Well, the last pregnancy-centric post i can find is from 28 weeks. We’ve done so much in that time, and while I’ll be cranking out some posts that are event specific, I also feel the need to play catch up for those of you that come here for the sweet, sweet baby news.
We were incredibly fortunate to have family and friends throw three showers for us. I was kinda surprised that we knew that many people, much less that so many actually liked us. And by us I mean me. I attended two, missing one in Indiana that wasn’t really co-ed anyway. I think two showers is more than enough for any dude to attend, so I’m not crying about missing one. DARE YOU CHALLENGE ME?!? Our dear friends threw one hell of a party here in Columbus, complete with real-deal barbeque and an Elvis impersonator in honor of Tiny E. Friends came from out of town, and so many wonderful people we’ve met in our few years in C-bus turned out as well. Tori went solo to southern Indiana for her family’s shindig, and most recently we traveled with the k9′s to Buffalo where my family got their chance to let us know how much they love us.
We started childbirth class two weeks ago. We debated between having class at St. Anne’s, where we would get a good overview of how things are done at that hospital specifically, or at CHOICE where we would get a wider range of opinions and thoughts about birth. Our classes started six weeks before the EDD, so we ended up begining with class 6 of 6, and participating in class 1 next. So far the classes have been informative and fun. It turns out that I had been following the midwife who teaches the class on Twitter for a while without knowing it! She gave her email address to the class; “you can contact me at amazonmidwife at…” and I kind of babbled out “I follow you on Twitter!” recognizing her @amazonmidwife handle. Ahh, to be a socially networking expectant daddy…
The nursery is all but complete. Artwork hung, furniture assembled, bedding laundered and bed made.
I posted a couple of weeks ago that our friends had their baby, Esther. We visited at the hospital, of course, but it’s been rewarding to see how they have transitioned back to their house. It has been inspiring, as well as making me incredibly anxious about the logistical problems we may face having a newborn in a small Clintonville house with one bathroom. But then again, I’m getting anxious about everything at this point.
Tori is looking as good as ever, and I have nothing to share from her recent visits to the OB. All is well and progressing nicely. The last few weeks, the fatigue has set in. She’s usually in bed by 10 at the latest, although she’ll fight it till midnight now and then. Tiny E just goes CRAZY in there now…rolling and kicking and punching, all visible to the naked eye if you watch her belly for a few minutes. This has led to more peeing, more uncomfortable nights and every once in a while, pain in her abdomen from the movement. Sleep is challenging these days.
We’re in a really good place with names (no, dude…we’re not sharing) for either sex. We’ve had a few in mind for most of the pregnancy, and it’s looking like it’ll be an easy choice when the time comes. We’re both still in love with them after having 7 months to mull them over, and we think that’s a good sign.
We met with our doula again at 32 weeks, and had a good open conversation about how we see things going at the hospital. The birth plan was the focus of the conversation, and we decided it would be best to wait for our first few classes before we put anything on paper. Right now all we really have is the idea that we want to be kept informed and have the right to consent to any procedural diversions.
Just this week, we had our initall consultation with the doctor who will be our new family doc. We know her through some mutual friends, and she showed an ability to be our kind of doc…not an alarmist, able to deal with my incestant questions, and a good sense of humor. She’ll be Tiny E’s pediatrician as well.
That’s really all I can think of for now. We have just over a month to go until our estimated due date (I found out this week that Tori’s mom was a week late with Tori and her sister, so we’re expecting Tiny E a little late as well). We’ve been slacking on pictures of Tori’s belly, but I’ll leave you with a photo I took today at the water park:
July 10th, 2009
We got the call yesterday that Tori failed her one hour glucose test. In essence this means that her body failed to metabolize the “glucola” that she drank in one hour. She returns for a more accurate test next week. The cut off for pass/fail is 140, and she posted 144. 85% of women who fail the one hour test pass the three hour test, so we’re not too worried about gestational diabetes. The only bad thing is that there are some diabetic tendenencies in her family, but I think we’ll be in the clear.
May 23rd, 2009
Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s here. Tori has officially cruised into the third trimester. Not that I had any worries, it’s almost like she’s done this before. Tori has a calm, cool way about her pregnant self, and if you know her it’s hard not to notice it. I had a lot of deep seated worries when we found out she was with child. I was concerned that the uncomfortable side effects of the pregnancy might be too much. I hate, hate, hate seeing my wife unhappy, especially if it’s due to physical pain or emotional duress. I know we have a few months to go; but I feel very assured that she feels secure, comfortable (in love with, actually) with her pregnant body, and truly blessed to be creating this child. She doesn’t even really have bad days…just bad hour-or-twos now and then.
Here’s a list of interesting things I’ve seen or noticed:
- She does the “hand lovingly on top of the belly” thing that every pregnant woman I have even know does. I think it’s one of the most cutest damn things I’ve ever seen.
