81. Boy or Girl?

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

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"Are we going to find out?" Meredith asked, toothbrush in her mouth as they went through their nighttime routine in preparation for bed. "Our appointment is tomorrow and we haven't decided yet."

As Derek pulled the covers down, he grinned. "I already told you, it's up to you."

Meredith spit into the sink in their bathroom. "You're one half of this baby. You get to decide, too..." she pointed out.

"Alright, well, let's make a pros and cons list," Derek decided. He grabbed a magazine from the top of the dresser and flipped to a fairly blank page to write on. "Pro," he prompted, looking up at her, pen in hand.

She smiled as she rubbed some cocoa butter onto her belly, which was definitely prominent now, even with clothes on. "Umm..." Meredith pondered. "Okay. Nursery. If we find out, we can decorate...princess or baseball or...whatever."

"Nursery," Derek said, writing it down. "Hmm...another pro...baby shower. Izzie would appreciate it, since she already commissioned herself as the planner. Today, she was on my service and bought me a coffee. She's not even subtle about it anymore. Just flat out bribing," he chuckled.

Meredith giggled too. "Well, we know what her vote is. Okay, con...we won't be surprised."

"True," he agreed. "And if we're surprised, it might give you more of an incentive to push, because we can't wait to find out." Derek laughed when she smirked at him.

"A baby shooting out of my hoohoo is incentive enough to push," Meredith said, putting the lid back on the cocoa butter and setting it on her nightstand. "But yes, you're right."

The combination of lavender and cocoa filled the air around them as they got settled in bed. He smiled; he would always associate it with her pregnancy. Derek kissed her temple and breathed her in. "There's pros and cons either way; maybe we should just flip a coin," he joked.

Meredith's hand naturally draped over her belly and she smiled down at it. Still tiny, but getting bigger every day. "The books say that finding out helps you bond with the baby more. I mean, we already talk to the baby and we're already in love with it and everything, but maybe it's true. You know, for when we eventually pick a name, we could start calling the baby by it, see if it fits or not."

"Aah, naming. That'll be fun," Derek said amusedly. "I hope we have similar taste in names. I have no idea what you like."

"Something normal," Meredith shrugged. "Not Apple or Flash or Ophelia. Just something we like. And it has to flow with Shepherd."

"Normal is good," he nodded. "I don't want anything eccentric either."

"Good," she said, looking down at her belly. "What's your vote? Should we find out what you are?"

"What do you think it is?" Derek asked.

Meredith bit her lip and looked over at her husband. "I honestly have no idea. Sometimes I swear it's a girl, and other days, I'm convinced it's a boy. What do you think it is?"

"I've been saying girl forever, so I'm sticking with that," he grinned. "But then again, I've never dabbled into the psychic realm, so who knows?" Derek pointed out with a laugh.

She smiled. "Maybe we should find out. It might be kinda nice to know. We can have everything set up before the baby is born and we won't have to go out and buy things afterward, 'cause I'm sure we'll be busy enough. And maybe we could get some things with the name on it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Meredith answered honestly. "What do you think? It's your choice, too."

Derek thought it over for a moment then smiled. "Let's do it."

"Okay then," she said softly, tilting her head up to kiss him. Her lips tingled against his and chills ran through her. When they pulled back, she combed her fingers through his hair. "This time tomorrow, we'll know the sex of our baby," Meredith sighed happily.

"I can't wait."

...

The next morning, they had no sooner walked through the hospital doors when Izzie appeared, bribery food on the ready. "Hey," she greeted them cheerfully. "I made muffins. Blueberry, chocolate chip, and banana nut, just for you two." She handed Meredith the large Tupperware container and smiled. "So..."

"We're finding out," Meredith supplied. "You don't have to suck up anymore. Although, I do like muffins."

Izzie's eyes went wide with excitement. "You are? Oh, I'm so glad! I was really hoping you would."

"We know," Derek said, humored by their friend's mild euphoria at their decision.

Izzie's pager went off and she pulled it from her pocket. "Okay, I want to see ultrasound pictures when you're done. Good luck!" she called out, then headed down the hall.

"Muffins. She really pulled out the big guns for today," Derek teased as he and Meredith waited for the elevator to arrive.

"Of course," Meredith giggled. She pulled a chocolate chip one from the container and bit into it. "Our baby is Izzie's passion."

They stepped into the elevator and he pressed the button for the surgical floor. "Hmm...ours too." Derek leaned in and kissed her while they had a few seconds of privacy after the doors closed. They always tried to sneak in a few kisses before the hustle and bustle of the day began.

