Half-Way There...

At just about 20 weeks into this pregnancy I am almost half-way there to the finish line.  While I was tired, run down and overly emotional during the first trimester, the second trimester brought some relief - thankfully!  My energy level is back to where it used to be, as are my hormones (for the most part, haha!). 
Yesterday Jim and I went to the Dr.'s for my "big" ultrasound.   Prior to leaving for our appointment I reminded the kids that no matter what the gender of the baby was, we'd all be happy and thankful.  Kyle has had his heart set on the baby being a boy...Bella, a girl.
The appointment went by smoothly enough but much to my frustration, the Technician was unable to give us much info regarding how the baby is developing.  She said the most she could tell us was that the heartbeat was strong and the weight was perfect.  That being said, she pointed out the brain, face, heart (all 4 chambers seemed to be working properly..), arms, belly, kidneys, spine and legs.  So because we saw all of the body parts we feel pretty confident that the baby is developing normally.  The Dr. will call me today if there's anything seriously wrong but no news is good news..
This particular ultrasound machine was of dinosaur age, with the images being grainy and nearly impossible for our untrained eyes to decipher!  With the exception of the face I really couldn't make out much and it didn't help that the baby really wasn't cooperating for the ultrasound.  In fact, for a while we thought we would be forced to leave not knowing the gender because of how the baby was positioned - facing backwards with legs closed!  Then, 25 minutes into the ultrasound (and not a moment too soon!), the baby did a little flip and revealed that "It's a BOY"!...... (Kyle was THRILLED to receive this news and, kind of surprisingly!, so was Bella!  Whew!)
And so, shortly before Halloween, we will welcome Sebastian James Vargas into the world - EXCITING!  It's been over 10 years since we had our first baby boy AND Sebastian will be our first "Fall" baby therefore we have quite a bit of shopping to do...But with the 4th baby comes some changes in how we view things.  This time around I am going to try to do as much shopping as possible at various consignment shops and/or from people selling stuff online.  Newborn babies rarely wear through their clothes so it's likely that I'll be able to get a great wardrobe at an inexpensive price.  I'm sure there are at least a few things that we'll need to buy brand new - such as bedding, receiving blankets etc -- but I don't think anything will cost a significant amount of money.
Now that the big ultrasound is done and over with (and providing I don't hear from the Dr. about any concerns) things should be quiet for a while.  I'll see the Dr. in a few weeks for my regular monthly check-up but as far as procedures are concerned I think I'm in the clear for at least a few more months!