Homer No More

Well, it looks like we're going to have to come up with a better nickname, because IT'S A GIRL!!! We had our appointment this morning, and everything looks great. We were able to clearly see a diaphragm, a well-formed heart, a solid palate, the appropriate brain formation, and all the necessary limbs. The tech was also positive on the gender, though mistakes have happened before.

To celebrate our healthy little girl, we took an impromptu trip to Babies 'R' Us, where we bought a cute little outfit and added just a couple of things to our registry. We have to take an inventory of what we have left over from Andrew and figure out how much of that stuff is non-gender-specific enough to work for a girl.

Of course, having a girl brings up a whole host of new issues that I haven't had to deal with to this point....I was already avoiding the risque outfits in the store. I know that sounds strange, but why do they make see-through blouses for 3-month olds? A girl will also require some new ground rules, so here's my first attempt:

• No shirts/outfits that say "Princess," "Angel," or "Flirt," even when used in conjunction with "Daddy's little..." or "Mommy's little..."
• Please no Disney princess stuff yet....she'll have plenty of time to destroy her self-image and construct a skewed view of romance and relationships when she's older
• Girls can wear colors other than pink....be creative

That said, we're very excited and have shed our share of tears today....thank you all for caring and we'll keep you updated on her progress.

PS- We somehow find it difficult to go through a whole day with only good news. When we got back to the house after the appointment, Willow was walking with a terrible limp. We took her to the vet and got her checked out, but they were unable to ascertain exactly what was wrong. Of course Willow was acting a bit better when we got there, but the vet was still able to see the limp. She responded well to all of the tests for range of motion, hip/shoulder/tendon issues, etc., and they don't think a cervical X-ray will be able to show much of anything. The options for what's wrong at this point include soft tissue damage (a sprain or strain in a muscle), an arthritis-related deficit, or a new problem with her back (this time in her cervical/neck area). We obviously hope the last one isn't the case, but we'll be keeping a close eye on her. We got some anti-inflammatories and will be keeping Willow inactive for the next seven days. She's currently in a pen in our living room, whining at us to get out....hopefully our concern for her condition will outweigh our sympathy for her pouting.