When the doors opened, Meredith squeezed his hand. "Okay, I'll go get changed and meet you at the nurses' station," she said.

"Okay."

Derek continued his trek up to the fifth floor to grab some charts from his office, and change into his scrubs in the attending lounge. He opened the lounge door and smiled at Mark, who was making himself a cup of coffee. "Morning," he said.

"Morning," Mark returned. "So today's the day, right? What did you two decide?"

Derek opened his locker and took his scrubs and white coat from the inside. "We're finding out."

"No kidding," Mark grinned.

"Yeah, we decided it was just easier that way. And honestly, it would be hard holding out until May," Derek pointed out. "So what's your vote?"

"On the sex?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah."

Mark thought seriously for a few moments and ran a hand through his hair. "Girl," he said. "No, wait. Definitely a boy. Wait." He sighed. "I don't know. What do you want it to be?"

"Makes no difference to me," Derek answered. "Boy, girl...we'll be thrilled either way. Mer's only fifteen weeks along, so we might not even be able to tell yet. But the doctor said there's a chance we could sneak a peek."

"Kinda hard to miss a thing between the legs," Mark said candidly, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Well, we'll find out today," Derek said. "I have to get changed and meet Mer back downstairs. See you later," he said as he checked his watch and headed into the bathroom.

"Let me know if it has a thing or not!" Mark called out.

"What if it doesn't?" Derek asked, rolling his eyes and laughing.

"Then I'll know I'm having a niece."

Derek just smiled. "Alright then."

He caught up with Meredith minutes later on the fourth floor, an armful of charts in tow. Because Meredith's appointment was only a few hours away, they had to do rounds a little quicker than normal, so they could fit in one surgery before heading up to OB.

"Hey."

She handed her husband a cup of coffee and smiled. "Coffee," Meredith replied, handing it to him, a decaf cup of tea for herself in the other hand. It was bland and weak, but at least she could pretend it was the coffee she so desperately craved.

"Thank you," Derek said, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek.

They walked down the hall toward the pre-op rooms to check on their patients. Days like this made Meredith glad she had chosen neuro; no other attending would understand her level of excitement today. Because her husband-slash-attending felt the same way.

"I saw Mark upstairs. He wants us to tell him if the baby has a thing between its legs or not," Derek said, gulping down his coffee so he could throw the cup away before reaching their first patient stop.

Meredith laughed. "You mean a penis?"

"Yes," Derek chuckled. "I'd hope that if there was something between our baby's legs, it would be a penis."

"Or there might be nothing there, and we could have a girl," Meredith said with a smile, running a hand over her belly, which was starting to look a bit rounder under her scrubs.

"We'll be celebrating either way," he winked at her. They reached their patient's room and Derek knocked twice before entering. "Good morning, Ms. Eisell."

"Hello again, Dr. Shepherd. And I already told you, call me Betty," the older woman returned politely. She turned to Meredith and smiled. "And this must be the other Dr. Shepherd you told me about yesterday."

"Yep. My wife, in the flesh," Derek joked as he flipped open Ms. Eisell's chart and pulled his penlight from his pocket.

Meredith eyed them both curiously, wondering why she was a conversation topic. Derek noticed her confusion and chuckled softly. "Betty was admitted yesterday afternoon, when you got pulled into the emergency surgery with Hunt. I told her that you'd be scrubbing in on her surgery today."

"Oh, well, it's very nice to meet you," Meredith replied kindly.

As Derek examined Ms. Eisell's pupils, the woman glanced over at Meredith's belly and gasped. "Oh, you're pregnant! How exciting!" she all but cheered.

Meredith bit her lip and smiled. "Oh. Yeah. Fifteen weeks along," she informed her.

"Fifteen weeks," Betty echoed. "Well, that's almost halfway. When are you due, dear?"

"End of May," Meredith said, patting her pouchy bump gently. "We're so excited."

Derek scribbled down some notes in the woman's chart before flipping it shut. "We're finding out the sex today," he said. It didn't much matter that he'd only met the woman yesterday; he was ready to shout their news from the rooftops.

"Oh wow," Betty said dramatically, placing a hand over her heart. "You know, I guessed the sex of all of my children correctly. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with each of them, I just knew. My late husband, Walt, he thought I was making it up. He teased me every time. But every time, I was right," the woman boasted playfully.

"Very impressive," Derek played along, putting his pen in his pocket. "Any guesses about our baby?"

