Before we ever got pregnant, we used to talk a bit about baby names. It was through these discussions that we decided on a name for a son. It just feels right, and we decided on it ages ago.
Some people like to keep their baby names a secret until the baby is born, but we're not for several reason: 1) We're settled on it, so we aren't asking for opinions. We're just informing. 2) If something went wrong at this point (and I'm not naive enough to think that's impossible), this kid would have a name. At some point, the loss of a baby represents the loss of a viable or semi-viable being. We've reached that point, I think. 3) We don't really care what anyone else thinks about the name. Neither of us is the type to really care if people have a negative opinion.
I actually just sent out our Christmas cards few days ago, and my husband and I spent quite a bit of time discussing how we would sign the cards. We decided against using the baby's actual name, mostly because we felt it would make other people uncomfortable. Instead, we signed the cards "Merry Christmas from our growing family! Love, (Our names), and Baby Boy X (estimated arrival 4-30-2011)." We decided that was a good way to acknowledge the situation without weirding everyone else out.
Or, maybe we're the weird ones for even acknowledging the baby on the card. Who knows...
My Pregnancy Ticker
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
19 weeks
I'm almost halfway! Yesterday, I hit 19 weeks of pregnancy. I can't believe how fast it's going! Here's the picture:
You hear a lot about how pregnant women "pop" all of a sudden. That is, they go to bed one night looking un-pregnant, and then wake up the next day with a belly. I'm not sure that's happened for me, although I'm starting to really show, I think. I just think my change has been pretty gradual.
I actually had a milestone related to that at work last week: A semi-stranger asked me when I'm due. Granted, he sits across the hall from me, so he was clearly noticing that I was getting bigger and had switched to maternity clothes. It was still pretty cool, though. I was getting big enough that he felt comfortable asking. Or, maybe he was just obtuse.
You hear a lot about how pregnant women "pop" all of a sudden. That is, they go to bed one night looking un-pregnant, and then wake up the next day with a belly. I'm not sure that's happened for me, although I'm starting to really show, I think. I just think my change has been pretty gradual.
I actually had a milestone related to that at work last week: A semi-stranger asked me when I'm due. Granted, he sits across the hall from me, so he was clearly noticing that I was getting bigger and had switched to maternity clothes. It was still pretty cool, though. I was getting big enough that he felt comfortable asking. Or, maybe he was just obtuse.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Our new Friday night routine
I think we're having a baby at the right time. This below video is about the extent of the excitement in our house on a Friday night. It's our cats playing with my husband's toy helicopter.
We got our new video camera a few days ago, and the video above was a way for us to test it out. It was a Black Friday deal on a Flip video camera. I really like it so far, although it doesn't zoom in and out that much. That's totally fine, though. It's tiny, and we'll be able to use it quite a bit.
Now, at 9:30pm on a Friday night, I'm off to bed.
We got our new video camera a few days ago, and the video above was a way for us to test it out. It was a Black Friday deal on a Flip video camera. I really like it so far, although it doesn't zoom in and out that much. That's totally fine, though. It's tiny, and we'll be able to use it quite a bit.
Now, at 9:30pm on a Friday night, I'm off to bed.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Clothing issues
Ever seen this video from American Idol?
That's what I feel like most days.
None of my clothes really fit right now. In some ways, I know I shouldn't complain. Being too small for clothes is kind of a high class problem. On the other hand, it's really frustrating to keep having to pull my pants up all the time. All day. I think I drove my family absolutely nuts over Thanksgiving complaining about how my jeans kept falling down.
At this point, my belly isn't really big enough to hold up my pants, but I'm too big to fit into most regular pants (other than pajamas and sweatpants). I know that will all be changing soon enough, though, and, by the end of the pregnancy, there's a good chance nothing is going to fit at all.
Blah.
That's what I feel like most days.
