2009: Prelude to a New Odyssey

We're standing on the threshold of a new year! Today is the last day of 2009, and what a year it's been!

Think about all the accomplishments you've had in 2009 alone. Granted, January through late May were kind of blank calendar days for you, but from June onward, you've had some amazing feats:

• You made it to the Egg when all the other spermies didn't
• You grew from an Egg to 3/4 of a baby
• You grew a spine and internal organs
• You made a brain
• You grew eyes and then they unfused and now can blink!
• You grew toes and fingers - and they're not even webbed anymore!
• You grew from being compared to a a poppyseed (in week 3) all the way to a squash now!
• You learned to kick and flail and move around inside your Mom's belly
  
• And you did this to your mother (but don't worry, she's exceedingly happy that you did):

But, now that 2009 is behind us, we have to look forward to 2010, which is going to be an even bigger year!

You've got a lot more room to go, no matter how large your Mom's belly seems to get from week to week:

Week 29

Week 30

And, in 2010, you are going to be born! You will learn to smile and see and breathe and roll over and crawl! You'll learn to blink, and find your fingers and toes and grow hair on your head and teeth in your mouth. You'll get to finally meet your Mom and Me, and all the other people who already love you so much, like Mimi and Pops and Nannah and Baba, your Uncles and Aunts (official and honorary), and, of course, your Dogs.

But, we mustn't get ahead of ourselves. For now, on the brink of 2010 and on my 100th journal entry for you, we are in week 30 of our pregnancy- about 7 and a half months in. And on the verge of the most exciting year of our lives yet. Something tells me that 2010 is going to be a great year.

Your family can't wait to meet you!

Happy New Year, Son!

A Thousand Words

Sometimes a picture comes along that just says it all. Sometimes I take that picture.

This picture is that picture. Or at least to me, it is.

I could ramble on again about everything we're doing this week to prepare for you (including buying about 10,001 picture frames for your mom's plan to decorate your nursery and digging up memories of an old poster of Fairy Tale land and reading more rapidly through the pregnancy books).

I could tell you how I'm freaking out a little about birthing and materials necessary and the shower and emergency routes to the hospital and how to tell when your mom is in labor and whether or not we want to register your cord blood and get professional pregnancy pictures.

I could tell you how I'm flabbergasted that you could theoretically be here- and be full term- in as few as 6.5 weeks!

But, instead, I just want to share this picture with you. When I get overwhelmed or nervous with all we have to do before you get here, I will try to transport myself to the frame of mind that this picture induces: you are here, you are coming, your Mom is gorgeous and we are so excited and simultaneously at peace and in awe with your impending arrival.

Also, sorry about the smudges on the mirror. We have to do something about that.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...and Self-Thermoregulation

You are now 30 weeks old...which means you'll probably be here in 10 week's time! The days keep slipping by, and you keep developing more and more. We had a busy holiday break: Hanukah, Christmas, visitors, movies, housework, exercise, eating, etc. But you had a busier holiday break!

According to some books I was reading, at week 30 of development, the folds of your brain are developed enough to show major advancement of your brain function and capabilities. In fact, your brain is so advanced now, that your brain can now regulate your body temperature on its own. That means that you will start losing that Lanugo- the thin coat of white hair that covered your body to help with temperature regulation- in the days to come. And your temperature regulation couldn't have arrived with better timing, because here on the outside world, we had a White Christmas.

That means it snowed. And stuck. In Dallas. This doesn't happen very often, as you can tell by my over-use of punctuation. But, it was so cold that the dogs had to wear sweaters, just as you were losing your built-in sweater (your lanugo). So, it's probably nice and toasty in the womb, especially with your brain now taking on higher functionality.

And it was pretty cool that your first Christmas (or Zeroth Christmas) was this cold! But it was anything but cold inside. First off, you got to spend some quality time with your Aunt Rebekka, who you'd never met before, and with your Uncle Joe. Neither had the chance to feel you kick before, and they both really liked feeling you move around. And they both were aptly weirded out too. But, they still like you. Aunt Rebekka even sang you a lullabye!

And the Holiday warmth kept coming too. Even though you're not quite out here yet, you were already getting amazing, handmade Hanukah and Christmas presents.

Mimi finished the blanket she was knitting, and Nannah finished the quilt she was making! The grandmas gave them to you as presents! You're going to love them- they're so soft and warm and, well, hand-made!

Even though we knew the grandmas were making these gifts, it was great to finally be able to see them, hold them and imagine wrapping you in them!

But, you did get one gift that was a complete, and amazing, surprise! For almost two months, your Nannah Joon has been workign behind closed doors on a super secret project. By super secret, of course, I mean that everyone knew about it EXCEPT for your Mom and Me. So on Christmas eve when your Nannah Joon revealed a hand-made cradle for you, engraved with Hebrew, Farsi and English prayers provided by Mimi and Pops, Baba and your Great Grandma, we were floored!

Check out how amazing this cradle is!

If you can't tell from all this holiday warmth, you have a pretty kick-butt family, who loves you very much already! But, at least now you don't need to worry about it getting too warm, since you can thermoregulate all by yourself!

Kicks aren't for Kids?

One of our pregnancy books said something that made a lot of sense: as we ease into your due date, you're going to keep growing and growing, filling up the uterus more and more. Soon, your cozy home is gonna be pretty cramped. Now, you won't be uncomfortable or anything, but these tight quarters are definitely going to start cramping your style, and your movements.

And that means we may soon be feeling fewer kicks. And that actually makes me sad! Feeling you kick makes me smile no matter what kind of mood I'm in. In fact, I even fell asleep with a smile on my face and a and on your Mom's belly a few nights ago; you were kicking before bed time!

The book says that we will still be able to feel some smooth, rolling movements; but the short kicks and jabs may be out the window.

For now, though, we're still in the clear on feeling kicks: Last night you had some HUGE movements too, squirming and rolling and kicking and stretching the whole night long. And we'll hold on to each one as long as they last!

But, I can't say that I'm too sad about you stopping kicking soon, because I know that I can feel you kick IN PERSON really soon!

The Fattening (part II)

Well, your Mother had her turn at the fattener. Now it's yours.

At 29 weeks you are now officially done growing. Height-wise that is. You're probably right now as tall as you're gonna be when you're born, somewhere around 16 inches long. But, as of last week, you were only 2 pounds, 11 oz. (which is well within the norm for your age).

But, you see, in the coming weeks you are going to at least DOUBLE, and more likely TRIPLE your weight. In fact, that's just about all you're going to be doing from now: packing on the pounds and getting stronger and stronger!

You kind of need to do the Subway diet, but in reverse.

So, as your Mom is supposed to be gaining one pound a week from here on out, so too are you going to be gaining weight every week, every day until you finally come out!

And, to comemmorate the growth you and your mother will be experiencing for the rest of the pregnancy, you've been officially upgraded from eggplant size to squash sized! Way to go! You're really moving up that produce aisle!

And you're going to be here sooner than we realize: you could be here (and be full term) in as little as 8 weeks!

Ringing in the Holly-Days

Well, actually your Mom won't be ringing in any holidays, or New Years for that matter.

Pregnancy has a strange effect of making women gain weight in almost every area of their body...including their ring fingers. Every book we've read, and most people we know have suggested to your Mom and her swollen hands that she take off her wedding and engagment ring before her fingers get too big. Because if her fingers get too big, and the rings won't budge, then the doctors will literally SAW them off of her finger when she's admitted to the hospital for your birth.

Her wedding ring wasn't budging for a long while now; growing tighter and tighter. Finally your mother lotioned up her hands, pulled and twisted and was just barely able to get the rings off her finger. It was a close call.

But don't worry, people won't think she's an unwed mother-to-be. Before we went on our Honeymoon, we were paranoid about being held up and our new-found bling being pinched in the process. So, while in Paris, your Mom wore a gaudy decoy ring that she bought at Target for 10 dollars.

The decoy ring - probably due to its gaudiness - has its fans though. Some of your Mom's teenage students, who never commented on her actual ring, complimented your Mom's wedding ring-- as if they'd never seen the real platinum one!

Guess we could have saved a lot of cash by just shopping at Target.

So, even though your Mom may be ringing in the holiday season with a fake ring on, we still will be celebrating because sitting under our tree - actually sitting on the couch near the tree- is the best Christmas/Hannukah present anyone could ask for!

And, because we're super clever, we wrapped that present up in a bow, took a picture of it and sent it off to all our family and friends as an electronic holiday card:

That's right- the best present under our tree is YOU! And everybody in the family wanted to get in on the action of having their pictures taken with you!

Well... maybe "want" isn't the operative word here, but as you can see, they still were IN the pictures with you!

Do Fetuses Dream of Embryonic Sheep?

There you are, a big, bountiful baby bump on week 28 of this journey. I know it seems like I've reported almost every movement, every kick, every turn, every hiccup you make. That's because when you move, it's very exciting for everyone here in the outside world.

But, as you are now almost fully developed some cool things are happening in your off time too. When you stop kicking or rolling we normally say, "I guess he went to sleep," and either wait for you to wake up again or jostle you to wake you up for more playing (rude, huh?)

