Always Listen to Your Doctor

Remember that we changed the date for amnio from April 14th to the 21st because Bill has to be in Beijing for business?! At Monday's checkup, Dr. Liu told us that I'll be 20 weeks on April 21st and that we should really try to get an earlier date if possible. He was also sightly annoyed at the fact that I hadn't called to set a date for the anatomical ultrasound. "The anatomical test is usually done in the 20th week, and you're already at 17. They're very busy, you know?! Most of the time they book appointments months in advance. You should've phoned them when I told you to." He wasn't angry, but I felt really bad 'cause I've always been a good patient and I didn't do what he said this time. I really thought I had A LOT of time. Oops.

The nurse gave me a name of a private lab where I can get amnio done in case I was unable to get an earlier appointment at the hospital. I called both places yesterday. The hospital can put me back on April 14th (when Bill's on the other side of the Taiwan Straight), and private clinic can have us next Tuesday, April 7th. I went ahead and booked an appointment for next Tuesday because (a) the private lab is also able to run tests to determine whether the baby is carrying hemophilia, (b) the cost of amnio at the private clinic is only about US$14 more than what the hospital charges, and (c) Dr. Liu will be able to receive the results before our next checkup at the end of April.

Dr. Liu was right.... again. The clinic where we can get the anatomic test done is already scheduling for May and June. Luckily, they're able to squeeze me in for Tuesday, April 28th because of a cancellation. Phew~~ (wiping off sweat on the forehead).

I'm glad everything worked out even better than the original plan. In sum, by the time we go for our next checkup,

• I will have crossed the mid-point of pregnancy,
• we will have seen Peanut on a high-definition ultrasound machine,
• we'll get the results of the amnio and hemophilia tests, and
• I'll also have my latest CA-125 result (yes, we've been monitoring it).

Being pregnant is awesome! There are surprises at every corner. Just remember: always listen to your doctor and do what s/he says.

Week 17 Checkup

We were happy to see you again. This was the first time Grandma saw you... in fact, this was the first time Grandma saw any baby on the ultrasound, and she was simply ecstatic.

You've grown a great deal since the last time we saw you. Just your head alone measured at 4 centimeters (1 and 3/4 of an inch) transcranially. That was almost the length of your entire body 6 weeks ago!!We saw your heart (heart beat at 130), your stomach, and the two hemispheres of your brain. According to the ultrasound technician, you were "sitting" on the uterine wall with you legs open and waving your arms. One thing I noticed was how "fluid" your movements were this time in comparison to how "jerky" they were a month ago (been busy practicin', haven't ya?!) We saw very clear fingers and toes, and Grandma commented that you seem to have long limbs and big feet. The technician tried every angle to see if we could get a peek between your legs, but the best we could see was a little "bump" that might be the penis.

Dr. Liu said the results of amniocentesis will give us a definite answer. In other words, we'll be able to buy/make things for you in about a month's time. How exciting!!!

Postpartum Care -- Part Two

My Little Peanut,

Just so you know, we're not going to check into one of those postpartum care centers I mentioned earlier. We're gonna stay home with Daddy, and Grandma will come over to see you from time to time. Oh, guess what?! You might also be able to scream at Uncle Joey and Genevieve.

Mommy watched two video clips on "How to Give a Newborn a Bath" and another one on "How to Change a Baby's Diaper" today, and I'm sure we'll be just fine. Not that raising you would be the same as having a cat, but it looked much easier than giving Nuage a bath (and I won't have to deal with fur flying everywhere). There is one thing you should keep in mind though. When the baby in the bathing videos started crying and his parents were trying to comfort him by saying things like, "It's okay" and "Daddy's here", I couldn't stop laughing 'cause (1) I found them odd things to say at the moment a baby's getting bathed, and (2) in my head, the baby was saying, "Just shut up and hurry up" or "I can't believe you woke me up for THIS". Anyway, remember this: If I'm laughing while you're crying during bath, it's because Mommy's got a hyper and wacky imagination. When you're 3 months old, you can start laughing at Mommy too.