None of my clothes really fit right now. In some ways, I know I shouldn't complain. Being too small for clothes is kind of a high class problem. On the other hand, it's really frustrating to keep having to pull my pants up all the time. All day. I think I drove my family absolutely nuts over Thanksgiving complaining about how my jeans kept falling down.
At this point, my belly isn't really big enough to hold up my pants, but I'm too big to fit into most regular pants (other than pajamas and sweatpants). I know that will all be changing soon enough, though, and, by the end of the pregnancy, there's a good chance nothing is going to fit at all.
Blah.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
It's a boy!!
We had our anatomy scan today, and, as you can tell by the title, we're having a boy! We were right, and we couldn't be happier.
If you had asked me yesterday how I would feel knowing that we're having a boy, I would have thought that I would have been a bit nervous about it. I only have a sister and have never really had a lot of experience with little boys. Plus, my husband was a bit of a naughty kid. Still is naughty - now he's just a grownup. Now, though, I couldn't imagine it any other way. I'm absolutely over the moon about having a little boy.
Here are a couple of pictures of our son (SON!!! I'm going to have a son!!! Crazy):
Here's a profile shot. Notice him with his fingers in his mouth. We may have a thumb-sucker...
Here's one of the 4D pictures. Kind of alien-like, no?
Here's a foot. You don't even have to wait until the baby is born anymore to make sure it has 10 fingers and 10 toes.
And, here's an arm, complete with the elbow he's apparently been using to poke me with (you could see him jabbing me with it during the scan):
I'm not going to post any photo evidence that we're having a boy, but you'll have to trust me that it's true.
The ultrasound tech commented that most babies don't move their limbs as much as our kid was this early. OBVIOUSLY, our kid is already way more advanced than most. :-) I kid. It was pretty funny, though, and it supports my theory that, if this kid is as active outside as he has been inside, we're in for an adventure.
As for the rest of the appointment, everything looks great with the baby. Spine, heart, kidneys, brain, amniotic fluid...everything's great. We actually elected NOT to have any of the birth defect screenings (the blood tests), which I think was surprising to us both. Before I got pregnant, I think we both would have thought that we'd want the testing. Now that we're here, though, we aren't interested in the tests. Since we aren't high risk, and since most of the tests aren't diagnostic, we just decided to skip them.
My placenta is a bit low-lying, but not of any concern right now. They're going to check it again in a couple of months, but it should continue to move out of the way as I continue to grow.
Wahoo! Everything's going well!
If you had asked me yesterday how I would feel knowing that we're having a boy, I would have thought that I would have been a bit nervous about it. I only have a sister and have never really had a lot of experience with little boys. Plus, my husband was a bit of a naughty kid. Still is naughty - now he's just a grownup. Now, though, I couldn't imagine it any other way. I'm absolutely over the moon about having a little boy.
Here are a couple of pictures of our son (SON!!! I'm going to have a son!!! Crazy):
Here's a profile shot. Notice him with his fingers in his mouth. We may have a thumb-sucker...
Here's one of the 4D pictures. Kind of alien-like, no?
Here's a foot. You don't even have to wait until the baby is born anymore to make sure it has 10 fingers and 10 toes.
And, here's an arm, complete with the elbow he's apparently been using to poke me with (you could see him jabbing me with it during the scan):
I'm not going to post any photo evidence that we're having a boy, but you'll have to trust me that it's true.
The ultrasound tech commented that most babies don't move their limbs as much as our kid was this early. OBVIOUSLY, our kid is already way more advanced than most. :-) I kid. It was pretty funny, though, and it supports my theory that, if this kid is as active outside as he has been inside, we're in for an adventure.
As for the rest of the appointment, everything looks great with the baby. Spine, heart, kidneys, brain, amniotic fluid...everything's great. We actually elected NOT to have any of the birth defect screenings (the blood tests), which I think was surprising to us both. Before I got pregnant, I think we both would have thought that we'd want the testing. Now that we're here, though, we aren't interested in the tests. Since we aren't high risk, and since most of the tests aren't diagnostic, we just decided to skip them.
