Ok, so the moment we have all been waiting for! The results of the big ultrasound! I am pleased to announce that everything appears to be normal and as perfect as we could have hoped. Seeing our baby, OUR BABY, moving around inside my stomach was the most surreal thing I have ever experienced.

Is that not the most adorable little profile? Look at the tiny nose. And those little lips! You can even see an outline of an ear.

Or this (slightly demonic) face. Is that not going to be a heartbreaker someday? When we were checking out the face and trying to get a nice picture Maybe Baby got camera shy and put an adorable little arm up to shield itself. Hiding from the camera already. I’m gonna have to nip that in the bud right away.

Oh and this tiny little foot. You can see all five toes. The ultrasound tech told us it is only 3.5 cm long. And when it kicked it was SO CUTE. (I still haven’t felt a single kick but the tech assured me it is because the placenta is right on top of the baby and I should feel things in a couple weeks.)

Oh and this is the moment you have all been waiting for….the gender. I you look at the picture, image the baby is sitting right above you with the legs slightly bent and pulled up to the chest and pointing to the left. The little arrow is pointing out the special area right between the legs. See anything? Nope. Well you wouldn’t, because our DAUGHTER keeps her genitalia internally. Yep, that’s right. We are having a girl. So just about every one of you who put your votes in the comments were right. We saw a much better and more obvious view, but my daughter (I just love the sound of that) realized we were looking between her legs and instantly pulled up her knees and crossed her legs. What a little lady, I tell ya.
Oh and in case you were curious, I have been keeping all the pictures here.

So here we are, already half way to having this kid cooked. I can’t even believe I am 20 weeks pregnant (well 20 weeks and 2 days to be precise). I have been feeling great, staying awake until normal hours, eating regular food and even exercising pretty regularly again. I just have to remember to rest more than I used to because man-oh-man do I get tired easy. I think because I have been feeling so well, I kinda forget I have a baby on board and can’t do as much as I did before being pregnant. Sleeping has been pretty tricky, since I have reached that point where I am no longer recommended to sleep on my back (it puts the full weight of your uterus on your spine, back muscles, intestines, and the inferior vena cava-the vein that transports blood from your lower body to the heart), of course that is the only position that is comfortable. I have various pillows wedged around and under me which seems to have worked thus far. Plus as soon as I lay down in bed, I get heartburn. Thank God for Tums. They now live on my nightstand. And in my desk. And my purse. But other than that, things are going great.

Anyway, tomorrow is the big day. Simeon and I have our doctors appointment and the big ultrasound to check on the anatomical development of Maybe Baby, which will include (if we are lucky) finding out if we are having a boy or girl. So I wanna know what you guys think. To help you make your decision, here is my 20 week belly shot:

So, what do you think? Boy or girl? Leave your guess in the comments so we can have it documented and tomorrow we will see who is right. Thanks for playin’!

When my husband, very gently I might add, asked me when pregnant women “start showing” I took it to mean that I have finally reached that point in my pregnancy when it is starting to become obvious. (More so to those who know I am in the family way, whereas others may just think I have taken to eating my own body weight in cookies.) The only thing that keeps me comfortable with my new shape (beyond knowing that I get a cuddly baby out of the deal) is the fact that I have kept my actual weight in check. This morning as I prepared to take a shower I was startled by my own reflection. Suddenly there was a stomach where there wasn’t one (well, as big of one, anyway) before. I promptly pulled out my scale, climbed on and braced myself for the numbers to stop climbing. I peered over my burgeoning belly to breathe a sigh of relief: I have only gained three pounds since I found out I was pregnant. Whew!

Not to mention that I have personally become very aware of my stomach these days. Whether I am leaning against a counter or trying to bend over, suddenly things feel very…different. I notice every single bump or graze against my skin as if it were a mortal attack. And don’t even get me started on trying to keep my clothes looking presentable over the thing. I am pulling my pants up and my shirt down with every move I make. Going to the bathroom is torture. You mean I have to re-adjust everything all over again?!

So in coming to grips with the Stomach-That-Won’t-Stop, my next step in acceptance is providing photographic evidence. Since I am without any proper camera at the moment (my Nikon has been sent back to the factory and my dad borrowed my old digital camera), I am reliant on Simeon’s camera phone (his is better than mine). But here you are, my first belly shots at 17 weeks:

For any of you that still come here and read my site, you may have noticed that I have been a little, um, quiet lately. Well, it isn’t because I don’t love you anymore. ‘Cause I do. It’s just that I have had a million things running through my mind that I wanted to share with you, but it just wasn’t time yet.

Well, my friends, now is the time:

I AM GOING TO HAVE A BABY!

That’s right. After, ironically enough, nine months of “trying” Simeon and I finally managed to do what so many teenagers can achieve without even trying: he knocked me up. For those of you wanting some specifics, we are just about 10 weeks along, estimated due date is December 18th. It’s crazy to think that we are already a quarter of the way along and I am only just sharing it with you. Sorry about that. I just didn’t believe it myself. Until yesterday.

I had wanted to wait to share the news with everyone once it was actually confirmed. Sure, I peed on the stick and we got the positive way back on April 14th (Good Friday of all days: boy, was it!). But for some reason in my head it wasn’t absolute until the doctor said it was so. And seeing the tiny baby growing inside my tummy was defiantly proof. Oh and the heart beat. So tiny, yet so obvious. See for yourself: