Week 24

If you followed the news last week, you may have heard a new statistic - the average pregnancy is getting shorter. More than 50 percent of women are having their babies at 39 rather than 40 weeks, and births after 40 weeks have declined by 21 percent in the last decade. I would be so lucky! I've never been one to fall within the "average" statistically, I won't hope to this time around.

But, it does remind me that I only have two weeks remaining in my second trimester. Time seems to be flying - where did the last three months go?

Our baby is apparently growing steadily - having gained about a quarter pound since last week, when he was just over a pound. By the way I've been eating, I'd believe it. I was very hungry last week. The result however, is that my now soccer-ball sized uterus is pushing up against my stomach and causing some commercial-worthy heartburn. I haven't turned to the Mylanta yet – I have never taken an antacid in my life – but give me a few hours and I'm sure I'll give in.

The list of foods I'm supposed to be wary of - due to my higher susceptibility to food-born illness - extends from soft and unpasturized cheeses like brie and blue to cold cuts, unwashed vegetables and sushi. I have to admit that if I paid attention to everything they warn you about I probably wouldn't eat or drink a thing.

I went shopping in Williamsburg this weekend with a girlfriend and couldn't help myself. I bought my first outfit for the little man: a polo pinstripe seersucker getup. It's so preppy I can hardly deal. He'll be able to wear it for about a day. I don't think the word "practical" can seriously be used when shopping for baby clothes. And this after my friend unloaded four boxes of clothes on me two weeks ago.

The house is coming along. We still have a long way to go, but the hard part is almost over. We ordered roofing and siding last week – it will look like a real home soon enough. That said, Scott won't be here for the rest of the month to work on it.

He is off a UVA this weekend finishing up his Master Builder's degree through a joint program with the National Association of Home Builders. He has been working on this certification for three years now. They only offer the classes once or twice a year and, toward the end, they never seemed to offer the ones he needed. Each class is 8 hours and he had to take 12 classes all together. This will be a triumph for him.

He will be in Charlottesville until Tuesday and then will return for one day before we are off to California. We'll spend only a night together in LA with Sarah, Cap and Dara. Scott will then head down to So. Cal. to spend a few days with Justin, watch him play a baseball game, visit his school and do something fun. The girls and I are renting a condo near the beach in Marina Del Rey and we'll be doing the baby shower thing for Sarah on Saturday. I come home Sunday by myself and will spend my birthday solo going to meetings and doctors appointments. Scott returns Wednesday morning and has only a week before we head to New Orleans for the big wedding. After that, things should hopefully quiet down.

In the meantime I enjoyed a relaxing weekend at home by myself, talking on the phone, reading and researching baby names. We've got it down to a short list now, which gives us some hope of reaching a decision by the time the baby is born.

Happy daylight savings....
Reid and The Little Man