Merry Christmas from the boy!

Here's the boy's holiday wishes:


And here's the whole family in a self-portrait on facebook style holiday video:

Here's a little behind the scenes look as our star gets ready to make his holiday video for the family in California:



The boy has a weird thing for the Lions, probably because he sleeps in a jungle room, he bet on them before and I only had to give him a three point spread... It was, you guessed it, like taking candy from a baby.

Day 2 Pics

More pictures are up at http://flickr.com/photos/tedwardm/sets/72157609379799398/

I do want to call out one in particular - Baby's first completely inappropriate gift from Daddy!


Which also happens to be baby's first gift from Daddy. Because every child needs a tricerotops you can ride on. Fun fact - Gretchen had specifically pointed this out as something we didn't need in an earlier shopping run but I didn't put two and two together. And now the boy likes it, so we're keeping it...

Pirate Bear!

I like monkeys. No, this isn't the start of a chain letter from the early days of the internet, its the reason that we ultimatly went with a moneky theme for Teddy's room. However, this wasn't my first idea - I was going to go with my first love:

Pirates!

However, its hard to find good stuff that isn't too cartoon cutesy or too scary for a baby in a pirate theme. I can't imagine why bloodthirsty buccaneers and their crimes upon the high seas aren't a more popular nursery theme.

Upon hearing that the theme was pirates, and the child's name was Teddy, my sister immediately made a pirate teddy bear to go with our pirate teddy bear:



Which I think is awesome, even if I couldn't make the theme work.

Everyone needs a one-eyed protector. Mine is named John David
Barret Campbell and he talked me out of giving my son four names, which I think Teddy with thank him for.

Flowers

We received some lovely flowers and well wishes, first a huge assortment from the Lancaster family - Jane, Anne, Gene, Eugene, Bernadette, Victoria and all the girls:


And a bootie of roses from Uncle Had and Aunt Pat and their family

Pics of the boy

More pics of Teddy can be found at: http://flickr.com/photos/tedwardm/sets/72157609379799398/

Note for facebookers - the same pics are on FB and Flickr right now.

Here are a few highlights of the boy:

The Martin Family

Meeting Aunt Claire

Look at elephant knees!

Is she grammy, or up?

Is she nanna, far-far, or grandmumsie?

Big yawn!

Happy Teddy!

Roll-Out!

Fun fact - we've been married for 55 months today!

We're heading in to the hospital now... Time to meet the boy!

Packing and getting ready

We're getting setup to head to the hospital bright and early tomorrow. I'll post pictures and stats an all here from the hospital at some point, since we're incredibly nerdy. Keep an eye open tomorrow night and Wednesday morning.

-Ted

He's NEVER Coming Out!

We had our last normal doctor's appointment today. The big news is that there is no news -- NO progress to speak of in four weeks. So after a brief exam, the doctor had the conversation with us about induction. So next Monday, November 17, will be the big day, unless The Intruder (his name changes as I become more hostile towards his presence) decides to exit his cocoon early (which is doubtful). Boooooooooooooooooo............. Send labor vibes our way!

The Nursery is Finished!

It's finally finished! It's been a long progression, but here it is:


Before we painted -- it was still the Man Cave.








Once we painted and had some of the stuff in the room. We thought it was finished, but no, there was much more to come.





The final product!

A view of the entire room.









The crib -- it's all about the Monkeys!









The reading nook, an essential for a member of our family.








And my hospital bags..... If only I could use them..... Just 9 days left!!!

Progression of the Belly

While I feel like a gigantic moose woman now, I realize that I couldn't have looked like this forever. Therefore, I created this sort of photo montage to show the growth of the belly over the last nine months.


At approximately 5 weeks -- I just found out I was pregnant (and apparently already getting short of breath).










Approximately 15 weeks -- I could just be chunky.











About 24 weeks -- Definitely a bump!


















At 32 weeks -- pretty big!


















At 38 weeks -- I'm a COW!



















Hopefully we'll add one more right before we go to the hospital!

FULL TERM!!!

I'm OFFICIALLY full term today! That means he's not considered premature or early if he's born today or later. So I no longer feel guilty for wishing that he'll get out of me NOW. Bring on the spicy food, speed bumps, hot baths, primrose oil, pineapple, glasses of wine, Chinese food, licorice, eggplant parmesan...

Into the Home Stretch

I saw my doctor for my 36 week appointment today. I now am seeing her every week, which is killing my schedule (and my wallet -- stupid hospital parking fees!). While I was hoping for a, "He's ready! Let's go to labor & delivery!", I also realized that I'm not quite ready for him to show up (actually having a crib would be helpful).

