This one's going to be a handful!

We have had a lot of ultrasounds throughout this pregnancy, but this one we had on Friday was so cool. Before this ultrasound, I always pictured the baby as a faceless, personality-less blob. (Yes, Angelina Jolie caught a lot of criticism for using that word to describe Shiloh, but I understand what she meant.)

Now though, I have a better idea of what the baby will look like (we could see its adorable chubby cheeks) and what it is going to act like (future babysitters, you may want to stop reading now).

I think all pregnant people talk about how active their babies are. "Oh yeah, he moves around all of the time, I have a future [insert soccer player, gymnast or other being that kicks or somersaults a lot] in here!" It is like we are already competing for best baby before it's even out of the womb.

But no, I am being totally objective here when I say that my baby really is the best! Two different ultrasound technicians and two different doctors have told us that our baby is REALLY active. It's moving around all of the time (except of course when my friends put their hands on my belly to feel it)!

So anyway, the ultrasound technician last week was cracking up (granted, it was a Friday at 5:45 -- she might have been a little giddy). She said she couldn't get a good picture because the baby was moving around so much. I am not surprised, since Kevin has ADD, so it makes sense that our baby would not be able to stay still.

We were all looking at the monitor when the technician burst out laughing again. "Did you see what it just did?" Of course, we are ultrasound laymen and didn't notice anything strange. She rewound the tape. "It just licked its arm!" And it did -- you can clearly see it open its mouth, stick out its tongue, and LICK ITS ARM! The technician said she had never seen a baby do that. "Your baby is hilarious!"

That's when she stopped laughing (that sounds very ominous -- didn't mean it that way). "Wow, I guess it doesn't like me making fun of it! Look what it's doing now!" And here's a picture of what it was doing then:



Can't tell exactly what it's doing? Here's a picture with the baby outlined so it's a little bit easier to see:



Yes, that's right -- it is giving us the middle finger! The three of us were in hysterics! Note to everyone: Do not poke fun at our baby ever!

Besides the fact that we know this baby has a personality, I think we also confirmed it is a Cohen!

BabyCohenPool

The Baby Cohen Pool is still open! Don't forget to put in your guesses -- winner gets to name the baby!*

Go to http://expectnet.com/ and in the upper left hand corner where it says Invited Guests, put "BabyCohenPool" in the box.







* If winner's name matches the name Kevin and I choose.

Team Craig

Today Kevin and I participated in the Have a Chance Walk to Fight Brain Tumors in Battery Park. We walked in honor of Kevin's cousin Craig, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier this year. Here is a picture from the walk, although neither me or Kevin are in it. Craig is doing great, and you can see him in the yellow shirt on the right side.



It was very inspiring to see all of the survivors and hear their stories. I met an adorable young boy named Jonah during the walk. He is finishing his chemo next week and looking forward to his trip to Disney World this fall.

Team Craig raised almost $34,000 for brain cancer research, and the event raised over $430,000! Thanks to all of you who donated!

Picture time!

So I have been talking about how big I am getting, but a lot of you don't see me too often, so here is a recent picture:



This was taken last weekend at our friends Kristen and Thornton's engagement party. We are on Thornton's parents' rooftop in Brooklyn Heights. You can't see it too well in this picture, but their place has an amazing view of Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Also, I am preparing to be a mom with my new mom haircut!

The tradition continues...

Maybe the woman that thought I was having twins isn't so far off...

So, as I have mentioned, both Kevin and I were big babies (9 lbs, 14 oz. for me, 10 lbs for Kevin). It turns out the tradition is about to continue.

We went for another ultrasound yesterday, and they told us they were going to see how much the baby currently weighs. As he always does, Kevin turned it into a competition. "Let's both guess how much and whoever gets closest will get to decide what we have for dinner tonight." (Always thinking about food...obviously his head is still in the same place it was when he was first born.) Well, I had just gotten my BabyCenter Week 28 email, so I knew exactly how much the baby is supposed to weigh. This would be easy for me to win.

"Okay," I said, "You go first."

"Three pounds, two ounces," he says.

"Two pounds, four ounces," I countered, knowing that even if I wasn't right on target, I was going to be much closer.

A few minutes later, the ultrasound technician says, "Which one of you guessed over three pounds?"

