Madalyn Rhea Garner

Well, she's here. Madalyn Rhea Garmer was born Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 8:44 p.m. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20 inches long.

Jennifer did so well during the delivery. She pushed for a little less than two hours and was such a trooper.

Everyone was excited to meet her. So far, I think she's had close to a thousand pictures taken of her. I've been in a couple (which is just fine with me) but I think it would be easy to feel like someone normal that's dating a celebrity.

Anyway, I will write another post soon and will include some pictures. Unfortunately, I can't add pictures to the blog from my iPhone. However, if you are on Facebook, I have posted a few pictures and my sister has put up a small album.

Thanks...

9cm

Jennifer just got checked and is a 9. The nurse who was doing the checking said that jennifer's pulse went up almost as soon as she said it. So exciting...

Staying at the Hospital

Well, they decided to keep us. At this point, Jennifer is dialated to a 6 and the epidurral is working very well. Also, the baby is, as the doctor said, is right there. I'll keep you posted...

Maybe today...

I'm writing this between contractions, now between 3 & 4 min. Thought our water broke this morning, but the nurse said it was something else. She said thy she would probably see us later today. These contractions are much harder than we've had before. I think it's only a matter of time. Stay tuned...

All Hands On Deck - Week 36

Well, I'm back.

Sorry it's been so long, but there were a couple of reasons. First, I've been really stinkin' busy at work, trying to get things done before Madalyn arrives. Second, not much has changed recently. I mean, Jennifer is still uncomfortable and still very pregnant. She's not sleeping well and has trouble with mobility. Things that are on the floor are out of the question and changing postures (from laying to sitting, sitting to standing, etc.) requires all hands on deck.

One thing that has changed, though, are the contractions. She has long, painful contractions whenever she...
Well, pretty much all of the time.

It's getting hard for her to be in the car for any length of time because of the contractions (not to mention her missing bladder and absolutely chipper moods...). This past Friday was her last day of work, so she's been resting more and feeling better.

We've changed our sleeping arrangements a bit as a result of the pregnancy. For those of you who have been to our house, you most likely have seen our big, awesome, comfortable bed. That bed is now being used to hold laundry until it's put up. We are sleeping on the couches. Now, our couches are very comfortable, but it's just not our king-sized bed. But, Jennifer can get up and down so much easier from the couch that we've taken to sleeping in there.

The shower that our church threw us went really well. We got SO much stuff that I don't think that we'll need to buy Madalyn clothes until she's a teenager. Everything is in place except for the changing table, which is sitting in a box right in front of me. That's second on my list of things to do this evening.

The doctor has told us that Jennifer is dilated to a 1 and that her cervix is thinning. When Jennifer told my mom that "she was thinning", my mom mentioned that the statement is kind of a contradiction (see attached photos below). Madalyn feels like she is ready to come out by any means necessary. Last night, she decided to try a side-exit, which was unsuccessful. Hopefully, she's just testing all the other options before she decides to use the traditional exit.

We have completed all of our pre-birth classes. We took a "Well-Baby Class" a "Breastfeeding Class" and a "Labor & Delivery Class", all from the Norman Regional Hospital. I'm not bragging or anything, but we were the best students in all of those classes. In our last class, we had a Jeopardy game that asked us general pregnancy questions. I slayed those questions. My knowledge of all things baby is actually amazing. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I plan on using my vast knowledge for good, not evil.

Aside from that, it's just become a waiting game. Jenn's OB Nurse said today that she could last all the way to her induction date or she could go into labor later today. That makes it hard to plan meetings, but we'll survive.

I am so proud of Jennifer and how well she's done in this pregnancy. I really thought that she would get sick of being pregnant a lot earlier than she did. Even now, she only has moments when she's tired of it. Most of the time, she's enjoyed the experience. I'm also very proud of her belly-button. That little trooper has hung on and still hasn't popped. That's just amazing to me.

This is for Mandy, so she'll shut up about it :)

BEFORE

AFTER

I can't believe we've come this far. From deciding to try for a baby to finding out we're pregnant to today seems like an eternity and like no time at all--all at the same time. Today, Jennifer sent me a text message that our milk expires two days before Madalyn's due date. Milk doesn't last that long...

My goodness, what have we gotten ourselves into???

According to BabyCenter.com: "Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement. At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) and most likely she's in a head-down position.

Well, that's all for now. Check back for more and I'll try to comply.

Thanks...

I promise...

New blog and pics tonight. I promise...

Doggy Days & Induction Dates

So this week has been full of exciting things. First of all, Jennifer went to the doctor and they set an induction date - December 3. Also this week, we took Dakota, our Chocolate Lab on a doggy day. After the disappointing loss today to Texas, we went to the dog park and she played with lots of other dogs. Then, she took us to the dog wash on 36th and Robinson. She got quite clean and then we went to the Pet Cafe. She had a good lunch and Jenn and I got Java Dave's. To finish off our day, we went to PetSmart and bought her a cool new hippo toy. A great end to a fun day.

