It's a...

You know, it could go either way, and I'm OK with that. Hazel and Ginger have been strongly lobbying for a brother, and Ed has been less inhibited this time expressing his wish for a boy. Instinct seems to whisper, "Since you have two girls, it's TIME for a boy," or "Odds are it's a boy this time."

On the other hand, one could just as easily argue, or believe, that with two girls already, we're "on a roll" and will probably have another one. I stare at my wall of Christmas cards and count a disproportionate number of families who have three-in-a-row of the same gender. As if that's some kind of indication.

Of course the fact is that it's pretty much 50/50 each time, especially for anything after your second child. But that hasn't stopped us from trying to guess and reason out who's coming next.

So there was great anticipation by all of us on Wednesday when we went for the big 20-week ultrasound. The tech took her sweet time examining the heart, measuring head and limbs, checking each internal organ. Of course all those things are more important than the sex, and thank heavens everything is normal. But we were all about bursting by the time she got around to it.

Enough with the build-up. It's a girl. The technician got a good look from several angles; later the doctor came in and concurred. Ed teared up a bit but admitted that was what he expected. Ginger flat-out bawled, "But I want a brother!" (I later lectured her on the virtues of Girl Power and she has started to come around.) Like I said, I would have been excited either way; I was just relieved to know.

Three girls! That's it. No longer am I conservatively buying gear, coats and even shoes in neutral colors like gray, brown and green, on the off-chance we have a boy someday and can use them for him. From now on, we are going full-blown pink with abandon. Hearts, dress-ups, princesses. The technician made a joke about buying stock in detangler. That's the spirit!

The thing is, I am a third girl. For that, I feel a deep and special bond with this one that likes to kick me with her own little morse code. To me, she is definitley not just one more in the line-up. She's the one I understand. She's the one I've been waiting for.