Okay, 22 of you have voted in my guess the gender poll... yay! So here's your chance to get competitive with those other 21 people!! If you want to play, copy and paste the following questions into an email, and send them to me by 9:00a.m. Monday morning. Whoever has the most answers correct (or close to correct) after the ultrasound on Monday is the winner!
(of a mention on my blog and a lot of personal satisfaction) ;)

Go here for the questions. (copying and pasting wasn't working from here)


Feel free to "cheat" and research average weights and lengths for a 19-20 week fetus at any of these websites.

BabyZone
IVillage
About.com

Have fun and good luck!!

We're a few days away from the 20-week (halfway) point! Wahoo!

I've been playing music for the baby a lot, not because I think it will make him/her some sort of super-genius, but because I figure it can't do any harm. So I was happy to find this little tidbit in my travels today. Mostly I just crank up whatever I'm listening to the in the car on the way to work... this week, we've listened to Simon and Garfunkel's Concert in Central Park, ElmoPalooza, a nice mix of some classical stuff, Charlotte Church, and various Disney cd's. ;)

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In a fascinating new discovery, scientists at England's Keele and Bath Universities have demonstrated that unborn babies begin to hear and remember as early as 20 weeks -- at least four weeks earlier than previously thought.

According to The London Telegraph, researchers found that the fetus at 20 weeks had memory and perceptive capacity in the lower part of the brain, the thalamus. Scientists had believed that, because the upper part of the brain -- the cortex -- did not develop until weeks later, the unborn child could not hear.

In the study, researchers played music for unborn children at 20 weeks. Then they tested the response of babies two to three weeks after birth, and observed that their responses indicated they remembered the musical selections, and were soothed by replay.

Further proving my point that you really can find information on anything on the Internet, here's an article (one of many) that I found about going to Disney World while pregnant. I don't care what they say, I'm not too big to get on the Mad Tea Party. :P

Okay, so I've come to the conclusion that this child has a sense of humor. He/she seems to have some sort of sixth sense as to when Tom leaves the room. Why? Because that's when he/she starts kicking the living daylights out of my bladder in what can only be described as a viscious attempt to get the heck out of his/her uterine prison.

BUT, as soon as Tom comes back in the room, baby decides it's time to play the statue game. It's reminiscent of the great Big Bird/Snuffulupagus Saga of 1981. Those of you who were avid Sesame Street watchers during that era know what I'm talking about. It was only the most frustrating season of television history!

I picture him/her just laughing his/her little head off in there. Meanwhile, I think Tom thinks I'm imagining all this kicking.

By the way, only four more days until I can STOP referring to baby as him/her and finally start using a name. Hooray!

I just went to pick up lunch at Subway, the girl a.k.a. *sandwich artist* behind the counter (she's waited on me for over 5 years and I still don't know her name) announced in between taking sandwich orders that I am having a girl. I asked why she thought so and she said "Because a girl just totally changes your whole body." Hrm. Interesting. Not exactly a compliment, but I'll take it.

My entire office has voted girl... and they are all very sure, which is funny, because I am FAR from sure of ANYthing. Matt here at work says it has to be a girl because he can't see me with a boy. Interesting theory, but lacking any scientific evidence. ;)

Question for all of my readers: What do you think of the name Liam for a boy? Do you think it's too different/weird/pretentious/gay-sounding for a boy? Just curious. Post your opinion. :) Other names to comment on: Lucas, Scott and Simon. ??? Thoughts???

To Meghan and Tim who just found out yesterday that they are having a baby boy! I'm so insanely jealous that they know already and I am still in the dark.... but happy for them none-the-less.

They are doing something very smart that I should have thought of a LONG time ago. They are keeping the name a secret until the baby is born. Why didn't *I* think of that?! Not that I can keep a secret, but it would have been fun to try. :\

Seven more days until my ultrasound. Argh! It was supposed to be today, which is even more frustrating. Meghan is having her u/s today (she's due a week or so before me). And she better post her news on my tag-board!! (hint hint) :)

Nine more days until Disney World! Too many exciting things to look forward to! It's amazing I can sleep at ALL...

