And the cake was blue

One of my tests came back as elevated risk for Downs Syndrome so we got some extra blood work done to double check. On March 12th they called to tell us that the new blood work indicated that everything was fine. They also knew the sex of the baby and asked if we wanted to find out.

Terminology note: if you want to know if someone is having a boy or a girl, it's best to ask what the "sex" is rather than the "gender." Sex is the organs, gender is a social construct. While for most people, the sex and gender are the same (e.g., a male that is masculine), that isn't the case for everyone. Here's a great explanation from the World Health Organization. 

I wasn't quite ready to know. Even though we planned to have kids and I had gone off of birth control seven months before conception this still takes some getting used to. But Kevin was ready so they told him and we made a plan for Kevin to tell me on my birthday (March 16th).

We invited my family who lives here (an aunt and uncle, cousins, my brother Jonathan and his girlfriend) over for dinner and a "sex reveal" cake. We made arrangements to have our family back east join us via Google Hangouts (like Skype, but you can have more people).

It took a little bit of work to get everyone into Google hangouts; as soon as they could see us we cut the cake...

...And the cake was blue! It was delicious. Chef Kevin is a great secret keeper; he didn't drop any hints and even bought two different kinds of Jello to make sure I wouldn't be able to figure it out if I went through the trash.

Since then, we've gone in for an hour long ultrasound. It is definitely Arthur Eric in there (Kevin's grandfather for the first name and my dad's name for the middle name) and everything is developing smoothly so far. Still no major pregnancy side effects for me (other than weight gain), fingers crossed that it continues that way!

22 weeks down, 18 to go!

Is it the beginning of the end?

It was a perfect day for a trail run in the mountains; great weather, great company, challenging trails, beautiful scenery. But at three hours and thirty nine minutes to run a mere 10 miles, this may be my last "long" trail run before the Reidling graces us with their presence in August. I had a blast running and felt great, but at this pace I might as well be hiking (and while Kevin isn't interested in running, he likes hiking, so I would have some great company).

I knew that the time would come when I would really start to feel pregnant, but I guess I was in denial. Other than being slow on my runs and swims, and clothes not fitting, everything still feels really "normal" (hence the lack of things to write about). My appetite seems stable. No kicks yet, though the books and websites say I should start feeling them soon. No cravings either, which is a bummer, I was kind of looking forward to those.  

The next big appointment is Monday, where we will have an hour long ultrasound to check out all of the organs and make sure everything is developing as it should. I think I'm 21 weeks along today, already in the second half of the pregnancy. The first trimester crawled because it was so hard to keep a secret but time is flying now. I guess we need to go shopping...

First Nursery Purchase

We plan a Buffalo Bill/Wild West themed nursery. Buffalo Bill is buried at the top of Lookout Mountain, which is just minutes from our house. Not only was Buffalo Bill a showman with his Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, but he was a scout for the Union Army, had a history of collaborating with Native Americans (hiring a few to be part of his wild west show), and being involved in women's rights (advocating for equal pay... what a novel idea...). Plus, there are all kinds of other interesting characters that we can pull into the wild west theme like Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane, and Sitting Bull.

Yesterday was Buffalo Bill's Birthday Bash, which is basically a Buffalo Bill convention. We were almost the only people in street clothes; everyone else was dressed as characters from the late 1800s/early 1900s. There was a presentation competition where people go up on stage as their character, tell a story, and get quizzed on their knowledge by the judges. We saw two Buffalo Bills, Annie Oakley, two Wild Bill Hickocks, a phenomenal Calamity Jane, Mother Jones, and other lesser known characters. It was a blast.

But the horse came first. We got to the Birthday Bash around 11. The festivities weren't really going to get started until 2 so we hit our favorite consignment/antique shops. Lo and behold, one of them had a perfect little rocking horse for only $10. How serendipitous to find a rocking horse for our Buffalo Bill themed nursery on Buffalo Bill's birthday. Granted, it wasn't the most practical first thing to buy, but was the perfect place to start.

So It Begins

Looks like the dog is going to have to make room in her heart for another human.

Given that we have so many family and friends who are not here in Colorado, I'm going to give blogging a shot. I feel good and my energy is back, but my runs are really slow. I knew that was going to happen, but it's still hard to accept. Same with the weight gain, we spend so much of our lives trying not to gain weight so it's weird to watch the pounds start to pack on without trying to shed them just as quickly.

So far so good at the doctor's. Strong heartbeat, everything is developing as it should. At the end of March we have an exciting appointment with an hour long ultrasound to check on the development of all of the organs etc. Until then, it's just kick back and wait. Time hasn't moved this slow since I was a kid myself!