How many babies are in there?!

When people see my bump they often ask, "How far along are you?" When I respond 18 weeks, they look surprised and ask "How many babies are in there?!" I guess I must be showing a little more than most people at 18 weeks! I have officially given up on wearing my normal clothes and have broken down and bought several pairs of maternity pants and shirts. Up until now, I have never been an online shopper. However, I have found that the best maternity clothes are online and I now wait daily for packages! Oh the adventures of pregnancy!

Questions and Advice...

I had been waiting to tell my students at school that I am pregnant until they started to notice. Well, my bump must have looked particularly bigger than usual on Thursday because several students poked at it and said, "I think you have a baby in there." I decided I had better make an announcement on Friday before rumors started to fly. So I told the kids, "I have something exciting to tell you," and they guessed that we were going to play a game or have a special snack. I said, "No...I am going to have a baby, it's in my tummy right now!" They looked very confused and looked at me, and then at my belly, and had a lot of questions and advice. Some of the questions included: Was it in there yesterday? What is it doing right now? Can it see? Where does it go to the bathroom? Does it kick you? Is it a boy or a girl? (And my personal favorite) Will you bring it to school tomorrow after it is born? I took the time to answer all of their questions and then the advice started. One little boy whose mom just had a baby said, "When you go to the hospital, it is going to hurt really bad and then when you come home the baby cries a lot." Thanks for the positive reinforcement! When I asked them for advice on names, they had a lot to say. Some of their favorites included: Cindy, Princess, Valentine, Joseph, Elijah and Spiderman. I am not so sure Baby Allen will end up as Princess or Spiderman but you never know! It was so fun to talk to them about the baby, they were so excited. I have a feeling that we will have many more conversations about the baby especially as my tummy continues to grow! I can't wait to see what kind of advice they will have next!

Boy or Girl?

Our 20 week ultrasound is scheduled for February 9th (Uncle Andy's Birthday) and we have decided to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. At the beginning of the pregnancy we wanted to wait until the baby was born to find out if it was a boy or a girl. However, as time went on, we decided we couldn't wait 9 months and would rather be surprised at 5 months (we figured that there would be plenty of other surprises when the baby arrives)! We are very excited and can't wait to picture Baby Allen as a boy or girl!!! We will post the verdict on our blog when we find out so check back to see if the new addition to our family will be dressed in pink or blue!