Cupcakes, Anyone?

Yesterday was our "BIG" 20 week ultrasound. Baby is healthy and measuring right on track (one day early if you want to get technical)! Just as we did with both of of previous babies, we wanted to know the sex of this little one. I had gone back and forth about what my general feeling was. My instinct was boy, but my pregnancy has been pretty much exactly as it was with the girls. I crave the same foods, avoid the same foods, had morning sickness, fatigue, sciatica, and migraines. I am carrying the same way. And yet, the color we iced our celebratory cupcakes was.......




... blue! (I'm pretty sure the good people at University of Maryland are going to revoke my minor/certificate in Women's Studies.) So it just goes to show you that old wives' tales are just that!

I am so excited to have a little boy! I look forward to the challenges and rewards that I'm sure will come with the job of raising a boy. And the girls are ecstatic to finally have a "prince" in their never-ending fairytale games :)

Overheard in the Peanut Gallery

On the way home this afternoon I overheard this conversation happening in the back seat:

Sophie: "Lilah, do you want to have a baby?"
Lilah: "No! I don't want a baby!"
Sophie: "But, Lilah, I decided I want a baby."
Lilah: "Well alright."
Sophie: "So are you happy we're having a baby?"
Lilah: "No! I don't like babies!"
Sophie: "Lilah! Mommy has a baby in her tummy and in a few weeks [more like months] she's going to go to the hospital and have our baby! Don't you want our baby?"
Lilah: "No thank you."

If I had been laughing any harder it would have compromised my driving! I'm sure she'll change her mind at some point :)

Pregnancy Jeopardy

Ligament stretching, i.e., sore muscles to the point of painful sneezes, and this from someone who both runs and weight trains regularly; sciatica; and migraines.

What is the second trimester?

[Still soooooooo much more preferable than the first and even the third, but painful nonetheless.]

Signs of New Life

(not-yet-sprouted) Seeds that Sophie collected and planted:



Tadpoles from our pool cover:



Nest outside our window:



And best of all, my baby, who began noticeably squirming about a week and a half ago :)

One-Third of the Way There

And just like that- we're in the second trimester! And with it, right on schedule, came a growth spurt, braxton hicks, and the beginning of the end of the nausea. Hallelujah! Three months down, six to go...

Spreading the News

We had our first trimester screening, complete with lengthy ultrasound done yesterday. Thank God, everything looked perfect. The baby looked amazing. It is incredible how much babies change in a few weeks. No longer a "blob," it had distinguishable facial features, skinny little arms to wave at us, and cute little feet to kick.

We decided to tell the girls that afternoon. Sophie has still not stopped talking about it. She has bombarded me with questions (mostly about the logistics of delivery and what life with the baby will be like). She has been singing, "We're having a baby! We're having a baby!" continuously. As soon as she told me she was going to tell her teacher and all of her friends at school, I knew we had to make a mad dash to beat the grapevine. Sophie called some relatives yesterday and I will call the rest of them today. After that, a mass email will be sent to all remaining friends. Most of my good friends know already, and the others will just be too difficult to reach in time. I hate not telling everyone individually and in person, but I feel like it's better for them to hear it from me, even in a mass email, than in the carpool line after their kid has heard from her friend who heard from her brother who is in Sophie's class.

It's strange to go from my pregnancy being a virtual secret, and hours later, the whole world (well, my world at least) knowing. The final coming out step will be the publicizing of this blog. YAY.

Bucket List

When you are pregnant the term bucket list takes on a whole different meaning.

While walking around the Tidal Basin last Sunday with the family I had one goal in mind: find a big pretzel. I had been craving one for over a week. As soon as I realized the craving I said, "add that to my bucket list." It sounds weird, and wrong, but whenever I eat something off of (out of?) the bucket list I feel satisfied. Crossed off (eaten?) items have included: an almond joy candy bar, ice cream, pizza, and a sour apple dum dum. To balance it out, I have also craved crazy amounts of fruit (particularly granny smith apples), cereal, and milk.

The most disappointing item was the deli sandwich that never was :( Ironically, I had been reading a discussion thread about deli meat on a pregnancy message board. Some people eat it with abandon, others only when it is heated up first, and some avoid it altogether. One thing was clear to me after reading the discussion: I needed a big deli sandwich pronto. Shimmy said he would be home in an hour and would pick up the fixings on his way home. The problem was, that an hour later it was 11pm, I was beyond hungry and just extremely nauseous, and I was so tired that I was literally crying. The meats are in the refrigerator should the craving return.

Currently, the items on my Bucket (of food) List are as follows:
A really good grilled cheese sandwich -probably a panini- with tomato soup (edited: after writing this I made it for lunch. And it was gooood.)
Tater tots- I got hash browns at Dunkin Donuts the other day, but they were not the right ratio of potato to crisp
A big cosmopolitan (6+ more months for that one- sniff, sniff).
And, of course, the elusive big soft pretzel from a street vendor

I look forward to adding and eating more items from my Bucket List :)