17 weeks! And...

Marination Time: 17 weeks...these pictures were taken at 17 weeks, 4 days.

Musings on the Weekly Photo: Took these before we headed out to an anniversary party for some family friends.  Not so bad from the front...from the side...whoa.

Due Date: March 5, 2013 (though at my last appointment, the kid measured a week ahead, which would be an estimated due date of February 26...but officially, they aren't changing my due date.)

This Week's Produce Item: An onion!

And in dad-friendly terms, it's a roll of toilet paper.  Wow, the baby is just all sort of pleasant items this week...onion and TP.  Jeez.

Boy or Girl: Well, this is the first week that we know...more to come!

Currently Craving: Really really want some sushi.  That needs to happen soon.  Also I have eaten like an entire box of fruit snacks this week.

Currently Avoiding: Hmm.  Haven't been avoiding much.  Except drinking water.  Man, I wish I liked water.  It's a problem.

Weight: Up another pound this week to 139.2.

Belly Button Status: Out!  Can't quite see it through clothes but it's out!

Sleep Grade: Like the dead.  Thank you, pregnancy pillow and silicone ear plugs.

Recent Crazy Dream: That I had the baby and it was a girl but she also had boy parts...and they assured me it was going to fall off, and I wasn't convinced...horrible.

Evidence of Pregnancy Brain: I keep leaving things in various places - I can never find anything I need when I need it!

Movement:  I have been feeling lots of little pops and kicks for the past two nights, and then today was the first day that I have felt movement during the day!  There has been a party going on in there!

Appointments? The biggie was Thursday!  Everything on the ultrasound looked great.  The baby has two ears, two eyes, and a reasonable number of fingers and toes (I didn't count, but it looked right!) It has kidneys and a stomach and those are all inside instead of outside (always a plus).  We have a good-looking cord, and we know if it's a boy or a girl!  Mom and PB both went with me to the ultrasound.  The tech was funny, she said she knew within thirty seconds of starting the ultrasound whether it was a boy or girl.  Of course, none of us had a clue, and when she looked at that part on the screen, we all looked at each other and put up our blinders or covered our eyes so there was no peeking.  She didn't even put it on my chart because she didn't want to run the risk of a doctor or nurse mentioning it when we didn't know yet.  But she did write on the ultrasound - "good growth" and she said that she writes the notes in a code that only she understands, just in case we need to come back and check with her later about what it is.  

Any baby related purchases? I spent way too much time on Target and Amazon today, registering for baby things now that I know what it is.  And I finally fond some bedding that I like! I haven't actually bought anything, but I definitely have a list going!

Best/Worst Things to Happen in the Last Week: Best thing was definitely finding out the gender - other than that, I just had a hugely busy week at work, and then spent ALL day today working on graduate school work that I hadn't had time to do any other time.  We have had tenants move into our rental house and PB started his job on Friday, so he has been out of the house pretty much all the time.  In fact, he's still not home and it's 9:00!

So now for the good part...our gender reveal party!  We had our appointment and found out Saturday night.  So many of our friends and family came, it was awesome.  

We did a fiesta theme, and decided to break open a pinata to see whether we were having a boy or girl. Mom found candy online that was all pink and all blue (like blue vanilla tootsie rolls, Blow Pops, Laffy Taffy, and Airheads). 

The tech sealed up the envelope and signed over it so we couldn't see...and then we dropped it, the pinata, and the candy off with someone who works at the car lot.  He was sweet enough to do the honors of filling it up for us, and delivering it for the party.

Here's PB with our pinata at Party City, contemplating how to put the reject pinatas back up on the top shelf.

We had a little pool going on, where you paid a dollar and put your name in either the boy or girl cup.  When we found out, we chose a winning name from the correct cup.  My Aunt Kay won the pot, but wouldn't take it from me!  She insisted on giving to me for the baby, which I tried to refuse, but she said I had to use it to buy my going-home-from-the-hospital outfit.

Everybody also either grabbed a pink or blue Mardi Gras necklace to represent their guess, or they just came dressed up, like our friend Kim!

Seriously, blue hair and all!

We had taquitos, Pinterest Ro-Tel cups, desserts, cheese dip, and everything else you could imagine while we waited for the official reveal time.  Then we went out and I got after the pinata in my parents' garage.

So here we go...

And the final result....

Turns out I was right...it's a boy!

Good to know who's in there!  Blue candy means it's Ira Franklin!