Spanx For The Memories

6 Months!
I can't believe it. I've been pregnant for half a year. Where does the time go? I thought I would mark this occasion by looking back on one of the funnier moments of pregnancy. But, first things first. Here is another installment of the oh-so-sought-after Bump Watch.

You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks
So, I don't think this story has officially been re-told blog-style, and it's definitely a good one, so here goes:  Back around 8-ish weeks along, Matt & I decided it was finally time to break the good news to the parents. We had this marvelous idea of taking a picture of Preston with a sign around his neck that read "I'm going to be a big brother in about 7 months." We thought we'd email it to our parents, and then call them and tell them to check their emails.
Jerry and Melanie were the first to be called. Not only had Matt emailed Preston's picture to them, he
also sent it to their cell phones. Anyways, he called and talked to Jerry, and told him we sent a funny picture of Preston to their phones as well as email and they should check it out. After some chit chat about the weather, Matt hung up with Jerry, and it was my turn to call Ken & Karen. I talked to my mom and repeated the instructions that we sent them a funny email picture of Preston and they should check it out right away. She said "okay", and that was that.

Now, it's 30 minutes later and Matt and I are sitting on the couch staring at our phones and wondering why NO ONE has called us back yet! NOBODY! What else did they have going on on a Thursday night anyway? Finally, after maybe another 7 minutes, Melanie calls Matt and the hoopla commences. Turns out the picture via cell phone still hadn't made it to them (it might still be floating around in space to this day), and Jerry decided to take their dog out for a walk before getting around to sitting down at the old computer. Anywhoo, Matt's parents tell us how Melanie screamed so loud you could hear her down the street when they finally opened our email. So, they are thrilled, needless to say, and we eventually hang up with them. And yet, NOTHING still from my parents. What on earth is taking them so long? So, I call Mom back. She answers, sounding very sleepy. Below, I have provided a reenactment of our exchange, and also the infamous picture of Preston, our unwitting accomplice:

Me:  "Mom? Were you asleep?"
Mom:  "Hmm? Oh, I guess I dozed off for a minute?" (Mind you this is around 9:30 pm at this point in the night.)
Me:  "So did you open the email we sent you guys?
Mom:  "Um, well, I told your father to..."
Me:  "Well, did he?"
Mom:  "I don't know. I'll check.  Kenny?"(shouting at the other room)
Dad:  (from other room) "Yeah?"
Mom:  "Did you open Ashley's email?"
Dad: "Yeah."
Mom:  "And?"
Dad:  "It says they're getting another dog."
Say what????!!!! Oh my poor father. It's a good thing he doesn't have to, like, solve problems and piece together bits and pieces of evidence for a living. Oh, wait....
Now, to be fair to Mom & Dad, they figured out the news pretty quickly after that little bit of confusion and there was lots of excitement and joy (and perhaps still disbelief) to go around!
Anyways, it was a pretty funny evening, looking back on it. Or, maybe you had to be there.

24 Weeks
If you're still reading, this week BC weighs just over a pound, and is the size of a...wait for it, wait for it....an ear of corn. That's just about a foot long. It's very odd to hear about something growing inside of you that can now be measured by feet!
And ears, so it seems. :)

Who's up for some curling?

Super-Moms
Matt and I have been trying to watch as much of the Winter Olympics as we can (are we the only ones?) this past week. One note of interest is the "sport" of curling. There's a pregnant competitor this year! Now, granted, curling is not exactly strenuous activity; however, it got me thinking about the myth of our delicate condition, and how tough we mommas-to-be really are. Here are some other notable sport feats accomplished by some preggos:
Margaret Court - reached finals of Wimbledon in 1971
Michelle Granger - pitched two games for the 1996 U.S. Olympic softball team
Alison Hargreaves - in 1989, climbed the 5,000 ft. North Wall of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps 
Jenny Potter - U.S. hockey player, played regularly for the Minnesota-Duluth ream in 2000 while pregnant.
While these women are very inspiring, mostly they just make me tired. I think I'll take a nap after this entry.

