Up and Smugging again

I re-organized my smugmug account in prep for the inevitable influx of Aidan pictures.

For now, it has a few random family pictures (our engagement pictures, some rock climbing stuff, and I should add wedding pictures), Aidan's ultrasounds, and my weekly(ish) pictures.

www.caroline.smugmug.com

Aidan's 24w ultrasound

Don't look at mah face!  You're looking?!  I'm covering it up then!

Aidan is emphatically still a boy.  His money shot was pretty ambiguous at ~19w - but 5 weeks later it is clear as day.  Or else my daughter most definitely has a penis.  In which case we have some things to discuss.

For your own perusal, see exhibit A (the first "it's a boy" shot)

And Exhibit B (today's shot - haven't scanned it in, but here's a picture of the picture):

Tom was actually able to squeeze a few words out of the radiologist (huge accomplishment, trust me).  We actually got her to say that his spine looks good!  I think I'm happier today than I was the day I found out I was pregnant.  I'll feel even better when I hear these words from my doctor, but I'm pretty much walking on air this afternoon.

My breechie flipped himself over and is head down.  Stay there, baby bear!  And please stop kicking whatever you're kicking that's causing sharp pain in the weirdest places imaginable.

Still, I wouldn't be a pregnant lady without reading something into nothing and getting all sketched out. 
At the end of the scan, I asked how Aidan was measuring and she got all weird and mumbled something about how there's really no way to tell, but that I could read some baby books and find out how big he is "because they're all pretty much the same right now."

I don't know, it just sat funny with me.  They can absolutely tell if they're measuring ahead and behind, and the fact that she wouldn't say makes me a little suspicious that he's measuring either a little bit big or a little bit small - which I'm sure is completely fine, but I found it unnerving that she got all sketchy and refused to say anything.  But yeah, I know, they're really not supposed to. 



Bottom line, monkey looks healthy, so mommy is happy!

24 Weeks

Annnnnd, we're viable.  The idea behind this day absolutely makes me want to be sick.  On the one hand, I'm thrilled to have made it to this day.  This is a huge milestone for me, and for Aidan.  If he were born today, there would be roughly a 50% chance that he'd survive.  That number sounds simultaneously insanely high and terrifyingly low.

I am so outrageously lucky to have had such an easy, uncomplicated pregnancy.  Aidan has been wonderful, and while I am feeling very uncomfortable, it's all due to my own body's problems and not because the pregnancy is in any way complicated.  I am very thankful for the wonderful doctor I have found, and for the fact that he is not an alarmist psychopath.  Hearing him tell me how wonderful Aidan and I are looking is the highlight of my month (soon to be the dual highlights!).

We have an ultrasound today to look at Aidan's spine and re-measure all of his little parts.  Tom has been able to take time from work to do this together.  He hasn't seen our baby boy since 9 weeks, and I think he's going to be floored at how much has changed.  I haven't seen him in 5 1/2 weeks, and I know I'll be shocked.

I haven't previously asked many questions during ultrasounds. No news is good news, right?  If all continues to go well, this will be our last ultrasound.  I am hoping for the confidence to ask lots of questions today.

The most exciting Christmas ever (so far)

I am psyched about Christmas this year.  Along with all of our stockings, we will be hanging this:

We love you, baby boy.  I can't wait to fill this stocking up with goodies for you :)

CPR Class

Today, Tom and I took our Infant/Child CPR + First Aid class.  8 hours worth of class later, we're certified to save Aidan from choking on hot dogs and having febrile seizures. I did this course 3 years ago, and it was a totally different experience.  Every picture I saw made me sad, every really awful 80's enactment of an accident brought me to tears, and I couldn't stop thinking about all of the misfortunes that could befall poor little A.  I sort of want to keep him tied to his stroller and on a liquid diet.

