Are there three of them in there?

An awkward moment, I have to say. No, just one. Recently our doctor's wife announced their third pregnancy. We chatted on Christmas Eve and she told me she felt so big and like she was definitely showing. I just looked at her, grabbed my belly, and told her she is not showing. Silly kid! An unappreciated moment: when my boss told me I don't look pudgy anymore, and I have really popped out. Thanks.

Speaking of belly, I now understand why pregnant women are always rubbing and feeling their bellies. I can't stop. My belly button fascinates me, and I love to gently press on the baby parts I can feel to see how the baby reacts. It is amazing how it all works, and feels, and tickles sometimes. I like watching my belly wiggle. Sometimes I think we must be popping popcorn inside.

PG 13 alert: This next part may not be appropriate for younger eyes...

I was getting a haircut last week, and as M was washing my hair, she was asking baby questions. Then she asked "How about the sex?" I very candidly said, "Oh, we still can." She meant the gender...oops. I bet she asks that question differently next time.

Okay, back to G ratings...

We had a good Christmas, early in the day with family, later in the day with friends. My piano students and school students made me lots of treats that I couldn't eat, but every now and then I was tempted by a piece of fudge or that awesome danish kringle, and had an upset stomach for about three days. Even though I didn't eat that much bad stuff, it all had soy, and I paid for that. That would be the reason I don't keep anything bad for me to eat in the house.

Tonight Babycue will go to his/her first hockey game, and we are excited. Finding a hockey sweater to fit over the baby was a challenge, and I ended up choosing my Las Vegas sweater. The St. Louis Blues note looks funny over a pregnant belly, and the Iowa Hawkeye also sticks out significantly on that sweater. I tried one of our huge Hope hockey sweaters, but it looked terrible on me.

goo in my belly button

Ultrasound goo, that is. And all over my pants and shirt. But worth it for those cute face pictures. :) Odd that Babycue is cuddling with the placenta (which unofficially has moved higher, the whole reason for ultrasound #2), but Q and I are both cuddlers. Today we saw the heart, kidney, an ear, and the stomach, as well as witnessing a bout of hiccups. The heartbeat is good (140), and the head is 7.35 centimeters across. Q says that the eyes look less deep, the nose looks buttony, and the lips look...lippy. Monica, the ultrasound tech, said the amniotic fluid is good, and Babycue weights 2 pounds and 12 ounces now. She also said the baby is developed like a 29 week baby, even though we are only 27 weeks.

Dr. B said last week that I might experience the occassional contraction now. And Sunday night we did. Just one, and not for long. And my first thought was, "oh no, Dr. B is in Florida this week..."

Congratulations to my cousin J and his wife K, on the birth of my newest (nine pounder) cousin yesterday! We're excited to meet him. Also congrats to another cousin, J, and his wife K whose announcement we read on facebook while in the ultrasound waiting room. We are excited to meet your little one in July (now there are several confused family members reading and trying to figure out who I'm referring to...). It would be awesome if you waited until my birthday, so the family will remember your little one's birthday like they remember mine. And, J and cousin L, we are sorry to hear of your loss.

Funny pregnant moment: I was between classes at the daycare and one of the aides came up to me and apologized for asking such a rude question, but she just had to know if my wearing maternity clothes meant something. I told her that I wasn't insulted and that yes, I am six months pregnant. She felt bad for asking, but I didn't mind.

And finally, grapefruit. Yes, a fruit I love to eat. For breakfast, or today I had it for lunch. Auntie knows this; she used to get them for me. But then I went on allergy meds, and besides nixing apple juice, the meds nixed orange and grapefruit juices. Last week at the grocery store I realized that I am not on the meds, and can therefore enjoy the tart citrus taste that is the grapefruit. Yum. Almost makes up for not getting to eat Christmas fudge.

Finally here are two sets of photos of the Smileycue belly:




Picasa has a new feature that lets you update the album automatically. As the belly grows, so with these albums!

Babycue...in 3-D

We had another ultrasound today...so here's more Babycue!

good OB appointment, and the seatbelt

Today we saw Dr. B. All is well, things are right where they should be, and I gained two more pounds. We talked about iron supplements, and will continue to experiment with that. The "look for the placenta" ultrasound will be next week. Dan asked about rubbing more oh so sore back, and got the okay there as long as he isn't hitting my belly. Like he would do that (though last night I accidentally belly flopped on the bed...). Dr. B said the abuse rate for pregnant women is 70 times more likely. He wasn't entirely sure of the accuracy of that statistic, but nonetheless, that is craziness. I have not experienced any of that, unless not having dinner ready when I want it counts.

I have noticed lately that it is more difficult to buckle the seat belt. Maybe that is due to a bulky winter coat (I can still zip it, barely), but it takes more seat belt to go around me, and I have to really check to make sure I buckled. Today I buckled my scarf into the latch, and not the belt itself. I had to really pull to get the scarf out. And it isn't like I can lean over and look to check...

