Baby: It's Gender Party Time!

We had an ultrasound at 17 weeks 4 days.  We knew there was a pretty good chance we would be able to find out what gender our sweet baby was.  So we started to throw a party together so we could tell all our friends and family.  At the last minute, we decided that we also would not find out what the baby's gender was until it was revealed at the party.  We asked the ultrasound tech if she could not show us what it was, but instead write it down and place it in an envelope.  We had a very no nonsense tech that day and she made no promises.

Finally, she asked us to look away from the screen.  It was so hard not to look for the couple of minutes it took her to get all her measurements and take the picture she needed to show us the gender.  I'll admit I peaked at least twice when she first told us to look away.  She was very confident in her decision of the gender (Although I'm still nervous that at our next ultrasound it will be something different.  Am I the only mom who does that?  I guess we'll see for sure if it is the same in a week and half.)

We took the envelope to our local cupcakery, Short Cakes!  (We highly recommend this bakery!  They are the sweet local people you will ever meet.)  The sweet baker there took the envelope and created some delicious cupcakes with the surprise inside.

Then we all gather for a little cookout fun!

  Charley loved all the babies and kids at the party!

 

 

 

 

Done with the eating, it was time for the big moment.  

Sorry for the candid shots.  I don't ever do well with candids.

Cupcakes Ready!

1st Bite.

 Brandon saw it.  I didn't bite through the cupcake far enough to see anything.

Everyone is yelling and I'm scurrying to open mine.

 Got it open!

 So excited for our baby GIRL!

Grandparents are excited for their first granddaughter!

 Excited for all of our girls to play together.

Sweetest friends in the world to come out and celebrate with us!

Coleman is excited about his new baby cousin!

First swaddling blanket!

 First baby doll!

Paisley loved looking at all the gifts for her baby sister!  Now we will just have to keep her from eating all her sisters toys once she gets here!

Guess the majority was right!  12 to 11.  It's a baby girl for the Steeles.

Happy 18 weeks Baby Girl!

Baby: 17 weeks

Of course, I didn't take a belly picture of myself.  We really have been so busy.  I'm lucky to just get dressed and arrive on time to my destination of the day.  However, we did get some pretty adorable pictures of Baby!

We had a visit with our specialist at 17 weeks 4 days.  Ignore the dates on the ultrasound pictures.  They didn't change everything in the computer for our updated due date until after we had our ultrasound and saw the specialist.  Our updated due date is October 19.  So sometime in early October Baby Steele will be here.  There are a lot of popular family dates in October is he/she would like to choose one.  October 4th is my Mom's and my Memaw's birthday.  October 9th is Brandon's Grandmother Milly's birthday.  October 2nd is my friend Jess's birthday and October 3rd is Great Deb's birthday.  Who knows when they will tell us he/she can come, but all of the above people are hoping it's on their special day!

At the appointment, the doctor said everything was looking great right now.  The heart is about the size of a dime.  I could see the valves opening and closing between the 4 sections of the heart.  It was so sweet.  It's truly miraculous that God created things so specifically.  

According to my baby bump app, at 17 weeks the average baby weighs in at 5.9 ounces and at 18 weeks the average baby weighs in at 6.7 ounces.  Baby Steele is weighing in at 7 ounces at 17 weeks 4 days.  A little a head of schedule even for the new due date, so hopefully I won't be giving birth to a sumo wrestler.

Apparently our little one is quite the wiggler.  The ultrasound tech had quite a time getting a picture of the gender for us because Baby wouldn't be still long enough.  We chose not to find out while having the ultrasound, in lieu of finding out with our family and friends later that week.  However, she assured us she has been performing high risk ultrasounds for 12 years and she KNEW what it was.

Here are some of the pictures we got:

 At this point, most people think Baby Steele looks like a boy and his/her daddy.

Look at that cute face.

I just had to show this one, because its so scary looking!  Why do they show you these?  They are basically taking the ultrasound scanner and moving through his/her body from back to front which leaves baby looking like an alien and creates the illusion the eyes are popping in and out of socket.

I suppose baby steele still looks cute, but I have to say that because I'm the mom.  Otherwise, this is way creepy.

Happy 17 weeks Baby Steele!

Baby: 16 Weeks

16 weeks!

4 months pregnant!

Baby is the size of an avocado supposedly.

Baby's heart rate:  154 bpm.
Every time the OB measures the heart rate, Brandon asks if, "Does that means its a boy or a girl?"  The OB always assures him that the old wives' tale isn't a true indicator, but you can't fault a guy for asking.

By 4 months, I am starting to feel more like myself again.  Although, I truly believe that you never really feel like your "normal" self while pregnant.  Something is always kind of "off".

I am not showing a ton yet, but I swear at night before bed I look 6 months pregnant!

 I always try to get Paisley Blue in the pictures, but some mornings she wants no part of it.  This was one of those mornings.

Happy 16 weeks, Baby!

Baby: It's been a while.

This has for sure been the craziest month of our year!  So yes it has been a month since I posted last...sorry guys.  I will try to do better, but if life doesn't slow down a bit, it may be a lost cause.  

So I'm sure you have heard by now, but we are having a 

BABY GIRL!  

We are so excited, although I'm sure we would be saying the same thing if it had been a boy.

I need a play a little catch up on the blog as you can tell.  I'm now 19 weeks and I haven't posted since 15 weeks.  Oops.  There are so many things I want to post about, but I have so little time before I go back to work tomorrow.  We will see how far I get today.  Hopefully you will have posts galore coming your way soon.

Happy Memorial Day!