Well, my subconscious won -- While I was convinced that my baby HAD to weigh at least 9 lbs (to compensate for my sudden weight surge), he's only 6 1/2 lbs. I was concerned that since I have gestational diabetes, he would be super-big, causing me to have a difficult or perhaps premature delivery. He's measuring a little big (about 10 days ahead) and is in the 70th percentile for weight and size. The size is most likely just due to the fact that Ted and I are big people; I have my diabetes under control enough that it's not affecting bambino.

As for the TMI section of the post -- I'm 1 cm dilated! Which means..... absolutely nothing..... I can walk around for weeks this dilated, so it could be two days or five weeks.

There is a lousy part of the diabetes that I have to deal with (in addition to the 4 times daily finger sticks and daily insulin injections) -- starting next week, I have to go in for twice weekly fetal monitoring and ultrasounds. They check for the shrimp's heart rate and movement (TRUST ME, he's moving.....), and also for the level of amniotic fluid, which can drop low in diabetics at this point and cause complications. I'm waiting for the time when I spend more time at the hospital than I do at home.

Is it possible to buy stock in a hospital? If so, I recommend GBMC stock.

Rolling in style

Over the weekend, we went up to Lancaster to see Gretchen's cousins, aunt and grandmother, since they couldn't make it to the shower. They gave the monkey a lot of great gifts, including what has to be the Maserati of strollers if not the Rolls-Royce. This thing has more style then I could hope for in a month of creative pants choices, opens itself, and even has a bug net. Plus, the wheels are big enough that I could put the bug net to good use and take it on safari, and we have some blankets that match the overall look. All in a package that's greener then my hybrid Camry.

Just the ride:

Getting ready for the safari:

Lay this thing down, flip it and reverse it

So, we saw a huge special on Amazon on Flip Video cameras and we got one "for the baby." The theory is, we'll take this small cheap camera with us wherever we go and just slip it in a pocket or a diaper bag. That way we can get quick, cute clips of whatever the monkey gets himself into. We'll still probably get a nicer camera for times that we know we have something we want to capture (birthdays etc), but this is nice for quick clips and the web.

Gretchen wanted a memory of her pregnancy and the profound statements made by "the preggo-brain". Below, submitted for your amusement, our first flip video:

Setting up the nursery (Apparently calling it a Monkey's Nest on Facebook was confusing)

Sunday, the shower fun continues... We couldn't bring Sharon's bookcase or the picture to the house on Saturday because of all the rain. On Sunday, it let up enough to get everything over, and to spend a couple of hours putting everything away and getting the room in order. This is basically what it will look like until he arrives and messes up our decorating scheme. We're still waiting for the actual crib and a glider/recliner to arrive as well - they should appear sometime mid-October. At least now we have a backup place for the baby to sleep besides my first idea - put a blanket in a drawer and let him sleep there. Apparently, a bare drawer is better, the biggest concern is the choking hazard of the blankie. Who knew?

An interesting thing about the room color - it really changes from olive/sage to bright green depending on the light and what else is in the room. I think it came together with the blue, but it looks totally different now then it did before. Which is cool, it ties the room together, but definitly highlights the risk of big, bold color - its not what it looks like on the swatch.

Here are the pics:

The view from the door:


A closeup on the corner



Looking at the other corner (the dresser is also a changing table and now has the changing pad on it, we got it later that afternoon)

But Ted, what will you guys do during the baby shower

Gretchen had her shower this weekend, and only she could really provide details of the shower itself, so I’m going to leave that to her.

Instead, here is what I and most of the boyfriends/husbands did:

Watch the UVA/Duke game at my house while

• Drinking some beer
• Eating delicious Italian sausage and assorted chips, dips, salsas etc.

Unfortunately, it rained enough that grilling was going to be difficult at best. That’s why I went with sausage over say, hamburgers – I know how to cook sausage on a stove but not a lot most other things like ribs or hamburgers. This is one of many lessons for my son – cooking is best done on open flames, not crazy indoor things.

