All Quiet in the Womb

Rach now and then thinks she feels Logan kick. I put my face to her belly and tell him to do it again, but he never listens. What a tease, this kid. Shouldn't he be kicking more by now? We play music for him, I read some Shel Silverstein to him (I, I mean he loves "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too"), but all is quiet in the womb. We want some action!

The 19-Week Boody

From these pictures, it looks like she's ready to pop already!

Anyone have any good recommendations on slings to hold up the belly? Or maybe weighted backpacks for pregnant dames? Her back is going to become putty by the end of the term. I figure if we can compensate for her new center of gravity (which is now leaning forward with the baby) with a weighted backpack (which would off set the new weight), her back might be ok. Any ideas?

18 Weeks

These pics are from yesterday (8/10/06). I think I see some footage. Maybe an eye. Or is that a kidney? Lips? Those lips are huge! Is he getting Botox?

10 Weeks

These next three were taken at almost 10 weeks. The date was 6/6/06. Very auspicious. I think you can see Logan flipping us the finger in one of them. Not even born and he already has some bratitude. I like it.

7 Weeks

Ah, some ultrasound pics. This one is the earliest (5/19/06). Notice the cocoon-shaped knob in the middle of the blackness. That's Logan at almost 7 weeks. The flickering heart was about the size of a grain of rice inside that knob. Pretty cool.

Today's Ultrasound--It's a Boy!

Rachel had her Level 2 ultrasound in Albany today. I'd been to an earlier ultrasound, but that one was internal. This one was external--her belly all lathered up in this green stuff that looked like mint jelly. The baby was postioned transverse--basically laying across her belly. She's 18 weeks, so the little guy is about the size of a Coke can or something. In any case, as I was watching the screen, all I could make out were blobs of grey and black and white. At the last ultrasound, I could discern Logan's heart flickering; here, it was attack of the amorphous! That doesn't look like a baby! Where are the arms? The hands? The face? The feet? I thought I saw two eyes--then the tech said they were actually his kidneys. Oh, I knew that.

The whole time of course I'm looking for the damn penis. I didn't care whether it was a boy or girl, but I figured the penis would be the telltale indicator. I squinted, pointed, imagined I saw it--but to no avail. I didn't know they could be so evasive, those penies. Is he a mutant? No, the baby's legs, we soon realized, were tucked under itself. The butt faced us. Nothing like getting mooned by your son in the womb! After 30 or so minutes of measuring and taking snapshots of several different organs, we still hadn't diagnosed the sex.

When the tech left, Rach sat up.

"Move around. Jiggle the belly. Maybe it'll change positions," I said (or something like it).

"Good idea, Daddy," Rach said.

That seemed to work! When the doc came to continue the examination, Logan's legs had splayed out, and he was able to finagle the ultrasound wand to see the crotch--and there it was: the penis.

"Are you positive?" Rach asked, excited.

"Well, I'm certainly not negative," the doc joked.

He then went from two other angles to confirm--it's a BOY!!! It's definitely a boy!!!

Wolveri--I mean, Logan Robert O'Connor, welcome to our family.

It's A Boy

Rachel and Doug are having a healthy baby boy. This blog will help keep people updated on the news and events of Rachel's pregnancy and the eventual birth of Logan Robert O'Connor.