IT'S A GIRL!! Watch out world!

To answer the number one question first: Her name is Cora Lynn Schmidt.

We had our big ultrasound yesterday at our doctor's appointment! Eric is out of town for an opera, so his mom went with me. She was so excited to see the baby! It's such an amazing thing to actually be able to see her. :) My doctor had advised me to drink a soda before coming - get some caffine and sugar to get the baby moving around to make it easier to determine the gender. However, it seems our little one doesn't get too hyped up on caffine and sugar! She did a little bit of kicking, but she didn't want to cooperate too much! He basically told us that we are going to have to trust him on his declaration of it's a girl. :) He said that she had her legs spread pretty far apart, and he should see something there if it were a boy. We are pretty certain upon seeing the three lines in the picture below that she's a girl!! Eric was a little stunned at first. He is a little nervous about having a girl; he's already anticipating the teenage years! I am just so thrilled to finally know. I'm ready to get some little girl clothes (that aren't all pink!!).

Dr. Farhart said everything looked really good. Her measurments are all on target for our August 4th due date. Her back and spine look great, and her heartbeat is strong. I gained four pounds in the last 5 weeks, but I am still down two pounds from my original weight. That week of spring break back in IL wasn't good for my weight! All we ever seem to do is eat when I'm home! :) My blood pressure was back up, unfortunately. The doctor wasn't completely convinced that it was an accurate read because it's been so good the last two visits, although he took it a second time right before the ultrasound and it was still up. He said he'd see if it was still high on my visit next month. If it is, then he will put me on blood pressure medicine. If it is high, he doesn't believe that it's preeclampsia. He thinks it has more to do with my gene pool. High blood pressure is common in my family.

We are still working on the nursery. The big job is done - the furniture. We are just doing little things to decorate now. I'll put up more pictures when we actually get it done.

Here are a few new pictures from yesterday:

To the right is her head. If you look carefully, you can see her looking at you. :) The white line to the top right is the top of her head. The white blotch in the middle are the bones around her nose. The two black spots above and below the white blotch are her eyes. The bottom left is her tummy. The little white lines are her ribs.

In the center of the picture is her foot. So cute! Look at those sweet little
toes! I love this picture!

It's a girl! Look to the right of the "L" in girl. The 3 lines indicate that she is a girl. No male parts in sight!

She has two legs! Again, no male parts!!



It has become a little more real now that we know she's a girl. It seems crazy that in a few short months we will have a baby girl in the house! We are just so thankful that everything is going well, and that she is healthy so far. God is so good! We're getting very anxious to meet her!!