Not surprisingly, at least for our generation, the shower had a de facto mixed gender after party. Most people ended up back at my house, where we confirmed that one of our friends is still a total lightweight. I also ran into a common (for me) hosting problem – she and I have almost opposite taste, and I don’t have stuff on hand, like cranberry juice, that I once did, now that Gret isn’t imbibing. I forgot that we had limeade, and actually whipped up something out of watermelon and cherry snowball syrup that was acceptable when mixed with vodka. These are the kind of skills that I want to pass on to my child. As well as a sense of style. If you squint really hard at the pictures of the nursery, you may notice that bookshelf contains

• Some really cute books in Spanish that Sherri gave him
• The hungry hungry caterpillar, which Sharon included when she painted the bookcase
• The scrawny tawny lion – my pick
• Ted Allen’s Everything A Man Needs to Know about Style

Gretchen is, how shall we say, not amused

The sudden influx of ladies who’d just been at a baby shower (and as Kevin put it, charge of estrogen that was suddenly interested in discussing their plumbing) lead to a vital and monumentous decision – we should go shooting. So off we went to Continental Arms (by TESSCO and the post office off McCormic/Padonia)

When we got there, we realized that I had some experience shooting, although mainly not in the US, James had never shot handguns, Chris knew what he was doing and knew the range and Kevin… Once we saw him in action, I’m a little scared of the seemingly gentle Kevin and his shooting ability…

Given the mix of shooting experience, we mixed up our choices and rented

• A concealed carry sized .40 (small and powerful, Kevin and Chris loved it, James and I thought it was too small)
• The standard Glock 17 (tried to get James to try the side pointed fast shooting, gangster style, but he wasn’t interested)
• A 1911a model .45 (My personal favorite. Huge though) and…
• A ridiculously large .44Magnum revolver. This is the gun from Dirty Harry. It’s a wrist breaker that we had no business shooting. Kevin still put six in the x-ring on his second go.

We then met the girls again for India Palace, and followed that with drinks at the house again. Given the theme of dinner, Chris and I broke into the Rangpur Gin. Highly recommended, but not quite Hendricks or Jin level.

All in all, a great day, and a nice mixing of traditional guy activities (Football, Beer, Guns) and getting ready for bambino.

Big and Beautiful

Check out this link from Perez Hilton -- Maryland's own Christian Siriano is launching a maternity line! Too bad I won't still be pregnant in Spring of '09.

http://perezhilton.com/2008-08-18-hot-mommas

In the single digits!

As of today, I officially have less than 100 days until my due date. Wow.......

Help Support the Economy!

Give a boost to our local economy (well, Target really isn't local, but still...) and check out our registries! Thank God for Ted's sister, because I would have been in serious trouble if she had not helped me get everything together.

We are also baby registered at the Apple Store (baby needs an iMac) and Nordstrom's (I can use a Kate Spade as a diaper bag, right?) and Beltway Liquors (we'll need some assistance getting through the first few weeks).

The registries are a work in progress, so check often (as of posting, only the Target registry is complete and posted!).

What We REALLY Need for the Baby

Many new-parents-to-be suffer from anxiety about the upcoming bundle of joy; a central theme of my personal anxiety is "How can I avoid traumatizing my child to the point where he will require therapy for the rest of his life?"

However, I love that other people have a different idea of what exactly will traumatize a child. Here is a great list of potential gifts for our child that will cause minimal trauma.

First Baby Purchase

Since Ted is creating the anti-registry (see below), I have been giving serious thought to the real registry. Yes, we have purchased and/or received a few little things for the baby (including a fantastic Dogfish Head Brewery onesie), we have yet to purchase anything of real value or use. One of the foremost concerns and major purchases is the stroller.

As parents to be, the stroller purchase has become more important than a major car purchase. And since my car is about the size of a large golf cart, we are very limited by space concerns.

So of course, being the snobs that we are, we find the single most expensive stroller on the market and promptly fall in love with it. Yes, the Maclaren, the Lexus of strollers, favorite of celebrities and yuppies everywhere, known for durability, small size, and style. And of course, the accompanying price take that can singlehandedly give you preeclampsia.

But there is a cheaper option! For a fraction of the cost of the big daddy strollers you can get just the base that you snap the car seat into (a "Snap and Go"), and voila! You have a stroller! The downside is that once the kid turns three to four months, you have to get a bigger stroller, but the non-infant ones are significantly cheaper.

And here is the best part -- normally the Maclaren version of this stroller runs around $90. Ted and I were in Babies 'r' Us (NEVER go here unless you have to or want to have an incentive to take extra birth control), testing out all the strollers. And yes, we were discussing turning radius, shock absorbers, upholstery, available upgrade packages-- it really is like buying a car! And then my brilliant husband saw it -- the floor model of the Maclaren version of the Snap and Go (the "Easy Traveller" -- nothing is easy when you have a baby). And here is the best part....

IT WAS ON SALE!!!!

So we grabbed that bad boy and wheeled it right out to the car (with a quick pit stop to pay for it, of course!).

Next logical step -- to see if we can put the cat in it and take him for a walk.

