Matthew Comer Professional Agile Scrum Master Project Manager Unicorn from ATX Austin, Texas

As a dental hygienist, I get to see 8 people every day that I haven't seen in 6 months or more (usually). So every day, 8 times a day, as soon as they notice the growing belly they will ask "Are you pregnant ?". Some would say that you should never ask a woman if she is pregnant for fear of her actually NOT being pregnant – these people have clearly never heard that rule !
However, I am pregnant and enjoy talking about it so I don't mind a bit. Having said all of that, anyone who has been pregnant will agree that there are certain questions that everyone will inevitably ask…"When are you due?", "Do you know if it is a boy or a girl ?", "How have you been feeling?"and "Will you come back to work after you have the baby?" – usually in that order 🙂 So let me answer some of those questions for everyone out there !

Due Date : October 12, 2008 (Libra, if anyone keeps up with that sort of thing)
Sex : Unknown, Matt and I have chosen to be SURPRISED !
Will I come back to work : Yes, at least 3 days/week (which is only 1 less day than I work now)

Now, I left out one of the more recent questions that I have been asked more frequently and that is…"Have you thought about names?". The answer to that question is yes and no. Matt and I have different ideas of what a name should be – I like traditional names , he likes more modern names. I'm am truly afraid this child will be nameless until a decision MUST be made~~ So, if anyone has any ideas, ANY ideas at all, send them to us ! Otherwise, if Matt gets his way, if we have a boy his name will be Chazz or Blaine and our precious little girl will be named Blaire (there is nothing wrong with Blaire – but who can honestly tell me they don't immediately reference The Facts of Life when they hear it ?).

Save me from my 80's pop culture nightmare, your suggestion may just be a winner !

I titled this "Joys of Pregnancy" which may seem to have a sarcastic undertone, but seriously y'all – being pregnant HAS been a joy ! I have never had a day of true "morning sickness", minus one indulgent episode of a Dirty Martin's hamburger, onion rings, and a chocolate malt that came back to haunt me hours later… The aforementioned occurance aside, I really have tried to be a very thoughtful eater and believe that I am doing my best at giving Baby comer the best nutritional start that I can.

My body is definitely changing by the day, my growing belly being the most apparent. My great friend Amanda was kind enough to lend me some of her maternity clothes, so between those and the Bella Band (a spandex tube top-type thing that you place around your waist that allows you to unbutton and unzip any bottoms that you wore pre-pregnancy and continue to wear them in comfort) – I haven't had to spend much on new clothing. I am loving my new belly, I have never felt like more of a woman !

As far as feeling the baby, the answer to that question is YES ! For about 3-4 weeks now I have felt the baby moving. I really didn't feel the "flutter" that is commonly described in books, I felt something that could best be described as a kneading in my belly at first and now it is a full on kicking/bumping that Matt can easily feel.

I occasionally will get a hankering for certain categories of food (sweet, salty, chewy, etc…), but no real cravings for specific foods. I have only gained 5 lbs so far (Baby Comer is approx. 1 lb now), but the pound packing days are yet to come 🙂

Matt and I will try to take some pictures to show everyone what the 23 week pregnant Jenny looks like soon, until then thanks for reading ~

For me, it seemed like a very long time between being able to see Baby Comer at 8 weeks old and then having to wait 3 MONTHS to see the baby again ! But the day finally arrived and here are some of the pictures from our 45 minutes of amazement with the sonographer.

Profile View of Baby Comer (can you see it's open mouth !)

Baby's face ~ A little concerning, I know…but we have faith that Baby Comer's nose won't actually take up a third of its face 🙂

This picture is a cross-section of our baby. The sonographer was taking a picture of the four chambers of the heart and recording its heartbeat on the bottom (144 beats per minute – very normal !)