In other news, we are working on registries still. I went to a baby shower on Sunday and payed close attention to the things she got that looked useful, and the comments others made about them. I learned about using dead batteries to make toys not "work." I even enjoyed the cheesy shower game a little. Q is adjusting to random mood swings. He wishes there was warning when one is coming. Coming next week: pregnant belly pictures, and our Christmas card picture. Q has been busy at work.

The baby registry, or "What do you want for your child?"

Smileycue and I have been making slow progress on the registry for BabyCue. There are several reasons for this. One is my procrastination. Two is figuring out what we "need" versus what we "want." Three is figuring out how to say, "Could you please buy [BABY THING] because we want/need it, but please buy used."

To help us as we work through our registry decisions, we invite you, readers of BabyCue, to help us by answering these questions three in the comments:

1. What thing(s) did you find most useful for you baby?
2. What was the least useful thing you had for your baby?
3. What thing(s) did you wish you had for your baby?
   
4. If you had another baby, what thing(s) would you get this time?

Battle Bruises

Monday morning I got up early after fasting for 12 hours and headed to the hospital to do the GTT test. First, they drew blood. Then I got to drink orange stuff this time. I took the time to read the label, and it seems that one is not supposed to eat before this, or drink caffeine (I had a cherry coke and macaroni and cheese before last week's test). So I sat for three hours, getting blood drawn every hour. I have some terrible bruises to show for it, but I got a good nap in, and Dr. B walked by while I was sitting and stopped to chat. Really, the bruises look really bad. One was swollen for a while.

Tuesday when I went in to get my allergy shot I asked about the results. I passed. My blood sugar after three hours was 113, which mom says is still high, but I passed, so who cares. Nevertheless, she is digging out a diabetic cook book she happens to have.

In other news, we have some great belly pictures that perhaps Q will post soon. And Monday I start job #4, teaching music at a very small private school (42 students K-8). If this and daycare continue to work out, I might not have to get a real full-time job next year and can spend a lot of time with Babycue...

Babycue's first Thanksgiving

We realize that technically this is not Babycue's first Thanksgiving, as those milestones are counted once the baby is on the outside kicking, instead of the inside, but we decided to go with it.

We had a very good time with parents, international students, and other friends dropping by for either the meal or the desserts. After spending most of two days either cooking, preparing, doing dishes, or cleaning, it was nice to have other people to do those things (big props to GrannyCue for being the dishes rockstar!!!, and my mom for taking the turkey bones home).

And despite news from the last OB appointment that shouldn't make me sad, but makes me feel like I did something wrong, we enjoyed the lazy day on Friday. We had coffee (Q lets me sometimes now) and chatted with Dr. B and his family when they stopped in at the coffee shop, and ate leftovers before ordering pizza and playing card games. I did not overeat or go crazy with food, except for the sparkling grape juice. I drank a whole bottle last night. Let me tell you about drinks with gas ( or that cause it?!?). Not something I recommend, or plan to do again. At least when you are pregnant and bloated people just think it is your belly.

Wednesday was the Gestational Diabetes screen and a hemoglobin check. My iron levels are a bit low, which means anemia. So now I have to take double the iron (58 milligrams). My mom said she had that issue also, because her body was not absorbing nutrients, and she had to take liquid iron (like drinking blood, I would think). But I also did not pass the blood sugar screen (the grape stuff to drink was actually not bad). So now I have to go to the hospital lab after fasting for 12 hours so they can prick me for three hours (I absolutely hate my fingers being poked).

Following Babycue

Smileycue and I want to announce two new ways to follow Babycue. You can now subscribe to the world of babycue using the link to the right of this post. (Unless you are already reading this using RSS or a reader.) You can also become a follower -- just click on "Follow this blog" to the right of this post.

Don't know what any of this means? No worries. You can read an explanation of RSS or just bookmark littlecue.blogspot.com and enjoy!

Babycue Book Club: Baby Bargains

Welcome to the first installment of the Babycue Book Club. It's like Oprah's Book Club, if Oprah were pregnant. (Maybe not.) Today we review Baby Bargains, Denise and Alan Fields.

This past spring, I shared with our friend, Nieka, that we were considering starting a family. (I find the term "starting a family" a strange way to describe "trying to get pregnant." As Smileycue puts it, "It's a polite way of saying that we're having unprotected sex!")

Anyway, Nieka suggested a book for us, Taking Charge of Your Fertility. By the time we spoke again, we had...already taken charge of our fertility. Nieka sent us several baby books instead. The first is Baby Bargains.

A thorough book, Baby Bargins could be aptly renamed "Buying for Baby." The consumerist guide advises what to buy and what to avoid, naming brands and suggesting websites. We've already used Baby Bargains to build our gift registry. We plan to use it in Babies 'R Us to ward off unnecessary purchases like Buffy the Vampire Slayer uses a wooden stake. (No thank you, kind associate, we do NOT need a baby wipe warmer.) The book also grades products based on price, features, and usability.

