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A pink nursery or a blue one? "Sugar and Spice" or "Snips and Snails"? When I realized I was pregnant, the sex of my child was the least important thing to me. It took us ten years to get pregnant and all we cared about was having a healthy baby.

My husband definitely didn't want to find out the sex. I wanted to know but I thought I would respect his wishes and be surprised. Our baby didn't seem to want us to know either. Always turning away from the ultrasound wand and keeping those legs tightly closed.

At about five months I pregnancy induced high blood pressure and I had to have regular ultrasounds to monitor my little jellybean. It would be too much to keep seeing my child and not know what the gender was. I have to admit by this time I had decided I wanted a little girl. This was likely to be my only child and I wanted a girl to dress up, to take shopping, to share secrets with and to love and cherish. Oh I would love a boy as well, and just as much but a baby girl is special. I kept my thoughts to myself; I would never want a son to think he wasn't wanted.

I told my hubby that I needed to know the sex of our child and couldn't wait any longer. He agreed that I could know but I would have to keep it a secret from him. Well, I was lying on the bed, ultrasound goop all over my belly and my mom was at the bed's edge watching the monitor with us. The tech asked us if we wanted to know the sex. I tentatively told her "yes".

"You are having a girl" she said.

I have never heard more beautiful words in my life. I sat up and almost knocked myself out on the arm attached to the monitor and my mom was crying. We finished up the rest of the appointment and I called my husband. Mr. I-can-wait couldn't ask fast enough what we were having. I made him wait until I got home and showed him the ultrasound picture. When he figured it out the silliest grin burst out on his face and we hugged and cried. We knew we were meant to have this precious little girl.

From that moment on, she was no longer a fetus but a baby, we knew her and she had a name. On January 31st, 2007, just a few minutes after midnight our beautiful Kaitlin came into this world. She has been nothing but joy to us. She is a girly girl, all curls and giggles, smiles and kisses. Sugar and spice and everything nice.

Learn more about this author, Minnie Chatterfield.
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