When the big day arrives -- All the details you need to get to the hospital

The big day is nearing, and it's time to begin all the final preparations.  Mike keeps pointing out that we really need to pack our "go bag."  He has mastered the route to the hospital and has a few back-ups as well, just in case.  

While we make all our final preparations, I thought I'd share details for all of you as well.  For those who are hoping to be able to come meet the baby soon after his arrival, I want to make sure you're equipped with the information you need.

We're giving birth at: 

Caritas Norwood Hospital

800 Washington Street

Norwood, MA 02062

The entrance to the parking for the hospital is actually on East Hoyle Street, so if you're mapping directions to the hospital, you might want to use the intersection of Washington and East Hoyle as your destination.  After turning into the hospital, you'll pass the emergency ambulance parking and see the entrance for general parking (a ticketing arm) on your right.  Once you're parked, you'll enter the hospital through the main entrance (not the emergency entrance, which is just to the left of the main entrance).  Walk down the hallway to the end and turn right.  Then, take an immediate left.  You'll see the elevators on your right.  Maternity is located on the 2nd floor.  It's the only thing on the floor, so it's very easy to find.  The unit is locked, so you'll have to wait for a nurse to let you in and then they can help you.

Visiting hours are 1pm to 8pm each day.  They try to stick to these hours as much as possible, though if someone must visit in the morning they can try to work it out.  They do have a waiting room if people are there during the labor (only two people are allowed into the labor room, and those must be the same two people throughout - no switching someone in for someone else). That said, the waiting room is small -- only about 6 , maybe 8, people could fit in there comfortably.  If you're in the waiting room at 8pm and the baby isn't born yet, you're welcome to stay as long as you're quiet and respectful, but the only real pay-off you'll get is being able to see the baby through the nursery window.  You won't be able to see me or the baby in person until the next day at 1pm.  

They emphasized that they aren't mean but they do try to keep a very quiet, peaceful enviornment for all of the moms in labor.  If it's a quiet day and we're the ony ones there, then they're much more flexible.  That said, they said people should try to just plan to come between 1pm and 8pm if possible.  

Mike and I should both have our cell phones, so feel free to give us a call to plan your visit.  

If Daddy gets his way...

Mike's already decided the destiny of our son. Part of his birthday gift to me was the shirt shown below, which I'm sporting after one of my yoga classes. When I opened the gift, he smirked and said, "It's really not for your. It's more for me." He's already trying to coax the baby to follow in his footsteps!

Place Your Bets!

Danielle's side of the family has created a 50-50 pool on guessing the baby's arrival date.  Each day is broken into AM (12:00:00am - 11:59:59am) and PM (12:00:00pm - 11:59:59pm).  Each block is $10.  The person who guesses the correct day and AM/PM will get half of the pot, with the other half going to the baby.  The time is when the baby is officially born.  I've posted the official picks here [http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pfpCAxEPPfTgJW3JrrKA4bA].  Let me know if there are any mistakes or questions on the rules.

If anyone else would like to start a pot or join this one, let me know!

34 Weeks: Happy Holidays!

It's amazing how quickly time is flying. Christmas has officially passed and we're currently looking at 5 weeks and 5 days until the predicted big day. I've continued working on the nursery slowly but surely. The latest addition was all the clothing. I washed things that I think we'll need in the early weeks and organized all the rest and stashed it away in drawers. I ended up not washing any of the newborn sized clothes, which fit 5-8 lb babies. If the early ultrasounds are accurate, our little (or not-so-little) guy may never fit into those! We're keeping them on hand just in case he decides to make an early arrive, but hopefully that won't be the case. If all goes as planned, we'll just exchange them down the line for some larger clothes once we're no longer so fully stocked from all the generous gifts we've been given.

