“I bet you’re so excited to find out what you’re having!”

Every time I heard this, I wanted to respond with a resounding “Yes!”, and well, sometimes I did. But in all honesty, there was nothing Lane and I dreaded more than going to that 20 week ultrasound.

For many people, going to the 20 week ultrasound is incredibly exciting. You get to see baby (often for the first time) and if you choose, you can even find out the gender.

But finding out the gender is not, in fact, the primary goal of the 20-week ultrasound; it’s actually last on the list.

At the 20 week ultrasound your baby is measured and analyzed — every precious part of them is studied in detail to check for proper growth and development.

When everything goes as planned it can be a lovely appointment full of joy.

But sometimes, as with Norah’s 20 week ultrasound, any preconceived notion of how life should go can be completely shattered.

It was at that appointment where the ultrasound tech was silent, where the abnormalities were found, where instead of excitedly chatting about our first child we were first told there was something seriously wrong with our baby girl.

Our experience with Norah was our only reference for what to expect in a 20 week ultrasound. As much as we logically understood the chances of having her story repeat with her sibling were very low, our memories are vivid.

This is why we were so anxious about our appointment.

Our experience is also why we do not in any way take for granted the miracle that is the incredible news that all of Baby #2’s measurements are exactly where they should be, and all development looks healthy and normal.

And yes, we did find out the gender at the appointment :)

We did a fun gender reveal and want to share it with you, so read on!

For Norah we had a big gender reveal party two days after the ultrasound. (Yes, it was a WHOLE EMOTIONAL THING, but our people are amazing and the day was so joyful!). To reveal the gender, Lane shot a container of tannerite (a substance that explodes when you shoot it) that had colored powder mixed in. Blue would mean boy, and orange (we couldn’t find pink powder at the time) would mean girl. Because of the timing of everything, we never got around to sharing much about that day so here’s a peek of what we did:

We wanted to keep it equal between siblings, so we had another gender reveal with Baby #2. This time was way more informal, and we tied it into Lane’s drag racing.

What did we think babe #2 was before the ultrasound?

We were both 100% set on boy. This pregnancy has felt completely different than with Norah, in every way imaginable. We had boy names picked out and my Pinterest was full of boy nursery ideas.

For the reveal we bought powder packs (PoofThereItIs gender reveals) that Lane placed in front of the tires that would explode when he rolled over them.

Watch the video to see what color the poof was!

IT’S A GIRL!

We were both completely shocked when the tech told us; it took a week or so for it to fully sink in.

But you guys, this girl is already so loved.

And she has the best guardian angels ever :)