Birthday Girl

Today was Jen's birthday, and she got an amazing present. We went in for an ultrasound of the baby and got to see our little girl. That's right! We're having a girl. She'll be making an appearance sometime around April 16th, falling between the undesirable dates of April 15th (tax day) and April 20th (lots of bad things: pot smoking, Columbine, and Hitler's birthday).

It was so awesome to get to see her heartbeat and her wiggling around. It's surprising that with all that movement Jen can't feel too much going on in there. It's also reassuring to see how much the baby is moving, as Jen gets a bit nervous not feeling anything.

The ultrasound technology really seems to have come a long way. The images were not so blobby. We could clearly see the spine and ribs, as well as the feet and profile. We even could see her skin as a layer in the ultrasound. The tech said everything looks great to her. I'm happy that our child isn't looking quite as alien as other ultrasounds I've seen, too.

What a moment of realization this is! For most of the pregnancy, it has been pretty intellectual. Jen hasn't really been showing until just recently, so this was finally when things are hitting home. Seeing that fluttering little heart made me realize that I'm going to be dad. We're going to have a daughter! Craziness.

We're so excited!