...which brings me to my next rant-- the time change. I have been wide awake at 5:30 a.m. for two days in a row now. I'm tired and cranky and not very happy about this. Stupid time change.

One last rant for today: Maternity jeans. Who makes these things? I'm 5'2" and around 124 in my non-pregnant state. Pretty average and proportional. I've tried on maternity jeans at four different stores. They come in three sizes: small, medium and large. Grr! The smalls I can't even pull up past my knees, the mediums are so tight in the legs I can't BEND my knees, the larges, while there are no problems involving knees or thighs, are about six inches too long and so big around the waist I have to hold them up when I walk. It's a travesty.

And for my non-rant of the day: The baby is moving all the time now. It's still weird, but nice to have frequent affirmation that there's actually something in there. :)

Thanks to Tom's parents for lending us their mini van and their muscles to help us get the furniture in the room this afternoon...

And thank you to my parents for buying us the crib. It's beautiful!

There's still a lot of decorating to do though!!

.

Last night I had a dream we were putting together the nursery. In the dream, we were taking old things out of the room and bringing in the stuff that belonged there. (I phrase it that way because in my head in the dream, this is what I felt like I was doing) At one point, I picked up a pair of little white shoes with white ruffled socks stuffed into them and put them on a shelf right in the front of the closet.

I swear, if this baby turns out to be a girl, I'm going to be seriously FREAKED out.

On a less freaky note, we are picking picking up the furniture for the baby's room this afternoon. I can't wait! Tom's parents and brother Taylor are coming over to help Tom move the heavy stuff. (I'm not allowed to help move things since apparently being pregnant makes me a helpless invalid.. grr!) Tom's other brother Marc can't help because he is a bum and is on a cruise.

Later, Mom and Miss Debbie might come over to see the already very spoiled rotten baby's room. Mom and Dad gave us the crib as our Christmas gift, so she might be coming over to tag it and put a big red bow on it so we remember that's what we asked for. ;)

I'll post a picture or two later!

I was reading a thread on my pregnancy message board today about the accuracy of gender dreams during pregnancy. Someone on there took a poll to find out how many people who had had dreams about baby's sex actually found out the dreams were right. The results were really interesting... in fact, everyone who posted, said the dreams didn't lie!

That's just creepy.

So, I wanted to get this down for the record. (since this will go in our baby book). I've had five dreams with babies in them. Three dreams were about single baby girls. One dream was about girl twins (with red hair?!), and I had one last night was about boy/girl twins.

And then there's Tom who had the dream about me giving birth to the 3-inch baby with no gender. But I think he just ate too much pizza that night or something.

Anyway, there seems to be an overwhelming girl/twin vibe going on in my subconscious. (even though walking around during the day, I sort of think of it as a boy lately). I'm hoping the twin thing is just a random synapse.

I guess we'll see soon!

I can rattle off at least 50 things I am definitely *not* enjoying about being pregnant -- from the constant burning in my throat, to my less than thrilling clothing options, to my most recent discovery : hair on my stomach. (ew!)

But, in an effort to stay positive, I have come up with the following list of things that I do enjoy about being pregnant. Here we go:

1) Elastic pants: Now, in a non-pregnant state, I find elastic pants a little... well, icky. But I have never been so comfortable as I am in my Old Navy elastic pouch khaki pants. I'm considering wearing them on my bloaty days when I'm NOT pregnant.

2) Food: Everywhere I go, everyone wants to feed me. Seriously, what would normally be considered an unhealthy zeal for eating is applauded. Oh, and if I ask for two kinds of potatoes, that's what I get.

3) My stomach is *supposed* to look this way.

4) I can go to bed really early and blame it on being pregnant. When I did this before, people just thought I was acting like an old person. Oh, another thing I have discovered, is that pregnant people and old people have a lot in common. But more on that later.

5) Tom feels so guilty about the state he has put me in, that he'll make me tea or dinner whenever I ask for it. I try not to take advantage of this very often, but it's hard because he makes REALLY good pasta dishes.

