we were so certain before. But I suppose that moment brought out all the emotions with confirmation of who was in there. I was fully prepared to love and accept my family however it came to be: one boy, two boys, one boy and one girl... Just so happy to know what this family makeup is going to be.

We kept this our little secret for two days, until we had our parents over for dinner. I baked cupcakes and filled them with pink frosting, and topped half with blue and half with pink. We had them select the color they thought was right - our mothers and my father-in-law picked blue, and my dad the lone pink. Blue did have better odds, considering both sides only had grandsons to-date. Once they took their first bite and realized it was a girl, they shrieked! It was fun.

I'm excited to get to do the girl thing, though it terrifies me in a whole different way than the idea of raising a son did. And yet, I know we'll figure it out, roll with the punches, and hopefully raise both of our children to be amazing, kind, brilliant human beings.