Today was the day of the "big reveal." I had my 2nd trimester and final ultrasound today. It's a GIRL! So I guess I was way off with my "boy vibes" and my dream about the organ grinder telling me it was a boy.

Alex and I couldn't be happier! Both of us were on our respective cell phones the very second we left the doctor's office. I finally hung up when I realized we were trying to talk over each other in the car.

We took the video of the ultrasound to my mom's and made her try to guess. She said, "Oooo! It's a boy. I see a boy." I told her she was looking at a leg and kneecap. When I finally confirmed that it was a girl, she was thrilled. Apparently, she really wanted another granddaughter. Ha! It was cute. Guess she wanted a little girl she could dress up and see often, since my nieces are out of town and she doesn't get to see them much.

Alex is so pleased! It's very cute how much he's getting involved already. He really wanted a girl, and now we don't have to worry about boy names. When the sonographer asked if we wanted to know, we said "of course!" So instead of telling us, she showed us all the baby's angles and froze the picture at the shot between the legs.

I had no idea what I was looking at. "Boy?" I asked. "Girl," she said, then explained that 3 lines meant girl. It was very cool. We saw the spine and the heart (chambers and all), and both the profile and frontal view of the baby's face.

The doctor said the sonogram pictures looked good and then told me this would be the final ultrasound unless there were any complications later on. Darn! I'll miss peaking in on the little one, but glad I have them all on video tape.

I just can’t wait until my ultrasound tomorrow! Another milestone is less than two days away. Hooray! As long as Bean is cooperative and doesn’t moon us or cross legs, we’ll finally find out if it’s Beano or Beana.

My co-workers are mad that I’m not coming back after my appointment and they have to wait until Monday to find out. I told them I might be gracious and call in, provided I get out of the doctors’ office early enough.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to work a plan NOT to come back to my current employer after Bean arrives. My good friend, who I’m convinced is an angel made human, is trying to get me in at her company, where I’ll be able to work from home. It will be a huge pay-cut but well worth it! Even Alex is on board, which surprises me in that I didn’t expect him to be THIS gung-ho about it. I guess seeing and feeling Bean move around, combined with our childcare visits has reset his priorities too.

Well, it started. I knew it would happen eventually, but didn't expect it to happen so soon. People, mostly co-workers and acquaintances, are reaching out and rubbing my stomach! Hello?!? What the heck makes people think this unsolicited groping is acceptable?!?

C'mon, now! I'm not a Buddha and will not bring you luck if you rub my belly! What's next? My boobs are bigger too - want to grab them for fertility? How about my growing butt? Maybe kiss that for wealth? Sheesh!

Last weekend, Alex and I took a nice 4-day trip to Savannah to celebrate our 10-year anniversary and Alex's birthday. It was great! Weather was beautiful - cool, but still warm enough for shorts. We did plenty of walking, too! The ghost tour was cool, as was our own exploration of the city. We even got in 18 holes of mini-golf at a nearby fun-park. Alex beat me, of course, but he kept claiming that the holes were too shallow, which was why his ball kept bouncing out! Ha!

I had a dream one of the first nights there that I got my boss fired. In my dream, he had created a list of people he was going to lay off. Some of the people were to be fired that very day, the rest were to be fired in January. He gave the list to my lead to read out, then ran and hid in one of the labs, claiming that he needed to do regression testing. Well, I noticed that my name was at the top of the January layoffs and threw a fit!

I said that I couldn't help but think I was on the list because of my pregnancy, as my performance has been exemplary. I also alluded to the legal implications of such a thing. My lead said, "Well, it's out of my hands. It's all up to him."

"And where is he, the coward?" I yelled, at which point, my boss showed up. I started yelling at him, threatening to sue the company.

"It's alright," he said, "don't worry about it." Then, he reached out and touched my stomach! I went utterly insane!

"That's sexual harassment, you jerk!" I screamed, and made him march down to HR with me.

I explained what happened to the HR rep, who then asked the boss for his side. Bossman said, "Yeah, I did it. I was trying to calm her down. She was hysterical."

Then the HR rep told the bossman that he was fired because he did it and STILL did not even apologize, and that it was no accident by his own admission. Ha! I woke up about the time security was escorting the jerk out. Gee! What a stressful, but somewhat satisfying dream!

Little Bean is really coming along. Monday night, I was reclining on the couch as Bean did a very active gymnastics routine. I had my hands on my stomach to see if I'd be able to feel anything on the outside like I was feeling on the inside.

Alex looked over at me, so I put his hand on my stomach and asked if HE could feel anything. Instead, he lay his head on my belly and listened in to all the activity. (He said he heard a LOT of swishing and churning in there!)

After only a minute or two, I felt a flutter right where Alex's ear was. He lifted his head and looked up at me. "Did you just feel something?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "I think I felt a flick on my ear!"

"Ha-ha!" I mocked, "You got kicked in the head!"