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Well, technically tomorrow begins 28 weeks, but whatevs! I’ve been slacking on the belly photos here, I know, I’m sorry. I’ve been preoccupied as you can imagine.

Ooooh, the bare belly with koi!

And for those of you who complained that there were no pictures with my face in them… Here you go.

Big Pregnant Dork!

So the pregnancy commentary continues: Someone came up to me on Sunday and said that she and her mother were discussing how I don’t look pregnant in my face yet… I know that some women gain weight all over when they’re pregnant, and thankfully I haven’t. But I couldn’t help but think, “It’s not like I’m giving birth to this child out of my mouth!” Now that would be scary!!

Also, I’m proud to announce that my beautiful cousin gave birth to a baby boy yesterday. Everyone thought she was having a girl – everyone except for Mike. He’s very proud of the fact he was right, but I think he was just trying to be contradictory. Anyhoo, congrats cous’ and welcome to my family’s newest addition: Dominic Richard!!

I was cleaning up in the Sprout’s room and found an old photo of yours truly. HA! Look at that little devil face; OMG, we are so screwed!

My mother used to threaten me by saying, “I hope, when you grow up, you have a child just like you!” Maybe all parents say that to their offspring… but I’m starting to dread those words like a gypsy curse. Judging by what my Mother-In-Law has said about Mike, and how I know I acted as a youngster, this little boy is going to give us a run for our money!! I’m not sure I’m ready for that. Clearly, I don’t have a choice. :)

Coff-ay in my press-pot makes me happy...

I thought it might be fun to carry around the little Kodak V1073 we got from Vanessa’s last job (ew) the battery life is bad, and it doesn’t’ use batteries but it takes some really nice pictures for a tiny little camera! I make no promises… okay, I promise to post one photo a day. Until I run out of stuff on my desk. ;)

So we opted to give George a chance at surgery, albeit a much less invasive type. We didn’t feel comfortable subjecting him to such a radical procedure, and the vet didn’t really recommend it. So last Thursday he removed the tumor (as much of it as he could see) and sent it off for biopsy. In the mean time, George has had a 6 inch zipper on his back that he’s been scratching at incessantly. At some point early in his recovery he even managed to rip out one of the staples. I came home from work and he was all bloody. The best solution I could manage for keeping him from inflicting more damage was to apply a bandage to the area — every 6 hours. It worked like a charm!

Thursday this week, the vet called with the biopsy results. It wasn’t good news. The cancer is the feared Vaccine Associated Fibrosarcoma, and the vet expects him to live 3 months or so… at best. Obviously, not the news I was looking for, but pretty much what I expected. So at this point we just make sure he’s comfortable and monitor his condition. Right now, he shows no signs of the cancer affecting him, but I suspect that may change soon. I’ve come to terms with what’s going to happen, and we have no regrets about the decisions we’ve made. But it still makes me sad. Needless to say, Georgie and I have been getting in lots of good snuggle time. I know he’s really enjoying the spoiling he’s getting.

Then, today I had to take him in to have his staples removed. As I was trying to get him in the carrier, he launched himself off my chest, and scratched the shit out of me. I’ve got two 4-inch gashes under my collar bone. Very pretty. Then the vet tells me that his staples need more time to heal! So I’ve gotta do this again next Monday! SERIOUSLY?! Then, to add insult to injury, he somehow managed to hurt himself inside the carrier on the way home. He writhed himself into an inescapable pretzel and proceeded to scream and hiss. When I was finally able to free him from the carrier, he limped around and shook his foot in pain. What am I going to do with him? He’s surely not acting like a cat with cancer.

Apologies for being rather silent here lately. I’ve been swamped with work, freelance and George’s cancer (update post on that to come). The weeks are just flying by and I don’t know where the time is going. I’m half way through this pregnancy already and I just don’t know when I’m going to find the time to do all the preparing I need to do before this little one hatches. :) Probably should overcome my aversion to baby stores, huh?

20 weeks

So last week I had another ultrasound, and it was pretty cool to see the “sprout” all formed and looking like a baby rather than a bean. We were also excited to learn that the sprout is a boy! I’m pretty relieved about that, actually, since we had been unable to agree on a girl’s name. My mother is a little disappointed though. I think she wanted to buy little ruffly dresses and cutesy things.

The child already has Mike’s nose and my chin.

Again with the exclamation points. :)

He waved just as the ultrasound tech was finishing up… HOW CUTE!!!

I’ve been feeling him move quite a lot now, which makes this whole pregnancy thing seem so much more real and interesting. It’s not as if I wasn’t excited before, but now it seems so much cooler! I know I’ve still got about 5 months, but I can’t wait to meet him!