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The past couple of weeks leading up to finding out the sex of our baby have been hard and quite the emotional roller-coaster, but it was all worth it! Here's how it all happened. 

This whole pregnancy, Chris and I (and most of our family) felt like we were for sure having a girl. It's hard to explain, but we've just always felt like we would have a daughter first. We eventually want at least one boy and one girl, but my gut was telling me that this pregnancy would give us the little girl we had been picturing since we got married.

I tried really hard to not refer to the baby as "her" or "she" (or by the name we had picked out) in the event that we ended up having a boy, but I felt 90% confident that it was a girl. I had decided what our nursery would look like and what kind of clothes I would buy her and I was REALLY excited about that. 

At my first appointment around 13 weeks, they used a handheld ultrasound machine so we could see our baby. It was like the coolest thing ever. So at my next appointment around 17 weeks, I figured they would do the same thing since the handheld machine was so easy to use. After extensive googling, I had discovered that you can find out the gender of the baby pretty much any time after 15 weeks, assuming the baby is in the right spot. I figured there was at least a decent possibility that we would get to find out if we were having a boy or girl at our next appointment and I was ECSTATIC. It was all I could think about for over a month. 

Sadly, Chris was going to be out of town for work on the day of that appointment so my mom offered to tag along so we could FaceTime him during the ultrasound. We drove the 20+ minutes to my doctor's office, waited for another 20 minutes in the waiting room before finally being told that my doctor had been called out on delivery and I would have to reschedule. I was devastated. I felt like crying and throwing a small fit, but I held it together and calmly made my appointment for Monday afternoon (my original appointment was on a Thursday). I was more than a little disappointed, but I tried to remain optimistic and thankful that I wouldn't have to wait weeks before seeing our little one. I did cry a bit once I got home though and had to engage in some retail therapy to feel a little better haha. 

That weekend seemed to drag on FOREVER, but finally Monday came and Chris and I drove back to my doctor's office. We waited for about a half hour this time before finally getting called back. My doctor eventually came in and explained that of the four OB/GYN's in the office, she was the only one there and things were crazy. For that reason, our appointment was extremely short. She asked if I had any questions or concerns, which I didn't, then we listened to the heartbeat (144!), which was nice, but no time for the ultrasound :( Chris and I were devastated. I tried to be understanding though since I knew they were running late and trying to see as many patients as they could. If they hadn't been so busy, we might have asked to have the ultrasound, but it seemed like a bad time to make that request. We left feeling really sad (again), especially since my next appointment was going to be over a month away. 

What was particularly frustrating was that I didn't get to see my baby. At that point, I had only seen it once and it was on a very tiny screen for just a few minutes. Even if my doctor couldn't have told us the gender that day, I still would have LOVED to see the baby move around and see how much it had grown in the last month. I was really sad that I'd have to wait even longer now to get to see it again and maybe find out the gender. 

My friends and family who knew that we had been disappointed yet again were SO nice to me after I told them that the wait would have to continue. Some of our dearest friends even came over and brought us lemon bars (I've been craving all things lemony and citrusy lately) and commiserated with us. It really helped ease our disappointment.

I knew that there was an elective ultrasound clinic in town that specialized in gender reveals, so I did some research just to see what it would cost and what their availability was. Sadly, their cheapest package to find out if you're having a boy or girl was well over $100. I talked to Chris about it and we decided that we would rather put that money towards buying baby gear, so I let that dream also sadly die. 

But a few days later, I was determined to find out if I was having a boy or girl. So I did some more googling and found another ultrasound clinic in Indy that had tons of rave reviews online. Their cheapest package to find out gender was only $50, much more reasonable. I brought it up with Chris during our weekly lunch meet-up and he was open to it since the clinic was open on Saturdays and they had an available time (normally they're 100% booked). I really felt like it was a small gift from Heavenly Father that they were available, we could go, and that it was much more affordable. I went ahead and scheduled the appointment and started counting down the hours until we could go. The night before the appointment, I dreamed that it was a boy. I had read online that whatever you dream it is, the baby will be the opposite gender. So that just cemented in my mind that it was going to be a girl. 

We opted to not tell anyone that we had scheduled this appointment, not even our family, because as we had learned in the previous weeks, things change and I didn't want to have to text everyone for a THIRD time and tell them that we would have to wait longer to find out. So in secret, we drove to Indy on Saturday morning and arrived at the clinic. I knew there was a chance the baby wouldn't be in a good position to tell boy or girl, so I said lots of prayers that the baby would cooperate so we wouldn't have to drive down to Indy yet again on a different day. I was cautiously optimistic that in a few minutes, we would know what we were having. 

