Week 29 and doing fine

Little one, 

It's hard to imagine, and hard to recall when exactly this happened, but we are well into the third trimester. That means you are almost here...a little over two months from being here, to be exact. '

Your Mom continues to grow bigger and bigger as you continue to grow larger in her belly.

We can feel you moving all the time, simply by placing a hand on the belly. And last night we even saw you rippling under your mother's skin. It sounds creepy, but it's not. It was actually quite amazing, to see you subtly moving just under the surface.

It seems just like yesterday that you were barely on your way....

and now look at you, your mother and brother a mere 13 weeks later.

But a lot truly has changed in 13 weeks. For the better. You've got some girly clothes hanging in the closet, and pink sheets on your crib waiting for you. And you've got a name. Actually, that's been settled for a long time, but now your brother fully knows it, and even has a song about it.

You are: Julia Sekina Weinstein!


We're still ironing out the spelling of your middle name. Julia means youthful, and Sekina means serenity. Both are blessings. The J in Julia is to honor your Mimi, Joy; and Sekina was the name of your Mom's Mama Bizorg (Baba's mother). I never got to meet her, but from all I've heard she was an incredible, gentle, kind woman. So that's another two blessings, to be named in the fashion of such strong women.

'Julia' itself is a really beautiful Beatles song (one which sparked our interest in your name); but Aidan developed an even more beautiful song for you. The song "Hallelujah" is one that Aunt Rebekka and I recorded for our CD for Mimi's 70th birthday. Aidan listens to it a lot. At first he called the song "looya"...then it evolved thusly:

Looya...loooah...loooiah....jooooya....julia

Aidan also knows that your Mom's name is Holly. So he put the two together: "Holly Julia."

So whenever I hear "Hallelujah" from now on, I will think of you, Julia, your big brother and what a blessing you all are in our lives already.

22 weeks: Now Hear This

Little one,

You have now completed your 22nd week of growing into a fully formed baby Weinstein!

And your Mom continues to grow more and more beautiful.

 So, here we are: you are the size of a papaya. Pretty crazy to think that just 22 weeks ago you were smaller than a poppy seed.

Even crazier to think that about 2 and half years ago, your Mom was 22 weeks pregnant with your brother.

Week 22 with Aidan, October 2009

I'm not rushing things at all, but wait til you see how awesome things are here on the outside world. Your brother was pissed at us for just a few moments for taking him out of your Mom's belly, and you will be too...but so much can change in 2 years. Life happens, and it's beautiful. You're going to love it. But, you've still got 4.5 months or so to go, so, for now, keep on rocking life in the belly and keep on hitting those developmental milestones.

And now that you're 22 weeks old, your beautiful face is fully formed and you're able to hear noises from outside the womb. The blurb says you'll find your Mother's voice most soothing, but you also have been getting quite an earful from me and your brother lately. As you saw, he's talking up a storm, and I'm rarely quiet. So, you should be sonically adjusted to all three of us pretty soon.

I held my phone up to your Mom's belly the other day and played you a song, the Paul Simon one about how there'd "never be a father loved his daughter more than I love you." I sang along with the chorus.

Tonight I'll play you another song:

And Aidan will probably shower you with kisses and say "baby!" and your name too! And "Beatles" (he just learned to say that the other day...I'm very proud). Or maybe you'll be treated to a lovely two-year-old fit (they DO happen). Or maybe you'll hear all the hammers and nails banging around outside as we expand our home to make extra room for our growing family.

No matter what you hear, little one, don't be alarmed. You're doing wonderfully. You're sleeping about 12-14 hours a day; you're growing all the time; and you can hear us whispering about how crazy excited we are to meet you.

Week 19- Mango a go-go and Name-o-rama

Little one, you are 19 weeks old and the size of a mango. It's no surprise that your really that big now. Your Mom is show-show-showing (so much so that she doesn't want to take our weekly pictures any more...I'm going to have to get creative).

But, the magic of this second trimester is that even though she's show-show-showing, she's all go-go-going. She doesn't have boundless energy, that's for sure, but she certainly has a LOT more energy than she did in the first trimester.

She's teaching her full course load, working on a bunch of illustrations, chasing Aidan around all day and even volunteering us to watch 3 (?) of our neighbor's children too.

But, of course, all this crazy second trimester energy takes its toll. By the end of the day, her feet are swollen and sore...and it's just starting to get to be that famous Texas summer heat outside.