More importantly, we're not going to one of those postpartum care centers because Daddy and I want to be with you 24/7. We're extremely blessed and we've come a long way to have you. We wouldn't miss it for the world. I know I'm going to spend every waking moment studying your every facial expression and body movement. I want to know who you are and learn all your quirks. I want to sing and talk to you (and Daddy can read the dictionary to you). Good or bad, come rain or shine, it's "us" and that's all it matters.

We haven't even met yet, and I already know I will never be able to stop loving you.

p.s. Daddy was joking about the dishwasher thing. He's like that. You'll see.

Love,
Mommy

Postpartum Care -- Part 1

Usually after my preggo yoga class, we all slowly float out of the health center, high on endorphin. Yesterday was unusual 'cause a few classmates were still sitting around the coffee table by the shoe cabinet; their torsos leaned forward and their heads met in the center of the coffee table. They were actively engaged in a discussion. The few words that managed to escape out of the circle of heads were birth, occasional numbers and names of food.

I was high on endorphin as usual, and I was too curious not to eavesdrop.

Suddenly a head emerged as if the owner needed to come up for air. I took the opportunity to ask what they were talking about. Then the rest of the heads parted like flower petals, revealing the fan of soft-colored pamphlets that were laid out on the coffee table.

The pamphlets featured different "professional" postpartum care centers in the Greater Taipei area. The reason I put quotation marks around the word professional is that, in the current market, there is yet a clear or credible definition of a "professional postpartum care center". Some care centers define professionalism by the quality of food mothers receive, while others define it by emphasizing the presence of a 24-hour on-site medical team. While my classmates continued their enthusiastic discussion, I sat passively listening to the discussion while mindlessly leafing through a few of these pamphlets.

*************************************************************************************
I have to give you some background information before we come back to talking about these postpartum care centers.

The Chinese.... okay, more specifically East-Asian ethnic groups... believe that a woman goes through three "golden periods" in which she is given a chance to be reborn. These 3 golden periods are: when menstruation starts, after giving birth, and during menopause. Among them, the month after giving birth has received the most attention since ancient times. In the old days, when a daughter-in-law's job was solely to reproduce, only those who produced a male heir would receive postpartum care. A woman who gave birth to a daughter would simply be ignored.

The length of postpartum care ranges from 30 to 100 days, depending on the local customs. Like pregnancy, there's also a list of "Dos and Don'ts" that comes with the traditional Chinese concept of postpartum care. For instance, a new mother is not allowed to wash her hair and/or body, she's not allowed to go up and down stairs, she's not allowed to read books (or, in modern days, watch TV), and she's not allowed to cry or go outside. While staying indoors, a new mother must cover herself from head to toe. In some fishing villages, a new mother is only allowed to wear black.

There are certain foods a new mother should eat, most of which involve pig organs (such as livers and spleens) or pig knuckles cooked with herbal medicine. Chicken is also a great source of protein. A new mother should have black sesame oil chicken soup (a whole chicken including organs simmered with ginger and a thick layer of black sesame oil on top).

Traditionally, it was the woman's mother or mother-in-law who took care of her postpartum care. Nowadays, many couples choose to go to postpartum care centers because they don't want to trouble their mothers or mother-in-laws or because they don't have anyone who can take care of them. In other words, postpartum care centers are products of the 21st century to meet the needs (and ease the fears) of city-dwelling new parents.

Like other things in life, convenience usually comes in a high price. These postpartum care centers provide rooms that resemble hotel suites (rooms with windows are obviously more expensive), 5 or 6 meals a day (the ones that are specially designed by nutritionists cost extra), and 24-hour infant care (baby live-cam an extra charge). The average price is NT$5,000 (approx. US$167) a day. If a new mother chooses to spend a month there, the minimum cost is NT$150,000 (about US$5,000), more than an average Joe's monthly salary.
*************************************************************************************

While I was doing all the calculations in my head, a classmate told me that she'd already booked a room in one of these care centers for the end of August. When she heard that I haven't even looked into it, the pitch of her voice went up one octave, "Well, hurry!! You have to book at least 6 months ahead. I was late, but I was lucky to get a room. Otherwise,..." she panicked, "what are you gonna do?"

"I'll be home with the baby," I said plainly.

Almost instantaneously all the heads propped up from the coffee table and every single mouth started moving all at the same time. All four of my classmates were telling me how incompetent I'm going to be as a new mom and how scared and depressed I will be.

