It's the final countdown.

Hold up both of your hands.

Fingers stretched out.

That's how many days we have left... 10.

TEN!

(theoretically.)

I'm still feeling good. Just large. But not so much in charge.

My calisthenics involve getting out of bed or off the couch. Three or four good grunts and an "ouch" and I'm up! From the main floor of our house you either have to go up or down steps to get to a bathroom, so my calf muscles are in really good shape right about now.

I'd say this poster accurately describes how I'm feeling with 10 fingers left to go: Pick an emotion, any emotion, and I'm feeling it. I've gone through this entire poster of faces over the last couple of weeks.

But, like boyscouts, I think we are prepared. We've got bags packed, Christmas presents wrapped, tree erected, a clean house, a finished nursery, books read, doctor's phone numbers on speed dial, all major baby "stuff" put together, car seat bases installed, basic knowledge of what to expect, video camera, regular camera, underwater camera, everything that will ever touch the baby has been washed, a dog sitter has been lined up, we've notified the authorities, stopped our mail, and told all interested parties that under no circumstances is there to be a wooden stork placed in our front yard.

Let me know if there's something I'm forgetting.

Bring on the baby!

More deep thoughts.

Every once in a while it really hits me that there is an actual human being in my stomach. Right this very second! IN MY STOMACH*! Like, here's me just walking around getting files from the filing cabinet carrying another person along with me like it's no big deal. "Oh, just excuse me and this person within my belly, we've got business to conduct. I know you can't see her but I can feel her, she's inside me kicking around and LIVING!"

My mind is blown. Thinking about anything else will cease for the rest of the day.



* I know the baby is not technically 'in my stomach'. I have a better grasp on anatomy than that. But my stomach is the area that is protruding the most. I suppose I could say the baby is in my thighs or my behind because they are protruding as well, but that is even less accurate. So, the baby is in my stomach for the sake of this story, mmmkay?

My lovely lady lumps

It's true what they say...

... horizontal stripes DO make you look wider. Or maybe it's the baby? Either way, ain't our baby cute?

Photo taken on the eve of my 7th month of pregnancy. Almost 28 weeks.

Hello, my name is....

So we've decided on a name for our baby girl! But we are keeping it a secret until she is here because we'd like to avoid the, "oh, that's my neighbor's dog's name" or "ooh, I knew someone in school with that name and I hated her" or "oh really? {wrinkled face} I'm not sure how I feel about that" nonsense that usually follows. And we like it that we are the only ones who know for now. Especially since every already knows it's a girl, there has to be some element of mystery. Plus it's really fun for us.

Nobody is trying as hard to guess the name as my aunt. The last two times I've seen her, she's probably thrown out 398 names. She's convinced that she's guessed correctly about 6 times, with 6 different names.

I've stopped trying to call the baby by her given name (hee hee!) at home because if I get into the habit of it, I'm positive I'll slip at some point. So for now, she's MD3.

Here's a question we've been struggling with: we LOVE our dog's name - Nora. It's super cute and it flows nicely with our last name. We strongly considered naming our daughter Nora, but think that people would silently judge our decision to name our daughter after our dog. So, would you judge us or someone else you know for naming their daughter or son after their dog? Could we really get away with it? Honesty is appreciated.

We'rehavingababyit'saGIRL!

MD3 is now officially a GIRL!

And she's a happy baby already! We could see her smile and she had her mouth open and moving! It was the cutest thing ever. We've got a future comedienne in here. Telling jokes and making herself laugh...she takes after me already!

MD guessed GIRL from the beginning, so I must give credit where credit is due. And the 12 other of you who said GIRL, you can now have the satisfaction of knowing you were right. Thanks for playing!

My Dad said, "Oh great, another shopping partner for you and your mom!" In honor of that, I must now go and do some online shopping for fun, girly pink stuff!

Thank you all for being excited! Even those of you who don't know me. How cool to have such nice people to share in this special time!

:)

17 weeks.

Here is the only photo that's been taken of my belly so far. Taken two weeks ago, I'll be 19 weeks on Friday. I'm mad at me. I simply must do this more often. Because 20 weeks from now, 20 years from now, it will be too late. I can't have that.

I've never shown this much skin on the Internet. My head is cut off to protect the innocent.

---

P.S. Guess whose husband showed them how to get photos off the camera and onto the computer? There will be no stopping me now!

P.P.S. There is only 16 hours left to vote on what you think the sex of the baby is. Does the belly give any indication?

Baby Poll.

What do you think our baby is? Please provide your guess to the right.

The ultrasound appointment is scheduled for next Friday at 10! I shall reveal the results shortly thereafter.

(This is exciting!)

MD3.

It's been recommended that I start posting pregnancy information. And I think that's a darn good idea. I'm mad at myself for not taking a picture of my belly yet, so in the interim, I shall use this sweet photo.

