"IT JUST GOT INTERESTING!"

Ok, so we created this blog really just as a fun way to tell our family and friends that we were pregnant (my favorite response was "I really thought I was going to find a picture of a turtle."), but lots of folks have been asking for updates and this is probably the easiest way to send them!

So I promised myself that I would start posting when things got interesting or when we hit 20 weeks, whichever came first. Well, I think the two are coinciding. We go for our 20-week ultrasound tomorrow and I think (I think!) I may have felt the baby kick for the first time today. But, quite honestly (and those of you who have ever been pregnant, especially the first time, will validate this sentiment), it really could have been just gas. :) I will, however, remember today as the first time I felt the baby kick.

So we're going for the 20-week ultrasound tomorrow. First pics in 7 or 8 weeks. And I, wonderful mother-to-be that I am, lost the last ones while we were on vacation in Montana. I took them to show off to the grandparents, but didn't scan them beforehand, and voila, they disappeared. I have my fingers crossed that the perinatologist can give me new copies, but if not, I have already confessed to the Turtle in my letters to baby that I have lost them. So I may one day be called upon to answer for this treachery. How could I lose the first picture of my child waving at me? With all five fingers? Argh.

With the 20-week ultrasound comes, of course, the million dollar question, "Are you going to find out?" Most everyone knows by now that the answer is no! (I have seen a maternity t-shirt that says, "We're not finding out"-- I think I need to get one). One of my colleagues at work tried to debunk my "I want to be surprised" theory by saying I would be surprised no matter what-- it would just be 20 weeks earlier. My reply to him was that Christmas is my very favorite holiday (as anyone who knows me knows), and gift-giving is one of my favorite activities-- so I would liken this to getting an x-ray into your Christmas presents a few weeks ahead of time. Sure, you're surprised, but it does take the wind out of things somewhat on Christmas morning! So, we're not finding out, we're decorating the baby's room with a gender-neutral sea creature theme (to further our own love of all things ocean, including sea turtles!), and yes, we are totally open to purple onesies (the first of which we received from a friend this weekend), even in the event of a boy.

I also, FINALLY, have a belly that is worth showing off. So stay tuned for the Turtle's next pics and the blog debut of the Turtle's shell.

P.S. Kudos to all who can name the source for the title of this post!