You hear that sound?

You know when your car makes that funny sound, and you drive to the mechanic? And the car makes that sound all the way to the mechanic? And then, the second the mechanic comes out to the car, it stops making that sound?

So I hadn't felt the baby move for a while, and called the doc in a panic. They squeezed me into a morning appointment, and I lugged Stewart and baby E along with me out of necessity. And then, the minute I sat down in the waiting room, the baby started kicking like crazy.

So I did what every responsible person does: I pretended not to feel it. Went into the appointment, and heard the heartbeat and acted reassured. Yes, I'm a weak person.

Ever since then, baby's moving around a lot. When I drink juice, or a carby-meal, he responds a lot. Last night, I felt him a lot in one area, and pushed on it from the outside, and felt a strong movement from the outside! (secret confession: it was really weird.)

So that's the story here. We're calling him Horatio until he's born. It's part of the fun of trying to find a non-horrible "H" name for him (in honor of my grandpa Herbert). Every name we come up with is awful:

Horace
Hymen
Hagar
Herman
Herbert (sorry, gramps)
and on and on. Henry's not bad.

Feel free to send suggestions!

Well?

Okay, okay. The delay was totally my fault, again.

We had the BIG appointment last week. Wonderful news: perfect spine, perfect brain, perfect chubby tummy, perfect penis. Yes, penis. We're having a boy!

Here's our guy:


And, just in case there was any doubt:

birds on lamp

birds_on_lamp
Originally uploaded by QStreet.

Just had to show off my husband's photography skill. Can you believe this photo he took?

Could it be?

I think I felt the baby tonight; just a minute or two ago. It was a tap-tap pause pause tap-tap on my right side. It did feel like gas, so I can't be totally sure, but I think it was the baby. Happy.

Good news

There's a fancy blood test they do to see if the baby might have a spinal problem. Results came back negative today, so great news on that front. It's a relief, since I was often unable to keep the prenatal vitamins down. On to the sonogram!

A tiny problem

I've now had 5 doses of Robitussin in two days (3 today), and I'm fondling the bottle a lot more often than that. Is this bad? It feels bad. I considered "Robitussin" as a name for the baby today. But only if it's a girl! :-)

Say it loud, I'm big and I'm proud!

Two milestones in the last two days:

1) Maternity Pants. They are now on my official list I keep of miraculous inventions, joining zip-lock bags, wrapping paper with grid-lines on the backside, and Special K Red Berries Cereal.

2) Someone outside of my family noticed my little belly! My neighbor Patricia, who lives on her stoop, called down to me yesterday "you're starting to show!" Patricia made me very happy. Sometimes Patricia scares me a little, but not yesterday.

Less than two weeks until the BIG sonogram! I'd like to see the little bugger moving, just for reassurance. The last few days I've had to take a little Robitussin to make sure my horrible coughing doesn't spark labor, and the first ingredient in Robitussin is "alcohol." I've had 4 doses now, and they're each about a teaspoon. I can't imagine that it's going to cause lasting damage; hopefully the baby is enjoying a little buzz.

We've picked out a crib, and I've picked out some crib linens. I'll make the final decision after we know the gender - I wouldn't want to scar the poor thing by having a firetruck in a girl's crib, or a pretty butterfly in a boy's. Someone would be calling CFSA on me for sure.

I've decided to aquiesce to my mother's wish that I not set up the nursery, or even have much baby stuff here, before the kid is born. Jewish religion/superstition. I am going to paint, and pick everything out, but I'll leave it to her to coordinate getting it all set up while I'm in the hospital for as many days as I can stretch the insurance. I truly don't understand the women who rush to get home after labor. If they decided to let me move into the hospital, I would do it for sure. Meals brought on a tray? Yes, please. Someone to change my bed-linens? Sign me up. Cable TV, a call-button to a nurse, and a lactation consultant standing by? Seriously, who would pass this stuff up?