Update...

Isaiah 65:17-20 (New Living Translation)

17
“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.

18
Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
Her people will be a source of joy.

19
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
will be heard in it no more.

20
“No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
Only the cursed will die that young!

Yesterday at 10AM (EST) was our level II ultrasound. Our prayers were for our experience to be much better and different from last years. We already knew thus far that all previous ultrasounds and blood work had been great BUT we also knew that that means nothing...

We were trusting and believing that this baby is well, healthy and whole and even if not we would love and cherish every moment as we did w/ Eva.

This baby has been quite active since 15 weeks (I am 19 weeks and 4 days today). Even that in and of itself if different from last year as Eva was tiny and never very forceful w/ her movements. I was trying my hardest to get thru yesterday w/ joy and happiness w/ the new life the Lord has blessed us with but it was hard going back to that same place that changed our lives a year ago.

I was also hoping to making it thru the ultrasound w/ this baby's gender remaining a surprise...I had thoughts that I'd lose that battle as Vinnie was very eager to know...and NOW!

Thank you all for continuing to think of us, email us and most of all pray for us. We truly do feel your prayers.

I didn't have time to post this on the blog yesterday as we had a busy day...10 AM ultrasound, lunch in town (we had a gift certificate from Nov. last year that we had yet to use), a 1:30 PM appt, a 4 PM prenatal visit (w/ a new doctor to the practice) and a 5:20 PM appt w/ the chiropractor (I've been having very bad headaches, neck pain and back discomfort). Then we had to get kids from daycare (4 kids...we carpool on Monday's), feed them all dinner and then have the girls at Joyful Twirlers by 7 PM.

Can we say exhaustion!!!

So...as for how yesterday's ultrasound went.

Again, I want to say thank you to all of you that emailed and text messaged!

It truly meant a lot and our morning went w/ such ease (I am sure that is because of the blanket of prayers that covered us from afar).

I was welcomed to the office w/ open arms of a nurse that just loved us last year. I told her that I was so hoping to make it thru the appt (emotions wise) and even more w/ the baby's gender still remaining a surprise. She was going to write a note for the tech stating that we DID NOT want to know but I told her not to and we would just go with the flow (Vinnie was waiting in the waiting room for me while I signed in).

We had a different tech (one that I never had before) so in a way I think that was good and we were in a different room than ever before which also made for a smooth ride. Right away the tech asked if we wanted to know the gender. I said no and Vinnie said yes. So again, we decided to wait till all the other parts of the baby were measured and checked out and asked for her to ask us again.

As she looked at the heart she explained everything that she was looking for, in detail…as well as the umbilical cord, measurements and this baby's entire body. The baby was very active and moving all over the place (surely not because I drank a cafe mocha from Walgreen's on the way there) but at the same time being very cooperative w/ positioning for all the needed views.

At one point I swear I could see the little three lines, kinda like a hamburger, so my guess was a girl (for those who have girls you might know what I mean). Then I saw something else...that looked like a bigger bulge close to between the baby's legs. I blurted out...what is that??? And the tech said it was the cord. Whew. I thought it was a boy part. I don't say whew in a bad way but just that I thought the gender was out of the bag, so to say.

Then that moment came where the tech asked us again if we wanted to know...at this time it was too late for me to tell her that if it's a girl tell us that you can't tell and if it's a boy go ahead and reveal it. Reason being, like every male, Vinnie was hoping for a boy, a healthy baby all in all, but maybe…just maybe…a boy. I felt that if it were a girl than he'd be slightly disappointed. I also felt that finding out the gender at the time of delivery would leave no room for disappointment. So, yes, I didn't want to know more because I had a feeling it was a girl and because I thought he'd be disappointed.

Anyways, long story short...it's a boy. I lost the battle of "let's wait"...

I am so thankful and truly blessed to be carrying a healthy and whole baby boy. I am so thankful for a tech who was so patient w/ us and our son yesterday and who was so detailed in giving us so much information. I am blessed to have been able to see the same caring doctor who delivered Eva just 30 weeks ago. I am ecstatic to know that this baby's hands are open and not clenched, his heart is hole free, his brain is cyst-less, his feet are straight and not clubbed nor rocker bottom....he is peeing and swallowing normally and measuring 1 day ahead and not weeks behind!!!

Not sure if God has blessed us w/ a son, the opposite of our Eva because He knows that I was already comparing everything this time around to out last years experience. I would have taken a girl any day, don't get me wrong...I just know each and every day I would have thought about what would Eva had looked at this time, what would Eva had weighed at this time, what would Eva be doing right now...I do all that as it is. I just think it will be tad different w/ a little boy.

I still am in a state of shock w/ hearing that he is a he. I really felt he was she. Maybe I am not completely convinced. I think I need a second opinion...lol. I am thinking about calling our local community college again to volunteer. Why not? They are always in need of guinea pigs to practice on.

***I typed this earlier but waited to post. Since then I had called our local CCAC and believe it or not the teacher asked if I could come in today...so I did. The students all took turns scanning me as well as looking thru my photo albums of Eva. Well, I guess I need to be convinced..he is INDEED a he! No if's, and's or but's about it...IT IS THERE!***

PRAISE be to the only ONE who GIVES and TAKES away. We are truly thankful and blessed beyond measure! Thank you Lord for loving us and creating MY two boys and two girls!!!

Psalm 139 (The Message)
13-16
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.

I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

I worship in adoration—what a creation!

You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.