Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge

I felt the baby move!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing. Right up there with hearing the heartbeat and seeing that little nudger for the first time on the ultrasound. Okay, that's all. Just wanted to share. :)

X or Y?

X or Y, do or die
Pain and joy, it's a girl or a boy
Friend or foe, you'll never know
But it's no lie that it's X or Y

If it's X, a gal is next
But if it's Y, you get a guy
If it's pink or blue, it all comes from you
So you don't have to try because it's X or Y

- "X or Y" by Loudon Wainwright III

The countdown is on! One week from right now, we'll know if our little nugget is made of sugar and spice, or lizard tails and (I really don't know what else little boys are made out of). So if you haven't voted, make your pick on the poll. I have to say, girl has been hanging onto the lead ever since this thing went live. Hmm. I wonder if you folks know something I don't... But the mystery all ends next Tuesday! Unless, as Matt keeps pointing out, Baby decides to play modest and keep his/her legs crossed. Which is unacceptable. Baby might get its first spanking, or at least a nice, encouraging poke, if it plays that game.

In other news, Matt and I went to the Eastlake Golf Course and took in the beautiful weather, saw Tiger Woods, had visions of our child becoming a billionaire golf pro, and purchased the lovely shirt you see me modeling on the right. (It has absolutely nothing to do with the golf tournament or Eastlake, but it was by far the cutest one there.) Do they even make caffeine-free diet Cherry Coke? I haven't found it yet, so this shirt is my only way to support my favorite Coke flavor. But just look at that Bump, circa Week 18!

Week 19's picture is less attractive (not the Bump's fault), but I'm giving myself bonus points because we took it right after getting some exercise at one of our nearby parks. Also, my jeans don't fit. My last pair, the good old stand-by "I'm feeling chubby today" jeans that never let me down, no matter how many slices of pizza I've had... well, they're about to surrender. And speaking of, my tee-shirts (see picture at left) are being stretched pretty thin. Matt has graciously offered to let me wear his clothes.

Alright everyone, that's it for now. Cast your X or Y votes, and stand by!

The Tale of the New Shirt

Once upon a time, there was a shirt. It was a lovely white, lace shirt and it longed to make someone look beautiful. One day, the shirt was spotted by Lee Anne. She bought it and took it home, only to find that when she put it on, the pretty shirt made her look, well, pregnant. (She didn't really look pregnant, it was all in her head. I'm sure she looked just lovely, but there's no point arguing.) So she decided to save the shirt until her daughter-in-law might have need of it.

Lo and behold, the day came when Kristine announced she was expecting, and Lee Anne happily gave her the beautiful white shirt. Kristine was thrilled, and as soon as her Bump appeared, she proudly put on the shirt and wore it to work, where she received numerous compliments. That afternoon, as Kristine and the shirt stood next to the kindergarten class as they waited to enter the cafeteria, a little voice piped up. Kristine looked down and saw that it belonged to one of her sweet students. The little girl was studying the Bump under the shirt with careful eyes. "Ms. Loughman," she piped up, voice full of curiosity, "you havin' a baby?"

Kristine was surprised. She hadn't told any of her students yet, not wanting to field the difficult questions that might come next. But it seemed the shirt had spilled her secret for her. (Secretly, she didn't mind, because it meant that Bump was really starting to grow and show!) She nodded, and a chorus of excited cries went up. Another little voice spoke up. "Hey," the boy asked, "where's the dad?!" Kristine couldn't help but laugh. "He's at work!" she replied, ushering the students into the cafeteria and ending the conversation. Or so she thought.

Later that day, as the students prepared for home, another little girl peered at the Bump. "Why's your stomach blowing up?" she asked, wrinkling her forehead in concern. "Why do you think?" Kristine asked, curious to hear the response. "Because there's a baby in there?" the student replied, starting to smile, confident in her answer. "Yep," Kristine confirmed, smiling back. "What's it doing in there?" a boy wanted to know. And Kristine was quickly reminded why she didn't want to have this conversation with her kindergarten kids in the first place.

So Kristine and her shirt headed to the doctor's office, where she heard the baby move, learned she had gained a whopping three pounds (of which only 5 ounces could be blamed on baby), and
discovered that the baby was now the size of a turnip, a vegetable Kristine is pretty confident she has never eaten or even seen in real life.

Bump Watch 2009

Well, after 15 weeks and plenty of dessert, we finally have visible proof. Please join me in welcoming Baby Bump Loughman! Trust me, folks, I worked hard to get this. As in, I had to take a lot of pictures before the bump could be accurately displayed. I feel like it's been there for awhile, but apparently these things are much harder to capture on film. And even still, I probably look more like I had a few extra Krispy Kremes this morning, rather than I've been incubating a baby for close to four months.

