At week 19, this baby is the size of a mango!!  Unreal, isn’t it?!  Eric and I have now told our little secret: we know the baby’s gender!  No, we’re not telling, though.  The decision seems to be humorous and perplexing, depending on who we tell.  Of course, my dad just thought it was a terrible idea.  Predictable. 🙂

Before we were pregnant, Eric leaned towards not finding out and I thought the idea of surprise was silly.  My theory was that a baby is plenty of surprise and excitement.  I don’t know anyone who says: You know, the birth would have been better if only we had the surprise gender element.  I mean, it’s a baby!!  What more do you need?!

Fast forward several months until we are pregnant.  Eric suddenly decides he wants to know.  He wants to mentally prepare, and he and I both agree that we want the name decided before the hospital. I suddenly decide I want to wait.  I don’t have a nursery to decorate, and based on friendly advice from new moms, I thought the “wait” argument beat the “find out” argument in the following ways:

1. When people don’t know gender, gifts tend to be more practical.  We need practical.

2. When people don’t know gender, gifts and personal purchases are gender neutral, which saves money if you have a second child, especially if the second baby comes in the not-too-distant future.  If we have baby two, it will likely not be too distant from baby one.

3. Pink.  If it’s a girl, you can expect lots of pink.  If you’re into pink, great.  If you don’t want lots of pink and bows and “it’s a girls” stuff, then don’t tell.  I like pink, but not too much of it.

3. Blue.  If it’s a boy, you can expect lots of blue.  If you’re into blue, great.  If you don’t want lots of blue and cars and trains and “it’s a boy” stuff, then don’t tell. I really like blue, but not too much of it.

4. It’s fun to hear people’s theories on what it will be.  You can even start a pool!  I like the excitement around the gender discussion.  What I don’t particularly look forward to is all the comments from strangers.   I ALREADY have had a complete stranger on the subway stop me and predict boy because “how I carried the baby.”  Really?!  I’m 4 months and 5 pounds along…This is going to be an adventure.

So…we decided to find out but not to tell.  We’ll see if we can keep it a secret the whole time… 🙂

The baby is the size of a sweet potato this week.  It’s pretty unreal to think the baby has gotten so big, from the size of a poppy seed.

Much of Sunday was spent trying to figure out: child care, living arrangements, community support, job, budgets, etc.  I have to believe that most people have at least some of these things figured out prior to getting pregnant. It’s a lot of uncertainty to manage, but Eric and I are so blessed with what we DO have.  Important to remember.

In yoga on Saturday, the instructor talked a lot about not letting your external circumstances dictate your internal state of peace.  It’s a good discipline to refine, and this phase of life is growing that discipline for sure.

Eric has been pretty sick and home from work this week, as you may know.  I find myself vacillating between feeling terribly that Eric has the flu and feeling fortunate that he is recovering well and that it hasn’t gotten worse; between being struck with the ridiculousness that we have spent much of an entire three days locked in the same 700 sq ft and being struck with the great fortune that we can both do our jobs from home; between thinking it’s somewhat third world that my office is my bedroom is our den and thinking that we are so fortunate to have such a lovely place to live; between being annoyed at having to stay 3ft from the person I love most and want to hug and kiss and make feel better and being so grateful that I have someone I love so much and actually enjoy being cooped up with.  Overall, I think we are just very fortunate people, even in an unfortunate week of sickness.

I’m slowly but surely learning how to make meals for this little one and Eric to enjoy. This weekend, I did pretty well at fried chicken and chicken noodle soup. Today, I made stuffed peppers, which got rave reviews even from a very sickly Eric. I’m still dreaming of being on Worst Cooks in America and getting mentored by a pro. Until then, Eric’s an excellent mentor, taster, encourager, and scientist.

Note: Eric made everything in this picture except the fried chicken. 🙂

The doctor’s appointment went well yesterday.  The baby has ten fingers and ten toes, and the heart and brain are both developing the way they should.  Baby Dowdell is now 7 ounces!  Such a blessing to have a healthy little one!  I didn’t gain at all between weeks 8 and 12, but I’ve gained 5 pounds between weeks 12 and 17,which is a good pace of growth.  All great news!

We were at the obgyn when I asked the nurse to take Eric’s temperature.  It was 102, so needless to say, we left one doctor and went to see another.  He has some bronchitis/flu virus and is getting better.  He has had chicken soup, water, EmergenC, lots of sleep, and two days off work, so he’s hoping to go back to work on Thursday.  The doc has advised me to stay at least 3 feet away.  Can you imagine?  It’s difficult, but I’m trying to nurse from a distance.  His temp has gone down and not come back, so should be a speedy recovery.

We are so excited about the little one on the way!! See belly pic of week 15.