Baby's first road trip! Emily and I took a little vacation on Monday night to spend a few days with our girlfriends in Tampa. Tampa is such an unexpectedly gorgeous city, it makes me daydream about what Jacksonville's riverfront could be if the city gave a dang. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday getting pampered, drinking fake champagne, shopping, EATING (OMG the cheese grits I had at Graze), and seeing Taylor Swift at Raymond James Stadium! Not really what I would have expected this babe's first show to be, but I had such an amazing time- really one of the best performances I've been to. 



In other news, I simply cannot stand it... we find out baby Russo's gender on Sunday!

In just TWO DAYS, we will find out if baby Russo is a boy or a girl (or a puppy 😂). To prepare, I thought it would be fun to look at some old wive's tales about gender. 

Heart Rate: GIRL. It's a boy if the heart rate falls in the low range (110-130s). It's a girl if the heart rate falls in the high range (140-160s). At our first trimester screening, their heart rate was 160... of course, this does not take into account if you've had soda recently or anything like that. Fetal heart rate, just like ours, varies. Gotta love the wives tales.

Morning Sickness: GIRL. If you're nauseous all the time its said to be a little lady. If you come out of the first trimester unscathed, a boy. Considering I barely ate for two months, lost 8 lbs, and vomited almost daily, I'm going with girl. 

Chinese Calendar: PUPPY. This one doesn't quite work for IVF babies. You use your age and the month the baby was conceived. So, if we go with the month the embryo was created (April), then BOY. If we go with the month the embryo was defrosted and transferred back in to me (May), then GIRL. 

Cravings: PUPPY. Legend says if you want sweet stuff, it’s a girl. Salty/savory, it’s a boy. This one’s a bust, because as long as it’s unhealthy, I want it. The beginning of pregnancy had me loving sweets, but lately its been all loaded potatoes, salsa, and mac and cheese. And donuts. And chocolate. See? I can't decide. 

Ramzi Method: GIRL. This one can be tricky. When you look at your ABDOMINAL ultrasound (if its transvaginal, the results are flipped), if the placenta is on the left side of the photo, its a boy. On the right side of the photo, girl. Ours is on the right, as far as I can tell. 

Linea Negra: BOY. If the dark line on your belly goes above your belly button, boy. If it stops below your belly button, girl. Mine so far has only been above my belly button on my actual stomach area.

Mom's Intuition: BOY. I’ve just felt that way from the very beginning, with no rhyme or reason. A few dreams here and there. The cards are stacked against me, apparently 😏.

Dad's Prediction: GIRL. He also just has a feeling. And I wont lie, seeing Daniel with a daughter might make my heart burst right out of my chest. He would raise a kick-ass daughter!

He says both genders would be so much fun for many different reasons, and I completely agree with him. We love both names we have picked out and know that they will have tons of friends of all ages and genders in our neighborhood... it really and truly does not matter. Just tell us already! 

Totals:
Boy-2
Girl-4
Puppy-2

No matter which, we're dying to find out! What are your guesses?

How far along? 14 weeks
Looking forward to: I think you can probably guess... baby boy or girl???