The trend....

Has ENDED. I never thought it was possible but this precious face is a sweet, baby girl. We, the Dauphins, are having a girl!! I didn't think we made girls but...evidently, we do!!



Here's the story. Yes, there is a story. Earlier this week my little one-year-old got sick. He had a pretty high fever and was crying constantly. I finally narrowed things down a bit and had a hunch that his throat hurt him. Monday night was spent rocking him back to sleep many times and Tuesday he was still a big mess. So, Wednesday, since he was still sick, I took him in to the doctor and found out he has some ulcers in his throat and a virus. Pretty straight forward. It was going around. End of story.

I thought my older two had escaped it (even though I caught Caleb drinking Josh's cup) because they didn't get sick until Thursday. Caleb was first last night and then Isaac was in the middle of the night. So we spent another night of musical beds. I slept most of the night on the floor with Caleb and Steve tended to Isaac. Joshua, of course, slept right through it as he was fine by that time. To top it off, Steve has a nasty cold and felt horrible.

We had planned to make a big deal of this evening with the boys and take them all to the ultrasound and then out to dinner afterward. But being as though they were sick (they can talk so they told me that their throats hurt) we decided to see how they were. This morning they seemed fine and Caleb even kicked his fever. They were playing and in generally good spirits. So I thought we'd be fine to all still head in to the ultrasound. They aren't coughing and they don't have colds, just a virus, so I figured it'd be okay. Everyone went down for a nap and Steve came home from school. He took a nap before we had to leave since he felt so horrible.

Then Caleb woke up screaming about a half an hour before we're supposed to get in the car. I go in and try and soothe him. He is so upset that he has woken up (his throat hurt and it woke him up) that he is hysterical. I try and calm him down with every trick I know but before I know it, he's coughing, choking and then THROWING UP! Oh my gosh! I think he just gagged himself and that's he's not really that kind of sick but how am I supposed to know for sure!! We're supposed to leave very soon. I quickly take him out of bed and throw him in the bath. Meanwhile, husband is snoring. I clean Caleb up, rock him for forever until he finally calms down and then go check on Isaac. We're supposed to leave in 5 minutes. Isaac is out--COLD. I can't wake him up. He never sleeps during the day but today, he put himself right to bed. I'm shaking him and shaking him and he's crying. Caleb's crying. And Steve is trying his best to roll out of bed to help.

This is definitely NOT how I pictured the afternoon. We finally get ourselves together and get everyone in the car and make it to the doctor's office on time. At this point, we're just praying that everyone can hold it together because we have no back-up plan and we just have to hope for the best. The tech, who I really like, asks me right off the bat if I have any premonitions about what the baby is. I give her an emphatic, "No." She then asks if I've had any dreams. I hesitate about this one because really, I had two different dreams and they were both girl dreams. I tell her that I've had dreams but I don't want to say and would she please just start the ultrasound and get it over with (okay I wasn't that rude but, I didn't want to talk about it!) She responds that in her experience, many times a mom's intuition is correct and so I'll have to let her know if I was right.

So on she goes with the ultrasound. Everything looks good. She's looking all around and then she smiles this huge smile and says, "You had a girl dream didn't you." I say, "Yes." And then she says the most beautiful words..."You were right. You're having a girl." I just start to cry. I didn't tell anyone about those dreams except for my husband. I ask her again if she's sure and she says, "Honey, I see that you have three boys...I'm definitely, definitely sure. I wouldn't tell you unless I was positive."

I'm still in shock. I didn't think it could ever happen. Our doctor walked in during the ultrasound and when he found out he said, "I demand a recall." Even he couldn't believe it! We're going to have a girl!! We're going to have a girl! I wanted to be thankful either way. I really did. But God really blessed me this time and just gave me something that he knew I always wanted. I know He didn't have to but, in His wisdom, He just chose to. And we're just beside ourselves and so, so thankful. Don't get me wrong, I love all of my boys so much and I'm really glad I've had three boys. But to experience having a girl is just too wonderful for me to even comprehend.

Even though this little girl is going to have three older brothers, I'm going to dress her in SO MUCH PINK that they'll be no forgetting that she isn't one of them. All right...bring on the dresses, bows, hats and accessories. I'm ready and I'm not looking back.