19 Weeks, and she's a healthy little GIRL!

IT'S A GIRL!! (The poll results were correct, too - good guesses!)

I had a dream on Wednesday night that we had a little girl, and I woke up wondering if it could possibly be true.  Matt also had that inclination that morning, and we were both right.  After a painfully slow hour at work, and another long 30 minutes in the waiting room, we got to have our ultrasound yesterday morning.  It was amazing to see our little girl (!) moving all around, and we were overwhelmed with gratitude that she has 10 fingers, 10 toes, 2 kidneys, 4 chambers in her heart, etc.  Long story short, everything looks great and we feel incredibly blessed.  Here are a few pictures of us at the ultrasound:

Do NOT stare at the 5 chins I have in this picture!  I swear I'm not that big!

Matt is predicting girl before the ultrasound - correct!

I was also predicting girl - I guess the dream was accurate!

Belly shot, with me looking anxious to get on with things!

Once we found out the news, my mind started wandering to the future - french braids, painted toenails, and a daddy walking his daughter down the aisle.  I think I am going to have a shocked smile on my face for weeks to come!  Here is the Vermont contingency of Zehnacker girls celebrating last night (my belly is always much bigger by evening, and this was especially pronounced after a meal of Mom's homemade lasagna and homemade bread!):



Baby Girl is now 19 weeks old!  They told us yesterday that she's about 5.5 to 6 inches long and about 10 ounces, which according to babycenter.com is the size of an heirloom tomato.  The exciting thing for the musician in me is that beginning this week, a lot of her sensory development is happening.  This means that she's beginning to be able to hear sounds, like music!  Carly and Elliot were talking to her through my belly last night, which was the sweetest thing.  Here are some belly photos from this morning - I still blame the large meal of lasagna for my size!  :-)

The other thing I've been reflecting on this week is how cool it is to be pregnant during our church's season of Advent.  I have a whole new perspective on the joyful anticipation (and the anxieties) that Mary must have felt as she was preparing for the arrival of Jesus.  There's a lot of faith required during pregnancy, and I'm slowly learning to trust more that God knows exactly what He's doing.  After seeing the images of our little girl on the ultrasound, there's no doubt in my mind!