Our classes continue to go well, and I'm taking full advantage of being able to ask any questions we have. I keep asking Mike if I'm dominating too much, but he says absolutely not. That's why we're there after all - to ask all the questions! One week, we learned about non-medicated pain management techniques such as breathing and positions. Then, this past week, we learned about our medicated options. I must say, the idea of an epidural terrifies me far more than any possible amount of pain. For those of you who know me well, you know that I'm fairly controlling. I don't deal well with a lack of control, particularly when it comes to my own body. The idea that I would not be able to even feel the contractions, much less get up and go to the bathroom (up to a whole 6 to 8 hours after the epidural is removed!), almost makes me want to cry. When I was little and my brother wanted to torture me (which was quite often), he would sit on my legs. I would panic when I couldn't move them on my own free will. Even today, Mike knows never to put his leg over mine in bed or anything like that. I don't know why, but I simply freak out whenever I can't move my legs, so I don't think that I'd do well with being unable to move them for hours upon hours. Therefore, we're hoping that we'll be able to use all of our non-medicated management techniques to bring the little guy into the world. This is actually not very common any more. At our hospital, 80% of women have epidurals, 15% have c-sections, and only a mere 5% deliver without any medication. Women have certainly embraced the medical revolution of epidurals, but we're going to try to be old school. Both Mom and Liz, who delivered both Mike and me without any medication, have assured me that birth is a natural process that your body is built to handle and that it's really quite manageable with some support and knowledge about techniques to keep you focused and calm.

On that note, thanks for the musical selection suggestions. Mike took a few of them as Christmas gift ideas, so now I have to take the time to listen to them and see which ones seem to have the right "vibe." That said, they say women in labor are very indecisive -- one minute they're saying to turn the music on and literally a minute later they're saying to turn it off.

Most recently, we've been enjoying the holiday season. It kind of came upon us unexpectedly. Since our house is all torn apart for the floors, we weren't able to put a tree or decorations up this year, which definitely took away from my usual holiday build-up. However, we weren't actually at our house for Christmas, so it's OK. We enjoyed Christmas Eve with the Princeton Papes, and then spent the night with Mike's family and were able to enjoy Christmas morning with them around the tree. We then headed over to my Aunt Cindy's house for Christmas afternoon, where we had a great day with my family, minus Mom, Dad, Jimmy, and Leah, who at least made their presence by phone. The festivities continue, as tomorrow we head over to Aunt Carol's for the Ribeiro Christmas. The baby has made out quite well this holiday season, being showered with gifts from all sides before he's even made his arrival! It's clear that he's going to be one much-loved little guy.

On the development front, the baby continues to pack on the pounds. This week, he's about the size of a cantelope. I'm now to the point where I visit the doctor every week. This week, she checked his position on the ultrasound, and he's right where he should be - head down. At this point, she said there's little chance that he'll turn breech, since there's so little room in there.

I'm continuing to search for child care, but the woman who coordinates the network of providers I was calling suggested I wait until early January after the holidays, so I put the brakes on that operation. She assured me that I wouldn't be hurting my chances at all by waiting a couple more weeks but in fact helping them since no one really wants to (or has the time or sanity to) talk about openings at this point. Hopefully, she's right!

Finally, while Christmas was yesterday, the holiday season still continues through the New Year, so hopefully I'm not too late to send my wishes your way. Here's to wishing you and your families all the best. We're greatly looking forward to 2009 and are hoping that it brings blessings all around. Please stay safe this holiday season and take a moment to enjoy all it's joys, wherever it may find you.

Looks very cute, right? The Pape brothers up on Christmas morning, sitting at the piano, filling the house with their soft notes of music. The truth? They're really playing the Halloween theme song. So much for the Christmas spirit.

The Pape kids (Rob, Chrissy, and Jen) dive into their presents.

Liz and John (Jen's fiance) watch the happy gift recipients.

Larry sports all of his gifts at once, including the warm fleece vest we gave him. We'll see if he's actually brave enough to wear the Yankees cap down the slopes.


Mike received a car washing kit from the car wash master, Uncle Dan, to help him care for his sporty new Subaru. Included with the kit was a set of directions, authored by Uncle Dan himself. In true Uncle Dan style, every other step was to drink a beer and admire your work. Needless to say, the kit included a six pack of Sam. I don't think that will make it to the first warm weather car wash, though!