We wanted to take Dakota out and have a day just for her before the baby got here. We've been taking some baby classes at Norman Regional and we now know pretty much everything we will ever need to know about being a parent. So, we're good.

The last thing today is that I was spending some time talking to Madalyn the other day. She was squirming around (like she always does) and all of a sudden she moved to the side I was on. It was so amazing that she was actually responding to my voice. That was really special to me.

Well, that's all for now. I'll write more later.

This is a Test-Post

Hello. I am trying out a new iPhone application that will make it easier to post blogs from my phone. So, check back real soon for another post, but this one is just a test.

Well, that sucks... (Week 28)

I wrecked my car today. Not a big deal, no one was hurt, but I really
didn't need this this week. Work has been extremely busy lately.
Tonight is the first night in a week or so that we have gotten home
before 10:00 p.m. The new development this week is the addition of
Braxton-Hicks to our little situation. It's really weird. Jenn's
stomach gets really tight and tough. Then, it all relaxes and it's
over. Still, it's weird.

We went to a wedding this weekend and Heather (Jenn's friend who's
also pregnant and due, like, now) was there. It was like we were at
some kind of preggo convention.

By the way, I am writing his blog from my iPhone. It's pretty cool.
I'm so high tech. This is great because it will allow me to write
blogs and post pictures on the go. Super fun, right?

"By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can open and close her eyes, which now sport lashes. This movement is more of a reflexive blink than a deliberate opening and closing, but it won't be long before she's batting those beauties at you."

That's all for now. I'll be writing again soon...

Vicious, Vicious Cycle... (Week 27)

I'm writing this blog with my head hung in shame. It's been almost a month since I've been on here, and for my thousands of adoring fans, I sincerely apologize. This past month has held lots of work and growth, starting with the nursery. Much of our free time (for which there doesn't seem to be much of) has been used to work on the completion of the nursery. I am very proud to report that we are extremely close to finishing it and we are so excited. Here are a couple of pictures: We are very happy with it. And, if you're coming to the shower at our house this weekend, you'll get to see it first-hand. By the way, if you didn't receive an invitation to this weekend's shower, chances are you'll get one for a later shower. Don't be sad...

Jenn has been going through a lot of changes. Madalyn is growing very quickly and it's taking its toll on Jenn. She's having weird pains that seem to have no reason to be there, but they bother her all the same. She has also been very tired. She tries to come home and take a nap on occasion, but her nesting prevents her from slowing down. I believe that this is the vicious cycle that plagues the pregnant woman--she should (and probably wants to) rest, but her nesting phase has kicked into high gear and the cob-webs under the bookshelf are at this point an issue of national concern. So, she does her duty as an American and cleans the bookshelf, exhausting herself further. Vicious, vicious cycle...

Jennifer has been watching this lame TV show recently, "Secret Life of An American Teenager" or something like that. Anyway, it's this high school girl who gets pregnant and everyone dealing with all that drama. And today, we watched the movie "Baby Momma". It was a good movie, but I'm surrounded by pregnancy. It's like the bellies are closing in around me...

I can't believe we're this far along in this whole thing. It seems like just yesterday that we found out that we were pregnant. Actually, it seems like just yesterday that we started dating. In all actuality, that was more than nine years ago. Our relationship has done a lot of changing recently. I'm not really sure why, but we've been having more fun with each other than ever before. We've always been a couple who have had a great time together, but recently we've stepped it up a notch. There is not a day that goes by that we don't bust out laughing about something. It's really great, and tonight Jennifer said that she hopes our relationship doesn't change after the baby comes. I hope that we can let Madalyn enhance the fun we have together.

One day, Madalyn will read all of this and I want her to know how happy her mother and I are to have her in our lives. Even though she's still in Jennifer's belly, she's become part of our lives. When I talk to Jenn, I ask her how Maddy is doing. We are getting her room ready and we sit on the couch and watch her kick against our hands. She is not just a fetus to us, she's our daughter.

We went to the doctor today and she said that Jennifer is progressing just fine. She's gained between 13 and 15 lbs. We disagree on how much she's gained this past couple weeks. I say she's gained 3, but Jenn thinks she's gained 5. I guess it's her right to be wrong.

There is so much that's happened in the past month as far as Madalyn's growth that I'm not going to list it all. If you're interest, as always, you can check out www.babycenter.com . But, for this week, Week 27, here is what's going on:

"This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle."

Have a good week. I'm going to try and post more, but I'm not going to promise anything...

Now, I'm Just Being Lazy - Week 20 - 22

You know, I started out very consistent.

Then, things started to get more and more hectic.

Now, I think it may just be laziness. 