Tom wanted to poach away a nanny who was taking the class - regardless of the fact that she HAS a job, and we won't need anyone for another six months.  He wouldn't drop the issue until she started excitedly chattering away about some priest or something that she just heard speak at her college.  That was enough to help Tom move along.  I'm more than not ready to think about which stranger we're going to pick to take care of our son.  Blergh.

Tom got the dumpiest, most ghetto Resuscitation Annie doll EVER.  The poor thing was absolutely filthy (the picture doesn't show this too well) and totally emaciated.  Not to mention bafflingly anatomically correct (um, does a CPR mannequin actually need a VAGINA?).

Those are some strong feet!

Today, 22w3d, I saw Aidan's kicks for the first time.  It's funny, because I was literally JUST saying to Tom that lots of girls on the boards have started seeing kicks, so it should happen soon for us.  Later on, I was lying in bed watching TV, and felt like the little hatcher was kicking extra hard.  I took a peek and noticed, sure enough, I could totally see him kicking!  I wonder how long that's been going on.  I feel like the least observant pregnant person on the face of the planet.

By Popular Request...

Me and Aidan, 22w2d.  Moo.

Ridiculous things I want to splurge on.

Herein lies my running tally of things that I totally don't need and simultaneously totally want to splurge on.

Mister Fister Onesie Stickers by Picky Sticky
Instead, I went for these, in blue and green instead of pink and green.  The seller was really awesome about working to make them just what I wanted.

Zooaroo swaddle wraps by Aden + Anais

Studio Diaper Tote by Skip Hop

The Puj Tub 

Lions and Tigers and Bear Suits - Oh My!

Dear Aidan,

Today, I bought you a warm fuzzy bear suit.  You will be born in the winter, and I want you to be warm.  Also, I want you to be adorable.  I'm thinking this bear suit accomplishes both.

The funny thing is that this is approximately the ten thousandth item of clothing I've gotten for you, and yet for some reason, it really got to me.  After work I sat in my car looking at your teeny tiny suit and just lost it.  Thinking about how tiny you are right this very minute and how much bigger you will be when I meet you.  Thinking about all the little nudges and pokes that you give me all day to remind me that you're still here.  Like I would ever forget.  Thinking about how lucky Daddy and I are to have you and how much we're looking forward to looking into your tiny little face.  Wondering what color your eyes will be, whether you'll have Daddy's red hair, and what your favorite song will be.  Wondering how long it will take you to figure out that Mommy really really can't sing, but she'll try, just for you.

I don't know why your little bear suit made me think about all of these things, but I bet this will be one of my favorites.  Please, Aidan, try to get at least one or two wears out of it because you poop it beyond recognition.

We love you, Hatchy.  Keep growing, stay healthy, and maybe cut my sciatic nerve a break.  Or don't.  I mean, whichever.

Just the Facts

1. It's a Boy!  Just as 99.8% of us suspected.  Why anyone thinks "oh.  too bad it's not a girl" is an appropriate response is beyond me, but most people are really excited.  I'll confess to breathing a major sigh of relief.  Boys I can handle.

2. Our Boy is named, and my Husband is a loudmouth, so keeping it Private is pretty much shot.  And by "pretty much" I mean "completely."  Since everyone else and their mother knows, I might as well say it here.  Our son's name is Aidan Thomas, and if you even *try* coming up with a nickname for Aidan, I will break your face.  Clearly his nickname is Hatchy, no matter how horrified this makes Grandma. 


I am debating heading over to BRU this weekend to trade in the high chair we have for a 25% off coupon for the high chair we want.  We have until Sept 19th to do it, so we'll see.

We are all signed up for every kind of class I can think of needing.  We're taking a Infant/Child CPR and First Aid class in September, a breastfeeding class in October (though I doubt it will be as fun as Tom is hoping...), and a 3 week childbirth class in November.  Seems early but my doc says I should have it all done by the end of month 7.  And I'm a rule-follower.  So I'll be done with all of it by 31 weeks.