Our ultrasound tech at Lifetime Imaging was beyond nice. She made us both feel so comfortable and you could tell she really took joy in revealing such important and exciting information to expectant parents. I hopped up on the examination table and she put the wand on my belly and immediately said "Oh! The baby is in the perfect spot to tell!" and I sighed a HUGE sigh of relief. She said that she's been doing this for over 20 years and that it's very rare for the baby to be right there perfectly positioned. Normally they have to wait until the baby moves or try to push on the mother's belly to get it in the right spot. But not our baby haha it was ready to go. 

Chris filmed the ultrasound screen and you can hear our tech tell us the exciting news. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, we are having a BOY!!!!!! I could not believe it haha. Chris and I both had the biggest smiles on our faces as she showed us all his different parts and how healthy he looked. We loved seeing him stretch and flex and roll around. He's adorable and perfect. I even cried a little! I was in complete disbelief that this baby that I had been picturing for the past four months as a girl was actually a little boy! We immediately started using him/his/he pronouns and it was such a weird (but good!) feeling. Knowing that we are having a son makes it seem SO much more real. We can actually picture him and what our life will be like with a boy!

As happy as we were to hear that we were having a boy, we knew that my dad would be the happiest of all haha. We couldn't wait to tell our family the news. My parents were out of town that weekend so I called them saying that we knew the gender, but wouldn't tell them until they came home (we were trying to motivate them to drive home faster since we had been pet-sitting for over a week at that point haha). They lost reception shortly after we told them, but we could tell how excited they were. 

We called my sister next to tell her the good news. I decided to go ahead and tell her that it was a boy since I wouldn't see her for a few weeks and I knew that if I didn't tell SOMEONE, I would absolutely burst haha. She was likewise ecstatic. 

On our drive home, we just kept talking about how we could not believe we were actually going to have a little boy and how excited we were. It was absolutely worth the $50 and 2.5 hour round-trip drive to find out. 

Once we got back into town, we had a celebratory brunch at one of our favorite restaurants and talked all about what life with a son would be like. We've decided it sounds pretty good :) We talked names a bit and have settled on a first and middle name, but we'll share that once he's officially born just in case we change our minds or something.

Later that day, my mom got reception again and called and said they wanted to know NOW. I told her we thought it would be more fun to tell them in person, but they said they were too impatient haha. We decided that we would FaceTime them later that night when they had wifi with my brother and his fiance since they were vacationing with them. I would have loved to tell everyone in person all at once, but FaceTime turned out to be a pretty good alternative. I was glad we could at least tell four of them at once. 

To reveal that we were having a boy, we gave Eiger a blue bone (see photo below) and had him come running into the family room with it to show them. Eiger performed perfectly and came bounding towards my phone and me so they could see how excited he was to get a new brother haha. They all screamed in excitement and my dad had the biggest smile on his face. It was a great moment. We spent a few minutes telling them about the ultrasound and how un-shy this boy is, but then they had to leave for a show they had tickets to. 

Since they've been traveling home with spotty cell phone reception, we haven't been able to talk much since but we texted everyone some of the photos from the ultrasound as well as a pic of a few boy clothes I picked up the other day (see them below). We are excited to get to talk to our family more about this and celebrate together.

The past few days, I've spent a LOT of time on Pinterest looking up baby boy nursery ideas and we've more or less settled on the general motif. We are beyond excited to start clearing out our office room to get it ready for the baby and start making some purchases! It's all starting to feel so much more real and I love it. 

Baby boy has been very active these past few days and I can feel him move much more than last week, even though the tech said he's sitting pretty far back in my belly. I love every little kick/punch I feel and can't wait until we get to see him again next month!

The day we found out we are having a son was easily one of the best and most life-changing days of my life. I am so grateful that we now know and that it was such a happy moment for our whole family. And most of all, I am grateful that regardless of gender, our baby is healthy and growing the way he should. We cannot wait for his arrival at the end of the year. Thank you all for the love and support you continue to show us! We are grateful for each of you and feel so blessed that our baby will have such amazing people in his life. 

Watching: Bachelorette Men Tell All. I have an addiction. 

Happy: That my mom and dad are coming home tonight! It's been a long week of pet-sitting haha. 

Ate: Fried rice for dinner.

Days Until Christmas/Baby: 152!