Well we went to our second visit to the midwives, and got our first ultrasound, and all I could say was "Oh my God!"  We just couldn't believe it!  Last time we saw (on kind of an "unofficial ultrasound peek") some little blob that just looked like a bean.  But this time, it was a real baby.  And not just a baby type thing just lying there, she (let's just say she for now) was disco dancing or something!  Unbelievable that something this small (about 8 centimeters) could be so alive and active!  She was squirming and wriggling and flipping back and forth and moving her hands and feet.  One time she turned and faced us and once she stretched her little legs straight out and kicked me.  (Of course I can't feel it.)  Anyway, she never stopped moving during the whole ultrasound.  Mitch and I were just floored.

Mitch established a new rule yesterday.  Whenever we have a doctor's visit, we go out to eat.  I like it.  But we'll see what happens.  Perhaps he doesn't realize that the closer we get, the more visits there are (once a month, then every three weeks, then every two, then every week, and finally twice a week.)  So yesterday, since our visit was late in the day, we went out to dinner.  He said we could go wherever I wanted, so I chose sukiyaki (my favorite Japanese food) at the chinese/japanese restaurant in Bartlett.  He thought it was really funny that given the choice of anything, I picked Japanese food.  He imagined that ten years ago, I wouldn't have even considered eating sukiyaki.  (Check the photo album to get an idea of what sukiyaki looks like.)

We took the day off yesterday because we also refinanced the house.  With the interest rates being so low, we managed to save ourselves $200 a month!  That will really help when I stop working!  So after that we went home, and I took a nap before we went to the midwives.

Oh, and Mitch asked me the cutest question yesterday.  While we were in the waiting room, he asked how long I would be staying in the hospital.  I told him that it's usually about 24 hours.  Then he asked me, "Then we get to take home?" (meaning the baby.)  As if there's some kind of waiting period or something.  I told him that we're not purchasing a handgun.  It's ours and we don't have to wait, we get to take it home right away.  :)

Here's a picture of us at Todai-Ji Temple, where the biggest Daibutsu (Budda statue) in Japan is.  That huge temple just covers it.  It reaches up to the top.  When we were there, I bought an Omamori (charm) from the monks that is blessed by them.  They have all kinds, ones for good health, wealth, fertility, whatever.  The one I bought (as explained by Mitch) was so that I could "get pregnant and have healthy baby."  I guess it's worked so far...

Ok, so today I wrote this really long journal entry, then my session timed out and I lost it all.  So I don't know how long I'm going to want to sit here and type it all again.

I was going on about how I'm feeling OK.  Still not much of an appetite.  I just got over a wicked migraine with the help of my gifted chiropractor (thanks Alena!) that lasted almost forever.

I am going crazy not knowing what kind of baby we're getting.  I'm the type of person who likes to plan things out in my head, but I can't do that if I don't know whether we'll be buying Barbies or GI Joes.  I have been looking online and all the crazy Wiccan and Chinese gender prediction charts.  They all tell me it's a boy, but they actually look identical.  So I think the Wiccans are just copying the Chinese.  I haven't done the pendulum thing yet.  I'll try it this weekend and let you know what it "says".  Next I'll get out my ouija board.  Anything to get something or someone to tell me it's a girl.

I have been thinking about what to do for the baby's room.  I didn't want to paint it some baby color or anything, but I was thinking of painting a mural of the sky on the ceiling.  A bright blue sky with billowy clowds, then hide stars in the clowds with luminescent paint so when you turn off the lights, its a night sky with glow in the dark stars.  We're planning to keep the full sized bed in there, so we can sleep in there if need be.  I want to get one of those convertable cribs - one that goes from a crib to a childs bed to a twin bed.  I don't know about a dresser.  I might just get drawers installed in the closet.  I don't want to have a lot of clutter, and with the full sized bed and a crib in there and all the other baby stuff, I don't think there's going to be much room.  As for a changing table, I don't plan on getting one.  Every mother I know just does it on the bed, couch or the floor anyway.  Seems like a waste to me.  I don't think I'll use it.

Last night I noticed that I have this belly.  Still not sure if it's fat or baby.  But it's all right in the front and somewhat pronounced.  Mitch (bless his heart) thinks its just fat, or I just ate or maybe I need to poop.

Here's another thing I think is cute coming from him.  We are still not sharing the news with everyone at work, so we have to speak in code.  Well, since the baby looked like a bean on the ultrasound, he calls it a bean.  So when I get stressed at work and start expressing myself (yelling) he runs up to me and says, "Beans! Beans! Beans!"  Well at first, I didn't realize that he was saying it because it looked like a bean.  Besides, he was saying "Beans" plural.  So I'm wondering, where is this coming from?  Especially since you know how you get mental pictures of things?  All I can picture is a pile of baked beans when he says this.  So it does calm me down, not because I'm thinking of the baby, but because I'm picturing my belly full of baked beans.  I don't know... I'm amused.