The Sound of Sound

At 16 weeks and 2 days pregnant, the sound of silence would have been a bad thing, so I'm pleased to destroy the title for a pathetic Simon and Garfunkel reference. Just got back from the midwife and everything appears a-okay. My blood work is all in order (except for the tests they inexplicably lost...at least I already know I'm STD-free!) and everything else seems good. Not to mention that I have the green light to continue with my elliptical and weight training routine (which really ought to pick up to do me any good...no more laziness!).

The midwife was unsurprised at how active the Piggly Wiggly has been, and I got to hear its heartbeat on the tiny monitor! It's funny how reassuring a sound that is. Nice and strong and easy to find...though she had to chase the baby around with the wand a bit to keep hearing the heartbeat for more than 2 seconds at a time. Definitely living up to the wiggly part of its nickname!

On the pseudoscience front, everyone I've asked is still predicting that Piggly Wiggly is a boy baby. Though as half of the polled audience is under the age of 6, it's entirely possible that they're significantly swayed by which option I say last. Personally, I'd love a son, but just to but the kibosh on any bogus claims to psychic powers, I sort of hope she's a she. The Husband's take on all of this is that amongst the adult pollsters - assuming some logical thinking - guessing that the baby is a boy is a safer option, because it's a non-falsifiable claim. If no tiny man-bits are visible on the ultrasound, maybe it was just too hard to tell, or the baby was turned funny, so it could still be a boy...but a very modest one. On the other hand, if anyone guesses that it's a girl, the ultrasound could easily disprove that by revealing baby's tiny mangerines and built-in he-wee. (And for the record, no, I have not even begun to exhaust the plethora of pseudonyms for my baby's potential wedding tackle. And no again, I have no problem saying penis and testicles...I just find the other names so much funnier and prefer to use them for literary effect.)

Also, whilst on the subject of pseudoscience, I *will* scream the next time I hear anyone asking for acupuncturist recommendations to treat their infertility. I don't care if it's acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, reflexology, naturopathy, or rumpology, (and no, I'm totally not kidding about that last one...way to go Jackie Stallone) it's all bogus and does nothing for you. But don't take my word for it, look it up on Wikipedia or www.whatstheharm.net or some other credible source. And you're welcome for any entertainment found by laughing at some of the more ridiculous practises out there.