September 22, 2005

Fun with Sound Waves

Drumroll, please...



It's a GIRL!!

We had the big ultrasound yesterday, and the little fetus was happily showing off all her stuff--she's very definitely a girl. I could tell before the tech even said anything. There was a tech-in-training who sat in on the ultrasound and seemed completely incapable of telling what sex the baby was, which was a little scary. I pity the poor parents who get her during her first few years of work.

The baby looked very healthy, if a bit skeletal. All her little ribs and femurs showed up bright and clear on the scan, and her face shot was absolutely terrifying--it looked like a tiny, dead skull. But she definitely isn't dead--she was wiggling and waving her little arms around like a mad woman. Which could have had something to do with the three Reese's Peanut Butter Cups I ate just before the exam.

The whole scan was amazing. The King was holding my hand so hard it hurt--I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. I cried. It was incredible.

September 14, 2005

WWM: The Competition Begins

Yesterday night, I thought I felt the baby moving. It's still very faint, so I held my breath and held very still to make it easier to feel. After several minutes of nothing happening, I realized that DEPRIVING THE BABY OF OXYGEN probably wasn't the best idea in the world for making it move around. I probably kept it from developing like five million brain cells. Now, if it can't ever learn the times tables, I'll know why.

I'm the World's Worst Mother, and the kid won't even be born for another five months. Now that's an accomplishment.

September 13, 2005

What Do You Think?

Will I go to hell if my child's first word is crapass?

September 10, 2005

Does This Sound Right to You?

The following is a snippet from a CNN article on Saturday morning:

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency worked to get the word out Saturday to victims of Hurricane Katrina that a program offering them $2,000 debit cards is quickly coming to an end.

FEMA said evacuees instead may receive $2,000 through direct deposits to their banks or through mailed checks. Families could apply online at www.fema.gov or over the phone.

People who have found accommodations are not eligible for them, however."

Um, how exactly is that going to work? Direct deposits don't sound too bad, providing the victim wasn't using a local New Orleans bank that doesn't exist anymore. And mailed checks? Um, mailed to where? And they're supposed to apply online? With the computer they presumably carried with them when they fled the city, I suppose. Because they were all rich enough to own a computer, of course. Because everyone is, just like you are, Mr. FEMA Director.

And people who have found accommodations--that is, the only people who actually might have regular access to a phone or computer--can't apply for them.

Seriously, am I the only person who is confused?

September 07, 2005

Go Read This

Go read this post about Katrina. And then, go visit Cecily, one of my most favorite bloggers ever and a complete genius, and read this and this. Not only is Cecily amazing and poetic and brilliantly well-spoken, but her commenters raise incredibly informative debates practically every day.

More real posts soon, I promise. But I just had to pass on the word about these great ones. And in the meantime, thank you so much for your concern about the scary contractions. They have mostly stopped, thank God (which momentarily convinced me that the baby was dead, but I've more or less talked myself out of that at this point), and hopefully won't start up again for many weeks.