18 weeks today....

"By week 18 of your pregnancy, your baby's crown-to-rump length is 5 to 5.5 inches long. Your baby continues to develop fat layers and weighs about 5.25 ounces. Your baby will continue to grow and develop, but the rapid growth will slow down for a little while. You will be able to feel your uterus just below your bellybutton. If you put your fingers sideways to measure, you can feel your uterus about two finger-widths below your bellybutton. At this point of your pregnancy, your uterus is approximately the size of a cantaloupe. Although weight gain varies from woman to woman, your total weight gain at this point should be 10 to 13 pounds."

A CANTALOUPE??! That's a little unnerving considering how large some of the cantaloupes I've seen can be.

I have yet to gain more than a pound.

I heard the heart beat! I heard the heart beat :)

*BIG GRIN*

Baby names, Baby names

So yes we have picked out names for the baby, one each for a boy and a girl.

Actually D already had the girl's name picked out - apparently he had this planned for yearssssssssss. OK I exaggerate - but he was ready with the girl's name for a while. I got to pick the boy's name and I think I like what I have. I also asked my parents to help pick out a kelabit name, and a chinese name. Yay my kid's going to continue the tradition of having long names :).

Anyway here are the names we picked out (drum roll):

Girl: Sharon Irra Clark
Boy : Ethan Lian Clark

Of course this is all subject to change, but I think we have a good start :).

On my way back to the Lone Star State....

Piglet and I are on our way back to Texas - full of Malaysian cuisine but the Mama is definitely ready for home. It was a good time though - short but sweet, and the only time I'll get to go probably for a long time to visit my folks. Snagged a new Canon camera and some snazzy shoes too. But boy was it huuuuuumid!

While the cats are away, the mice wil paint.

While Jas is out of town, I've pulled up the carpet and paited our nursery.

Before






























After

I have yet to pain the trim or finish the doors, but those will wait until after I have put down the new floor as I will have to replace the floor trim anyway. Also plan on replacing the fixtures and ceiling light.

Baby's Day out!

Or more like Baby's flight out! Piglet is now experiencing her first international/intercontinental trip overseas as I take a trip home back to Miri. So far it's been pretty ok except for an aching butt and having to deal with trips to the bathrooms more often. However we've been doing ok and I had a good rest stop in Seoul.

Food hasn't been much of an issue except I woke up feeling hungry due to the time change - my body thinks it's lunch time when it really should be sleep time. Thank goodness for trail mix. Besides that, I'm maintaining my water plenty.

I noticed several babies on the plan from Dallas to Seoul, my one stop before Malaysia, and they were pretty well behaved. However I can only imagine a mother's frustration looking at the size of the toilets when having to change the baby.

The man-bump

Yesterday we went to a family dinner, Chinese style, to pay our respects to my boss' father. I couldn't count how many dishes were served. Jas and I sat at a table with a few other guys from the sales office and another spouse. I think all but one of the 5 other people at the table were already parents, so all evening we were treated with anecdotes and horror stories of child rearing, embarrasing moments, and other such tales. And of course I received the token piece of advise, "watch out for sympathy weight".

Ok, sympathy weight. The pounds a guy puts on while his other is baby-bakin' and craving pickles with whipped cream and jimmies.

Since we've found out that Jas is pregnant, her diet has improved. Rice, some stir fry meats for protien, and steamed vegetables. LOTS of vegetables. Anyone that knows me knows I don't like many vegetables. Especially the greenish ones. Regardless of how her diet and cravings change, I don't see my plate changing much.

Sonargram pictures

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

This is real for me now. I've got the fuzzy picture (to be posted this evening). And not only have I seen the baby, the squirt was squirming like a worm. Kicking and waving on the ultrasound screen while the doc tried to line up a good image and take measurements. So not only is it THERE, it's MOVING.
By Jas' last blood test, we were estimating to currently be at about 10 or 11 weeks. Todays measurment drops us right into 15 weeks. Not only have we reached that critical 1st trimester milestone, we have sped by it! We're now expecting a delivery of late December. Which means I need to get all kinds of busy.
But this is what I've been waiting for. Time to take off the training wheels and strap on the rockets boots. Super-dad here I come!

We've got plenty of time to get all this stuff together, but I hate leaving the planning until the last minute. Jas and I have plenty of ideas and plans. Some may never see the light of day, but hey, we are thinking.

We have some colors for the nursery picked out. In a week or so I'll be running out to buy paint and new flooring for the room. I'm still a bit hesitant about investing the neccessary dollars into getting all this "natal" stuff until after Thursday (see below). Once the captain has visual confirmation though, all engines full ahead.

Jas is still cruising pleasantly. Her eating habits and appetite have changed quite a bit though. And naps are more frequent. But so far none of the unpleasant symptoms typically associated with pregnancy. So far. Knock on wood...

Window shopping....

So we went window shopping yesterday and went to Babies 'R' Us as well as Target. At this point I think we agreed that we will probably buy the crib and the stroller from Babies 'R' Us and other everyday items we'll get from Target.

With that, I think we've picked out the crib we'd like to get:



It is manufactured by Babi Italia, which sells directly through Babies 'R' Us. Ironically, Babi means 'pig' in Malay. :P I guess that's a sign.