Baby Update

We are coming up on week 19 here in a couple of days.

No more "morning" sickness.

I've been listening in with the fetoscope for a few weeks now (yeah, way early, but I'm way impatient). Last week I could finally hear the baby moving and kicking, etc. It sounds like a "boom" at the same time that Kristi looks at me. I can't feel it, but I can definitely hear it. As I move the horn of the fetoscope around, the baby will react to my prodding about.





Last night I finally got a clear heartbeat. For weeks I could swear I could hear it, but it was very muddled and faint, obscured by all the other noise (you would not believe all the different sounds one can hear with one of these things, it's so cool!). Last night, I could hear that heartbeat clearly. I could mark the beat with my hand as it went along. I also got to play a little more with the baby, making it react to the horn, moving about, kicking, etc.

The other baby happening of late is the name game. We are pretty much settled on a "boy" name, but not on a "girl name". Of course, I could be all wrong here, because for a while I thought that we were pretty much settled on a boy and a girl name, but it has come to my attention that this is not the case. Anyway, nights in our living room include peppering of names, asking for reaction and opinion. I enjoy that very much. More, I think, than K. thinks I do.

Up to now, there has not been much for me to do or be as part of this process. Now that I can hear that heartbeat and hear the movement, I can start a real relationship with this little growing baby. It makes me feel very connected, like we are bonding and getting very close. It makes me enjoy every part of the process, as I can feel it, participate it in or listen to it through K's words.

We are past the halfway point. September feels like a long time away, though. For now, it's just time to enjoy Spring, Summer and the growing baby in the belly.