What not to get us

I know a few people have purchased random things for the baby (UVa bibs, drinking onesies, holiday themed outfits, Baby's first spotting scope, ceremonial tantos - it goes in, across then down, etc). However, there is one thing that we not only are not registering for, but has instead caused us to create the anti-registry:

The Belly Cast Kit


Yes, that's right, you can immortalize how big you were in paper mache. Reasons we're against this:

• You have to put it somewhere. Many of the reviews suggest hanging it on the wall with one euphemistically calling it "a conversation starter"
• The cat would sleep in it
• The nursery will be crowded enough with the baby, his stuff, the cat, the dog, me and the real Gretchen all visiting. No need to add a second, statue Gretchen
• Our friends would probably try to wear it (Matt)
• My friends or I would make an alien burst through it at some point
• It might get rigged to dispense beer (Phi Psi)
• Gretchen would make the cat sleep in it

Looking at the reviews, I can see why some people really like it. It seems like they may have had a lot of trouble getting pregnant, or that being pregnant was super important to them, and the fufillment of a dream. I think they also have more space then us, and possibly less creativity in terms of how things can get misused...

WOW!

Just yesterday I saw the first picture of myself since I got pregnant in which I REALLY look pregnant. It's kind of scary. Now I understand why people keep asking me about the baby when I haven't told them I'm pregnant. At least I don't look like I'm just fat anymore!

Preggo Brain

An interesting "side effect" of this whole process is the fact that I have gone completely stupid. It started innocently enough -- forgetting things, having to make detailed grocery lists, bumping into furniture. But now it's gotten out of control. Twice now I have driven all the way to the grocery store, only to not remember why I'm there and what I need. Three times in the past two weeks, I have started to make dinner, only to realize I am missing a crucial ingredient (i.e., tomato sauce for pizza, chicken breast for grilled chicken, pasta for pasta salad). I put a pizza in the oven today and came back 20 minutes later and got really annoyed that it wasn't ready yet. Yeah, that was probably because I didn't turn the oven on. Before that, I left my in-laws' house and grabbed a set of their car keys, then got really annoyed they didn't work on my car.

I'm in trouble. I'm only halfway done. If I get worse as I progress, I'm going to need a helper monkey by my 7th month.....

Boy oh Boy!

Houston, we have a penis! Last Friday (sorry for the slow post, it's been a crazy week), we found out that we're having a baby boy. While he was generally being uncooperative (refusing to uncurl long enough for the tech to get a good picture of him), he did manage to flash her pretty quickly, giving us a good shot of his, um, package. So Gilman School may have a new member of the class of 2027!

The ultrasound came back normal -- they couldn't see everything because of his position, so I have to have a repeat ultrasound in a few weeks. Everything they could see looks normal though -- pfew.

Now that the gender is known, we're down to figuring out names (we have some in mind, no, we're not telling), and decorating the nursery (again, we have ideas, but we're still figuring it out). Any theme suggestions are welcome!

Bend It Like Beckham and the End of the Innie

We are beginning to think that the child takes after its grandfather, the former college soccer star. On a daily basis, I'm feeling consistent kicking and moving that I can't blame on indigestion. It's not strong enough for other people to feel, but it certainly can be startling to me. I think the cat can feel it, because he's stopped sleeping on it. That, or the fact that my belly is definitely convex now, and it's making it harder for him to keep his balance.

I have read and heard that by the end of the 5th month, your belly button changes from an innie to an outie. For some reason, contrary to all logic, I just assumed I would suddenly wake up and my belly button would be sticking the wrong way -- kind of like a turkey thermometer. But it's a much slower process. Suddenly I'm noticing that the depth is decreasing on a daily basis -- it's almost even with the rest of my abdomen now. It's kind of creepy...

And some other news that I never thought I'd be able to share -- I have not gained enough weight during pregnancy! I'm still in a normal range, but at the low end. It's probably due to the fact that I had such bad morning sickness, and that junk food (with the exception of my much-beloved chocolate malts) grosses me out. I'm actually eating healthier now than I did before I was pregnant. So they're going to be keeping a close eye on me to make sure the baby is developing normally and is at a healthy weight.

Other news: Cystic fibrosis test negative, spina bifida negative. Pfew.

Next step: 20-week ultrasound this Friday -- checks for abnormalities, plus we can find out the gender! (Bets anyone?)

Pickles and Ice Cream, Anyone?

I have officially started the weird cravings. For the longest time, I didn't have cravings, just a very limited list of food that I could actually stomach. Now that I'm 17 weeks, the cravings have officially begun.

Examples of some recent meals:
- Fried green tomatoes, Belgian waffles, kiwi, bacon
- Brown rice, coffee cake, enchilada
- Bowl of strawberries, pumpkin seeds
- Bowl of cherries, bacon

The theme seems to be bacon and fruit. Interesting....

