Very exciting. On Sunday, Joe felt the baby move for the first time! I've been feeling her moving around in there for the last few weeks, but I guess up until the weekend, the movements had been too small and subtle. I was really looking forward to the day when Joe could feel it as well, because even though all the books say that the small movements are something special between the mom and the baby, I wanted Joe to share in all that as well.
This whole thing has been about the three of us from the beginning. In fact, most days, I think Joe is way more excited about this whole baby thing than I am. He's been so involved in the pregnancy (ok, maybe not so much with the shopping part of it) that it just seemed so unfair that
I could feel the movement so much earlier than he could.
But Sunday night she was in fine form! For a couple of minutes there, she was just dancing away and Joe had no problems distinguishing her movements from the random gurglings of my stomach.

Feeling the need to immerse myself in baby stuff, I took a trip out to Roncesvalles to go to Macklem's yesterday morning.
Even though we are getting a lot of things from our incredibly generous friends and relatives (we have been offered a bassinet, a baby bjorn, and multiple strollers in addition to the crib, bouncy chair and diaper genie that are already in our possession) and don't need a lot of the big ticket stuff, I wanted to go and see what was out there.
It was great walking around there and having an upclose look at all the different car seats, cribs, strollers, and all the other things that a new mother apparently can't do without. It was also nice talking to the sales people about the benefits of the various brands and styles. Much better than at Babies R Us where, if you can find a salesperson, they barely know the stock. The store was pretty expensive, and I don't know if I would buy anything from there, but I won't hesitate to use their knowledge.
I checked out the stroller that my friend Mel just bought and suffered some serious envy. I had to agree with my friend Stef though when she pointed out that while that particular stroller was really good for 2 kids, since we only plan on having one, it might not be the best choice for us.
But now, I am obsessed with strollers. Even though we have been offered three strollers from various people, and we will most likely not be getting a new one, every time I see a stroller on the street I stare at it fixedly, trying to see how well it maneuvers and how comfortable the kid seems.
I would probably be doing this with car seats as well, but it's a bit more difficult to check those out without looking like a total psycho.

This will come back to bite me in the ass

Well, I'm just about at the halfway mark of the pregnancy and I have to say, so far, I am getting off really lightly. The worst I've had is some back pain and trouble sleeping which kinda leads to some exhaustion. Everyone keeps asking me how I am and I feel like I'm disappointing them when I say that I feel great. And I do! I wouldn't say I've never felt better (which, from all the stories that I hear, is apparently how all the pregnant women that aren't in pain/constantly nauseous/having massive gastro-intestinal problems/completely wiped out physically feel), I just feel absolutely normal. A little sleepy and constantly distracted, but nothing too far out of the ordinary.
I know that writing this is just asking for trouble and let's face it, the real hard stuff is still to come. I can still tie my shoes, get up from our couch by myself (and if you've ever sat on my couch, you know that that's a challenge at the best of times), eat full meals and take deep breaths, but I know that will change soon. Not to mention, I will be at my hugest at the height of summer. (Bad forward planning on my part. Why couldn't I be like my sister and planned a February baby?)
I guess I just wanted a reminder for when it gets bad that it wasn't always that way. In fact, right now, sitting here writing this and feeling her moving and kicking, it's fucking fantastic.

No question about it. The ultrasound technician was very confident as she said: "It's a baby girl".
Joe is over the moon. We are also over the moon about the fact that everything is developing normally and there are no scary shadows on anything. We saw the heart beating, the spine and the tiny hands and feet. And boy was she active. The doctor asked me if I had anything sweet to eat prior to the ultrasound, she was moving so much. I think it's more that I had just gotten off the streetcar and I'm really noticing that she gets agitated when I'm in a moving vehicle.

It's really crazy feeling her move so much. Sometimes I think it's just my stomach muscles contracting involuntarily, but then I realize that, no, it was probably her kicking me.

Oh, and yes, we have a name, and no, we're not telling you.

Ultrasound today! I'm less worried this time because I can feel the little bugger moving around quite a bit.
It is a bit nervewracking still, because this is the ultrasound where they check out all the organs and make sure everything is developing correctly. I've been hearing stories from people about shadows on ultrasounds that turn out to be nothing and others that turn out to mean lots of surgery for the little one after birth. I'm trying to not obsess about it too much though. Instead I've been concentrating on the fact that hopefully we will be able to find out the sex of the baby today. I've been telling it for days to not be shy and show all. Hopefully I have an obedient child. If not, this will be the first of I'm sure many times that it won't listen to me.