When will Abby be Here?

We've put up a Baby Pool!!

No registration is required and the winner takes all. (It's free, so there's nothing to take! Maybe we'll get you a Starbucks giftcard.)

You get to guess at the date, time, gender (duh), weight and height.

Here's how:

1. Click on this link: http://www.expectnet.com/games/Abby-Birth-Pool
2. Click on "Enter A Guess"
3. Follow the directions.
4. WIN?

There is a pop-up on the other site, but that's what makes it free.

In talking to my sister last night she mentioned that she might want to comment specifically on her guess. Please, everyone, feel free to do that on this site in the Comments section.

Good luck to all!

*This will take the place of the weekly poll until Abby has arrived!

Quick Updates

I took pictures of Anny the other day, but have not downloaded them from the camera yet. I'll hopefully get to that today, now that our power is working again. (see here for that story.)

Anny is still feeling good and thinks that she can make it to the 12th. That's our self-imposed target date! Anny's mom will be here on the 11th, and Gramps will be able to be back on this side of the Bay at that point too. Oh yeah, and she's already got a sub lined up from the 12th through the end of the school year.

It's fun to say that we're going to wait until the 12th. It's almost like we truly believe that either of us have any say in how things happen now!

We did set up the Pack N Play last night, which seems like it was the last missing piece before baby comes home!

On a side note - did you know that you should not use baby powder on babies? It can cause chronic breathing problems later on. Maybe they should change the name.....

New Poll: How Much is Too Much?

We've gotten many gifts, and we're thankful for all of them! We are, though, having a debate in our house.

How much pink is too much pink?

As the pictures would show, we have taken an intentional approach to not painting Abby's room pink. We knew she was a girl really early on in the planning stages, and chose to go with the neutral blue and green. Strollers, car seats, pack-n-play and such are not pink on the registry. We want a girl and are more-than-excited to be having a girl join our little slice of the world.

But.

There's always a But, right?

We're both feeling a little like we're drowning in a pink ocean. We have gotten several of everything in pink. We also have made an effort to not buy too many things on our own, knowing that we would receive gifts. (Which I restate, we are apreciative of!) What we have purchased has mostly been white.

So, the new poll is: How much pink is too much pink? Vote on the right side ~~>>

"Maybe I'll see you for your appointment in two weeks"

Anny had an OB appointment today, and here's what was said:


1 cm dilated
50% effaced
"I can feel the baby's head" (said by the doctor)


Odds are that the baby will be here earlier rather than later!

Quick Updates

We got car seat bases installed in both cars this weekend. Even had them checked out by our (best friend) mechanic. Got the okay to put the baby in!

We spent some time with Abby's future husband options. Evan (2 1/2 years old) and Luke (1 month old) will make perfect suitors. Let's hope that the case will be the same in 35 years! Evan is fun to chase around the house. He was hiding behind the sheer curtains an yelling loudly as I was "searching" to find him. CUTE!!

The weekly baby-update from Pregnancy.org reminded us that in one week Abby will be considered full term and ready to spring out of there! Anytime between 37 and 42 weeks is considered full term. I'm not sure what happens after 42 weeks?

If you look at the ticker above, it's amusing. :o) For the record, I do not control what the commentary is.

There are four teachers at Anny's school expecting children this spring. Three of those four have now had theirs. Anny's getting nervous about that statistic, I think. I'll update on that again soon.

That's the update for today.

Baby Class Six: Last One!

Last night we got to learn the "Baby Care" part of the Birth and Baby Care class. It was much more upbeat and everyone was much more talkative. In other words, I got to make jokes for everyone, not just Anny.

Some things I learned last night:
Wipe front to back. Not being a girl myself, this is helpful and new info to know!
No alcohol on the umbilical stump. It will fall off on it's own.
No sunscreen for the first six months. That will make our secret trip tricky this summer.
Babies sleep for 14 hours a day and poop four times. I'm jealous on both accounts.
NO baby powder. I have always thought that baby powder is for babies. Apparently it can be inhaled and cause some sort of respiratory infections.

We did get to practice putting diapers onto the very rigid mannequins. We also practiced swaddling them. (wrapping the baby securely in a blanket)

So, with our certificate in hand we're ready to have this baby. That's all it takes, right?

I think we'll have a lot of learning on the job.......

May 11 Ultrasound Pic!

Here's our little girl! This past Friday the pictures were better, but she was being quite a pain.