6) It always makes for halfway interesting conversation, even with the most boring conversationalists.

7) There's a lot of shopping involved.

8) While I can no longer see past my tummy when I am laying down, I CAN see the inside of my belly button.

9) People don't try to make me drink champagne or wine anymore.

10) No one seems to care that I wear tennis shoes to work now -- even though, when you think about it, these two things have no correlation.

11) It gives me an outlet for my obsessive need to gather medical information from the web. Before, this usually resulted in me thinking I had some terminal disease.

more to come as I think of them...

Wow. So an overwhelming majority of you think we're having a girl. I personally voted boy. But I overthought the gender and psyched myself out weeks ago. So my mother's intuition is, for lack of a better word, broken.

Here's something interesting you may not know! (well, those of you who don't regularly research pregnancy on the internet anyway..anyone? anyone? Brian, put your hand down, you don't count.)... In an ultrasound, a girl isn't determined because they can't find boy parts, they actually look for what they refer to as "three lines."

Here's a link to a website that talks about it. I just thought it was sort of interesting.

Glad there's going to be someone there telling me what i'm looking at, because it just looks like fuzzy white noise to me.

Baby's new nickname is the Karate Kid. Since yesterday he/she has been kicking/punching at my lower abdomen with such force, that I'm pretty sure if I was looking down there at the right time, I might actually be able to see it poke out. I gotta say, it's a tad uncomfortable and keeps taking me by surprise. Suzanne, who occupies the office next door to me and had a baby this time last year, said it gets worse. My friend Jen says her baby used to kick her rib. This sounds unpleasant. Hrm.

I've been sitting here trying to come up with something else interesting to write about for today. But all I can really think about is what's for dinner. HUNGRY.

And another thing...

I'm sick of drinking water.

Lyrics by Marc Cohn:

Don't know much about you
Don't know who you are
We've been doing fine without you
But we could only go so far

Don't know why you chose us
Were you watching from above
Is there someone there that knows us
Said we'd give you all our love

Will you laugh just like your mother
Will you sigh like your old man
Will some things skip a generation
Like I've heard they often can

Are you a poet or a dancer?
A devil or a clown?
Or a strange new combination of
The things we've handed down...

I wonder who you'll look like
Will your hair fall down in curls
Will you be a mama's boy
Or daddy's little girl

Will you be a sad reminder
Of what's been lost along the way
Maybe you can help me find her
In the things you do and say

And these things that we have given you
They are not so easily found
But you can thank us later
For the things we've handed down

You may not always be so grateful
For the way that you were made
Some feature of your father's
That you'd gladly sell or trade

And one day you may look at us
And say that you were cursed
But over time that line has been
Extremely well rehearsed

By our fathers, and their fathers
In some old and distant town
From places no one here remembers
Come the things we've handed down ...

I am very very VERY tired today -- a side effect either getting up too early, being pregnant, or a combination of the two. At any rate, posting is what's keeping me awake at my desk.

...So.... I thought I'd post an update for those of you who are more interested in the baby and less interested in the baby's name for the moment.

Baby moves around a LOT -- mainly during times when I am trying to sleep. Sometimes, the flippy-flop feeling actually takes my breath away. It's just too weird and amazing for words.

Tom still can't feel it. Supposedly it will be a few weeks before he can. It's very sad. He tries a lot but all he can feel is my pulse. (which somehow has migrated down to my tummy). In the end, he usually just gets frustrated with the whole thing and wanders off to play a computer game or watch Law and Order. :)

Baby's eyes and ears have moved to where they are supposed to be. This has done a lot for making baby look less like an alien. Hooray!

Supposedly it weighs almost half a pound. That's how much American cheese I buy at the deli. That's no light-weight!

Crown to rump (whatever that means) baby is about 18cm in length. But I don't know anything about the metric system so I really don't know what to compare that to.

That's about it for this week! Thanks for checking in!

