In the last month I gained 10 pounds. 10 POUNDS, PEOPLE. I think deep down, I was hoping my luck would hold out and so I wasn’t being all that careful about what I shoveled put in my mouth. In case I hadn’t already mentioned it, this baby likes sugar – and lots of it. I can practically feel it tugging on the umbilical cord yelling “Yo, Lady – where you hiding the good stuff? Enough of this oranges and apples crap, I need the hard stuff.” “Yes, I hear you my precious one,” I say as I am shoving that third piece of See’s Candy in my mouth. So, back to tough love it is. Whose big idea was it to be pregnant through the holidays, anyway?

Other than that, the pregnancy seems to be going pretty normally. At just shy of my 6 month mark, I feel like I am triple the belly I was with Stella. I can still remember last time people being surprised when I told them I was pregnant at 7 and 8 months. This time around – not so much. I have to try hard to not walk like a pregnant lady – already! Last night as I rolled over and felt the excruciating pain of my stomach muscle extending to reaches it is not ready to go, I decided it is time to get our new bed-mate, the body pillow.

We went over my ultrasound results, and there weren’t any big surprises from what the tech had told me when I had it done. The placenta is lying a bit low, but my midwife didn’t seem all that concerned. Chances are it will ascend more over time. The baby had been firmly nestled on it’s back and refused to get off the couch long enough for the tech to get a good spinal measurement, so I will have to go back for a mid-term at around 28 weeks. The heartbeat ranged from the 130’s to the 150’s – throwing off any of you who think you are so clever as to accurately guess the sex based on the heart rate. So there. AND NO WE DIDN’T FIND OUT!

Steve has settled on a name though. Ever since I got pregnant, Steve has been referring to the baby as SJ. Back in the day, SJ was the clever companion name to Tomato Rose. The trouble is that when you hear something non-sensical enough times, it actually begins to start to sound sensical. Tomato Rose had a nice ring and now SJ sounds as typical as any other. The original idea with SJ is that it stood for Steve Jr. (truth be told, Steve liked the idea of Jr., but was inclined to call the kid “Deuce”). This time around, SJ has been the default, but Steve Jr. is a little too gender specific so, on the car ride down to the valley, the name ‘Snazzy Jo’ emerged. So there you have it. Vague enough to fit either gender, applicable to the SJ moniker and well, pretty much something you would expect from us (read: Steve).

Off to find something not sugar to snack on.