At this stage in the pregnancy, when they do an ultrasound they have to see her "practice breathe" for 30 seconds. She's obviously not breathing breathing, since she's lazing around in fluid! It's the way that her body prepares for life on the outside.

Once the technician started to look for her breathing, she went to sleep. The three of us (Anny, the tech and I) were pushing on the belly trying to wake her back up. Nothing. Ten minutes with the probe on Anny's belly. Nothing.

When the doctor came in to take a look, and she immediately woke up and started her practice breathing. Already a smarty pants.

Everything looks really good!

Last night we registered for our hospital stay! We didn't make a reservation or anything, but this way I don't have to deal with paperwork when she is in labor and yelling at me! It's actually a pretty cool thing to be able to do in advance. Whenever I have had surgery I've wasted so much time filling out paperwork or waiting for someone to finish typing stuff as I'm saying it. "NO. 60th PLACE, not ROAD!"

On to another topic: I need something from you all, but you can't post it as a comment here. I want to have a bunch of good, lame, funny, et cetera jokes to have ready to go while Anny is laboring. Don't post them here, because she reads here. Send them along to me at Abby's email address, which Anny does not check! (abigailmonroe@gmail.com) Let's leave the gross ones out.

My plan is to write them down on 3x5 cards and just pull them out from time to time. Steph - you said that Ben had a really good one to share. Please send that one along!

Weekly Poll 3: The Daddle

I stumbled onto one of the more interesting things that we have found so far during this pregnancy.

At work we talk about the things that we will have as parents that the generation before did not have. (We also talk about the things that they had that their elders did not have, like seat belts.) Often it's things that have helped along the way, but others are just silly.

I give you........The Daddle.

Yes, the Daddle. It's a saddle for dad to wear while playing horsey for their small child. Read more about it on their website: www.daddle.com.

So, the poll for this week:
Is the Daddle the weirdest/craziest/most useless parenting product you have heard of?

If you answer no, please let me know what else you've heard about!

"You look like you're about to POP!"

"You look like you're about to POP!" "When are you due?" "You're as big as a house!" "How many more weeks?" "You look tired" and other frank and sometimes rude statements have been made. Everyone from the custodian who cleans my classroom and my students to family members. We have five more weeks and yes, I am pregnant, carrying a five pound baby and all the equipment that she requires. I wish instead, someone would tell me how great I look (other than Rob, he's been very good about appreciating my growing body and although he teases me about my belly button, it's with affection). I do not waddle nor do I complain to everyone who will listen that I am tired of being pregnant. I have enjoyed my pregnancy and knowing there is a beautiful baby girl getting ready to meet us. So please, if you know an expectant mother take a moment and tell her how wonderful she looks - she'll appreciate it.

To my second topic, since I hardly ever blog... my mother, God bless her, offered to give us a "Shower in a Box" - an opportunity for friends and relatives who could not be at one of our many flattering baby showers to send us gifts and well wishes. She and I discussed who should be included, my aunt and cousins in Iowa, a couple friends I still keep in touch with from high school and college, and church members I grew up with. Last week, SIX large boxes of gifts arrived. Many of the people Rob had never met, the principal of the school where my mother works, my mother's PEO sister who was my high school guidance counselor, and members of the church who joined after I left for college. As I tried to explain to Rob who some of these people were, there were also names I did not even recognize as someone my mother had ever mentioned to me, much less met me or Rob. We both felt very awkward as we sat in our house, all alone, opening gifts from strangers. The Thank You notes will be interesting to write.

I'll finish by talking about Mother's Day. It was last year at this time when the grocery store cashier wished me a Happy Mother's Day and I had that terrible sinking feeling. Although I was polite and thanked him, I couldn't let it go. Rob and I had started talking about fertility treatments and had decided to try again. This year I have no fear of Mother's Day greetings (Rob even got me a gift) and Abby may even be here in time to celebrate Father's Day!

Baby Class Five: Push, but DON'T Push

Last night we had our class that included "mock labor." There was an involved story about waking up to contractions (not waking Rob) and doing some breathing. now practice breathing.

Now contractions are a little stronger.... practice breathing with the four count.

Now you've gotten to the hospital because contractions are x minutes apart and last for x seconds.... practice breathing the next count. (I think it's two. Seems like natural progression.)

You get the picture! When we got to the "Now push, but don't push" part, Anny just had to hold her breath for an eight count, then let it go. I asked if the teacher ever had someone actually push during the practice stuff and induce their own labor. I was assured that it had not happened on her watch!

