Tickled pink

I admit, I was thinking I was having a boy.  From the time I saw the plus sign on the pregnancy test I thought it might be a boy.  I had a name picked out for a boy.  I liked the idea of being the queen in my castle of boys.  I liked the idea of a blue sailboat quilt.  I watched the young men pass the sacrament each week and imagined my little man doing just that in twelve years.

I stayed firm in my belief that a little man was swimming around inside me, but as the pregnancy rolled along my strength began to waver.  Paul was having dreams where the baby was female so I started to look for a girl name.  That turned out more stressful than I thought it would be.  I tried to relax and wait for my ultrasound.  If I was having a boy I wouldn't have to worry anymore.

This morning was the big day.  The nurse asked me to have a seat and she gelled up my tummy.  She asked if we wanted to know the gender and I confirmed that urgently.  She turned on the machine and I saw the first peak at my insides.  A large spongy mass filled the screen.  "That's her placenta!"  Her?  We laughed.  She didn't know what it was yet.  You can't tell by looking at the placenta.  She corrected herself and said it was baby's placenta.  But it was too late.  I knew she was right.  I just knew it was really a girl.

The moment it was confirmed my eyes welled up with tears.  She was so beautiful.  Instant love for her little toes and arms and face filled me and I longed to meet her.  I don't care that I'm not having a boy, because that little girl has me wrapped around her finger.  (I suspect she has Paul wrapped up too.  She's like a spider.)

Her little foot.

Her little body snuggled up to her placenta.

She's a girl!