MERRY CHRISTMAS!

All is quiet tonight in the house. I have the night off of work (back in tomorrow, though), and Julie and I just came back from a remarkably succulent turkey dinner at Olga and Jonathon's place. We hope that everyone is well and that your holidays are full of laughter and good cheer - and by good cheer, I mean tasty beverages. We'll post again soon.

More news on the ever changing body

So my ankles are starting to swell. According to my book, this should only be happening in the 7th month. I’m not even into the 5th yet! Also, the uncomfortable factor has started. It’s pretty much all focused around my chest. Chest, not boobs: they’re fine. It’s hard to explain where the discomfort is but it’s basically the part of my chest where boob and belly meet. That fold. It is now the only place on my upper body that can fold, since the belly has arrived. Hopefully I get used to it. But I must say, it sure is making me sit up straighter. My posture is the best it’s ever been!

I’m still getting used to the fact that we can now say “he” when we speak about the baby. It’s weird to be able to personify it. I didn’t have any idea what’s so ever, so there was no surprise, but it’s really nice to know. Marty was so convinced we were having a girl that I think it took him a while for it to sink in as well. Now it’s all about names. There is one in particular that I really like, but Marty is still determined to see if there is anything else out there. But until he comes up with more serious options than Walken, B.B. and Scooter, it looks like my pick is going to win. I do have one criteria: it has to sound good in both English and French. It’s non-negotiable. As much as I like the name Ethan, it’s impossible to say in French!

Junior (I figure that’s better to use on the blog than “he” all the time) is moving around pretty steadily now. I can’t always feel it on the outside, but he is definitely enjoying the room he has in there. Marty briefly touched on his first experience of feeling the baby move. He totally freaked!! It took him almost a week to want to try again. It’s a bit more subtle then it was that first time. I think Junior really wanted to make sure Marty knew he was there. I do have to admit that it’s very alien like to think there is a tiny human growing in my stomach! Not to mention that in four months I'll be a mother... Pardon me while my brain explodes trying to wrap it around that concept.

Oh, one final word on poop… prunes. As gross as they are, five before going to bed each night seems to be doing the trick. At least for now.

Big Announcement!

It has come to my attention from my parents that the Detto lineage has proven to be full of men. All of my direct aunts and uncles have given birth to boys. On Julie's side, all of the women have produced girls. The girl-boy odds seem to be even in our case. Well, as I mentioned in my previous post, we had another ultrasound yesterday and now know the outcome:





Not that you can tell from the images, but we are definitely getting ready to have a little boy. I say "definitely" based on the 5 second flash he gave us. (Apparently, he will need a little lesson on discretion that I have already begun to prepare.) All is good with him in the womb. In the first image, his face is to the front...he's quite a looker! We got a really good look at him from all angles, as he was really bouncing around. I wasn't prepared, though, to discover how active he actually is until I placed my hand on Julie's belly last night and got a substantive kick. I'm still schocked by the force at which it literally knocked my hand off of Julie. Somewhat icked, but mostly excited, I'm anxiously awaiting the next opportunty. If he keeps this up, he'll be ready to run right outta there during the delivery.

Belly Watch, Episode 2 - 20 Weeks

In this latest installment, we can clearly see some progress in the size of Julie's belly. Of course, being Marty, I remind her of this far beyond the reasonable limit, jeopardizing my life in the process. As Julie becomes more radiant by the day, I too, have packed on a few pounds. Despite the numerous warnings of my "As the Father-to-be, you are still a part of the pregnancy" literature, I have succumbed to my sweet tooth without a fight. I constantly plead with Julie to stop baking those brownies with the chewy centre, but to no avail.
As I'm not feeling creative today, I will just point out that we should know the gender after tomorrow's unltrasound. I am extremely anxious to find out, as I need as much time as possible to prepare for one of the following speeches:
a) The "I'm her father and you are nobody" intimidation speech at meeting the first boyfriend; or
b) the "I'm his father, and he IS the next Mario Lemieux" rant. DISCLAIMER: If graced with a girl, I still intend on "guiding" her into a career as a future hall-of-famer. It's not societal expectation thing with me...honestly.

Update

We had another prenatal appointment this week. Every thing seems to be tickety-boo. The heart beat was nice and strong, my blood pressure was bang on and nothing came up on the pee test. But there was one kicker. I've gained 10 pounds since my last visit. That was four weeks ago. That's over two pounds a week! At this rate I'll barely get out the door in a couple of months. I've been really good, eating at least four pieces of fruit a day, not eating the stereotypical chocolate-bar-a-day. I do love my bread though. It's jut so yummy and usually helps with the ickyness I am still feeling on an almost daily basis. But I have a theory. Poop. You heard me, poop. For those of you who don't know, pregnancy pretty much slows your colon to a grinding halt. And for those who know me, my colon wasn't exactly Speedy Gonzales to start off with. So, I figure a few of these pounds have got to be poop. It's my excuse and I am sticking with it!

Tonight is Marty's last night at the house of terror. He is absolutely giddy. He has five full days off without any chance of getting called in before he starts his new shift at the house in Almonte. It's a little farther out, but he has worked there before and really likes the way it is run and the kids seem to be pretty good. Well, he hasn't had his life threatened there, so I'm all for that! The other place was just terrible. He was so stressed about going to work that he stopped eating and got very little sleep, and when he did, he dreamed about work. So now he will be working the over night shift, four days on, four days off. We will actually get to spend some time together! Very exciting. Maybe I will eat less bagels for dinner and actually start to cook some real food! I hate cooking for myself.

We have met with a doula. A woman called Leslie who is actually a registered nurse. She seems really nice and very calm. I think we will probably sign up with her. I've just received the name of another doula that I am going to see if we can meet just to compare. It wouldn't hurt to see how we like her.

So there you have it. Stay tuned as this weekend we will post a belly picture update. We just received our new digital camera. Marty did a bunch of research, and found the perfect one for us, until we found out the price! But, he got on eBay and starting bidding. After a pretty intense afternoon of bidding , he won! My little techno-geek was so happy! And it arrived today. I am being very good and will wait for tomorrow and let Marty open the box, even though it's killing me!