The little {pink} oyster

“The time has come,” the walrus said, “to talk of many things–of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings….”

The time has also come to talk seriously about baby names, since following today’s ultrasound, the husband and I were able to cut our list of possible names in half.

With four working ventricles, two distinct brain hemispheres, two arms, two legs, tiny fingers that wiggled, and kinda big feet that danced around seemingly unattached to anything else–they looked like the Cheshire Cat’s grin in Alice in Wonderland, bobbing about disconcertingly in a sea of darkness–our little baby is fully formed and growing away.

When the technician tried to determine the sex, the little oyster put its little oyster arms between its little oyster legs, curled up in a ball, and went to sleep. Whatever else it is, it is clearly a modest–or stubborn–little thing.

After telling us that sometimes a baby just doesn’t want to cooperate with parts of the scan and everything else looks just fine and good and normal, the oyster acquiesced and flashed a brief but definitive view of her little girl parts.

“I’m seeing that you have a little girl in here,” said the tech.
“It’s a little girl?!” chirped the husband’s excited voice from the squeaky little stool at the foot of the exam table.
“Yes. These three lines <highlights area of screen> are how we know that we’re looking at a girl.”
“We’re having a girl!” chirped the husband again, grabbing my leg.

I just grinned at him and maybe managed a “yay!”but in the dark room no one saw the excited little tears that leaked out of my eye and soaked into the paper covering the table.

Until that very second, I still had no idea or feeling about what the little oyster was. I was even sure at one point that I saw a little peepee on the screen, and I was pleased to discover that my heart did not sink to my ankles when I (thought I) saw it.

But it’s a girl! It’s a little girl oyster! The husband and I are thrilled, and it was such fun to call and text our families and let them know there’s a granddaughter/niece on the way. It’s the first grandbaby on the husband’s side, and the first granddaughter–following four adorable grandsons–on my side.

Like we had planned four weeks ago when we scheduled the 20 week exam, the husband and I went out to lunch together, talking briefly about our girl names and just staring at each other with googly eyes for the rest of the meal. Looking at the husband, I realized again what gorgeous peepers this little lady is going to have.

The tech did mention that she was glad we were excited because most of the time when she says a couple is growing a girl, the room goes silent. As in, crickets chirping. That made my heart sad for those little girls.

But not for ours. Little girl oyster, we can’t wait to have you!