Dear Benjamin,
Your father accompanied me on one of my regularly scheduled visits to the birth center today. You are doing just fine: heart rate is in the 140s, you're measuring normally (they measure my tummy to determine this), my blood pressure is absolutely fine, etc.

We actually got to see you a week or so ago. We had a "4-D" ultrasound performed, and although you were mostly hidden behind the placenta, we still got a few glimpses of your face. From what I could see, it would appear that you have my nose and perhaps your father's chin. We'll have to wait another two months, though, before we'll be able to tell for sure! What I could definitely see is that you have all your fingers and toes and that you're are absolutely a boy-child. (I have to admit, I was still a bit skeptical about your sex, considering what we went through earlier in the pregnancy.)

This past weekend your sister, your great-aunt, and I started painting the nursery. I'll need to do another coat, which I hope to get accomplished this coming weekend, and then we can begin setting up furniture. Everything furniture-wise has come in, with the exception of the dresser and the glider rocker. (That reminds me, I need to call about the rocker--it's about time for it to be here.) The baby shower is planned for August 19 and I would ideally like to have the nursery at least mostly together by then.

So let's see, what's going on with me at this point pregnancy-wise? Not much, I'm happy to report. I've had some Braxton-Hicks contractions, but those are completely normal, especially considering that you are my third pregnancy. I'm feeling pretty ginormous now, but in reality I'm not all that big, at least as far as my belly is concerned, simply because you're not all that big. The doctor who performed the ultrasound put you in the 29th percentile for your "age" (using measurements of your head, legs, etc. along with your due date to make the determination), which means that while you are absolutely within the normal range, you're on the small side. This is exciting news for me, for it seems reasonable to assume that a smallish baby will result in a not-so-painful birth. Yay!

So even though I feel huge and ungainly, and sometimes simply walking around takes a lot of effort, I am, for the most part, able to get around and function in an absolutely "normal" fashion. Sleeping is really my biggest challenge right now. First off, you tend to wake up just when I'm trying to doze off, and you move and turn and toss and kick and generally make it such that I can't relax due to all the activity in my abdomen. But then, once I am (we are) both finally asleep, getting and staying comfortable is an all night affair.

At this point I have two basic sleeping positions to choose from: right side sleeping or left side sleeping. I usually start out on my right side with one pillow under my head, another behind my back, and my long body pillow in front of me with one end between my knees and the other supplementing the pillow under my head. I normally stay in this position until either my hip and knee hurts enough to wake me up, or my ear gets so sore I can't stand it anymore. At that point I flip to the left side, which is pretty much a mirror image of right side sleeping except the back pillow is absent, staying instead in front me, under the body pillow. Again, I stay in this position until the hip, the knee, the ear, or all three at the same time, wake me up. Or until I wake up to go pee, which happens at least once, but here lately it's been more like two or three times, a night. Fun stuff. So while I am enjoying this pregnancy, I am definitely looking forward towards being able to sleep "all by myself" again, and in more than two positions.

Oh, so I think that we have once and for all decided on your middle name (note, though, I said "think"--this is still subject to change, but for now it's been decided): Radcliff. I'm not certain that is how Radcliff should be spelled. Your father will need to consult his family bible to determine that, but for now that's how I'll spell it. Radcliff is your father's paternal grandmother's maiden name. It was also your father's father's middle name.

I had previously decided that we wouldn't "do" family names, but Radcliff is OK because it has nothing to do with my family. See, my family is still pretty much around, and they all tend to want me to name you after them, so I obviously can't choose a name from my family because then someone will be upset that I chose, say, my father's name to give you instead of, oh, my uncle's or something. But your father's family is, unfortunately, mostly gone, so there isn't anyone who will be upset by our choosing Radcliff over someone else's name. And besides, Radcliff is, to me, an interesting name. It's unusual, yet not too much so. And it has a certain. . .sophistication to it. It's aristocratic and erudite and masculine. It has a definite snobbish undertone to it. Anyway, if it sticks--that is, if we don't end up changing our minds--I hope you like it. There's history to it, if nothing else.

Well, enough blogging for now. It's getting late. Time to get the pillows out and begin our nightly ritual!

Much love,
Mommy

Dear Benjamin (I shall refer to you by your name now instead of as Blob, as you are much more baby than blob at this stage in the game),

Happy third trimester!

Yes, hard to believe, but we're going into the third and final trimester (hence the "tri" in trimester). Yesterday marked the beginning of the 27th week. Everything I've read says that were you to be born now you'd have a 90% change of surviving. Not that I want you to be born now, I hope that you will wait until you're fully cooked before trying to make your way out, but if you decide to come early I feel good knowing that you'll most likely be OK.

I'm actually feeling pretty good, all things considered. Sure, I've gained 20 lbs and that doesn't make me terribly happy, but 20 lbs in seven months isn't so bad (I think I gained close to 50 with your brother), and all in all I feel great.

Oh well, your father has cooked dinner and says it's time to eat. Goat cheese pizza, mmm-mmmmm! I'll write more later!

Love,
Mommy