Week 20: A nifty ultrasound and a distinct lack of fruit

So here we are in week 20, the halfway point, the bit where I should be posing with some pretty hefty fruit -- this week was to have been cantaloupe.  There were a few factors that got in the way of our semi-weekly fruit-and-bump photo shoot: (1) a distinct lack of ripe melons in the market, (2) a packed schedule with my mom visiting and a few important family activities planned, and (3) as it turns out, melon can kill you.  What?!  Yeah - how 'bout that craziness? We'll be back with pictures in a few weeks.  I think that papaya is coming up -- although a nurse told me that I should avoid papaya unless I know that it is 100% ripened, as there is some research to show that unripe papaya can lead to premature labor.  So, maybe I'll pose with a papaya and let Z eat it, because I am a papaya-plebe and would have no idea if the fruit I was eating was ripe or not.  I hang my head in shame.
                                                                      ***
I am apparently looking more and more pregnant, and more of my clients at work have felt the need to address my newly protruding belly.  Mostly people come right out and ask if I'm pregnant or expecting, although I've had a few doozies, most notably:

      *(from a co-worker) Now that you're (points at belly area) not sexy anymore, you shouldn't walk through that room.
      *What's going on .... (stares at my belly) there?
      *Wow. You're getting bigger.  (In her defense, this client knew that I was pregnant already.  But, really, when is it ok to tell a woman that she's getting bigger?)
     *Are you ... (stares at my belly) fuller figured?

While I'm happy that these people are taking a positive interest in me, it reminds me of a bit of wisdom that I picked up back when I was knee high to a grasshopper: Never ask a woman if she is pregnant/when she is due unless the baby is crowning. 
                                                                     ***
We had our ultrasound/anatomy scan on Tuesday and everything was perfect.  This was the first time that Z had a chance to see that our little Blobby had gone beyond Bean stage and had achieved Monkey-Bean stage.  Seriously, it looks like a little monkey-creature dancing around in there.  Z and my mom were also able to hear the heartbeat/doppler woosh-woosh.  Man, technology is pretty fantastic.

Here are a few of the photos from our scan.  I have to say that I used to believe that the 3D renderings were creepy (and as a side-note, the hospital where we had our scan calls them 4D images. What does that even mean??) until I saw my own little Monkey-Bean render.  Man, it's just about the cutest most fantastic thing I've ever seen.  That's my Monkey-Bean!

Here is the traditional ultrasound, with Monkey-Bean waving a hand around:

Is s/he taking after me and shaking a fist in the air?

And here is a tiny Monkey-foot:

Toesies!

Here is the first 3D.  Be prepared to marvel at the cuteness.

My heart is melting...

 And finally, proof that this is my child, Monkey-Bean has grown tired of being photographed and is trying to hide from the ultrasound:

Go 'way!

Week 18: The Quickening

At the time of writing, I am actually 19 weeks along, but we DID take the obligatory vegetable and belly shots last week, so I'm going to go ahead and title this one "Week 18."

So, I suppose I am at the stage where I look more pregnant than fat, although some days, I feel more fat than pregnant.  Z assures me that I look pregnant, but I think he's required to do that because of the Marital Law of Harmonious Cohabitation. (When he eats a meal that I prepared that is clearly sub-par without a complaint, that's also because of the MLHC.)

I've felt some movements - little readjustments or flutters - mostly at night.  It's pretty cool - I know that s/he is squirming about in there, as I've seen it on the ultrasounds, but to actually feel it is a whole new level of awesomeness.  I've read that the movements get more pronounced (violent?) as things progress, so I'm looking at the flutters as a gentle introduction.  It is a little odd that I mostly feel them at night, but I read that my movements during the day are relaxing to the Bean and lull him/her to sleep, then once I'm quiet and still, s/he becomes more alert and wiggly.  There have been a few nights where I ask the Bean which position s/he would prefer so there can be less wiggling and more Amanda-sleep.... As I told my mother the other day, I'm sure this is the first of many times I will say, "What do you want? I need to go to sleep."  :)

I do find it interesting that the first time a woman feels movement is referred to as the Quickening.  It certainly took me a minute to wrap my brain around the fact that the word was around well before the Highlander (There Can Be Only One!) movie.  (You know, I'd pluralize "movie," since there was technically more than one Highlander, but the others were awful.  So, I'm going to pretend they don't exist and just stick with the singular.)

Anyhow... without further ado, here are the pics.  At 18 weeks, the Bean is about the size of a sweet potato:

And here's the bump (and Kayla Mae getting in on the photo-shoot):

On Role Models and their credibility

So maybe this is a tad premature to come back to Blogtown only a day before an ultrasound appointment that will let me hear my unborn child's heartbeat for the first time, but so be it. I'll just have to make a quicker return visit.

While I love Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin as characters that make me laugh, I can't often say that they're ideal role models. That being said, a few nights ago, I joked with Amanda that I was going to be the dad that disciplined completely incongruously. "What, you got caught shoplifting?? Well, you're gonna have to smoke a whole carton of cigarettes, see how you like it!" The next night (or maybe even that night), we sat down to watch some Family Guy, and dern if Peter didn't do the exact same thing with Chris, subbing (I think) wrecking his dirtbike for shoplifting. So I can't be too far off, right?

[I've obviously turned down a dangerous road in Blogtown, one that opens the door to my reference-heavy world. However, I just remembered that we named this blog after a Simpsons reference, so all is well and right.]

Jumping tangentially to The Simpsons, I see that there ARE examples (in both series, really) where the fathers do get it right. Case in point, Homer learns that Bart had in fact been caught Shoplifting: "How _could_ you?! Haven't you learned anything from that guy who gives those sermons at church? Captain Whatshisname? We live in a society of laws. Why do you think I took you to all those 'Police Academy' movies? For fun? Well, I didn't hear anybody laughing! Did you?!"

Seriously folks, Steve Guttenburg is a lucky man.

But no, seriously folks, my number one role model will most assuredly be my own father, who, against all seeming evidence to the contrary, had NEVER DONE THIS before my brother was born. Guy sure seemed like a pro. And that's what gives me hope: knowing that generation after generation has been raised by rank amateurs, with varying degrees of success. I'm sure I'll also look to my older brother Jake as well, for a more modern take on the Rutter style.

But then again, who am I kidding? I know dern well that I will more likely end up like Calvin's father (of Calvin & Hobbes fame): when Calvin asked his father where babies come from, he was told that most people assembled babies from a kit that could be purchased at Sears. Calvin's father told his son that he was a "Blue Light Special at Kmart, almost as good and a lot cheaper."
In another instance, Calvin can be heard to remark to his mother: "I take it there's no qualifying exam to be a dad."

Not as such, no. But as far as Amanda and her ever-embiggening can attest, I've crossed the first of many hurdles. I'm just hoping, many many trials and tests later, that my exit interview is satisfactory.