Things have been going well around the Garner house lately. Madalyn is becoming quite a character. She kicks Jennifer whenever she laughs and will react sometimes when you mess with Jenn's belly. The other day, I was sitting by Jenn and kind of pushing on her stomach, moving Madalyn around and I actually felt her up against my hand. Not just a kick or a rumble (which is what it feels like most of the time) I felt her head or shoulder or something like that. It was really weird. 

Jenn's fatigue has continued to be high. I think it's because Madalyn is in constant motion, but the doctor said that it's just part of the process. To this point, Jennifer has gain (officially) 10lbs. throughout the entire pregnancy. The doctor also told us that Mady is about a pound or maybe a little more and that she'll gain another pound over the next couple of weeks and then START GAINING HALF A POUND PER WEEK!!! I'm not sure where all of Jennifer's internal organs are going to be held during this time, but I'm saving milk jugs just in case we need to remove some and make a little room.

Speaking of room, Jennifer has decided that she didn't like the color of the nursery, so we have repainted. Now, the majority of the wall is tan with a brown stripe around the room at the top of the wall and a pink ceiling. This color scheme goes better with the colors we've picked out for the room. I think all of the new colors look great (those of you who know that I'm slightly color blind will get a kick out of that comment...) and Jenn's happy with it, so it's fine.

We have a guy coming to put in our wood floors in the nursery sometime soon. Then, all we'll need is to put in the furniture and wait for her to get here.

It's hard to believe, but we are at six months right now. We've made it through the first 2/3 of the pregnancy and it has just flown by. December will be here before we know it. 

Work is going well for both of us. Jennifer has gotten a promotion and is now the assistant director of her department at the Red Cross. She came home and said that her job description was to oversee everything. That seems like quite a task.

I am now considered a project manager for Cornerstone Architecture. That means that after Shane, the principle architect, has started the project in a direction (like the floor plan laid out and the elevation worked out) he hands the project off to me (or the other project managers) to handle the rest of the drawings, dealing with the contractors, and generally handling the day to day aspects of each project. It's pretty exciting, but it's a lot of work.

Now for what Madalyn has been up to:

WEEK 20 - Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against her torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to her bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, she's measured from head to toe.) She's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

WEEK 21 -Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long —the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

WEEK 22 -At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

I feel like I say this every time, but I promise I'll try harder to be consistent on this blog. Keep checking in for more news!

Madalyn Rhea Garner - Weeks 18 & 19

Well, it's official. We are having a girl. It's really exciting, but I don't know what to do with a girl. I mean, I was a little boy, so I've got that covered. But, having a little girl will be a very interesting experience. We went to the doctor for our 19 week ultrasound. Dr. Anderson and Jennifer wanted to set the date of the ultrasound a little later (some people get these done at 16 weeks) to make sure and get a positive ID. We go in and they start looking at everything. It seemed like forever before they told us it's a little girl. Madalyn would not hold still and it took awhile to get a good picture of her, but we got a few.


To be honest, I think the discovery of our daughter was more of a surprise for Jenn than it was for me. Because the baby had been so rambunctious, Jennifer had been thinking it was a boy. She's still excited about having a girl, but she's had to shift her thinking somewhat. We've been looking at bedding and we've bought a few pieces of clothing and I think that helps. Jenn is really getting excited about doing hair and painting little nails and stuff like that.

In addition to finding out about Madalyn, we've also been very busy. My new job is really starting to take off and I've been getting more and more responsibilities. Also, it's the end of the summer semester, so I'm trying to finish up strong. Also, I've really been trying to ride a lot of miles because the Hotter Than Hell 100 mile Bike Event is just a couple of weeks away and I've been slacking on my training.

Also, the transmission in Jennifer's car has gone out. She went to Sonic for something to drink and then couldn't back out of the spot. I had to drive over there and physically push the car out. Just so you know, the Toyota Camry has a safety feature that keeps you from pushing the car backwards unless you flip this little hidden lever. I felt like a big wuss trying to push this car that wouldn't go anywhere. But, once I found and flipped the lever, it moved much easier.

Madalyn in week 18 is, "head to rump, about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin, and her ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from her head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place."

Week 19 and Madalyn's "sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, taking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom —about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.


That's all I've got for now. Thanks for checking in!!!

Axe Murderers and Moving Baby - Week 17

This week has been nice. We just got back from Falls Creek and Jenn and I slept most of the day. This week, we've spent our time working with the teenagers who went with us. We had like 30 kids from junior high and middle school all the way through newly graduated seniors. The week was a lot of fun. If you'd like to see a little bit about the week, check it out HERE. 

We had a great week with the kids, but the rest we got today was much needed. The coolest baby-related thing was that I finally got to feel the baby move. It felt like someone drumming their fingers on the inside of Jenn's stomach. It was really cool, but it was even cooler watching Jenn interact with the baby all week. It would be moving around and she would reach down and rub on it or it would be poking her and she would push on it to move it around. The whole thing is pretty crazy. 

