Brief or Verbose?

When I was growing up, I would often ask my mother a question. She had a gift for explaining things from many different angles, something that usually led to an endless conversation about the current subject. It was a good thing, really, but after a while I learned to throw up my hands and say "Enough! Mom, turn off the 'verbose mode' and go to 'brief mode'." I laugh about it to this day, because I think I answer questions in a way similar to hers. You see, it all started when... (just kidding) =)

In that spirit, I'll offer this blog to you in two forms. One is "brief mode" if you're pressed for time and the other is "verbose mode" in case you have time to read all of it. Here goes.

Brief Mode
NewMom-To-Be is doing fine. NBA is kicking and can be felt doing so quite regularly. Nobody cares about NewDad-To-Be anyway, so I won't waste your time on that. The End.

Verbose Mode
Things continue to go along well in NewBaby-To-Be-Land. We had another appointment with Christie's doctor two weeks ago, but there was no real news to report from there. Sadly, my time in the waiting room didn't result in any major inspirations. Perhaps that was because I remembered to bring a book!

Last week was our school system's spring break, so we had a great week of vacation. We're both counting down the school days (29 left!) until the end of the year. We're both enjoying our third year of teaching much more, but NewMom-To-Be is super-psyched about taking next year off. I'm looking forward to it too, not just because I'll be eligible for retirement years before her, but also for all the good father-type reasons. =)

NBA continues to grow and develop like a champ. NewMom-To-Be can feel him moving around all the time. I can feel him moving about 50% of the times I try. Something stranged happened the other day, though. NewMom-To-Be was reading in bed, and the baby wasn't moving at all. Our dog, Darwin, got up and stepped on Ginger (our other dog) and Ginger didn't like that one bit. She let out a high-pitched yelp. Apparently, our baby is not deaf, because at that very instant he kicked. Hard. We were in awe. Looks like we'll have to start watching what we say now...you never know what they can hear.

In other news, we finally managed to agree on a name for NBA. We had one or two versions at first, but we had to change it in the end. Several friends suggested thinking of a name, then saying that name over and over again in a stern voice to see how it "really sounds." #1 and #2 names were thankfully edited out by this process. #3 ended up being great, so we're going with that. What's that, you want to know the name? I'll post it here in four more months. =)

One last thing...due to the hard work of NewMom-To-Be, we are now officially registered for lots of baby gadgets. You can find us at JCPenny, Babies 'R Us, and Walmart. I tried to link directly to the page for the registry, but apparently that is beyond the skills of this humble NewDad-To-Be. If you go to the main page, each page has a link for registries. If you enter my name or NewMom-To-Be's name, you should find it pretty easily. And you thought I wrote this blog just for the fun of it... =)

BabyScan II Complete!

WE ARE HAVING A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NewMom-To-Be and I went to the big ultrasound appointment today. We took the day off from work so we could properly enjoy it. Nothing beats taking a Monday off to go see your Baby-To-Be. It was a good decision to take the day off, as we both had trouble sleeping last night. It felt like Christmas Eve, because we had both been looking forward to this day since the last ultrasound. We went out to breakfast before the appointment, and having pancakes with syrup apparently sent the little guy running around in circles. The ultrasound technician suggested the name "Wiggle-Worm," but thankfully for the baby, we're going with another name altogether. What's the name, you ask? Check back in about four and a half months. =)

We got a few pictures from the ultrasound, and one of them should appear above this message. The ultrasound technician was pretty good...we think the "HI" in the picture is her idea of a joke. It could be some type of measurement jargon, but you can see the head looking right at you. On the left, you can make out the legs crossed over each other. I decided that posting the gender-confirmation picture might come back to haunt the little guy years later, so we're keeping that one off the internet. For now. Long may it live in the baby album.

We also scored a videotape of the last few minutes of the ultrasound. I'm sure we'll wear that sucker out in a few weeks. I tried for a recordable DVD, but this is rural south Georgia, and I think that I even show up at all of the appointments is enough of a novelty for these folks. I didn't want to rock the boat too much. I promise not to show you the videotape unless you ask. The fact that you folks are reading this blog is enough for me. =)

In other pregnancy developments, NewMom-To-Be reports feeling the baby moving. All previous reports of feeling movement were entirely premature and can be chalked up to wishful thinking. The fetus has successfully woken his mother up, thumped on her abdomen numerous times, and taken up oodles of time while both parents try to feel it moving. I think I've felt it, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm waiting until I can feel it give me a high-five before I say for sure.

NewMom-To-Be is generally doing well and has few complaints about her condition now. She is showing much more now and passed over a milestone of being comfortable with her bigger tummy now. She has lots of cute maternity clothes that she has either purchased, received as gifts, or borrowed from family and friends. In fact, she said something today that almost made my heart stop. While walking past the clothing section in Target today, NewMom-To-Be said "You know, I think I have enough clothes now." Oh, to have had a tape recorder at that moment.

Parenthood = Space Mountain?

