Lil' G: 23 weeks down

We've officially made it through 23 weeks of pregnancy. I probably mistitled my previous post "Lil' G: week 23" as, at the time, we were only entering week 23. From this point forward, I'll attempt to make it clear exactly where we are in the weekly countdown.

Anyway, we had our monthly appointment with the doctor on Monday. We were gently scolded for not having researched pediatrician yet. That has since been moved up on the priority list. Otherwise, everything is looking great. We were able to hear the baby's heartbeat, no thanks to Lil' G who seemed to take pleasure in swimming a lap as soon as the doctor had a lock on the kid's location. At this point, Lil' G's movements aren't only recognizable with touch but they can actually be seen. The movements stop as soon as you start looking at my wife's tummy. Naturally, they the movements start up again with even more fervor the instant you look away. Occasionally, you can catch a kick out of the corner of your eye.

So it would seem our child is somewhat cat-like and I mean that in the cat-like ninja kind of way. You know, you're in the kitchen and you're certain that your cat is up to something in the next room. You can actually hear it moving, rustling in boxes, jumping on and off of furniture, etc. But, when you sneak into the room to see what's going on, the cat is sitting peacefully on a chair...usually in mid-yawn...as though she couldn't possibly be any less interested in mischief.

Cats, ninjas, and the unborn...

Lil' G: Week 23

Big stuff going on. Ok, pretty small stuff when strictly looking at size. We've just started week 23 of the pregnancy and "Lil' G" should be weighing in at around a pound.

I especially like that the the week-by-week pregnancy books try to give you a relative size of the developing baby. You know, something tangible that's roughly the size of the baby. For week 23, I believe the object was a bag of sugar. Fruit comparisons are pretty common, though. For instance, there was a week in which the baby was the size of "a large orange". I'm not entirely sure why they didn't opt to just use a grapefruit. Somehow, specifying the specific size of the example makes it seem less relevant. Maybe the child is just the size of an extra small baby.

The most entertaining of the examples come from the animal kingdom. A hamster was used during one of the weeks. Yes, please compare my child to a rodent. Why not a small Chihuahua? Or a REALLY small badger?

Back to the big stuff. A pound isn't that big, is it? Still, it's "big" in the exciting sense. The good news is that the baby is healthy and bouncing around on a regular basis. I'm posting our latest ultrasound. It's a few weeks old but it's the best I have. The kid has a good spine.

Icebreaker

Well, I finally have a web presence. A blog of my own. I know, I've been a little slow in getting started. Heck, in just the time I've been considering a blog, other bloggers have graduated from junior high, high school, and maybe even college.

Why now? Why not? Really, I love to write. I love the process. I love the development of a story. It just feels good. Unfortunately, the results of my writing are usually lacking. Passages that seemed great at the time somehow come off as hokey and poorly written when read with a fresh mind. When one looks for advice on improving your writing, the first that that's suggested is "write more". Makes sense. If you want to be a better runner, you should run. If you want to be a better loser, try losing more often. Rumor has it that, for writing, you should write every day. I've never been good at that. I've tried journaling. I've tried forcing myself out of bed in the wee hours of the morning. I've even tried writing during my lunch hour. My efforts lasted no more than a week. I'm hoping this blog will offer some kind of accountability. At the same time, I'm hoping this blog isn't used as an excuse to not write anything else.

Wish me luck.