Bout time something went right.

20 weeks. The halfway point. And so far, so good.

This past Friday, I had my first appointment with my new OBGYN. A short Irish man who is very disarming and a close talker (you almost feel like he's going to give you a hug). And rather interesting. Complimented me on my Doc's. Was impressed with Menerva Jr's name (her name is that of a Celtic Goddess). And was adamint that I was NOT going to go through the same bullshit I did when pregnant with her. He set me up with appointments with specialists, has got me on a 2 week rotation of visits now with a note to his schedulers that if I call with an emergency appointment, I get in, ran a number of tests on me to determine if there were any outstanding problems at the moment, etc. So, it's a wonderful change. Him, coupled with my family doctor, I'm actually much more comfortable and calm than I thought I would be. Do I trust everything? No, and they both are aware of that. But so far, they haven't given me reason to doubt their judgement.

Had a big scare on Sunday though... (TMI and icky stuff proceeding for the next few lines. You've been warned.) I went to the bathroom late that morning, and noticed a big glob of bright red mucus staring back at me when I sat down. Blood + mucus = cervical effacement in most cases. And let's face it, I'm only 4 and a half weeks shy of what happened with my last pregnancy. So off to the GNH I ran, went through emergency and was immediately sent up to the L&D ward to be monitored by the doctors and nurses up there.

The GNH was the first place I went to with Menerva Jr. It's close to where I live, and so a natural choice, but they were very nice when I was there the last time... And they were this time too, even telling me that if I so much as think something's up, head right back and they'll do everything they can. Turns out that whatever happened was just a freak thing. The "escape route" (as my Mom likes to call it) was still closed up, and they figured it was just a delayed reaction to the internal exam I had that past Friday. But not once did they make me feel like I was overreacting or being silly. That's good, cause every time I went to the doctor I was seeing when I was pregnant with M Jr, that's what they made me feel like... And look where that got me?

Then this past Monday, I had my routine halfway ultrasound with a stipulation that they check and double check cervical length. And that was the first thing the woman did - over 4 cm. Perfect. And then the bun. Everything's measuring spot on, all development is 100% normal. Got to see all the fingers and toes (saves me from counting them later), and the defining point... It's a boy.

Another boy. Am I disapointed? Not really. I kinda had a feeling I was carrying a Gunther the III instead of a Menerva the III. I was not so secretly hoping for a girl. But you know what? He's healthy, he's growing and active, and it looks like he'll be staying put for another 20 weeks. So that's the thing I'm most happy about. Gender is inconsiquential. I had a 50% chance, right?

So, a boy... Already got a name picked out (email me if you want to know), and now I feel comfortable enough to go out and get those things I don't have from Gunther Jr's infancy anymore. I have a box full of baby clothes that's sitting in K's basement, but it's not worth getting her to ship it out here.

20 more weeks to go. And so far, all's good. I'm liking the change.