Life à la Moad: The Great Baby Switch

My siblings got the grandkid-ball rolling long before Lucy ever made her appearance. My brother Matt and his wife Renee started it off with their sweet girl Emma born June of 2007. Then my sister Marji and her husband Ben joined in with their sweet boy Karsten born just before Christmas of the same year. And the flood gates opened and in the following years came 4 more grand kids.

Psalm 127:3-5

Children are a heritage from the Lord,

offspring a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are children born in one’s youth.

Blessed is the man

whose quiver is full of them.

My siblings are quite blessed indeed!

All of these subsequent children were boys, rough and tumble little boys! Poor Emma, her young years have just been inundated with boy things; trucks, legos, super-heroes, nerf guns and so on. She just wanted to play dress-up or dolls or have a tea-party... but no... it's trucks and diggers!

Here they are in all of their cuteness!!

We love Emma and all the boys... but our family was in great need of more girls to even things out a bit. Now, that's a lot of pressure on a new mom-to-be.
"So are you gonna find out what you're having!?"

Constant question when you are pregnant: "Are you going to find out the gender?"

We are not ones for surprises, my hubs and I. I mean, when I was turning 16 I suspected my family was planning a surprise birthday party and unable to control myself I found my way into my mom's email to find out all the information... surprises are wasted on me... I ruin them. (Sorry family and friends... the sweet 16 was still super great!)

Plus, I like being prepared for things. I am a big planner! (I think it's the teacher side of me!) And really even more than that... we just aren't patient people! The thought of waiting 9 months to find out the gender of our baby was out of the question. More power to those who can wait, but I am just not one of them! Plus I am not a huge fan of greens, yellows or frogs! If we were having a boy I wanted to get him boy outfits and boy bedding and boy toys! If it was a girl I wanted lots of pink!!! So we knew, from the moment we wrapped our heads around the reality of this new adventure, that we would definitely find out what we were having!

Fast forward 15 weeks.

Let me introduce you to our OB: Dr. Brackney. She is wonderful. She is a friend from our old church and I knew I was going to need a friendly face to make it through this process. We are so thankful to have been able to have her as our doctor and we have every intention of calling upon her mad skills again should we have another child... even though she moved out of state... I can make it to Tennessee to have another baby, ain't no thang.

So in my 18th week of pregnancy at my monthly check-up dear Dr. Brackney told me she could check for gender.

We were stoked! (Normally you have to wait until 20 weeks!!)

Remember how I said we have no patience? Just waiting until 18 weeks was pure torture another 2 might have killed me.

We prepared our extended families - let them know that we would tell them that evening after our appointment.

Side Bar:
Lucy is the first grandchild for my husband's family. So to say they were excited was a huge understatement! They were giddy with excitement to find out the gender of this little babe.

At my appointment Greg and I show up with not-so-subtle, stupid-happy faces eagerly anticipating the news! She checks my belly, listens for the heartbeat, talks to me about my symptoms and all that await me in the next few weeks and months. And then she asks if we still wanted her to check the gender...

HELLO!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!
uh... I mean, Sure, that would be super if you could.... if it's not too much trouble.

In rolls the ultrasound machine - cold jelly on my belly and then BAM - on the screen pops my little Lu... looking a little less cute than she does these days.

Dr. Brackney is digging and moving and adjusting to get the perfect angle.

Side Bar again: Lucy was a MOVER even in the womb, doing flips and spins like a gymnast.... she has now traded those spins in for bouncing... non.stop.bouncing.

"It's a little boy!"

WHAT? Did she just say a boy? Oh my word... it's a boy?
Oh my word it's a boy.

Then we see it...right there, plain as day!
It's a small triangle looking thing between her boney little legs.

Of course it's a boy.... we can't seem to produce anything but boys in this family.

I hate to admit it but we were a little disappointed... we hoped for a girl. Emma hoped for a girl... our family needed another girl. But we got over it. God is good. God is sovereign and we were having a boy! From that day forward we could.not.wait to have our little boy!!

In the coming days I would daydream about little suspenders, little newsie-hats, and my rough-and-tumble little boy. Greg beamed at the thought of a son. A boy to carry on the Moad name. A son he could raise to be a man of God.

We were getting excited about our little boy!! If only we could agree on a name! :/

Since my family lives about 2 hours away we called them on the way home from the appointment

Marji: Yaaaaay!!!!!!! Boys are wonderful!
Renee: Yaaay!!!!!! Boys are wonderful!!
Mom: oh. We were hoping for a girl.

Thanks mom. I know.
(Let me add she did eventually get over the initial disappointment and also get excited for another grandson!)

Greg and I planned a fun little reveal party for his family. We bought some boxed cupcakes, some icing and some blue food dye! (Pinterest really is a wonderful source of creativity for those of us who are lacking)

Everyone came over that evening - placing their bets and laying their chips down on their chosen gender... the stakes were high!
Everyone got a cupcake.... the moment of truth... big bites.... a quick look inside and...

CHEERS!
REJOICING!
GLEE!!!

It's a boy!!!!

Their excitement was contagious! Whether they had guessed right or not they were thrilled!
We too got even more excited for this little boy and how loved he would be by his family!!

If you are reading this and don't already know me... please don't think we named our little boy Lucy. That would be cruel.

Fast Forward 2 weeks and we are at the hospital for my 20 week ultrasound.

Cute little Lu at 20 weeks! So unbelievable. Being knit together by her Creator.

My biggest fear going into this, and the fear of any ultrasound is that the baby is not okay. What if something is wrong? What if something is missing? What if they find something they shouldn't?

There's a reason God included scripture about worry and why we SHOULD NOT do it!
He knew I would need it - big time!

The sweet young lady who was our ultrasound technician asks us if we would like to know the gender.

We smile. And with a little too much confidence and pride in our voices....
"Well, we already know the gender. But you can feel free to confirm it... I mean if ya want to"

Tech with a smile
"What were you told?"

Beaming
"A little boy!"

Moving her little wand all around on my belly. (the presto-change-o magic wand... pretty sure that's what it was!)
"Well...pregnant pause (pun intended) this is a Girl."

Whiplash
"A WHAT!?"

She goes on to point-out the three little white lines that suggest a girl... and then spends the next 30 minutes talking about all the different parts and areas and what's happening.... as if she had not completely just rocked our world.

Shock of a lifetime 1: We're pregnant.
Shock of a lifetime 2: It's a girl.
I'm done with the surprises! That's enough for a lifetime!

I really don't know what else she told us because my mind was spinning with this news.

I need to call my parents. I need to call Greg's family. I need to call my friends. I need to return that cute blue outfit. I need to re-think the nursery. I need to change my Facebook photo. We made blue cupcakes... do we do it again with pink? Our families were so excited for a boy.... will they be disappointed? Is Greg disappointed? Am I? Is this lady sure? I have to call Dr. Brackney! Is she sure there isn't a boy AND a girl!?

Everything I ever knew was a lie.
Not really. But it felt that way.

I don't think I have ever walked more slowly out of a Dr's appointment. It seemed that this news was going to take a long time to sink in... and maybe if I walked slowly it would sink in faster.

We did have a fun time calling all the family to let them know:

Us: "The ultrasound went well but they did find something..."

Nervousness on the other end of the line:
Them: "oh no... what did they find?"

Us:
A Girl. They found a Girl.
We are having a GIRL!