160 Beats per Minute - Boy or Girl? What do You Think?

Friday was our most exciting day yet thus far in the pregnancy.  We had our first official prenatal appointment at the birthing center.  We really love the personal attention and family like feeling there.  We brought our camera along to document the visit.  Theresa is our nurse who will always take my weight (oops, I've gained 10 lbs.), blood pressure, etc.  She's very sweet and friendly.  Felicia is the front desk receptionist, and Allison was our nurse midwife (we forgot to get her picture.)  She took about two hours w/ us answering all of our questions and asking us tons of questions as well.  They gave us a book and folder full of info.  She prescribed me some special prenatal vitamins that are supposed to be more gentle on the stomach.  We'll see... 

Tyson was awesome!  He was right there the whole time asking questions right along w/ me and just taking in every moment.  The best part of the visit was when Allison put the doppler on my abdomen and found the baby's heartbeat.  At first it just sounded like a bunch of sloshing around and then all of a sudden we heard the heartbeat come in loud, clear, strong, and fast!  She said it was between 160-170 bpm.  She said it was on the high end of normal.  I promise I'm not drinking coffee these days. :)  Tears imediately started rolling down my cheeks as soon as I heard it.  I could have listened to it all day.  What an awesome feeling.  Tyson watched my face the whole time.  He said the joy for him was watching me and the expressions I was making.

I'm about 11 weeks and 4 days now.  The official due date is October 1st.  I'll be going back every four weeks for now.  Hearing the heartbeat really brought a new excitement for me.  Up to this point I've just been trying to survive the day (and night) w/out throwing up and waking up each morning hoping I have at least one pair of pants left that still fit...