No baby news yet

Baby O has still not made his appearance, and aside from some Braxton-Hicks (fake) contractions, which have been going on for the last few weeks, has shown no signs of changing his mind any time soon. He is still kicking away in what feels like the same position he's been in. We keep trying to tell him that there's no room left, and that he can stretch out his legs much better as an outside baby, but he doesn't seem to be listening. He missed being born on Dave's mom Jerry's birthday (the 11th), and it looks like he's not going to be born today, which is my grandma's birthday...so it is still looking like the induction on the 26th is the most likely thing.

Dave has been cleaning out some of his boxes in the basement and came across a scrapbook that Jerry had put together. Included in it is the instruction book they gave her when she had Dave at Munson Army Hospital in Leavenworth. The 70s-era tips are hilarious, and they are very emphatic about things like not letting anyone sit on your bed and making everyone scrub their arms with soap and what I'm guessing was a surgical scrub brush for 3 minutes before touching the baby. They were provided with a cardboard bassinet for the baby, which Jerry still has and assures me it's not just a cardboard box...

They also recommend starting solid food at 4-6 weeks! They suggest cereal first, fruit & veggies at 6-8 weeks, and meat (strained beef, liver, lamb, chicken & veal, yum!) by 5.5-6 months! But above all, I think our favorite part of the manual, and the thing that makes it most evident that this was written for a military audience, was this:

"Help your child to fit gradually into your pattern of living. Do not allow everything to revolve around him. Remember that as he grows older he will have to learn to like and conform to society."

Still no progress

We had another doctor's appointment this morning. The baby is still doing fine, but has made himself very comfortable and is making very little progress toward being born. The doctor started talking to us about induction dates. We were having trouble deciding between the two dates she proposed- the 26th & 29th- so she sent us for an ultrasound to see how big the baby is. At this point in the pregnancy, I have heard that the weight estimates are of variable accuracy, but the baby, who they think is about 8 pounds, looked pretty cramped. Once the doctor heard the estimated weight, she immediately suggested the earlier induction date. So if the baby doesn't decide to arrive on his own, I will check into the hospital the evening of December 25th and they will start the induction early on the morning of the 26th.

Photo catch up, part 2: Nursery pics

We are hanging in there, just waiting for the baby's arrival. We have another dr's appointment tomorrow morning and are hoping there will have been some progress. The baby is due in 4 days but still seems pretty high up and feels like he's using my right kidney as a footstool at times. He gets the hiccups a lot - at least 6x yesterday! My doctor says she won't let me go more than 4-5 days past my due date, which seems like an eternity at this point. We are so excited to meet our little boy, and it is getting very difficult to be patient!

We both had work showers last week and our co-workers were incredibly generous, finding all sorts of cute & useful things for the baby. We have now finished setting up & stocking the nursery. One side of the room has his crib (crib skirt to be added later) and bookshelf:


and the other has the twin bed and dresser/changing table. Several friends highly recommended keeping the bed in the nursery, so we'll see how that works out. After he is born & named, we will probably hang the letters of his name above the changing table for decoration, sort of like a simpler version of this (and no, this is not a hint; his name is not Dane!).



His stuffed animals and the beautiful quilt (with great tactile squares!) made by Dena are waiting for him.


We still have to get a few more basics (I accidentally bought short-sleeved onesies the other day, so I have to go back and exchange them for long-sleeved ones), but most of his 0-6 mo. clothes are washed and in the closet or the dresser. It is hard to believe that he will be able to fit into such tiny outfits!


Dave's Uncle Kenny & Aunt Lynn got the baby this fantastic rocking panda. It was tested out tonight by the 17-month-old daughter of our friends, and she gave it her seal of approval.


We got a surprise package in the mail last week from the man who's taken care of insurance for Dave's parents and Dave for years. He works for Northwestern Mutual, "The Quiet Company," so the baby now has a great shirt proclaiming (hopefully truthfully!) "I'm a Quiet Baby!" Dave also got a geeky kick out of the other onesie, which has the equation calculating future value of an annuity.