My placenta is a bit low-lying, but not of any concern right now. They're going to check it again in a couple of months, but it should continue to move out of the way as I continue to grow.
Wahoo! Everything's going well!
Monday, November 29, 2010
18 weeks 2 days
I really should just start taking belly pictures 2 days late all the time. If I do that, I'll be taking them all on Mondays, so I'll actually look NICE for them. Dressed up. WIth makeup. All that stuff. Even though I don't put pictures with my face on this blog, you'll have to trust me that the ones that I'm taking while I'm in my work clothes definitely look a lot nicer than the Saturday ones I take right on my week turnover.
In any case, here I am at 18 weeks and 2 days:
Definitely getting bigger. And I'm getting kicks all the time now. It's still weird to me. It seems that everyone else thinks I'M the weird one because I don't think kicks are "magical" or "amazing." I just can't get used to the fact that there's a BABY in there kicking me. Another human. It's just...strange.
In other big news: We have our anatomy scan tomorrow! We'll hopefully find out the gender then, and we can't wait!
In any case, here I am at 18 weeks and 2 days:
Definitely getting bigger. And I'm getting kicks all the time now. It's still weird to me. It seems that everyone else thinks I'M the weird one because I don't think kicks are "magical" or "amazing." I just can't get used to the fact that there's a BABY in there kicking me. Another human. It's just...strange.
In other big news: We have our anatomy scan tomorrow! We'll hopefully find out the gender then, and we can't wait!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Decorating the nursery
Currently, my husband and I live in a 3 bedroom townhouse. For a variety of reasons, we're not in any rush to buy a house. When we moved into our current place, we specifically rented it because it will be big enough for a baby, at least for awhile. Now, we (okay, me) are trying to figure out how to decorate the nursery.
On the 30th, we'll figure out whether we're having a boy or a girl (hopefully), and then I'll be able to start figuring out what theme to use for the nursery. For a boy, we'll probably go with airplanes and / or cars. My husband and I are both into mechanical things, so it's a no brainer. Plus, my husband has a whole bunch of little cars and airplanes, and he's been saying for years that he wants to use them in a baby room.
For a girl, I think we're also going to go with airplanes and / or cars. Maybe with purple or pink thrown in to make it a bit more feminine. We both firmly believe that little girls also can love little cars and things, and we would start her early on that. I get that there are gender differences and that any girl we have may end up playing with baby dolls or stuffed animals later. That being said, what little kid (boy or girl) doesn't love little cars? I have a couple of nieces, and they both love those sorts of things. Since encouraging a girl to be science-y is important to my husband and I, starting her out with cars and planes is a pretty good way to kick that off.
If this kid DOES turn out to be a girl, though, we're going to find a heck of a time finding lavender fabric with cars on it for the bedskirt and curtains. I don't think it's a very high-demand item.
It's a shame, really.
On the 30th, we'll figure out whether we're having a boy or a girl (hopefully), and then I'll be able to start figuring out what theme to use for the nursery. For a boy, we'll probably go with airplanes and / or cars. My husband and I are both into mechanical things, so it's a no brainer. Plus, my husband has a whole bunch of little cars and airplanes, and he's been saying for years that he wants to use them in a baby room.
For a girl, I think we're also going to go with airplanes and / or cars. Maybe with purple or pink thrown in to make it a bit more feminine. We both firmly believe that little girls also can love little cars and things, and we would start her early on that. I get that there are gender differences and that any girl we have may end up playing with baby dolls or stuffed animals later. That being said, what little kid (boy or girl) doesn't love little cars? I have a couple of nieces, and they both love those sorts of things. Since encouraging a girl to be science-y is important to my husband and I, starting her out with cars and planes is a pretty good way to kick that off.
If this kid DOES turn out to be a girl, though, we're going to find a heck of a time finding lavender fabric with cars on it for the bedskirt and curtains. I don't think it's a very high-demand item.
It's a shame, really.
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