Uncooperative and Busy

Uncooperative and busy.

Yep, those two words pretty much sum up my boys, and in most recent events, they seem to sum up Thing 4 as well. Yesterday, while I was at the doctor's office for my monthly prenatal appointment, my doctor pulled out her Doppler and I excitedly laid down, eager to hear my sweet baby's heartbeat. After a minute of playing hide and seek with Thing 4, she finally got the heartbeat. Then it was gone. She found the heartbeat again and began timing it, but as soon as she looked at her watch, the heartbeat was gone. So, she found it again. Then it was gone . . . again. We both started to laugh, and she told me I have a very busy baby. I replied:

 Oh, and don't forget uncooperative. He/she was pulling these tricks on Dr. Sanderson last week as well. 

Again, we laughed. She found the heartbeat. Then it was gone. Thing 4 was really putting on a show!  Finally, after a few more attempts "someone" must have grown tired and decided to rest long enough for my doctor to get the heartbeat. Phew!

Whenever I tell people of Thing 4's shenanigans, their immediate response, after they have had a good chuckle of course, is:

"You're having another boy!"

And I have to admit, the antics of Thing 4 are really reminding me of my boys, and in all honesty, I would be thrilled with another boy.

BUT . . . 

The heartbeat suggests otherwise. My mom worked for years as a Labour and Delivery nurse, and she said that nine times out of ten, when the fetal heartbeat remained in the high 150 zone, like 156-160, the babies are girls. The boys tend to have a fetal heartbeat somewhere around the 140's and low 150's. Relying on this information, Thing 4 is a girl because "her" fetal heartbeat has been documented at 161 and 156. Another interesting fact is that when my mom reminded me of this, I went back to my pregnancy notes from my other babies and sure enough Zoe's fetal heartbeat was consistently at 158, and both the boys had fetal heartbeats in the 140's. 

So . . .

Thing 4 could be a girl, or Thing 4 could be a boy . . . tee hee!

The only thing I am certain of is that we will not find out who Thing 4 is until I am holding him/her in my arms because Thing 4's daddy LOVES the surprise, and this mama loves Thing 4's daddy so much she will not deny him this one thrill.

Sorry folks, you are just gonna have to wait with the rest of us, but admit it, the guessing games are kind of fun. 

Have a great weekend! Shenanigans Inc. is moving into full-out Birthday mode to help this guy celebrate his twelfth birthday . . . eeeeek! He is almost a teenager!