It's a... | Strouse House Baby
We are beyond excited to announce that SHB (aka Strouse House Baby) is....a......
Our closets are already full of outfits like this and the baby isn't due until April!
This past week has been a flurry of activity with the holiday, saying goodbye to a faithful car that had outlived it's usefulness, Black Friday shopping, and more. Most importantly our minds have been buzzing with the good news we received at the doctor last Tuesday. We have a healthy baby girl on the way!
Throughout the early stages of the pregnancy people would ask, "What are you hoping for? Boy or Girl?" Allie would reply with the sweet phrase, "I don't care. I just hope it's healthy." I would respond with, "I don't care. I just hope it has a British accent because those are the cutest babies on the planet!" We honestly didn't care either way, but there's no way that we'd make it to the due date without knowing the gender. Allie's need to plan and clothes shop would've kept her awake at night! Mentally we were leaning towards a girl so when the nurse pulled up the ultrasound and within seconds told us. "You're having a girl" it was less surprising and more affirming what we already were thinking.
Here are the old wive's tales that rang true for us:
1.) The Chinese Gender Predictor - This fun and I'm sure totally random website, takes facts like your age when you got pregnant and the month the baby was conceived, and spits out a gender. Ours came out girl!
2.) Salty vs Sweet - Supposedly if your cravings lean towards sweet then it's a girl. We all know Allie is a cookie connoisseur so her sweet tooth has been extra sweet lately.
3.) Morning Sickness - Morning sickness is light or non-existent with boys, but long and drawn out with girls. Allie definitely fought the good fight when it came to morning sickness so this was another obvious sign. I guess you pay the price up front with girls and enjoy their sweet nature during childhood compared to the madness of raising boys? (I'm sure this is naive, but I'm currently choosing to believe it's the truth)
4.) Skin Issues - Apparently, girls cause acne and oily hair. Enough said.
5.) Heartbeat- From the get go our baby's heartbeat was over 140, which is supposedly an indicator for girl. Her first heartbeat was a strong 160 and her heartbeat last week was around 145. The first time we heard the heartbeat through the ultrasound she was rolling around and moving those legs, but last week she seemed to be sleeping which explains the lower heartbeat.
We love ultrasounds so much and have been lucky enough to get more than the average couple, despite our lil lady being perfectly healthy. It's a live feed of the baby as she moves, sucks her thumb, crosses her legs, and rolls around in that bubble she calls home. I always ask way too many curious questions and sit in awe with a grin of my face. How cool!
Black Friday and the days following have been a great opportunity for Allie to stock up on baby wipes (how long will an 800 pack last?), frilly dresses, Auburn onesies, and baby sized hangers. Our little girl is 9 oz's and the size of a mango, but she's already taking up a whole closet worth of space!
We are so in love with this little girl already and she barely has skin! We definitely know we are in over our heads, but isn't that what parenthood is all about? Fake it till you make it right?
We are still processing this wonderful news, but come back next week when we discuss preparing to be first time parents and how this girl is already lighting up our lives.
Thanks for reading about the STROUSE HOUSE BABY!