On December 17th we had a routine appointment with our OB/GYN. I feel so blessed that Oliver has made time to attend every single appointment so far. He wants to hear that little heartbeat as much as I do, and it's great for him to hear the Doctor's advice and answers to questions, etc. In this appointment we hoped to learn the sex of the baby. But...he or she's little legs were curled up and closed and would not budge!! Oh my goodness! Our next appointment is in mid-January, so hopefully then... Meanwhile Oliver's buddy Ryan is e-mailing him on a regular basis from Chicago to find out if we're having a boy to marry one of his little girls. They've already agreed on a dowry.

And he painted the walls too, of course...

Painting the ceiling...not an easy task! But SUPER DAD did an outstanding job!

Why, oh why did we decline learning the gender of our baby?!?? We had our ultrasound (so cool!) and told the Doc we didn't want to know. "We're waiting." That's the decision we came to (before I was even pregnant, I think). Oliver, especially, is all about waiting til April 28th for the big suprise. He's one of those people who doesn't want to watch previews for movies or TV shows, and he refuses to read the back of the DVD box for a summary of the plot. He says that seeing the unwrapped presents under the Christmas tree and waiting in eager anticipation to find out what they are is more fun than actually knowing what they are. Anyway, I decided I could wait, too, and we would do things the "old fashioned" way. It would be great for Oliver to come out of the delivery room and announce "It's a boy! or "It's a girl!"
But that was last week! THIS week we had an ultrasound and o my...it is amazing. I asked the doctor if he was able to identify the sex of the baby and he said "Oh yes, definitely." As soon as Oliver and I stepped out of the office we were both (BOTH) second-guessing our decision not to find out. Probably because the ultrasound was a bit like being introduced to our baby... He or she was so clear and moving a lot...little hands and feet and a super cute face...and suddenly I couldn't imagine continuing to call this child an "it". Knowing the gender would make things more intimate somehow. Anyway, over the next couple of days we went back and forth... should we find out, or shouldn't we? Oliver quickly returned to his "I can wait til April" position, but said he would fully support finding out as well. What to do! After much deliberation (and a little prodding from the soon to be grandmothers) we called our Doctor to see what the file said. The file said "undetermined"! WHAT?!? Evidently the Ultrasound Doc doesn't even document the gender if the parents say they don't want to know...for added security, I guess. We've watched our 8 minute DVD of the ultrasound a dozen times, at least, analyzing every white mark or gray blob to try to figure this thing out but...no luck. We have no idea what we're doing, really. So at our next appointment, our OB/GYN promised to screen and see if she can determine things for us. Her sonogram equipment isn't as sophisticated as the Ultrasound, but she promised to try.