The coolest non-baby related thing was scaring the crap out of the girls in the dorm. Friday night everyone was staying up late and being crazy. I took the trash out of the kitchen at about 1:30 in the morning and could see the lights in the girl's dorm were still on (by the way, you can't see in those windows, I'm no creeper...). So, I went over and banged on the windows. A scream irrupted from the dorm that would make you think that an axe murderer had just walked into the room. I ran back inside just in time for the first girls to pour out of the dorm and let all the sponsors know about the whole ordeal. It was pretty funny...

By the way, we find out the sex of the baby later this week, so check next week's post for the big news!

According to BabyCenter.com: Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — his lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and he's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. He can move his joints, and his sweat glands are starting to develop. [personal note: I hope the baby gets his sweat glands from his mother. I sweat like a fat kid in a trash bag]

That's all for now. See you later...

Short Fuzes and No Jeans (Weeks 15 & 16)

Okay, so I know that I haven't kept up with the blog like I should, but we've had a brutal couple of weeks. With my sister's wedding, a big musical production at our church, and the beginning of my new job, things around here have been pretty hectic. Did I mention my wife was pregnant also?

My new job is with Cornerstone Architecture in Oklahoma City. I'm really excited about this new opportunity and have been working there for a week and a half already. It's been so nice--getting to work at 8:30, leaving at 5:00 and having the freedom to stretch my schedule as needed. The boss, Shane, gave me a little project to work on and then left town for a conference in Florida. He got back yesterday, so I've been working this past week basically by myself. The other guys at the office are nice, and I'm just really pleased with the whole experience.

Jennifer's work is going well. The plan is for her to stop working after the baby comes, so she's kind of got "the short-timers" disease (aka she doesn't really want to do anything at work). Once she gets the motivation to get there, she has a productive day. It's just hard for her to get started sometimes.

As far as Jenn's pregnancy is concerned, things are going great. She's really showing now and this week she thinks she is beginning to feel the baby moving. The other day at the mall, she was talking to the baby because it was poking her and she was uncomfortable.

Speaking of the mall, we have done SO MUCH shopping lately. It's not because Jenn doesn't have any clothes, she just doesn't have many maternity clothes. So, it seems like every day this past week we've been at the mall or at Motherhood Maternity, searching for a pair of jeans. Every pair she would try on would either fit okay in the waist but be too short or would be the right length and have a saggy butt. Today (praise the Lord) she found a pair that fit and bought two of them.

While Jenn's belly and clothing continue to grow, something else continues to shrink. That thing would be her temper. Under normal, non-pregnant circumstances, Jenn is a very patient person. She gives people the benefit of the doubt, tries to see things from other people's POVs, and doesn't really ever snap at people (besides me, occasionally). Apparently, the pregnant Jennifer has found the old Jenn and beaten her to death with some type of blunt object. Jenn's fuse has never been shorter. I have been caught off guard by this. We've had times where we were giving each other a hard time and then the switch flips and she's ready to dismember me. This aspect of my wife will take some getting used to.

According to BabyCenter.com, Week 15: "Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). He's busy moving amniotic fluid through his nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. His legs are growing longer than his arms now, and he can move all of his joints and limbs. Although his eyelids are still fused shut, he can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, he's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but he is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")" [side note: our doctor's appointment to find out the sex is on July 16]

Week 16: "Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now,he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Well, that's all for now. I'll write next week from Falls Creek!

Anniversaries and Weddings - Week 14

Well, this has been a good week. We've continued to be way too busy, but things are moving along nicely. Jennifer is showing more and more and we're getting close to her being able to feel the baby moving. Everyone keeps asking when we will know what the baby's sex is. This week, Jenn had a doctors appointment and set that appointment for four weeks. So, that will be like the second week of July. We're really excited about finding out.

This weekend was my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. We had a big party at Red Oak and everyone came to hang out at Ma & Pa's house afterwards. Together, with my Aunt Tucka, we put together a video with pictures from each of their childhoods all the way to present day. I think they really liked it.

It's really neat that they have been together for 50 years. In today's world you don't hear about lasting relationships much. Everyone  (it seems) is getting divorced or living together. It's refreshing, I think, to see a couple that have made that kind of commitment. 

As part of this whole ordeal, my parents flew in from Phoenix. They stayed with us for a little while, then went down to Red Oak to help with all the anniversary festivities. They will be staying here through next weekend (the 21st) for Jason & Sara's wedding, which is on Saturday. Jennifer and I had our 5th anniversary on the 7th, so June has been a busy month for us. 

I found out that I got a new job this week. I am (as of this post) finished with my work at Star Buildings and will be starting at Cornerstone Architecture on Monday. I'm really excited about this opportunity and am looking forward to getting back into the architecture game.

According to BabyCenter.com, "This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active."

See you next week...

Ex-freaking-hausted - Week 12 & 13

For the thousands of you who waited in hot anticipation for last week's post, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I promise I'll try harder to post on time. 

