Just for kicks

For the past few days, I've been feeling slightly achy in the belly region. Mostly, I put this down to growing pains and internal bruising from kicks that I can't feel.

Last night, I finally felt a proper kick. Though to be honest, at first I thought it was some sort of weird in-my-belly-fart. It felt like the way your mouth goes when you use your finger to make a 'pop' noise. Then it happened again and I said to myself "Eh-up! I'll bet I know what that is!"

I called out to Conor so that he could join in with the feeling of bonding and impending parenthood (I was in bed, he was watching telly). He couldn't hear what I was saying to him and rather than come in and find out, I had to get up out of bed and flounce (yes, I flounced) into the sittingroom.

"The baby's started kicking. I just felt him", I said.
"Oh? That's exciting", he replied, without moving his eyes from the TV screen.
"Yeah, just now... there he goes again!"

At last, I got a reaction. Conor started to laugh: apparently, the guys on 'The Panel' were being very funny last night.

Say "Hello" to Frank

Finally, I've got my act together and can now share the latest pictures of the Insomniac Baby with you all:



This one shows the head (on the right) and belly (on the left). If you use your imagination, you can see little arms and the shadowy bits on the front of the head are (according to the midwife) his eyes.

This second scan shows the baby looking straight out (though he is lying on his side - the top of his head is on the left of the picture):



Personally, I don’t think that this is the best look for my baby. The resemblance to Frank the Rabbit from the movie Donnie Darko is too close for comfort…

Naming Conventions

So now the arduous task of picking a name for our son begins. Frank really isn’t an option. I would also like to take this opportunity to rule out Jim (though James may still be a runner), Gerry (Gerard doesn’t make the cut either, I’m afraid) and Dirk (Karel, how could you?).

I am inviting suggestions but there are a few ground rules to cover before we embark down this road:

• The name has got to fit well with the surname “Murnane” (pronounced mur-nan for those of you who think that doofus on RTE2’s news says his name properly!)
  
• Preferably, the name should not begin with the letter M. This rule may be waived in the event that the first rule is satisfied
  
• The name should neither end with the letter M, nor a combination of letters that rhymes with "an" or "ane"
  
• Conor reserves the right to veto any name that meets the requirements of rules 1, 2 and 3 above without having to give any reason
  
• I reserve the right to veto any name that meets the requirements of rules 1, 2, 3 and 4 above without having to give any reason
  
• I reserve the right to change the rules without prior notice or warning
  

Suggestions can go into the comments box. There will not be a bottle of wine for the commenter who suggests a name that we use!

It's a BOY!

I had my second scan yesterday. It was great! The midwife pretended to be vague when we asked whether we were having a boy or a girl but a few moments later, she pointed the scanner contraption appropriately and there were definite boy-bits in evidence. So, with “95%” certainty (and a cover-your-ass-margin of 5%), we’re having a boy! Hurray! Just one! Hurray!

This scan was much more fun that the first because there was so much more to see: there was a head (very large – he gets that from his father) and a face, arms and legs (very long – he gets those from me), fingers and toes, and as mentioned a penis and scrotum. Seriously.

The mini-menace is now almost 21cm long – his head measures 4cm across and his thighs are nearly 3cm long (each). He was tumbling and kicking and moving like crazy. I’m really surprised and at the same time, so glad that I can’t feel that yet, though apparently I will start to in the next couple of days or weeks.

The bummer of this was that, unlike last time, you couldn’t see all of him at once on the screen, so the images were a bit like a jigsaw that you had to put together in your head.

Anyway, I haven't got the pictures ready for posting yet - they'll go up in the next couple of days...

Coming soon to a hospital near you...

So, my next scan is due in just over a week. I will be at 18 weeks by then. Presuming that the child is not modest (and given its parentage, that's not likely) we will be able to tell whether we're expecting a boy or a girl.

I can't wait to find out. I have enough difficulty at Christmas time leaving the presents under the tree alone - there's no way I could not know.

I haven't decided yet whether or not to tell other people what we're having though. Knowing me, I probably won't be able to keep my mouth shut. I have enough difficulty at Christmas time not telling people about the brilliant present I just bought them. (Are you seeing the pattern here?)

The Announcement

Whoooo-hooo!

Before you ask:
Yes, we're really pleased. Both of us.
No, I haven't been sick. At all.

Now, say hello.




As you can tell, I had a scan a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, what we're looking at here is a mini-me, but I can't really make head nor tail of what I'm seeing. All the various bits had to be pointed out to me. I just nodded at the obstetrician and smiled. For those of you who, like me, really can't see anything other than a mass of grey in varying shades, here's the map:

Welcome to Insomniac Baby

Instead of just giving out about the crapness associated with being pregnant, I should probably say some nice things too. Christ knows I don't want Junior to end up with some sort of "My Mommy Doesn't Love Me" complex!

So, all the good stuff and the fun stuff about being pregnant and having a baby (I don't think the actual having will feature too heavily though) and being a mommy will be posted here.

As time goes on, I will post photos and other stuff too. Maybe Dr Spock will end up coming to me for advice!