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...