10 weeks
I'm going into my 10th week of pregnancy this week. From what I've read, the baby is an inch or two long. Embry (which is what Cat has been calling the little "it" since we found out we were expecting) is already swallowing and kicking, and all the vital organs are formed. In the next three weeks, the baby's length will double. Embry is already starting to grow fingernails and peach-fuzz hair.
As for me, I'm still exhausted and sick. I've been having really bizarre and vivid dreams which I've read is fairly common during pregnancy. A lot of my dreams involve the baby. At first I was dreaming that Embry was a boy. Last night I had my first dream where Embry was a girl.
Just in case you were wondering, we will definitely be finding out the sex of the baby beforehand. That is, of course, assuming that our child is not shy and will not hide his/her bits from us during the ultrasound.
It is KILLING me to keep this secret still from family, but we agreed to wait until we get out of the first trimester before telling those closest to us. If you are reading this a few weeks from now and wondering how we kept it secret? Well, it was difficult. Mostly difficult on Cat because he had to listen to my continous, "Can I tell now? How about now? Now? Can I tell?"
Right now we are trying to think up creative ways to tell people. The problem is that everyone lives far away and it is slightly more difficult to be creative when your method of communicating is limited to phone, e-mail, or snail mail. Besides, by the time we can tell I will be so excited that I might just blurt it out.
The only person we'll probably get to tell in person is Cat's mom. I can't wait to see her reaction that she's finally going to be a grandmother after years of listening to her say, "I would like to hold my grandbaby before I die!" Cat thinks she will say, "Finally!"
I know that my parents will be really excited and surprised. They already have three grandbabies but I'm certain they won't mind another one.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about my family and wishing we all lived closer. I have this little fantasy that all of us living scattered across the US will move back to Colorado. (My cousin Tosha and I have semi-seriously talked about buying houses next door to each other somewhere in the mountains. Our kids will play together and she will have a cattery.)
I think of how I grew up spending loads of time with my grandparents, aunt and uncle and cousins. I remember all our family traditions and fabulous holidays together and I want Embry to have that same experience and sense of family. I have no idea if we will ever all end up in the same place again, but it is a comforting thought all the same.