Found this article ... it really needs no further explanation. For those concerned about what we will or will NOT be naming any potential male children and why... Please read.
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..."Exact reproductions of a parent’s name, even followed by a Jr. or II, can be confusing for everyone involved. In addition, on top of it the child never gets the satisfaction of having his own name and therefore an identity all of his own." (See below)

"Phooey on These Juniors"
By Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby)

Dear Abby: Please print my letter so other mothers won’t make the same mistake I did. After 19 years, I realize the error of naming our son after his father.

When he was a baby, it was no problem we called him Billy and his father was Bill.

When he got older he decided that Billy was too babyish, so he asked us to call him Bill, which wasn’t too bad-we called on Big Bill and the other Little Bill. That worked out fine until Little Bill got bigger than Big Bill.

Now it’s worse. It’s Young Bill and Old Bill and you can imagine how thrilled father is to be Old Bill at 44. Not only that, but their voices are identical, and they are constantly being mistaken for one another on the telephone. Moreover, their mail gets mixed up too.

It’s a pain in the neck. I should have named him Lawrence, like I wanted too. I’ve always loved that name. Phooey on these "Juniors."

Too Late Now


Dear Too Late Now: New mothers take note

More substance to this post later, but I just found this website and I wanted to share before I forgot where it was. It had me on the floor laughing. I especially love the way this guy has sorted bad naming techniques into categories. You'll have to visit the website to read what they mean. ;)

The "Scrabble Draw" Category
The "How About Another Last Name?" Category
The "Unfortunate Connotation" Category
The "Bogus Blue-Blood" Category
The "Found It On This Here Map" Category
The "Abstract Quality" Category
The "Common Noun" Category
The "Multicultural Mish-Mash" Category
The "Let Me Spell That For You" Category
The "Named Him After My Favorite..." Category


SCROLL DOWN FOR THE POLL... IT'S OVER HERE ON THE SIDEBAR>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I went to my third doctor's appointment this morning. Everything is normal as far as weight, blood pressure and baby's heartbeat are concerned. Unfortunately, I had to postpone my ultrasound a week because we are getting new insurance at work. So now it's November 3rd. :(

In the long run, this is a good thing. The ultrasound place that you get to go to if you have Blue Cross Blue Shield is apparently about a hundred times superior to the place I WAS going to be going. Kinda makes me feel like I was being a little bit jipped as far as medical care before. Hrm.

The doctor said this other place (which is a part of St. Joe's Hospital) will do a much more detailed, thorough scan and that they will put a whole lot more effort into finding out the sex if I want to know. (yes yes yes!)

So now more waiting... argh. I have no patience. Tom on the other hand, seems like he could go the entire nine months without knowing. We are very different that way, he and I.

Two weeks need to hurry up and go by! There is an blank nursery waiting for boy paint or girl paint!
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Before you were conceived I wanted you
Before you were born I loved you
Before you were here an hour I would die for you
This is the miracle of life. -Maureen Hawkins

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It is currently 8:00a.m. and I haven't been sick yet. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: 8:07a.m. -- nevermind ...

Also, while I was waiting, I added a new set of links down on the bottom right with some friends' blogs. If you're tired of reading about the joys of pregnancy, give them a visit. :)

"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much." ~Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
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A couple days ago, I sent my boss the official "I'm not coming back once I pop" email. I'm still not sure if he was surprised or what. His wife is a stay-at-home-mom, so I tend to think he's an advocate for someone staying at home when it's possible.

And thus, the countdown begins.

I have spent almost 11 years in the work world now, five of those in my "career" and frankly, I can't wait to get out.

Not that I don't like getting up and going to work everyday. Actually, I like the routine. I like my co-workers. Some days I even enjoy my job.

I think I'm a better person for:
-having experienced four years and $26,000 worth of college (which I'm still repaying)
-having worn a monkey suit and operated bumper cars
-having worked behind a cash register through six holiday seasons (which, btw, is something I think everyone should have to do at some point in their lives),
and
-having a glimpse, however brief, of the professional world.

But my mind is elsewhere... home. And on this little person who I am responsible for bringing up. That's my new full-time job.

So I'll enjoy my last five or so months in the "more civilized" work world, with its adult conversation, meetings and deadlines ... and then I will trade it all in for a world of play-dough, finger-paint and housecleaning.

