Mum to Be Monday #2 - Gender Reveal

I've been dying to share the news of our gender scan with you after we told all our family members over the Christmas holidays first! I'm going to start from the very beginning so this might be a long post. Finding out the gender was something that we both wanted to do, some people prefer to wait until their child is born to find out but this was a personal choice and we will cherish the experience forever.

When we went for our twelve week scan in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda I was told that we wouldn't be having another scan until I was 34 weeks to check the positioning of the placenta. I was suddenly taken by surprise, I thought all women had a twenty or twenty one week scan to check the babies development and if possible they would be able to find out what gender the baby was. Seemingly this was not the case for all women. First time mam here so there is a lot for me to learn!! The lady was happy with what she had seen in our scan and sent us on our way.

On the way home that day we talked about finding out the sex of the baby or leaving it until the very end and I think we both decided instantly that we wanted to know as soon as possible. There was no specific reason why. It had noting to do with purchasing gender specific items for our child we just could not wait to find out. We are just so excited about becoming parents that we wanted to know would a little boy or a little girl be changing our lives forever.

It looked like a private scan would be on the cards for us so while we waited for baby to grow and develop past the recommended eighteen weeks we looked into different types of scans available. My brother and his partner are also expecting and they had a 3D scan at the Babyscan clinic in Swords, Co Dublin. They had a great experience and it was only a short drive for us so myself and John opted for the gender scan there. Booking was so simple, you can ring in and also book on-line. There was no waiting list. I was even given a list of available appointments that week and I selected the best time for us. What better time than the week before Christmas, my favourite time of year.

Skipping straight to the scan I just want to say that the women we dealt with at the clinic could not have been nicer. They genuinely seemed interested in our pregnancy and made me feel very comfortable and at ease.

The room where the scan took place was very spacious and John got to sit right beside me and hold my hand. At the hospital for the twelve week scan he had to sit on the other side of the room and look at a different screen. I didn't even feel like he was in the room with me. I was so happy that this gave us the opportunity to have a more intimate experience. Walking into the room the sonographer could see that I looked uncomfortable and a few moments into the scan she told me that my bladder was too full and that the baby was a little squished in there so after a quick trip to the toilets I came back to find out the good news. She already knew the sex before I went so we spent the next 15-20 minutes looking at our babies hands, feet and beautiful face.

She asked us our predictions, we both said boy. 

She said " well, it's a baby girl"

Well...I just burst out crying! I was so shocked. From the moment I found out I was pregnant I kept thinking boy. Every time I seen something even remotely related to do with girls I just thought ah, maybe next time. I was so convinced we were having a boy.  John had the biggest smile on his face, we both actually had the stupidest big smiles on our faces. Now we knew....it felt much more real than it did half an hour beforehand. 

Another plus to having the gender scan done privately was that we received a tonne of photos to take home of our lil baby girl. The whole experience really was worth every penny and I would do it all again in a heart beat...I'll just drink less water next time! 

Oh my god I just remembered, she actually yawned during the scan and we seen it all in almost slow motion on the huge television monitor beside us. It was so surreal. At one point she (I can also say she now!) kicked her two legs up to her head. She's going to be tall just like her parents! 

So we have a little girl on the way.....far too exciting. Still searching for the right name for her. We had a name all set if it was a boy...how wrong were we! 

As I write this post I am currently twenty one weeks and only began to feel little flutters from within my bump a few hours ago. There is so much to look forward too and time is going by so fast, I'm trying to enjoy each moment as it comes. 

A bloody girl lads! Who's up for dress shopping in the new year?!!!! 

Love,

Sarah & Bump!