Housing

Nikki and I have decided to stay in our DC apartment. We had been looking around the area, and even applied on a place in Montgomery County, but it looks like it just doesn't make financial sense. We've resolved to make our current place a little better instead. We are going to get a new couch and a real bed. And we recently got a new computer desk from IKEA.

For a better explanation of the crappy housing market out here, see this Washington Post article. It's full of some pretty ridiculous statistics.

swimming!

Aaron and I went to the gym at his work on Wednesday night; I went swimming and he played basketball. Swimming felt great! We're going to join the gym, and I plan on going swimming regularly. Aaron might go swimming with me sometimes, too, which would be fun.

I guess that's all.

Oh, we had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. Lots of sleeping. Aaron made a turkey and some other delicious food. Then he made King Ranch Turkey with the leftovers .... yum. I helped with toasting breadcrumbs and stuffing-recipe reading (thanks again for the recipe, mom; was so good, even though I forgot to tell Aaron about adding water/broth to the stuffing), making mashed potatoes, and eating. Our other main accomplishment this weekend was finishing watching "Rome"; so good! I guess we did some cleaning, too.

First Comment From a Stranger

Yesterday I went to Whole Foods, and as I was checking out, the checker-outer lady asked if I was ready for Thanksgiving. I said, "Hm, I'm not sure." Then the lady said, "I bet you're just hoping you don't have that baby before Thanksgiving!" Or something shocking like that. I don't look anywhere near 9 months ... I think .... will post a picture of me soon ... I've heard this happens, though, people saying, "You CAN'T get any bigger!" I just didn't think it'd happen at 5.5 months.

I've also heard that pregnant ladies get tired of people (strangers) asking them when they're due, etc. I don't think this will bother me. And yet .... I did tell the lady "early next year" (March is "early" in the year, if you're consider the entire year) when she asked when I was due, rather than inviting further comments by saying "a little over 4 months from now." (Although 4 months from now doesn't seem very far away, when I realize WE WILL HAVE A BABY THEN.)

Baby shopping

Yesterday we went to Potomac Mills mall with a few baby-related shopping errands. We went to IKEA for a computer desk. That might not sounds baby related but it's part of an effort to make better use of our space and re-organize our living room, as we've decided to stay in our apartment in the District for the foreseeable future. We also went to Motherhood Maternity to look for a maternity swimsuit for Nikki. We found one at clearance prices. My work has a huge gym with a pool in the basement so we'll be re-joining that this week so Nikki can swim. I have a bit of sympathy weight to work off myself.

We also went to H&M there. They have both maternity clothes and baby clothes there. As expected, they were super cheap and really cute. We got 3 outfits for 20 bucks. Nikki and I had previously talked about not genderizing a girl too much but we are both finding that all we want to buy is little pink onesies. I think we were overthinking it a bit. Not that we are buying her stuff that says Princess or Heartbreaker on it...

The highlight of the trip, though, was a stop at Build-A-Bear Workshop. I've seen these in malls before and thought that they looked like bottomless pits into which parents could toss their money. Nonetheless, we just had to make a bear for our daughter-to-be. Well I was a bit wary, and Nikki even more so, but it was actually really reasonable and a lot of fun. We ended up getting not a bear but a Triceratops. We named him Leopold. We got him some converse-style high tops. The whole thing came to $27. I figured it would be twice that. The stuffed animal alone was only $18, and the plain teddy bears start at $10. I am currently looking for excuses to go back and do another one. Anyone want a teddy bear for Christmas?

Happy Honeymoon Surprise

I thought I'd write a little about the earlier part of the pregnancy, since we didn't start this until week 20.

We found out we were going to have a baby when we were on our honeymoon in Norway, at Ulvik, a little town we stayed at along our fjord tour. Here's us, on the way to Ulvik:












A picture of Ulvik:












We were actually on a rowboat when we took the above picture .... proof:















And here's a picture looking out at the Hardangefjord, from Ulvik.













For the rest of our honeymoon--the final 3 or 4 days -- of course all we could think of was our baby. It was a fun, romantic way to end our fun, romantic honeymoon.

This is the first baby gift we bought, at Eidfjord:












I'll try not to be too cheesey here, but I hope our baby gets the girl version of these nice features:












Some of our other favorite pictures from our honeymoon:

More on the ultrasound

Yesterday was our 20 week ultrasound. The exciting part for us was learning the sex but obviously a lot more happens at that appointment too. We could see a lot of organs and limbs forming and a lot of wriggling. We had the ultrasound first and an appointment with the doctor second. The sonographer couldn't get a good shot of the heart so we also had to go back to try again after we saw the doctor. Still no luck then, so we have to get another one at our 24 week appointment.

The appointment seemed to go ok. Nikki and I are both amazed at what they won't tell you if you don't ask. As we were finishing Nikki asked if she should start avoiding laying on her back now. The doctor had a long and well thought-out and answer and we both thought, "Would you have told us that if we didn't ask?" All of the doctors in this group have seemed great so far but that is the one thing that has bewildered us from the start. We want instruction! Do they think that everyone that walks in there is reading a pile of books on the side? I mean, we are, but there are plenty of people around here who aren't. Shouldn't they just cover the bases and tell everyone some do's and don'ts?

That reminds we -- I want summarize our medical care so far. We started with a doctor at 2142 K St NW and fled in horror. We decided we wanted to deliver at Holy Cross and found a well-regarded group that has privileges there. There are 5 doctors in the group and we are cycling through them. We have seen three of them. We have also had a god-awful sonogram with the clinic one floor up from 2142 K St. We've both had flu shots and Nikki's taken a glucose test. Finally, we've had many phone and e-mail consultations with my best friend, who is an award-winning doula. (She won the award for my favorite doula)

Diaper management

You don't start a blog the second you find out you're pregnant so by the time it makes sense to start one, there is a lot of catching up to do.

One of the major things we seem to have worked out already is the division of labor. Nikki claimed breastfeeding before I even had a chance to state my credentials. So I was stuck signing up for the other end -- I am the diaper manager. I am also the assistant diaper manager.

I have a nice theory in development about how diapering is a system and systems are more within a man's skill set than a woman's. I think Nikki allows me to say ridiculous things like that because she knows I have a whole lot of baby poo in my future.

I realize now that any parenting plan we develop should be regarded as best intentions, but we are going to try to do cloth diapers only. For traveling we'll probably use gDiapers. I think we'll even use little cloth rags instead of wipes. This is a plan and it's subject to change.

In a weird way I am looking forward to being the diaper manager. I am sure the actual changing of diapers will get old quick but the managing of an entire program makes it fun in a way. And Nikki has vowed to adhere to the tenets of my program. Again, I think she is going to have the last laugh.

First clothes

Tonight we decided to get our first clothes that were specifically for a girl. In case it wasn't obvious, the one with stars is the one Nikki picked out.

It's a girl

How appropriate for our first post! Today was our 20 week ultrasound and here is what our young lady looks like!