All right- I'm moderately well-rested and have a few minutes to spare in my lunch hour. Let's see if we can't bang this thing out. There were a few other topics of discussion that I didn't cover in the first half that I wanted to point out here:
Wanting to Know the Sex of the Child:
I kind of already discussed this when talking about coming up with baby names. But honestly, I don't think I've come across a more polarizing decision than a couple who decides to find out the sex of their child before the big day comes. Some want to know as soon as we do; others can't comprehend why we wouldn't wait until the big day arrives. There's an interesting article on Slate's website talking about how in some cultures early-gender screenings (some as early as six to 8 weeks through chemical testing) have become increasingly popular. Unfortunately this is being done so that a termination of the pregnancy can occur early in the pregnancy if the gender isn't "right". I'm not going to go into the millions of things I find morally, etchically, and emotionally disgusting about this; just know our interest is pure. But then why you ask? The answer is simple...
We're anal-retentive.
We don't care boy or girl; we'll be happy either way. We just want the LAB to be healthy and happy. But, we also like to plan ahead- it's just who we are. And quite frankly, neither of us is good with surprises so finding out now means we get to enjoy knowing now and get to enjoy the birth of our child as an entire seperate event come late July.
Preparing Too Much v. Too Little:
I've been reading books. Lots of Books. I've been visiting websites too. Way too many to count. I guess I want to be prepared for anything even though I know that's an impossible quest. Really, all this preparation isn't for the LAB to-be; it's for the parents. It gives them something to do besides wait anxiously and stress each other out. And who knows, maybe one day I'll get on Jeopardy and there will be a category devoted entirely to diaper rash and baby butt-balm. If that ever happens, I'm gonna be a freakin' millionaire.
The Joy of the Boppy:
My wife loves her Boppy. I love my wife. Ergo-I love the Boppy. The Boppy was my Valentine's day gift to her this year. It's a five-foot long pillow that looks like a pair of fat commas (,) attached to each other:
http://shopboppy.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=15&zenid=50a38d57cbb7ba7dff15601b1ce5e7fa
And while I realize it's not the most romantic gift in the world it has allowed her (and consequently me) to sleep worlds easier. She takes it everywhere in the house with her now (couch, bed, chair- if she could cook sitting on it I think she might). So to anyone reading this who plans on having a baby sometime down the line, just remember the Boppy.
Learn it. Live it. Love it.
I did.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
The Mother of all Posts- Part I
I fully expect this to be the "Mother of All Posts" so I'm already preparing to break it in half. I'm tired and if you begrudge me spliiting it in half I will haunt you in your dreams. That's no lie.
A few of the things that happened while I went on walkabout from this blog:
Moving
We moved. Moving sucks. Moving especially sucks when one of you is on lifting restrictions so as not to endanger the child you are carrying. It wouldn't have been so bad but it was also right around the time hormones were really beginning to rear their beautifully glowing pregnant head and so the idea of moving out of the first place we shared together was made even more emotional by this little chemical tidbit. I must say though that all in all things went smoothly and quite frankly we really needed to move. As an added bonus we sold our old leather couch to a girl we had just seen on TLC's "What Not To Wear" a half an hour before she showed up at our front door cash in hand. (In case you were wondering, she showed up looking like the "Before" picture; sad but true.) It shortened our commute to 10 minutes; we moved into a part of the city we can picture ourselves in with our new baby for many years to come, and we moved into a place with two bedrooms. Let me repeat: TWO BEDROOMS. You don't realize just how badly you need the extra space until you have to find a place to put a five-foot Boppy. More on this later.
The First Ultrasound:
This was amazing. We went to Einstein (Hospital) and got to hear the heart beat and see the LAB (Little Ankle Biter for the un-initiated) in person for the first time. There was one other Ultrasound that had images in December during week 9 but that didn't count- the Blair Witch Project had clearer images than that first one so it simply doesn't count. Anyway, The LAB did barrel rolls and curled up and stretched out. I know it doesn't sound like much but I could have watched that screen for hours (even if a Murder She Wrote Marathon was on- trust me- here that's a pretty big deal). I was convinced at first that we were having a boy and that he was hung like his old man. The technician had to ask me to stop pointing at the umbilical cord with a goofy grin on my face. (Damn!) We got pictures. Lots.I will have them up here soon. Maybe the best thing about the day? We learned the LAB can already talk. This will be explained with the pictures.
