Dear Baby, Part 2...

Dear Baby,

We saw you for the third time on an ultrasound yesterday. This time, you looked less like a bug, and more like a person. You have a nice big head (still), and we saw your arms and legs. You have a little nose that we'll say looks like mine, even though I had a nose job at 14 and don't remember what my real nose looks like (the nose was broken, people...I wasn't a snotty little vain tween :-) ).

We ordered your crib yesterday...so now you can be assured of a place to sleep. Your Mama has to strip her old dressers and re-paint them, so we're not entirely sure that you'll have your things in drawers...they might be stacked up in the corner. I'm just kidding...she's more on top of stuff than I'll ever be...so your whole room will be ready and gorgeous. Which I suppose will please us plenty, even though you won't remember it at all. We'll show you pictures someday. Along with pictures of the egg you once were. Enough visuals to confirm for you that your parents are truly nuts.

You and I are currently still at odds over food. I'm hoping you'll take it easy on me soon and let me eat normally. That is still my chief complaint with this pregnancy - which I won't mention much until you (or your spouse/significant other/somebody vaguely related to you) experience pregnancy. Then I'll recount the torture you put me through, the days I couldn't eat, and the times that you were spiteful by letting me eat, only to toss it back up at me. On second thought, I may not do that at all. Because my mother is constantly telling me those stories, and it is darn annoying.

So, only 7 more weeks before we can start referring to you as a she or he. We're kind of already calling you a she, so if you're a girl that works out. If you're a boy...well...I hope you're not offended.

Take care in there, kiddo. And let me eat, would you? I'm sure we'll both be happier.

Love,

Your Mommy

Dear Baby, Part 1...

[This is the first in what I hope will be my "Dear Baby" series (as in, I'm hoping that I'll actually follow through and write a whole series!). I suppose this will be a good record of my time growing this kid...we'll see. For reference, we'll be referring to me as Mommy, and the wife as Mama. The kid will be 5 before that makes sense, but whatever...]

Dear Baby,

Tomorrow you will be 60 days old. You were conceived on 12/12, and we both have survived your growth from that tiny embryo to a fetus. It was obviously more important that you make it through, but I gotta tell you, I wasn't so sure at times that I would make it through. But I'm rather fond of you, and so I've tried not to store away too much guilt that I can pile onto you when you are 13. We'll see how that works out.

You were conceived in a petri dish, with the assistance of some nice lab person whom we do not know. I suppose this is less romantic than most conceptions...but just think...when I talk to you about the birds and the bees (I doubt your Mama can stomach that conversation), you don't have to think about your parents in that way. We were fully dressed, sitting in a waiting room. Actually, I think we were fully dressed watching TV at home while I made your Mama fetch me things...but I digress. I know I don't want to think about my parents doing that to conceive me...so maybe the petri dish will seem less disturbing. I hope so. We won't go into the fact that there is no way your parents would have been doing that anyways - conception really doesn't work that way in this family. But I'm trying to put a good spin on this...so just work with me...ok?

You currently have a strong heartbeat that we've heard three times. You have a big head, which I'm told is normal at this stage, but we're hoping that it is because you are growing a big old brain (somebody has to support us when we're old!). You are dancing in there, kind of spastic-like, so I guess you'll be like your Mama (I won't specify whether it is the dancing or the spastic I'm referring to there).

So kid, dance away in there. Grow some nice organs, and strong arms and legs. Your Mama is hoping you'll be taller than me, and more athletic. I'm piling this on you now, because the genes I gave you aren't conducive to that, but hopefully we can overcome that. The other half of your DNA was taller and more athletic, so maybe that will help. I hope for the best for you there - I can't help you at all. But I'll be there cheering on the bleachers, with a first-aid kit sitting close by. You never know when my genes will come popping out.

Love,

Your Mommy

Will the first trimester ever end?

OK...so I've been lazy, and have posted nothing since our good news. Now we are 10 weeks into the pregnancy, and I'm getting really darn tired of the first trimester. What I officially do not like:

1. Nausea. All the time. Really bad in the evening, and I've only eaten dinner once in the last 2 weeks.
2. Nausea out of control. Had about 18 hours of vomiting this week. That was the first of that, and I hope the last. MISERABLE.
3. Exhaustion. I went to bed at 8pm last night. Woke up at 8am. Went back to bed at 10am and slept until 1. It's 7pm, and I could go to bed right now.
4. Cravings. This one is good and bad...but sometimes they change so fast I don't even have time to consume what I went and bought.

What I like:

1. Ultrasounds. We've had two - and were able to hear the heartbeat both times. I'd like to say that it was a big sappy moment that brought tears to our eyes. I don't know about the wife, but all I could think was "thank God...its still there". Is that bad of me?
2. Ultrasound pictures. We have pictures of this kid from 5 days, 5 weeks and 7 weeks after conception. This last time the baby was jamming and waving her arms (we're calling it a "her" at the moment). OK, that was a big sappy moment. I guess I am capable of sappy...
3. Baby books with pictures. I could stare at those little fish looking pictures of an embryo all day long. Miraculous doesn't begin to describe it.

So...that's status as of the moment. Two more weeks of the first trimester, they say...and, they also say, that this unpleasantness will end. Here's hoping!!