My endorphin high was gone.

One classmate's voice rose on top of everyone else's, "Do you know how to give a newborn a bath?" All of a sudden, everyone quieted down and all eyes were on me.

I smiled, "Not right this moment, but I can learn."

They were obviously unhappy with my answer 'cause, for the next minute or so, they started shooting all kinds of questions, some of which were merely ridiculous:

"Do you know how to change diapers Do you know how to breastfeed How are you going to sleep when your baby is with you 24/7 Do you know how to tell if your baby is sick Do you know what to do when your baby doesn't stop crying How are you going to pay enough attention to your husband so he won't cheat on you while you take care of the baby How are you going to have time to wrap up your belly so you can regain your shape faster if you have to take care of the baby all the time ?"

I sneaked out while they talked about the importance of belly-wrapping and the necessity of ordering custom-made corsets and push-up bras. As the elevator doors were closing, I heard one of them talking about a book she bought, written by a female celebrity on how she went back to her pre-pregnancy weight in 3 months by constricting her body with various garments.

-- to be continued --

Amnio Postponed

Bill just learned that he has to go to Beijing for business during the week amnio was scheduled in. We decided to postpone the test so he can be there to hold my hand. Originally, it was scheduled for Tuesday, April 14th. We pushed it to the following Tuesday, the 21st.

We're also getting the anatomical test done that week.

Are You Having a Laugh

Male Friends and Baby Talk

Most of our close friends in Taiwan are single guys. Some days, I wish I had a group of expectant moms or moms to hang out with to talk about pregnancies and babies, and to share tips and tricks. Most days, however, I get my fix from listening to the few dads in my office bragging about their kids' accomplishments and how brave their wives were giving birth.

Last night, Bill went with me to my first outing with a group of friends, most of whom are single males. It felt really good 'cause I hadn't been out socializing AT ALL since I got pregnant (mostly because it's hard to find a place in Taipei where there's absolutely no smoking allowed). The guys were really sweet. To accommodate the pregger, they went out of their ways to find a place that's 100% smoke-free, even though the majority of them do smoke.

For many of these guys, it was also the first time they saw me since I got pregnant. They were all very happy for us, but many of them also felt kind of weird 'cause (a) we're the only expectant couple in our social group, (b) it happened all so suddenly and unexpectedly, and (c) for my colleagues, "the party coordinator" no longer parties.

Despite the mixed emotions they experienced, many of the guys tried to talk about the baby with me, and their attempts were both awkward and cute.


S: "How's the pregnancy?"
K: "It's going well. Thanks."
S: "Mmm.... are you getting fat?"
K: "I'm getting bigger for sure. After all, I am pregnant, you know?!"


J: "Let's see it."
K: "See what?"
J: "The baby."
K: "I've got a bump" (flattening my shirt to show the bump)
J: "That's it? Well (flattening his shirt to show off his beer belly), I look more pregnant than you do"


(S and P are both from England)

S: "What languages are you gonna raise your kid in?"
K: "We're hoping both Mandarin and English, but it's gonna be hard."
S: "Cause you and Bill always speak English to each other."
P: "Maybe you can sing in Mandarin to the kid."
K: "That means I gotta learn some Chinese nursery rhymes then."
P: "How can you not know any nursery rhymes in Chinese?"
K: "Can you think of any nursery rhymes off the top of your head?"
P: "(brief silence)..... That wasn't the question."
S: "That's easy. Just sing 'London Bridge is falling down'."
P: "Why would the kid care about the London Bridge? S/He's gonna be American/Canadian/Taiwanese."
S: "Then change it to different landmarks. For instance, (singing happily) 'Taipei 101 is falling down'.... uh... what's a bridge in Vancouver?"
K: "Lion's Gate Bridge."
S: "'Lion's Gate Bridge's falling down', 'Space Needle's falling down', or even 'Tokyo Tower's falling down". See?! They all work."
P: "Who would've thunk the bloody ol' London Bridge could be so versatile."