Aunt Dee and Uncle Dan


Aunt Cindy showing off the cordless screw driver we gave her.


Uncle Jim and Uncle Dan in typical form.


Aunt Linda and Aunt Dee


Chelsea, Nicole, and me -- the Bancroft girls

Dad's Corner: Place Your Bets

We want to let people put their guesses down for when the baby will be born.  I'm not good at this stuff, but what I was thinking of doing was sharing a spreadsheet that everyone can fill out.  For those that don't have internet access (what is this, the 80s?), you will need to tell someone to fill out your information.  I'm thinking of three different categories, date/time, weight, and length.  The spreadsheet will be easy to use, just your name and your guess.  I'll put instructions on how to use it in case there is any confusion.  Does this sound ok to everyone?  Do we want prizes?  What should they be?

Things have been pretty busy around here.  The floors are coming along slowly but surely.  It's a good thing I don't get paid by the hour because this would be getting expensive.  Our classes are going well.  We got to watch some movies in the last one to prepare us for what will come.  The day is fast approaching, so we're doing as much preparing as we can.

I'm sure I'll see most of you during the holidays, but Happy Holidays to those that I don't.

Baby's Words of Wisdom: "Blagojevich ain't got nothin' on me.  If the price is right, I'll come out yesterday!"

32 Weeks: Demolition and Creation

As we near one of the biggest possible upheavals in our lives, we're surrounding ourselves with plenty of other commotion. As Mike mentioned, he's in the process of ripping all of the flooring out of our entire first floor, the stairs up to the second floor, and the second floor landing. All of that will soon be hardwood. Ever since we moved into the house over a year and a half ago, we'd been saying that the carpet and tile that covered all of this area needed to go. All of it was original to the house (and therefore, 15 years old), well-worn, and harboring its fair share of grime, dust, and who knows what else. However, given that all we ever did was walk on the floor, it wasn't near the top of our priority list. Thinking about a baby crawling around on these floors, though, well that was a different story. We finally had the reason we needed to go ahead and replace it all. Needless to say, this is a huge project. Our house has been torn apart for two weeks now, and I think it will be several more until all is said and done. The ultimate deadline is the arrival of the baby, but Mike's hoping to finish before then. However, with all the holiday festivities over the next few weekends, his work time is being limited. So far, the new flooring has been laid in the main hallway on the first floor, the dining room, and the kitchen. It looks fabulous -- so clean and bright! -- thanks to the hard work of Mike, his dad, and his brother, Rob. Currently, the carpet is ripped up from half of our living room and plywood is being laid down on top of the subfloor to bring it to the same level as the kitchen floor. As soon as that is done, they'll be onward and upward, literally, as they take on the stairs.

While Mike tackles floors, I've been tackling the nursery. It's really starting to look like a real bedroom. The laundry machine has been working overtime getting all of the sheets ready for the crib, towels and wash cloths ready for cleaning, and so on. It's exciting seeing everything come together and be able to envision a little baby in there soon.

Another big thing we're in the midst of now is our childbirth education class. We had our first class this past Monday and will continue every Monday night for the next several weeks. It's a small class - only us and two other couples - so we get to ask plenty of questions and really get the information we want. Mike was not looking forward to the classes at all, but after the first one, he was so excited. We learned the first signs of labor and the entire labor process on Monday night, and he came out ready to tackle the beast. It's very fun to watch his excitement, and I'm sure it will be invaluable once the big day comes. One thing the instructor talked about was the role of music in labor and ensuring that you have good music to help you through the process. I'm not a huge music person; I don't own an iPod or even very many CDs. I enjoy music, but it's not something that consumes me. So I had to stop and think about what music I would want in the birthing room to help calm and focus me. I'm thinking something acoustic and smooth - perhaps like a John Mayer or Norah Jones. But I'm curious and open to ideas -- what would you recommend?

And so we find ourselves having completed 32 weeks of this pregnancy and working our well steadily through the 33rd week. This week, the baby is about 4 1/2 pounds, or about the size of a large jicama. (Does anyone actually know what that is??) He has real fingernails, toenails, and hair, and his skin is becoming soft as he plumps up and packs on the pounds. I'm feeling good, overall. I'm starting to get tired again more easily and, conveniently, am finding it more difficult to sleep due to having problems getting comfortable, the dry air that makes it hard to breathe, and the frequent need to visit the bathroom. However, for the most part, I still feel great and am enjoying all the little twists and turns of this exciting journey!

Dad's Corner: Change Is in the Air

Last weekend we received the crib and bureau.  The crib is now set up in our room and the bureau in the baby's room.  Along with those changes, last weekend, I started ripping up our first floor.  We're replacing the tile and carpet on the first floor, stairs, and upstairs landing with hardwood.  It's a big project, so I'm enlisting the help of my Dad and brother, and kicking Danielle out while we work.  It should look very nice when we're done and be more baby-safe.  However, if anyone comes over and finds a squeak in the floor, you stepped in the wrong spot and don't need to bring it to my attention.  Ignorance is bliss!

Hopefully you saw my "mobile" post.  I'm hoping that for those that can't come to the hospital right away, we can keep you in the loop with some quick pictures and posts.  Don't worry though, I know that not everyone wants to know where babies come from.

The baby is still active and kicking and moving away.  They don't all feel like kicks now though.  I think because he's closer to the walls of his bachelor pad, you can feel even more movement.  He's getting so big you can actually see Danielle's belly move and, I'm not gonna lie, it's a little gross.  It looks like something slimy slithering silently, so slowly shifting shapes supplant smooth sections (that's alliteration to the 11th degree.  Beat that!  Oh, I can rhyme too: Danielle's got a big belly, her feet are quite smelly, but that's ok with me, cuz she's makin a baby!  I'm a poet and I didn't even know it, but my feet show it because they're long fellows.  Aw snap!).

Baby's Words of Wisdom: "Enjoy the empty, silent crib while it lasts.  When I get there, if that cribs a rockin', you better come feed me!"

New ultrasound pictures - 30 weeks

Today, we had another ultrasound. The baby was not as cooperative as he was last time. He was consistently turned away from us and did not want to give us a good look at his face. However, with some pushing and prodding on my belly we were able to get him to turn over for a few shots. The results are below. As you can see, they're not quite as good as last time, but it's still fun to see him. He's measuring in at 3 1/2 pounds, which is the 58th percentile at this point in the pregnancy, so a little above average but not huge. They said it's hard to predict how much he'll weigh at birth, but he'll probably be a bit above average. If he sticks to the standard weight gain of half a pound per week at this point, then he should probably be about 8 to 8 1/2 pounds. Everything looked healthy, and they were very pleased, so we aren't scheduled to have any more ultrasounds. The next time we see our little guy, it will be in the flesh!

Mobile blogging test

Testing mobile blogging. I will use this to send instant updates when the baby is born!

28 & 29 Weeks

It's amazing how quickly time is flying. I feel like I just wrote my last post, and yet somehow, here I am once again having to post about two weeks at once. I can't imagine how quickly the next 10 weeks will go by! (Though my doctors and expeirenced parents assure me that they'll begin dragging soon as I get bigger and bigger, and thus more and more uncomfortable.) The time doesn't seem to be going as quicky for Mike. Literally every day, he says, "When's the baby going to be here?" He's just so eager to meet his son and start this new chapter of his life. It's very fun to watch his growing excitement!

Last Sunday, we were once again showered with gifts and well wishes. This time, the festivities were hosted by the principal at my school. Interestingly enough, we have three pregnant women at work at the moment, so it was a beautiful joint shower, which made Mike much happier because the attention was not all on him. We had a fantastic homemade brunch full of all sorts of tasty dishes and were even given a onesie featuring a traditional Portuguese dish, which Mike is very excited to show off to his family.