Luckily, I've got two hands with nothing better to do than rub said feet, and I try to keep the snarky comments to a minimum.

Your brother's learning your name quite nicely too. Oh, didn't I mention that we have decided upon your name? Okay...we're 98% decided, but with only the one name on the list, we've been calling you by that beautiful name. And your brother's learning it. Curious? Okay, I'll give you a hint: It's Beatles-related!

And it follows our family pattern: five letters, minimum of two vowels.

At any rate, I digress, we're not playing the name game right now, and if you're reading this, you already know your name! I'm just not quite ready to announce it yet.

The point is, Aidan is learning to be your big brother. He knows you and knows where to find you...mostly. We'll say, "kiss your sister, Aidan," and most of the time he gives a quick smooch on the belly. Sometimes he hits what your self-conscious mother calls "another fat part" of her body and announces that there's a baby. An arm...a boob, you know.

One day last week, he even ran up to your Mom and kissed her BUTT and then said "BABY!"

Not quite...but close enough.

From outside the belly, we sing to you, read to you and kiss you goodnight. We're getting excited to watch you and your mother continue to grow from Mango to beyond, and soon enough we'll be able to read to you, sing to you, hold you and kiss you in person. Until then, we'll work on Aidan's aim.

The End, The Beginning- Part II

When they finally came to get me and told me that I could go back and see you, I was sufficiently nervous. The cool of the "doctor posing" had worn off, and a half an hour had gone by. I had pretty much sweated through my scrubs and shirt, wringing my hands and pacing, waiting to be taken to the OR. I was wondering what a "restricted pelvis" really meant and if there was any way that they could have known from the get-go that your Mom has one so she wouldn't have had to under go so much pain.

But when I walked in and saw your mother's face, and all the doctors hovering over her behind a partition, I knew everything was going to be okay.

The lead me right to your Mom's side, and I sat down next to her and started playing with her hair.

Your Mom started complaining that her oxygen flowing in from her mask smelled funny. The anesthesiologist motioned to me that it wasn't her oxygen mask at all making the smell. So, I covered and told your Mom that the smell was in fact, me. But, truthfully, that smell was them cutting through your Mom's tissue with the cauterizer flame thrower thing making the final incisions.

Your Mom and I chatted some nebulous drugged-up pillow talk, and I encouraged her as the doctors tinkered away.

Within moments the anesthesiologist said, "Dad, get your camera ready, get ready, because here he comes."

I stood up, away from your Mother's side and peered over the partition, I don't recall seeing any blood or entrails or anything, all I remember was seeing your purple, hairy head being lifted from your Mom's body.

I snapped a picture.

The nurse told me to take a picture of the time, for that was the time you were born.

And then they took you away to get your lungs cleaned out, get your body cleaned off and weigh you.

The second your Mom heard your voice, your cry, she started crying too. I was in awe. We both were so happy that you were here, that finally, after all this time, we'd finally be able to meet our son,

Aidan Powell Weinstein!

Your Mom was so relieved, and I kept peaking around the partition to get a glimpse at you. Finally, they called my name: "Daddy, come over here and meet your son!"

They didn't need to ask me twice. I walked over to the baby cleaning station to meet you. You were pretty upset at being removed from such a nice, warm belly and were a bit traumatized from the hour and a half of labor (you had a boo-boo on your head from the hour of bone on bone pushing), you kind of looked like a purple, angry old man.

You screamed bloody murder. You had a decent coat of hair. You did a dead-on Yoda impersonation:

And you were beautiful, and perfect, and all we could have ever dreamed for.

You held my hand.

I'm a Daddy now.

Finally, they let you meet your Mommy. She was so glad to see you and started talking to you immediately. She says that you recognized our voices, because once we started talking, you calmed down. I sang our lullaby a little, your Mom (still heavily medicated) told you to not worry, because "Mommy's cross-eyed too" (you were cross eyed because babies- especially 3 minute old ones- can't focus their eyes).

It was among the sweetest moments I've ever felt. The three of us sat there as they sewed your Mom back together again. Our first moments as a family. And since I'm a Dad now, I documented part of the moment on video:

"I know, it was tough for Mommy too. But we did it. We did it."

Did it, you guys did. Soon enough they had finished your Mom's surgery and the three of us could go back to room 7, as a family: Aaron, Holly and Aidan.