23 Weeks
This week was a quiet one on the baby front. Of course, gone are the early days where a few hours would go by and I would realize that I had forgotten I was pregnant for just a little while. No longer. Stairs are harder to climb, bending over is a pain, and my husband had to pull off my boots for me the other night, because it just seemed like an impossible task to accomplish at that moment. BC is making his presence known night and day, and I am having fun thinking about what kind of person I am growing inside. Is this what they call "baby on the brain" syndrome?
According to the reading, BC is the size of a large mango. De-lish! Also, he should be around 11 inches long. Crazy to think he's already half of what his birth length will be (well, assuming he's long like his dad)!

Where did I put that one thing I had in my hand?

Pregnancy brain strikes! I was already prone to frequent bouts of forgetfulness pre-pregnancy, but these days it is out of control! My poor husband (who is not much better than I am) is about  at his wit's end. This morning I put a plate in the silverware drawer. Sigh. Ironically, pregnant women are advised against taking gingko biloba.

22 Weeks

BC is the size of a spaghetti squash this week. He also weighs just about 1 lb. now. So, thus far it seems to take 17 lbs. of weight gain per 1 lb. of baby. But who's counting??? :)

Time to pack it in

Funny how you can live in a house for 3.5 years and still have boxes sitting in a room that you have never unpacked. Well, luckily for us, that just makes clearing out the office to make way for the nursery that much easier. Matt is diligently working away at packing up all of our stuff and moving it either to the basement, or to a new owner - via craigslist. Man, we have some pretty desirable junk it seems. Here is a "before" pic of the baby's room.

I have switched fixations for the time being. I am leaving the name hunt be for now, and moving onto finding the theme for the nursery. It's much more fun to think about what type of bedding to buy and pictures to hang than to think about labor and delivery! :) Turns out Pottery Barn Kids does actually have sales on good stuff every once in awhile. So, the crib bedding has been purchased! Next step is painting and furniture shopping. This kid will have something I never have experienced:  New bedroom furniture that actually matches! Stay tuned for pics on the progress of the nursery.

It's All Fun & Games Until It's Time To Pick A Name

The Wacky World Of Baby Names
The quest of finding a name for BC has begun. I pay much more attention to any name I come across in a book, magazine, tv show or movie these days. Matt and I have made a list and are in the midst of checking it twice. The latest dilemna:  To tell or not to tell? I find the pros of telling are to call "dibs" and let everyone know that this name is MINE! Of course, I've had others tell me that this is also a con, as once you let the world know, someone else who would never have thought of that name now will steal it and unveil it as their name too. All of the sneakiness and mystery gives me a headache. Rest assured, whatever we decide, the name will not be among those below. Seriously, celebrities are NOT like us!

Pilot Inspektor         (at least spell it right for crying out loud)
Audio Science         (hope he's good at math)
Tu Morrow              (they wanted to go with Yes Terday but it just wasn't catchy enough)
Jermajesty                (Jer joking, right?)
Kal-El                      (err, I've got nothing for this one)
Blanket                    (he tries to stay out of the rain most days)
Moxie Crimefighter (b/c who doesn't love a comic book hero in their life?)
http://www.cracked.com/article_15765_the-20-most-bizarre-celebrity-baby-names_p2.html

21 Weeks
Quick! Quick! There's some quickening going on in here. I am starting to feel BC move around. It's exciting and disturbing at the same time. I know we've all seen Aliens with Sigourney Weaver and I think you can find the similarity pretty easily. Still, it's nice to be able to answer all of the questions with a "Yes! I am finally feeling the baby move!" :)
Also, BC is the lenth of a carrot this week. I just hope he's a little fatter around than one.

Drumroll, please....

We are happy to announce, we are having a healthy......baby! :) More specifically, a healthy baby BOY!!! So, all you losers who guessed a girl, well, don't quit your day job! Ha! Okay, so here's the low-down from the appointment today:  BC appears to be healthy in every way. He weighs 13 oz. which is just where he should be, and the due date has not changed (June 18th). Looks like he's going to be cutie, if I do say so myself.  And I do!

In other less exciting news:
I don't want to be remiss in letting you in on the type of produce we're dealing with this week. According to the reading, BC is the length of a banana. Yes, folks, we've officially moved from measuring from crown to rump, to measuring full length, head to toe.
Look for the slideshow to see the progression of fruits and vegetables so far. Quite the cornucopia!