18 weeks

Sometimes it seems like we're moving along slowly, other times it's flying by. Soon though, we'll have a tiny little boodlie in our arms and our world will be turned upside down. It never seems more real than when you're doctor is doing an ultrasound and you see the baby moving and how much he/she has grown.

In our 18 week appointment on Thursday, our doctor took some growth measurements and a bunch of new pictures. Apparently baby is 5 days bigger than he/she should be, and so I've been put on magnesium to soften my stomach muscles/ligaments for more growth (personally, I prefer less softening, but my opinion seems to count for diddly squat these days). She said the growth is due to some very long legs. Hm, wonder where baby gets those from? I like this picture because you can see the long, long legs, knee, an arm and some of the face.



Alas, the baby has continued to tease us and didn't show whether he's a he, or she's a she. We are left waiting another couple weeks for our 'big' 20 week ultrasound. Our regular doctor said that the ultrasound doc will not let us leave without knowing the sex. He's apparently very stubborn, but so it also seems with the baby. Fight results will be posted here after September 11.

As for my watermelon tummy, it continues to grow (and grow and grow). I still fit into some of my regular jeans though, hallelujah for the low-rise trend, and am making the most of my regular summer wardrobe before I need to buy some winter maternity gear.


Here's the 18 week photo

Currently, we're all doing great and happy, and awaiting the birth of a friend's baby, due in the next two weeks. Very exciting times!

Boy or Girl?

For the longest time, Tim and I couldn't decide if we wanted to know the sex of the baby before birth. There's something great about the surprise at birth.

I could say we chose to find out because of logistical reasons (there are only so many gender neutral clothes you can buy - before getting sick of yellow, green, blue and red, needing to decorate the nursery, etc). But in reality, we just want to know and are too excited not to ask.

We may be able to find out next week, assuming the baby is turned the right way and all that. If we still can't tell during that appointment, we have a 'big' ultrasound scheduled on September 11th. Our doctor said we will be able to see EVERYTHING at that time due to the fancy, dancy equipment - 2 hands, 10 toes, good bits, everything.

So, what do you think? We'll open a poll (see the right hand column) and I'll give you some hints, based on old wives tales...

BOY:
I am carrying the extra weight out front.
I am carrying low.
Sleeping in a bed with my pillow to the north indicates that I will be having a boy.
I didn't have morning sickness early in pregnancy. (neither did my mom, and she had 3 girls and 1 boy)
My chest development has not been very dramatic during pregnancy, unfortunately. Although tim said otherwise this morning... maybe I'm just wearing baggy clothes and don't notice.
The sum of the mother's age at conception and the number of the month of conception is even.
I have been having headaches.

GIRL:
The hair on my legs is not growing any faster during pregnancy.
Tim hasn't been gaining weight along with me.
A needle on a thread held over my belly moved from side-to-side.
I am craving sweets.
My nose hasn't changed during pregnancy (can this happen?! yikes), which indicates a girl.
I have been craving fruits (I think this is the same as 'sweets', as it probably has to do with the sugar in fruit - but whatever, wives tales!).
I love to have orange juice daily.
My belly looks like a watermelon.
Lastly, according to this Chinese Gender Predictor, we are having a girl.

What do you think? Vote in the gender poll to the right.

If you want to wait to vote, we'll probably be posting an 18 week photo next week.

Pearls of Wisdom

After visiting one of my daily blog reads, then clicking through a couple others, I ended on this blog... and found these mommy confessions:

"I bribe my kids whenever it will work and threaten them if the bribe isn't working. I refer to it as "The double bribe threat combo" and I actually have no problem with this method of parenting. "

"I let my voicemail pick up 90% of my phone calls each day and only return about 10% of them"

"I ate the last piece of my daughter's ice cream cake after I told her there was no more left. "

"I'm too lazy to take my daughter's binky away at night."

"I let my dog "vacuum" my floor if the kids spill crackers or something."

"I tell my kids food is spicy if I don't want to share."

"I rent porn on occasion, tell DH it was not me and he calls Comcast ranting and raving about erroneous charges "

"I hold my laptop more than I hold my baby. Actually in my defense I do them at the same time (BFing). I told DH the heat from the laptop keeps her warm. LOL"

"I will be a sad sad woman when the kids stop believing in Santa... Santa threats make 85% of my problems go away!"

"When make cookies or cinnamon rolls for the boys, I always pick out the "best" ones for myself (the ones with the most chips, or the most icing)"

"I also tell the kids places are closed when I really just don't want to go there! My son was soooooo surprised that Chuck E. Cheese was open for his birthday party! LOL"

"I take my laptop in the bathroom with me and surf the web ..DH thinks I just have an upset stomach"

"I buy treats at the store and hide them from my kids & DH"

"If we all sleep in until 8 or 8:30, I lie to DH and tell him we've been up since he left (7 a.m.) I try not to sound too lazy. "

"I don't recycle. And I only feel a little bit bad about it."

"When Noah's fish died I was elated! That damm fish food smelled so bad it made me want to barf. Oh you didn't know Noah had a fish? Yes, Fudgy the fish died before I had a chance to even write about him. Did you know you cannot pet a fish like a cat or a dog? Well, now Noah does!"

"Sometimes I let Emme chew on a piece of Kleenex. The girl loves paper products! I almost always get all the pieces out before she swallows them."

"Noah caught me saying "crap!" one day and started repeating it. I convinced him what I actually said was "crack!" as in "crackers" so now whenever he drops something or stubs his toe he says "oh, crackers!!!!""

What are your mommy confessions? I need to know it's ok to be bad, sometimes.