Here is a link to a thread I posted not too long ago with some pictures of female preflowers. I apologize that the pictures aren't all that great due to the lack of color contrast, however I did circle the preflowers in the images so you know what you're looking for. You'll notice the little hairs, those are the first two pistils to pop out, and in real life those would be white in comparison to the green plant, but it all kinda blended together in the picture.. you'll get the idea though..

http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-gro...pics-help.html

Also here is a link to a few pictures of that same plant after 12 days of flowering under a 400W HPS. I switched the light cycle to 12/12 just after I took the pictures of the preflowers by the way as well.... The photos of 12 days flowering are on page 3 post #67, but feel free to check around at how it looked prior to that. the bottom link I gave you is sort of my grow log thread about my revegging mother.

http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-gro...f-enjoy-3.html

Hopefully something I said or something in the pictures can help you out a little bit, I have a male I could take some pics of as well so you can see what to look for early if you'd like... just reply here and let me know.