General Observations:
I've always seen these television and movie images of pregnancies and the mother-to-be is always either glowing and joyous or hormonal and miserable; and when hormonal it's usually part of some sort of comedic bit which blows the situation up to exaggerated levels (See my post about the movie "Knocked Up"). The truth of the matter is that we're (read: she's) somewhere in-between. The joy of the situation is tempered by the general feeling of exhaustion and feeling of being overwhelmed. It's great... it's just so crazy. We wouldn't trade a bit of it- it's just real now. She's showing and we can hear a heart beat... we're now a family of three (four if you count Einstein: the cat).
I'm tired... part II later... and I promise... more on the Boppy- and how it's changed my life.
A few of the things that happened while I went on walkabout from this blog:
Moving
We moved. Moving sucks. Moving especially sucks when one of you is on lifting restrictions so as not to endanger the child you are carrying. It wouldn't have been so bad but it was also right around the time hormones were really beginning to rear their beautifully glowing pregnant head and so the idea of moving out of the first place we shared together was made even more emotional by this little chemical tidbit. I must say though that all in all things went smoothly and quite frankly we really needed to move. As an added bonus we sold our old leather couch to a girl we had just seen on TLC's "What Not To Wear" a half an hour before she showed up at our front door cash in hand. (In case you were wondering, she showed up looking like the "Before" picture; sad but true.) It shortened our commute to 10 minutes; we moved into a part of the city we can picture ourselves in with our new baby for many years to come, and we moved into a place with two bedrooms. Let me repeat: TWO BEDROOMS. You don't realize just how badly you need the extra space until you have to find a place to put a five-foot Boppy. More on this later.
The First Ultrasound:
This was amazing. We went to Einstein (Hospital) and got to hear the heart beat and see the LAB (Little Ankle Biter for the un-initiated) in person for the first time. There was one other Ultrasound that had images in December during week 9 but that didn't count- the Blair Witch Project had clearer images than that first one so it simply doesn't count. Anyway, The LAB did barrel rolls and curled up and stretched out. I know it doesn't sound like much but I could have watched that screen for hours (even if a Murder She Wrote Marathon was on- trust me- here that's a pretty big deal). I was convinced at first that we were having a boy and that he was hung like his old man. The technician had to ask me to stop pointing at the umbilical cord with a goofy grin on my face. (Damn!) We got pictures. Lots.I will have them up here soon. Maybe the best thing about the day? We learned the LAB can already talk. This will be explained with the pictures.
General Observations:
I've always seen these television and movie images of pregnancies and the mother-to-be is always either glowing and joyous or hormonal and miserable; and when hormonal it's usually part of some sort of comedic bit which blows the situation up to exaggerated levels (See my post about the movie "Knocked Up"). The truth of the matter is that we're (read: she's) somewhere in-between. The joy of the situation is tempered by the general feeling of exhaustion and feeling of being overwhelmed. It's great... it's just so crazy. We wouldn't trade a bit of it- it's just real now. She's showing and we can hear a heart beat... we're now a family of three (four if you count Einstein: the cat).
I'm tired... part II later... and I promise... more on the Boppy- and how it's changed my life.
Baptismal Class
Five Things I Learned From Attending our Church's Baptismal Class:
1. As much as some people may consider religion "hokey" or unnecessary I have never met a more well-intentioned, genuinely interested group of people than the Parents Of Little Ones (POLO for short) that were our "instructors" for the 4-hour session we attended to allow us to have the Baptisim at OMC. Their stories (both funny and sometimes scary) gave us some new perspectives on things we kinda already knew and opened our eyes to things we hadn't yet considered. (How do you explain to a 2-year old why we go to church, or why mommy and daddy need time alone together on occasion- without using the words "little brother/sister"?)
2. The fact that two of the couples at the class had already had their babies was great. It gave us the chance to experience what we were in for first-hand as they were encouraged to, and did, bring their children to the class with them. They were so cute and small. It scared the holy shit out of me.
I'm not Kidding.
3. To people who have said you need a license to drive a car but any idiot can be a parent- you can add me to the list of the dumbfounded. There was so many positives we were able to take from this class I have to believe there's a way to take the "religion" out of it and make it an almost "mandatory" part of raising a child. I think the best application would be requiring expectant mothers/ parents who would enroll their child in CHIP (Children's Healthcare Insurance Program: for low-income PA families) to take a similar class before being allowed to participate. As a corollary; there were three more shootings in the city over the last 48 hours. The lack of parenting and guidence most city youths receive these days is disturbing and practically non-existent.
4. I love the taste of cookies and coffee on Sunday after Church. There's just something about it.
5. Finally, and most importantly, I learned that as far as preparing for this goes we're definitely on the right track. We know how we want to raise our child, and we know the most important things we can give them are simply our time and example. We're both also, at least on the surface, fully aware that all the plans we make over the next 22 weeks will amount to nothing more than a pile of dirty diapers by the time the LAB (Little Ankle Biter) gets here.
