No News is Good News

We haven't had much news to report in the past few weeks, but that's a good thing. NewMom-To-Be went for her monthly checkup with the doctor a week or so ago, and he confirmed that everything was going smoothly. We got to hear the heartbeat again, a moment that is powerful enough to stop two science-geeks in their tracks and make them go "Awwww, that is so cool!" I may have to consult with my father-in-law and two brothers-in-law (electrical/electronic* engineer, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer-to-be) on a project to build a home Doppler Ultrasound device. Waiting until next month for the big ultrasound is just too long to wait. Surely we could work something up with a 9-volt battery, an old Atari, and a big roll of duct tape.

(*What exactly are you, Ken? Your designated career is about to spark a domestic disturbance** of nuclear proportions.)

The "big" ultrasound is mid-March, and yes, we're going to tell everyone what it is when we find out. Name ideas will be kept secret, but suggestions will be taken. We've already read about the struggles of the boy who was pre-named Garrett, only to be born with a flaming head of red hair. Hmmm...I might eat a carrot after posting this... For now, we'll stick with NBA (New Baby Ariail).

NewMom-To-Be is progressing through week 15 like a trooper. The nausea seems to be over, but I'm crosinng my fyingres as I tipye thss (sure does make it hard to type) and hoping it doesn't come back. In other pregnancy developments, NewMom-To-Be claims to have possibly felt "the quickening," but wasn't absolutely sure. She said it might have been gas. Ah, the romance. At any rate, feeling it now would be pretty early, so I don't have my hand glued to her belly just yet.

In other news, NewMom-To-Be has officially resigned from her teaching position for next year. Apparently this is necessary so that the school can advertise the opening. "Resigning" is usually the term for "I'm leaving because I was asked to" or "I'm leaving because my spouse got a new job 2000 miles away." The details of why she is "resigning" are not made clear in the newspaper-published board minutes, so lately we've had to answer lots of questions about that. Everyone says that staying home is a good plan. Those who didn't are saying they wish they had. Those that did said they wouldn't trade it for anything. However, I'm secretly suspicious that those who actually did do it can't remember what is was like because of Ramen Noodle Amnesia.

That's about it from Pregnancy Land, where all the women are glowing, all the men are not quite sure what to make of this, and all the babies-to-be are not yet named.

(**Just kidding. NewMom-To-Be has completed her counseling and the parole officer says it is OK for her to be back in the house.)

New Mom-To-Be Looks to the Future, Sees Many Changes on Horizon

In pregnancy-land, things have been continuing pretty much unchanged for the past few weeks. I turned 30 about a week ago, a birthday of major significance. You see, from now on, I'll be able to remember my first child's age by subtracting 30. Might seem silly now, but with the head of gray hair I'm sporting these days, I'm ever mindful of the challenges that lie ahead.

The only change as we enter week 12 is the return of an old unwelcome friend: Nausea. We hear and read that throwing up is actually a good thing, and Christie accepts it grudgingly. As further evidence that I will never understand the trials of pregnancy, Christie and I went out to eat breakfast this morning. Christie had bacon and pancakes with lots of syrup, washing it all down with some decaffeinated coffee. Shortly after eating, she pronounced her nausea to be gone. And to think, I was going to suggest dry toast and ginger ale. Hmph.

After breakfast, Christie and I went to Jekyll Island today to see the birds. Going over the Glory Boardwalk (where the beach scene from the movie was filmed), I was able to spot a bunch of butterbutts (Myrtle Warblers, for you non-birder folks), ruby-crowned kinglets, and the ever exotic beach cardinal. I wasn't able to impress Christie by trying to scare up a painted bunting or two, as my screech-owl call failed to produce even the slightest hint of the rainbow-colored bird. My "expertise" was further diminished once we reached the beach, when I was reduced to saying "oooh! large tern! oooh! smaller tern! oooh! medium-sized gull!" Christie (I swear her eyesight must be improving as result of the hormones!) was able to expertly ID all of the shorebirds, including picking out the one ruddy turnstone (yes, it's name is really "ruddy turnstone") in a flock of about 200 terns, black skimmers, and sanderlings. We both had a good time, but I suspect that Christie's unspoken comment the whole time was "Why can't there be a bathroom every 1/4 mile?"

After birding, we stopped for a quick lunch at the Georgia Pig. For those of you who are uninitiated, the Georgia Pig is about the best barbecue you can get within a 3000-mile radius of Brunswick, Ga. At $4.25 a sandwich, it better be. I am happy to report that the place was busy and even looked a bit spruced up (those of you who know can smirk now). All in all, a good day. =)

BabyScan 1 Complete!

NewMom-T0-Be and I went for her first ultrasound today. Here's one of the pictures we got. Being there was amazing. NewMom-T0-Be thought the ultrasound goo was cold, but that apparently didn't affect the baby, as it was waving/moving his arm buds around like a happy camper. Another scan let us hear the heartbeat, and we have a printout of that too...but looking at it just isn't the same as hearing it, no matter how I hold the picture up to my ear. Yet another scan revealed that the object of all of this attention is about 3 cm long, confirming that this is week 10 (wow, is it 25% over already?) and that the due date is August 9th. From my reading of every pregnancy book I can pry out of NewMom-T0-Be's hands, I find that the "due date" idea is more of a general concept than say, an airline arrival schedule. =) We'll just hope for sometime between late July and mid-August. At any rate, it will be hot then and yes, we're already saving for the air-conditioning bill.

We celebrated the viewing by going to Jacksonville and eating at Olive Garden, followed by an initial trip to Babies R Us, where I was pleasantly surprised by the prices. You see, when you have no concept of how much things cost and generally figure that one sleep-sack costs $50, it's reassuring to find that it only costs $45.90. No, really, we were overwhelmed with all of the stuff but spent a pleasant hour or so looking at car seats, strollers, car seat/stroller combos, etc.

In other news, we are getting new siding on the house...we're putting up sand-colored vinyl siding. The guys came out today to start, and already the front side of the house looks great. We'd like to put up something more substantial than vinyl, but when you look at the two big holes to throw money in, the "baby" hole looks a lot better than the "house" hole. =)