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Hmmmmm. Anxiety about not being prepared for a kid, perhaps?
]]>Well, this week marked one of the most exciting moments so far, up there with hearing baby's heartbeat and seeing baby on the ultrasound. This week I felt the baby moving (also known, ominously, as "The QUICKENING") for the first time, so much and so regularly that I KNOW it was baby. At first I doubted because it didn't feel the way other people described it -- like holding a butterfly in your hand or like popcorn popping. For me it has felt like a slight muscle twitch, like those occasional "eye spasms" you get. What finally convinced me was the regularity; I usually feel it most strongly about a half-hour after a meal for about 15 minutes (or after an OJ in the morning; baby goes crazy for OJ!). And each day it becomes more predictable and stronger. It's really reassuring after months of feeling baby only in the abstract.
Next big milestone: we find out the sex on October 6. I can't wait.
Good news from the doctor today: our little one has all its hands and feet, both hemispheres of the brain, and seems to have the normal amount of nuchal translucence, which is a way of assessing potential risk for Down Syndrome. And the little bugger's about 6 cm in length. So far, so good.
The little thing slept most of the time, except for when the lab tech shook it up to get a better look at the hands and feet. It stretched at one point as if to say "Why are you WAKING me UP?" and promptly went back to sucking its thumb. It was amazing to see the heart beating a blur on the ultrasound.
The pics are still pretty fuzzy, but if you look closely I think it has Jennifer's smile.
Feb. 23 seems closer and closer every day.
Anyway, I've gone out three times in the evening this week--once to a play, once to a movie preview (here's to you, RDJ in blackface), and once to an art opening, so I'm feeling mostly back in the rhythm of the city.
My pregnancy revelation for the week is this: people express a certain awe toward, or maybe mortal terror of, preg women. Last night at the art show (congrats, Tom!) I saw some former CTVers I hadn't seen since the up-knocking. At one point, I was just talking (some might say "goofily monologuing" as I frequently do), when I noticed that everyone in the group was staring at me in this very bizarre and focused way, not with the lightly amused tolerance I usually get... "Hey, the pregnant lady's DOING something!" I took two steps back and said, "Whoa, everybody... you guys are freaking me out!" Everybody laughed, so I can only assume they were aware of it, too. Now I'm looking back and remembering maybe doing the same thing with my pregnant friends (hey, Michelle!).
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It's so quick and steady. So exciting. Every time I think about it, I start to cry a little. Something about hearing is more primal than seeing. Wow. That's all I can say.
]]>Now it's sort of dome-ish
A convex curve, at best
"Why so thickish in the middle?"
I'm sure they all have guessed
Once I had a waistline
I could place a belt around it
But now my lovely waistline--
Could I belt it if I found it?
(From a CD of tunes about pregnancy to be included with all copies of "What to Expect." In my dreams, at least.)
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--E. B. White, Charlotte's Web
]]>After a couple of minutes in the pose, I whispered to Wren beside me, "I'm HUNGRY."
She whispered back, "Me too!" and suddenly, a chorus ensued...
"Me three!"
"Oh god, me too!"
"Join the club!"
The Ayn Rand Baby Name Generator!
Davington Stark
Armande diDiablo (thanks, Em!)
Antonia Markson
I'm fairly certain someone smarter than I could come up with a linguistic formula for this. Cunning linguists (really!), call me!
]]>I puked, and now I really want a hot dog.
]]>Scene: Amusing mock wrestling match with HJ. I'm trying to persuade him (physically) to take a nap with me instead of leaving for work. I attempt to push him back onto the futon.
HJ: Wow, you're weak as a kitten!
Jen: [shoving harder] Oh, weak as a kitten, ARE I?
We collapse into fits of giggles while I attempt not to urinate on myself.
The pregnancy brain is not a myth, I'm afraid.
]]>My delicious and incredibly decadent butterscotch pudding recipe calls for four egg yolks. When I cracked my fourth egg, I was annoyed to see I'd somehow already broken the yolk. Upon closer inspection, however, I realized there were TWO YOLKS in the fourth egg. Now, I'm not a particularly superstitious person, but I will say I've never cracked open one of these before. Supposedly double-yolkers are 1 in 1000, so this may be the only one I ever see in my lifetime (unless I suddenly start eating a lot more eggs).
Oh my God, could I be carrying twins? When I told my mom both HJ and I were feeling we might have a boy, she said, "I think it's a boy... AND a girl!"
What a great story that would be.
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