As many of you know by now, we’re expecting Baby Lurie #2, due March 30th, 2017!  It’s hard for me to believe, but that puts me at 20 weeks pregnant — the halfway mark!  As for Liv, she asks me every day: “When is it gonna be March?”  Big Sister is ready!

On Monday, 11/7, we had our anatomy ultrasound.  While pregnant with Liv (four years ago, whoa…), we decided not to find out if we were having a boy or girl, instead waiting until that best-day-ever when she was born.  I’ll never forget that miraculous, blurry, joy-flooded moment when Jared declared: “It’s a girl!”

For the past three months — ever since we found out we’re pregnant with baby #2 — we’ve been talking with Liv about the baby.  We’ve repeatedly explained why we have to wait nine whole months.  We’ve talked about her new role as a Big Sister!  And we’ve speculated on whether we’ll have a baby boy or a baby girl.  Early on, it became clear that Liv really wanted a baby sister — only a sister.  So we decided that this time around, we’d find out.  And we decided to give Big Sister Liv the very special job of announcing it to us.

I found matching “It’s a Boy!” and “It’s a Girl!” cards and we prepped Liv, explaining that after the baby had a “check-up,” the ultrasound technician would seal one of the cards in an envelope just for her.  And then it would be up to her to open it and share the news with us!  We ran through both scenarios several times and by the time we arrived for our appointment, she was pumped!

We snapped a few pictures in the waiting room, excited, and anxious to be called back.  I was nervous, but Jared kept me focused on the fun of the appointment, tallying up the predictions we’d gathered from our family: 14 votes for Boy.  10 votes for Girl.

Finally, we were called back to Ultrasound Room #2, where no photos were allowed.  The room was huge, dark, and cold, but Jared and Liv sat right next to the bed, as our awesome technician, Jen, squirted warm gel on my belly and jumped right into the anatomy exam.  Of all the nurses, midwives, doctors, and techs we’ve encountered, she was one of the best!  She was warm and friendly, calm, informative, and it certainly helped that she got a kick out of Liv, who was climbing on and off the table with me and pulling her skirt up to her neck, ha!

It was so amazing to see our baby on a big screen, wiggling around, waving, punching, and kicking.  I tried to savor it, knowing it might be our last look before his/her birthday, but so much of what Jen was looking at was like a foreign language to me.  I did recognize a “bright spot” when she was looking at baby’s heart, just like Liv had four years ago: an echogenic intracardiac focus.  But when the doctor came in to review our results, she assured us everything looked great, saying we should leave feeling confident that we have a healthy, growing baby.

Jen printed off several pictures for us and discreetly wrote and sealed one of our cards in an envelope for Liv to open later.

I was so relieved at that point, I hardly cared about opening the envelope, but Liv and Jared couldn’t wait!  We rushed home, gathered under Sully’s old tree in our backyard, and handed Liv the envelope.

I’m so grateful we captured the reveal on video, because we’ve relived the moment at least a hundred times already!  And just like when Liv was born, it’s a joyous moment I’ll treasure forever:

Video:  Baby Lurie #2 – It’s A …

And Big Sister Liv!  She absolutely crushed it!!  So proud of her!

We celebrated with brunch at Mama Kat’s, before Jared had to rush off to work.  And contrary to what she led us to believe, Liv has expressed nothing but excitement about her baby brother!

It’s a Boy!

(More to come…)