Gladly. :)

For fun, I took a quiz that uses all the old wives tales to "predict" what you are having. The results were uh... less than helpful. Then again, I sort of guessed at some of the answers. I have no idea what direction my pillow faces, or if my belly looks more like a basketball or a watermelon.

Congratulations!

You have a 43% chance of having a boy.
And you have a 56% chance of having a girl.

And Here's Why...
You are carrying the extra weight out front, so it's a boy.
The hair on your legs is growing faster during pregnancy, so it's a boy.
Girls are carried high. You are going to have a girl.
Sleeping in a bed with your pillow to the south indicates that you will be having a girl.
Your feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy. You are having a girl.
You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread. You are having a girl.
Dad-to-be hasn't been gaining weight along with Mom-to-be, so it will be a girl.
The maternal grandmother doesn't have gray hair (dyed or natural), so a girl will be born.
You had morning sickness early in pregnancy, so you are expecting a girl.
You are not looking particularly good during pregnancy. Therefore, it must be a girl, because girls steal their mother's looks.
Your chest development has not been very dramatic during pregnancy. You should expect a boy.
Since the sum of the mother's age at conception and the number of the month of conception is even, it will be a boy.
A needle on a thread held over your belly moves in circles, so you will have a boy.
You have a craving for salty or sour foods, which means that it is a boy.
Your nose has not been spreading, which indicates a girl.
You have been craving meats or cheeses, so it is a boy.
Your baby's heart rate is 140 or more beats per minute, so it's a girl.
You must have orange juice every day, so it's a girl.
You are having headaches, so it's a boy.
Your belly looks like a watermelon, so it's a girl.
You show them the palm of your hand, so it's a girl.
You use the body of the mug, so it's a girl.

"You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment."  ~Dave Barry,

I guess people really take that to heart.

Here are some interesting ways people have tried to subtly find out if I'm pregnant:

- "Sooo.... when are YOU guys going to start a family?" (Sharon, my neighbor two doors down-- while staring at my stomach)

- "Eating for two?" (Mary, one of my coworkers, after seeing me emerge from the lunchroom with two hot pockets)

- "And how are you FEELING today, Erin?" (the lady at the deli next door to my office)

and my personal favorite (so far)

- "You and Tom aren't buying one of the single family homes they're building up the street?" (Dennis, my neighbor THREE doors down, while staring at my stomach)

Bear with me, this is a three-part post:

I. I found this website yesterday. It's a pretty typical baby name site except that, in addition to giving you the meaning of a name, it also tells you what traits people associate with it. Pretty interesting! I looked up our two baby names and also my name and Tom's name and here's what I found. :) My comments are in parentheses after the descriptions.
---------------------------------------------
Madeline:
Origin: "Greek"
Meaning: Magdalene, woman from Magdala
Traits: Madeline is pictured as a pretty blonde who is rich, classy, friendly, and happy.
Famous people with this name: actresses Madeline (Young Frankenstein) Kahn, Madolyn (Urban Cowboy) Smith; novelist/children's story writer Madeleine L'Engle

(yay! Madeline L'Engle! I forgot about that! Wrinkle in Time was one of my favorite books!)
---------------------------------------------
Benjamin
Origin: "Hebrew"
Meaning: son of the right hand
Traits: People think of Benjamin as a smart and inventive man who is tall, strong, and cute.
Famous people with this name: the biblical Benjamin, Joseph's younger brother; American revolutionary/diplomat Benjamin Franklin; President Benjamin Harrison; movie Private Benjamin; baby expert/author Dr. Benjamin (Baby and Child Care) Spock; actor Richard (Goodbye, Columbus) Benjamin; TV character Captain Benjamin (Star Trek) Sisko

(what boy doesn't want to be tall, strong and cute?) :)
--------------------------------------------
Erin:
Origin: "Irish Gaelic"
Meaning: peace
Traits: Most people picture Erin as a cute, fair-skinned Irish woman who is a snobby, self-centered troublemaker. To some, though, Erin is a sweet, plain, family-oriented woman.
Famous people with this name: Erin, another name for Ireland; actresses Erin (Happy Days) Moran, Erin (Silver Spoons) Gray

