Written in February: Today marks nine weeks. Tomorrow is my third ultrasound. Hopefully, our little elephant’s heart is still beating strong. Our last pregnancy did not make it this far. All of my pants are tight, and by the end of the day I unbutton them. It’s been hard not to share the news publicly yet. Sometimes I want to wait until we have proof of the gender, and announce to my grandmother that she’s having her first great-granddaughter. Granny Gee will be 90 this June. I think that would be an awesome birthday announcement for her.

Written in February: Guess who’s heart is beating at 110 beats per minute? My baby elephant’s! I had a dream last night about my doctor’s appointment today, and when I looked on the monitor, I saw the outline of a baby elephant, trunk and all inside the sac. I don’t know how to interpret that dream, other than I have really weird dreams while pregnant (well, really anytime).

I tried really hard not to worry before today’s appointment, but it was hard. My midwife knows I have been very cautious, so she immediately asked me if I was feeling pregnant this week. I told her yes, since I had a few symptoms, but not as pregnant as I felt with Gadget or the Lion. She did an ultrasound, and lo and behold on the screen was one little baby elephant. I was glad there was one baby. Her head looked huge, and there was a pulsating blur where her heat was beating. Yay! She played the sound for me to hear. It sounded a wee bit slow, but I was glad to hear a beat nevertheless.

My midwife ordered a progesterone test so we could make sure the pregnancy is progressing. I should get the results tomorrow. Based on the elephant’s measurements, my midwife changed my due date. At first, I got a little freaked out. She told me the date of conception occurred in January, and not December as I thought. I immediately wondered what were the implications for the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which has been eerily accurate for both boys. When I got back to my computer, I doubled checked, and we’re still in the go for a girl.

So, my baby girl does not really look like an elephant. In fact, she looks more like an alien with her huge head right now.