Many people recommended that I get a blood test done as early as 7 weeks to find out if baby is a boy or girl.  There were a number of reasons I decided to wait, one of them being that it's 50/50 chance that I'll faint when I get my blood drawn.  I got the initial ultrasound done at 8 weeks, but when I found out I wouldn't have another ultrasound until 20 weeks, I realized I couldn't wait that long, so I booked a 16 week ultrasound with a fetal photography studio.  The day before it was scheduled, however, I was losing my mind! I called the place and they said they had an opening that evening. The tech squeezed warm gel on my belly, and then she placed the scanner down and there was the baby on the screen! I was happy to have confirmed that baby did in fact have two arms, two legs, and a cute little profile.  The tech moved the scanner for 5 minutes trying several different angles, but baby was seated in such a way that it was impossible to see if it was a boy or girl.  The tech had me get up and use the restroom to try to encourage baby to move, and it worked.  Second attempt she didn't have to say it first--I could tell baby was a boy! 

It was like finding out I was pregnant all over again.  First I had managed to get through the first trimester (during which I was too nervous to get very attached to the baby lest something happen), but now...it felt real.  Learning he was a boy opened up so many doors: thinking about names, looking at clothes, planning a nursery... and so much more.