(that's me, I'm a troublemaker!!!)
---------------------------------------------
Tom:
Traits: Tom is viewed as an all-American, average guy who can fit in anywhere: confident, likable, and down to earth.
Famous people with this name: actors Tom (Jerry Maguire) Cruise, Tom (Apollo 13) Hanks, Tom (The Big Chill) Berenger, Tom (Magnum, P.I.) Selleck; children's story of Tom Thumb; Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin; Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; basketball's Tom Chambers; singer Tom ("What's New, Pussycat?") Jones; radio talk show host

(Tom is all of those things ... sometimes a little TOO confident as a matter of fact) ;)

II. I took the liberty of looking up some of the names of people who I know might be reading my blog. Here are the links... enjoy!
Nicole
Amy
Krystyna
Brian
Meghan/Megan
Mandy
Jen
Josh
Bonnie
Jessica
Susie
Louise
Suzanne
Linda/Lynda
Jamie
Cindy

If I missed anyone, I'm sorry. Some names stumped the system, including Lexi, Genet and several others. Otherwise, I just ran out of time... but it's easy to look up your name. Just click on the link all the way at the top of my post.

III. I also found this baby name quiz. It tells you what kind of name you should give your baby based on your own personality. Sort of interesting and fun. :)

That's all for today! Have fun!

Two other questions I hear frequently ...
"Are you going to get the epidural?"
"Are you going to breastfeed?"


Okay, first question. Let's just clear something up.. I don't handle pain well. Ask my dentist,
who, during one of my first visits, announced that he didn't think he could treat me. (apparently I need about 10 times more novacaine than the average patient) For those interested, now that I am caught up with all of my dental "maintenance" Dr. Page and I are on much better terms. (and now I'm pretty sure I'd rather have a tooth filled than be in labor)

As far as labor is concerned, I am still wondering why they don't knock people out anymore. Was there anything so wrong with that?

I think that anyone who has to have contact with me while I'm in labor will benefit from me being as pain-free as medically possible. So the answer is emphatically *YES* I am getting the epidural. Are you insane? I want that thing in a.s.a.p when I get to the hospital.

Of course, I have nothing against people who decide to do it the natural way... (crazy people!) ;)

Second question: NO. I am not going to breastfeed (for many reasons). I am catching a lot of flack about this issue too. Everyone from friends to the guy who fixes the computers at my office seems to have an opinion on this topic.

I know it sounds awful and selfish and horrible, but I'm just not comfortable with it. I hear that it's better for the baby... but Tom and I were both bottlefed babies and we're two of the healthiest people we know. Tom hasn't even had so much as a cold the entire time seven years I've known him!

So there you go... next question please. :)

A picture of me at 16.5 weeks... courtesy of mom. (who claims I will appreciate this someday)

...the scarier babies seem. Right now, baby is very self-sufficient. I eat. Baby eats. It's all very neat and simple. Baby goes where I go (no clothes or diaper necessary). This parasitic relationship is fascinating. (I originally had the word symbiotic there, but when I thought about it, I really don't get much out of this current relationship except heartburn)

But this time next year, I'll have a wailing 7-month-old throwing strained peas and cheerios all over my kitchen.

Hrm...

Maybe I shouldn't complain about the heartburn.

1) Are you still feeling sick?
Yes. Yes I am.

2) Really?
Yes. I can not tell a lie.

3) Wow, I’ve heard that’s supposed to end at 12 weeks? Have you heard that?
Yes. And I’m 16 weeks. So apparently that’s not true.What’s your point?

4) Did you know that pregnancy actually lasts about TEN months?
Really? Wait… 9 times 4 is 36. Pregnancy is 40 weeks!! Well gosh darn it, you’re right! I had no idea! Thank you for enlightening me.

