The morning we found out that we were pregnant, we hopped in the car and spent four hours on a drive to Baltimore to see Steve's brother Jake and (soon to be!) sister-in-law Becca. On the way out the door we grabbed our Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy and spent the car ride reading about early pregnancy. Within three days of fertilization, the "baby" is made up of a cluster of 13-32 cells, resembling a raspberry called a "morula." That pet name has stuck throughout the pregnancy, and we foundly refer to Baby Leckie as "Morula." I had always wanted a boy baby before a girl baby, yet for some reason before I even realized I was pregnant, I started fixating on girl babies and have spent my entire pregnancy with the inkling that I was growing a little girl. We had our 19 week anatomy ultrasound this morning. Unfortunately, Baby Leckie was being sleepy and uncooperative (hopefully not a sign of things to come!) and wouldn't roll onto "its" tummy. So, we were unable to get a good look at the spine (ironically). I spoke with my doctor and my blood testing came out normal for spina bifida, which is detected through a combination of bloodwork and ultrasound. So, we will move foward assuming everything is healthy. All of the other limbs and organs were in the correct proportions and in the correct place. Our little one was wriggling "its" arms and legs and sucking "its" thumb! We even got a nice bicep flex in there! Hopefully that made the DVD that was burned for us. It was an intense and surreal morning, and for the first time ever in our relationship, I had to actually admit to my husband that I was wrong. Turns out we aren't having a Morula at all, but rather a MorulO. I must have been crazy to think that a Leckie/Showstead geneology might possibly produce a girl. Sorry, Grammy Showstead; you'll get a granddaughter someday.