S: "Have you started talking to the kid?"
K: "From time to time, but not extensively or anything."
S: "Just read.... the newspaper... or the Economist to the kid. That's what my dad did to me. He said that always got me to quiet down."
K: "Probably 'cause you were bored out of your mind."
S: "But it worked! I'll come over and read the Economist to your kid."
P: "The kid might acquire that British accent of yours."
S: "Well, you should talk. Ha, I know! Bill can read Wired magazine to him, so your kid's gonna be a wired economist!"
P: "... with a British accent."
S: "Only when he talks about the economy."


R: "When are you due?"
K: "September 11."
J: "I'll come over and poke the kid after s/he's born. Then I'll come back in 6 month's time after the kid's got some personality."


As much as I wish my gal pals could be here, I'm thankful for the group of friends we've got. I enjoy their quick-wittiness and senses of humor tremendously, even when they're being a pain in the butt sometimes. These are good people with big hearts and gentle souls, and I think it'll be okay to let Peanut meet them. Mmm.... we might need to exercise rigid parental discretion at times.... :D

Week 15
(The following text is from BabyCenter.)

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

Note to self: "Hide the laser pointer."

My next prenatal checkup is on Monday, March 30th. I'll be in Week 17 then. We want to find out the gender of the baby for medical reasons. Whether or not we'll let YOU know.... well... we'll see.

If you're having amniocentesis, it'll most likely happen after 16 weeks. This test can identify hundreds of genetic and chromosomal disorders. If you're getting very anxious while waiting for the results, it may help to know that most women who undergo amniocentesis get good news about their babies — bringing welcome relief from their worries.

In case you're wondering, my appointment for amniocentesis is on Tuesday, April 14th. I'll be in Week 19 then. It takes about 2 weeks for the results to come out, during which time we're also having an anatomical exam done. In other words, we're going to learn a lot about Peanut in about a month.

Q: What will those first movements feel like?
A: Women have described the sensation as being like popcorn popping, a goldfish swimming around, butterflies fluttering, a tapping sensation, and bubbles. You'll probably chalk up those first gentle movements in your belly to gas or hunger pangs, but once you start feeling them more regularly, you'll recognize the difference. You're more likely to feel these early movements when you're sitting or lying quietly.

"A goldfish swimming around". That's what I felt!

This Week's Activity: Talk to your baby
It's a great way to start the bonding process. If having an actual conversation seems odd to you, narrate your activities; read a book, magazine, or newspaper; or share your secret wishes for your child. This is great practice for after your baby's born. Talking to babies is one of the best ways to help them develop language skills.

What I most often say to Peanut is, "Uh oh, only 10 seconds left to cross the street. Hold on tiiiiiiiiiiiiight!" (Remember the Little Green Man? That's how I know how many seconds I have to get to the other side)

The Latest Picture of Peanut

uh oh.

A Sweet Dream

Daddy and I were in a department store looking at baby clothes. On the shelves, there were boxes of 6-pack baby underpants. I opened a box and took one out. The sales lady (a middle-aged Taiwanese woman) came standing next to me right away, which made me a bit uncomfortable. Just when I was wondering what these pants were for, the sales lady said in a stone-cold manner, "Put these on over the diaper." I inched away from her 'cause she was totally spoiling the fun.

Daddy came over and blocked the sales lady. He pointed at the box I was looking at and said, "These are for girls. We can't make him wear these. I don't want him to be confused." I took a close look at the pair of soft yellow pants I had in front of me and noticed that it had a pink ribbon and a bow on the waistline. As I searched for another box, Daddy reached to his left and picked up a box of pants with bold colors. As soon as he took one out, we knew we had to get these pants 'cause they featured comic strips of super heroes.

Each box of underpants was NT$300 (about US$10). I didn't see if we bought any.

Then we went to a clinic 'cause I had to have amniocentesis done. I was nervous, so the nurse told me to look away. That was when I saw the huge screen on my left. The screen was so big that it covered the entire wall! The nurse squirted gel on my belly and was trying to locate your exact position.

Then I saw you on the big screen. You were lying on your back facing us. You eyes were shut, but it looked as if you were smiling at us. You're the cutest thing I've ever seen. Oh, and you looked so much like your dad. I couldn't take my eyes off of you.

From the moment I saw you, I knew everything would be okay. We're gonna be just fine.

