The Fruit Stage

Thorn was "Bluebaby" before we knew his gender; today, we continued in the tradition of berry-naming the fruit of our loins by dubbing our Christmas surprise baby the "Raspbaby." We had the Raspbaby's first ultrasound earlier today. For all the surprise and worry and anticipation the wee creature caused us, the Raspbaby looked very content, nestled right in the center of my womb, with full knowledge of a right to existence. Relief flooded through us at the baby's strong heart: 164 beats per minute, to be exact. Right on schedule developmentally, which puts the baby's due date around August 11th. I'm tempted to say this is a girl already, since Thorn was always a week ahead developmentally, even though we knew his conception date. He came three weeks early, and was already over seven pounds when he was born. In contrast, I, a girl, was a very small baby: a little over five pounds. But there are many factors influencing development. I weigh over ten pounds less now than I did when I conceived Thorn, and a heavier mother tends to make for larger babies. Anyway, as we've told all and sundry, we do not care about the gender, really. We just want to move beyond the fruit stage and start using a real name! Is it a little K or a little V? Come back in early March, and we'll let you know.