Now that we know the gender of the little guy, the next questions we always get is "Have you picked a name yet?" But because we are responsible adults and are not allowed to say "We just found out that it was a boy 3 days ago you stupid monkey! Give us some time. Jeeze." We have to shorten it to just "Not yet." But here's an update for all of you that are curious.

The Naming Process Thus Far
A comedy in five acts

Act I
Time: Many months ago (before we were actually pregnant)
Location: Borders Books and Music, Michigan Ave.

Nicole: I want to look in the baby section.
Sean: Aw geeze, not again.
N: Shut up you crybaby. You want to have a kid too.
S: Well... yeah... but still there's parts of the process I just like better.
N: Well shut up and help me see if there's any books about conception or you don't get to do the fun parts.
S: Damn your infernal logic.
Searching Ensues
S: I don't think anyone writes books about trying to concieve unless they're dumb or else you've been trying forever.
N: Yeah, maybe we could get a book of names and look through.
S: Okay, here's one with 2,000.
N: That's nothing here's one with 10,000
S: Ooooh... how about this one: 20,001
N: We have a winner! 40,0001!
S: That's a lot of names. I wonder how many of them are stupid.
N: Probably a lot. But it has some cool lists, like the most popular names of the 70's
S: What, like Sunshine Rainbow Blowjob?
N: I can't take you anywhere.
S: Yeah but I'm cute.
N: Yeah... just keep right on telling yourself that.

Act II
Time: The next several months
Location: The bedroom, livingroom or bathroom.

S: How about Cowboy?
N: No.
S: How about Cromwell?
N: What does that mean?
S: Giving.
N: No.
(Scene repeats, roles reversed, different names. Throughout, players mark names they like in the book.)
N: I'm on "R" and you're only on "L" Slacker.
S: Just because I don't spend as much time on the can as you.
N: Shut up.

Act III
Time: Several months later
Location: The Bedroom

N: Done. Finally.
S: That was a lot of freakin' names.
N: Well... I've got all the girls names we marked in a spreadsheet, you do the boys.
S: Fine. Give me the hard part.
N: Damn right. You can have the hard part of naming the kid. I've got to do the hard part of having the kid.
S: Oh... yeah... that.
(time elapses)
S: I cannot believe how many name we still have left.
N: I can't believe that with a book of 40,000 names, we had to add one.
S: Yeah... that's kind of crazy. So all the names are entered.
N: We're such huge dorks... putting our baby names in a spreadsheet.
S: Yeah, but it'll make sorting through them so much easier. Don't forget to save it to the network.
N: Dork.

Act IV
Time: Very recently
Location: The Computer/Dining Room

S: Well we're down to 47 names.
N: Yeah... too bad it's not a girl... that list was shorter.
S: Oh well.
N: I guess we'd better work on this so eventually we'll actuall have something to call the kid.
S: Well at work, they asked if we'd picked a name, and I said "Not Yet" and then they asked what names I liked and I said "I don't know, I kind of like Dylan" which brought the suggestion of calling the kid 'Dill' for short which, of course, led to the suggestion of 'Pickle'... You know... Pickle's not the worst nickname for a kid.
N: True.
S: and we need something to call him besides just 'the kid' or 'the baby' or 'it'... From now on we should call him "The Pickle"... not as good as "The Squirrelly" but what the heck.
N: Yeah, and since that's already taken...
S: Okay... I guess I should post this since we've caught everyone up to now.
N: Okay.

Act IV
Time: Sometime in the not-too-distant future
Location: Probably the Computer Room

We'll let you know when we've come up with a name, but for now, feel free to call him "The Pickle"

Some notes from the Ultrasound:
He is currently laying breech, but as we all know that does not matter at this point. The placenta is right in across the front of the uterus which would explain the fact that I have felt only a few kicks a day (they have to be pretty strong to feel them through all of that tissue. All of the organs and limbs look perfect. All of the measurements are about a week ahead right now so even though we are at 20w2d, the measurments are mostly around 21w3d. Weight is estimated at 15oz - 2oz.
On the plus side the doctor doing the Level II part of the scan said she was going to recommend that my doctor do regular ultra sounds to keep an eye on growth because of my arthritis. Sounds fine to me. I thought this would be the only one unless this one showed problems. It is also the only one that my insurance would pay for unless more were deemed "medically necessary". I think a maternal-fetal medicine specialist saying that they should be done will qualify for that.

Here they are... the pictures from our ultrasound.
First... the whole baby (you can click on any of the pictures for the full sized version.):

What you see here is a very healthy, very happy, very active baby who is about 20 weeks along.

Next we have the image that tells us the gender:

If you can't figure out what the arrow is pointing to, you're probably not really old enough to be looking at this site anyway.

Finally, a picture of his foot:

In the lower left corner, you can see the measurement and how that size coresponds to the average age. Looks like the little guy is ahead a week...we may have to adjust our counters eventually.

More details to follow!

by the way... most of you were wrong the final vote was 11 to 8 for Girl. That'll teach you. Better luck in the new poll.

Just got back from my appointment. Everything is perfect so far. It is a bit strange. At every appointment, my midwife tells my how great my urine sample is (it is the right color, and the counts that they look at are right where they should be.) She told me today that she should have me give demonstrations on how to do it right. Actually thinking about that is kind of funny. I know she means on how much to be drinking and what to be eating and such, but in my mind I can see me trying to show a room full of pregnant women how to pee in a little cup.

The baby's heart rate is 146. My blood pressure is good. I am measuring 18 cm, perfect for 18 weeks. I've gained 3.5 lbs. This is the first appointment that I had gained anything, so she was happy about that. Weight gain has been a bit of a problem for me so far. I dropped 5 lbs between my first and second appointment, dropped 2.5 lbs between my second and third, and now have gained 3.5 lbs. I am still at a deficit, but I figure it will come on when it is supposed to and even if it doesn't, oh well. As long as the baby is healthy, it does not really matter.

My ultrasound is on the 29th, so I will try to post pictures then. We have decided that if we can find out the sex, we will. If not, then that is fine too.