Betty reached a hand out to Meredith and smiled. "May I, dear?" she asked, holding a tentative hand over her belly.

"Sure," Meredith said. People touched her belly all the time, and it really didn't faze her as of yet. When there wasn't a hand on her belly, it was strange.

She placed her palm over Meredith's abdomen and pondered in silence for a few moments. "Hmm...usually I know immediately. But your baby is being very secretive..."

Both Meredith and Derek laughed at that. Obviously there was no way anyone could make an accurate guess, but still, it was amusing. "Well, I guess we'll just have to try again later," Derek grinned.

"Okay, then," Betty agreed, laughing.

"So you look good. Your surgery is scheduled in an hour, so we'll be back then. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask," Derek said, holding the chart under his arm.

"Oh, please let me know the sex once you find out. Now I'm intrigued," Betty said hopefully.

Meredith took a subtle sip of her tea then giggled. "We definitely will."

After exiting the room, Derek placed his hand on the small of Meredith's back and grinned. "You're a good sport, Meredith."

"Why?"

"Because. You gracefully suffer through all the belly touching and oohs-and-awws," he said amusedly, stopping at the next room on their rounding list.

Meredith smirked. "Well, you do it a thousand times a day. I'm used to it."

Rounds seemed to drag on forever, as did the short brain shunt procedure they'd performed on Ms. Eisell right afterward. But now, they were headed downstairs to OB for their appointment with Dr. Halloran. Once they were signed in on the appointment chart, they found two empty chairs while they waited to be called back.

"So, Alex and George thinks it's a girl. Cristina and Lexie think it's a boy. And Izzie is still undecided," Meredith said, as she absentmindedly paged through a parenting magazine.

Derek kissed her temple, smiling against her skin. "Are they taking bets on our child?"

"Losers buy lunch," Meredith giggled. "Speaking of which...I hope we get called back soon, because I'm hungry."

"Our next surgery isn't for a while, so we can eat after this," he replied. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Nervous?"

She looked over at him and smiled. "No. Just excited."

"Me too," Derek grinned.

"Meredith?" one of the nurses called out politely. "You can come on back."

They rose up from their chairs and followed the nurse back to one of the exam rooms, eager to get the appointment underway. "Dr. Halloran is just finishing up across the hall. She'll be with you in a minute."

"Okay, thanks," Derek said, taking Meredith's hand as she hopped up onto the table.

Meredith swung her legs back and forth in anticipation, and Derek chuckled. "I'm surprised none of our friends asked to tag along for this."

"If they did, I would've said no," she laughed. "I love them and everything, but this is...family time, or whatever."

"Good morning, Meredith, Derek," Dr. Halloran greeted as she entered the room, closing the door behind her. "So...fifteen weeks now. How are you feeling?"

"I feel good," Meredith replied. "No more morning sickness, just occasional nausea if I eat something the baby doesn't like," she giggled. "Good appetite. Cravings. Mood swings. Driving Derek crazy, I'm sure."

"All completely normal," Dr. Halloran said humorously. "I just want to check your weight and blood pressure, then we can get to the ultrasound," she said, putting the blood pressure cuff around Meredith's upper arm. "Baby is definitely growing," she commented.

"Every day," Meredith agreed, grazing her belly lightly with her fingers, as Dr. Halloran pumped up the cuff and read the number on the meter.

"120 over 80, the optimal BP, which is excellent," Dr. Halloran recorded. "Okay, can I have you step onto the scale?"

Meredith hopped up off the table, slipped her shoes off, and stepped onto the scale against the wall. She knew gaining a little bit of weight was just part of pregnancy, so she took the number in stride. "You've gained two pounds in the past three weeks; right on track."

"Good," she said, wedging her feet back into her shoes. Derek helped her back up onto the table, and she didn't let go of his hand, butterflies getting the best of her.

"Onto the ultrasound," the doctor smiled, flipping on the monitor then reclining the table so Meredith could lie back. "As I probably mentioned to you before, fifteen weeks is the first chance to find out the baby's sex. There's no guarantees because it's still early. But we can give it a try. Do you want to know?" she asked. "If not, let me know, so I can turn the monitor around. Being doctors, we can all read ultrasounds, so we have to do this a little differently," Dr. Halloran said amusedly.

Derek looked to Meredith, who nodded. "Yeah, we want to know," he replied, kissing the back of his wife's hand.

"Okay," the doctor nodded in acknowledgement. She squirted some gel onto Meredith's belly and rubbed it around with the wand. "We'll work our way down, from the head down to 'the goods' to build up suspense," Dr. Halloran laughed.

