Bump Alert (Take 2) sometime in early December

OK, I've removed the former (tiny) bump from the blog at my father's request: "Your belly is on the internet!" and am pleased to update you with a verbal account of my growing (I swear it's bigger!) account of the baby. So we're now in Week 17 and I'm looking rounder every day. Of course my belly grows exponentially with my food intake. This morning Steven was concerned because it seemed I had shrunk, but really it was just because I hadn't begun my daily food regimen, which is quite impressive if I may say so myself. Speaking of which, I'm off to have a snack now. More later.

An inside look into the life of a fetus

A post by Steven (a.k.a. baby daddy).

Yes, it is now officially a fetus! Today we had our third ultrasound and were given a rare glimpse into our developing baby's world. The doctor was very thorough and guided us on a tour of our baby's entire body. I know many of you will ask if we know if we are having a boy or girl, but it was still too early. What we do know is that it is very evident that the baby finds its temporary home peaceful and safe. The nugget looked very relaxed and had its legs crossed and was just hanging out in an upside down position.

Today we heard the heart beat for the first time and it sounded strong and impressive. The doctor told us that everything looked very good... It is still hard to believe that Dana is growing a human inside her, our human.

If you look very carefully at the image above you can make out our baby's head, neck and shoulders. If you have trouble figuring it out, this is a close up and the baby is lying on its back looking up at the ceiling (well, actually the uterus). The doctor told us that our baby has a beautiful profile, but I am sure he says that to all his customers.

We are now twelve weeks and three days along and our due date was updated from the specific date of May 18th to a range from May 15th to May 18th.

Dana, I wanted to publicly say that you are doing an impressive (I originally used the word "amazing," but edited it for the sake of my father-in-law. inside joke) job caring for our growing baby.

Kitty Love (and War)

When people ask us, "Where will you set up your nursery?" Steven and I look at each other nervously because really, it's up the cats. We let them make all the major decisions around here, except for the one about getting pregnant. I have a feeling they would have vetoed that immediately. For the record, Pixel is the one giving the camera the hairy eyeball and Millie has a pink nose. They are in a turf war that we hope will end by the Birth. Currently we're using spray bottle behavioral therapy to bully Pixel into accepting, or at least not eating, Millie. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Sana, or Satan?

Our very talented and disturbed friend Jill wanted to give us a more distinct and detailed preview of what our baby might look like, so she came up with this terrifying monstrosity combining some of my and Steven's less flattering components - hence the blended name, Sana. If you have a weak stomach, please look away. Otherwise, enjoy!

A Cop, A Witch and A Pigeon

At eleven weeks our fetus (!) enjoyed its first Halloween in a witch's womb. We hung out with the cutest pigeon in Brooklyn, and perhaps all the world. Oh, and that 70s cop is Steven, who I didn't recognize at first. I think it was the wig that threw me off.

Kidney Bean Baby

Our 8 week sonogram and things are shaping up nicely (if you like kidney beans, which we do). Check out the yolk sac - yes, that's what the small circle is in the lower picture, crazy right? It feeds the embryo until the placenta takes over. When our midwife saw it she was impressed. Apparently the technician got quite a good shot.

Teeny Tiny Dot

Eager to get all the pictures we could of our budding embryo, Steven and I went to a super early doctor's appointment for a preview and that's when we first caught a glimpse of our future human. As small as it was, a barely noticable dot floating in my seemingly cavernous innards, it was more proof that indeed SOMETHING WAS IN THERE.

(Yes, I needed even more confirmation despite the 99.9% accuracy rate of our 2 tests, and if you add those odds together, which I won't because I don't like math, I'm sure it's as close to 100% as you can get.)

If you can't see the dot, don't feel badly. It's really that small. You can see much more in our 8 week sonogram, a kidney bean shaped future life form.

Night of the Secret Embryo

No one knew I was secretly storing an embryo at the Red Carpet Party Steven threw for me in honor of the movie I wasn't in. (We'll let you know if I make it onto the DVD's deleted scenes!) We had known I was pregnant for less than a week and it was too soon to tell anyone about the teeny tiny dot inside me, probably a mere bundle of cells at that point. Little did we know that another friend at that same party was carrying the same secret...

The Stick Doesn't Lie

But we took two tests, just to be sure.

The first one was taken at a ridiculous pre-dawn hour on September 10, 2007, after I was woken up by our cat Nomi, who enjoys chewing on my hair for breakfast. With bleary eyes I stared at the stick, wondering if the plus sign was a strange bout of double vision, so I called out for Steven, dead asleep in bed, who stumbed in a few moments later to confirm the sighting. A few hours later we bought another one and this time there was no doubt what the double pink line meant!


This is Nomi. Don't be fooled by her innocent expression. She eats hair like humans eat pasta.