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...