And the vote has ended!
I'll be the first one to admit that I really wanted a baby girl this round, and a boy later on. Aside from a single cousin of mine, that's the way it's been for my entire family. We always have had females first, then boys next, and that's the way I always pictured it would be for me as well. Not to mention the fact that almost everyone in my personal life are male, including husband (obviously), our room-mate, all of our regular friends that we hang out with, and even our dog. I've been almost desperate for some more estrogen in my life, to even out all that testosterone I surround myself with every day of my life. All the guys in my life are awesome and all, but being a girl you do feel the need for female interaction at times.
So alas, I was hoping to maintain the family tradition of having girls first then boys when it came to be my time to start a family. Most of my family members thought it would be a girl, no doubt due to the tendency in the family, and a majority of my co-workers thought it would be a boy. Personally I too was leaning a little bit more towards it being a boy, based on a vague gut feeling. Yet deep down I was still hoping for a girl.
My ultrasound was yesterday afternoon. The day of reckoning, so to speak, the day I'd find out if our baby is developing nicely and quite possibly the gender.
Initially the baby was keeping its legs closed, so we found out that health-wise it looks to be developing just fine. No sign of cardiac problems (all four chambers are developing nicely), no spina bifida (the spine is correctly aligned), and most important of all the brain seems to be developing nicely as well. Physically this appears to be a perfectly healthy baby. So I was thrilled about that part!
Yet finding the gender ended up taking most of the time scheduled for the ultrasound. Finally the technician managed to get a good angle, showing us the truth in all its glory. There, between the baby's legs, was...
Oddly I was not as disappointed as I thought I'd be. Although I now know that it's Alexander who will be born in June instead of Jennifer, at least everything seems to be developing nicely. The technician congratulated us on our healthy baby boy and we went about our ways. Yes, I am a little bit disappointed, I won't deny that. It's hard to let go of a vision you've had your entire life of yourself holding your first-born baby girl in your arms, but I am sure having a son will be every bit as exciting. Besides.. we always did plan on having another one a little later. Perhaps Alexander will have a baby sister one day.
Seriously, though, it's all good news. I hope you continue to have a good pregnancy and I look forward to seeing baby photos of little Alexander when he's born. 