Scientists know that you- and others in your predicament - can actually sleep in two different ways: inactive AND active sleep. On the outside here, we sleep inactively first, and then actively. On the inside, though, you do the opposite- active first, then inactive.

Active sleeping is synonymous with REM (no, not the band, silly; Rapid Eye Movement). And, REM sleep is when we on the outside of your Mom's belly tend to have dreams.

There's no real way to tell, but because you engage in REM sleep, scientists actually think that you might be able to dream too!

In a rare role reversal, I found that absolutely fascinating and amazing, while your Mom took a pragmatic approach.

"But dreams are just your brain trying to make sense of random synapses firing off in your brain- brining in random images of things you've seen or witnessed," she said.

And that's true, as far as I know.

But I still think you have plenty to dream about:

• Certain flavors of food or smells
• Your Mom's heartbeat
• My singing
• The dogs barking
• Your Mom's internal organs
• Being jostled (like in a car ride)
• Kicking
• Music
• The Paul McCartney & Ben Folds Concerts
• Guitar Music
• The feeling of being on a walk

You probably also have a few things to even have nightmares about:

My singing

• That time we put the flashlight up to the belly
• My singing
• Spicy Food
• My singing

So, even if you're not dreaming or just don't have too much to dream about, I can still dream that you are dreaming, right?

And, I know that your Mom and I both are having tons of dreams about you.

While you continue to get bigger and bigger, we'll continue to dream about you coming out to meet us - and, maybe, you'll be dreaming about meeting the people connected to all the voices you've been hearing and internal organs you've been cozying up to for the past 7 months.

Or maybe, you'll just keep dreaming of embryonic sheep.

Weight, Weight- Don't tell me!

Remember wayyy back when when we were actually a little concerned because your mother had lost some weight between appointments?

Well, those weight worries are definitely over.



At Monday's doctor's appointment, they weighed your mother like they always do. Except this time your Mom did something she's never done before:

She asked the nurse how much she weighed.


Up until this point, it was a "don't ask, don't tell" policy on your Mom's weight-- especially after the revelations that the Wii brought up about a month and a half ago.

Please note, young man, that it's never acceptable to discuss a woman's weight in public, unless she's not within earshot, you don't know her, she's a celebrity or she's pregnant and has given you her permission to do so. Our situation definitely falls in line with the last clause.

It's important to see how much preggos gain, to make sure they're gaining enough (and make sure they're not gaining too much).

According to your Mom's best guess, she was hovering around 118 before you started growing. And - drum roll please - yesterday the Doctor clocked your Mom in at 142 pounds!

Way to grow, Holly!

For confirmation, though, and an even better comparison, we double checked with the Dr. Mario (the Nintendo Wii). According to the Wii in early June your Mom weighed 115 and today she weighs 140.

So taking the average of the two measurements, it looks like your Mom has gained about 24.5 pounds thus far.

This is completely normal. For mother's with your Mom's pre-baby BMI (fat percentage), they recommend pregnancy weight gain of anywhere from 25 to 35 pounds total, but of course, every body is different and, even though your Mom is on course to fall in that range, the doctor said that she's gaining the appropriate amount of weight!

No wonder your Mom gets tired so easily-- she's carrying around an additional fifth of her body weight that she wasn't carrying before! I'd be tired too.

But, don't expect your Mom to be best friends with the Wii from here on out. She said that when it weighed her today, it said that she was within a few pounds of being officially labeled "obese." Talk about an inappropriate way to discuss a woman's weight!

We know who will be sleeping on the couch tonight, Nintendo Wii.

Your Smiling Face

Yesterday your Mom and I went to the doctors, with Mimi and Nannah June in tow. This was a very special visit, as it was our last sonogram appointment, and our last chance to see your smiling face until you come out!

Before the doctors came in, though, I woke you up and got you all riled up: you were rolling, and stretching and maneuvering and kicking everyone's hands- and actually moving our hands so that others could see them rise and fall. Both Mimi and Nannah had a lot of fun feeling you kick.

But they had even more fun when we got to see you! You've grown a lot since we saw you last. You're now 2.5 pounds, and have a lot of definition on your face. You also are moving so much, that the sonogram lady had to chase you around your Mom's belly. She said you were almost "too fast" for her- but she managed to get some pictures:

The doctor said everything was looking great- your spine, your brain, your heart, your umbilical cord. And he even gave your mother a compliment that she'd never received before (and probably never will again): "Your Cervix is Awesome!"

