Massive update - with nothing massive happening.

It's our half way mark!!! I'm hoping to be induced at week 38 (and for other reasons* mentioned below) I think now at week 19 we are officially half-way there!!

**Tada dum, tada dum, tada dum**

That's the sound of me drumming my fingers in boredom. It's true what they say about the second trimester -- nothing much happens! One exciting bit - we saw another sonogram. This little girl is growing rapidly and appears to be super healthy. She's got a great heartbeat; we saw all four chambers of the heart. That was cute, it's nice to know that's working as it should be. We also got a great shot of her face. I didn't really notice it at the time (we got a still photo/printout of it) but the more I've studied it, the more surreal it seems --- that's her face! She has eye sockets and nasal bones and I can even see her whole jaw. It's like a little skull. And as creepy as that sounds, I can see her face shape. It's like it gives her a "look" like an appearance that I can already discern. She has high cheek bones that we can already see. It's very cool, particularly since those are mine! I have high cheek bones too. And so that's been exciting. In a very abstract way, we're kind of able to put a "name with a face."

Second order of business, we took a vacation. It was wonderful - so relaxing. Everything went so smoothly. It was on this trip that I was finally able to recognize baby movement. We had lots of down time, Josh did a ton of reading and I did a ton of crossword and Sodoku puzzles. This relaxed lounge time, I guess, was just what I needed to fully evaluate the ubiquitous bubbles I'd been feeling for weeks (I really thought I had some serious "tummy grumbles" that never came to, uh, fruition...) But I've been watching for her to make some clear movement for me lately and while it's faint, I can feel something going on in there. She's supposedly pretty big right now (actually bigger than she should be, so they informally *moved my due date up a week). She's 14 cm long and weighs 10 ounces. This was more consistent with a 19th week of pregnancy (which is where I am now, but then I was only at 18). It's amazing to think that there is something this big living in me and I rarely feel it. It seems like the plot of some bizarre extra terrestrial film.

Another minimal piece of info that I should make note of at this point as well: we had a "triple screening" done last week. It's an optional series of blood tests that test for many birth defects, primarily Downs Syndrome, Spina Bifida, etc. Ugly side of pregnancy, but I'm sure we'll get a clean bill. I'm not too worried. Everything about this pregnancy seems so healthy - I've been fine, the baby is fine, her pictures reflect nothing but good health. So I'm sure we have nothing to worry about. The catch to these tests are that they have a high rate of false positives - like 1 out of 10 comes back positive, even though the reality of these defects happening is statistically much lower. So it really sends a lot of worried parents to specialists for no reason. So I'm braced for this to happen, but I'm confident that everything will be fine.

And finally -- wow, and I thought I had nothing to write -- the subject of names just keeps coming up over and over again. I know I have been exactly like this when I've had girlfriends expecting - it's an obvious question for people to ask. But when you're not sure of names yet and you make the mistake early on of mentioning it, you hear it come back to you through the grapevine. It's just funny, by the time it gets back to you, you could be, like SO over that name. So we've just decided to keep mum on the subject. We've also learned that the reactions aren't always so favorable when you rattle off a list of names - you get input. The unsolicited feedback forever taints that name and you feel prematurely bad for your ill-named child. So, we have a few ideas we keep playing around with, but I think we'll wait till we actually see her to make this indelible mark on her!

Okay, I think that's it. Oh and for my own recording purposes - I've gained 14 pounds and according to many sources that's right where I should be at this point in the pregnancy. Now, if I could just maintain this pace I think I'll be okay! For anyone who knows me, I'm 100% neurotic about my weight so this is the most "under control" it's ever been - so ironic!!

*GROWL* Whoa, I hear ya, baby! Time to go feed the tiny bubbles some lunch!