bleeding heart libs

JC and I are now libbed-out hippies.

Well, of course I'm just being cheeky - we're still the all-american conservative couple (right-wing wackos, even?) you all love, and some of you roll your eyes at. However, we've recently decided to have our baby at the Birth and Women's Center instead of a traditional hospital.

No, we haven't lost our minds and yes, it's just as safe. We've probably done oogles and oogles more research on this than you think, and if you did too, you'd understand.

It's our best shot at having a natural birth without unnecessary medical interventions that make both labor and recovery more difficult (if it's necessary, you're right next door to a great hospital, Baylor Downtown, and can be in an operating room in a matter of a few minutes). The midwives (YES, certified nurse midwives, not OBs) know exactly what they're doing. You can eat, drink, sit in the big jacuzzi, sing Kumbayah, and move around.

It's okay if you still think we're hippies, we can handle it. :)

Anyway, we feel really blessed to have discovered this option and wanted to let you all know!

cauliflower, competition

Hey guys! Baby Crawford is a head of cauliflower this week, almost two pounds and gaining more fat. I'll bet he's looking pretty cute in there, if the pic at 17 weeks was any indication (see 3d sonogram on the right if you need a reminder).

The Hoeys (sarah's maiden and now middle name, for the few of you Texans who might not know that) will take any chance they can get for some competition. Now you know where I get it from. Mubber (Hoey matriarch, see picture) has all 24 first cousins (including JC and I) involved in a bet on gender, date and time of little baby crawford's arrival. May the best Hoey win (aka I'm going to kick your butts)! (Well, at least I'm hoping it's not Jack III [April 21] or Kiki [May 15]!!)

Rutabaga??

Hello all! We've been busy this week switching up our plan on where to have our baby (more on that later).

BC can probably open his eyes this week and is the size of a rutabaga, which is a kind of turnip or something? At the end of this week we'll be an English hothouse cucumber. I don't know how they come up with this stuff.

I'm at the end of the second trimester and this past week I've noticed the most change so far in my stomach - I look pregnant! It's like BC's been growing inside my tall torso for so long and now has no choice but to pop out. Yay!

Things that could (in theory) bring a pregnant woman to tears:

• a huge pile of laundry
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E4J8lFn5PI
• un-sent Christmas thank-you notes
• adorable babies, especially those carried by Baby Bjorn-wearing men
• a Taylor Swift song (???)

24.5 week update!

We've had a very productive last week in the baby department! We organized our office and combined desks (making it possible to have a gym, office, and guest bedroom in one - therefore making room for baby next door). We made progress on baby cribs and found someone to make us super-cute AND gender-neutral bedding (harder to find than it should be!). And, we started our birthing class. It went well; there was no kumbaya-singing like JC was anticipating!

Baby Crawford is about the size of an ear of corn - weighing over a pound and kicking me like crazy! It's strong enough that JC can feel him/her too sometimes. My baby bump is growing, slowly but surely. Each time a put on a pair of pants I can tell a difference. There are still maybe 4 pairs of pre-preggo pants I can button; with the others I'm beyond hope!

Thanks for keeping up with us!

-Sarah, JC and baby corn on the cob

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2009 already! This is going to be a fun year for us.

We have less than a month in the 2nd trimester to go... soon we'll be on the home stretch, and maybe at some point strangers will be able to tell I'm pregnant and not chubby around the middle.

The third trimester also means we've got some work to do! Gotta get that baby room set up, figure out how to get a futon in our office (along with desk, bookshelves, treadmill and exercise bike. Phew!) and start birthing classes. YES, our weekly birthing class (8 total) starts next Tuesday and I'll try to spare you the details. I do know that we have to bring two pillows to each class. Should be an experience!!

Little munchkin is 23 weeks, can hear us, feel me move around and is the size of a large mango!