The countdown begins...

Here we are, 28 weeks into this adventure, with somewhere between 10-12 weeks left to go. For those possessed of a curious nature, this is the belly at the beginning of the third trimester:

So far my doctor thinks she is a normal size, which is great to hear. I have nightmares when I think about delivering anything more than about nine pounds, and even that thought makes me whimper slightly. I'll probably have another ultrasound at some point in the next couple of months to see where she's at. Her potential size is something of a concern, one, because both Oliver and I were big newborns, and two, I've been diagnosed with a mild case of gestational diabetes. Great fun for me and my poor pin-pricked fingers.

I have to say, it really is cruel and unusual to tell a pregnant woman she can't eat chocolate whenever she wants it. But at least it gets Oliver off the hook somewhat - I can't send him off at midnight to buy ice cream, cake, or cookies. So we've been coming up with a list of all the foods I'm going to eat as soon as she's born. I've been thinking we'll need to charge an "admission price" to anyone who comes to see the baby - you must bring one food item off my list to get through the door. A sampling of the things I want 12 weeks from now:

Oreos, candy bars (any kind of chocolate), real ice cream (Coldstone preferrably), as much diet soda as I feel like drinking, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, the brownie sundae from Clyde's, coconut creme pie, chocolate chip cookies, Halloween candy I'll have to hoard until January, pumpkin pie I won't be able to eat at Thanksgiving, and any and all Christmas goodies.

It's starting to look like I'll gain all my pregnancy weight AFTER she arrives. I've only put on somewhere around 7 pounds so far, but I'm planning for 15 after!

UPDATE - a few additions: Cinnabon, a Blizzard from Dairy Queen, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

UPDATE Monday, October 16, 2006: Wegman's Chocolate Peanut Butter Creme Pie.