On another note, my due date has moved up because the baby is already big for its age (NOT a good sign...) -- I'm now due on November 12th!

Next step: 20 week ultrasound on June 23rd -- we are going to find out the gender (if the baby is being cooperative).

Want Baby Names?

Ever find yourself wishing "If only I could hear someone call out long lists of names, so I could see what they sound like and name my baby?" Wondering what to do with yourself on a Friday at 4:00pm? Have I got an offer for you!

Flutters

They're not real kicks, but there have been several times recently where Gretchen has stopped suddenly, and said "its moving..."

On a related note, things proceed apace. Gretchen is getting more noticeable and thinks she has heard the kids speculating about what to expect if she is expanding. This last charming phrase, is of course, the name of my primary reference guide for the pregnancy. Like many of my literary choices, Gretchen is most displeased with my reading preference.

First Baby Pics!

We had our first trimester genetic screening today. This test is designed to screen for Down's Syndrome, Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18. It's pretty much a big probability game, but by combining family history, blood work, and ultrasound results, they can determine the probability of the baby having a chromosomal/genetic abnormality.

The good news is that the preliminary tests have come back "negative", meaning I have a very low risk of genetic abnormality. The better news is that we got a bunch of super pictures from the ultrasound! For comparison purposes, we also have the 6-week ultrasound pictures.

Week 6 Ultrasounds -- It looks like a blob. It's the little lima bean looking thing at the bottom of the black mass.

Week 12 Ultrasound -- It actually looks like a baby!!! You can see its profile. The little bump on its face is the hand, and the leg and foot are on the far right.

It's waving hello!


No gender news yet; we'll find that out in mid-June.

Current cravings: Anything I can keep down -- everyone says the morning sickness ends after 12 weeks. They lied. I truly think it will never end....

That and dried cherries.

Next step: Doctor's appointment on May 21st.

Condensed Baby Tips

From the same folks who provided us with those invaluable pregnancy tips. Now we know what to do after the baby shows up.

http://www.c00lstuff.com/1133/Do_s_and_don_ts_with_babies/

Pregnancy tips in a condensed form

Loyal readers may recall that I commented on my generations attention span in my last post. Finally, someone has taken all of the complicated advice, dos and don'ts and best practices of childbirth and pregnancy, and distilled them into sound-bite sized chunklets. They even went so far as to illustrate them with cartoons, which, given the proliferation of adult swim and the 18 plus year run of the Simpsons, seems to be a great choice. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, the only pregnancy resource you will ever need:

http://www.officialdatingresource.com/pregnancy-tips/

Baby Monitoring for Millenials

SBefore anyone points it out in the comments, I am aware that Gretchen and I are actually the last days of Gen X (the very last in my case) and thus not technically Millenials. However, since we're on the edge, we exhibit trends of both groups.

One interesting trait of our population segment is that we're used to a lot of information flow. One potential negative aspect of that is that, as a generation, we have a touch of ADD. Baby development and monitoring has adapted to this; so far we've had a heartbeat monitor and an ultrasound and we'll have more ultrasounds, tests, scans, monitors and information as we proceed towards the actual birth then any other time in history. Even finding out you're pregnant happens far earlier, with greater accuracy and without having to see a medical professional. We think its really neat, older people sometimes seem surprised at how much we know and think that its strange to have so much monitoring.

Where does the tendency towards ADD come in? Gretchen would really like to be able to see things now, to be able to hear the heartbeat at home or take her own ultrasounds. Ideally, she'd probably like status emails and twitter posts from or about the baby. As fast as we get information, and as much as we get, it seems like a slow pace if you're used to digital markets and constant, user generated content. Like blogs. Wait a minute...

A Heartbeat!

Today we met with our OB/GYN, Dr. Debbie Hebb, for the first pre-natal appointment. After getting through a pile of paperwork (seriously, you need my insurance information how many times???), we actually got to do things related to the baby. The exam was normal (and Ted looked thoroughly awkward), but the best part came last -- we got to hear the heartbeat. Considering we discovered our miscarriage in January because we could not find a heartbeat, this was the moment of the most anxiety for me. But as soon as she placed the machine on my stomach, we could hear the heartbeat, strong and clear. Ted and I both think it sounded like a washing machine (which my mom says means it's a girl), and the heart rate was 170 beats per minute, perfectly normal for the age.

We also got the official due date of November 15, 2008.

Currently, I'm sick to my stomach, and looking forward to the fabled health and energy that comes with the second trimester.

Weird craving: Limes and deviled eggs.

Next step: Genetic counseling and screening on May 5th.