The baby is a girl! And no, we aren't having twins, but we will be welcoming two baby girls into our lives this summer.
First, here is the story of how we found out we are having a girl. After our failed IVF cycle we were having a meeting with our doctor. During that meeting our doctor was showing us something on his computer screen and Charles saw the gender of each embryo and learned that the remaining embryo was a girl.
I didn't want to find out the gender. Yet, we had genetic testing done and gender was part of the report from the lab. This data went into my file where Charles saw it. This is how we were able to discover the embryo's gender before the embryo was even implanted. Charles kept the news to himself for months, but ended up telling me that the remaining embryo was a female before the embryo transfer. So I have known since August.
The second baby girl is my sisters! Kelly is due exactly two weeks before me! I would say it's been so much fun being pregnant together - but we have both been very sick, and are now both self quarantined, so it's been more comforting than fun. Since Kelly is ahead of me in this process she tells me (warns me) about all the things to come.
Now for the story that will give you goosebumps. Remember when I went to Maine the weekend before my embryo transfer? I spent the weekend with Kelly and her husband and they ended up going to a well respected psychic medium (one that has helped police solve multiple cold cases). The medium, Vicky, told Kelly that she knew her sister had been through lots of trouble with infertility. She told Kelly not to worry, that she might already be pregnant, and that she could see two babies that might be twins. The following day Kelly took a pregnancy test and it was positive.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving. Everyone in my family was dying to know if my embryo transfer in October had worked or not. Charles and I were staying with Kelly and her husband so we told them our news first. To which Kelly replied "me too!". Kelly remembered what Vicky told her about the two babies and we realized that Vicky hadn't seen twins, she was seeing my baby and Kelly's baby!
I should also mention that my brother and his wife had a baby girl last July. So in a period of 11 months, my siblings and I are all having our first babies and they are all girls. My parents are so thrilled. So it's really a girl, and a girl, and another girl!
I am very close with my siblings, and for this reason Charles and I initially wanted to have more than one child. Coming to terms with the fact that we will only have one child (we are out of embryos, don't want to devote more time to IVF, and feel that IVF would take away from parenting our baby) has been easier since we know that our daughter will be super close in age with her cousins! In the future, we plan to spend a chunk of the summer in Maine with my family so all the kids can be together.