This whole world has hit hyper-drive for me the past couple of weeks. This is my week lately:

Monday - Work all day, class until 8:00

Tuesday - Work all day, BLN ride until 8:30

Wednesday - Work all day, class until 8:00

Thursday - Work all day, NEBC softball until 10:00

Friday - Work all day

Saturday - Ride early, junk at the house all day

Sunday - Church all day

Jennifer has mentioned to me that most of these things I've volunteered for and if I've got too much going on, I should drop something. That may happen before too long, but I'm not ready to drop something yet. The way I'm looking at it, this is good practice for having a young baby. If I'm sleep deprived going into it, then it won't be a shock to my system when the reason I'm tired isn't the softball double-header, but the screaming child in the other room. 

Now, I know that this blog is to talk about my upcoming baby and the whole soon-to-be-parent situation, but I'm exhausted right now. I'm done griping, I'll get back to the task.

These past two weeks have been kind of "same day, different shirt". Jenn has an appetite again and she's happy about that. Eating has become less of an event that happens a couple of times and more of a state of mind that she constantly lives in. In the evenings, it is a race to eat and go to sleep before she becomes hungry again. I would see that as a race that you couldn't help but win. If you get to sleep, then you are asleep and everyone loves to be asleep. If you don't get to sleep, then you get to eat again, which should be an enjoyable experience. Something that Jenn is dealing with (that I never thought would happen to her) is that she is eating so often that she is sick of eating. Eating has always been one of Jenn's favorite things to do, so to be in this place is like A-Rod being absolutely sick of playing baseball. Ridiculous...

Baby is growing like a mad dog. For week 12, the most dramatic development is reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder. For week 13, fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

That's all for now, I'm going to bed.

Keep growing, Baby...

Radar, Get In Here! (Week 11)

Hello again.

Okay, so I began this thing posting late Tuesday Nights so that they were up for Wednesday. 

Well, my Tuesdays seem to be filling up lately (with my Tuesday Night Ride Group) and I haven't been getting the posts done until Wednesday. So, today, I'm making the executive decision to move my post time to Wednesday evening. So there...

Now, back to our baby-life. This week has been a lot of fun. Work has been pretty rough on Jenn lately. She's been really tired and going in pretty late, then crashing early in the afternoon. So, it was good for her that Memorial Day gave us a long weekend. Lots of time to rest...

Except that we were so busy over the weekend that we were exhausted by the time the work week came back around. Our big goal for the weekend was the nursery. What used to be our office is being converted to a nursery and Jenn wanted to get a lot of the necessary work in there knocked out over the holiday. Since we already had an idea of what we were going to do in there, we headed to Lowe's on Friday to pick up supplies for the project. 

We picked our paint colors and took them to the counter and asked if we could get these colors in a low-VOC paint. For those of you who don't know, VOC stands for Volitale Organic Compounds. The short explanation is that VOCs are what make new paint smell really bad. If you can get low-VOC paint, though, it doesn't smell bad and is not harmful to the fetus (so Jenn can help me paint). Unfortunately, the colors we liked could not be duplicated in the low-VOC, so I was destined to paint the nursery by myself. The walls are green with a brown stripe around the top and the ceiling will be either pink or blue, depending on the baby's sex. If I do say so myself, I think I did a fantastic job.

Now, it's not done. I need to do the border between the green and the brown and the ceiling won't be done for another couple of weeks, but it's a start. 

So, we spent much of Memorial Day with me painting and listening to my newest podcasts (in peace) and Jenn coming in occasionally with her tee shirt pulled up over her nose and mouth, looking like Radar coming in while Hawkeye was performing surgery (if you missed the MASH reference, leave this place now).

Finally the room got done (well, sort of) and we've gotten it all cleaned out. Sara (my sister) and Jason (her fiance) came over and picked through some of our stuff, took a little and left the rest of it to go to Goodwill. 

In this whole process, Jenn didn't yell at me, throw anything, smart off, or cry about anything at all. She was quite the little trooper. 

According to BabyCenter.com, "Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. His hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under his gums, and some of his bones are beginning to harden.

He's already busy kicking and stretching, and his tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as his body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that his diaphragm is forming.

The whole process is still so amazing to me.

See you next week!

It Makes You Sound Ignorant... (Week 10)

Well, hello everyone.

I'm sorry that I didn't get the blog posted sooner, but let's face it, I'm a bum. This week has brought some new things to our lives. I've always told Jenn that she needed to be more aggressive with her speech. When she talks to people at work or a customer service person on the phone, she's so passive. Or, I guess I should say was so passive. This week, she actually said to a person from the insurance company (about her contacts) "...that is bullcrap. You really shouldn't say things like that, because it makes you sound ignorant!" Ladies and gentlemen, that is my wife...

We went to the doctor this week for a standard checkup and they tried to use the little hand-held ultrasound to hear the baby's heartbeat. They couldn't find a heartbeat with that little thing (which kind of looked like a kiddie-karaoke machine) so they wheeled in an actual Ultrasound machine. We were excited to see all the progress our baby was making, but we were not prepared for what we saw.

