I'm thinking it's a girl...

Haha! Funny how I go back and forth on these things, isn't it?

I've recently converted back to thinking that our baby is a girl. At my prenatal appointment last week the baby's heart rate was way up--160 beats per minute!--which is the highest it's ever been (remember, the Old Wive's Tale states that any prenatal heartbeat above 150 bpm is a girl and anything below is a boy). Our baby's heart rate has been a steady 148 bpm until 2 appointments ago, when it dropped to 136. Then, last week it was 160. So, I've changed my mind! (I'm praying right now that it doesn't mean that our baby is a boy AND a girl!). Yikes.

In addition to the heartrate, the midwife felt my tummy to see if the baby is head-down (it is) and proclaimed that our baby is big (so my weight guess is going to be off!) and that she thinks it's a girl. She quickly threw in the disclaimer that she's just guessing and that she has a tendency to be wrong but I'm still going with what she says!

I haven't had any dreams about the baby being a girl, but I'm just back to feeling like it is. (Okay, it's more like hoping than feeling...we're really stumped on the circumcision decision and I'd rather just have a girl and not have to deal with it!).

So there you have it. All of my evidence that it's a girl!

In other news, we're having our ultrasound next Tuesday! (No, we're not going to find out the sex, although it's tempting!). Our birth classes are going well and we're really starting to focus on the labor/birth process...we're re-reading out natural childbirth book together and I'm starting to get serious about all of the exercises and practice...even though it feels silly! We picked up a crib from Travis' uncle Tom this weekend and it is beautiful--and miraculously matches all the other furniture that we have in the nursery! We went on a big shopping spree and got a lot of basics (some diapers, a thermometer, some butt ointment, a baby bath sampler, a swaddle blanket, some nuks, etc. etc.). Our big indulgence was a carseat and stroller combo. I washed all of the baby things right away and put them all away and have such a sense of relief! I am full-term next week, and now feel like I could actually have the baby and bring it home!

This is a very exciting and bittersweet time for Travis and I. We fluctuate between feeling very worried and stressed (Travis recently admitted that he's nervous about taking care of the baby--he said he's afraid he'll drop it! and I had a crying jag last night over how afraid I am of labor and birth) and feeling elated about the impending arrival. Sometimes I get so excited and filled with love that I get a heart-ache! We're signing up for every class that we can (Travis is taking a "Daddy Basic Training Class" and we're both going to carseat safety and breastfeeding classes, in addition to the birth classes) and we're both reading and rereading parenting magazines and books! Travis and I spend hours talking about how we want to parent our child, what's important to us, and dreaming about what our child will be like. Our conversations are filled with plans for family hikes and bike rides, dinner together every night, spanking and time-out strategies, the places we want to go with our child and the ideals that we wish to impart (and the characteristics and ideals that we hope will die with us!). What is it they say? The best parents are the ones who don't have kids yet? Haha, I know that we seem optimistic about having a perfect little angel, but really we're scared to death!!!

Just a few more weeks...

For the record, I'm thinking it's going to be a girl and she'll be 8lbs, and she's still coming on July 10th!