Countdown

Week 35, month 8, and this whole pregnancy are nearing the finish line really quickly around here.

First of all, the belly that used to only be occasionally in the way is now officially 100% in the way 100% of the time. Not that your Mom doesn't love the belly, and love what's inside it even more (not just her internal organs, I was mostly referring to you. But, she is so uncomfortable now that she said today she was nearing the time when she was just about ready for you to pop out. And plus, the laundry bills are getting pretty high with the in-the-way belly's encounters with food. Just check out the contact the belly made with the innards of a Cherry Cordial the other day (the black stripes are, in fact, the cordial goo):


And, the side-by-side comparisons we've been doing this whole time clearly indicate that we're super close to the finish line too.

Here's week 15:

And in a mere 20 weeks, check out how much you've grown! Week 35:



Another way I cleverly determined that we're almost there is that the little ticker we have on this site says it's officially 30 days til your due date!

But, after today's visit with the doctor, we're not entirely sure that you're going to make it to that due date! You see, besides being right on target with the tummy measurements (35 inch belly...just on schedule for 35 weeks), right on target with the weight gain (as promised, your Mom gained 2 more pounds in the last 2 weeks, bringing her weight to 148 pounds! (and 33 pounds over all)).

But, something that wasn't quite expected was that your mom is TWO CENTIMETERS dilated. Now, the magic number of dilation for babies to come out is 10, and women have been known to hold at five centimeters of dilation for 5 weeks (and wind up needing to have labor induced), but this revelation was pretty stunning. It means that not only are you coming (and soon), but that the light at the end of the tunnel has, quite literally, gotten a little bit bigger.

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).

All's Fair in Love and Pregnancy: A Photo Pictorial

To celebrate our 20th week with you, and also to celebrate that the greatest of American ideals, gluttony, is acceptable while pregnant, we took a trip to the Texas State Fair.


Cravings aren't exclusive to the Pregnant Woman; the father to be gets them sometimes too. Let's just say that we both had dreams about Fletcher's Corny Dogs. And those dreams were fulfilled last Saturday.

Your Mom, You and me had a great time eating our way across the fair grounds, and putting you proudly on display.

We shared a Turkey Leg...

A corny dog...
A corn on the cob...


and for dessert, your Mom had a Caramel Apple...

While I went the more sensible route and had 4 deep fried Oreo cookies.

The Oreos were a horrible idea. But don't worry, we didn't just eat. We had to walk around to get to the different places to eat. So, we showed you off to Big Tex...

The Ferris Wheel...


And the Texas Discovery Gardens (which just so happens to be the place where your Mom and I got married!)

But don't think that this adventure to the Fair was a victimless adventure. The Belly, sticking out the way it does, got hit with a particularly juicy glob of caramel, much to your Mother's (pretend) dismay:

But perhaps the biggest victim of the day was me. Those Oreos did not quit torturing my stomach for about 24 hours. But they tasted so good going down...however, the second after consumption I realized I'd made a huge mistake. And my body was more than happy to remind me of it constantly... I think I was sweating fried Oreo out of every pore.

Needless to say, you're going to LOVE the fair!

The best part of this adventure, though, was the coda. Less than 2 hours after we left the fair grounds, your Mother announced that she was hungry. Me? I was still futilely fighting off the fried fair fare.

Sometimes it pays to be preggers!

Wonders and Blunders

Every time I see your Mom after work now I'm genuinely surprised: She looks SO pregnant! It just makes me so happy...but it's also so bizarre. You definitely are real, but you don't seem quite real yet. Some might call that disbelief, others might call that "you have no idea what you're getting yourself into, buddy." Whatever you want to call it, though, I constantly have to keep pinching myself to remind me that you're actually really coming. There's no cooler reminder of that than seeing your mother, with her burgeoning belly, come home from work every night.

Well, maybe there is a cooler reminder:

Yesterday after dinner, I was about to fall asleep on the chair and a half when your Mother called my name: "Aaron!" I thought I was in trouble because, as you'll figure out one day, wives and husbands don't really use each other's names that often...unless the other is in trouble. The equivalent will be your First + Middle names. You know when we say your first and middle name that you are most likely in deep doodoo.