I was the first to see the baby. It was way over on the left side of the screen and I only saw it for a second. Then, Dr. Anderson got it centered up and all of a sudden the baby was gone. She moved the magic wand around a little more and found the baby again. This kid was all over the place! He was twisting and turning, diving back to into Jenn deeper so we couldn't see him and then coming back up close. Then, he laid on his back (this was cool because he actually looked like a baby!) and waved at us. OUR BABY WAVED AT US!!!


I couldn't believe it. This is our child. I'll admit, the first Ultrasound was cool and I'm glad that we saw the heartbeat and everything, but it really hit me at this session. I could see this little person moving around in there. It was an absolutely amazing experience.

Part of the changes we've been going have been mental, not necessarily physical. Part of what we've been talking about is that it's never going to be just the two of us again. From the time we have the baby (by the way - OFFICIAL DUE DATE IS DECEMBER 10) until we die, we will be parents. Our roles in our children's lives will change, but we will still be someone's mom and dad. I think the only way to deal with something like this is to forget about looking at it in this scope and simply focus on more recent and short-term timelines. If I try to see myself as a lifelong parent and mentor to someone, it's kind of overwhelming. But, shorter goals may help the goals from running me over.

I read in one of my books that the baby becomes real to the woman much earlier than the man. For many men, the idea of being a parent doesn't become tangible until they are holding their child for the first time. As it sits right now, I'm so excited from seeing the little kid swimming around in there (which we all attributed to my energy levels) that I don't know how much more the experience will be enhanced by being able to hold my child.

According to BabyCenter.com, our baby is "a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce. Your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.

He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout the pregnancy."

That, coupled with the laps he's making around Jennifer's belly make for one busy week.

See you next Wednesday!

Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth (Week 9)

What a week it's been.

Let's start this blog with a list:

1. Bacon
2. Getting up too early
3. Having to go to work
4. Problems at work
5. Special music on Sunday
6. The movie "Peggie Sue Got Married"
7. The fact that she's crying

This is the list of things that Jennifer has cried about this past week. Apparently all of these things are quite upsetting. Jenn has had a rough time recently. The baby is growing at a rapid rate and even though it isn't very big, it's making a HUGE impact on Jenn's wellbeing. The upside to this is that we are using the episodes (NOT mood swings) to show that our baby is growing healthily. If Jenn is going crazy, the baby's probably doing okay.

Aside from the crying, things have been pretty normal. We've learned how to deal with the Dragon (which hasn't really been that bad) and she's settled into a routine of only getting up one time per night to go to the bathroom. Her appetite has also settled into a routine. She has really been wanting pork (a sure sign that we won't have a Jewish baby) and has been keeping her distance from all things chicken.

Tonight, Jenn went to a Junior League meeting. I don't really know much about it except that it's all women and it's NOT a sorority. Aside from that, it might as well be a secret society to me. Things are pretty much the same for me. Work is work and we've been really busy at the church, making some changes to our media packages.

Now that you've heard about Jenn's week and my week, let's talk about the baby's week. According to our friends at BabyCenter.com: "Your baby is about an inch long - about the size of a grape - and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. He's starting to look more and more human. His essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do his tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. His eyes are fully formed, but his eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. He has tiny earlobes, and his mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, he's poised for rapid weight gain."

If you go look at pictures of a nine week old embryo, it almost looks like a little person. Like they said in the movie Juno, "...I'm guessing it looks probably like a sea-monkey right now and we should let it get a little cuter." That's right, Juno. Keep it in the oven for awhile longer.

See you next week.

"I Am So Pregnant Right Now..." (Week 8)

Hello everyone.

I think this blog is going to my head. I put a hit counter on the bottom of the page and I check it occasionally. With this week's post, I will be over 100 hits. Man, I am sooo important. Seriously though, I am really happy that people are reading this and commenting. It makes me happy to talk about this stage of our life and for others to listen. So, thanks.

This week we've seen the return of the Dragon. Let's face it, the Dragon never left. It's moved in, gotten comfortable, and eaten all my food. Jennifer's appetite this week has been...
Let's say ferocious. Her nausea has gone down and her appetite has returned with a vengeance. I'm learning how to eat like a pregnant husband.

For those men out there who don't know what I mean, I'll explain:
Most people will tell you that the husband of the preggo will gain just as much weight (if not more) than his child-bearing counterpart. This is because of the constant balance of starvation and nausea that pregnancy is famous for. She will order a ton of food (because she feels like she's going to starve to death) and eat three bites before pushing it away and fighting off the urge to puke up her guts. When it gets pushed away, it usually ends up in front of the husband. So, he eats it and then eats the leftovers of the next meal (in like 20 min.) and so on.

