The Peanut and other things we cannot know

I haven't given any official updates about my pregnancy yet, partly because of superstition perhaps, but the time has come to draw some attention to Appu's sibling to be, which for the moment will be referred to as "Little Peanut".

Some of you might have noticed that some new tickers have appeared on this page. In particular, on the right you can see a pumpkin in a patch of grass marking the progress of the Little Peanut towards birth. As the ticker says, I am now a little more than 19 weeks along in my pregnancy (note: for those who don't know, the total number of weeks will be 40).
I went yesterday for my mid-pregnancy ultrasound and the Little Peanut seems to be doing well. I haven't received the full report yet, but the ultrasound technician seemed happy. The Peanut was kicking actively to fight the intrusion of stuff being pressed on my belly, so it seems we have another spirited child on the way...

I am referring to The Peanut as "she" just because the Italian for peanut, "nocciolina", is female, but we don't know the sex of the baby yet. I would have loved to find out during this ultrasound, but the technician was not moved by my pleas and refused to look. That is really a big disappointment, no matter what the sex is it would have made me happier to know it. I could start thinking about the name and I would have something happy to communicate home, where good news of any kind are badly needed.

Unfortunately things are not going well in Italy. My aunt is very sick and is at the moment in a hospital with terminal prognosis. I will be travelling to Italy soon to see her and take care of lots of practical stuff. Unfortunately nobody knows how much time she still has or whether she is conscious and aware of her condition or not. It was all very sudden and it is a very frustrating situation.

Appu will be travelling with me and we don't know how long we are going to be in Italy. The only sure thing is that I am expected to be back in Canada by the beginning of March at the latest. Sujay might join us in Italy at some point if he gets all his documents in order in time.