The entire mock labor lasted about 20 minutes. We were told nicely "okay, when it really happens it will be more like 14 hours, but that was easy, right?!"

The other big thing we did was go over all of the immediately-after-birth procedures and such.
Here's the ice pack that we use. Pass it around.
Here's the wonderful mesh panties you always hear about. Pass them around.
Here's what Tucks medicated pads look like. Pass them around.
Here's the massive maxi pad product that you will use. And you will appreciate it. Pass it around.

Sounds like fun.

Doctors appointment earlier this week said that measurements are right on track, so the earlier week-and-a-half-ahead is not the case anymore. Doesn't have to go back for two weeks to that office.

Another ultrasound today. Hopefully we'll get better pictures this time to share!

Baby Class: Bonus Classes!

This weekend we got TWO bonus baby (oriented) classes!

Saturday we toured the RIGHT hospital, but could not see any of the L&D or postpartum rooms because they were either in use or not cleaned from the prior use. We did get to see the nursery and hear about some of the procedures specific to our hospital. They told us that we should call mid-week and have a tour with one of the nurses to see the rooms. I don't think we'll be doing this.

Major downside that they reminded us of: it's a vegetarian hospital! I have had surgery there before and been subject to the "sloppy joe" that they serve, but every time that I leave, I forget. They will do meat meals for patients that require it, but you can't buy any meat from the cafeteria, which is where I will get my food from. Definately not planning on any "chicken tenders" or anything like that. I think I'll bring my own pizza or something....

Don't get me wrong, I respect the fact that we have chosen to use a faith-based hospital system and that part of their belief structure is being vegetarian. I'm just gonne have a sour face every time I remember that my "sausage" is not from a pig!

The other class was on Breastfeeding. Neither of us got much from it, as it was mostly taught and not conversational. I did see more nipples than I ever needed to, and have no desire to see boobs for a long while. (It will pass, I'm sure. I'm still a guy!)

The grossest part was that the teacher circulated a page with different types of poo on it. IN COLOR! I won't describe here, but if you have a strong stomach, you're welcome to visit HERE to see some examples. Yum. At least the pics on the linked site don't have baby-boys-bulging-boys.

That's all the baby classes I could handle for the weekend, so we're off until Thursday and our mock-labor!

05 04 Ultrasound

Friday we went in to see Abby close up, but none of the pictures that they gave us were any good. Mostly just blurs.

She measured in at 5 lb 3 oz! That made Anny really nervous.

The general rule of thumb is that you'll gain a pound a week during the last several weeks leading up to the baby's birth. We still have six weeks to go, and Anny did the quick math to figure out that Abby will be an 11 pound baby! Thank goodness she didn't ask me, but asked the doctor if she were mistaken.

It is true that MOM will gain about a pound a week, but baby will gain a quarter to half a pound a week. The rest is fluid and such.

Overall everything is going really well and things are on track. We will now have weekly ultrasounds because of Anny's thyroid. This is especially exciting because she keeps scheduling them for Friday afternoons, which means I get to leave work early!

Baby Class 4: "Just in Case"

Last night was our fourth (of six) birth and baby classes. This is the one that they over prepped me for, though it has calmed my brain down a bit.

I appreciate that they have a class specifically for things that "might come up" and we should prepare for, just in case. We started with the easy stuff, the baby vacuum and the forceps. We got into fetal monitors, both internal and external.

Then came the video. The Cesarean section video.

The video was not nearly as bad as I had prepared myself for. I think that's partly due to hearing more directly from our best-of-friends less than three weeks ago about their experience. Once again, there were things in the video that were being amended by the class leadership as it went along. MAKE NEW VIDEOS!! Call TLC, they have plenty!

These classes, though outdated most times, are good for putting video to what I've read over the last eight months. I am hoping that Anny is feeling the same way.

We did some relaxation exercises, too. We started with a visual trip to the beach. I immediately said "yeah, us red heads and the beach. relaxing." I'm guessing that Abby feels the same way too! As soon as we began to visualize the beach, she started trying to run in Anny's belly! It was funny for both of us.

Next week is practice labor. That should be interesting.... "PUSH, but not really!"

This afternoon we have an ultrasound scheduled. I doubt that I'll get the pics up today, but will hopefully get to it tomorrow. Tomorrow is our hospital tour at the right hospital, too.