20 Week Ultrasound

Sorry it's been a while since I posted (over a month!). I let myself get out of the habit of writing and it became a hard thing to get back into. But I'm back and plan on posting several times a week again. Stay tuned!

We went in for Jen's 20 week ultrasound last week, where they check on the fetal development, make sure there are no red flags, and if it is at all possible, they also try to determine the sex of the baby. The pieces all looked to be in the places they were supposed to be and all the development seems to be progressing the way it should. As far as the sex goes, unfortunately we didn't get a printout of the picture the ultrasound tech took of the "region" but here's what he said: "Yep. 100% boy. No doubt about it."

So that's two boys for us. We've already started thinking about names and doing a little research. I looked through a long list of atheists (some surprising names on there) and there were definitely some names that I think would make great names for our new boy. As before with Lucas, we're going to keep our name ideas to ourselves and not make a final decision until after he is born.

I will post the ultrasound video this week. I don't have any info I need to blur out of this one so it's a simple matter of d/l the file to my computer.

Cool poem... chew it over

Much Madness is divinest Sense –
To a discerning Eye –
Much Sense – the starkest Madness –
'Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail –
Assent – and you are sane –
Demur – you're straightway dangerous –
And handled with a Chain –

–Emily Dickenson

MERT

Friday I completed my Medical Emergency Response Team Training. So now I can be helpful or something. Actually, the hardest part of the whole thing was getting good at taking a blood pressure. I hope to never have to use any of my training, but I'm ready just in case.

Oh, and I got a 2-way radio... someone is supposed to come show me what to do with it. I have no clue; am I supposed to carry it on me all day? What's the etiquette in meetings? I suppose if there really is an emergency I need to respond to that I would need to have the thing on me. My hope is that the designated ERT channel doesn't have chatter on it unless there's an actual emergency. I really want to be helpful but I also don't want to be the asshole disrupting meetings.

Okay, maybe I should try listening...

I always forget how much more of the song you hear when you put headphones on. And now I realize that the song "Sheep" by Pink Floyd is a totally obvious attack on people who follow with blind faith. I know what you're thinking, "Duh dumbass, the song is called 'Sheep.' Where the fuck have you been?' And I have no idea how I missed this before. Although in my defense, the best and most blatant part of the song is spoken in a kind of computer voice that you can barely hear over the background music. It was only with my headphones on that I caught it. It's pretty funny, at least to me. Here's what that part says:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me down to lie
Through pastures green He leadeth me the silent waters by.
With bright knives He releaseth my soul.
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places.
He converteth me to lamb cutlets,
For lo, He hath great power, and great hunger.
When cometh the day we lowly ones,
Through quiet reflection, and great dedication
Master the art of karate,
Lo, we shall rise up,
And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water.

Catch-up #3: Death in the Family

On Tuesday my mom called to let me know that my grandmother (my Dad's mom) had passed away earlier that day. She had been suffering from Alzheimer's for a few years and had taken a turn for the worse in the last week. She apparently died in her sleep sometime Monday night/Tuesday morning. She was the last of the three grandparents I spent a good amount of time with as a kid and felt pretty close to, the others being my Dad's father and my Mom's mother. Even though I knew for a while that she was slipping away and had said my goodbyes a couple of years ago, it still hit me in a weird way.

My Mom waited to call me Tuesday until around 6p so that the news wouldn't affect my day; it was very thoughtful of her, unfortunately Tuesdays I have class until 10p so I still had quite a bit of my day left! I found myself only half listening in my History class. Then in my English class I tried to participate at my normal level, which is a lot, but every time I started to give an opinion on the pieces we had read or on a theory derived from them, I felt like I didn't know what I was saying. I wasn't even sure if I was making any sense or if it was even English coming out of my mouth. It felt like there were thousands of words spinning in my head and I had to locate and grab each one individually to make it come out. On our break in class I actually decided to ask the teacher if I was making any sense. She said I was completely and asked if I knew what was causing me to feel like I wasn't, so I told her about my grandma. It felt good to get out what was in my head and kinda spill my guts a bit.

I don't know when any sort of memorial will be but apparently it won't be for a little while. It'll be nice to get together with family and remember her.

Catch-up #2: First Obstetrician Appointment

Monday was Jen's first visit to her obstetrician for this pregnancy. It was a pretty easy visit, really just a catch up to make sure the doc is on board with what's going on and that Jen is doing good so far, which she is. We once again got hear the heartbeat. Pretty much all that happened was we got a look at how much the doc is gonna cost us this time around (not too bad, but more than 3 years ago of course) and they sent Jen to get some bloodwork done. We have some more interesting appointments coming up in the next few weeks: nuchal translucency, ob recheck, and the ultrasound where we learn the baby's sex.

Catch-up #1: Lucas's Potty Training

We had tried potty training a month or two ago, and Lucas wasn't ready for it; frankly, I'm not sure we were ready either. Jen decided to try again this past weekend and Lucas said he wanted to. This time it went really well! Over the weekend he only had two minor accidents and both were while we were out shopping. Both were also mostly our fault for not getting him to a bathroom quick enough. The only thing that he didn't do was poop; he held it all day both days until he was in a night-time pull-up. But now he's even doing that. I think he was a little scared at first, but now that he's done it he's totally into it.

The great part is that his daycare is all on board with it too and helping him out. Jen's mom did so as well on Tuesday as I'm sure my mom will tomorrow. He's just having about one very minor accident a day. I believe if he can keep this up for a month (pull-ups for naps and an accident or less a day) he can move into the next classroom, which is a ton cheaper! We need to check if he can still wear a pull-up for naps. He won't be doing that for too long, maybe a couple months but if they won't take him until he's fully trained then we'll push that timeline up. He's already peeing very little during sleep and not pooping at all so it shouldn't be too hard.