December Baby

It's almost summer, which means it's time to come out of hibernation!

And also, time to redecorate my little corner of the internet. This is definitely a season for wild unabashed color, and cute little birdhouses, and fancy fonts that may or may not be destined to go the way of Comic Sans.

Because WE ARE PREGNANT.

My soul is in full-on joyful, singing, splashing-through-puddles mode.

At our latest ultrasound, the sweet pea was 13 weeks old--so not really a pea anymore. Closer to a peach, or a kiwi. (Babycenter says pea pod, so maybe the sweet pea analogy still works!) It had outgrown the adorable "melted gummy bear" stage (thanks, Davy, for that one) and moved on to the snuggly miniature baby stage. Oh, so stunning.

We'd come for the first trimester screening--an ultrasound to measure the fluid that forms naturally behind the baby's neck. And the tech was really struggling to find it.

"Your baby likes to be tucked up," she kept saying, almost indignant. "It's all curled up in a ball."

The other ultrasound tech, after trying for what felt like hours (but was probably only ten minutes), said the same thing: "Your baby's a snuggler."

It was true, and so delightful. Sweet pea looked perfect, all curled up and cozy. And when he or she started to move, I couldn't keep from laughing--which, of course, messed up the ultrasound picture. Out of kindness for the poor techs, who were gently coaxing our baby to roll over, I tried to keep a straight face. But seeing the sweet pea move for the first time, and knowing those movements were happening right inside of me, was so crazy and beautiful that I just wanted to laugh and laugh.

"Roll this way, baby!" the techs kept saying.

While they tried various approaches (drink 24 ounces of water! roll back and forth! try coughing a few times!), Phil and I kept watching. Those long, graceful stretches--those hopping hiccups--and always returning to a cozy little ball. We were transfixed.

After the appointment, Phil pointed out: this was the first time we got to see a glimpse of our sweet pea's personality.

And later, when I told my mom, she seemed amazed. Apparently, when she was pregnant with me, I was the same way: always resting and curled up.

Congratulations, our sweet little snuggler. You're being born into the right family!!