To combat this, I have decided to order smaller portions on purpose with the full knowledge that I will undoubtedly finish Jenn's food for her. The other day we met some friends at City Bites for lunch and all I got was a measly little sandwich (no chips, side items, anything). I was still hungry when I finished my sandwich and looked over at Jenn who was in the process of pushing the remainder of her baked potato my way. She got her fill, I got my fill and we didn't throw out any food - WIN WIN WIN.

Aside from the hunger, the pregnancy has been pretty quiet. This week was Jenn's big event at the Red Cross, so next week should be a lot slower at work. We had our first ultrasound this week as well. Everything went well with that - the baby was in the right place, Jenn's organs looked okay, and the baby's heartbeat was within the normal range. Here is the picture they took:

According to BabyCenter.com, "Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. Your baby — about the size of a kidney bean— is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it."


We are flying out to Phoenix for my mother's graduation. She has gotten a Master's Degree in Some Kind of School Administration or something like that. Anyway, good job mom. Also, everyone needs to remember that Mother's Day is this Sunday, so go to Walmart, 7-11, or AutoZone and buy her a mother's day card. It's the thought that counts, right?


Last thing - Jenn said the funniest thing this week and I think it captures how this week has been: "I'm tired, moody, weepy, and starving. I'm SO pregnant right now!"

See you guys next Wednesday, I promise...

Printing Blueberries (Week7)

Well, this week has been another round of adventures. When I was asking Jenn what I should write about today, she said, "well, the dragon has been in full force this week." In her defense, I haven't noticed the dragon all that much, but maybe the people at work would suggest differently.

Jenn has been working so much. The big R&R fund raising event is this weekend and Jenn has been busy tying up loose ends and getting everything ready. By the time she gets home, she's so tired that she usually goes straight to bed.

Jennifer working so much has given me the opportunity to get a lot of stuff done that I haven't really had the time to do. I've been doing a lot of media stuff for the church and working on a new website for them, so I have been able to put in a little extra time there. Also, I have a pregnancy project that I took on when we found out about the baby. This project is building up a bike. For those of you who don't know, I love cycling. It's the only workout-related activity that I will rearrange schedules for and the only one that I've been committed to for any respectable length of time. So, when we found out about the baby, I decided that I was going to take an old, beat up bike and clean it up and rebuild it to be a new bike. Since that decision, I've also got a second bike to build up, but this one is a bike for Jenn to use later. These projects will give me a great opportunity to achieve a goal by the time the baby gets here, and a place to go to either blow off some steam or hide from the dragon. Also, Church League Softball has started, which keeps us busy on Thursday nights. So much going on...

The baby has had a busy week seven. According to BabyCenter.com: "Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point... Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry."

A couple of new things this week. Jenn went with her friend Paula to the maternity clothes store and found a couple of things that she liked. We also went to Target and bought a couple of things from the maternity section. Although Jenn isn't quite showing, she said that her clothes weren't exactly fitting anymore, so she got a couple of things to grow into.

We also got our first baby gift. A volunteer at the Red Cross who works in Jenn's office gave us a onesie and a little hoodie from BabyGap. They are white and green and have a little crocodile on the front. These clothes are so small. It's crazy that our little blueberry will fit into them eventually.

The baby is growing very fast and I am still just amazed about how the growth process works. If you watch an old computer printer print out a page, the printer would jump around and make marks on the page in seemingly random spots. It never really made that much sense to me, but eventually the printing would be done and you'd have a complete picture. The same could be said about how the baby is being made. I don't really understand why God would choose to grow the arms and legs before the internal organs are done, but He's had a lot more experience building people than I do, so I know that eventually it will all come together to form a little person.

Well, that's all for this week, I'll see you next Wednesday!

Dragons and To-Go Boxes (Week 6)

Hello Everyone!

Well, another week has gone by and Baby is workin' her little heart out. According to my BabyCenter email update, week six brought the growth of eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Her little heart is beating 100 to 160 times a minute and blood is beginning to flow. Right now, Baby is a 1/4" long. 

Despite being so small, Baby is causing many changes in her mother. A creature that we've lovingly began to call "the Dragon" has emerged from my wife and will attack without notice. Because I am not handy with a sword (and not a Medieval Fair person) the Dragon has almost devoured me a few times. I'm getting better about fighting (a.k.a. dealing) with it, though.

Aside from my wife's alter ego, she has also worked her way into a paradox: she is constantly hungry, yet after taking no more than three bites of whatever food she's fixed/ordered/stolen, the thought of eating another bite gives her a shutter and a couple of dry-heaves. Jennifer is really upset by this because she loves eating and now the though of food drives her out of the room. Today, when I got home, she informed me that in order to get ANYTHING out of the refrigerator, she had to hold her breath while the door was open. 

Not long ago, another soon-to-be dad told me that his wife's sense of smell qualified her to work as a drug dog. I guess if the Red Cross doesn't work out...

This week has been very busy for us. I can't think of a reason why - we didn't really do anything extra, but it just feels rushed. We're trying to enjoy our last time being just married (not parents) but everything else seems to get in the way. 

