My Little Indian Boy (or girl)

The most dramatic development this week: Reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements.
-Baby Center, 12 Weeks

What is so fascinating about this tidbit of information is that at today’s ultrasound “baby hoffman” was sucking his thumb.  I think “he” is ahead of his class!  Not only is his mouth making sucking movements…he’s already found his thumb and fingers and is just “having a ball” with them.  Mommy’s first prideful moment! Smarty pants hoffman! He takes after his daddy (has a big head like daddy too).  These ultrasounds just keep getting better!  Last week was my first emotional ultrasound and this week both JCH and I were crying (well he had tears in his eyes and the most prideful look on his face-worth a million bucks).  Baby hoffman also sat “Indian style” for a while at one point during his tumbling act…it was beyond amazing!

Dr. Conatser said the subchorionic hematoma (let’s just refer to it as SCH from now on) looked better and to forget that it even exists.  I asked him his opinions on acupuncture as an alternative therapy and he said that he believes that it is helpful in some circumstances, but cannot find any “scientific data” that backs it up (a very “doctor” reply).  He said he is comfortable with it if I would like to give it a try.  I think I might!  He said he has heard a lot of success with acupuncture helping with pain management during pregnancy and labor…so maybe that will be something I also discuss with the acupuncturist (since I’m considering “no drugs” as my birth plan).  Stay tuned on that!  I’m still not set in stone- I’ve just barely begun the tedious amounts of research I plan to do prior to making a decision!  Also, noteworthy is that I spoke with Dr. Winslow and Patty (from F.I.R.M.) and they said that because the blood was already brown it most likely means the clot has resolved itself and is shrinking.  They too were not too concerned.  Conatser said most likely I will get a full report from the specialists that we see this Friday for our “1^st trimester screening”…man we are spoiled with all these ultrasounds!

I think I had previously mentioned the difference in “my family” and “JCH’s family” when it came to “gender preferences”.  I have been chatting away with my sisters and like to provoke humor from their previous comments of “it better be a girl or else” and thought I would share a couple texts that made me giggle.

It’s weird, but I feel like baby hoffman is going to be a boy (as you can tell I’m already referring to baby hoffman as “he” in my writing).  A friend at work and I looked it up on the Chinese calendar and that too says baby hoffman will be a boy.  Another really cool thing about the Chinese calendar is that apparently this year is the “year of the dragon” meaning that it is a lucky year!  Another friend told me that they read an article about it being “the year of the dragon” online and apparently China is expecting a major “baby boom” because of it.  Hopefully we don’t have a baby boom here…that just means more competitive preschools, colleges, and job market for baby hoffman and his birth year friends.  Protective mommy doesn’t like the sound of that!  Stay tuned…I’ll most likely post after our ultrasound on Friday too! Good bye 1st trimester...hellllllllo 2nd trimester (hopefully that means no more puking too).

p.s. One quick last thing! If you are reading PLEASE comment on my blog! Most of y'all are not "following" which is fine I know "tech savvy" isn't for everyone-but if you could at least comment here (rather than shoot me texts/emails once you read) it would be a better way for me to keep records.  I plan to print this blog for baby hoffman to read one day and having your words of wisdom, excitement and encouragement will make it so much better! One day when baby hoffman is 20 years old and has known you for 20 years he will look back at your comment and it will mean a lot to him too! Plus, the emotional support and knowing I'm not just blabbing to myself will make me feel better too (you know these crazy hormones).  Okay-that's it for now! xoxo



a little bump appeared over night
(this outfit usually accentuates my waistline-not so much right now)