Ultrasound at 27 weeks

I must say, the idea of having another ultrasound was exciting. When we learned that we got to see Cletus again we were really looking forward to clearer, more detailed pictures of our child. The images at 20 weeks were excellent and with almost two more months of skeletal development one would assume that the images in our latest ultrasound should be out of this world.

The truth of the matter is that Cletus is to big to fit in one picture. We now have pictures of feet, hands, a skeleton etc., but we could not get a have decent profile due to his/her size. The head shot was even fuzzy.

Either way, knowing that everything is going well and seeing a strong steady heartbeat puts warmth in my heart and a pit in my stomach. This baby is real! In 3 months we will be parents with a little peanut of a child to care for. I can`t wait.

Cletus, it was good to see you, if only a blurry image.

I love you

I Hope Cletus Likes His/Her Room

What an ordeal. I had managed to put off decorating for about 4 or 5 weeks now. I would stall by saying "Let's go to the wallpaper store and see if we can find something." I never really looked at the options because I wasn't really ready to paint or paper. Yesterday my wife suggested that whether I realized it or not, at that moment I was going to get ready because we were going to finish Cletus's room on the double.

Paint is paint. Find a colour you like and spread it over your walls. If you are very stylish you might go out and find a matching pillow. This is home decoration for me. When you are designing (it is no longer called decorating) a baby room there are many things that one must consider. A colour you like becomes a pallet of complimentary shades. A wall becomes a series of symmetric, or asymmetric patterns on which a child's mental development is dependent. Borders, accents and trim all play an important and equal roll. And don't even get me started on furniture.

Now, after two more hard days of work in there we now have a base coat of shite (I meant white) with 4 foot by 6 inch vertical bars painted in Rejuvenate. I am sure you can picture exactly what colour Rejuvenate is. Only stenciling, bordering, and highlighting left to do.

Oh yeah, and we stayed away from wallpaper. Sorry Mom. We still want you to visit though.

Also, we have another ultrasound tomorrow. I sure hope I don't see a tallywhacker on the monitor. It is fun not knowing the sex ahead of time and I recommend everyone else should do the same.

Happy Birthday Jason

That`s all.

Happy Birthday

P.S. Cletus is still Cletus so don`t be confused. Jason is just a guy at work.

Consignment Sales Rock!!!

I was a little put off today when my wife picked me up from work and mentioned that we were on our way to a consignment sale for baby stuff. I was hoping to get a hair cut and race home to catch the first episode of Survivor but before I knew it we were racing across town to some obscure church basement.

Sales in the basements of churches always reminds me of bazaars and rummage sales. You get 50 of the churches oldest parishoners and ask them if they would like to sell some of their stuff. You can be sure that fresh baked goods will be sold and that they are the only things made since 1980, with the exception of that pseudo-craft where they weave yarn in and out of a plastic grid and think they are freakin' Martha Stewart.

Anyways, this church basement was different. It had a whole bunch of baby stuff in it. Furniture, clothing, toys, books, car seats, and yes...cloth diapers. We left with our new car seat, some cute little clothing, a little bathtub and 20 new/used cloth diapers (at a cost of 50 cents each). SCORE!!!

We are almost done our second trimester. I can't wait.

A Couple of Firsts

Yesterday I was able to go with my wife to visit the midwife. I was really excited to go because the midwife is where my wife has been able to hear little Cletus's heartbeat. Yesterday was my turn. Excitedly I cocked my head to the side thinking that I would need my full attention to hear but soon enough I easily picked out the whowhowhowhowhowhowhowhowhowho of my child's heart.

It was so perfect. It was like a metronome pounding out the steady rhythm of a hit tune...so I danced. I danced for my wife. I danced for joy. I danced because that is what I felt like doing at the time. Because of my dance the steady whowhowhowho of the heartbeat became a whoheewhoheewhoheewhohee as I could now hear what the inside of my wife's belly sounds like when she is laughing.

What a joy though. It is incredible to experience these stages of love and every stage is necessary. I can see why now. If everything took a week, conception, fetal development and birth then I believe that the love inside you would make you explode. You need the time to grow I think. So yesterday I grew and I loved Cletus even more than the day before.

Today I love Cletus even more than yesterday. Today my little kid kicked me for the first time. I was touching my wife's belly, not expecting anything because it has never happened before but sure enough...bam...the little shit drop kicked me. I freaked out. I was running around upstairs like an idiot but how many times in my life will I be kicked for the first time by my child?

I need a tissue.

Sorry about the delay.

What Does A Baby Dream About?

Last night I had a dream. I guess I dream every night but I rarely remember what my dreams are about. I know that on the rare occasion when I remember parts of my dream I can always relate it to something that happened to me recently. So I woke up today and wondered what Cletus dreams about.

What does a baby dream about?

A dream for a baby could not include any images as Cletus has yet to see anything unless light filtering through a belly is dream-worthy. His/her experience is limited to swimming around in amniotic fluid, the occasional bump from walking (or playing tennis), maybe some reaction to the foods my wife is eating. I don`t know. I think babies sleep and physiology would suggest different levels of sleep should occur, but what can be going on in Cletus`s mind?

I want to get in there and put probes on Cletus`s head so I can see a computer image of his/her dream stages. Brain activity could probably be monitored but I am positive, absolutely positive, that my wife will object to me visiting Cletus in her uterus long enough to insert probes into his skull.

I can`t wait until Cletus is born so I can perform all of these invasive experiments on my child without my wife noticing. There is so much to learn.

Dr. Dad

Activity is Fun and Healthy

To answer a message left after my last post, yes, we have chosen a name or two but they will remain secret until we announce it when we introduce Cletus to the world. Thanks for asking though.

My wife was active today. We normally have a nice walk in the evening for 20-30 minutes, but tonight we walked for an hour and a half, she had a 45 minute swim at the school and we even played a little tennis. What you say? Tennis this far into the pregnancy? Seems odd but it was true. We didn't play hard and we took it easy on the fetus but we did hit the ball back and forth for a couple minutes.

That is all for tonight. Exercise is good.

Dad

It Changes Shape

My mind has been elsewhere lately. I have been deeply affected by the coverage of Hurricane Katrina, I was out of town for my grandmothers birthday and I needed to get away for the long weekend. I feel like I may ramble a bit tonight so please accept my apologies.

My wife and I hit a few more garage sales and picked up some more stuff. We grabbed a baby monitor, some more books, clothing and a Winnie The Pooh Halloween costume for next October. My wife was able to find a baby name book that was not yet in our collection so we devoured it (all 2000 names) in one afternoon. It made yesterday a particularly interesting day as we sat around on the back porch with the in-laws and went over baby names.

The other cool thing that happened yesterday was that my wife's belly changed shape. The difference was noticeable when we woke up. We had not seen such a pronounced change before and we were both a little worried about it but we have since been assured that it is normal for a baby to move around. This is a perfect example of what first time parents do not know and what no book in the world will tell us.

People say that "What To Expect When You Are Expecting" can answer any questions about being an expectant parent. Bull Shit. It is a good resource, possibly the best overall book on the market, but I think that every woman should read "Belly Laughs" by Jenny McCarthy. Every first time mom has things happen to her that either freak her our or gross her out and a book that explains reality is well worth the sticker price. The bluntness of "Belly Laughs" is refreshing. In my opinion it is a must read.

If you are hoping for another post tomorrow...





...Good Luck.