It's a....

...70% chance that we are having another squeezable, little BOY!

Before you laugh at the percentage, you have to admit that the odds are better than a coin toss.
AND, they are better than the "pee on a stick" test that I tried and failed miserably.

Caleb and I went to Lae today (it is a 3 hour drive). Caleb had some business and contract negotiations that he had to do. I went along as his bookkeeper. After the meetings, we had a very nice lunch where I drank a coke in hopes the caffeine would make our little baby move around more.

We had heard from friends that ultrasounds could be done at Lae International Hospital. Want to see what a NICE hospital looks like in a third world country? Here you go:

I found out that the Philippine radiologist who preforms the ultrasounds at this hospital is one of only three radiologists in the country. Only three....

The machine that the hospital has is 2D. Practically every doctor in the States uses a 3D ultrasound. So, the quality was really bad. But, the lady who preformed the ultrasound seemed really competent....she just had horrible machinery to use.

She was able to check lots of measurements and the average puts be right where I should be in number of weeks along....which was really good news since we have already purchased the plane tickets! She also checked my placenta, fluid levels, the baby's heartbeat and other things. Everything looks really good, so it was such a relief to hear that.

When it came time to determine whether we were having a boy or a girl, she explained how it is still really early to tell. In the States they can tell because they use 3D, but with a 2D machine, the gender parts are just still really small. :)

She said that she "thought" she saw a "protrusion" between the thigh bones. But, then she said that she could not be sure that it was a boy. When Caleb asked her what percentage she thought, she said 70%

Now the question is, what do you do with this information? On the one hand, we are so amazed that PNG actually has ultrasound capabilities.....not to mention someone who is trained to read them. But, 70% is not 80%, it is not even 75%.....but it is better than 50%.

So, I thought I would post the news. We thought maybe we shouldn't tell anyone, but why not? This can give you just a little taste of what life is like in the "Land of the Unexpected"!

Going forward, we think that we are just going to plan like we are having a boy and then laugh hysterically if it ends up being a little girl.

Also, we figure that it would be easier to dress a little girl in boy clothes for the first 6 months than to dress a little boy in girl clothes. Don't you think? And, we will be in Australia for 4-6 weeks after the baby is born....so we will have a chance (but maybe very little money) to buy some clothes to get us by for a little while....

Here is a picture of Caleb and I after finding out our fun and laughable news. Today was kind of like a "date" for us. Ben was in good hands while we traveled to Lae, and it was fun to focus on this new little life inside me.....with undivided attention for a change.

Oh....and one more thing....it is 12:30am here and I decided to blog instead of sleep. I can finally feel this little guy (yes, I am going to say guy/boy/him from now on) kicking from the outside. It has been weeks since I have been feeling the little kicks on the inside, but I am can now feel the kicks with my hand. How fun is that! Caleb is already asleep because he is flying all day tomorrow for work/meetings.....but sometime soon, he and Ben will get to feel the baby kick.