IT'S A BOY!!!

There is no doubt about it. And he's an active little guy, although I could've told you that. The technician could hardly get a decent measurement - he was twisting all around in there!! My placenta is at the back of my uterus, so its no wonder I've been feeling him moving since 13 wks! Anyway, he's perfectly perfect, if not a little bit camera shy, but we got a few good shots. Might be a thumb-sucker, though!! Right now he is about 6 inches long from head to tushie, and weighs almost 3/4 of a pound - has a lot of growing to do still!! Its amazing how tiny that really is...

We are absolutely thrilled to be expecting a son, but we would have been equally happy to have a daughter. Maybe next time?? Its just so fun to know! We have a couple of finalists for names, but there's a while yet to decide. We might just have to see his little face before we know for sure. Now we can really get going on the nursery. Its not going to be a specific theme, but the walls are already blue so I guess they'll stay that way! Then there's sheets and curtains, etc.... Ooo how fun!

See his little fingers above his nose?

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This is a weird angle - a cross-section - you'll just have to take my word for it...

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Tap dancer feet???

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Hungry Baby

So we had a regular checkup on Friday and in spite of all the pie I ate over the holidays, I have lost weight!! I am now below my prepregnancy weight - which is not unusual or problematic, just funny. Apparently baby is hungrier than I have been keeping up with. It seems like I stuff myself at every meal but I can't eat as much as I used to. A half sandwich fills me up now, when I could eat a whole one before. It seems like I'm eating every 2 hours though!! But the seat of my pants just keeps getting baggier and my belly keeps getting bigger! Who am I to complain? At least the baby is getting what he/she needs and is growing just fine. I'm sure the scales will start tipping the other way soon - next month I will probably have gained 10 pounds!! Who knows? Pregnancy is a lesson in the unexpected!

By the way, our ultrasound is scheduled for a week from tomorrow, so we'll have lots to report then!

California Christmas 06

Well we have just returned from a fabulous trip to CA for the holidays. It was full of wonderful adventures with our family and we took a zillion pictures. My appetite did indeed return just as I stepped off the plane into the 75 degree sunshine, or was it when I caught the first whiff of ocean breeze??? Anyway, I was really naughty with my eating - I'm sure I consumed more white flour and high fructose corn syrup in the last week than in the entire past 6 months!! My digestion suffered for it too, but hey, it was the holidays. Now back to the old grind - it'll be easy to go back to eating well now that I really noticed the difference being lazy for a week. But actually we could have done worse - most meals were homemade, which wasn't too bad. It was the candy/chocolate/cake and ice cream that seemed to do the most damage. Though I have to say, I am totally glad I splurged on a piece of fresh Guava pie, made by Liz from guavas off of my parents' backyard tree. Raw guavas are gross, but in the pie, they were divine!! Gotta love all those fruit trees in the backyard! I can't believe people complain about it - I mean sure, maybe they're a little messy when the fruits fall on the ground and rot. But what we wouldn't give out here to have 6 different fruits growing out back!?

Anyway, we had a great time - once again generously hosted by my Aunt Vicky and Uncle Brian, and then adventures in Catalina with the whole crew. Even got to catch up with my old friend Anne for a bit, although sadly we were once again deprived of meeting the famous Dodger dog due to infamous LA traffic. We won't mention the upper respiratory virus we caught towards the end except to say that 1)having a cold while pregnant sucks, and 2)flying with a cold while pregnant really sucks. Fortunately, it seems short-lived.

So now the work of the new year commences. Dan and I both have so much to do work and home-wise, beginning with transitioning our dogs' bedroom into the nursery (they're going to love that!) We'll undoubtedly have lots of shopping to do, a mixed blessing: escape from cabin fever in the cold of winter, but also lots of obligatory money-spending. Maybe it'll be a lot of ebaying?? I know I need to get moving on my maternity wardrobe for sure! And we can't forget about actuarial exams and master's theses that need our attention too... Hope everyone had wonderful holidays and keep in touch!!

A few pics from our trip - click on thumbnail:

by hollydlr