Baby Bargains has a companion website and blog with additional information. We'll be adding these sites to our bookmarks.

Where is my belly button going? and music...

Mr. Lunt: There’s something missing in my middle and it’s hard to ignore
Boyz: There’s this thing about himself he’s never told you before
Lunt: Baby!

Boyz: He needs to tell you something
Mr. Lunt: I don’t got a bellybutton
Oh I need to tell you something
Boyz: Have you figure it out
He don’t got a bellybutton
Boyz: Bellybutton no, oh no no

While you sing along to the Bellybutton song (as sung by Veggie Tales), here's what I have to say about mine.

Where is it going? I have always had a deep belly button. But it is getting more shallow, and I can see my scar from gall bladder surgery...The shape of my belly button has changed, and the skin there is smoother than the rest of my belly (which, BTW, is really hairy. Has it always been that way?). I keep making Q check it, he just says it is getting smaller, and he isn't used to seeing that scar. Hmmm.....and speaking of bellies, I finally broke down today and wore a maternity top. I decided I'd rather look pregnant in pregnant clothes than fat in Dan's T-shirts.

I know What to Expect says that listening to music doesn't really matter to Babycue at this point, but as a music teacher I have to disagree. And now that I can feel Babycue moving around, I definitely have to disagree. Last week I was asked to play bass drum with the college orchestra (take that! parents at my former employer who said I couldn't handle percussion). While I didn't feel a lot of movement while I was playing, I did feel a lot while the orchestra played a Verdi piece...and in band rehearsal Tuesday when my stand mate played her alto flute solo, someone couldn't hold still!

One more thing: an update on the cold, which turns out to be an upper respiratory infection. Lisa, the PA, told me to take my allergy meds. I'd been doing so good without them, but I do feel better with them.

A person can develop a cold

Winter arrived in our fair city this week, a Smileycue has caught a cold. Nasal rinses, heating pads, warm showers, and hot tea are helping, but she still feels miserable. For those of you readers who fell ill during your pregnancies, how did you cope? Share your answers in the the comments.

In other news, Smileycue's belly now sticks out more than anything else and BabyCue is becoming more active, kicking and wiggling. We've been reading to BabyCue most evenings. So far, we've read:

• The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf, as told to Jon Scieszka.
• Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum, by Norman Stiles and Daniel Wilcox.
• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst.
• Would You Like to Play Hide and Seek in This Book with Lovable, Furry Old Grover?, but Jon Stone.
• Bed Bed Bed, by They Might Be Giants.
• Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Suess.

Last night, we began to read The House at Pooh Corner. What should we read next?

a second ultrasound and Grover

Today we went to see Dr. B for an OB appointment. He said everything looks good, but there was one curiosity on the ultrasound report. This may not be what you all wanted to know, but the placenta may be covering the cervix, which is apparently bad (bad enough to move me to high risk status). So, in three weeks we get a second chance to see Babycue wiggle around. My mom said she had the same thing with either me or my sister, and by delivery time it was no longer a problem. The baby's heart rate is 150, the ultrasound predicts the due date as being 4 days earlier, and I am feeling good. I have also gained 4 pounds, which means I am almost to pre-pregnancy weight.

My piano students are starting realize that I am pregnant. It helps that I have an ultrasound picture on the piano. They all want to know whose baby that is, and when I say mine, they either look at me in wonder, or say, "I thought you looked bigger." The daycare kids are figuring it out too. I happen to have both of Dr. B's kids, and today someone in his class wanted to know if I have a baby at home. I said, "not yet, it is still inside of me." Dr. B's son said, "I knew that. My mom and grandma told me." I had run into his mom while running an errand last week, and she told me she had asked him if he had noticed and he said he did.

Speaking of daycare--let me just say that I love teaching music to kids who get soooo excited to see me each Tuesday, and give me hugs and kisses when I leave. And they love the songs and games and request their favorites all of the time. They get so excited when I pull out props and get a game going! It makes me more excited to share these things with Babycue.

Speaking of sharing...We have been reading to the baby now, and we started with a Grover book. We couldn't find our copy of The Monster at the End of This Book (it has to be somewhere), and I mentioned that to my dad. He told me that he got so tired of reading that book to me that he finally tape recorded it, and he thinks the tape still exists. He offered to find it for us.

Vote!

Babycue encourages you to vote.

dryer hymns plus an update

We are happy to announce that we have a dryer! It arrived last Friday morning and though I haven't used it yet (I actually forgot it was there last time I did laundry), it is exciting to see it there. Thanks to mom for fixing up a relic from her day (a lovely shade of yellow) and to her and Babycue's Aunt B (and my canine niece and nephew) for carrying it to the basement for me! Thanks also to all who offered a dryer to us! We appreciate that you thought of us and our damp clothes.