Despite that moment of awkwardness, the appointment went wonderfully. It's hard to imagine how much you've grown...just a month or so ago, you looked like the Skeleton King, and now you bear a striking resemblance to Elmer Fudd!

They said you are a happy, healthy baby. And we already knew that you were an active baby, but you didn't have to show off at the doctors. Perhaps we shouldn't have riled you up first!

Look at that profile! It looks like you may have your mother's nose, and her cheeks. But then again, your Aunt Deborah did call me "Elmer Fudd" for a long enough period of my young life that I actually thought that was my name. So maybe you take after your old man a little too!

Roll Over, Beethoven

Last night your Mom told me that she was pretty sure she felt you turn all the way around in her stomach moving from one side to another. Unfortunately, I was a little late to rush to her side, and missed the whole procedure! Maybe you'll be doing more acrobatics as you get more and more mobile!

But the more mobile you get, the less mobile your Mom is feeling. Her belly's getting so big that she can't really find a comfortable spot and, while you seem to be doing it effortlessly, she can hardly roll over herself!

In fact, your Mom sometimes gets so uncomfortable (and feels trapped in the sheets) that she just starts flailing like a fish out of water. But with more legs kicking everywhere. As you can tell, this is not a pleasant feeling to be kicked by one of these flailing legs. But, I guess, that's how this works: you kick your Mom, she kicks me.

It's not that she's in pain or that your kicks or movements hurt her; although once this week I'm pretty sure you took her by surprise with a quick move. We were driving, and she gasped, put her hands to her belly and I looked her in the eyes: they were wide open as if she was shocked or if she was trying to win a staring contest. It was a big movement that really caught her off guard! Just being so big, and heavy where she never has been before, is causing some light discomfort. And she's not afraid to let me know.

I've encouraged her to "use her words," but flailing, writhing and kicking seems to suit her better.

So maybe I'll wear shin guards to bed.

Besides the slight discomfort and bruised shins, though, as we are about to officially embark on the third trimester, we're both feeling really good. The classes made us feel a little more secure and knowledgable, the nursery's in good shape, the shower invitations are out (we're having a party for you before you're even born!), my lullabye singing voice is drastically improving (from an A to an A+, I'd say), and your Mom's belly is getting bigger and bigger!

We have a sonogram on Monday, and we can't wait to see you again!

So, officially (for us anyway, thanks fuzzy preggo math) we'll be seeing you in the Third Trimester. I can't wait to see how you and your Mother continue to grow. We're in the home stretch now and I'll be there for all of it and see you at the finish line (even if I have to hobble there...due to the bruised shins and all).

Bye-bye-mester, part II

Today and tomorrow are officially our last days in the second trimester. We're in week 27, and from here on out, it's officially the home stretch! That means we get to meet you in about 3 months!

Now, pregnancy math is just about the fuzziest math I've ever seen, so don't expect specifics here. In fact some of the books we're reading say that we're already in the third trimester, some say we're still in second gear, other say that it is official this Saturday: we're ready for the big time for our last trimester.

What does that mean?

It means you are mostly humanoid.

It means we're going to be taking some maternity pictures (professionally, thank you very much)!

It means that you're going to be fast-approaching the size of a watermelon.

And it also means that your mom is going to continue to get bigger and bigger.

Just take a look at her here on week 27:

But, what's the point of coming to an end of something if we don't get to reminisce about where we've been?

In celebration I've put together a collage of your Mother's growth from Week 8 (when we started taking pictures) all the way to today. Get ready to see some major baby evolution!


Pretty hard to believe, right?

You're Mom and I are both curious to see how much bigger she's going to get in this last trimester!

The Lion, The Wardrobe (no Witch)

December 9. Winter's definitely descended upon Dallas. Normally at this time of year it is still light-jacket weather (50s), but this morning it was mid-20s with a windchill of 11 degrees! This must sound ridiculously cold to you, seeing as how you're used to a cozy 98.7 around-the-clock.


But with winter weather, comes the winter wardrobe. Unfortunately, though, your Mom's winter pea coat, which usually envelops her, and could do so twice over, hardly buttons around her belly. It is dangerously close to what your Pops coined as the forced-casual look.

In fact, over the weekend your Mother postulated that she might have one more week before the jacket simply would not close around her. At that point, though, I will donate my jacket to the cause. By the time she outgrows that, we hope it will be Spring though.

But not to worry, we'll keep the bump (that's you) nice and warm and cozy.

You'll also be warm and cozy in your nursery too. And now that the basics of the nursery are down, we're talking decorations.

Your Mom wants to decorate your nursery (or at least one wall of it ) with illustrations of animals from Classic children's books.


