This Ain't No Beer Belly!: It's a BOY!

It's a BOY!!! YAY! Check him out. He is just perfect!

It was so fun finding out and nice to see him moving around on the screen and see how good looking and normal he is. Unfortunately, I feel a little uneasy about how the ultrasound went just because it took SO long. Why on earth do you need a 45 min. + ultrasound? I was disappointed in myself because I didn't want my baby to have that much exposure to the ultrasound- because I've heard about possible links between ultrasound and autism. Although this hasn't been proven, I just feel like being cautious.

So I wanted them to stop and be done, and I didn't speak up and tell them to stop :( I tried only a little and the woman said she couldn't stop. Um, yea she could have! We were the ones that wanted the ultrasound. And we just wanted it to find out the sex and see him real quick. We didn't want or need every single part of his body to be measured and photographed! They were acting like it was so important to get a profile picture of his face. And I'm laying there thinking, get this machine off my baby! Finally when they left the room to review what they had and came back saying they wanted to do more I just straight up said "No, we're leaving." Grrrr, well I'm getting over it now. I'm sure baby Hartley is just fine. Lesson learned. Maybe with baby #2 we won't go for an ultrasound at all. I feel silly that we went through all that just so I could know he's a boy and pick his name and buy him stuff. Oh well, it's gonna be fun doing it!

I had a great weekend! I drove up to Pennsylvania to visit my Peace Corps buddy, Jamie. It was not only great to see her and hang out with her and her parents, but it was fun getting to know this part of the country I had never experienced before, especially after I had heard Jamie tell me about where's she's from while we were in El Salvador.

My first night there we went to this restaurant on the river called The Fence where they have great fish sandwiches. Yummy! I had no idea so pretty PA is. Rural, country, cute small historic looking towns, all the jazz. Oh, and my favorite part- seeing Amish people! I never ever saw them in real life. I think they are fascinating- how they can live with no electricity, travel with horses & buggies, and truly resist all the modern conveniences of American life. They make great baked goods too! I was lucky enough to try their whoopie pies, cookies, and wet shoo-fly bottom pie that we got at the yard sales we went to in town.

Great shot that Jamie got of the Amish cruisin' down the road

Buying a whoopie pie from an Amish kid

The yard sales we went to on Saturday were crazy! The whole town sets up all their junk outside for sale. It was SO much. We didn't even go through it all. After a while it all just really started to look like junk. Maybe because all the good stuff was picked over. All I bought were these two little outfits for Little Bubba. His first two pieces of clothing. So cute he is going to be in them!

Says "Handsome like daddy" :)

That night we went to her dad's car show, where he shows off his beautiful '57 Chevy. Then they treated me to dinner at the Country Cupboard restaurant where I got some delicious down home cooking... and saw more Amish people! The whole weekend was so nice. I'm so glad I was able to make the drive up there to visit!

Sunday evening after I got back Noel and I went to our first childbirth class. I walked into it with a This is going to be fun! attitude. I ended up sitting there with big bug eyes nearly the whole time. I was surprised that the information was so shocking to me. My whole life I knew I would be having a natural birth at home. But I guess I just never really pictured myself in the act of labor or imagined what it would feel like. It all suddenly became very real to me- like "Whoa. This is really going to happen. I am really going to do this." And it freaked me out, to say the least.

We left the class and got in the car and the tears came heavy. I'm not afraid to share this, because I'm sure it's pretty normal to have anxiety about having a baby. And although I'm a bit nervous about it and what it's going to feel like, I think I would be even more scared and nervous of having a hospital birth. Where I would be confined to my bed and only given the option of laboring on my back. At home I can move around and get in whatever position is more comfortable for me. I would have to have needles stuck in me as part of procedure. At home I only have to have them if I need them. I am so afraid of needles. I am pretty sure I am more scared of having a huge needle in my back for an epidural than I am scared of the pain of contractions. And at home I will just have more freedom and control. I will be able to eat when I want. Shower when I want. And I won't have people bugging me or urging me to have any kinds of drugs or interventions I don't want or need.

So yea, I'm happy about our plan for home birth. It just feels a little crazy and overwhelming because I have no earthly idea what the actual having a baby part will be like. I can read all I want about it and take these classes to prepare... I'm sure that all will be helpful... but ultimately I won't really know what it's like until it's go-time. I'm starting to let it all sink in and am slowly being able to wrap my head around it. I have plenty of time to prepare. Like 20 more weeks!

In other news, our kitties have really become part of the family. We are really happy with them. Mr. Thomas Jefferson is a bit more social than Liberty. I think Liberty is still holding a grudge about all the medicine we were shoving down her throat and ears in her first weeks here. But she seems to be forgiving us a little more everyday.

Mr. Jefferson likes to chill next to Little Bubba

Our other pet, Snuggles the Beta fish, had a suicide attempt last week. I had cleaned his tank and put him in a small cup for holding while his tank got to room temperature for him. Noel went to the kitchen for something and looked at the cup that had nothing but poopy fish water in it, no fish. "Where's the fish?" he said. He found Snuggles laying on the counter next to the sink. "Oh, he's dead for sure," he thought. Then he went to touch him and he moved. So he put him back in the water and he was swimming around a little. The fish was still alive! He didn't eat or move much for a day, only had one working fin, and he looked really pale, when he's normally got a vibrant bluish purple color. But he just slowly came back to life and now he's just like his old self. Yea, Snuggles! The miracle fish!

Noel's caught a cold :( He left classes early yesterday for it. I was out to lunch with my prego buddy- we were scarfing up some awesome Prez Obama burgers at this place down near the Capitol Building. I think it's called The Capitol Eatery? Kasey was kind enough to introduce me to it. It was AMAZING! The owner of the place is a top chef. We got killer milkshakes too! It's good that place isn't in my neighborhood! After, I came home with some soup for my sick hubby and napped the rest of the afternoon. That's what happens when I eat big meals these days. All I want to do after is sleep! Noel seemed like maybe he was ok last night, but today he kind of seems worse. Hope he gets better soon! He's home and resting now, so I'm off to pick Lina up from school!

Last thing. This has nothing to do with anything. Just something that gets to me- I hate self-flushing toilets in public restrooms. They always flush at the wrong time- while you're still sitting on it. And usually don't flush when you actually want them to and you have to push that little button. Some people don't know how to push the little button and their junk sits there til someone comes along that does know. Gross. I just really feel like the world could do without self-flushing toilets!

What do you think the world could do without?

That's all folks!

Paz y amor.

I leave you with a few more pictures from the weekend...