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.