Week 24

How far along: 24 weeks

How big is baby: length of an ear of corn (apparently an ear of corn is 30cm/12"?)

Best moment of the week: Incomes tax returns came in. Typically getting money back means that you paid too much over the year, but we were eligible for a lot of tax breaks this year, because of the new house and our province's tuition rebate program, we ended up with some pretty sweet cheques. Sweeter than expected. We paid off our car loan, have a nice bundle of cash for the bathroom renovations, and the remainder will likely cover the baby's "start up" expenses. That feeling of financial security only tends to last for a fleeting moment, but we enjoyed it! (And we may have gone out for supper and ate so much my poor innie belly button became an outie for the night)

Food cravings: If we have sugary treats at home, it's salt I want. If we have salty treats, I want sugar.

Symptoms: This week was overwhelming and exhausting. I can't even tell where the physical exhaustion started, the mental exhaustion continued and the emotional exhaustion ended. Not a day went by without a complete meltdown. After a "rage coma" (Scott's term for when I apparently unloaded on my mother and sister and don't really remember it... err... sorry Mom & Deb), we sat down and re-evaluated our "goals" for the summer that align a little more with my current abilities, and hopefully that will accommodate those days when my projects that don't get finished when I want them to, either because my body gives out on me (ugh, far too common) or when life gets in the way. And of course, within a day of working at my (new) speed, I was actually able to accomplish more than I set out to begin with.

Gender: I can only envision this child as male at around 15 years old, when he's got that snarly attitude, hair in need of a cut (and style), and spends his time alone in his room with his computer. But that image alone might be what gets me set on this being a boy (at least Scott wants me to try using the male pronoun in reference to the baby at least half as often as I use a female pronoun).

What I’m looking forward to: Playing in the yard with the kid next summer. We have a wooden trunk we'd been using as a table at the apartment, because the table that came with our patio set didn't fit on our balcony. Now that we have the space for that table, that trunk is just waiting to be filled with a bunch of balls and toys! I'm also excited for this weekend - we have friends coming to see us, giving us the much needed excuse of clearing our calendars of any obligations for a day or two so we can just relax and visit.

What I miss: the childhood concept of "home". When you go "home" to your parents, even as an adult, there is a comfort about knowing that if something goes wrong, it's in their capable hands. There's a lot of pressure, as we move towards becoming parents, to be able to portray that same sense of comfort and control to our kid, when we are realizing how little we really know about being "adults" and even less about being "parents". It makes me want to retreat back "home"... only my parents are currently selling "home" to be closer to the grandkids. While I know that will make it easier to turn to my parents when I do need help and guidance, it's still hard to acknowledge that the four walls and roof that symbolized that comfort and care for the last 12 years is going to change.

Husband perspective: I didn't realize how big the baby was already. In my mind, it's still just a little fist, when really, it's like Andre the Giant's fist. (For the record, the kid is bigger than Andre the Giant's fist).