Baby, it's hot outside

** Warning: there will be belly and Bug photos below... **

The thermometer near my iced coffee spot reads 96 degrees. I don't quite believe it's that hot, but pretty darned close. We haven't put the ACs in the windows yet because I hate the look of them and far prefer fresh air and I know this hot spell is just a tease. And it's bearable at home (reminder, I work from home) in the basement, so it's all good. And I'm just enjoying the toasty weather since it's going hasta la vista manana.

I had my 25-week OB appt this morning and did my gestational disabetes test. The orange drink wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared, especially since I wasn't allowed to drink before the 11am test so I was just happy to chug any sort of liquid. I later realized that I would have been able to drink water, d'oh - I should read these things more closely! Anyway, I get the results tomorrow, obviously big fingers crossed that I pass because I'd really like to relax and keep stuffing my face, especially on my Key West vacation in June.

Everything else at the appointment looked good. I gained 4lbs since the last appt making for a grand total of 19lbs in the pregnancy. Hopefully I'll be on target to stay under the 30lb overall gain. I still marvel that Jenny McCarthy gained 75lbs in her pregnancy. I mean, I'm trying to eat fairly healthily, but I'm also eating whenever and wherever I want. She must've really gone the extra mile to maximize every bite calorie-wise. Anyway, the belly size is right on target too, according to the OB's high-tech tape measure. Which is good because sometimes I feel enormous for 25 weeks, so it's nice to hear that I'm right in the ballpark.

Here's some belly shots - I don't look as big as I sometimes do as they were taken @ noon and I usually expand as the day goes on:



At my OB appt, I asked about cord blood banking and my hospital does allow donations to the public bank, so I've signed up for that. The bizarro thing is that they don't take donations between 5pm and 8am, so if Bug decides to come during those hours, the cord blood gets discarded which seems like such a shame. Apparently the company that coordinates is stringent about their policies having the right staff present for donation (excellent) but only staff a normal working day, so they lose 2/3 of donations. Seems an odd choice, but what can you do?

As for my 4D ultrasound on Monday, it was neat to see the little guy in a less flat dimension but, and I feel a little guilty saying this, I wasn't blown away by the whole experience. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to see the bugger moving around and get more of a feel for what he looks like. But the operation was very casual, very non-medical. I kept getting the feeling like maybe I shouldn't be doing a test in a non-medical facility. I think it was fine and safe and the people were very nice - and I would recommend it to ladies considering it if you got a good deal. It'll be really neat to show Bug what he looked like in there -- we have about 2 dozen photos and a 10-minute DVD. But just be warned that it seems like you're in some grandma's back room with Peebo Bryson playing on a boom box in the corner. Anyhoo, here are some photos from the session. The first profile shot gives the best idea of what Bug's face looks like. The second is just a cute, albeit claymation-style close-up and the third just cracks me up with his funny little face.




So that's the story, morning glories...

One of these days I need to discuss that NoodleGuy and I have no idea what we're naming this Bug. There are a few names in the running, but nothing that has really seized our hearts. And it's getting closer and closer. I am 100% open to cool boys names -- we don't want anything too out there, but also nothing too boring, but also nothing that everyone under the sun is named. Yea, you see our problem, I think. Do you think he'd get teased if we just wimped out and went with "Bug" officially?