5) I see that you are drinking (insert caffeinated beverage of your choice here). Can you
have caffeine?
My standard answer for this one is this: Some women do crack and manage to have healthy babies, some women smoke for their entire pregnancy and have healthy babies, some women never touch a vegetable and have healthy babies … I do none of these things. Caffeine is okay. It’s not like I’m shooting it up. I’m only having a cup of coffee or a glass of soda every now and then.


6) Did you know that a greek salad without the feta cheese is just a garden salad?
Oh. Heh.

7) What do you feel like you’re having?
Honestly, I’m still grappling with the idea that there’s a living parasitic being growing inside of me. I have no idea what it is. Everyone else who has ventured a guess has said they think it’s a girl. But who knows?

8) What do you want it to be? Do you have a preference?
Ahhh… the question to which the PC answer is "a healthy child, of course!" Well, DUH. That’s first and foremost. But of COURSE I have a preference. I wouldn’t mind having a girl first. Tom won’t admit it, but I’m sure he’d like a boy first. When we find out, I’m sure one of us will be disappointed for about half a second and then we’ll both just be excited that we have a baby with all of the correct parts in the correct quantity.

9) What do you have against having a boy first?
Absolutely nothing. I’d just like to have at least one daughter. That’s all I want. After that, the rest can all be boys. I just need someone I can play tea party with and dress up in cute girly things… and if we have all boys, that means at least one of them will end up in therapy with gender identity issues.

10) When are you due?
March 25th is what they told me at the first doctor’s appointment. That may change. But I’m latching onto whichever date is earliest.


… to be continued …

1) Here are some pictures of the prints we're thinking about for the nursery. The theme is classic children's books. But the specifics depend on if it's a boy or girl. If baby doesn't cooperate in the ultrasound, I have no idea what we'll do with the room.

Without further adieu...
Girl room pics:



Boy room pics:




There are lots more where those came from. Those are just a few of the ones I've looked at.

2) The names: Although our names are all names that we like, they were chosen for their special meaning -- both our boy's name and our girl's name have family origins.

Madeline was my great grandmother (my grandmother's mother). Elizabeth is a family name on both sides.

Thomas, obviously, is Tom's name. Benjamin is the only name that's not technically a family name... but Ben was my grandfather's name (Dad's father), so it's a little tribute of sorts.
------------------
Coming up later... a list of all the questions I am tired of answering... (and the answers)

I have GOT to stop playing with the fetal doppler. Tom and I thought we heard two heartbeats again last night. Seriously. I'm starting to think again that it's either twins or our child has two hearts.
Those who have seen my tummy lately would put their money on the first one.

I also learned something disturbing from my Nana yesterday. She had four babies... all of them were in the 10 pound range. Slice me, dice me --whatEVER-- but I am NOT pushing out 10 pounds of anything. Everyone please cross your fingers and hope for a less freakishly large baby.

I'd like to say a big hello to my in-laws. I just sent them the blog link this morning. They were asking about names last night. Here's what we have so far...

Girl: Tulula Skye
Boy: Aloicious Kunte Kinte


KIDDING...


The real names are:
Girl: Madeline Elizabeth Graff
Boy: Thomas Benjamin Graff "Ben" or... inevitably... "TB" (which I'd just like to remind everyone ... is a communicable disease...)

In the unlikely event that we end up with more than one child on this first attempt:
The second girl's name is Caroline (middle name as yet undetermined)
and I am fresh out of boy's names... so any suggestions are welcome...

Some people have all the luck...
I post on a pregnancy message board and it seems that many of the women on there get lots and lots of ultrasounds. Some get them because they are high-risk. Some get them because their doctors have an ultrasound machine in the office. Some are just spoiled. ;)

Whatever. I'm jealous. It's not fair. I get ONE sonogram. And it's not for another 3 (maybe 4) weeks. :(

A woman who posts on the message board and is due about 6 days before me just got a 4-d ultrasound. (so NOT fair.) Here's a link to HER pictures ... I assume whatever's growing inside of me looks reasonably similar. Unless it's a puppy or something, as I've been telling everyone it is.

