17 weeks! Tomorrow is the big day!

Well, not the big day, but the day we find out if it's a boy or a girl! At first, I didn't want to know, I wanted the surprise. I wanted the baby to be born and hear Ryan yell, "It's a...!!!" Also, if you don't know what you're having, people will give you gender-neutral baby items. If you have a second baby that's the opposite gender, your boy won't have to use a My Little Pony blanket or your girl won't have to wear a coat with trucks and hammers on it. EVERYONE else in the world has encouraged me to find out. The surprise just comes 5 months earlier. If I don't like the way I feel after I find out, we can keep it a secret for the second baby.

So tomorrow's appointment is called an Anatomy Scan. In addition to finding out if the baby wears bows or bow ties, the ultra sound technician will make sure the baby has 2 lungs, 2 kidneys, etc. I'm told I need to show up with a full bladder, as if my bladder wasn't full enough already ALL THE TIME. I never drink anything at work after 3 P.M., so that after I go to the bathroom at 5 P.M. when the workday ends, I can ride the 2 trains I take home without peeing all over the other poor riders. It's especially torturous if the trains are crowded and I have to stand. I can't wait to show enough that people offer me their seat. I digress. When we show up at the doctor tomorrow, and if I feel like I'm going to geyser right there in the office, I'm allowed to ask them to check all the parts that require a full bladder, pee, then come back for the rest. This is the longest ultrasound we'll have in our pregnancy. If I had my way, I'd get an ultrasound every day. I love watching the little potato kick and punch me from the inside. At the last ultrasound, 4 weeks ago, it looked like he or she was pumping it's legs like it was on an exercise bicycle. I still can't feel it yet.

I've been craving things like crazy. Nothing too weird yet, like pickles and ice cream together at the same time, but just really strong, hungry urges for certain things. You know when you're hungry and you get a taste for something? Like, when it's almost time for lunch, and you think about what you're going to have so you start counting down the seconds until you get to eat it? It's like that only times a thousand. When I was a Weight Watcher, which I had to quit because they don't allow pregos, it's unhealthy, I learned tricks to deal with cravings. When I wanted ice cream, I would eat yogurt. It's cold, smooth and sweet and when I'm finished eating it, I've forgotten about the ice cream. Now, that ice cream is down the hatch without giving yogurt a glance. Other times, when I craved a cheeseburger for lunch, I would eat a healthier sandwich. Now, if I manage to actually eat the healthy things first, I don't so easily forget the thing I really wanted. In no particular order, here is, shamelessly, the things that sounded really good this week:
- grits
- breakfast sausage
- shrimp scampi
- cafe latte
- nacho cheese sauce (the fake, neon orange kind, a la stadiums and movie theaters)
- pumpkin pie
- chili cheese dog from the roach coach
- sauteed mushrooms
- cherry danish
- fried mozzarella sticks
- peanut butter
- cheesy bread from papa johns
- cheeseburger
- zeppole (never had one, but it was described to me and it sounded great)
- olives
- Golden Grahams
- strawberry ice cream

I've noticed some bizarre mood swings, too. I got upset with Ryan because he puts dishes in the dishwasher incorrectly. It's not his fault. He didn't grow up with a dishwasher. I get weepy at sad commercials. Technically, I always have, but now I have real tears falling down my cheeks when I see ads for adopting puppies and children from 3rd world countries who don't have clean water. Friday night, we attended a lecture my Melissa Harris-Perry, my favorite TV journalist whose show we watch every weekend morning in our pajamas on our futon. Just seeing her so close to us made me swell with joy. Of all the celebrities I've seen in person in NYC since moving here, she's by far the best yet. I also had a dream that at birth, the baby weighed 13 pounds, and our OB "suggested" that we have a C-section. "Suggest?!?!?!?" Ugh, my poor va-jay-jay actually hurt when I woke up to the thought of a 13 lb. progeny.

I've also been tired. I scarf down my lunch on my 20 minute break, then sleep for an hour at lunch. It actually works out really well.

I'll be sure to let everyone know tomorrow what the verdict is!

Bun in the oven

Guess what? I am 15 weeks pregnant! Well, technically, tomorrow I will be 15 weeks pregnant. With this new journey ahead, I promise to blog more. Seriously. This time I mean it. I have a lot to say! 

 I want to take belly photos every week.

At 15 weeks, I find that the lie my OB told me about pregnancy nausea diminishing at 10 weeks is a lie. I frequently wake up feeling awful, and not wanting to do anything that day, so we don't plan anything. Then, later on, I feel OK, so I'll suggest we go out. The second we get there, I want to ralph again.

So far, the baby has told me, very excitedly, that it DOES NOT like pizza, baked ziti, coffee, captain crunch, cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese, tater tots and hushpuppies.

It does, however, go through phases where it really loves avocados, plain rice, beans, mangoes, plain yogurt, plain potatoes, club soda.

Basically, it has a much better grip on nutrition than it's parents.

Huh, you think you're so smart baby?

Yeah, it's pretty smart.

Welp, I hope I still have at least one reader out there. I missed you guys, but I've been reading all of YOUR blogs in the mean time. Holler if you're still reading!