Yes, I know I'm way behind on posting. It's been a busy few weeks including a week-long stint away from home. I have lots of photos to go through before I can put some entries together. For now, these two photos are from Dad's birthday party:

 

Enjoy!

I'm taking a short break from what's been a very busy and hectic couple of weeks. At work we've been slammed with multiple large projects and not quite enough time to complete them during normal business hours. We've brought in Steve on a freelance basis; an artist who left the company last fall. And another artist has agreed to stay with the company for an additional week because of the new projects. She had given notice over three weeks ago. All four of us have been working long hours and a few of us have been bringing some work home with us. I have found myself feeling the same frustration I felt in high school when one teacher would assign a seemingly large homework assignment and I'd stare at the assignment thinking, "don't they know we have other classes too?" I've asked similar questions over the past few days, "don't they understand that they aren't our only customer?" But with the downturn in the economy, we're working hard to increase the amount of work we do for our big customers. I just hope they don't abuse us too much. Of course with these very tight deadlines, my work computer giving me problems has just increased my frustration. Our IT person and I have been troubleshooting with Apple for over three weeks. We both have decided that the issue is with the hardware, but are working to convince the product specialist at AppleCare so we can bring the computer to an Apple Store for repairs. Imagine having your computer freeze every five to ten minutes... not freeze completely, just for thirty seconds or so. No wonder my blood pressure was elevated at my Dr's appointment this morning.

Yesterday marked the halfway point in this crazy thing called pregnancy; twenty weeks. The little mooncake is approximately 6 1/2 inches long and 10 1/2 ounces. About the length of a banana. Apparently at 20 weeks, they stop measuring from head to rump and start measuring from head to foot.



He moves around a little bit every day and even managed to dodge my Dr's fetal doppler this morning. She had to use the ultrasound machine to get his heart rate. It cracked me up because I could feel him move out of the way. I imagine it'll get more difficult for him to dodge the doppler as he gets bigger and runs out of room. Last weekend I bought a pair of maternity jeans. I think I groaned out loud when I tried them on... they were so comfortable. The hair tie holding my jeans together just wasn't working anymore. I still haven't really started gaining weight, just gaining tummy. I gained five pounds in the last four weeks, but I'm still down five from my pre-pregnancy weight (I lost twelve in the first trimester.) I imagine I'll catch up pretty quickly, I'm certainly eating plenty.

Bill and I are making plans for a week-long vacation in about three weeks... (my co-worker joked: our last vacation ever) Our original plans were to spend a week in south Florida and the Keys. After Bill worked there last week, hated the humidity, and came home with over a dozen mosquito bites, we nixed that plan. Plus the warm temperatures would be tough for me. I don't want to spend my vacation stuck indoors. Our new plan has us at Lake Tahoe. I was all excited at the prospect of seeing 4th of July fireworks over the lake, but the $500-$800/night hotel rates have squashed that excitement. We'll probably just leave on the 3rd. When it comes to vacation planning, this somewhat last minute stuff is how we roll. It got us an amazing deal on our trip to Maui and it's always done well for us. By next week, we could be going somewhere completely different. Wherever we end up, I promise to bring the camera.

My apologies for those who wanted to find out last week's fruit/vegetable analogy... it was a bell pepper and the photo was misleading yet again.

This week is much better:


At nineteen weeks we're approximately the size of a large heirloom tomato. Yum! Measuring six inches long and weighing approximately eight and a half ounces. If he/she is be born with hair, it's beginning to sprout about now. That will depend on who's genes end up dominant... I was bald at birth, Bill had a full head of hair.

The best part of last week:

I had my second trimester ultrasound on Friday and we learned the sex.


It's a boy!

In case you need it pointed out...





He's sucking his thumb here.

The ultrasound tech took the measurements she needed and said that he's measuring a little bit big and projected that my due date will be closer to October 18th instead of the 27th. My official due date will remain the 27th. She said they don't change it unless the baby's measurements push it much more than a week. She said that his legs are long and that his profile looks like he has my nose. It was awesome seeing him pretty much fully formed with his heart beating and his little body moving around.

She then showed us what we can do in the coming months if we're willing to fork out the money. My clinic offers what they call 4D ultrasounds. (They're actually 3D, and I think it's ridiculous to call them 4D.) If you Google "4D ultrasound" there are some really amazing photos. It's basically the normal ultrasound with some sort of algorithm in place that guesses what the 2D image looks like in 3D. Sometimes the images really turn out awesome and you can see facial features well enough to identify if the baby looks more like Mom or Dad.



This is the image she printed for us. At only eighteen weeks, it's not a very clear image. His had is right near his cheek and he's smiling. The baby had his head buried in the placenta for a while and it took a little while for him to turn around. It was really amazing to watch, it looked like he was burying his head in a pillow.

To be completely honest, I was shocked to find out we were having a boy. I was convinced we were having a girl and was worried I'd be disappointed if it turned out to be a boy. I wasn't upset, I didn't cry, but I was disappointed. All day Friday I kept thinking how my intuition could have been so wrong and what am I going to do with a boy... I can't start a Girl Scout troop with a boy!

He must have sensed my disappointment because I really felt him move for the first time on Satruday. Magically, it made everything all better.

We've begun talking about names, but don't bother asking what the winner will be. Once we decide, we're going to keep it a surprise until he's born. Ya'll will find out when the world does. :::insert evil laugh:::