Here's where I'm at:

• As of today, Wednesday, July 15, I am 17.5 weeks pregnant. I will be 18 weeks on Friday.
• I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and so far I have gained 11 pounds.
• The baby's heartbeat was going at 156 beats per minute (Yes, I am aware of the old wives' tale on heart rate.)
• We can find out the sex next week! That was a huge deal for me yesterday.
• The doctor I was seeing moved to another state. May have to get a boy doctor. Still debating that one. Luckily the nurse practioner I've seen for years (she was in the delivery room when I was born!) is still there.
• My clothes are just now getting to the point of not fitting, yet I'm still trying to squeeze into them for as long as I can. Shirts are really gapping at the bust and I'm just doing my best to not provide a free show at work. I haven't buttoned my pants in about two weeks. I have been wearing maternity jeans, which I love! That full panel thing is tres comfy! All pants should be like that.
• I'm trying to walk on the treadmill a couple times a week and lift 5-pound weights.
• I'm not craving any weird things, but I'm still eating the heck out of fruit - you name it, cherries, grapes, apples, kiwi, bananas - all of it.
• Still drinking lots of orange juice.
• I haven't felt any flutters yet, but I'm eagerly anticipating that moment.
• I'm no longer tired all the time. Except for when it's really hot outside.
• I'm ready to start buying stuff! We already have a swing and a pack 'n play that we got from a friend of my Mom's. Which we've had since Week 10.
• My place of business has a child care center and we got word yesterday that we are off the waiting list and are in for Spring '10! The child care center was one of the first places that I called when I found out I was pregnant. The place fills up fast. Like, a year in advance! It'll be nice to have the baby right here. I can see the building from my window.

Um, I think that's about it for now.

I guess I need to get one of those creepy spinning baby graphics for the side of my blog.

[Alternate title: Oh, so this is what boobs look like...]

It's true, MD and I are going to be parents!

Finding out you are pregnant is incredibly exciting. (I know, news flash.) We found out right before we took our road trip to Charlotte in April. (Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 9:38 p.m. to be exact.) So I had 11 hours to focus on our news while trying not to blurt it out to our friends who we were traveling with. Which, ultimately, we ended up telling them that weekend anyway. There was no way I could have pulled off not drinking for a whole weekend. We were there for a wedding, it's what we do!

I took a pregnancy test after being extremely tired and late. But I had been feeling crampy so I was sure that I wasn't. (Little did I know, they were uterus-growing cramps.) I waited the designated amount of time and like the previous months, I announced from the bathroom that time was up. I glanced at it. Then I STARED at it. Two lines!?

That particular test didn't have a key on it, so I took the test and the paper downstairs to Mike, not uttering a sound. I handed both to him. We squealed (ok, I squealed) and hugged and said "Oh my God!" a few hundred times. Then I quickly drank a few glasses of water and took another one. Positive. Then I took two more a week later. Juuust to make sure. Positive and positive. No doubt about any of them.

Being a Nervous Nelly, I have been hesitant to tell people too early. But it's been a lot of fun. Seeing people's raw genuine reactions is great. I love surprises. To say that my parents were excited is the understatement of the new millenium. And my totally great sister-in-law hopped around the house. Not too many people hop anymore.

One thing (aside from the obvious miracle and growing chest) that has really pleased me about becoming pregnant is the fact that I've discovered that I don't drink because I have to, I drink because I just like it. I truly enjoy a nice glass of wine and a cold beer. And I miss them both. It's a small price to pay though. They'll be there after I have the baby. (Like, in the waiting room I hope.)

I was one of the lucky ones. I haven't had any bouts of morning, afternoon or evening sickness. Although certain foods have not sounded remotely appealing - like whole wheat crackers. There was no way I could have swallowed the one that I chewed. No way. It tasted like pure evil. And sometimes, even my lifelong friend CHEESE doesn't always sound good. Which is upsetting. I hope that it, too, will be there for me after I have the baby. However, I can't get enough apples. Bring on the Fujis! (And the potato chips and french onion dip! I'm embarrassed to share how much of those I've eaten so far.) And suddenly I'm drinking orange juice again after, oh, I don't know... 18 years? It's so random how this works. But I'm loving it.

Truth: There was a time in my life where I wasn't sure if I wanted to have kids. I've always liked them, I just wasn't comfortable around them. I wasn't around kids all that much growing up. My family is relatively small and everyone is close to my age, so I didn't have people 10-15 years older than me who had kids. But I'd say over the last 5 years or so I really started to grow fond of children. My cousins started having them and I saw how much they enjoyed them and I oohed and ahhed over them and held them and became a Godparent to one of them.

And then I met my husband.

And I saw how close he is with his siblings. He takes every other year-ly trips with his two older brothers and his sister thinks the world of him. That solidified it. I thought, "Let's do this. I want that in my life." I want to have children who are great friends and I want to build that family environment with Christmas traditions and vacations and birthday parties and hugs just because. I want to hold my kid's little hand and read them funny stories and laugh about silly things they say or do. I want to have that experience with my husband of being at the hospital looking at each other and realizing that our whole lives are about to change forever. I WANT THAT. And, I want my parents to be grandparents. It wouldn't be fair to the world if they weren't.

Not to mention how great my husband is with our nieces and nephews. I have NO DOUBT that he will be an awesome father. Loving and protective all at the same time. And he's great at impressions so he will definitely know how to make them laugh :) Why wouldn't I want to have a baby with him?

I would definitely like more than one, if we are so blessed. I've been an only child - it's ok, it has its perks, but personally I can't help but think I'm missing out on something more. I don't want that for my kids.

So, I'm 11 weeks today. I've had an ultrasound and been to various doctor's appointments and it looks like little MD3 is due December 20. What a wonderful Christmas present we will have this year!