This is probably only funny to us, but we have been looking at the names of hymns (the tune name) for baby names. I have a piano student who has been working on some hymns to play in church for Christmas, and in her book they are all listed by tune name. Some of them are kind of good for real names, so when we are in church we laugh at the names of the songs we are singing. We actually start singing the song, and then notice the tune name, and laugh, and point, and then start looking at pages before and after in the hymnal. I'm sure people who notice us wonder what is going on, but there are names likes Aberswythe, Diademata, Runessan, Federal Street, Hursley, Boylston, and Darwal to laugh at. Of course, we would have to listen to the tune to decide if we liked it (how awful to have something as strange as a name after a hymn and then to have the melody be unpleasant).

Due date update: St. Patrick's Day (March 17), which means we are 20 weeks along (halfway). Scroll to the bottom of the page, and you can check out the due date countdown.

Babycue's thoughts on picture taking

"Please don't take my picture or I'll put my hands in front of my face. Ha, ha, you can't see me. Oh, so you won't give up. Well, I'll just stick my tongue out at you... Stop poking me and trying to get me to move. I like looking towards mom's spine. Now you know why the flashlight thing didn't work. I wasn't looking at you. Those two ladies kept pushing me around, while mom just relaxed on a bed in a dimly lit room and watched the screen they were showing me on. Dad thinks I have mom's nose. How can he tell? I guess it is good that mom and dad got to see all of my toes and fingers, and my heart beating. They also saw my stomach and bladder and spine. The ladies took pictures of my brain and measured my head and some bones. They say I am about the right size, and somehow could estimate my weight. 10 ounces. Mom and dad thought the pictures of my face looked kind of like an alien. I don't have much fat yet, so my face kind of looks hollow. I was wiggly for a while, and the one learning to take pictures of me couldn't quite get some of the pictures she wanted. They looked at my placenta and my umbilical cord. My heart rate was 142 today. Mom and dad brought home some nice pictures of me and got a CD with a couple more pictures, even though they took about (dad thinks) about 70 pictures altogether. I guess I'll have to get used to that."

And now you know some of what Babycue was thinking during the ultrasound today. It is fascinating that they can use this gooey stuff and an electronic thing and look inside of my belly to see this baby moving around. In a sense we got twice the ultrasound because our tech was training a new tech, so after Erica, the new one, did her part, Monica, the trainer, came in and checked everything. It is difficult to take pictures of something that is moving around and you can't control. Props to the ultrasound ladies! They can't give the official word, but unofficially everything looks fine.

Babycue revealed!

Here are the first pictures of Babycue. Everything appears to be healthy. We did not find out the sex. More details about the ultrasound later today.

Extra medium and Chinese names

I am finally reaching the point where clothes don't fit quite right. Or at all. Last week I actually bought maternity jeans (comfy, for now, I might add). Q says I am extra medium. I feel silly wearing one of my seven maternity shirts, but today I couldn't even button my favorite over-sized, ugly flannel shirt. I had to leave two buttons undone, a porthole of sorts. I tell Q that I will wear his shirts soon. I'm not upset--I kind of like it. But I am definitely in between sizes.

Tonight our Chinese friend from Nevada called us to check in and say hello. We told him the news, and asked if there were any Chinese names we should think about. He said no, but all we have to do is come up with a single syllable word and we have a Chinese name, which we found hilarious! He didn't think it was so funny (J, you make us laugh!). He then used his own and his brother's names as examples.

Coming Attractions

Tomorrow Smileycue and I will get to see Babycue via ultrasound. Tune in tomorrow to see the black-and-white, shadowy shapeshifter.

Baby names

Bittersweet posted about Secret Future Baby Names. Who knew that Neveah was so popular, or even a name? She also reveals the fantastic timewaster, babynameshub, which has a compare names function.

As you can see on the accompanying bar graph, Both Q (in green) and Smileycue (in orange) have popular names. In fact, our parents were trendsetters, apparently. However, the popularity of each name peaked in elementary school. Apparently, word got out that you don't want kids "like us." It's interesting to see how names like Tyler and Connor have from nonexistent to ubitiquous while names like Merle and Louise have faded away.

Barack hasn't caught fire yet, and it looks like Brittany has had its moment.

(Thanks to Bittersweet for the tip.)

17 weeks and some awkward pregnant moments

Yesterday we had our 17 week OB appointment. There isn't much exciting. I gained 2.6 pounds. Dr. B had a difficult time finding the heartbeat. He started by my belly button and worked his way down until he found it. It seems Babycue is chilling on my bladder. I can think of better places to be. Baby Center says the baby is the size of a 5 ounce turnip, so imagine that sitting on your bladder. Apparently where we live, ultrasounds are optional, and they have to come up with a reason for getting one. We could have said, no, we don't need one, but really, I want to see this little critter inside of me. So our reason: large for dates. Whatever that means. The ultrasound directions say to come with a full bladder. Like that will be a problem.

I have had a series of awkward pregnant moments...here are a couple.

Not even eight weeks along, we announce in church because the pastor is afraid she will burst from holding in our exciting news. So we announce. One lady says to me after church, "I thought I saw a belly there." But at least she didn't try to feel my belly like two ladies at a recent funeral visitation. Or compliment me on how "slim and trim" I am looking after I have just spent five days throwing up everything inside of me.

