Ten weeks

It kind of feels like we're spies at this point. Wherever we go, we're sneaking this other person around in with us. At the movies. On the plane. Oh, and apparently, it's officially a fetus now.

Fun fetus facts:
• The most critical part of our infant's development is complete. Now comes a period of rapid growth
• Our baby's head is now about half its length
• Eyelids fuse shut and irises begin to develop
• Placenta begins to function
• Our baby is about 1.22 inch long and weighs 0.14 ounce

Fun mother facts:
Raegan now frequently, and without warning or provocation, bursts into song — most often the "Baby Furniture Warehouse" jingle.

Note: fetus shown is a sample fetus used for demonstration purposes only and does not in any way reflect the appearance of our particular fetus.

Ah-choo!

I'm beginning to get concerned that Raegan is blowing her nose too much.

"You're going to blow out the baby!"
"Don't be stupid."
"I'm serious. You create all this internal pressure. One of these times the baby's just going to come shooting out."
"That's insane."
"Why are you blowing your nose so much anyway?"
"Don't you remember? It's that whole post-nasal drip. The mucous plug thing."
"Nevermind. Keep blowing. Just so long as we don't talk about the mucous plug again."
"What's wrong with my mucous plug?"
"The word mucous is bad enough. Throw plug in there and it's a whole other level."
"Maybe you're not ready to be a father."
"Let's compromise. How bout if I just link to it?"
"Whatever. You brought it up."
"Good. Done. Oh...uh."
"Yes?"
"Well, um, try not to poop too hard either."
"You are NOT putting that in the blog!"

Letting the Cat Out

As our 10 week Doctor visit approaches, Steve and I are finding it impossible to keep the news to ourselves. Our friends, Maria and Doug, came for a visit from Arizona, so they were the first to hear the good news. Other geniuses figured it out on their own, but they were the first people we told. With my new dietary restrictions and noticeable decrease in energy, I was bound to be discovered anyhow. It feels great to finally share our news with the people we love.

Next was my mother. She was going in for knee replacement surgery. We thought it would be cute to send her an ambiguous message along with flowers: "Here's to a speedy recovery...and the ability to run around after your new grandbaby!!" We meant to be vague, but she's sharp, Vicadin or no. The boundless joy that filled her mind mind must have burned through the dense fog of pain medication. She called me immediately, while shouting the news to the rest of the family in the hospital room. I could hear my sister, Kelly, and my nieces, Kyle and McKenna, cheering in the background.

We decided to be clever about telling my parents. We were all gathered there in the house, about to go out for Indian. I said, "Before we go eat, we just want to show you this new website we did." And then I typed in the url (www.brykbaby.com). Now here's the thing. We'd made a couple bets before we told them. I bet Raegan that (1) It would take my parents at least five minutes to figure out that we were actually having a baby (Raegan felt this was ludicrous), and (2) My dad would figure it out before my mom (Raegan assumed women's intuition would count for something).

Here's how it panned out:
The brykbaby website is loading. The URL 'brykbaby.com' is clearly visible. No reaction. Then the little baby Raegan designed pops up and blinks.
"Oh, that's cute," they said.
They read the words aloud as they appeared on screen.
"Brykbaby. Arriving April 2007. That's cute."

Still no reaction. Then a good, I don't know, thirty, forty seconds of confused silence passes. At this point, even my sister Shelley is quiet, though I'm sure she had it figured out by now.

Then something clicked in my dad's brain. I mean, it was like audible. And he starts jumping up and down. He's shouting, "Hey!! Hey!!!" But mom was still in the dark. You can't blame her. She only just started using electricity last week, so she's still trying to figure out how to work the television, let alone the internet. Seconds later, it hits her, and pandemonium ensues. There was crying and there was hugging and then I spent ten minutes explaining how to get back onto this website.

Boob Time

Just when I thought they couldn't get any bigger, my most pronounced features have gone and proved me wrong! While there isn't much "show" to report in the belly region, my breasts are starting to swell...and that ain't so swell.

1 pound gained thus far. It clearly went straight to the boobs!

Two Tips

Tip 1 - for Soon-to-be-mothers: If you don't want anyone to know you're pregnant, but are worried about acting suspiciously in public, like when you suddenly stop drinking alcohol and coffee, just tell people you're on Weight Watchers and a drink is just way too many points.

Tip 2 - for Soon-to-be-fathers: Telling your friends your wife is pregnant is a great way to score yourself free drinks!

Dream a Little Dream of Me

Okay. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I think we're having a boy. Keep in mind, that this is based entirely on a dream I had few weeks ago wherein I was hanging out with my son, a three or so year-old with a bowl-cut like my mom used to give me. It was very vivid and realistic-like and nothing very eventful happened in it except that we were just hanging out and I remember thinking he was a pretty cute kid. I never have dreams like this and, for this reason, it was memorable. Plus, I dreamt it before we knew Raegan was pregnant. Which is kind of peculiar. Not that that means anything, but until we actually see a penis, at this point I suppose my dreams are as good a source as any.

Plusses and Minuses

Raegan now blames everything on the baby, including her farts. And there's simply no way to dispute her without performing an ultrasound.^*

On the plus side, Raegan is now worn-out by 9:30 p.m., which means it's getting to the point where I can almost keep up with her. Almost, that is.

Oh, and we took a copy of Deepak Chopra's Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives on CD out from the library. It's really good, particularly if you're looking to fall asleep behind the wheel. Or if you have trouble identifying the colors of foods. Seriously. Here's a quote: "Foods that are blue include blueberries..." (more Chopra fun-making to follow).

^*But now with that whole thing about ultrasounds causing adverse effects on fetal neural development, I'll never get an answer!

Nappy Time

I am becoming the queen of naps. Upon waking around 8am, I'm ready for nap by 11. I read that while sleeping, the pregnant body works as much as if you were hiking up a mountain. Oy! I do love hiking, but not while I'm sleeping, thank you much.

I'm working on getting into a heathly routine. Oil massages with clove, conversations with Peanut*, and a bath at night.

*Peanut, not a family name, nor the final name selection.