It's a boy!

We had the 20 week ultrasound this morning (at almost 21 weeks actually). There was no mistaking it - definitely a boy. The tech said everything looked good. She estimated he weighs about 14 ounces at the moment. When she switched over to the 3-D view we got a perfect shot - we saw the evidence before the tech even mentioned it - most definitely a boy. He was moving around quite a bit, so we didn't get any particularly good head-on or profile facial shots - but she was able to get the measurements and see the organs and such that she was looking for. And I'll see my regular OB on Monday, so we'll get the full report then.

Now I get to start shopping for boy things!

Nearing the end of 2009

I haven't posted in almost a month. A few things have happened since then of course. Leah turned 22 months a few weeks ago. We celebrated Hanukkah. Leah's vocabulary and grammar and such increase daily. It's really amazing the things she says and the words she puts together. She will now point to a picture and say, "Who's that?" Today she started saying "mine" and "yours."

Shafi returned today from 2.5 weeks in Bangladesh. In the middle of his trip, Leah and I spent 9 days in Fort Worth with my parents. We weren't sure how Leah would view Shafi's absence. She did ask for him daily, but she seemed pretty content with the answer that "Baba is in Bangladesh visiting Dada and Dadima, and he'll be back soon." Not sure what she actually thought of all that of course, but if you asked her, "Where is Baba?" she would tell you "Bong-jesh" - which of course was very cute. She did get a bit upset when we returned from Texas and got home and Baba wasn't here. I had told her that it would be a few more days before he came back, but obviously that hadn't quite sunk in. But she only cried for a minute and then was easily distracted as we put on her coat and shoes and went out to dinner. Then I did a countdown for her - Baba will be home in 4 days - Baba will be home in 3 days - Baba will be home in 2 days - Baba will be home tomorrow. Again, we're not sure what concept she has of the passing of time, so I don't know if she even understood yesterday when I said "tomorrow" but I think putting a time frame on it was probably helpful to keep her understanding that Baba was coming home soon.

This morning when Shafi did come home, Leah and I were sitting at the table eating breakfast. She looked up as he walked in the door and said, "I eating oatmeal. I have own spoon." She continued to describe her breakfast as he gave her a kiss and told her he missed her. Once breakfast was over, she was glad to hug and kiss and cuddle with Shafi, of course. The rest of our day continued fairly normally - she seemed to have little reaction to his having been away or having come back.

We had a nice trip to Texas. Leah was sick for a few days at the beginning, which was a bummer, but she stayed in pretty good spirits, as usual. Once she was feeling better, we had fun going to the zoo, feeding ducks, going to McDonald's (Leah's first time), and going to the science museum. She also had fun singing with Grandpa while he played guitar - Bim Bam, Sim Shalom, Taxi song, Dragon (Puff the Magic, of course), Twinkle Twinkle, and ABCs.

Leah was pretty good on the plane both directions. I got a portable DVD player and some Sesame Street DVDs - all worth every penny. She pretty much just watched Sesame Street and snacked the whole time both directions.

Leah got lots of Hanukkah presents from Grandpa and Grandpa and had a good time playing with them at their house. The zoo might have been the highlight of the trip for Leah, though. This was the first time she seemed to really watch all the animals. The zoo is small enough that you only have to go a few steps from one to the next. She yelled excitedly each time she saw one - "zebras!" "elephant!" "monkey!" Feeding the ducks at a small lake was also a lot of fun. We were able to get right down to the water's edge, close enough that Leah could throw the bread into the water. She was mesmerized by the many quacking ducks and geese just feet away.

But after over a week away and lots of fun with Grandma & Grandpa, it was also nice to come home. And now she's been enjoying playing with her new toys, reading her new books, drawing with her new crayons, and using lots of stickers.