My Mommy is Prettier than Your Mommy

A couple of days ago, when I was watching the West Wing in the bedroom, I felt something brush across the inside of my belly. I have never felt something like that. Daddy and I consulted different books and websites, and the answers ranged from simply gas to the possibility that my internal organ were shifting their positions to make room for the growing uterus.

I thought it was you saying hi, and I'm sticking to that thought.

We went back to grandma's house for dinner last Sunday, and I took all her photo albums out. After looking at the gazillion pictures that grandma keeps, I'm sorry, kid, I gotta tell ya, my mom is much prettier than your mom.

Check it out.

I've always wished that I looked more like my mom, but I don't.
My parents got married when they were in their early 20s.















(L) My mom said I was born with a full head of hair (as shown in this picture). She also told me that I was a very easy baby who enjoyed hanging out and babbling away on my own.
(R) Celebrating Chinese New Year with the grandparents. As the first and only grandchild at that time, I used to get so many red envelopes (= A LOT of cash) at CNY.











(L) I was 3 years old, and I believe this was the first day of kindergarten. My grandparents could not be happier 'cause they saw it as the beginning of my path to a Ph.D, like my aunt and uncle.
(R) Pretending to be all gangsta-like with my older cousin Mavis at my maternal grandparents' house. I loved that house 'cause it had a bamboo forest (to the left of the picture) and a pond with a small bridge across (to the right of the picture). It was a huge house with tons of space to run around and places to hide. Oh, I also loved Mavis' brand new YAMAHA piano.

One Bad X-Chromosome

The blood test results show that I am a carrier of Hemophilia. The following information is from WebMD:

What does it mean?
"A woman who has the defective gene is called a "carrier" -- she carries the disease and can pass it to her children. In most cases, though, the woman has no symptoms of hemophilia. When a woman who is a carrier has a son, the son receives one X chromosome from his mother, so he has a 50% chance of receiving the defective gene (and a 50% chance of receiving a normal copy of the gene). Boys who receive the defective gene have hemophilia. Likewise, when a woman who is a carrier has a daughter, the daughter has a 50 percent chance of receiving the defective gene and, thus, being a carrier herself."

The fact that I don't have hemophilia and that I've never had the experience of bleeding excessively suggest that my other X-Chromosome is healthy, producing enough factor VIII for my body to heal properly. We'd like to think the Little Peanut's got the healthy X-Chromosome at conception.

What Happens to the Baby?
"During pregnancy, health professionals can use amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) to test the fetus for the genetic defect that causes hemophilia. If the fetus is found to have hemophilia, you may choose whether you want to complete or terminate the pregnancy. If you decide to continue with the pregnancy, your health professional and a genetic counselor can help you learn about health issues that affect the fetus before delivery and will affect your child after he or she is born. With modern therapies and by being as careful as possible to prevent bleeding, people with hemophilia can expect to live a normal life span." (WebMD)

What Happens Next?
We scheduled an amniocentesis for Tuesday, April 14th. Dr. Liu wrote a personal note to the doctors and nurses who are going to perform the amniocentesis, asking them to contact Dr. Chen, the hematologist, to find out how much amniotic fluid he will need to do DNA testing on the Little Peanut. Aside from Hemophilia, they're also going to perform other routine checkups (i.e., Down Syndrome).

My Thoughts
I'm sorry if knowing this causes you extra worries or stress, but I'd like to ask you to withhold the urge to express your concerns or sympathy because there's simply no need for it. My hands are already full 'cause my mom is pretty upset about it. She thinks that I've been through enough in the past two years and she just hopes that for once nothing would go wrong. She's trying to focus on the positive, but I think the test result triggered a lot of suppressed emotions that she's felt since her brother's death.

I'm not worried about it. The fact that I'm a carrier doesn't mean the Little Peanut will get it. Moreover, even if it's a he and he does have hemophilia, it is totally manageable nowadays. Well, he may never be able to get into the NFL or pro-wrestling, but he can still become a brilliant scholar or the President of the World as his daddy wishes.

Prayers and encouragements are welcome. Oh, you can always send us some homemade cookies or... um... a box of pictures (nudge, nudge, mom).

Thank you

When hormonal instability hits, all my emotions, each in a different saturated color, merge into a raging moving sea. Each emotion deepens and exaggerates itself in an attempt to dominate the others, which often result in my being caught between two currents of emotions or being pulled into the darkest core of one.

