Newsflash!

Maternity pants are so. Freaking. Comfortable.

Who knew?

Kung-fu baby

For the first time, we felt Ptery kicks this morning. I think I've been feeling her move around for a couple of weeks now, but I couldn't say for sure. Some of the sensations have been just light and fluttery, and I couldn't tell if it was her or just normal intestinal movement. But this morning, as I was lying on my back in bed, I felt a definite little thump under my belly button. I put my hand on the spot, and lo and behold I could feel the next little bump, not only internally, but against my hand, too! I grabbed Chris's hand and put it on the same spot and he felt the next few little kicks, as well. She was doing a one-girl kung-fu demonstration, it seems. Either that, or she thought it was about time I got out of bed (it was). It's so cool to have this kind of evidence that she's growing in there.

Speaking of growing, it's high time I went and bought some maternity pants. My work pants have been getting steadily more snug in the waist, though they fit fine everywhere else. I've resorted to using hair elastics to secure several of them (through the buttonhole and around the button), but even that is getting precarious. It'll feel good to have something stretchier around my belly, I think. I was looking at some maternity clothes online and the maternity pants with the full belly panel crack me up. They make the model look like those old men with their pants pulled up to their armpits. Heh.

Mushroom madness

About 2 weeks ago, Stella got me a mini shiitake mushroom farm from Far West Fungi. I followed the directions but didn't expect much from it. (The directions couldn't be simpler: just cut about a dozen small holes in the plastic bag for air circulation, make sure it doesn't dry out, and let it be.) I was wrong, to say the least. I don't know if it was because of the recent warm weather or what, but the thing pretty much exploded with mushrooms. In fact, Chris exclaimed over the quantity and size of the mushrooms last night and both of us thought they had grown even larger when we checked it this morning. And then, when we got home tonight, I swear they had gotten even bigger. I harvested them all tonight and we're going to be eating mushrooms for a while, I think. If you consider the price of the block and the number of mushrooms you get from a single harvest, it's already a bargain compared to what you pay for fresh shiitakes at the market. And, according to the instruction sheet, if you take good care of the block, you can get 3 or 4 harvests out of it. Crazy!

Three white lines

Ptery's a girl! This is oldish news now, but I just realized that I never posted it. Before we knew, lots of people asked if we had a preference. I usually denied that we did, but in my secret heart of hearts, I hoped it would be a girl. I wasn't letting myself hope because 1. you have a 50% chance of getting the other, and 2. it really doesn't make a difference whether the baby's a boy or a girl. It's not like I'm going to tell a son, "Well, I really wanted a girl, so I'm not going to love you as much since you're a boy."

Chris and I debated which would be easier. It's a draw, I think. Everything I've read indicates that girl babies are easier to deal with: no arcs of pee during diaper changes, easier potty training, and just basically calmer. I think all that changes at puberty, though, because as I recall, teenage girls are basically evil. (I was one, and I was probably one of the less evil ones and I still am not entirely proud of my teenage self.) So evil is a strong word, but I maintain that teen girls are more difficult in every way, from the crazy hormones to the bitchiness and manipulativeness to all the outside messages you have to worry about. I do think that boys that age are a bit more easy-going and even-keeled, if not exactly graceful (physically or otherwise). And I think society presents them with fewer mixed messages than it does to girls (be sexy! but not a slut! be smart! but not too smart! you can do it all! but only while smiling!).

Really, either way, we're done for. Neither of us has much experience with babies, so I'm fully prepared to be overwhelmed. I just found out yesterday that a newborn goes through something like 15 diapers in one day. When will I have time to pee?