Today marks Week 16, aka The Avocado. To celebrate, I'll probably eat a lot of guacamole. Yum! Speaking of eating, I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday. At my last visit, I hadn't gained any weight. I fully expect that to change this time around. Culprits include: Baby, the above mentioned guacamole, and all the teachers at my school who seem intent on forcing brownies and chocolate cake on me. If I protest (which I do... for about ten seconds), all I hear is "Baby wants a cupcake!" Alas, neither the baby nor I possess much self-control when it comes to sweets.

And on a final note, football season just isn't the same when you're sipping a caffeine-free Diet Coke. But at least the Dawgs squeaked one out against South Carolina last night. However, things better improve rapidly because I'm pretty sure Baby can hear now and it was treated to an earful of colorful language yesterday. Matt thought he felt the first flutter, though, so the kid obviously agrees with my opinion of Georgia's defense.

When life gives you a lemon...

We've got ourselves a lemon, folks! (For those of you keeping score on the produce scale, last week was a peach. Don't ask me why lemons are bigger than peaches... apparently I need to pay more attention next time I visit the grocery store. But for now, I'll take our little Lemon Loughman!) As I enter the second trimester, I thought I'd recap the first. Here are the top 5 questions I've heard since announcing the news.


1. How are you feeling?!
I feel great! I threw up exactly zero times. My biggest pregnancy symptom was probably feeling tired all the time. Oh, and that pregnancy glow they talk about? Mine was more like pregnancy zits. I'm still waiting on that glow. Let me know if you see it.
2. When did you find out?!
July 5th, the day after running the Peachtree Road Race for the first time. To be completely honest, I had a pretty strong hint around mile 5, strong enough that I took a test the next day. Regardless of the hunch, it was still shocking to actually see the words pop up on the test. Oh, and I strongly recommend the digital read-out that will tell you in plain English one way or another. See? Nice and obvious. You'll still have to look at it four or five times before you believe it though.
3. Are you showing yet?
Only after I eat. So I'm not sure that counts. In the morning, I look normal. By lunch, it looks like I swallowed a cantaloupe. Maybe by the time the baby is actually the size of a cantaloupe, I'll look officially pregnant, and not like I just lost self-control at the McDonald's drive-thru.
4. Any cravings?
Um, dessert? But I always want dessert. I've been a little obsessed with Caesar salads lately. The other day I really wanted a hamburger. But none of the weird pickles-and-ice-cream people always talk about.
5. Can I touch your belly?
Okay, this one isn't true. People don't ask. They just swoop in and start rubbing. It's not a magic lamp, people. And as you can see from number 3 above, there's not much there, folks! Right now, you're just feeling some chub, and perhaps my McDonald's lunch. (Although when Tatum put his hand over my belly and intoned "blessings," I really did feel blessed.)

And now, things I'm looking forward to in the second trimester. A real belly. Maternity clothes (or rather, shopping for them). The X or Y results! Ten fingers and ten toes. Getting to park in the expectant mothers space at Kroger without getting dirty looks.

Hello Week 13! No new ultra sound pictures this week, but Amoeba had another excellent heartbeat at our checkup. (Future mommy is doing okay too, but we all know who the real star of the show is now.) But because we can't get enough of our peach (yep, baby is peach-sized on the produce comparison scale), here is a picture from four weeks ago.

If I am pregnant, I will feel...

A word of wisdom should you ever find yourself in a university health center for a pregnancy test. Be prepared. And don't worry if no one initially jumps to the "congrats!"

After taking a home test the night before, I scheduled an appointment at UGA's health center the next day (coincidentally, the first day of July classes). Once there, I had to take an online survey answering the question "If I am pregnant, I will feel..." The options included: happy, sad, nervous, confused, devastated, terrified, etc. One lone positive emotion, followed by a range of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad feelings. A little strange, but at least my choice was pretty easy to make.

Next, the nurse took me to a room for the blood pressure, scale, temperature routine. Once in there, she gave me a careful look. "So..." she asked hesitantly, "were you trying to get pregnant?" When I assured her that yes, we did this on purpose, she looked relieved.

After the test, I'm in yet another room, waiting on the results. I was pretty confident, but still. Finally the doctor walked in. Again, the careful look. "So..." she started, hovering reluctantly near the door, "...congratulations???" "YAY!" I said with a big grin. And only then did the doctor smile back.

Then I realized. It is a university health center, after all. I guess they're not used to happy reactions to the positive news. Plus, once they realized I was glad, they were all very nice and congratulatory. Good times!