Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice....

That's what little Lopez GIRLS are made of! That's right, poor Daddy is really outnumbered now - we officially found out we're expecting another sweet bundle of PINK joy come Oct. 25th! We went in on Monday, June 7th for the big 20wk u/s and right away the u/s tech said, "Are you ready for the gender"? We were chomping at the bit...she then said without any hesitation - "It's a girl!". We were all super excited!! Nana came along to the big reveal & held Sophia to keep her occupied (poor thing thought we were going to the pediatrician all morning). Sophia even wore her "I'm a Big Sister" t-shirt...and completed her look by carrying her new green purse filled with lip glosses, sunglasses, notepad & pen - what a hoot. We were all tickled when we finally learned Baby Lopez was a little Princess! All her anatamoy looked great too - we saw her sweet little footprints, hands, profile & even got some great 4D shots b/c her position was so perfect....so we even got a sneak peek of her darling little face (cutest button nose ever!)...I simply can't wait to kiss her little face!! She measured 11oz (roughly the weight of a Coke can) and is a little smaller than what she 'should' be...but by such a miniscule amount that it didn't concern Dr. Duggar. The only concern at this point is that I have a low-lying placenta - but that should move up on the uterus in the next few weeks. Worst case scenario, is if it remains low-lying then I'll have to get a c-section (which does secretly terrify me!). But we got a fun u/s photo of the baby lounging on the placenta itself - according to Dr. Duggar, she probably loves being snuggled up to it as she can hear my heartbeat and that probably comforts her. That made me smile. I love, love, LOOOVE this baby girl already! I can often feel her on my right side and she's already head-first....however, she can still flip & move, but most likely will stay put.


So, according to our weekly babycenter.com email, here's what she might look like inside my tummy & what her latest 'achievements are':

• she's roughly 6.5" head to bottom & 10" from head to feet - about the size of a banana!


• she's swallowing alot more these days which is good practice for her digestive system



• she's starting to produce meconium - a black sticky, bi-product of digestion. These will accumulate in her little bowels & actually be her first poopy diaper post-delivery.
  Princess Lopez & Mommy - 20wks

Truth be told though - we actually had pretty solid evidence 6wks ago & my surprise 14wk u/s! That was the appt that was supposed to be 'uneventful', but b/c the Dr. couldn't locate the baby's heartbeat via the handheld doppler, he had me get an u/s to show me that all was indeed well. Lisa, the u/s tech, asked me if she got a good 'shot', would I want to take a peek & see if we could get a glimpse of the gender - so I of course said, 'yes'! We got a great shot of baby & according to Lisa was "textbook girl" if she ever saw it - however, she stated that she had never called a gender as early as 14wks & told me not to bank on pink, as boys could look like girls & vice versa that early. I later met with Rod for lunch to share our latest u/s photos and divulged the news to him - we were super excited! However, I was going to ecstatic either way - if it was a boy or girl. The whole time, my instinct kept telling me I was growing a little boy! So much for that! I will say that I had a very vivid dream in the 1st trimester that I had a little girl & she came out looking just like Sophia when she was a newborn! Now it'll be interesting to see if that comes true too...

We've had a crazy week so far between work & home, so we have yet to scan & upload u/s photos to the computer...of course once we do, we'll be sure to post them to the blog. We also have some sweet photos of Sophia the Big Sister enjoying a pink cupcake in her baby sister's honor - she sure enjoyed all the celebrating! She's quite excited to help Mommy care for the new baby by helping feed, change & bathe her. She even offered to "sleep in her room in her crib with her to keep her safe"....somehow or another I don't think that would quite work out.

We will be headed out on a week vacation to the Dominican Republic beginning Saturday, so we look forward to some fun in the sun & our last quiet vacation with Sophia as the only child until Princess Lopez arrives! Luckily, our sweet friend Katy, will be house & dog sitting for us....it's kind of like a little staycation for her!

One last note - if you're wondering what Princess Lopez's name is...we haven't quite figured that out yet. Luckily I'm 1/2 way thru the pregnancy & we still have 20more weeks to determine her moniker. Whew!