Anyway, the 4-d thingy is neat, so take a look if you get the chance.

http://pages.ivillage.com/highlighter/id6.html

hehehe... just found this at pregnancyandbaby.com

Getting real: " There's a great deal of hype about the magical second trimester. Just about everyone from my doctor to my cleaning lady assured me that I would just spring out of bed one day and do cartwheels all the way to the breakfast table. Even my single girlfriends endorsed this theory (as if having an occasional late period made them pregnancy experts). And for once, everybody was right! I haven't given a digestive encore for the Ty-D-Bol man in seven wonderful days, and I'm so happy I could cry. Although I still get queasy moments, for the most part, I feel like my old self -- only bigger." - Minsun, in her week 15 pregnancy diary entry.

Wish I could say the same.

Here's a link to a picture of a 14-week fetus. So it's just about two weeks younger than the one that's running circles around my stomach right now. Pretty nifty!

http://www.geocities.com/erinspring/14week.gif

One of the two pounds went away! Yay! The grand total is now... 13. That's not too bad, right?
:\ Check out this weight gain breakdown I found. You'll notice that things started going downhill for me in the first trimester, during which time you are supposed to gain a pound a MONTH, not a pound a week. Oopsie.


WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION

7.5 pounds is about how much the baby will weigh by the end of pregnancy

1.5 pounds is how much the placenta weighs

4 pounds is attributed to increased fluid volume

2 pounds is the weight of the uterus

2 pounds is the weight of breast tissue

4 pounds is because of increased blood volume

7 pounds is attributed to maternal stores of nutrients and muscle development

2 pounds for the amniotic fluid

Total: 30 pounds



ON A TRIMESTER BASIS

First trimester: 1 pound per month

Second trimester: 0.5 of a pound per week

Third trimester: 1 pound per week

Today after getting on the scale and seeing that I had gained yet ANOTHER two pounds... (that's 14 now for those who are counting), I decided, "Heck, let's go to IHOP for breakfast." YUM. I was as healthy as you can possible be at an IHOP. The baby got the benefit of a whole glass of orange juice, some hash browns (potatoes have nutrients, right?) and a piece of french toast. I'm not sure I will ever eat again.

Well, until lunchtime.

p.s. Here's a link to the "picture" of our as yet genderless offspring.

We are taking the baby on its first Disneyworld trip in just 33 days. Yay! Sadly, neither baby nor mommy will be able to get on any of the cool rides. So Tom will have to ride Mission:Space all alone. :( How sad.

Guess it will be a lot of "It's a Small World" for us. :: sigh ::

Baby can't seem to get situated today. Lots of flipping and flopping going on in there. It's neat because I hadn't felt any of that in the last few days. :) I think I'll have something caffeinated with lunch and see if I can get him/her moving even more. ;) (Not TOO much though -- wouldn't want baby to come out addicted to Coke) hahaha...

uh. yeah.

I found this thing on the web today where you answer some questions about you and your spouse's features and it pops out a picture of what your baby could look like.
Cut and paste this link into your browser to play:

http://www.fisher-price.com/us/pregnancy/prenatal_shell.asp?z=1

Eek!

The results were scary. I can't get the link to the pic to work. But check back, I'll figure it out eventually.

Also, here's some interesting genetic info I learned!

Hairtype:
If either you or your spouse has curly hair, baby will have curly/wavy hair. Curly locks are a dominant trait.

Hair Color:
Light brown hair is dominant over blonde and red hair but recessive to darker hair. Baby will wind up with the darker hair color between you and your spouse.
(not true in my family! My hair is light, like my dad's!)

Eye Color:
Brown eyes are dominant over all other eye colors so if either you or your spouse has brown eyes, baby will too.

Dimples:
Dimples are a dominant traint so if at least one of you has dimples your baby will most likely have them as well.

Freckles:
Freckles are a dominant trait so if either you or your spouse has freckles, your baby may have a spinkling of them too.

Earlobes:
Both partners have to have attached earlobes for the baby for have this trait.

So apparently we'll have a curly brown haired, brown-eyed, dimpled, freckled bundle of joy. Oh, and here's the kicker, he/she will have attached earlobes. Whew. Those people with unattached earlobes are just freaks of nature. ;)