One of the other things we got was the Diaper Champ, which had been recommended to us by Dave's cousin. I'm sure it will work great and be very useful, but when we got it out of the box, our geeky brains were amused to note its resemblance some familiar robots from science fiction. Surprisingly, an internet search turned up no other fellow nerds who have made/ marketed a skin for the Diaper Champ yet that makes it look either like R2D2 or the Daleks from Doctor Who!

Photo catch up, part 1

We are behind on posting photos, so I'm taking the quick way out and doing a couple of photo update posts.

During my parents' visit in mid-November, we took them down to one of their favorite KC restaurants, the Jack Stack BBQ in the Freighthouse District. Before dinner, we visited the beautifully restored Union Station, which was in the process of being decorated for the holidays.

Dave & I met for our first date 4 years ago under the clock in the background of this picture.




These are a few from the fun shower that Katie threw for me. Katie and Stacey setting up the delicious food:


and the fabulous Red Wings jersey cake that Katie made. Eric was apparently providing suggestions on the appropriate number of spokes and feathers as she decorated it!


Several friends have strongly suggested keeping the twin bed in the nursery as a sanity-saving device. We weren't sure it would fit, but it seems to be okay. The baby has stuffed animals waiting for his arrival - a soft blue elephant I bought, Warren the Bear that Dave brought back from the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders' meeting, and Georgie, the stuffed dog that belonged to Jerry and Dave as children.



The nursery is pretty much set up now, so more photos will be coming!

17 days to go (or somewhere around there)

We had our weekly appointment with our regular obstetrician today. Everything is looking fine, but she said she couldn't be sure whether the baby was in a head down position or still breech, so she wanted to do an ultrasound. Dave & I didn't volunteer that last week the nurse practitioner had said that the baby was definitely head down- we wanted to see the baby again! The ultrasound tech confirmed that he is in a great head down position, and is definitely a boy! In the profile picture above, I think the tech said his head is on the right side, his nose & mouth are those bumpy things (it looks like he's puckering his mouth), and one of his punchy little fists is the circle at the top left.

He was being a little shy at first but she wanted to confirm that it's a boy, so she shook a pill bottle close to my stomach to get him to move, and he could definitely hear it! We could watch him move in response, which was very cool. Dave reads him stories and talks to him and this was just visual confirmation that the baby can hear him. I have also noticed that several times when I'm playing guitar over the last few weeks, the baby has decided it's great fun to kick the back of my guitar! He has been very active this afternoon, moving and kicking, and has another case of the hiccups, which he gets a few times a day.

This weekend we are doing some last-minute preparation for the baby's arrival. We have decided to move our small bookcase into the nursery so we can have a place to put the baby monitor and store his growing collection of children's books. I have found some wonderful ones during my work with kids, so I'm excited to read them to the baby when he is born.

Getting close!

We have been getting ready for the baby's arrival. He is due in about 2 1/2 weeks!! I am feeling pretty good, just continuing to deal with some acid reflux and tiredness. We have our weekly dr's appointment tomorrow morning. At our last appointment we were able to record the baby's heartbeat on my cell phone and play it for the grandparents, which was neat. We have a pediatrician and daycare lined up and have started packing our hospital bag. I made one casserole to freeze, and am planning on making yummy stuffed shells this weekend and freezing most of those so we can have some easy meals after the baby's arrival.

We have had two lovely showers in the last few weeks, one hosted by Katie (while Eric entertained the guys at his place) and a family shower last Sunday over at Dave's Uncle Kenny & Aunt Lynn's house. I only have a few pictures from the first shower, and none from the family one, but I know that Stacey, Cara, and Jerry were taking some, so I'll post some of those when I get them.

The baby's nursery is almost ready, thanks to help from Rob & Angela last weekend. Rob & Dave rearranged the furniture & put together the crib, and Angela advised on furniture arrangement and showed Dave how to install the car seat. I have been washing baby clothes & blankets and getting those organized in the closet & dresser. It is feeling a little more real now that the nursery's mostly complete, and we are getting very excited!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are headed over to Herb & Jerry's house in an hour or so for Thanksgiving dinner, and have been having a nice, lazy morning so far. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families & friends. Hope you all have a great day and safe travels!