Meredith giggled, squeezing Derek's hand. "Okay."

"Okay, here we go..." she said. An image of their in utero baby flashed up on the screen, which always brought chills to both of them. Seeing their baby was the greatest thrill they'd ever experienced. "Baby's head is right here," she said, tracing it with her fingers. "From head to bottom, the baby is already four inches. Looks to be close to three ounces. About the size of an apple."

"Apple now," Derek grinned proudly, unable to take his eyes off the 3-d image on screen.

Dr. Halloran moved the wand a little and smiled. "Baby's face. Eyelids are still fused shut, but baby can sense light. If we shined a flashlight on your belly, the baby would likely move away from it. Little nose and lips. Baby's tongue is still making taste buds, too," she said. When the baby's tiny fist moved up to its lips and stuck its thumb into its mouth, the doctor smiled. "Oh, look at that! Baby is a thumb sucker."

"Oh my God," Meredith said, her eyes full to the brim with tears. Seeing their baby from the inside was just about the most surreal thing ever. "Derek..." she breathed.

A tear fell from Derek's eye and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. "Mer, look at that," he gasped. "We have a thumb sucker."

"I sucked my thumb," Meredith giggled, smiling appreciatively to her husband when he handed her a tissue. "How cool is that?"

"Very," Derek said in awe, watching as the baby wiggled around on the screen, thumb never leaving its mouth.

"Lungs are beginning to develop, and baby is inhaling and exhaling their amniotic fluid. They're a good size, right where they should be. The bladder started functioning this week, too. So baby can urinate now. Limbs, fingers, and toes are still growing. Heartbeat looks very strong. Want to take a listen?" Dr. Halloran asked.

"Yes," they said in unison. Meredith kissed Derek's hand and gave it another squeeze, something to prove to her that this wasn't just some euphoric dream-like...whatever. All of this was real.

The beautiful woosh-woosh-woosh filled the silence of the room, and they both smiled upon hearing it. Their baby's heartbeat, that pumped life into the little person they'd created. "God, I love that sound," Derek chuckled, letting out a breath.

"Me too," Meredith said softly.

"Perfect heartbeat," Dr. Halloran said, timing the beats with her watch. "A hundred fifty beats per minute."

"Good," they replied in tandem; Derek glanced down at Meredith and smiled. They would never grow tired of listening that that sound.

Dr. Halloran moved the wand down a little. "Okay, onto the main event," she said.

Both Meredith and Derek's eyes traveled back to the screen, their hands clasped in anticipation. The doctor zeroed in on the lower body, but all they saw was a tiny baby's bottom. Meredith couldn't help but laugh. "But that's the butt. I..."

Derek shook his head, humored that their little one clearly wanted to give them a hard time. "Baby is being shy, huh?"

"Looks like it," Dr. Halloran agreed. "The legs are curled into a pretzel, and the baby is kind of turned on its side. Can't see between the legs from this view."

"Turn around so we can see," Meredith coaxed their baby, patting a non-gooey part of her belly with her fingers.

"Well, we know that the baby inherited the stubborn gene from you, Mer," Derek chuckled, leaning down and kissing the top of her head.

Meredith laughed, hitting his arm lightly with the back of her hand.

Dr. Halloran moved the wand back and forth, trying to sneak a peek from another angle, but their baby wasn't budging. "This happens a lot during the early stages of pregnancy," she explained, smiling. "Some babies are a little more modest than others. We can try again tomorrow, if you'd like," she offered.

The news disappointed them, but they both knew they couldn't stay in here, hogging the ultrasound equipment, when there were other patients waiting, both theirs and Dr. Halloran's. Meredith nodded. "That's fine."

"Good news is that the baby is definitely working its muscles...looks like a little gymnast to me," Dr. Halloran said lightly, tracing her fingers over the baby's legs.

"Very flexible," Derek agreed, winking down at Meredith, who blushed a little. "Just like you," he mouthed when the doctor wasn't looking.

Meredith smirked back at him. Of course he would bring up her bendiness and sexual escapades during their sonogram. "So, uh, when should we come in tomorrow?" she asked.

"I can fit you in first thing. How's eight? That way you can have the whole day to celebrate...you know, as long as the baby decides to cooperate," Dr. Halloran offered.

"Eight sounds great," Derek concurred.

After Dr. Halloran printed them another stack of pictures and another DVD to go along with it, Meredith and Derek finally left the office, disappointed and amused at the same time. "Well, that figures," Meredith giggled, pressing the button for the elevator.