Then there's the camper from the camp where Dan and I counsel in the summers. He works at a local grocery store where we go mostly because it is open latest, and we like to check up on him. He tells me that his girlfriend was pregnant, but had a miscarriage. What do you say to that? My first instinct was to tell him about this thing called Planned Parenthood, and although I don't condone his choice to have sex just now, he should be using some kind of contraception. But I held it in, and just say I'm sorry to hear that. After all, he told me in confidence and it isn't my place to say or do anything else but listen. The next time I see him though...

The Babycue interviews

Reader maggie, proprietor of Sketchbook Maggie, has asked questions about Babycue. We felt that Babycue was best suited to answer the questions.

What are we doing with this new baby?

My parents have been feeding me and keeping me warm. The other night there was a bright light; I turned away.

I frequently hear sound. Sometimes I hear the voice of my father. Occasionally there is music. More often, I my mother's voice.

Are we going to find out sex?

I'm too young for that! (rimshot.)

Seriously, I've developed my "business," but my parents are respecting my privacy. I can't hide it from the ultrasound - it's Naked Time all the time here - but they promised me they wouldn't look.

Baby shower?

Why do I need a shower? I'm soaking in amniotic fluid 24/7.

Have you decided on a decorating theme?

I've thought about a decorator blankie. There are no windows. That rules out any draperies, but I have thought about a nice lamp and maybe a poster of my hero, Super Grover.

Maggie, there you are, straight from the mouth of Babycue. Readers, what questions do you have? Post them in the comments. We'll ask Babycue and share them in a future post.

coffee, er, milk snob and one less worry

Well. It seems I have become a milk snob. Now, I used to be a coffee snob. Starbucks=bad, non-corporate coffee=good, and certain drinks from certain places are better. I can tell you my favorite coffee at many places in Las Vegas, and now in our small area of Iowa.

But my coffee drinking has been limited (just don't tell Dan about the single shot latte I had on Wednesday). So I have become a critic of milk instead. Dan and I compromised long ago and buy 1% instead of skim or 2%. But last Saturday I accidentally bought the store brand. And it was not good. It tasted funny and I had a difficult time drinking it. I finally finished the gallon, and bought my Anderson Erickson 1% and life is good again. I have become a milk snob.

One less worry...we had been trying to figure out how to get a wash machine so that we could do laundry at home, instead of our once a month trek to the laundromat. We technically have a washer and dryer, but they reside in our condo in Las Vegas. Yesterday my mom brought us a washer. She got it from this guy who buys appliances at auctions, and then resells them for very decent prices. It is a Maytag, and works well. Somehow she and Dan got it into the basement too. Now we have to get our landlord to fix the water pipes so it can use cold water as well as hot...Thanks mom!

New Ben & Jerry's flavor: La Leche?

This news item is something I'd normally write about in my other blog, but it's more apropos here. PETA has suggested to Ben & Jerry's founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield that they begin to use human breast milk instead of cow's milk. While Smileycue enjoyed Ben & Jerry's until she discovered that most of their products contain the soy derivative soy lechitin, she is not interested in providing base ingredients for them.

PETA has also posted their press release and a blog entry.

(Thanks to David DeGeest for the tip.)

The Babycue Experiments: Light and dark

At 15 weeks, Babycue can now sense light and dark, though its eyelids are still fused shut. In a related development, Babycue is now covered in lanugo, a fur it will lose by birth. This is better than being covered in Luongo, the Vancouver Canucks' goaltender. Interestingly, anorexics and other victims of malnutrition sometimes grow lanugo.

Both Babycenter and Mr. Dad have suggested that Babycue will react to the light by turning away. In the name of science, we decided to see what would happen if we shined a light on the subject.

After Smileycue peed for the 37th time today, we shut off the lights in the room and turned on our Maglite. I pressed the light against Smileycue's belly and...nothing. This is not a surprise; Babycue's movements won't be noticeable to Smileycue for another few weeks.

We also tried shining the flashlight on my belly. No movement there, either. We did discover that Smileycue's belly is more translucent, creating a reddish-orange glow.

We'll try again next month.

cleaning out the cupboard

Last week I went through our pantry and took out everything that I can't have right now, including things I might be tempted by (Ghiradelli hot chocolate, anyone?). I took the bag to mom, and I'm not sure what she will do with a box of graham cracker crumbs...but she traded me homemade peach jam and some pears for it.

Saturday I went to visit a friend I used to work with. She decided to go through her cupboards and find things I could eat. Then she sent those things home with me. First she was disappointed that most of what she had I couldn't have, but we found a few things. So I took home a bag containing canned pumpkin, Bush's homestyle baked beans, a can of mandarin oranges, a Jiffy pizza crust mix, a can of frozen grape juice, and some strawberry daiquiri mix. Now that is a friend, someone who will give you a can of pumpkin and some daiquiri mix! No, really, I very much appreciated it, T, and the pizza was very good and I ate too much of it. Thanks for everything!