But we know it's gonna be amazing anyway.
1. As much as some people may consider religion "hokey" or unnecessary I have never met a more well-intentioned, genuinely interested group of people than the Parents Of Little Ones (POLO for short) that were our "instructors" for the 4-hour session we attended to allow us to have the Baptisim at OMC. Their stories (both funny and sometimes scary) gave us some new perspectives on things we kinda already knew and opened our eyes to things we hadn't yet considered. (How do you explain to a 2-year old why we go to church, or why mommy and daddy need time alone together on occasion- without using the words "little brother/sister"?)
2. The fact that two of the couples at the class had already had their babies was great. It gave us the chance to experience what we were in for first-hand as they were encouraged to, and did, bring their children to the class with them. They were so cute and small. It scared the holy shit out of me.
I'm not Kidding.
3. To people who have said you need a license to drive a car but any idiot can be a parent- you can add me to the list of the dumbfounded. There was so many positives we were able to take from this class I have to believe there's a way to take the "religion" out of it and make it an almost "mandatory" part of raising a child. I think the best application would be requiring expectant mothers/ parents who would enroll their child in CHIP (Children's Healthcare Insurance Program: for low-income PA families) to take a similar class before being allowed to participate. As a corollary; there were three more shootings in the city over the last 48 hours. The lack of parenting and guidence most city youths receive these days is disturbing and practically non-existent.
4. I love the taste of cookies and coffee on Sunday after Church. There's just something about it.
5. Finally, and most importantly, I learned that as far as preparing for this goes we're definitely on the right track. We know how we want to raise our child, and we know the most important things we can give them are simply our time and example. We're both also, at least on the surface, fully aware that all the plans we make over the next 22 weeks will amount to nothing more than a pile of dirty diapers by the time the LAB (Little Ankle Biter) gets here.
But we know it's gonna be amazing anyway.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
All Apologies Comment
It was completely unintentional when I titled the post, but today would have been Kurt Cobain's 41st birthday.
Odd...
Odd...
Naming the Little Ankle Biter
Opinions are welcome, but will be ignored...
We're going to have the next Ultrasound on March 5th to make sure everything is progressing smoothly and to determine the sex of the baby. For those who say "Don't you want to be surprised?!?" let me tell you: we will be plenty surprised March 5th... waiting until the birth won't change how much of a surprise it will be to us.
That being said we've got a few names already picked out...
For a Girl:
Claire Issabelle Moffitt- Claire for my wife's friend and mentor, who passed away all too soon from Breast Cancer. It's something we've both experienced in one way or another in our lives and thought it a fitting tribute to a teacher and friend. And Issabelle... well...we just like Issabelle.
For a Boy:
We wanted to keep the initials GJM without making any son of ours George Jonathan Moffitt the Fourth. That being said, we're down to three:
Gavin James
Gideon James (Ian for short)
Gregory James
(James is my brother and the middle name is not up for debate of any sort.)
So, March 5th we may have a decision to make. Or, it could be a girl and this all becomes moot.
Stay tuned.
We're going to have the next Ultrasound on March 5th to make sure everything is progressing smoothly and to determine the sex of the baby. For those who say "Don't you want to be surprised?!?" let me tell you: we will be plenty surprised March 5th... waiting until the birth won't change how much of a surprise it will be to us.
That being said we've got a few names already picked out...
For a Girl:
Claire Issabelle Moffitt- Claire for my wife's friend and mentor, who passed away all too soon from Breast Cancer. It's something we've both experienced in one way or another in our lives and thought it a fitting tribute to a teacher and friend. And Issabelle... well...we just like Issabelle.
For a Boy:
We wanted to keep the initials GJM without making any son of ours George Jonathan Moffitt the Fourth. That being said, we're down to three:
Gavin James
Gideon James (Ian for short)
Gregory James
(James is my brother and the middle name is not up for debate of any sort.)
So, March 5th we may have a decision to make. Or, it could be a girl and this all becomes moot.
Stay tuned.
All Apologies
No, not from Nirvana. From me.
It's been too long since I composed anything for the teeming masses of people (yes, both of you) that read my ramblings. Rest assured there are several drafted well before Christams that I will finish for you and several more to come in the next few days; now that the general pukey/ tired/ hormonal phase is over. Well, the pukey part of it at least.
It's been too long since I composed anything for the teeming masses of people (yes, both of you) that read my ramblings. Rest assured there are several drafted well before Christams that I will finish for you and several more to come in the next few days; now that the general pukey/ tired/ hormonal phase is over. Well, the pukey part of it at least.
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