Thanksgiving

We have a lot to be thankful for. Our little girl keeps growing stronger, doing flips and making her presence known with a steady barrage of kicks. Heather already thinks our daughter is hilarious, and observes with bemused wonder as the baby contorts herself to sit all on one side, or all up front, showing some lively personality even at this stage. We'll see how funny it is when the rib-jabbing starts...

Most of the immediate Donahoe clan spent the Thanksgiving holiday with us in San Diego. We had a very relaxed week of cooking, visiting, and kayaking. Erin taught Heather some killer exercise moves, so she'll be prepared for baby-lifting, stroller pushing, and (from the toughness level seen here), probably street fighting.



In true Donahoe fashion, we celebrated on the most logistically favorable, rather than most traditional, day- eating a delicious turkey meal on Friday. This was fine with me, because I'd rather watch college football on Thanksgiving anyway. A week later, we're still working on the leftovers. Here is the gang on the day after- we missed you, Ryan and Andy!



We have been showered with thoughtful gifts already, and feel very encouraged to have so many people keeping us in their thoughts. Thank you. A notable gift arrived last week from Aunt Melanie and Uncle Henry, and serves as a nice visual reminder of what Heather is hauling around in there.



Sorry for the long delay on the blog post- I'll try to be more on-the-ball as our adventure continues. Happy last day of November!

God bless the baby that sleeps in you

Our baby girl rocked out at her first concert tonight, hearing Mason Jennings croon and play guitar. She definitely had her favorite songs, to which she kicked away with her own rhythm. Heather was sure she was dancing. The entire show was great, but one song struck us especially hard, "Ballad For My One True Love." Here are the words, and a link to the song:



Sleeping in a cherry tree
High above a monastery
Where the bells are ringing slow
To say farewell when hours go
And all the while I'm dreaming of
The ballad for my one true love
Searching for the perfect way to say
I love you
Sweetheart, this is my dream come true
And god bless the babies
That sleep in you
God bless the babies
That sleep in you
Sleeping in a motel room
Underneath a silver moon
With the windows open wide
I can hear the stars go by
And all the while I 'm dreaming of
The ballad for my one true love
Searching for the perfect way to say
I love you
Sweetheart, this is my dream come true
And god bless the babies
That sleep in you
God bless the babies
That sleep in you

It's a GIRL!!

After another sonogram this afternoon, Heather and I are delighted to announce that George is a girl! That means that about 90% of those polled (including me) guessed wrong- maybe the "George" nickname, however unisex (see post below) threw everybody off. I really don't know much about girls, so my head has been set spinning all over again, but when I think of the amazing little girls I've had the joy of meeting in the last few years (Melea, Lucy, Hannah...) I am very excited. And Brad and Erin (see link on the right) learned today they are having a boy, so it's good to know we're keeping things balanced. Most importantly, she looks healthy and perfect, which is the best news.

Here a few pictures from the brand-new sonogram machine we used today. It looks like she's smiling in the profile shot, and the strange parts of the 3-D shot are from the uterine wall and her hand in front of her face. I think she looks beautiful, so she obviously takes after her mother.

Thanks for all of your encouraging notes. Heather and I really feel blessed to have such a supportive community around us.

Boot to the head

Last night I felt the baby kick for the first time! Heather has been feeling movement for a few weeks now, but I hadn't felt anything yet. I finally got to join in the fun when I put my head to her belly and got a swift kick to the ear. Very cool. Turns out the baby doesn't really like being squashed, but at least I know how to push its buttons to get a physical reminder of how real it is. (As if Heather's growing bump isn't real enough...it could probably still pass for a pot-belly if I squinted a bit...and ignored how thin she is everywhere else...) Here's a shot of from a few weeks ago, at 16 weeks.

Today is also the last day that I can call the baby "it." Tomorrow we have the "anatomy sonogram" where we learn the sex! (Heather will give a precise theoretical reason why it is the "sex" and not the "gender," and being an experimentalist, I don't argue when theory comes into play.) So, stay posted, and if the baby cooperates we'll have a big announcement to share tomorrow afternoon.

The Heartbeat

150 beats per minute through a Doppler monitor sounds a bit like underwater techno music. whoomsh- whoomsh-whoomsh-whoomsh...

Also, the myths you hear are true. Heather did in fact crave pickles and ice cream today. Not at the same time, and the ice cream was in the form of a chocolate shake, but still... pickles and ice cream. She has been awesome through everything so far, and is glad to be celebrating her first day of the second trimester.

"Beautiful" and "Perfect"

"Beautiful" and "Perfect" are about the two best words you can hear from your sonogram technician and doctor. Heather and I were delighted and very relieved to hear these in our second appointment last week. The main point of the sonogram was to test for big problems, and Baby George passed swimmingly, growing an extra 11 mm (now at 54 mm) and developing in all the right ways. S/he was very active, kicking and making swim strokes. Here are a few pictures we got to keep:

The first looks a lot like the earlier sonogram, except that here you can better see the lobes of the brain, the face (a bit alien-like if you look the right way, but I'm going to assume it's just the sonogram), and arms.

The second is shot from the side, zoomed in, of the baby on its back. The right hand is up against the head, in very dramatic pose. S/he's either running lines for a melodrama, or pounding the forehead to finish some proof, so either way the parents are proud of their beautiful, perfect baby.

About the name...

You may be wondering what all the George/Geordi business is about. For those lucky enough to never have been subjected to "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Geordi LaForge is the chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise, played by Levar Burton. I know this because I got called Geordi a lot growing up, by Star-Trek-loving dorks.

George LaForge is what my mother's obstetrician called me before I emerged and got the name Andrew, so we thought it was only fitting to carry on the tradition. Maybe that makes this baby George LaForge, Jr... Also, when people ask, I say that the name "George" is "better than Geordi," hence the blog name. And don't worry, "George" will just be the in utero name. The real name will be a surprise when the little guy finally arrives.

One last note: "George" doesn't necessarily imply "male." The name is actually a family name in Heather's lineage, as her great-grandmother was named "George Robert" at the insistence of her father when she popped out as the fourth daughter. This undoubtedly helped foster the strong female presence in the family, which we hope to pass along if it is a girl.

The First Blog Post

Heather and I are having a baby!

For the last seven weeks it has felt a little surreal saying that, but after seeing a wiggly little person on a sonogram screen two days ago, it suddenly feels very real. And exciting. And scary, but mostly exciting.

After watching my good friend Stew update the world on his thug son Isaac's progress toward and from birth, I thought it might be worthwhile to start a blog. This way I can chronicle our little one's journey, keep friends and family informed, and vent some of my feelings without sending a million emails or resorting to interpretive dance. I have never done anything blog-like before, so please be patient with me, and in return I'll try not to get too long-winded.

Heather had her first real doctor's appointment on Wednesday. We had both been waiting for this day for weeks. Up to this point the baby had only been a test result, a collection of symptoms, and a firm lump in Heather's belly; to see legs and arms waving, torso flipping, and knees poking up was a supreme thrill. I couldn't stop laughing and commenting that it looked like a little monkey, while Heather wept tears of joy. The image of our little monkey is above (head on left, body on right, hands top and bottom, and check out the brain forming!). Sonograms have always looked like Rorschach ink blot tests to me, but when you are watching as the image on screen is shifting, you can really make out what the baby looks like. At one point s/he help up a fist; I think it was trying to give me a little fist bump ("w'sup dad?"). This was the first of what I expect to be many mind-blowing moments in the next 29 weeks --> 18+ years.