A jumble

This post is just a jumble of random thoughts. To make up for it, I've added linky goodness. For example:

"I don't care about the crosswords, man!! Just the jumbles, the jumbles!"
- Strong Bad

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Hosanna wants to sleep a lot more now. Today she was ready for bed by 9:00 p.m. We're usually awake until 11 or 12, so this is quite unusual. Also, I think she pees about a hundred times a day now. You've never really appreciated your bladder control until you see someone have to get up and go to the bathroom six or seven times in the half hour she's lying in bed before going to sleep.

Last night I had a dream that a disembodied voice of authority was telling me everything that I need to do. In the dream it was all so clear and made so much sense. I just kept thinking to myself, "of course, of course!" Then I woke up and couldn't remember a single thing the voice said. This made me grumpy. I can't even remember what the topic was. All I know is that I had all the answers and lost them.

One of Hoanna's students gave her a picture frame that says "love at first sight" on it. We put one of the ultrasound pictures in it. So now we have our first baby picture up on the mantle.

Things I've thought about lately that have made me go "whoa" (not like Neo - maybe more like Jeff Spicoli):

1) Our house is soon to be drowning in baby photos.

2) I'm going to have a son or a daughter. (This is the latest in the line of "whoa" thoughts like "I'm going to have a baby!" or "I'm going to be a father!" or "Hosanna is going to be a mother!" It's where you hear a word you have uttered fifty thousand times in your life and all of a sudden it takes on a completely new meaning.)

3) I was at the art center where Hosanna works, watching oodles of parents play with katrillions of kids, and all of a sudden I flashed forward to being with my son or daughter (see #2) five to ten years from now, helping them get face painted, or oohing/aahing over the latest piece of art they made.

That's all I can think of now, but I know there are more. They are probably hiding out in some darkened section of my brain with the lost dream answers.

Last thought: For a while now I've felt utterly incapable of focusing on anything at work. On more than one occasion since I found out we are having a baby, I've gotten to the end of a work week with absolutely no recollection of what work I did for the past five days. It's a weird feeling.

All systems go

We've just passed the halfway point, and all systems are a go. We've had a couple appointments at the birth center with the midwife, Ruth. Everything there went ok. We heard the heartbeat at the first appointment and we both nearly fell out of our seats. We couldn't believe how fast it was. Like a little hummingbird!

Then just a couple days ago we had our first ultrasound experience. The guy doing it told us it was just over his 60,000th ultrasound at that location, where he had been since 1990 or so. Unbelieveable how many people are having babies.

We declined to find out the sex of the baby. We waffled on this for a while, but finally decided not to, for a purely practical reason: neither of us particularly likes the blue=boy and pink=girl thing, so we reasoned that we would avoid a bunch of pink and blue gifts for a little while longer (at least until the birth). So we left the ultrasound room with pictures of little feet, a little spine, little hands (though to me they still look like grey blotches), and a little profile. The doctor told us everything is progressing fine.

Hosanna is feeling much, much better these days. She feels the baby flipping around in there quite a bit now. She has to pee a lot and her back is starting to get uncomfortable, but for the most part she's feeling rather chipper. She even ate a burrito today, which is huge, because Mexican food has been a BIG no-no ever since the first time she threw up. Other things still bother her a little though, like the smells of our furniture, the litter box, or the wrong kind of Breathe-Right strip.

She started to show about a month ago and now has a decent size belly. She's starting to get comments from random people now. Like this exchange she had at the doctor's office today: Some guy says "Good luck with that baby. You know what you're supposed to do with it, don't you?" She asks: "What?" He says: "Teach it to work." Wow. Now, *there's* a guy out there changing the world for the better, one pregnant lady at a time.

As for me, I'm feeling much more excited these days. I'm still nervous and freaked out, but I've become more comfortable with the idea of being a parent. I've started to look forward to the day I hold our little one. I've felt it moving around a little bit and it made my eyes light up. It all started when I heard the heartbeat. That's when it all became real for me.

People have been really nice to us. My sister gave us a whole bunch of books and a diaper bag. My parents brought up all the stuffed animals I had when I was a kid. Our friend Kelly gave Hosanna a huge box of maternity clothes. One of Hosanna's sisters sent a set of infant clothes, complete with little booties. (Let me tell you, nothing arouses a big "AWWWWWW!!!! HOW CUTE!!!!" from the ladies like a pair of teeny little socks. Guys, listen up. They don't want diamonds the size of Colorado. They want socks the size of your thumb.) And numerous others have given small gifts.

Also, a few friends have stepped up and offered to throw baby showers. And it looks like I might even get to attend a couple of them. Good times.