Your Mom seemed to radiate happiness as she got to hold you in her arms and just look at your for the first time.

And you seemed to know us before, as if we'd met already.

Although there was never really anything to worry about, we all breathed a sigh of relief.

We were all there safe and sound, sound and safe. You had ten fingers and ten toes, two ears, two eyes and a nose. Your mother's lips, my sideburns, and maybe my eyes.

Your eyes were almost cobalt blue, though they may not stay.

Your head was a bit of a cone, though it's already back to being nice and round.

Your ears were a bit flattened from the trauma, though their perking up.

You have your mother's chin and eyebrows.

And you might have my nose, though that doesn't go away without surgery.

Still to this day, we don't know quite who you look like. I think that's because you look exactly like yourself, Aidan.

That evening you got to meet lots of cool people too: Nannah and Baba, Aunt Sham, Mimi and Pops. And as the days rolled on, you met tons of other people too: your unofficial aunts and uncles, your real uncle, your Godparents, your Great Grandma and unofficial Great Great Grandma.

But for that night, even though you had to go to the nursery for two hours to get nice and warmed up, it felt like you, me and your Mother were the only ones in the universe. You were no longer a fraction; our immediate family was now 3 (plus 2 dogs). You are our son, and we are your parents. This journal is no longer a pregnancy journal, but now a baby diary...a diary about you, Aidan, and how you've changed all of our lives for the better.

We have a lot to learn. It will be very exciting.

Welcome to the world, Aidan Powell Weinstein! Born on February 27, 2010 at 5:51 pm. 7 lbs, 1 ounce. 20 inches tall. Welcome to the world!

I hear you crying. I'm going to go hold you now!

Pains and Names: You're number one!

So, now that it's 2010, the official lists for the most popular names of 2009 have come out and, not surprisingly, your name is tops on the list (though it is spelled differently, so technically it counts as a different name).

This wasn't really a surprise, though. Back in the summer when we were coming up with names for you, we really liked the name we eventually chose for you. I'd never met anyone with that name and your mother had only met one. We knew it wasn't the world's most original name, and that it is night impossible to come up with a truly original name that won't be shared with anyone else in the world. Unless you wanted a name like "Urashfsd" or "Hzbsba." And we simply don't earn enough money to afford to name you after an inanimate object like "Apple" or "Paper Clip" or "Seesaw" or "Trigger" like so many rock stars can afford to do.

Using the really cool tool on the Social Security website, we searched your name and saw that over the past years it's been trending upward. So, yeah, we knew it was a popular name. But we didn't know it was going to be number 1 for last year! I mean, for 2008, your name wasn't even on the top 10 list. That means you sky rocketed past Jacob, Michael, Ethan, Joshua, Daniel, Alexander, Anthony, William, Christopher to take the number one spot!

You're number one!

But, even being number one doesn't make a name that popular. For example, last year's number one, Jacob, represented 1.035 % of the people born and named in 2008. That means that about one out of 100 people were named Jacob. So, it'll all depend on WHICH 100 people you choose to hang out with!

Even though we knew it was a popular name, we still decided to give you this name. We love the flow of it, the name itself, the way it fits with our last name, the fact that it honors my Grandmother, the meaning, the sound and- already- it is just...YOU!


It is interesting, though, how names like yours suddenly enter the national conciousness.

Even though we seem to have tapped into some sort of national cosmic trend without knowing it or doing it intentionally, we are sticking with your name! So, forget about it if there are 10 other kids with your name in your 1st grade class: you're still the only you on the planet! Your feelings shouldn't be hurt if you have to share your name with some other cool kids.

You are number one in another category too, though, and this one's a little bit more painful.

With the finish line in sight, the pregnancy is really starting to shift gears toward discomfort and pain.

Your mom just can't get comfortable while she's sleeping because her belly is so big.
She has these short and sorta painful fake contractions, which are just her body prepping for the big day.
Her pants ripped yesterday when she sat down (although, they were old pajama pants that she's had since she was a teenager...but it was still really funny!)

And now, your kicks and movements and jabs are tickling less and less and starting to shock and awe more and more.

Apparently, the bigger you get, the less room there is for amniotic fluid, so the body stops producing it. The lack of amniotic fluid means that there's a lot less cushioning between your fists, elbows, feet and head and your Mom's internal organs and ribs.

But, with pain comes pleasure (it's one of those dumb dualities of life); and you already are giving us so much pleasure in our lives that the pain (which surely pales in comparison to the potential pain down the road...in a month or two) is totally worth it!

So keep on kicking, buddy, and we'll keep watching for your feet to ripple under your Mom's belly. And while I'm smiling at the opportunity to feel you kick, and your Mother is grimacing, just know that we are eagerly waiting your arrival.

See, you're number one already!

Initial Name

Well, young man, as you are reading this (in the future), you most certainly have a name. But, as of this writing, you don't.

We definitely have been pouring over names since before we were even, pregnant though.

And, I'm pleased to announce that we have more than likely officially decided on your name.

In fact, we've been calling you this name for about a month, just to test drive it and see if we like it. And, we actually both LOVE it! It makes us happy, excited, and seems to encapsulate how we're feeling about you-- and isn't that what a name is supposed to do?

Now, of course we want to wait until we see you to decide for sure, because, what if you come out and you don't look like a _______?

But, we thought you'd like to know that you are very close to being officially named. And, as we inch closer and closer to week 22, I wanted to announce your likely initials.

This is pretty intense, because we're both a bit indecisive. So, check out the image below, for it contains your likely initials:

Now, just because it's almost Halloween (and wait til you see our costumes), I wouldn't play a trick without giving a treat! I wouldn't be so snarky as to leave you hanging like that! The three letters for you are as follows:

And here's an extra hint, the "W" stands for Weinstein!

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).

Holy Guacamole!

I can't believe it! You're already 16 weeks old! According to the ever-increasing fruit-scale, you are the size of an Avocado! Whoa!

That doesn't surprise me too much because your Mom's tummy is REALLY starting to show now. Forget all that stuff I said before about her showing; comparatively, that was just a little Root Beer Belly. Now she's legitimately beginning to show!

In fact, her belly has grown so much that your Mom is constantly marveling about the changing (read "shrinking") depth of her belly button.

"Aaron, look, I can see the bottom of my belly button!"

The belly button is definitely becoming more and more shallow. Without a flashlight or anything, we can see the bottom of that little button. And when your Mom's about ready to pop, just like a pop-up turkey thermometer, her belly button may unceremoniously turn from an inny into an outie.

You may have also noticed that this week your eyelashes, eyebrows and hair are starting to fill in. On an even cooler note, your taste buds are forming! That means, for the first time, you might actually care which fruit you are equatable to in size. And it's a good week for that. Avocados are among your Mom's favorite foods!

But, what I think is the coolest, is that teeny tiny versions of the teeniest tinyest bones in the human body are now forming...creating the inner workings of your ears!



That means that you can probably pick up your Mother's voice this week, and possibly mine too. I'll try to sing on key!

Hopefully you didn't hear us on Sunday. In an attempt to get a coupon at Babies R Us so that we could get a discount on your Mom's body pillow, we signed up to register at that superstore.

It was overwhelming to say the least. How does one chose items to buy for a challenge they've never faced before? We didn't know what was what...what kind of breast pump, diaper genie, stroller or anything to get! Holy Guacamole, talk about shopping for someone else being difficult! This was downright stressful! AND they didn't even have the right body pillow in the store anyway, so your Mom wound up ordering it off Amazon today.

A good visual representation of how I felt in Babies R Us. Minus the Latina baby Girl, of course. They made me give her back.

But about 2o minutes in to the registering, you would have heard me whine and basically throw in the towel on the whole deal. Not the pregnancy; just the registering. It was not my finest moment, so I'm glad your ear bones weren't fully developed yet to hear that miserable excuse for a power shopper.

We did see lots of cool stuff that we want to get for you (and for us for you); but most of it seemed foreign. Stacks and stacks of stuff that we didn't know if we needed or absolutely didn't need.

We've never done this before, so we're gonna have to seek some advice from some of your Uncles and Aunts and some other key advisors.

Maybe by the time you CAN hear me from inside your Mom's tummy, we'll be better prepared to make a decent show of registering for Baby gear. And then you'll hear that cash register ding and be a little less stressed about the whole deal.

But for now, you've got all the gear you need: umbilical cord, amniotic fluid, a growing womb in which to play less cluttered by an intrusive belly button and (this is news) a likely candidate for your Name!

That's right...we may have decided on your name! More on this later though!