NewMom-To-Be and I went for her monthly checkup with the doctor today. To distract myself from the soap operas in the waiting room, I read all the usual OB/GYN magazines.** We had lots of time to amuse ourselves in the waiting room, so I made it through several magazines. I learned a few useful things in the WebMD magazine, ditto for the ePregnancy current issue. Then, just as I was starting to worry that my reading possibilities were starting to thin out...I saw it. Under a few other less interesting magazines (Spanish-language People, anyone?), I spotted the Holy Grail of pregnancy/parenting information. I trembled as I pulled it out of the stack. Could it be? A pregnancy/parenting advice magazine from that most trusted source? Yes! Walmart had sensed my need and written a magazine just for me!

Suprisingly, it wasn't limited to good Walmart advice such as "Buy lots of formula from Walmart," "Walmart has lots of cute baby clothes for your newborn," and "How to deliver a baby in Walmart (Cleanup on aisle 3!)" The most interesting article was one of those ones telling NewParents not to feel bad when their experiences don't match up with all the "expert" advice-givers who seem to pop out of the woodwork from this point on. Somewhere in the article, Walmart actually taught me something. According to the author, pregnancy is like the Space Mountain ride at Disney World. It was a good analogy. Just like Space Mountain, the first year of NewParent-hood is often very dark, scary, noisy, and chock-full of vomit. I will forever thank Walmart for this pearl of wisdom.

NewMom continues doing very well. She reports that she is now showing enough to be receiving frequent tummy pats from friends. She has yet to experience the tummy pat from a complete stranger, but we're sure it will happen. Thankfully, the nausea has continued to stay away from our home. Hopefully, it will never return. Last week featured a fever of 101 degrees, enough coughing to disturb sleep, and two sick-days taken to recover at home. She is much better now and I am happy to be sleeping through the night. Maybe the baby is sleeping better now too. All previous reports of feeling the "quickening" were premature...no movement has been felt yet. Heartbeat measurement today at the doctor's office was somewhere around 150. (What exactly do these guys do in there? It's not like there's room to run laps...) The next ultrasound is in a few weeks, and we're looking forward to knowing the gender. We'll share as soon as we know. Names will be kept secret, but if anyone has a good boy name we are taking suggestions. The girl name is locked up in the vault. =)

It's just past 9 PM here...we're going to bed now. From what I understand, the days of getting a full night's sleep that starts before 10pm are numbered...

*(Why didn't I have a book? I don't know. After all, I am the child of a librarian and a media specialist...it took years of therapy just to break the binding of a book to make it lie flat.)

No News is Good News

We haven't had much news to report in the past few weeks, but that's a good thing. NewMom-To-Be went for her monthly checkup with the doctor a week or so ago, and he confirmed that everything was going smoothly. We got to hear the heartbeat again, a moment that is powerful enough to stop two science-geeks in their tracks and make them go "Awwww, that is so cool!" I may have to consult with my father-in-law and two brothers-in-law (electrical/electronic* engineer, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer-to-be) on a project to build a home Doppler Ultrasound device. Waiting until next month for the big ultrasound is just too long to wait. Surely we could work something up with a 9-volt battery, an old Atari, and a big roll of duct tape.

(*What exactly are you, Ken? Your designated career is about to spark a domestic disturbance** of nuclear proportions.)

The "big" ultrasound is mid-March, and yes, we're going to tell everyone what it is when we find out. Name ideas will be kept secret, but suggestions will be taken. We've already read about the struggles of the boy who was pre-named Garrett, only to be born with a flaming head of red hair. Hmmm...I might eat a carrot after posting this... For now, we'll stick with NBA (New Baby Ariail).

NewMom-To-Be is progressing through week 15 like a trooper. The nausea seems to be over, but I'm crosinng my fyingres as I tipye thss (sure does make it hard to type) and hoping it doesn't come back. In other pregnancy developments, NewMom-To-Be claims to have possibly felt "the quickening," but wasn't absolutely sure. She said it might have been gas. Ah, the romance. At any rate, feeling it now would be pretty early, so I don't have my hand glued to her belly just yet.

In other news, NewMom-To-Be has officially resigned from her teaching position for next year. Apparently this is necessary so that the school can advertise the opening. "Resigning" is usually the term for "I'm leaving because I was asked to" or "I'm leaving because my spouse got a new job 2000 miles away." The details of why she is "resigning" are not made clear in the newspaper-published board minutes, so lately we've had to answer lots of questions about that. Everyone says that staying home is a good plan. Those who didn't are saying they wish they had. Those that did said they wouldn't trade it for anything. However, I'm secretly suspicious that those who actually did do it can't remember what is was like because of Ramen Noodle Amnesia.

That's about it from Pregnancy Land, where all the women are glowing, all the men are not quite sure what to make of this, and all the babies-to-be are not yet named.

(**Just kidding. NewMom-To-Be has completed her counseling and the parole officer says it is OK for her to be back in the house.)