A Change In Plans: Surprises Are In Order

I have reported before that we don't yet know whether Round 2 is a boy or a girl. Its still a mystery to us. Alison had a checkup a few weeks ago, and when she went, she refused the ultra-sound (the doctors here do ultra-sounds like they're going out of style). Its just an unnecessary expense.

Well, we* are solidly into our third trimester, with only about 11 weeks to go, and well, we've decided to do it the old fashioned way. That's right - break out your "I like Ike" stickers and start thumping "boogie woogie bugle boy" on your stereo, because we're going old school (in fact, Alison is quite often barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen making something scrumptious).

We've decided that we are going to keep the gender unbeknownst to anyone - particularly ourselves - until Round 2 is a ball of wriggling baby in Alison's arms. Then we can see with our own eyes if we have the next Albert Einstien or Marie Curie (or N. Gregory Mankiw or Barbara Ward, if you're into that sort of thing).

"But wait!" you might object. "How will you know what else to buy!? Boy things or girl things!?" We have been very blessed by friends both here in Bahrain and across the pond. This summer, people were very giving towards us, and we got lots of great things. So much, in fact, that we didn't spend a dime of our own money until about three weeks ago when we bought a stroller (for $50, no less!).

In keeping with the theme of surprises, Alison had a surprise baby shower thrown by some of the women in the church this last Saturday, and you can even watch the surprise below. I, of course, left her to her party and went home, but she came back with a whole bunch of loot for the baby. We have enough clothes now, that we probably don't need to go out and by a whole lot else (not to mention the fact that we're hoping to play the hand-me-down game with the other couples who've got kids who are just ahead of Round 2).



Some of the things given to Alison this last time:

• Fantastic clothes
• Soft ducky robe that fully wraps up baby (gonna be honest - not sure how to describe it. There'll be pictures at some point, I'm sure)
• Bible story bath time books (complete with an elephant that squirts water from the nose)
• A crib thing that twirls toys above the baby's head while it lies in the crib
• books!

So I'm sure there will be more fantastic things to share in the 11 weeks to come. And 11 weeks makes it seem very, very close. Before I know it, the grand finale will be upon us. Don't worry - I'll document it all on here.

And now for the brief update of where Round 2 is in the developmental process. He's not doing anything all that new, just getting bigger (as Alison could tell you - he's pushing up against internal organs quite a bit these days).

• The baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds
• He is tad over 15 inches long from head to heel
• His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature
• His head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain.

I will say though, our little guy is quite active. He does summer salts inside the womb, I think, and he's even moving enough that I can see Alison's tummy poke out when he's pushing hard enough!

*To all the women who have been pregnant or feel the right to be indignant even if you never have been pregnant yourself: yes, I know that I myself don't have the same experiences as Alison - the one who is physically carrying our child. But she says "we're pregnant" and "our pregnancy" and "our trimester", so I feel quite comfortable in keeping the syntax on my blog.