We lucked out and had an empty seat next to our assigned seat for Leah to occupy. She curled up, cuddled with puppy and watched Sesame Street. This was the way to Texas, but the way home didn't look much different:

Leah loves zoos. She wasn't actually all that keen on holding the birds, but she did hold the stick with a bird on it for a minute - long enough to get a great picture:

I love the way Leah looks in this picture...but it doesn't quite portray Leah's focus on throwing the bread to the ducks in the lake:

The McDonald's Playland was lots of fun...and sitting on Ronald McDonald's lap was too:

Back at home, Leah has been particularly fond of bath time, playing with her new Sesame Street bath toys and pretending to swim in the tub:

Back to the usual routine, asking Baba to read book after book, Leah was definitely happy to have him home:

She's Havin' a Baby Again!

In a few short months this blog will be needing a bit of an overhaul. Leah will have to make room to share it with her new little sibling. Baby #2 is due to arrive on May 13, 2010. That will make Leah a big sister by 27 months.

All has been well with the pregnancy so far. I did have a bit of spotting around 6 weeks that turned out to be nothing to worry about. And I've been getting one cold after the next, making for some frustrating coughing, runny nose, throat irritation and sore ribs. But no morning sickness to speak of. And while I've been quite tired, I actually feel like the exhaustion might have been worse with my first pregnancy. Although a very plausible explanation for that is that pregnancy exhaustion is really nothing in comparison to the sleeplessness of the first few months with a newborn, so I just have a new benchmark now.

Overall I would say being pregnant while chasing an active toddler around is much more physically challenging than it was while sitting at a desk. Although I think the activity level is helping me to gain weight at a much slower pace...definitely a good thing. And while I would say that this pregnancy is certainly no less important than the first, it definitely gets a lot less of my attention. The first time around I was constantly looking at pregnancy websites and books and talking about it. This time it's a bit more of a background topic - I think I may even be a month behind on What To Expect When You're Expecting. But I think all this is pretty normal. I am busier than last time around and the novelty just isn't the same.

I'm now just shy of 17 weeks. I have my next OB appointment tomorrow, but we've entered the phase where each appointment consists of waiting around to be seen for 45 minutes or so, having the doctor measure my belly and feel for the fundus (top of the uterus), and listening to the heartbeat. Of course I never get tired of hearing that heartbeat. But the appointments are fairly routine...although I do of course hope they remain that way.

The big 20 week ultrasound ought to be right around the end of the year. Hopefully we'll be able to schedule it after Shafi's return from Bangladesh but before he is back at work in the new year. And we will be finding out the gender then...so stay tuned.

I haven't yet scanned in the previous sonograms, but I will post them as soon as I have them. Not a whole lot to see in a 12 week picture, but it was very exciting nonetheless. Leah went with us to the appointment and sat on Shafi's lap. She behaved pretty well. She seemed to understand when we showed her the baby's head, and at one point the baby lifted a hand and we told Leah that the baby was waving to her, to which she responded "Hi baby."

We've been telling Leah about the baby and that she's going to be a big sister since the very beginning. We're not quite sure how much she understands. I have had several friends have babies in the last couple of months, so I think seeing them go from 9 months pregnant to actually having a newborn might help. She does pat my belly and say hi to the baby. She'll even try to share her water or her puppy (the lovey she sleeps with) with the baby by holding it up to my belly. And if you ask her where the baby is she will point to my belly. But she has also been known to say "baby" and pat her own belly...so maybe she doesn't quite get it yet.

We made the big announcement to my family over the Thanksgiving holiday. We thought it would be fun to wait and tell everyone in person. So on Wednesday we put Leah in a "big sister" t-shirt. My grandmother noticed the shirt right away and was very excited for us. My parents, however, did not notice the shirt, but when I walked into the room my mother gave me a quizzical look and said, "Are you pregnant?" Good thing I am! Alan and Rachel were away for the holiday but came over on Friday night - they both noticed the bump right away.

We're very excited to be adding to our family. And we have no doubt that Leah will make a great big sister.