One Year Ago Today.....

Dear Ruby,

Although it seems like another lifetime, it was just one year ago today that we found out that you were going to be a GIRL. It was quite a shock to us only because mommy, daddy, and all of our friends and family spent the month prior thinking that you were a boy!! Yep, you had a whole different name and EVERYTHING. And believe it or not before THAT we spent three weeks thinking you were a GIRL. Yes.... it's a confusing story and I've wanted to write it down for quite awhile now so we could accurately tell you all about it later in life. Daddy and I rode a serious gender roller coaster before you were born but the good news is I always wanted a girl and mommy got just what she wanted! And daddy wouldn't change a thing - you are the LIGHT of his life.

Here is a recap of the timeline of our roller coaster ride:

September 23 - Mommy finds out I'm pregnant - YEAH!!! We are over the moon and my gut instinct said girl right away!

November 20 - at just 12 weeks along Mommy and Daddy go to the doctor for our NT Scan (a ultrasound where they take some neck measurements to check for down syndrome markers).We are told we are having a girl and the tech seems VERY confident. This ultrasound is said to be 90% accurate due to the fact that we were at a high risk doctor and they were using a level 2 ultrasound. We immediately name you Ruby and are SO excited. Everything seemed to make perfect sense since I already "knew" you were a girl.

12 Week Ultrasound - GIRL

November 27 - Thanksgiving. We share the news that we are expecting and that it looks like we are having a girl! We tell everyone your name will be Ruby, after Ruby Bennett and everyone is instantly in love with you - ESPECIALLY mommy and daddy!

December 6 - Mommy has an appointment to have an ultrasound at a place in Costa Mesa where they claim they have an almost 100% track record on early gender determination. This isn't our doctor's office - it's a private company that provides "non medical" ultrasounds (meaning basically for fun!). We of course already KNOW you are a girl but this appointment was made long before the NT Scan since we never dreamed that they would be able to tell us what we were having at 12 weeks. Even though they were able to tell us you were a girl, we keep the appointment because we love watching you up on the screen and we'll take any opportunity to look at our girl.

So, we get to the office and the ultrasound begins. We get tons of pictures of you but your legs are crossed and we can't see "the goods". We don't tell the tech that we already know you are a girl (hey, why do her job for her?) I begin to panic as she starts to say things to make me believe you are a boy. After 30 minutes she says, "I am sorry - I just can't get a good shot. I THINK I know what you are having but I don't want to say until I have the perfect shot. Can you come back later today?" We of course say fine and make an appointment to come back at 5:30 that evening.

Fast forward to 5:30. I ate a candy bar and drank some orange juice to get you moving. There are two different ultrasounds techs working and I explain the story of what happened earlier that day. They agree that they are both going to evaluate the ultrasound and make their decision without consulting the other one. After about 10 minutes they both tell us they have seen enough. Both techs tell us they have seen "protrusion" and that we are having a BOY! Daddy was beaming and I was silent and in shock. The tech then gives a picture of the protrusion and labels it boy (below). Once we were in the car I lost it. I was crying because I was just so confused. I had spent the past few weeks dreaming of all things pink and I was so sad to think that it was all going to change. Daddy didn't understand why I was upset and immediately started calling family to tell them the news. I had to pull myself together - we were due at at birthday party that night so I told daddy NOT to discuss the news because I needed to digest the situation before I shared with everyone. I tried to explain to daddy that if I had been told boy from the beginning it would have been one thing, but to spend 3 weeks thinking girl and then having that taken away I was really disappointed.

It took me a few days but soon enough I began to get excited about a little boy. After all I knew in my heart one day or another I'd have my little Ruby!! By the way, at this point your uncle Jason and Uncle Mike were calling you "Ruben".

January 2 - So, now it's been 4 weeks since our last ultrasound and we are heading to Hoag for the "big" ultrasound where they check out all of the baby's anatomy and make sure everything looks normal. We invited Nana and Papa to join us because we wanted them to catch a glimpse of their grandson (who by the way received quite a few cute "boy" Christmas gifts the previous week). So, the four of us are at Hoag and we are enjoying watching you on the screen and hearing the tech say "everything looks perfect". At the end of the hour long ultrasound the tech asks, "So, do you know what you are having?" and we answer, "Yes, but can you please take a look and let us know what you think." I just about DIED when she said, "Looks like you are having a baby GIRL". I just laughed. Daddy had a look on his face that I imagine I had on MY face just a month earlier. Disbelief! We told her the (long) story and she agreed to bring in a second ultrasound tech and get another opinion. Sure enough, after just a minute we heard "girl" again. I couldn't believe it was all happening again! And I was so glad to have Nana and Papa there with us because I knew they wouldn't believe me if they hadn't heard it with their own ears!

An ultrasound photo from January 2nd

January 4 - I am now completely messed up in the head and although all signs point in the "girl" direction (Intuition, NT Scan, & Hoag 18 week ultrasound) I was still confused on what to believe. Blame it on my hormones but I STILL needed more reassurance. So, although I was irritated with the stupid place I went BACK to Ultrasound Services in Costa Mesa. Daddy thought I was crazy so Auntie Megan went with me. I told them the (long) story and they agreed to scan me again and what do you know? They told me I was having a girl. WHEW! They pointed out the three white lines (the tell tale sign) and once again, marked it on the picture for me (below). You were officially back to Ruby and I was so happy. I think I started returning the boy items that day! We still had a few skeptical family members but over time and more ultrasounds, we eventually had them convinced. Later that month I was shopping with Nana and we found a onesie that said "Gemini - they like to keep you guessing". We bought it immediately. Seemed like the perfect description of what we had gone through the previous months!

Moral of the story Ruby - we are SO glad you are YOU. We simply can't imagine having anyone else as our fist born. You are as close to perfect as it comes and you will forever be our princess. We love you baby!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy