WeirBaby now weighs a little more than 2 1/2 pounds and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. The baby's muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and WeirBaby's head is growing bigger to make room for his/her developing brain. Speaking of muscles, they are definitely very active now, moving often throughout the day!

Well, we have a few weeks left (at least according to the schedule) until WeirBaby makes his/her arrival. And, yes, we are still [trying] to keep WeirBaby's gender a secret.

We think we have the nursery and things ready for the baby's arrival. The bags are packed and ready for the "time." This Sunday (Dec 13) is our last class at the hospital. A lot of people say that the breathing will easily be forgotten when all is "going down" - but others have said that they remember the breathing being a huge help during labor. We'll see how it goes.

While there was no real evidence for concern, the doctors ordered a third ultrasound for WeirBaby. Despite the strong heartbeat, the doctors had trouble seeing all chambers of the heart on the last ultrasound. They didn't suspect any problems. They just wanted to be sure all was normal.

Now, I am not a doctor. (I don't even play one on TV.) But I think I can be fairly sure that I saw all the heart chambers. Which, I have to say, was pretty cool. To see WeirBaby's heart beating away, and the heart's values and chambers all moving in sync. Very cool!

We went to have our second ultrasound which also happened to be the one where we learn if we are having a boy or a girl... and the answer is... yes, we are!

:) We are not telling people at this point which we are having. We want to try to keep it a surprise until Jan. when the baby is born. Although, one of the things the technician told us was that according to something or other the computer tells her based on data, it look like it could be Dec. 27. Regardless, we figure once we hit Christmas, we should expect it to be any day.

So, we went to get the first ultrasound done today. I was told to drink like 32oz. of clear liquids before coming and that I couldn't use the bathroom till after the ultrasound was over. Not only was that entirely more difficult than I had thought (I was gagging towards the end because my body didn't want any more), but we found out later that it really wasn't necessary. Thankfully, that and feeling a bit nauseous from not eating much were the only downers of the trip.