One unfortunate trend here over the last few months is the lack of posts that aren't college football or book related. There are a variety of reasons for this, most of which fall back on personal motivation to think of or find interesting things to write about.

I am happy to say, though, that this will not be a problem in 2009, or for many years after that, as the wife and I are expecting our first child in May. Feel free to celebrate or recoil in horror as you see fit.

Things have progressed relatively normally since we got official/medical confirmation that the oven was enbunned, as our doctor has been very positive about the various tests and examinations we've had to date. The only hiccup came in our last ultrasound, which uncovered an echogenic intracardiac foci, which can serve as a marker for Down's syndrome or other chromasomal disorders in a small number of cases.

We'd done a test in the first trimester to get an estimated risk for Down's and trisomy 18, and both were very low, so while we're likely to be among the vast majority of cases where there's no larger issue, we are getting a level II ultrasound this week just to check things out. Apparently the EIF thing is one of the ways to drive expectant parents crazy during the second trimester.

So, all things being equal, so far so good.

As far as gender goes, we expect the child will have one, but we're opting to not find out until the kid comes out. Doing this does prevent us from using our working titles - Owen for a boy, Rowan for a girl (say the potential full names out loud if you don't get why they're just working titles). So we're going with Little Coen for now, which I fear will stick as a nickname.

For actual names, we're going with Lucy Catherine if we have a girl. If it's a boy... we'll get back to you.

The wife is coping pretty well with things. She's past the nausea, thankfully, but she's traded that in for more frequent trips to the bathroom (a trade I think she'd make any day of the week). She's also achier than normal, and is finding it more difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position. She's also finding her work clothes are beginning to not fit, which she'd find more problematic if it didn't give her a reason to go shopping.

We're starting to evaluate the logistical end of things as well. We know what room we'll use as a nursery, but have yet to really get our heads around the quantity and variety of things we'll need to get to properly care for the kid. More on the joys and frustrations of buying furniture, clothing, and other miscellany as we go forward.

Part of me is still not quite realizing that this is, in fact, happening. There's another part that's more or less terrified. But then there's the third part that's looking forward to greeting a new person into our family, and I'm happy to say that's the part that's winning out.