Babycue book club: The Expectant Father

Welcome to the first installment of the Babycue Book Club. It's like Oprah's Book Club, if Oprah were pregnant. (Maybe not.) Anyway, our first book is The Expectant Father, by Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash.

The Expectant Father walks through pregnancy from the perspective of the father. Each chapter focuses on a month of the pregnancy, outlining what's going on with my partner (Smileycue, the mom), the baby (Babycue), and me (Q, the dad). Topics include emotions, communication, sex, and finances -- in other words, everything we're already discussing. Chapter 2, "The 2nd Month," gave recipes -- helpful for us, given the food allergies that have intensified during the pregnancy. Brott and Ash have a conversational, "you-and-I" style, giving first-person experiences. Sections often begin with "When you..." or "You may..."

Though we're only in month 4 (hello, week 15!), I've skipped ahead to month 6, which has a great discussion about FMLA and creating a family-friendly workplace. The Expectant Father spends significant time addressing the insecurities fathers may feel, advocating for fathers to be involved in the pregnancy. Certainly, I've dealt with insecurities through these early weeks. ("I'm capable of fathering a child?" "Can we afford a child?" "Am I fit to be a father?") Fortunately, friends, family, and colleagues have shared in our joy and offered their support. No one has asked the snarky question, "So, who's the father?" Also, my employer has a generous paternity leave policy, allowing six weeks to be with Smileycue and Babycue.

I recommend The Expectant Father to any other dad-to-be.

PS: Read an excerpt of the book. Armin Brott also has a website.

2nd trimester and milk

Welcome to the second trimester. So far it is a lot like the first--being sick about once a week, being nervous at potlucks, sleeping a lot. I did notice Saturday that when I tried to button the pants I was wearing for my band concert, I had a bit of a struggle, and my form fitting white shirt definitely fit my form, and my belly. And since I know I still haven't gained weight, it must be the baby...which, by the way, is about the size of a lemon now, and it can pee.

Saturday night we took our newest international student out for dinner (family weekend) and ran a couple of errands on the walk home. We stopped at the store for milk, and ran into Dr. B, who informed us he was buying toilet paper. I said, "we're getting milk...again." He seemed a little surprised that I was drinking about two and 1/2 gallons a week.

Babycue's first gift

Babycue has gotten his or her first gift, for him or her alone. A lady stopped me at church yesterday, and I got to open babycue's present--a pair of crocheted mittens. SO cute. She tells me they will look huge on the baby...And I'm impressed that she made them already.

But of course, my mom has almost finished the maternity dress I asked her to make for me for Christmas.

And I heard from Q while he is in Ohio, and apparently Babycue has gotten his or her first stuffed frog, and some clothes.

Guess I better pick up some baby thank you notes.

Act II

We've entered the second trimester. Really, that's about it. The pregnancy seems...ordinary. Babycue is still too small to create a baby bump. Smileycue's energy and ability to keep food down has stabilized. Her milk consumption, however, is noteworthy - 2 gallons a week.

and the beat goes on...

Ah, twelve weeks. Today we heard babycue's heartbeat! We were excited, as was our doctor. The heart rate was 165 beats per minute, and we could hear mine too, so it sounded like a cool ostinato. This week the baby is the size of a lime.

Speaking of food, three things. I have lost three more pounds, and my body is burning fat, which is not good. Doctor's orders: eat more. But, I have found food I can eat! Macaroni and cheese is my hero, and so is Breyer's chocolate ice cream. Bless the people who use cocoa. McDonald's and Dairy Queen, not so much. Sometime when you really want to be frustrated, just go into one of those fine establishments and ask if there is soy in their ice cream. They don't know. Now, I know I was at McDonald's on a Friday night during the after the football game rush, but they should still know where to look. At Dairy Queen last night, they had no clue, and one girl even pointed out that she doesn't even know what soy is. I laughed, after I walked out, because she probably eats it every day.

I was really sick on Saturday, and we blame the two bites of chocolate chip cookie I had on Friday night.

200 days

If Babycue is born on the due date, we're 200 days from bringing Babycue into the world.

Week 11: Now bring us some figgy pudding

Congrats Babycue: you're a 1.5"-long fig. Good work!

Smileycue is still ill, but with less frequency than before.

Daddycue is still the responsible party.

"Do you know the sex of your child?"

No. We haven't learned it yet, and we'd like to wait until the birth to learn the sex.

But just because we haven't found out doesn't mean that we don't have preferences. I would like a boy. Smileycue would like a girl. This makes sense: I have a younger brother, Smileycue has a younger sister. I understand boys, she understands girls.

Recently, we stayed with friends, Jack and Errett. Jack has a knack for knowing the gender of unborn children. Jack asked a few questions and decided we will have a boy.

