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Baby Makes Three

So we've had the ultrasound and my first real appointment with the doctor. The ultrasound was an amazing experience. Suddenly there's the baby, with it's furiously beating heart which we could see, like a flickering of light on the screen. I suddenly thought 'there really is someone in there, I can see him.'

I can certainly feel that something is happening to my body, but I want the process to speed up so that I can feel the baby there. I want to feel the kicks and the squirming, I want to look like I'm pregnant so that I can rub my belly and cradle our child with not just my womb, but my hand as well.

Despite wanting to speed everything up, we're actually taking a step back. According to the ultrasound I'm actually due Sept 28th instead of the 18th. Which means I'm at nine weeks, again. Which is also a delay on when I thought I'd be reaching second trimester which is generally a physically kinder period in the pregnancy.

I did get to hear our baby's heart beating during the doctors appointment, which was a welcome surprise as usually it can't be heard until at least the 10th week.

It's so awe inspiring to be a part of creating someone. It is such a extraordinary event, but one that is so ordinary. There are a lot of parents out there, but it is so evidently such a special and blessed event. This is truly a gift from God.

Laying eyes

Our doctor is sending us for an ultrasound so that we can accurately date the baby, which is easier done earlier rather then later. Most of the books I've seen say that the ultrasound usually happens at 18 weeks, instead we're going Friday the 17, in just over a week from today. I wasn't expecting the chance to see our baby so quickly, I'm really excited. Although I am a little worried that I won't "get" the ultrasound, whenever I see those pictures on TV or whatever I can never figure out the image. I can never seen the baby.

2 hours before the ultrasound you must have COMPLETED drinking 4 (8 ounce) cups of water, and there will be no relieving of the bladder. Like are they aware that I'm pregnant? Wish me luck.

He or She

We are now at about five weeks so this is what is going on now:

Day 30: The embryo is 10,000 times larger than the original fertilized egg. The heart is pumping increasing quantities of blood through the circulatory system. The placenta forms a unique barrier that keeps the mother's blood separate while allowing food and oxygen to pass through to the embryo.

Day 35, Week 5: Five fingers can be discerned in the hand. The eyes darken as pigment is produced. The embryo is now the size of a raspberry.

Tomorrow Eric and I are going to see the doctor for the first real check up. This is going to be a long one, consisting of a full physical and lots of pregnancy talk; which should really help this all to hit home.

On some days, and some moments, I really feel pregnant. I know that I'm helping to make a baby inside of me; however trying to actually discern that a real baby could actually be growing inside me is sometimes totally unbelievable. When my body is behaving abnormally I know that I'm pregnant. Most of the time though I feel normal, and occasionally during those periods I'm so scared that it'll all just go away. It's the most terrifying feeling in the world, but it's balanced by the feeling of joy and anticipation, the curiosity and awe. I can't wait to meet this baby.

What will this child, this mix of Eric and I look like? Act like? Will he or she be like either of us? Will it be a he or she? Eric's subconscious seems to have decided that it's going to be a boy. I had a day last week when I was convinced it was going to be a boy, but since then I' haven't been sure. In about 32 weeks we'll know for sure.

The Baby

At the moment the baby is somewhere either 3 or 4 weeks old. My mother is leaning towards 3 weeks. Which means this is what the baby is doing:

Day 20: The embryo is now the size of an apple seed. The placenta and umbilical cord are now functioning. The foundations for the brain, spinal cord and nervous system are established.

Day 21, Week 3: The heart begins to beat.

Day 28, Week 4: The backbone and muscles are forming. Arms, legs, eyes and ears have begun to show. Hair has begun to sprout.

I am in awe. Reading about the development a child undergoes in the womb is astonishing, something is always going on. Our baby already has a beating heart even though we can't hear it yet.

For more fun I've discovered a funny baby name tool http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html, all you have to do is type a name in and then it charts the name over the last century plus and how popular they have been. The baby names we've chosen haven't been very popular in the last 50 years or so. Ha.

First Person Addiction

I am currently reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I'm nearly at the halfway mark at this point, and I have some thoughts on what I have read thus far. The subject matter is compelling. The story is about a family -the quintessential: one father, one mother, son and daughter- who live happily until the two year old daughter is diagnosed with a rare kind of leukemia. To prolong the life of their daughter the parents create a designer baby. A third child is one more then this family wanted, but they need this baby because they need to have a perfect donor match for their sick daughter. The main action in this story is set thirteen years later when Anna, the designer baby, decides that she doesn't want to be that donor anymore and wants medical emancipation.

As I said I am not quite halfway through the story and I don't want to do an in depth critique of it yet. What I would like to talk about is the style of the writing.

I have read one other of Jodi Picoult's books and started another. All three are told with the same trick. Several different characters are given chapters to express themselves. These chapters are told from the first person. Which I am not opposed to as an idea in itself, the execution of this idea however I have some difficulties with.

In My Sister's Keeper, there isn't a satisfactory difference in voice. The thirteen year old voice of Anna sounds the same as her mothers or her lawyers. Anna's perspective is in the first person, but I can't believe that these are really her thoughts, I'd be more likely to buy that they are her thoughts as they have been filtered through an adult recollection of the events. We are told through other characters perceptions of Anna that she is very grown up for her age, but that isn't an explanation for why her chapters feel the same as the adult ones do.

Another problem is that nothing new seems to be learned from being inside so many characters heads. We seem so of the same conversations from different sides, but in doing so, we learn nothing new.

This story should have been told from the third person. The flaws in characterization wouldn't have been as obvious to the reader. It would not limit this particular story as characters can still be followed on their own particular journeys, what we learn about them can still be shown in the same way. It is not uncommon to find the omnipresent narrator who can tell us snippets of what Bobby and Jane are thinking and that's all that the author is revealing here -snippets.

There is one puzzling question I have still to ponder. Different fonts have been used in different chapters for different characters; however these fonts do not consistently belong to any one character, the differences seem completely arbitrary. If I can figure out the pattern as I read on I'll let you know.

More on My Sister's Keeper later.

The Inaugural Post

Here are the first sentences of The Apologue. I do not have a moral or any animals or objects in mind at the moment, maybe next time.