It turns out the baby currently weighs THREE POUNDS, SIX OUNCES! This for a baby that is SUPPOSED to weigh two and a quarter!

Then the doctor came in. "Besides the size, the baby is healthy." Just how big is the baby? "We consider big to be over the 90th percentile -- your baby is at the 96th percentile."

(When I told this to my mom, she said, "Well, you always were an overachiever. I'm not surprised to hear that your baby is at the 96th percentile of something.")

When I told the doctor our family history, he nodded sympathetically. "Yep, it sounds like you inherited this." Then he shrugged. "Some people inherit money."

Joking aside, here's where I need to give a big (pardon the pun) shout-out to my mom and Kevin's mom Kathy. Not only did they deliver huge babies (my mom had three 9+ pound babies, I think Kathy was two for four), they did it in an era where c-sections were for emergency situations only -- so they did it naturally. I might not get that chance (which could be a very good thing) -- this doctor told me most likely I will have a c-section if the baby is over nine and a half.

Besides the whole weight issue, this ultrasound appointment was really fun. I will write all about it in another post.

Oh yeah, and the other bonus -- because Kevin was right, we had ice cream for dinner. I am sure my chubby baby enjoyed it immensely.

Cravings

I get asked a lot about whether or not I have been having cravings. To answer, I took the above picture last week.

But to be honest, this picture speaks a lot more to pregnancy laziness than actual cravings. I have always loved pickles and ice cream (not together) -- I just haven't taken out my recycling in a while! I just had to take a picture because it was so cliche.

Actually, I really haven't had any cravings. Just guiltless eating. So I see a Wendy's commercial and I decide I want to eat Wendy's. But I don't have to rationalize this decision like I normally would.

I love being pregnant!

Labor pains

So I am home sick today and stuck watching bad television. I watched an episode of TLC's A Baby Story. Might as well prepare myself, right?

So Helen is the expectant mommy, and she is talking about her feelings about the impending labor. "Yes, I am very afraid of labor," she says. Then we cut to her husband, Geoff: "I am really not scared of labor at all, " he says. "I am actually looking forward to it!"

Geoff, what do YOU have to be scared of?

UPDATE: After I posted this, Kevin and I had a doctor's appointment for another ultrasound from which they estimated the size of the baby. Turns out we are on pace to have a 9+ pound baby! As I was bemoaning our genetics (we were both big babies too), Kevin just looked at me and said, "So it's a big baby. It's not that big of a deal." Of course it's not -- for YOU -- you are not the one that's going to be pushing it out of your body!

Maybe Helen and I should start a support group for mothers with unsympathetic birth partners.

Free pass

So I have realized that pregnancy can be an excuse for just about everything. And I don't think I'm taking advantage of it enough!

Seriously, eating like a piggy? Well, you're eating for two. Clumsy? Passing gas? Forgetful? Tired? Dressed a little more casually then normal for work? It's all expected.

My sister Mel was here a couple of weeks ago, and we were out to dinner. I had my heavy bag hanging over the back of my chair. When I got up from the table, I moved my chair back, and the weight of my bag knocked the chair over. As I bent down to right the chair, I hear Mel say to the girls at the table next to us: "Sorry, she's pregnant." The girls nod knowingly.

Um, my being pregnant really had nothing to do with the chair falling over! I just think it's funny that everyone immediately assumes that's what the problem is!

The nerve!

So as a pregnant woman, you have to put up with a lot of obnoxious comments from people -- most of them people you don't even know that well. "Was it planned?" ("Yes, but that's really none of your business..."); "You just got married -- you guys move fast!" ("Thanks, we've been together almost seven years..."), etc. You get the idea.

But yesterday I really got a double whopper. I ran into a secretary at work that I haven't seen since the beginning of summer.

Her: Wow! I didn't know you were pregnant! You look like you're due any day now!

Me: Actually, I'm not due until December -- more than three months to go!

She should have taken this as her clue that she was skating on thin (pun intended) ice. But she didn't.

Her: Oh...well, are you having twins?

Me: No, just one baby.

And she didn't stop there.

Her: Are you sure? You're really big!

I am growing a person inside of me -- can you please cut me a bit of slack?