Schrodinger's first appearance

L.E.O.'s followers are already gathering. Preparations for her appearance are underway, and we have gained a valuable assistant in the work:

That's Ms. Overlord to you

The ultrasound went very well, despite the two of us still sneezing and coughing. The goop wasn't that cold, though it did get all over my clothes, and I didn't get nauseated as a friend had warned me I might. We saw one heart, one head, two arms, two legs. The technician was most devoted to the pursuit of getting a shot of a foot. If we'd realized we'd be getting a bunch we would have asked for one of the brain.

Sexing was difficult because L.E.O. apparently decided to cross both legs under her butt like a miniature contortionist, but the technician finally said, "Here we go. This is right between the legs...and there's nothing there." She warned us there was a 3% chance she was wrong, but failing that, we're having a little girl. She's showing exactly the growth she should, and the doctor afterward told us that the quad screen and the CF test had both come back negative. So it was a very happy visit. Pictures are forthcoming. We also feel compelled to warn you: L.E.O. will not accept sacrifices in pink.

These dreams

I dreamed last night that L.E.O. was a girl. Eric says this is an official intuition from me on the baby's sex. I'm skeptical, unless this is also an official intuition that the baby will be 12 inches long with a flat head and will have such an extreme fear of cameras she'll push herself out of the bassinet as a newborn to avoid having her picture taken, but for what it's worth, there it is.

(They say that "vivid dreams" are a pregnancy symptom. I haven't noticed my dreams being any different from usual, but then I usually have memorable dreams. And since I've got a cold, I'm just glad I don't have really boring dreams, which is what usually happens when I'm sick.)

Quantum Superposition of States

So, we'll be getting an ultrasound at some point in the near future. In the meantime, there is one very commonly-asked question, which is:

"Do you know whether it's a boy or a girl yet?"

The standard, non-geeky answer is, of course, "No." But really, that's boring. And of course, despite the fact that ultrasounds don't happen until at least week 18, L.E.O.'s genitalia have already developed. They are simply unobserved.

In terms of gender, therefore, we are dealing with a quantum superposition of states. From the standpoint of an outside observer, the baby is both a boy and a girl. Or perhaps 50% male and 50% female. Technically, from this standpoint, that means it has 1.5 X chromosomes in each cell (and 0.5 Y chromosomes). Of course, from the point of view of an inside observer, i.e. L.E.O., the wave function has already collapsed.

Yeah, yeah, quantum physics doesn't really work like that on a macroscale, I know. Still, more fun than just "No."