One year ago today we gave our little babe a more correct pronoun; “it” was now a “she”, and memories of finding out that news still just make me smile from ear to ear!
I woke up that Saturday morning snuggled with my two best friends Amberlee and Ashley. Amberlee had driven to my house the night before from Chattanooga and Ashley had flown in a couple days earlier from Destin. My mom and Amberlee’s mom were on their way up from Alabama for the day to also be with us to find out the news.
I was 16w2d pregnant and was so excited that the local 4D ultrasound place would do a gender reveal so early. I was nervous when I made the gender appointment the month before that it would be too early to find out and that we would get incorrect information, but I was reassured a few days before my appointment when I went to the ER for a little scare and the technician told me that without a doubt he knew what the gender was (I told him not to tell me).
Going into the appointment, I didn’t care whether we were having a girl or a boy. You hear people say all the time that they’re only concerned with whether or not the baby is healthy, and I 100% agree! Jamie and I joke that it’s a good thing we can’t pick what gender our babies will be because there are so many positives to both!
Even though I didn’t care what gender we were having, I still completely lost it when I heard that she was a girl.
I can still hear the sweet technician’s exact words – “Well, you are definitely having a baby girl!”
Cue the most unexpected hysterics. I never expected to get so emotional! My mom still laughs about how many happy tears I cried. This sounds so dramatic, but the moment I heard the word girl I was instantly flooded with images of all that my life would hold raising a daughter. Even though I honestly really would have been over the moon for either gender and still hope to have a son one day, I had always hoped and prayed for a daughter. My dream was coming true.
My sister and in-laws were watching the gender reveal online (Clarksville’s ultrasound place is SO wonderful!), and they texted me immediately with their joy. I called my dad, my brother, texted with a bunch of friends, and just felt on top of the world. I smiled the whole way home! I couldn’t wait to tell Jamie!
When we got home, I texted Jamie and let him know that we were able to see what we were having and to get on Skype as soon as possible. He had another couple of hours of work to do before his work day was over, and he’ll tell you now that waiting to get out of work and back to his computer was torturous!
A few weeks beforehand, my friend Amanda Gulsby came up with a brilliant idea of how I should tell Jamie the news. I bought two pairs of baby sandals – one boy pair and one girl pair. I put them each in separate packages and put a big “#1” on the package with the girl shoes and a “#2” on the boy pair, though he didn’t know which number went with which package. They arrived in Afghanistan just a few days before the reveal.
Once he got on Skype, I noticed that he was so nervous; I was too! You can watch his reaction on youtube here (it’s worth clicking!).
A little while later my mom gave me a gift – newborn baby girl outfits. My girlfriends also gave Hadley and me some really sweet gifts. Ashley gave Hadley her first bible and Amberlee made Hadley a little picture frame with the sweetest letter. I love them so much!
365 days later we have the sassiest 6.5 month old baby girl ever! I am more in love with that baby girl than I could have ever imagined possible. I am thankful every single day that I’m her mom.
Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo