Behold the Belly

Finally, the belly shots!

We'll be doing weekly shots and posting them here until the baby is born so you can all see the progress.

I had to get this photo in, especially with this shirt that Jenn gave me for father's day. I admit it, I am responsible!

Getting Ready!

It's just amazing to me that we'll be 24 weeks pregnant tomorrow! If this pregnancy follows family tradition, we really have only about 12-14 weeks before we welcome Baby Mayer into the world. I think back to when I was 12 weeks pregnant--when we began to tell the world our exciting news--and how I thought I had all the time in the world before we'd actually meet our son or daughter. The gap is closing very fast and while I am trying to really enjoy the present--the pregnancy--I am getting increasingly excited to meet our little one! Of course, I am also getting increasingly nervous--I still cannot completely believe that Doug and I will soon be someone's parents.

Because time is getting short, we set aside last weekend to clean out our second room and prepare it for baby. Doug's mom and bro came over to help us organize, clean, prep and paint the baby's room! It looks like a baby's room now--a pleasant light green. The baby's Aunt Catherine and Uncle Dan gave us the green paint over a year ago--it wasn't quite what they wanted for their own bedroom but, as Aunt Catherine suspected, it is a perfect baby's room color. Thank you, Dan and Catherine!

Room Before

Sharon (Doug's mom) and Chris (Doug's bro) provided incredible help! Since I had to stay away from primer and paint (not to mention the wall-cleaning solution), they helped Doug tremendously and the room looks so good! More than that, it FEELS SO GOOD to have such a major project done! When we walk in the room, we can imagine a crib against the wall and soon, a baby sleeping in that crib in the brightest and cheeriest room in our home. We could not be so ready without their help--thanks SO much, Mom and Bro! We will post photos of the nursery-in-progress soon! Doug received a fantastically fancy camera for his birthday but had to return it. It had some pixel problem. Once we get the replacement, we'll make sure to add photos!

I had my second-to-last monthly appointment with our OB today. All looks good! Dr. B saw the baby move across my abdomen as she was listening for his/her heartbeat--this little one is SOOO active! I am sure he/she is simply getting bigger and stronger, and therefore I feel him/her so much more. Last night, as I was falling asleep, he/she just thumped, thumped, thumped relentlessly--I wonder how much more crazy his/her movements will become as he/she gets bigger! I know that my body is finally feeling the strain of the kid--I have pretty constant lower back pain and have gained a total of about 7-8 lbs--hopefully I am about halfway through the weight gain (I honestly shouldn't gain more than 15-20 lbs total).

And I must share that Dr. B thinks the baby is a girl! She doesn't know and, in fact, no one does! I had her check the chart to see if anything indicated sex. She said no. So, what I thought might have been a slip on our NP's part, wasn't a slip! NP thinks the baby is a boy, and Dr. B thinks girl! For the longest time I was sure it was a boy, then a girl, now--I just don't know. My mom had a girl first, my grandmother had a girl first (well, only a girl), and my great-grandmother had a girl first (out of 4) but I don't think that means much! Sharon was her parents' first child yet she had a boy first. Looks like we are back to honestly not knowing--just where we want to be. Hooray!

School begins next week! I am taking one class and continuing my research work. I am excited about getting back to school--this is my last class and hopefully I can begin writing my thesis next semester and graduate perhaps next fall. We are also taking a childbirth class, beginning in October. I'll hopefully finish both classes (English and childbirth) right before Thanksgiving--just in case the little one (following family tradition) makes an early entrance. We'll see!

The Long Lost Dad

Sorry about the absence from the blog here, but, as usual, I've been fairly busy. Between work and home, I wonder how I will ever keep up when the baby comes. From what my friends and workmates have told me, they also had the same fear. The consensus seems to be that, like everything else, you just do what you need to do.

In the post below, Jenn related our unplanned trip to the hospital and what that entailed. I wanted to wait until she said something before I chimed in on that evening as I think it was her story to tell. As for me, I was also frightened, but I had the feeling that nothing was really wrong. Everything up until that point indicated that the baby was healthy, developing normally and that we couldn't hope for a better pregnancy. With those thoughts in mind, I just couldn't bring myself to believe that, suddenly, something was amiss. However, I wasn't fully convinced until the moment the nurse applied the fetal monitor to Jenn's belly and we heard that now familiar fast-beating heart. I knew then everything was alright.

One thing in particular that was not alright about that evening (besides the general scare of being at the ER) was how I felt I was treated by the attending nurse. By the time we left the hospital it was around midnight, we were exhausted and I didn't think much about it. I mentioned it to Jenn on the way home, but didn't really start thinking about it till the next day. Now, I was extremely happy about the way Jenn was cared for and treated while we were there, so I have no complaints in that area. However, I felt I could have been an inatimate object for all the attention that I was paid during our nearly two-and-a-half hours we were in the room. In that whole time the nurse spoke directly to me twice -- once to say something I can't remember and the other time to tell me there is a remote control for the tv on the bedside table.

Justifiable or not, this irked me. As if I was just going to sit back, relax and watch the tube while my wife was laying not two feet from me worrying about the health of our baby. Jenn was, rightfully, the focus of attention that evening and like I said, I was very happy with her treatment. But at the same time, I would like to believe that my presence serves some purpose and I want to be involved during the pregnancy. Unfortunately, the nurse did not even include me in any of the conversations she had with Jenn while we were there.

I don't know...maybe it was just that particular nurse, or maybe she wasn't really trying to exclude me, or maybe that is standard procedure and it really bugs me because I want to be involved and even though I'm not pregnant, I am still a part of this event. Anyway, sorry about the mini-rant...I'm just hoping that night was not indicative of our future visits. Hope I'm not being a prat.

I finally started reading "The Expectant Father", which was loaned to me by Tracy's brother, Dan. I'm a little late starting into it, but I had to finish reading Harry Potter! The book is great so far, although it is going over many of the things Jenn has already been through, but it is still very informative. I was a bit hesitant to start reading these parenting books, mainly because it would make me realize how much I don't know and then I would freak out and feel like I need to ready every parenting book I could get my hands on. That is the classic engineer in me -- I need to know exactly how to do everything. I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I'm just going to have to wing a lot of stuff from here on out!

Oh, and how cool is it to feel the baby kicking mama's belly?! Such a trip.

More pregnancy adventures!

They just keep coming!

We are officially 22 weeks along today...if baby is born, he/she is "viable" outside of the womb. Weird to think this...of course, it is not the ideal situation. We want him or her to bake for at least another 15 weeks...we want to get through Thanksgiving, remember?!??! This pregnant lady wants to be able to enjoy her turkey, stuffing and--most of all--pumpkin pie!

So, we have had a couple of weeks of adventures! To begin, we took our first trip to Clovis Community Hospital last week, and specifically, to the Labor and Delivery wing. It was not under the most ideal of circumstances, however. I got back from dog training with Grizzly last Wednesday (a week ago) and found that I was bleeding. You can guess how. Then I began to cramp. According to our doctor's instructions, we went to the ER. We ended up finally in L&D where they hooked me up to the fetal monitor, gave me a shot to relax uterine contractions, got another ultrasound, and generally monitored me until about midnight (we got to the ER around 7). It was really frightening...I don't recall being more confused or scared in my life.

As it turned out, baby was totally fine (super-active, in fact) and I am fine, too. I am on a somewhat restricted routine...at least for the short term. Not too hard because school has yet to begin and I am taking this semester off from teaching--so thank goodness for that.

I guess there was bound to be at least one scary moment in this pregnancy--I am glad it turned out the way it did...just fine. And, we did get a preview of where we will eventually give birth...it's a nice place! The nurses took exceptional care of me and it was very peaceful and cozy. Doug noticed another pregnant mama (who was there to give birth) walking around the ward and they had posters up explaining the importance of skin-on-skin contact immediately after birth, so...all good signs of a somewhat progressive birth environment.

So, whew...everything's fine. And just to make sure, I was told to visit my OB this week. I went in yesterday and our NP confirmed that all seems fine. My uterus now extends above my navel and baby's growth is right on track. When we were listening to the heartbeat, I thought it sounded somewhat slower, so I asked if everything seemed okay. My NP said yes, it's a _____, right?

OOOPS. Did she do what I just thought she did? I am hoping she was simply asking the question, not confirming what she thought we already knew? Doug refuses to hear what she said, which makes it somewhat worse! I won't tell him (or anyone) which gender she indicated but it's hard to keep this secret, if in fact what she indicated is true! I am also somewhat disappointed, I was really looking forward to hearing Doug, at the birth, tell me if we have a son or a daughter. I suppose we still won't know FOR SURE until then, right?

The adventures continue, don't they?

It's Doug's 33rd birthday on Saturday! We are getting together with some friends from church to play pool and whatnot...it should be a great way to celebrate Doug! We also plan to spend his birthday cleaning out our second room...in preparation for Doug's mom and bro to come and help us begin to get what will become the nursery ready for baby! I'll post photos of our progress...

Kicking!

So, I think Baby Mayer (boy or girl) will definitely play soccer...perhaps professionally from how he or she has been kicking me lately! He/she is only about a pound at this point but wow...can I ever feel this little one moving and kicking.

Either a soccer player or a kicker in the NFL, right, Uncle Dan?