We'll try and be better about using gender-inclusive language on this blog when referring to Babycue. For now, know that we don't know.

props to Cold Stone

So Dan took me out for ice cream in Iowa City tonight. We were on our way home from a wedding reception in Muscatine, and stopped for dinner, then ice cream. We headed to Cold Stone, and asked if they knew the ingredients in their ice cream...and we were handed a training manual with a chart that listed every ice cream and topping in the place and the most common food allergens and checked by which had what. So my toppings were limited to gumballs, coconut, marshmallows, and gummi bears, but there were only about 4 flavors I couldn't have. And let me tell you, coffee ice cream with marshmallows gets a big smiley face from me!

And BTW, we don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl. Some of us seem to be less than capable of gender neutrality, and assume things before we know for sure.

I wanna get physical, physical

Smileycue had her first physical yesterday. Highlights:

• Smileycue received a clean bill of health.
  
• Smileycue can pee in a cup; however, she needs help remembering to pee in said cup in the morning. She also needs help remembering to bring the cup o' pee to the doctor.
  
• Despite using the strange belly sound machine (name?), we could not hear Babycue's heartbeat. Not a surprise, as Babycue (Fetuscue?) is only 10 weeks old.
  
• Babycue will be expensive, but insurance and a monthly payment plan will ease the pain in the wallet.
  

Fun facts:

• Babycue is the size of a kumquat this week. (The picture at right is what Smileycue's belly would look like if we were having octuplets...or if she ate a mess of kumquats.)
  
• Smileycue's uterus is the size of a baseball.
  
• Smileycue is not comfortable about talking about her uterus.
• Uterus is a strange, phonetic word.
  
• Phonetic, while strange, is not a phonetic word.
• I continue to talk to Babycue about all of this. He is my confidant.
• Yes, he.
  

Thanks for reading!

Backstories, vol. i

As we share the news with family, Smileycue and I are hearing interesting stories about our time in the womb. I knew that I was late (due date - August twentysomething, but born in September). I also knew that my mom began labor at Red Lobster the evening prior to my birth. (Insert astrology joke here.) What I did not know is that after suspecting conception, my mom visited Planned Parenthood to take a pregnancy test. When my mom told my dad, he wasn't surprised because he "tried extra hard that time." My parents waited until March to share the news with friends and family. As this blog attests, we could not demonstrate that same level of self-restraint in keeping the news to ourselves.

Smileycue was born to farmers. (Insert Supergirl/planet Krypton joke here.) A few days after Smileycue's birth, her mom was in hog shed pulling pigs with one hand and nursing Smileycue with the other.

We'll share future stories of the rearings of Smileycue and Q in future posts. Please post your stories and memories of Smileycue, Q, or your own experiences in the comments.

chocolate chip cookies, plus some soy information

It seems that in some circles bringing chocolate chip cookies to social functions and the workplace is a sign that you are expecting. I know it was that way in my former workplace, and one day a coworker brought cookies to be nice and all day long people were trying to figure out who was pregnant, until she finally told them she brought them to be nice. I brought banana chocolate chip cookies to a family gathering recently and an aunt accused me of trying to say something...I had bananas I needed to use up, and those are my favorite cookies. No announcement. I had told a college student we know that story, and when I saw her yesterday she asked when I would make chocolate chip cookies. I told her I wasn't going to, and as it turns out, chocolate chips are made with SOY!

Lately I have been craving milk. I need it. I drank three glasses before bed last night, and tonight I had two glasses of chocolate milk (no soy!!!), plus a glass after work. I might even get another one in a minute. This is funny because as a small child I was lactose intolerant, and it kind of went away after puberty until I went on the pill, when it kind of came back, and I'd say that is not a problem right now. Give me milk.

I have been doing some research about soy, because it is in everything, and often disguised with different names. Here are a couple of links to what I've found so far.

Lecithin Information Guide

Soy Allergy (Food Allergy Initiative)

us and our moms

Yesterday we got back from Chicago. It was a good trip, and fun to spend time with our moms. Mine wanted to go to a fabric store--we got a lot of fabric for various projects, and a lot of frog stuff (the nursery theme we decided on). We asked our moms about being pregnant with us, and with Chris and Brenda. We learned about the weather the summers we were born. It was so hot when I was born that mom actually put me in a laundry basket with ice water in it and parked me under a shade tree. We learned how long our moms were in labor with us, and how long they carried us, and about when they told their parents. Debbie told us about finding out about Dan, and going to Planned Parenthood for the test, and the responses from the people there. When she told Mike, he said he knew she was pregnant, because he tried extra hard that time!

