Is that today's Big Ultrasound went great. All bits and pieces were
measuring right on time (well, 2 days behind but since the OB is
convinced my due date is a day later than I think it is, that's all
good). We had dropped Val at school so it was just Andrea, the doc and
me enjoying seeing the George show.

I swear, a couple of times when George moved his/her head just so, herm
looked just like Val. But who really knows.

I promise I'll tell you the gender next week, after the Grandparents get
to hear it in person. Like his/her sister before herm, George was
rather forthcoming with the private parts. Unlike Val, who kicked a
ton, this child was apparently doing a series of yoga poses. Perhaps it
is the zen of babies in there.

After what we went through to get to this point, I will confess that any
illusions I had of preferring one gender over the other absolutely went
out the window when I saw thing after thing measure correctly today.
Somehow, despite what seemed like impossible odds, we have conceived a
child who appears to be healthy.

Speaking of that, this time around we declined the first trimester
screening. When I learned that whatever they might find then could also
be found with more certainty at the later ultrasound, I said screw it.
It's not like we'd even consider terminating a pregnancy so hey, 20 or
so weeks is enough time to get used to the idea of whatever might've
been 'wrong' with this kid.

So we didn't, which made today's litany of good indicators all the more
amazing.

The other great part about the appointment was the chance to have a
heart-to-heart with my OB about when to schedule to c-section. I
reminded her that other than going home with a live mother and live baby
(which, yes, was the most important part of the plan), nothing about
Val's birth went as I'd hoped.

Hearing her sort of try to corner me into scheduling George's birthday
for 38 weeks triggered much anxiety. We gave Val every chance, every
possible day to arrive on her own. She declined but hey, she had the
chance.

George deserves that same chance. Should he or she decide to arrive at
38 weeks, then fine. I will rush to the hospital and have the c/section
then. But I want the kid to have all of these 40 weeks to decide,
should that be what the kid wants.

And so, after our chat with the OB today, it looks like that chance is
possible. I'm so grateful that the OB really listened to me. She
assured me that she'll keep listening. And will prescribe post
c/section meds before we go in so we can have them on hand when we get
home. Because the 2 hours it took for Andrea to get mine after we came
home with Val were among the longest of my life. Not doing that again.

This chat with the OB calmed me down quite a bit. I think we're on
track to have George's arrival be a lot calmer than Val's was. And to
actually have help when we need it afterwards.

But I'm still kinda stuck on having a healty-appearing kid on the way.
First and foremost, that's enough. Everything else is just gravy.