It's a boy! (We think.)

We went to the second trimester ultrasound yesterday, where we found out that our baby is healthy and growing at an expected rate, and also (maybe) a boy. Big news! The doctor said he couldn't guarantee anything at this stage, since the baby was most uncooperative about giving us a good view (or holding still), but he thought he caught a glimpse of "boy parts". Since I come from a family of girls -- me and my sister, both of my cousins, etc -- and because all of my friends with babies have little girls, it will be pretty different to have a baby boy toddling around. I think my dad is excited, though.....

We've got a list of names going (both for boys and girls, actually) but we were joking that we should tell everyone that the baby's name is going to be Barack.

Baby buddies!

I found out today that another of my friends in also pregnant, due in late March. That makes three of us who will be having babies roughly within 6 weeks of each other, not counting the women at work who I'm not as close to. For one friend, it's her second child, but it's the first for the other, like me. I am so excited to have some company in this new phase of life.....playgroups, here I come! Really, it will be so wonderful to have friends with kids the same age as ours -- more for us (the parents, I mean) than for them (the kids) for the first few years, I imagine. We can meet at the park, take turns watching the kids to let each other have some free time, ask for advice....

I have a small batch of friends, mostly from my bookclub and a few from college, who have kids between one and three, and I've already been soliciting advice from them: names of pediatricians, how they liked their hospitals, good places to buy clothes, etc. But in some ways they seem so far ahead of us! To have friends to go through pregnancy with, living here in town, and on such a similar schedule, will be great.