"Just ride it out, babe. Once it's over, you're usually exhausted but calm," reported the usual bystander/victim of the hormone hurricane named Kate.

Thank you, Bill, for always being there and your persistent attempts to throw me a rope.

Thank you, the Martin girls, for your understanding and words of encouragement.

Our friends, the Kleinsmiths, moved back to Bloomington at the end of last year. Brian is in school earning a degree to become a high school Chinese teacher. Kitty is a stay-at-home mom who's currently expecting their second baby Liam. Sabrina (at 5 months old in the first picture) is now almost 2 years old and getting music lessons from her dad.









When they learned that we're expecting, Kitty asked her mom to put together some of Sabrina's baby stuff to give us. Since we don't know the gender of the Little Peanut yet, Kitty's mom has picked out mostly gender-neutral colors for us.

Thank you, Brian, Kitty, Sabrina, and Kitty's mom, for your generosity.

We went to pick them up at Kitty's mom's place yesterday. We got a bag of clothes, a baby bathtub, and a bottle sterilizing machine.

When we got home, I moved some stuff out to make room for the baby clothes. There came another rookie-mommy moment: I have never held (or folded) clothes this tiny. Nuenue can't even fit in them (he might be able to if we shaved him). They are absolutely adorable!!!! I felt like I was back in my girlish doll-playing childhood.

We got about a dozen of these kimonos (robes). Some long-sleeve ones and some short-sleeve ones.





There are also about a handful of these... jumpers (?!) The one on the left features the Pooh bear, and the one on the right has little ducklings between the buttons.





Now here comes a question, what are these baggie-looking things for? We got two pairs of them. I think they're used to wrap up the little fists; Bill thinks they're for the feet.


Well, moms (and dads too if any of you would like to post an answer)?!

Mommy's First Attempt to Buy Baby Products

This is the new "picture of a cute baby" I put on my desktop (see the post on January 27th for reasons). He looks so happy, and I hope you'll be a happy baby too.


Why do I hope (instead of know) that you'll be a happy baby? It's 'cause, at this moment, my self-esteem as a mother is extremely low and I'm hoping it'll go up as I learn more.

Okay, here's something you should know about your parents. Your dad grew up around babies, and everyone in the Martins family is a baby expert. However, daddy was away from home for most of his adult life, which was also the time when most of your cousins were born. While it may appear that he knows a lot about babies, sometimes I'm not sure if it's just that he's more familiar with them. I, on the other hand, am simply and completely clueless when it comes to anything baby-related. Period.

Let me show you what I mean. We saw some bibs at IKEA last weekend. They were the cutest things I'd ever seen: soft white cotton cloth with rims in 5 different colors... and Velcros on the back. In my head, "baby=bibs" made total sense 'cause I remembered how much Jordy drooled when I visited auntie Lisa last summer. I grabbed 2 packs (10 bibs) thinking that ought to do the trick. Daddy kinda looked at me funny when I shoved them into the bag, but he didn't say anything and I didn't care. It was the first baby item I purchased, and I was all giddy about it.

When we got home, I started reading a book about what happens after a baby is born. It's got a month-by-month calendar documenting a baby's development. Then I learned that babies don't actually need bibs until they're at least 5 months old!! I felt defeated, but the mistake was also amusing. When I told your dad about it, he went "Aw~~" and gave me a sympathy hug. I wonder if he knew but didn't want to spoil my fun when I shoved the bibs into the bag... or did he?!?! Hmm....

I hope you won't mind, but I gave those bibs to Willy, my colleague John's 5-month-old son, who's apparently drooling like a leaky faucet now.

First Prenatal Checkup

Gestation Age: 12 Weeks 2 Days
Fetal Heartbeat: 162 per minute
CRL: 6.7 centimeters

When we saw you on the sonogram, you raised one arm and showed us the most adorable little hand and 5 tiny fingers. You weren't doing "the running man" like two weeks ago. This time, it was almost like you were breakdancing, moving your body up an down like a little worm. It was almost as if you wanted to show everyone what you can do with your well-developed spine at only 12 weeks of age.

Daddy videotaped the sonogram session so that, for the first time, everyone could see you in action.