In addition to Jenn's food problems, she has also began having dreams. Her latest one was that she delivered the baby and it was so small that the doctor gave it to her in a "to-go" box. I told Jenn that her dream meant that she would eat the baby, probably the next day for lunch.

She has also decided that she's beginning to show. Honestly, there's no way she's showing, but she thinks it's happening. I think she's just excited about being able to show. That way, when she orders enough food for the entire softball team at lunch, people won't think she's a heifer.*

*This is not to suggest in ANY way that I think she's a heifer or that she's eating too much. Jenn, if you're reading this, I didn't mean it. Honest. Please don't release the Dragon...

Please...

See you next Wednesday!

Hello, my name is Baby

This has been a very eventful week for Baby. We've decided on an ambiguous name so we won't get too excited about a boy or a girl, so until we know the sex, the baby's name is Baby. This week, the pieces that will eventually become Baby's brain and spinal cord are coming together, and the heart and circulatory system is beginning to form. If Baby is an over-achiever (how could he not be, look at his parents...) the tiny little heart could even begin to beat.

This week was a little scary, though. Jenn was having some pain in her lower abdomen and lower back, and her OBGYN told her to go to the E.D. I know what you're thinking, "E.D.? Shouldn't she go to the E.R.?" The answer is yes, she should've gone to the Emergency Room, except Norman Regional has decided that they would stop using a national term (also the name of a TV show) and begin to use E.D. - The Emergency Department. This allows the hospital to inject even more confusion into very confusing times. Luckily, Marylin Blake had told me about the E.D. vs E.R. controversy the day before, so we were safe.

The pain Jenn was having turned out to be pretty normal pregnancy stuff, be we did get the first pregnant hospital visit out of the way.

Jenn's appetite has not slowed down very much this week, and she's taken a few naps. The baby should be about the size of a sesame seed, but it seems to have a much larger impact than the hamburger bun garnish.

We've got a big week ahead of us. If Baby's heart hasn't already started beating, it will this week. Also the brain, lungs, arms, legs, and ears will be beginning. I'll remember this day when the child is a teenager and we swear those ears don't work...

Tonight, we watched the movie Juno. It's about a high-school girl who gets pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption. I know it sounds fantastic, but trust me it's pretty good. When we went to see this movie in the theater, we were not pregnant. Seeing it now, things are different. I noticed things like when Juno began to show, how far along she was when she got her ultrasound, and the stroller that this one lady had in the mall (it's called a Bug-A-Boo, the most amazing stroller on the face of the planet. If you'd like to purchase one for us, the web address is www.bugaboo.com where you can find local stores or purchase online. We like the Bug-A-Boo Frog the best). This makes me think that being a parent will make me look at everything differently. Hopefully, I'll retain my awesome-ness while also being a responsible, attentive, and wise parent. Hopefully...

We'll see you next Wednesday!

Quantam Leap and Growing Organs - Week 4

So, I thought it would be cool to document this journey all the way through.

For those of you who don’t know, Jennifer and I found out last Wednesday that we were having a baby. It’s about time, we’ve been trying for 7 months. We’re really excited, but it’s still so surreal that it’s hard to grasp what’s really going on. Jenn has made a doctor’s appointment to get some blood drawn and to go through some of her questions with the doctor and I’ve been looking at baby stuff online all week.

She hasn’t been in a bad mood or very nauseous, but she has been very tired. Her body is busy building another life and she’s had to cut back her caffeine intake, so it’s a double-whammy. The other day we went to Starbucks. She got a tall and I got a venti, which was the last time I’m going to get to do that. She said that I couldn’t get a big drink if she had to get a little baby one.

Jennifer has also has started to drink her recommended 64oz. of water per day. The result is an almost constant need to go to the bathroom. As she is laying on the couch watching "Quantam Leap" (lame) she has gotten up to pee on both of the last two commercial breaks.

Aside from that, everything here has been great. We’ve had a lot of fun together this week, and we’ve been giving Dakota a lot of attention so she won’t feel so neglected later on.

This is technically week 4 of the pregnancy, and according to our new friend BabyCenter.com, little baby Garner is in the beginning of the embryonic period. From now until ten weeks, all of the baby’s organs will begin to develop and some will even begin to function. As a result, this is the time when she’ll be most vulnerable to anything that might interfere with her development.

By the way, the baby is a "her" right now because the sex isn’t determined yet. We all start out as girls, that’s why boys have nipples.

Being involved in this whole process, I wonder how people could possible think of an unborn child as just a mass of cells. If you have bought into this lie, you should look at some of these development charts available online. Organs, fingers, toes, eyes, everything is being developed. In just a couple of weeks, this baby will look like a little person. It’s absolutely amazing. It’s comforting to know that God said in Jeremiah 1:5, "I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb."

Well, that’s all for this week, I’ll let you know how next week goes.

See you later...