This week, I also took my first yoga class ever. The hospital offers prenatal yoga, and I decided that this was as good a time as any to try out an activity designed to help you get in touch with your body and breathing. I'm taking the classes once a week with Lisa, one of my pregnant co-workers. (She's expecting twins, and her due date is the day before mine, though she won't likely make it to that point with the twins.) Since I had never taken yoga before, I was not at all sure what to expect and was a bit nervous about my ability to do all the exercises, but I'm pleased to say that I was able to do everything without any problems! I should clarify -- I was able to do all of the physical exercises without problem. I'm not as good at the more mental, meditative exercises. The class started out with the teacher playing calming music and having us sit down and close our eyes while she narrated a visualization sequence. We were supposed to focus on the color orange. To help us do that, at one point, she directed us to imagine a spot on the very top of our head opening up and to then imagine someone pouring a beautiful pitcher full of orange juice into our heads, with the orange juice dripping down our spines. I could barely contain my laughter. I mean - orange juice dripping down my spine?!? That's something I'd expect in a yoga parody - not a real yoga class! I'm not sure what effect that whole sequence was supposed to have on me, but I don't think I experienced whatever was intended. In any case, the class did leave me feeling great, and I actually slept entirely through the night and felt rejuvinated in the morning, something that rarely happens these days.

I've had a cold for the past several days, so I've been spending a lot of time resting on the couch, but other than that I'm feeling great. Mike continues to be amazed by how large my belly is getting. Pretty much daily he says, "Man, you're getting big!" We are, after all, entering the period of rapid growth for the baby. At this point, he's gaining about half a point per week. He's just about reached his full length, but still has far to go to reach his full weight. Most of the energy at this point goes into packing on baby fat. Indeed, last week he was the size of a head of Chinese cabbage, and this week, he's the size of a butternut squash - or about 2 1/2 pounds. His skeleton is hardening at this point, so I'm making sure to eat lots of calcium. We go through over a gallon of milk per week now, as well as lots of cheese and yogurt, so he should have good, solid bones!

This Wednesday, we have another ultrasound appointment, so be sure to check back for some new baby pictures!

Dad's Corner: I am serious, and please don't call me Shirley

The first child/grandchild sets off a shock wave of changes within the family.  Parents become grandparents; children become parents/uncles/aunts; and unsuspecting couples become guardians to a helpless eating, pooping, and sleeping machine.  One of the biggest decisions that almost everyone involved must make is what to call themselves.  Are you a grandma or a nana?  Are you an Uncle James or Uncle Jim?  I think I'll stick with the old standby, Dad, but every now and then request a Pops.  What will you choose?

We've completed our tour of gift-getting.  Thank you everyone for your generosity.  It's amazing how much stuff we have, but it's even more amazing that everyone was so kind to give it to us.  We appreciate it very much!  The next step is to fill in any missing things we need with one more trip to Babies 'R Us.  Exciting, exciting.

Work has been busy, so I hope this crumb of a post will hold off some of the more ravenous of you for a little while until I can write something more substantial.

Babies words of wisdom: "You may think 'Airplane' quotes are funny, but wait until I quote 'Sing-Along Sally Sings in the Sahara' every 5 seconds for 3 weeks straight."

26 & 27 Weeks

The past few weeks have been very busy, so you'll have to excuse my lapse in the blogging world. Mom and Dad flew in on November 1 to stay for 9 days. It was great to have them here for one last visit before our family grows. Their visit was structured around a few key events, which just happened to all fall within one week of each other. On November 2, Liz hosted a baby shower at her house. All of the Pape and Ribeiro women along with the Elliott Road crew converged for a fabulous luncheon. This past Sunday, my family hosted a shower at Aunt Cindy's house, pulling together all of the Bancroft women and some dear friends. It was great to get to see everyone, and I especially appreciated Mom and Liz's decision to hold the two showers separately. I was actually able to talk to each of the guests and spend time catching up with everyone rather than simply jumping around person to person saying "hi" just to be polite and then moving on. Everyone was incredibly generous. We have truly been "showered" with baby gear, clothes, bathing supplies, blankets, and toys. We feel incredibly lucky to have so many people in our lives who already care to deeply for our son and are anxiously awaiting his arrival. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again to everyone out there who has given so generously to help us prepare for life with a baby. It really means so much to us!

As Mike mentioned in his Dad's Corner, we seem to have entered a period of rapid baby growth. It often feels like the baby is pressing outward on my stomach, completely out of room inside there. I'm also starting to feel quite large. It's becoming hard to tie my shoes, bend over, and even sit for long periods of time because my stomach gets compressed. I know that I'm only going to get larger -- we still have over 2 1/2 months to go -- but it's just interesting to have reached this point where I'm almost constantly aware of this whole new part of my body. No matter what discomfort it may cause at times, it's an amazing experience.

Last week, the baby was the size of a cucumber. This week, he's the size of a head of cauliflower -- over 2 pounds and about 14 1/2 inches. He's beginning to open and close his eyes. His brain continues to develop. This week, the brain is beginning to develop the grooves and indentations that we all associate with brains; up until now, it has been smooth.

I greatly enjoyed a day off today - one of the perks to the world of education - but it's back to the real world tomorrow, so it's time to head to bed. As Mike mentioned, a fabulous birthday gift from Liz and Larry is making it much easier for me to get a good night's sleep. I'm enjoying being able to sleep through the night (except for having to get up to use the bathroom), as I know those days are limited!

Dad's Corner: Stuff, Stuff, Everywhere

Who knew a male baby needed so many outfits.  I'm thinking we'll just change his onesy each time he pukes on himself.  He's not even here yet and he's kicked me out of my office and taken over my basement with all of his stuff.  The child who shall not be named yet has his own bedroom (freshly painted by Mimi), new bedroom furniture on the way (partly provided by the Pape Grandparents (have you picked out names yet (wow, three parentheses deep, is this legal?))), a wardrobe picked out by his throng of female fans (he'll be signing autographs in Crayola crayon at each house visit), his first sports jerseys (thanks Uncle Dan), his first geek shirt (just laugh at the joke on the shirt you don't understand, trust me, it's funny - it combines bodily fluids with network stack protocols... oh man I'm still laughing), and so much more.  Danielle has managed to organize most of it into a corner of the basement, but it's slowly spreading.

Danielle is doing well as usual.  She's getting noticeably bigger by the week now.  I think we're in baby grow mode now because sometimes she can feel her body having to stretch to accommodate him.  He's kicking and punching like crazy still.  We think he was even dancing at the Zonkaraz concert, but, like his mother, he has serious white boy rhythm.  Danielle's back has been a little achey lately due to how she has to sleep, but she got a body pillow for her birthday from Liz and it's already helped.  It's helped me sleep now too because rather than glom onto me, she hugs this pillow like it was her long lost lover Ricardo back from a month long "save the pandas" expedition.

All in all, I'm anxious to have the baby arrive.  I'm sure it will seem like it flew by when the date arrives, but I just want it to come now.  We still have our classes to go through (classes to teach you what used to be a natural thing...), but I feel like I'm just about as ready as I can get.  It's going to be one big learning experience, but I've been told I can learn me some stuff real good.

Baby's Words of Wisdom: "If you want me to tell you my name, put your hand on mama's belly and I'll tap it out in Morse Code.  I'll give you a hint, my last name is: dot-dash-dash-dot dot-dash dot-dash-dash-dot dot."

25 Weeks

It's amazing how quickly time is flying. In a mere 15 weeks, we'll have a real, live baby to love, cherish, and care and provide for. Thinking about where we were 15 weeks ago, it doesn't seem very long at all. Surely the next 15 weeks will pass just as quickly, if not moreso. Yet, we truly cannot wait!

This week, the baby is about 13 1/2 inches long. He weighs in somewhere around 2 pounds, or about the size of a large rutabaga. All that energy that has been going into developing key organs and such now begins being used to put on weight. At this point, he's going to begin putting on about a quarter pound a week, and soon that will increase to half a pound a week. Another key development this week is that his hair begins to take on color. Up until now, it's been white. Given that both Mike and I have brown hair, I'd guess his will be brown, too, but there can always be surprises! He's also developing more distinct patterns of sleep-time and awake-time at this point. Each morning, when my alarm goes off at the ripe hour of 5:15am, he's definitely awake already, so we'll have to see what we can do about that when he arrives!

We have another doctor's appointment later this week on Thursday just to check in. Before this appointment, I get to drink a nice tasty concoction that they described as flat, super-sugary orange soda. I then have to go have my blood drawn for a glucose tolerance test. That should be fun! Other than that, it will just be your standard check-up.

Mission Accomplished: Baby Furniture Selected

At the set out of this weekend, Mike and I declared that we were bound and determined to have purchased baby furniture by the end of the weekend. We didn't make it out to do any shopping yesterday, so that left today. In the end, after three hours of roaming around a gigantic baby furniture warehouse, we were successful! The owner of the store was incredibly helpful and put up with all of our waffling and comments like, "I don't really like that set. I don't know why. I just don't." (Of course, comments like this were always from me.) But we had to put up with his idiosyncrasies as well. He was quite a talker, launching into a 20 minute tirade at one point about how there really is no danger at all to using crib bumpers and there's so much incorrect information out there that just ends up terrifying new parents. Through all of his talking, he ran us all around the store from crib to crib, dresser to dresser, giving us all of the details on each one. In the end, he helped us find just what we wanted. Ultimately, our only small concern is that we chose a crib and a dresser with hutch from two different brands, so we're hoping the colors coordinate well. They seemed to match very well in the store (much better than in the pictures below), so hopefully they will when the actual pieces arrive in our house as well. Either way, we keep reminding ourselves, it's just baby furniture. The baby will have no idea whether everything is the perfect shade or not. All that really matters is that everything is very safe and well constructed -- which the pieces we chose are. The pieces we ordered are shown below. Our next task is to clean out the nursery (currently the office) to prepare for the arrival of all this furniture. The crib will go in our bedroom for about the first six months, but we still want to have the nursery all prepared for the little one's arrival in February so that we're not scrambling to put it together once the craziness of life with a newborn begins.

23 & 24 Weeks

Once again, I got a little behind, so I'm combining two weeks into one post. Over the past week, he was the size of a large mango. His ears were in a period of rapid development, and he can now hear many of the noises in the outside world, which is helping to prepare him for joining us.

While all this development was going on over the past week, we were busy celebrating another exciting event. We spent Sunday with the family celebrating Jen and John's engagement. They will be married on October 10, 2009. Everyone was on hand to celebrate this exciting news, and it was fun to be with them as they took another big step toward a new life together.



Today, we hit the 24 week mark, meaning we have entered the third trimester. At this point, he's about the size of an ear of corn. His lungs are developing this week, preparing to be able to breathe. His brain and taste buds also continue to devleop this week. He has also begun to have periods of both sleep and awake time.


Today, we also had another ultrasound. It was actually a 3D ultrasound, so we got some amazing pictures, which you can see below. I think that he looks like my brother, and Mike agreed that he could see the resemblance (after laughing at me and saying that all babies look alike). He's clearly going to be quite an adorable little boy -- and not just because he's our son! The ultrasound technician and doctor both were again shocked by how much he's moving around, and he was actually being pretty quiet at the time! He's definitely quite active and full of energy. He seems to kick quite vigorously whenever I eat. Mike thinks he can hear the food coming down and knows he's getting some soon and just gets so excited for it that he can hardly contain himself. The ultrasound also revealed that he is weighing in at 1 pound, 9 ounces at this point, still a bit above average by about a week or so of development.

So, enjoy the new pictures, and let us know if you think you notice any resemblances! We'll be interested to see if you agree with our assessment.

Dad's Corner: Baby Fights Back!

