1/2 way there....

[shamo]

mstakenidentity hit 20 weeks over the weekend. For perspective that means there is less time left in the "pregnancy schedule" than has now passed. October 8 looms large in our lives. We found out sprocket is a boy last week. We also found out many more facts about our son that are much more important. He has 2 arms and 2 legs, there are 5 digits on each of his hands and feet. He has a properly formed stomach and bladder. 2 kidneys. A heart that isn't leaking and is pumping fluid like it us supposed to. A tiny tiny brain that is taking shape. He also has a nose.

Time is flying by. Chris is showing more every day. She looks beautiful. She's tired a lot. She's hungry frequently. She can feel sprocket fluttering about, before the outside world gets the chance to.

I find it hard to concentrate on other things in life right now.... Uni is boring. School is challenging, but even it still seems like a petty distraction from the real business of living at the moment. In 3 weeks semester is over. I'm going to put the cot together. And the bassinet. We're going to get the carpets at the house cleaned, and the study will start to convert to a nursery.

The hardest thing about all this is that in August I'm doing a teaching placement in the country. I think I can still make all the birthing classes. I worry about not being around for those 4 weeks. I worry about what I might miss. I worry that we made the wrong decision several weeks ago when I confirmed my commitment to the rural placement program.... But just because the short term is pressing, the long term doesn't disappear. The experience will be invaluable, and may effect our future profoundly.

So yes. It looms large. Larger with each passing day. I remain excited, overjoyed and terrified. And, from what they say, the real challenges are yet to come.