Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Ah, the power of eBay

Direct from Hong Kong, Squirtle has arrived! No, we didn't adopt a Chinese baby. We acquired a plush toy (no longer available in the states at retail) of our actual baby's current namesake. It's the turtle Pokemon from the original game. He's cute, he has a funny voice, and his toy form is now officially our kid's first stuffed animal. Or, it will be once they're born. Hopefully, by renaming our baby before he/she meets the "real" Squirtle, we can avoid a cataclysmic explosion due to some sort of space-time anomaly as worlds collide. Uh... right.



Friday, July 11, 2008

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Here's a still shot from today's ultrasound. Sorry for the quality, it's from my cell phone camera. Note that Squirtle's head is on the left.

According to the doctor's measurement during the ultrasound, Miranda is currently 7 weeks, 6 days pregnant. That puts the official EDD at February 21st, 2009.



Kinda looks like a spaceship, right? No? Maybe it's just me.

Like a Deer in Headlights

The waiting game just got a little more bearable.

Today, we went in for the second doctor's appointment, the main purpose of which was to get an ultrasound that would hopefully reveal Squirtle in all his/her glory. And glorious it was. Not only could we actually see our blueberry-sized embryo, we also saw AND heard its heartbeat! The effect this had on me (and Miranda, I'm sure) is indescribable. I didn't know what to do or say. I could only stand there and stare at the monitor, mouth agape, periodically mumbling pathetic understatements like "cool" and "awesome". I vaguely remember squeezing Miranda's hand really really hard.

So it's confirmed: Squirtle is alive and kicking.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Are We There Yet?

I'm going to be honest: this first month kinda sucks.

We have yet to break the news to most of our friends (we'll do that at the end of July). However, we do still see our friends, and Miranda IS pregnant. This leads to situations like the following: yesterday Noah and Stephanie (not our roommate) got married. When the subject of the cake came up during the reception, Stephanie told us there was chocolate mousse in it, at which point I exclaimed "Awww" while looking at Miranda. (She can't have mousse due to the possibility of foodborne illness from raw eggs.) Everyone looked at me, wondering what that meant, and I immediately realized my error. After an awkward silence, I just shrugged my shoulders. Luckily, Tim proceeded to make a joke about me, which I gratefully latched onto in order to distract everyone from questioning the real reason for my "disappointment" regarding the mousse.

Basically, I just want to tell everyone I know, but it's better to wait, so I have to constantly bite my tongue around certain people. Thank goodness our families know!

And then there's the nausea. No, I'm just fine. Miranda, not so much. Obviously, it's never enjoyable to see your wife sick or in pain, but this is especially tough to witness. I do what I can to help, but in the end I do not have any miracle healing powers. That is frustrating. Hopefully we'll be picking up the anti-nausea medicine soon, because it's really getting bad. Also, in theory, the nausea relents by the second trimester, so my fingers are crossed for that.

To make matters worse, as Miranda said, it's hard to see what all this pain and frustration is for at this stage. We don't even have a decent ultrasound. Yolk sacs are all well and good, but I want to see Squirtle! I want to confirm the heartbeat. I want something substantial. For Miranda's sake as well as mine.

Our excitement is being tempered in the wake of the initial discovery. Now we play the waiting game. The waiting game sucks.