Anyway, I snapped up, ready to defend my actions (I didn't MEAN to do it), and I saw your Mom smiling with her hands on her belly.

"Come here! He's kicking. I can feel it with my hands!"

I fell out of the chair and scrambled across the floor to your Mother's side, and I slipped my hands under hers.

I shut my eyes, held my breath and then....BUMP!

You kicked me (and it was a BIG one, according to your Mom)! Holly and I waited there, hands on her belly, for a few more minutes feeling the gentle popping (almost like a muscle spasm) of you turnining and stretching and apparently playing Dance Dance Revolution. It was almost like staring at the sky, waiting for a shooting star to pass by. And finally, we felt you, a little bit more gently, kick again.

Eventually, all this hand-pressing-on-the-belly took its toll on your Mom's bladder and we had to call it quits or we would have needed a new couch.

Pregnancy is like that, though: For each awe-inspiring, amazing reminder (like seeing your Mom's bump seemingly grow day to day or feeling you kick), there are equally omnipresent and way funnier daily reminders too.

Last night we were eating dinner at the coffee table. I was doing my normal chow-down and then I looked over at your Mom. She was struggling to eat her dinner-- not because she was full, but because she couldn't lean over the table the way she used to.

"My belly makes eating at this table so hard!" she said.

And it was true: her belly restricted her from getting as close to the table as she could, leaving a big gap between her plate and her mouth. And filling that gap, ever hopeful, were your dogs, Preston and Toby, hoping that a morsal would slip through the gap.

We both just had to laugh. By the end of this, we'll probably need a new coffee table! (and Preston and Toby may finally get that freebie they've been hoping for).

Despite all the wonder and comedy that pregnancy provides, it's still so hard for us both to hold on to the fact that you'll be here in March! And we'll be parents! (Although, I'm sure it's a little harder for Holly to 'forget'). Me, on the other hand, I get to experience these wonders and blunders as a third party. But you know what, third party is still a party- and I'm enjoying every surprise, every new view of the belly, every stomach obstacle and every minute of it (except for maybe the barfing on the airplane).

First Contact

Pregnancy has, of course, changed your Mother and Me (and most definitely you)! Some of these changes will be "forever" changes (and we can't wait for those), some will be only temporary. Some are complete reversals of Weinstein-family policies and those are the most shocking kind!

As an example, last night your Mom said she wanted Chinese food for dinner.

I suggested, "How 'bout we try that buffet near our house?"

Normally, that is to say "pre-pregnancy," that question would have been answered with a categorical, emphatic "NO WAY. We do not do buffets." (This policy was set in place after years of your dear old Dad gorging and then whining to your Mom about forcing him to eat so much.)

Much to my surprise, without even a hestiation, your Mom said "Sounds great!"

I was so surprised and excited about the prospects of gorging myself that I had to do a double take. But she actually did say "Yes!"

So off we went. And gorge myself, I did. (This restaurant was also a really good weapon in my arsenal to slightly fatten your Mom up!)

But, at the restaurant your Mom and I witnessed another "new change," but this one's only temporary. That's right, we experienced First Contact: the first of what is probably going to be a major (temporary) change due to you growing in her belly! Now, first contact doesn't mean that she finally felt you move in her tummy (but I'm gonna keep trying!), or that I could finally hear your heart beat through her bellybutton, or that aliens landed and decided to go to a Chinese Buffet (though I don't know what that has to do with anything).

The monumental First Contact in this case was a total "Wow, we really are pregnant, aren't we?" moment! That's right, on a very special bite of food's long journey from the plate on the table to your Mom's mouth, a big droplet of Sweet and Sour sauce took a nosedive off the morsel and landed squarely on the your Mom's belly.

This was, officially, the first piece of food that your Mom has spilled on the baby bump.

As you continue to grow, and your Mom has to sit further and further away from the table, I'm sure, though, that it will not be the last. We may have to pre-use your bibs!

Please note: I routinely spill food on my belly, but that is not news in any way at all.

Food Stain? No problem for Oxi clean. And no, that guy doesn't look like me at all.