Girl!

…but we’re not certain.

BebeDeux was moving around so much that the doc had a hard time getting a good look at the goods. He thinks it’s a girl, but he says he wouldn’t bet on it.

We’ll just have to wait until the 14th to find out for sure. (Sigh.)

I know that the gender is still not definite, but I wouldn’t be lying if I said I was initially upset. (I have always wanted two boys.) J was a teeny bit disappointed too, but only because he says I had built up the expectation.

Now that we’ve had some time to let the news sink in, we’re feeling a lot better about it. We already have a great girl name picked out but were still undecided on a boy name. My mother tells me that having a little sister would be easier for Claire and that they will become very close.

There’s also the theory that attractive people are more likely to have girls than boys, which J — ever the humble one — likes to boast about and exclaim with a woeful sigh, “It’s inevitable that I will only have girls!”   We all know that the real reason he’s more likely to give me XX sperm is due to the fact that he’s a software engineer and works with computers all day long (apparently, XY sperm tend to die off in such environments).

As I have discussed previously, if BebeDeux does turn out to be a girl, we will be trying for a third baby within the next few years.

Now, please excuse me while I go feed the beast (aka my pregnant self).

I am now 18 weeks pregnant with BebeDeux. Since babies’ genitalia start to become distinguishable via ultrasound starting at 16 weeks, you know what that means…

It’s time to start the gender-guessing game!

I waited until today to post this, because I have an OB appointment tomorrow morning. If BebeDeux cooperates, we will be able to know whether Claire will be having a little sister or a little brother.

If BebeDeux is uncooperative, we will need to wait until June 14, which is our Level II Ultrasound (otherwise known as the anatomy ultrasound).

I’m really not sure what we’re having at this point. My symptoms have been very similar with both pregnancies, but I am a bit more nauseous and have been experiencing migraines. The biggest difference with this pregnancy is that my skin has remained free of acne — if you can remember with my pregnancy with Claire, I broke out all over my body.

I am leaning towards a boy solely due to the Ramzi Method. But even that isn’t foolproof.

Would you care to take a stab at the gender? Take the poll below!

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Here’s to hoping that BebeDeux cooperates tomorrow so we don’t need to wait another week to find out!

I woke up this morning to some cramping and bleeding. A visit to the doctor showed that BebeDeux is doing fine and that my cervix is still closed, but I have been diagnosed with marginal placenta previa which may have caused the bleeding. Nonetheless, I have been put on bedrest for a few days.

Needless to say, I’m pretty scared. I know that tons of women experience bleeding in their pregnancies and go on to have healthy babies. I also know that placenta previa diagnosed before the 20th week gives the placenta plenty of time to move up in the uterus before going into labor.

But I also have friends who have lost babies well into their 2nd trimesters, as well as those who were put on bedrest for months due to placenta previa.

Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers…

It is no secret that I would prefer BebeDeux to be a boy. If so we’d have one of each and we’d be done!

Be that as it may, I wouldn’t be upset if BebeDeux turns out to be a girl. After all, dontcha know that two girls are the best?

We were excited to find out Claire’s gender when I was pregnant with her and it is no different with this baby. But I will most likely have to wait until my Level 2 Ultrasound to find out — a whole six more weeks! — and I will be the first to admit that I’m already growing impatient.

That’s why I decided to turn to early gender determination tests.

These aren’t old wives’ tales. These are actual studies done with statistical data whose majority results back up the theories.

First up is The Nub Theory which looks to “the angle of the dangle” at 12-14 weeks to guesstimate the sex of the baby. The Nub Theory only seems to correctly predict the gender a little better than 50% of the time, but that still counts as the majority in my book. 

You can go check out this gender prediction forum for more information about The Nub Theory. And here’s what Baby2see has to say about it:

Male gender With the male fetus, the genital tubercle usually creates an angle of greater than 30° with the lower part of the spine.

Female gender In the female fetuses, the genital tubercle protrudes in the same direction as the lower portion of the spine with an angle of less than 30° relative to the backbone.

Unfortunately, in our case, BebeDeux’s bottom region was not viewable in the 12-week ultrasound pictures we received. I checked to see if The Nub Theory was correct with Claire, but her bottom wasn’t viewable in her ultrasound pictures either. Boo. 

Thankfully, the next gender prediction test — The Ramzi Method — is a far more accurate in early gender determination. According to The Ramzi Method, fetuses that implant on the right side of the uterus tend to be boys, while those that implant on the left side tend to be girls.

How accurate is The Ramzi Method? Well, according to this study, it is 97% accurate.

Excitedly, I took a look at Claire’s early ultrasound pictures again. I was a bit disappointed to see that she was positioned on the right side, which disproved The Ramzi Method in our case.

…But hold on there. I then read that while transvaginal ultrasounds portray the correct positioning, abdominal ultrasounds — which were the ones I had been looking at with Claire — display the mirror image of what’s really going on inside.

Which meant that The Ramzi Method was correct for Claire!

I then took a look at BebeDeux’s ultrasounds…

And there was no doubt about it. BebeDeux is positioned on the right side of my uterus. Which means I am carrying a little boy.

Will The Ramzi Method once again prove accurate for this pregnancy? Only time will tell…

Faithful readers would know that I’ve been having some health problems as of late. They would also recall that I had promised to describe these problems in further detail…

Well, the secret’s out of the bag.

I am currently 12 weeks pregnant with Claire’s little sister or brother!

I know the first question that pops into practically everyone’s mind is: were we trying? And the answer to that is no. And I wouldn’t be lying if I were to say that there were moments — there are still moments — when I feel completely overwhelmed and scared. But we believe this pregnancy to be just as much of a blessing as Claire, and are happy to be expanding our little family.

We had our NT scan today and everything looks perfect. BebeDeux (my nickname for the little tyke)’s heartbeat was strong and steady at 172 bpm, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of how Claire looked at her NT scan. However, this pregnancy seems to have brought me more nausea, fatigue, and other unfavorable symptoms (such as insomnia and migraines) than my pregnancy with Claire and I’ve been really hurting as a result. Fortunately, I have wonderful people in my life — such as J, my SIL, and my mother — who have been graciously donating their time and energy in helping me take care of Claire in my fragile state.

Incidentally, BebeDeux’s due date (November 3, 2011) is exactly 13 months from what was Claire’s due date. So if he/she decides to show up a few days early like Claire did, we could very well end up with a Halloween baby!

(Personally, I am hoping for 11/1/11, 11/10/11, or 11/11/11 because then the baby’s birthday would be a binary number!)

I know that the next few years will be quite a rollercoaster as I’m sure that other mothers of “2 under 2″ can agree. I would greatly appreciate your prayers and support as we embark on this next chapter of our lives!

P.S. — I have blogged about this pregnancy but have only written a couple of (private) posts thus far. I have since made them public, and if you wish you can view them — in addition to all future posts regarding BebeDeux — at http://www.geekinheels.com/category/bebedeux