Week 18 and 19- Good news comes in 3s!

We have had an exciting last two weeks.  The quad screen results came back within normal range, so that was fabulous news.  We are 18 weeks, and my belly has finally quit with all the bloat, and is just the baby.

We spent the MLK weekend, and the extra day off from work, painting the nursery.  We broke it down into days so that I wouldn't overdo things- as I tend to do.
Day 1- Primer and trim (we had repaint inside the closet and the trim for the entire room)
Day 2- Paint the base color of the walls (2 coats later... and then I painted the inside of the bedroom door and the closet shelf)
Day 3- Paint the "pop" wall with the three stripes

Our project turned out great.  The room, that we don't think had been updated since the house was built in the 1970's, is modern, and bright, and beautiful.  It is just waiting to be filled with delightful baby things.

Big sister and Mom painting the nursery on day 2

The finished product- nursery is ready to go!

As we enter week 19, I am so anxious for the ultrasound so I can see my little peanut.  I feel baby moving, but not often, and faintly, so I worry.  Jason and I busted out the fetal heart monitor that I bought a few pregnancies ago.  It wasn't very effective with twins, but Jason was able to find our baby's heartbeat quickly.  Love.

On Tuesday afternoon, I am actually anxious and agitated because I am so excited!  We have an absolutely beautiful ultrasound.  Baby has two femurs, two humeri, four chambers in a beating heart, brains, one lense (a tiny white outline) in each eye socket, a nose, and baby is swallowing with a little mouth opening and closing.  Baby kept putting hands up on head, down on thighs- oh so precious!  And, in the show-stopping moment, the ultrasound tech froze the picture between baby's little legs and said, "well..."  

I know the signs.  Three lines = girl and a penis = boy.  I am looking at three lines.  I should grasp what this means, but what I say is, "I don't see anything."  

The ultrasound tech says, "Nope."

Jason says, "Wait, I know.  I know."

And I tell her, "You have to say it."

And she says, "It's a girl."  

And Jason squeezes my hand.  And I look over at him.  And he has actually choked up and a few tears escape his eyes.  I almost cry, but in true Emily fashion, I laugh instead.  I so wished I had been able to video his response- priceless.  We have a moment.  And then we watch our little actress on the screen for a good while.  She has two kidneys, a spine, and all the other parts they are supposed to be able to find at this point.  We are so happy.

Profile of baby with her hand (and 5 fingers) up

It's a girl!

After our appointment, we put our "gender reveal" plan into action.  Katie told me earlier that we "must" have one.  So, we ordered a bunch of pink balloons, hid them in a box, and had the kids come over to open it.  To say that I was not impressed with their reaction would be an understatement.  It was terrible.  I blame it on the fact that they didn't have dinner beforehand and were super grouchy.  Add in the fact that it wasn't Jimmy.... 

On the other hand, I will never forget watching those pink balloons float up to the second story ceiling into the light.  I leave you with this video.  It is not the video I expected to film, but it is real.  This is my life, completely unfiltered.