As part of our continuing effort to pre-natally communicate with you daily, we were reading Shel Silverstein's "Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back" out loud to you last night. It was a good book. When you understand English we'll read it to you again.

But, due to this reading, Lafcadio made the list of creatures in your nursery!

After we read, we brainstormed about other characters for your nursery, and here's who else you may be seeing:

George, Curious.Lion, Cowardly.Manic Depressive Donkey

Crocodile, Lyle, Lyle

Caterpillar, Hungry, Hungry

Brown Bear, Brown BearBabarSylvester (of the Magic Pebble Situation)And the Petit Prince's Fox

...but that's just to name a few.

How is this all going to work together in a cohesive design? I have no idea. That's not my department. But I do know that you're going to love your nursery (or at least we will), and that you'll be sound and snug in your new home. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and promise you that you'll be even more snug than your mother's winter jacket!

I wanna hold your...foot? hand? unknown appendage?

Last night while cuddling on the couch, your Mom and I both had a hand on the belly (yes, it's certainly big enough to accomodate that now). You were doing your sommersaults and kicks and rollings, like usual, but then you did something new, and very cool:

You pushed, and kept pushing, your foot (or hand?) out to us, for at least 10 seconds at a time. Your Mom and I both held your hand (or foot?) and it was truly remarkable. I could feel bone, detect the shape of the appendage and feel you pressing against me.

Remember this picture from before? Well, what you were doing felt like it should've looked like this. But, don't be freaked out, it didn't look like that at all.

Sure, we've felt jabs and even 2-second holds before, but this was as if you were just stretched out in the belly, making yourself as comfortable as possible, kicking your feet all the way out to the edge. And, as a result, you kept your foot out there long enough for us to hold it in the palms of our hands...and smile.

Baby School

On Saturday, your Mom and I celebrated the beginning of week 27 by spending the whole day in school. Yep, Saturday School. But it was totally worth it: we took a class on Baby CPR, Baby choking remedies and Baby Care (including bathing, swaddling, changing, immunizations, nursing, and more).

We are totally still a little scared, never having children before; but these classes made us feel a little more confident and a little more ready for you to arrive.

When we entered the class room, the first thing we saw was the pile of identical babies stacked up in the corner. It was a bit odd, to say the least, but- really- where would YOU keep your pile of babies?

Then we learned how to do chest compressions just in case your heart stops. Don't worry, though, the teacher said that baby CPR, while a vital skill to know, is one that is hardly ever used. Which mean, you're gonna be just fine! But just in case you're note, your Mom and I know exactly what to do!

Then we had to breath right into this baby doll's mouth to help resuscitate it (as part of the CPR)-- but the doll never woke up! But at least I got to breath into a doll's mouth. Cross that life-goal off my list!

We finally graduated from the CPR class to the baby care class. I think I started out quite well and impressed everyone with how tightly I held the baby's head. Dad of the Year!

And then, of course, we learned to change the diaper. But, I imagine, you'll never have a diaper change as clean and easy as with the doll. For starters, this little fella didn't even excrete anything. But he was anatomically correct-- which was pretty frightening. Your Mom even pointed to it in the middle of class, leaned over to me and asked "WHY??????"

Now that we're officially less than 90 days away from meeting you, it was good to have all this information under our belts (or hats, or wherever we're gonna keep it).

Don't get me wrong- we still don't know exactly what we're doing...but we're getting closer!

The Thin Brown Line

They said it would come. And it did. About a month ago I started noticing the fabled "linea nigra" (or black line) appearing vertically on your Mom's belly.

She swore she didn't see it.

Then I definitely knew I was seeing it, and even tried to point it out to her. But she still said she didn't see it!

Finally about a week or so ago, your Mom finally saw the line!

"Guess what? You know that line we're supposed to get on our bellies? I think I have one."

"That's what I've been saying all along!"

The evidence, which is clear to everyone now, is below:

Much to her surprise, though, the line seems to confirm that she's not symmetrical. Or at least that's what she thinks, anyway. The line falls off to the left side of her body...so either the line is out of whack, or your Mom's not symmetrical.

It appears the what causes the line isn't a mystery at all. Basically, the same thing that causes all of pregnancies other fun time happiness- HORMONES- is what causes the line.

But, why the line appears where it does still IS a mystery. They don't know WHY it appears down the center of the belly!

Is it a racing stripe? The 50 yard line? A connect the dots? Who knows.

But what we do know, though, is that this thin brown line is yet another sign that you're going to be coming out to see us soon.

And maybe, that's what the line is afterall: A Finish line! When you see it, you'll know you've finished the first part of your journey!