"Baby definitely takes after you..." he teased. "Sucks its thumb, very stubborn, very flexible. All you."

Meredith bumped her hip with his after they stepped onto the elevator, heading back up to the surgical floor. "Well, the baby has your butt."

"Yeah?"

"That's the first thing I saw when I woke up on the couch after our one night stand. That image is forever in my brain," Meredith said sweetly, biting her lip. "Yes, you two definitely match," she joked.

Derek laughed. "Is that a good thing?"

"Well, I find both of them adorable," she said, holding up one of their butt-first ultrasound photos. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Baby is a nice mix of both of us."

"I think so, yes," Derek agreed, taking her hand once the elevator arrived on the fourth floor.

As soon as the doors opened, they saw a multitude of familiar faces smiling back at them, waiting for the news. "So..." Izzie prompted, excitedly.

"Baby mooned us," Meredith said, holding up the picture. "No finding out for us today..."

"Seriously?" Mark asked. "All you got was the kid's ass?"

Derek shrugged. "Baby enjoys keeping us all in suspense. We're going back tomorrow morning; hopefully the baby will play along next time."

"But..." Meredith added, flipping through the picture stack. "Our baby sucks its thumb," she smiled, holding a few out to her friends.

"Oh my God, look at that!" Izzie grinned as she examined the picture closely.

George peered over her shoulder and smiled. "That's so cute."

"And moves and breathes and pees," Meredith sighed contentedly, a hand on her belly. "Our baby is awesome."

"Now who buys lunch?" Alex asked. Izzie handed him the ultrasound picture in her hand and he grinned. "Cute kid."

"Couldn't you just do your own ultrasound?" Cristina asked, letting the smallest smile grace her lips when she received the pictures being passed around.

Meredith shrugged. "We could. But we can wait another night. Obviously the baby doesn't want us to know today," she giggled.

"Well, this is very...anti-climactic," Mark sighed teasingly. "Cute baby, but still."

"Why are you all standing here blocking the elevator?" Bailey asked as she approached them. When she noticed Meredith and Derek with their plethora of pictures, her tone softened immediately. "So you had your sonogram. Boy or girl?"

"No idea," Derek answered, wrapping his arm around his wife's waist. "Baby decided to be stubborn and not show us."

Lexie spotted them all, and ran over to them, fumbling with a stack of charts in her arms. "Oh, you're back! So what is it?" she asked excitedly.

"They don't know," the group answered for them in unison.

"What? What do you mean?" Lexie asked.

"McBaby just showed off its butt cheeks to all of us," Cristina clued her in, holding up the picture so Lexie could have a look.

"Very cute butt," Lexie complimented.

Meredith turned her head toward Derek and smiled at him. "Yes it is."

...

Just as their shifts were coming to an end later on that evening, both Meredith and Derek went to go see Ms. Eisell to do a post-op check on her, as well as brief her on their mystery-sex baby. Derek gently knocked and entered, smiling at the woman who sat in bed with her knitting needles in her lap. "Hello, Betty," he greeted.

Betty's eyes lit up when she saw them and she muted her television. "Hello, dears. I'm so glad you're finally here. I've been waiting for an update. So...what is it?"

For what felt like the fiftieth time that day, Derek graciously replied. "The baby was turned on its side a bit, so we still don't know. You were right earlier...the baby is being very secretive," he chuckled.

Meredith pulled a pen from her pocket and began recording some stats in Betty's chart. "We're trying again tomorrow morning, so hopefully then, we'll have an answer for you," she said kindly.

"How are you feeling?" Derek asked, checking the shunt they'd installed in the woman's brain to make sure it was keeping up with fluid output. "Any pain or dizziness? Headaches?"

"No, I feel fine, honey," she responded, holding up her knitting work. "In fact, I've been working on these for you. I should have them done by tomorrow. You can't go wrong with one in pink, one in blue," Betty held up two nearly finished knitted baby caps.

Meredith bit her lip and smiled, trying to hold back her pregnant lady tears. "That's so nice of you. You really didn't have to do that just for us."

"You operated on my brain. It's the least I could do to make it up to you," Betty explained.

"Well, we appreciate it," Derek thanked her.

Meredith glanced at Derek from the other side of Betty's hospital bed and smiled at her husband. One in pink, one in blue. It didn't matter that they weren't sure which one their baby would wear. Their baby moved, and peed, and breathed, and sucked its tiny thumb. And that was still pretty damn good.