Little by little, bit by bit.

So, I had my ultrasound last Wednesday - and it's a boy! All is well with him as far as we know, the midwife said she would contact us if there was anything to be alarmed about. Otherwise we will just be going over the results at my next appointment, on March 7th. The ultrasound took over an hour - the first 45 mins was just the tech and me in the room, quiet, as she took all the pictures and measurments. Half way through, she had me to go empty my bladder and walk around a bit - she needed baby to change positions so she could get the rest of the measurments. Finally she called Paul in, turned the screen so we could see it and showed us our baby. He is perfect. She showed us everything - his face, hands, spine, heartbeat, legs, feet and then his "little boy parts". We had been convinced it was a girl for some reason, so we were surprised and very excited to hear he is a boy.

Here's his little profile picture:



And here's my most recent "bump" picture, at 20 week 2 days:




Tomorrow is Day 3 of me having to wake up at 7am. Thank god it's also my last day. Thursday and Friday I'll be back to my normal work shift, and getting to sleep in til 9am. Really, getting up at 7am wouldn't be so bad if I could fall asleep before midnight - but that never happens. Paul doesn't get home til around 10pm, then he has dinner and we watch some TV or a movie. I hate not really seeing him all day so I stay up as late as I can. Last night I stayed up til 12:30am, then tossed and turned all night because the baby is kicking harder now and it keeps waking me up. Don't get me wrong - I love the feeling! And once last night he was kicking so hard that I put my hand there and I felt him kick from the outside! It was amazing. I have no idea how I can love someone that I've never met, but man do I ever love him.

This weekend we *may* be going to look into getting a new vehicle. We have always wanted an SUV and now that we basically need a bigger vehice, it looks like it might be happening. The car seat that I'm looking into may be too small for our car. Plus, our car's trunk is so small, I worry about fitting the stroller and other baby/dog related items.

Next weekend is the cloth diapering seminar, which I am SO excited about. We will likely be making our first couple diaper purchases, as well. I can't wait to learn more about this - it's one of the main things I'm really passionate about, when it comes to baby.

My baby shower planning is also in the works, thanks to my awesome sister-in-law. It's going to be in May - so still pretty far away. But either way, I'm more than excited to be thinking about it, since it means my Mom and my sister will be here, as well as just having my friends and family together to celebrate our baby will be amazing.

Cursed by my imagination.

I'm finding it hard to believe that I'm already half way through my pregnancy. It doesn't feel like that long ago when I first got that positive test, back in November. Tomorrow is my first ultrasound. We are so excited to "see" baby for the first time, make sure s/he is growing and healthy and also (if s/he co-operates) find out if it's a boy or girl.

Paul started setting up the baby furniture this past weekend. The dresser and change table are both set up now, and the crib will get set up this weekend I presume. Then all we'll need is my glider and ottoman, which we'll get after the baby shower, and then the crib mattress and bedding. All of that we will wait until after the shower -which won't be until May.

Right now my main research project is car seats. We have chosen to forgo the "infant seat" all together, and are starting out with a convertible seat. These go from 5 lbs to 20 lbs rear-facing and then up to around 50 lbs forward-facing. The one I have my eye on right now is this Britax Roundabout 55.



Our issue is that it's a big car seat, and might not fit well in our small-ish car. Of course, we may get a bigger vehicle before baby comes, but that's not for sure yet. Plus, we'll have to special order this one and it might take up ten weeks to come in. Basically that means we have to order it soon. I have finished my research or come to my final decision yet. We'll see what happens.

I'm still exhausted, pretty much all the time. I can sleep ten hours at night and still need a nap after work. I thought my energy was supposed to come back in 2nd trimester? Oh well, I don't mind. I got plenty of housework done this past weekend, finally. I no longer feel like I can't keep up with it, which is all that matters. Speaking of naps, though... I'm going to lay down.

We are young, we have years ahead - maybe, we might fall in love, fall apart.

Today I am feeling a bit down. My grandma passed away on Friday - my Mom's Mom. She was in her late 80s, but this was still sort of unexpected. My family all live about 16 hours (drive) away. It's only a 1.5 hour flight. I thought my Mom would want me to fly home for the funeral, but she said she didn't expect me to. Partly because I'm pregnant (though flying in the second trimester is okay, I think) and partly because it was pretty short notice, and expensive. But she told me today that both of my cousins that live in my area flew home for the funeral, which is tomorrow. I'm annoyed that my Mom didn't tell me she wanted me to go. I'm sad that I'm not there. I'm... hurt. And I'm really sad that I'm going to miss my last living grandparent's funeral. Not that I like funerals, or anything. But now I don't have any more grandparents. My kids will have two great-grandparents - Paul's grandpa and grandma. But I hate that they won't ever get to meet their great-grandparents on my side. Being pregnant is making my feelings right now very exagerated, too. I don't like it.

~~~

On the opposite side of the emotional spectrum - baby has been kicking/moving around tons these last couple of days. I love feeling this - it makes everything feel more real. Sometimes it feels like little flutters, sometimes it's real jabs. I am so excited for my appointment coming up on Monday - we'll be booking the 20 week ultrasound! Oh yes, we are finding out the sex of the baby in a mere couple of weeks, not to mention "seeing" the baby for the first time. This will be my first (maybe only) ultrasound. We could not be more excited.

We picked up the crib/change table/dresser combo this past weekend, because we had a raincheck for it - 50% off. We have no set it up yet (we're not that crazy!) but Paul wants to set it up after the ultrasound. Here's a picture I found online of the three pieces:



It's a very simple, neutral set. We love the "expresso" color. The nursery walls will be a light green, with yellow/green/brown accents through the room/bedding/etc.

And of course, here's my last couple "bump" pictures:

Almost 17 weeks:



Almost 18 weeks:



I don't see a big difference between the two. Though I was wearing a tighter shirt in the 17 week one. Maybe I should start only taking pictures every other week? I may or may not be addicted to take these, though...