A Prediction

title: self portrait. voila.

I know you are all so anxious to participate in this prediction challenge/wager/guess, especially since it's even more enticing with the potential of winning a delectable treat that will tickle you inside and out and change your life. Ok maybe it won't be that amazing of a treat, but I promise it will be tasty.



So here is the challenge:

Guess the gender (boy or girl?) and birthday (mm/dd/2012 - you can choose another year, but I guarantee you'll lose).


That's it. No time of day necessary (unless you want to), just the gender and day. I'm not going to be particular. You can choose the same day as someone else if that's your day that you're confident in. Let me know via this blog, email, or facebook. We'll keep track of the predictions :)



Prediction challenge closes at 37 weeks, which is 3/19/2012. Good luck, you have 4 weeks to decide.

        

Don't mind me, just being goofy.

Here are some extra tid-bits to help you choose a day and gender:
- My due date (40 weeks) is 4/9/2012, which is also my nephew's birthday!
- I'm just about 33 weeks now and have gained about 25 lbs.
- Ezra was due 7/14/2011 but came on 7/11/2011 at around 4 am after 14 hours of real labor
- This babe has been SO active. I definitely first felt it move at 14-15 weeks and it's been a wiggle worm since.
- My belly is really pointy. With Ezra, it was round.
- My belly button also popped out this time.
- I had a linea negra (dark line on my belly) with Ezra. This time I don't.
- My sacrum and hips have been aching for weeks. maybe months.
- I didn't have acne in my first trimester
- Tums are some of my closest friends
- Nausea lasted for the first two trimesters, but I never did throw up
- I don't wake up in the middle of the night to pee. Ok I didn't have to include that, but now you know.

"Look, hon! My belly button is inside out!" Carl and I were having too much fun...

I've Got the Whole World In My Hands

There isn't a baby yet. Remember this? Well, it's still going on.

Just had to get that out there in case you were wondering. No Baby.

But thanks to this waiting time, Carl and I have had some spare time! Today, we did this:

(that's Antartica at the bottom. I swear my skin isn't white as snow!)

Half of you readers know me as a biology nerd/nursing student junky (well, actually I'm a real nurse now :) while the other half remember me as the high school gal who aspired to be on broadway and major in art and French when I began college. This project brought out the latter. Carl bought me some paint for my birthday knowing that I had wanted to paint my belly once it was nice and round. I'll give Carl most of the credit for this one though, since he is a master at world geography and he painted all the continents with a q-tip (I will give myself credit for whispering fiercely about making Africa too big and Florida too thick). It was a fun project to do together though :)

I hit 39 weeks yesterday, passed up many of your due date guesses, and today I had an OB appointment. I won't go into all the fun details of these weekly appointments, but progress seems to finally be picking up and I even had my membranes sweeped (for all you non-OB-term-savvy folks, here's what it means to sweep the membranes). Anyway, I really like my doctor. She's female, funny, and thorough with her explanations, though very concise at the same time, if that's possible. We decided on an induction date of 7/20 (exactly when I'm 41 weeks) if the baby decides to hang out a week late.

SO the end is in sight, but I do hope to go before the 20th since that's another 12 days from now and I could possibly go crazy by then. Possibly.

My mama is coming this Monday- I'm so excited- she's bringing me tasty Chinese treats and I'll get a chance to brush up on my Chinese (which is more Chinglish the older I get). And I was promised lessons on Chinese cooking (I haven't forgotten, mama!). July sure is a happening month! My mom is coming, our baby is coming, and then my mother-in-law is coming out too! It's gonna be a party (though I wish the dads were both coming too! and my sister! and really, all my family on both sides!)! Anyway, I must feed this undying hunger that aches in me daily. I swear there's a hole in my stomach.