I had just realized in the last couple of weeks that my sister was probably considered a high risk pregnancy for mom, because of the Crohn's, and mom said they didn't think she would even carry Bren 6 months...but she carried her full term (way to go mom!). Chris was almost born on the way to the hospital, he came so fast. I hope more of these stories come out over the next few months. It is fun to find out how things went for our moms.

feeling better, name suggestions, and telling people

Whew! So, I was sick for a few days and the nurse visit really helped, and I got some of that nasty stuff out of my system. By last Wednesday night I was asking for pizza...good sign. There are still days, but overall as long as I avoid soy and eat every time my stomach thinks it might be hungry, all is well. Today I made homemade bread so I can at least have toast in the mornings. And I ate a bowl of cereal (I had been avoiding milk), and it stayed put. The kids at work had quite a time of going through every snack we sell to see if there is soy--we discovered three safe things: fruit snacks, pretzels, and marshmallows.

It was a little tricky eating in St. Louis, because some restaurants don't really know what ingredients are in their products. I ordered a root beer float at Sonic and they had quite a time checking labels. The only St. Louis food that didn't go over was the Greek salad.

So, we've gotten one name suggestion so far. Lightning. If you have your own idea, let us know.

We had an elaborate plan worked out with Chris to tell our moms in Chicago. Dan is in Denver later this week and will fly into Chicago where Debbie and Chris would meet me and my mom and we were going to surprise both moms at the same time, but Debbie backed out on Chicago and we had to call her and tell her. The next day she texted that she was excited, and since I have never known her to text, I am glad she is. We decided to tell my mom on the way home from St. Louis, and she immediately mentioned that she had a lot of sewing to do. Our dads responded a little less enthusiastically, but they're dads...mine asked if we were getting a dog (we've often referred to Brenda's dogs as grand-dogs, and our tarantula as a grand-spider).

I told my sister as she was driving us to a movie, and she almost drove off of the road. I accidentally told Dan's cousin Matt because he called while I was curled up in the bathroom, and I told him I was sick and he asked why. So I told him. It turns out he was calling to tell us about their pregnancy...due not long before ours.

First trimester

Nobody really tells you that you might find death more enticing than the first trimester....but it is true. If I were not alive, I would not feel so sick all of the time. No, you don't need to go on Suicide watch...I'm not actually contemplating death, especially when I've discovered that I am not sick when I am asleep (waking up is a different matter). Today the nurse said our priority is staying hydrated, and I am working on that. She said bananas, apple juice, toast (do you know how many breads have soy???), and or course, rice. The BRAT diet. She said to keep on with the popsicles, and to try seven up. But, I have to say, orange popsicle really burns when it comes out of your nose. They all say it will pass, and sooner is better by me.

I love how nobody warns you about the first trimester, until you are experiencing it. How many times in the last two weeks have I heard, "oh, first trimester..." like its a secret club. What a sucky club. Here's what I know, Dan has become a master at cleaning the bathroom.

The nurses in the doctor's office are all excited. They all know me because I am there so much for allergy shots.

We also have a due date: March 17. So we could have a St. Patrick's Day baby with an appropriate last name. If we go on March 15 that would be cool because it is my grandma's birthday, and the 11th is my parent's anniversary. The 13th is Dan's half birthday (a bit of a stretch for significance???). We'll be just a few weeks behind Dan's cousin's second baby, and that is exciting too.

sick, sick, sick, and a little crabby

So, first the crabby. I traveled to Adventureland with the Galaxy (the after school youth center) on Wednesday. It was a long day and I only got to ride three rides. We rode home on a school bus and I had the misfortune of sitting near the most annoying kid I have ever met. He had a plastic water bottle with a straw that he kept making terrible high pitched squeaky noises with. Finally I turned to him and told him that if he didn't stop I would shove the straw down his throat and throw the water bottle out the window. He stopped. Everyone else laughed at me.

Now for the sick part. We have a suspicion that lack of allergy meds equals me actually having reactions to my mild food allergies. I accidentally ate shrimp last week--sick for two days. So my prenatal vitamins happen to have soy (have you ever checked food labels, it seems everything is made with soy). I started them on Wednesday night--threw up twice on Thursday, twice on Friday, twice on Saturday, stopped taking the vitamin, and still threw up three times on Sunday. We're talking violent, until there is only bile left in me and that comes up too. Friday I even threw up while taking a shower. Tomorrow I meet with the nurse for the medical history/blood test happiness, and we'll have to get this figured out. I almost had Dan take me to the hospital for fluids on Saturday. Tonight I ate two big popsicles, and so far so good. We also asked a retired OB/GYN friend and he said as long as I get folic acid and iron things should be good, so Dan picked up some organic, non soy containing supplements for me at New Pioneer Coop in Iowa City today.

Our siblings are sooooooo excited! Yesterday Chris called to tell us that he and Dan's parents were going phone shopping, and would it be a good idea for everyone to get quality camera phones with photo sharing capabilities due to "upcoming events" that our parents don't know about yet. I said yet, and I guess he had quite a time convincing them, but he was successful. He and Dan have been scheming to get the parents and us in the same place at the same time so we can tell them in person.

Official.

Today babycue became official. I stopped by to see Dr. B and all was confirmed. Dan and I have decided babycue likes to remind he/she is there by making me nauseous all day long.

Diagnosis: Pregnancy

Responsible party: Dan McCue.