When I went in a few months back to schedule my 20 week ultrasound at the John Muir Women's Health Center, I already knew they were going to tell me my 20th week was the week of my birthday. They asked if I had a preference of day, and I chose my birthday because we had decided we wanted to find out if we were having a boy or a girl.
We have been overjoyed since finding out we are expecting. We are so excited God would give us this miracle baby. And though we'd be excited with a son or a daughter, we both have really wanted to have a girl first.
As soon as we got in the exam room, I told the technician that we wanted her to determine the baby's gender but not tell us. I asked her to write it down and seal it in an envelope for us. Another treat, later in the day, would tell us the news.
The ultrasound itself on my birthday was exciting enough. They had it projected on a big screen so Nigel could see, too. It's so neat to see the little one moving around and see the heartbeat and know there's a life growing inside me. At that point, I wasn't feeling the baby move much yet - little flutters is all. The technician was doing a lot of measuring and checking of the baby's features, so it was a longer ultrasound.
As for determining the gender, and quite a few other measurements, the baby was not cooperating at all. The baby's legs were closed tight! When I later relayed the news to my grandma, she said the baby was just already learning how to be modest. How sweet! The technician left the room to call in the perinatologist to see if she would have any better luck with the gender and measurements.
After the tech left the room, I silently prayed for God to prompt this little one to move and cooperate for the doctor. I didn't know it, but Nigel prayed the same thing then. The doctor came into the room and was excited to see that the baby had moved! She asked us to look away as she looked, and I heard the tech say "Yeah, that's what I thought too" and she said they were done. The tech wrote down the gender, the doctor said all was well, and we left.
We went downstairs to the front desk of the Center and talked to the receptionist. We asked if she would do us a favor. You see, I had arranged with Katrina Rozelle in Alamo to make me a yummy birthday cake. I let them know someone would be calling with the gender of our baby, and to then write on the cake "Happy Birthday, It's a ____". The receptionist was tickled to be let in on our secret.
We went then to the baker to pick up the cake. They were also excited to be in on such a neat secret. They said they'd never been asked to do anything like that before. They tied ribbon around the box and handed it to me. Here is the cake, along with a sweet figurine called "Expecting a Miracle" that Dad and Donni gave me as a birthday gift.
We took the cake home and Nigel and I spent a while in prayer for the pregnancy and most of all for the baby. It was a sweet time for us. All the while, the anticipation was building. We were so excited to find out. Nigel decided to take pictures as I opened the cake. I was excited, but had myself set up for it to possibly be a boy even though we so much want it to be a girl.
I think the next picture tells you what the cake said, without me even saying it...
Here is the beautiful cake. It was yummy too - an almond cake with raspberry filling. Besides our wedding cake, my favorite cake ever.
We are so thrilled to be having a girl!! Wow, God is so amazingly good to us. What a gift, on top of the miracle she already is.
Me at 20 weeks, the first picture I've braved of the belly. I actually like how it turned out. My sweet hubby is getting really good at taking pictures of me.
We then headed out to a yummy Italian restaurant in Berkeley, Riva Cucina, to celebrate. Italian is my favorite, not Nigel's at all, so we have a tradition to go to Italian on my birthday. What a wonderful, memorable, sweet birthday this was in 2010. I will cherish it in my heart forever.
