After reading about ultrasounds and the possible dangers to a fetus, we had decided not to have any more – not even to find out the sex of the baby. Then, we spoke to friends who advised us that an ultrasound may have saved their baby’s life by identifying issues in the womb that were then handled immediately after birth. Since our plan is to give birth at home, about 20 min from the nearest hospital, we decided it would be worth having one more quick scan to check the heart and other vital organs in case there was a problem that might lead us to change our birth plan.

It was a little difficult to convince our doctor that we didn’t want the entire 22-week scan of every body part including counting fingers and toes. He insisted that ultrasounds are totally safe. Eventually we talked him into it and he performed a quick scan of the brain, heart, liver, and kidneys, setting us at ease that everything looked healthy.

Then we asked him to show us the penis! Both my husband and I were hoping for a boy. I am the oldest of five sisters. My parents kept trying for a boy and finally gave up (or else who knows how many sisters I’d have). They passed on their baby boy cravings to us. Despite the fact that we enjoyed growing up with so many sisters we all now want to have baby boys. So far we are 0-2 in that endeavor. My only sister so far to have a baby gave birth to an adorable baby girl named Mila.

And as you have surely realized by the title of this blog post, our doctor was unable to show us the penis. For this reason also I’m glad we had the ultrasound. We now have time to adjust our mindset to having a little girl rather than being at all disappointed on her birth day. I have now totally embraced the idea of pink bikinis and having a smart, strong little girl who will hopefully tend towards a surfboard-toting tomboy.

When I found out I was pregnant, one of the other sisters sent a funny message telling me I needed to “break the curse” to give the rest of the sisters hope. We’ll try again for the next one but unlike my parents if we end up with another girl we are stopping at two!