Weeks 18 & 19

We went to the doctor this past week and had our 18 week anatomy ultrasound. Baby looks absolutely perfect! The first thing I said when I saw the heart beating was "Hey- how many chambers are in that heart??" The ultrasound tech probably thought I was some loon who googled something before my appointment. I don't make a habit of announcing my profession, so I just let her think whatever. She answered "Four." And I was satisfied. Baby has 2 kidneys, normally developing lungs, no spinal defects, and a good lookin' brain. We asked her not to let us see the gender, and she wrote it down on an envelope and sealed it. That was hard to do!!

3 painfully long days later, we found out the big news! Our sweet friends and my sister threw us a gender reveal party. It was such a perfect night! More to come on that later. 

I was so wrong! I had really started to feel more and more like it was a boy. Matt guessed that it was a girl. I had asked him for days what he thought baby was, and he kept saying "I have no idea." Yesterday, my sister got into town and asked him the same thing. He immediately said, "Oh, it's a girl." I was like what? Since when have you committed to a guess? It was funny. I am so absolutely beyond happy though! We really didn't care either way. We just wanted a healthy baby. But I am thrilled about having a daughter! We're so excited to finally know who she is and to start planning and decorating. 

Her name is Charlotte Katherine Newman, and she's a mover and a shaker already. She squirms around constantly, and I just love that feeling! In other pregnancy news, my belly is ever-expanding and my belly button is starting to look weird. Some things will never be the same, I suppose. RIP, belly button. Also, two people this week told me, "You don't look pregnant in the face." I'll take it.