I haven't written for a while, but nothing much has been going on.  This whole pregnancy thing is like having a mood disorder.  You find out you're pregnant (or that your wife is when you're driving to Home Depot and she casually drops, "I think I may be pregnant"... story for another day) and you initially don't know what to feel.  It's scary but exciting.  You can't tell anyone but you want to tell everyone.  There are a few days of sorting out your emotions and then you get a confirmation, which means you have to pick a set of emotions and stick with 'em.  After that, there's a period of awkward laughs and glances as relatives joke about you having a baby or ask why your wife is only drinking water when she's normally a booze hound (just kidding Danielle).  Nothing is changing physically and no one knows, so no one asks questions.  Then there is another peak when you spill the beans to your inner circle and everyone gets excited and of course you get excited because you can finally talk about it.  Next is another period of nothing much happening until your wife finally gets a baby bump.  Even though you are the only two who can see it, it's another confirmation that there is really something going on.  Another lull.  Then the ultrasound where you see something that resembles a kidney bean but the doctor assures you that it's your baby.  Another lull.  Now she's really getting a bump, people start buying things, you tell more people, you register for gifts, and everything is moving along.  Another ultrasound, "It's a boy!".  And now we arrive at the present.  A lull followed by feeling him kick!

Danielle has felt him for a few weeks now, but I've been able to feel him within the past week.  It's incredibly strange and alien-like and I can't imagine what it must feel like for Danielle.  If I felt something poking around in my insides, the last emotion I'd be feeling would be any kind of happiness.  I'd probably be thinking about getting to the bathroom and preparing for some kind of atomic blast from my... sorry.  I'll keep it G rated for the children out there.

Other than that, we've still been doing some baby shopping.  Now we look for cribs.  Not just any crib though.  Apparently it's more involved than that.  It has to have a nice matching hutch/changing table/armoir/shelf system.  It has to look nice.  Not too formal, not too "babyish".  "But he is a baby, Mike" you may say.  Believe me, I'm on your side.  I've tried explaining this to Danielle and that, not only is he a baby, but he's not going to give one ounce of green doo doo about his furniture.  Still, Danielle insists there is some kind of zen balance we need to achieve.  When I was a baby, I slept on a bed of nails to toughen me up.  It prepared me for the humanitarian missions to Africa I was doing at 3 months in between my doctorate studies (Am I allowed to start using the old, "When I was your age..." bit yet?).  As long as it's safe, I'm happy with whatever we finally get.

Baby's words of wisdom: "That's right dad.  I can almost knock you out while naked, upside down, and covered in goo when you put your ear to mom's belly.  You're mine!"

22 weeks

This week started out dreary and rainy here (in fact, we had six straight days of rain), but we've lucked out this weekend. It's your quintissential New England fall weekend -- bright sunshine, cool, and a crispness in the air. I love this time of year! Mike and I enjoyed a nice long walk around the neighborhood this afternoon, meandering down every side street so we could prolong our time out in the fresh air. Mike even "practiced" rolling an imaginary stroller around, trying to get a feel for what it would be like to have the little guy with us on our walks. He can barely wait for the baby's arrival. He already has all sorts of plans for things they'll do together, including attracting all sorts of babes when I'm not around, since babies are good for that! :-) One thing he's not as excited about is all this shopping we keep doing. Today, we hit the Baby Furniture Warehouse in Braintree. It was a good start to get us rolling, but we realized that we needed to come home and do some measuring before we could really begin to make decisions. However, we definitely have our eyes on a few contending furniture sets. Hopefully in the next few weeks, we'll decide all of that so that we can get everything ordered, as they have a 10 to 12 week shipping period.

As for the baby, this week, he's about one pound and about 11 inches long, or about the size of a spaghetti squash. He's beginning to get crowded inside there, which seems to have led to a little less flailing around. He's beginning to form tooth buds below his gums this week, and his lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct. Apparently, he actually looks like a tiny baby now and less like a mutant alien or sea creature!