The verdict is in...

We're having a baby GIRL!!!

We had our 20-week ultrasound this morning at 8 AM, and around 8:15, the technician made a definitive call that we're having a little girl. I was surprised that she could so easily tell that it was a girl; I had always thought that they predicted that because there was an absence of male genitalia. But, nope, our technician was very sure that she was looking at a girl.

We got to see the baby's spine, face, hands, brain, heart, legs, arms, stomach...all sorts of things! It was truly fascinating. We've got a video, too, so if anyone's interested, they can check our "little scrapper" out. That's what my OB called her since I started feeling kicks on February 1st (~17 weeks), which is considered quite early for a first time mom.

The only concern the doctor had with the ultrasound was the baby's size. Apparently she measured very small (below the 10th percentile). The OB wasn't worried, but she did put me on folic acid supplements, instructed me to increase my protein intake daily, and scheduled a second ultrasound for next month to check the baby's growth progress.

Oh, and we think we've finally decided on a name: Sofia Kristine Hudson. Now that the baby's not an "it" anymore, we can start calling our daughter by her name!

Quick Update...more to follow

So, once again, it's been months since I've update you all.

Everything is going well with the pregnancy. Let's hope the labor is as textbook as the rest of the pregnancy has been! The baby started kicking in early February. It seems we may have a bit of a Mama's boy/girl on our hands, though, as the baby has thus far refused to cooperate and let Brian feel the kicks.

On Friday, we have our ultrasound appointment! We get to have a video of the appointment to take home, and we'll be able to find out the baby's gender, provided that he or she cooperates, of course.

We are working (rather, I should say Brian is working) on painting and recarpeting the two smaller bedrooms in our condo, one of which will be the baby's room. It's been a fun and involved project thus far, but we're definitely making headway. We're also beginning to get the baby's room decorated. My mom sent out a care package of all my old baby bedding (also used by my cousins Alex and Elena) so the baby can have a bit of an heirloom. And, once we know if it's a boy or a girl in there, the fun can begin with the purchasing of the baby clothes!

We have really been enjoying spending time at Crosspointe Church, not too far from our place. We've been attending for a little over a month now and have begun to make friends. We are currently participating a study of Hebrews at our neighbors' Jamie & Marcia's house. We're also involved in a study of 1 Peter during pre-service Sunday school each week.

The one piece of bad news is that Brian's boss, John, whom he is very fond of, is taking a job with the Long Island division of Microsoft, so he'll be moving home to NYC in a couple of weeks. They've been having a series of farewell bashes at the office and around town, as everyone who knows him is sad to see John go. We don't know who his replacement will be yet, but we're hoping that he or she will be as wonderful a supervisor and mentor to Brian as John has been.

Well, hopefully I'll be posting again this weekend to let you all know if we are expecting a son or a daughter!! Take care, and God bless.

Oh, btw...for those of you who have been inquiring, we are registered at Amazon.com and Babiesrus.com :)