- The belly sticks out further than the boobs. Cool milestone.
- The thing about “pregnancy brain” is true. For the most part, Tori is sharper than ever before. But every once in a while, she just blanks on stuff. Like her address.
- Tiny E is moving around like crazy in there. Rather than feeling wavy movents, I can feel limbs now.
- I rather expected to have some gut feeling on the sex of our baby, but nope. Nothing. Nada. Tori, on the other hand, has had some intuition…
Tomorrow morning we’re headed to the doc for Tori’s gestational diabetes screen. She’ll have to go easy on food tomorrow, so tonight we grilled and hung out in the backyard for a while. She looked so beautiful in the setting sunlight, and I took some photos by our blooming bizarro lilac tree.
May 20th, 2009
As I fiddle around trying to get my Gallery2 install up and running here at IF@B, I am overwhelmed at the music that my wife is making on the couch next to me. She moved into the third trimester today (depending who you ask) and the symphony of noise erupting from her gastroesophageal tract is simply amazing. It’s a sort of new-age post-industrial composition; consisting of mellow groans and ambient belching neatly blended with a folksy sigh now and then.
May 12th, 2009
Wow, it’s been a great weekend. I’m happiest when feeling both accomplished and entertained, and my needs were satisfied over the past two days. Friday was 78 degrees out by the time i walked out of the house. We made the call to get our baby shower registry done, thinking that it’d be easier to maneuver the stores on a weekday. While driving up to Dublin, we were overcome with the desire to eat something on a patio somewhere. For me, it was all about the experience, but Tori has been getting more and more preggy and I knew she needed food. We stopped at the Winking Lizard and had a great bite to get the afternoon started. Then off to Target and Babies R Us. We were smart and had done a bit of homework, so the process was relatively pain free. I’ll admit that I enjoy shopping, but hours in the same damn store can really get to a dude! Calmer heads prevailed, though, and we were done at both stores in a few hours. We combined the stuff we’ve read about in the past few months with Alpha Mom’s tips (Starting at week 23 of her week-by-week guide, she stats throwing on registry/shopping advice) and we’re pretty happy with how it turned out. By 5, we were both exhausted from the heat and the fluorescent sting of the stores and headed home. The night wound down over late night conversation about our friends shower that we’re planning. I can’t remember the last time we were both up until after midnight!
Yesterday was all about house prep. Next week is a planned visit to Ikea for furniture (baby and otherwise). I had planned to work soley on the nursery; patching, priming, painting…but was relegated to the office to de-clutter instead. I didn’t get into the nursery until it was 2PM and 85 degrees out. My main issue is the seam on the north wall where it juts up to the ceiling. Some jackass tried to caulk it years ago and did a horrendous job. I scraped all the old caulk out, re-seamed and re-caulked it. At some point this week I need to put a 90 degree angle in the joint, install a dimmer switch and start sanding and priming. I’m glad we agree on the colors and such, this should be a real straightforward project. We ended the night with our first dinner outside, just the two of us and capped it all off with a Clintonville canine walk in the (much) cooler evening.
I really can’t believe how fortunate we’ve been. Tori has had little discomfort so far outside of some gnarly heartburn (thanks for the Zantac, Dr. Murnane!) and our spirits have been easy going so far. I can spend a lot of time just staring at her face, imagining life in a few years with Tiny E running around. We have just about 15 weeks to go before we meet our baby!
April 26th, 2009
Here’s Tori & Tiny E at 23 weeks…
Previously: 18 Week Picture
April 17th, 2009
Well, we’ve finally hit a point where we feel comfortable sharing some belly pictures! We’ll try to update weekly from this point on. For now, enjoy this great 18 week picture from Battelle Darby Creek yesterday. Tiny E is about the size of a bell pepper here…
March 14th, 2009
…that she is feeling the baby move. I think thats the coolest. That is all.
March 3rd, 2009
We have 2 doula interviews scheduled shortly. CHOICE called me to reschedule today, so we’ll be meeting with them in early March. Our friends had an interview with Jenn Elfner last week and loved her. They were thoughtful enough to ask and discovered that she is available around our due date, so we’ll be talking with her tomorrow. We have to get our questions in order!
February 17th, 2009
I’m in the middle of reading this amazing book about how humans have given birth in the modern world. Tina Cassidy touches on some interesting evolutionary ideas, as well, but I’m sucked in by the stories of labor from the past couple of hundred years. Medicine really used to treat pregnancy and labor as illnesses, long before the advent of the pathogenic theory of medicine become popular. This led to all kinds of messy births and (in retrospect) CRAZY ideas of how people should be born. And the loony stuff they were doing when your parents were giving birth… don’t even think they knew what they were doing! If you’re expecting and are tired of reading the same old “baby manuals”, give this book a spin.
February 17th, 2009
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