Watermelon Waiting

You are now 37 weeks along! And that means you've reached the final stage of your fruit continuum.

That's right, buddy, you are now the size of a watermelon!

And, as a watermelon, that means two things:

1) Watch out for Gallagher.

2) You are "Ready" for birth.

Now, ready is sure a loaded term. But, basically, it means you could be born today with no complications. All you're doing for the next 3 weeks (or for how ever long you decide to remain in utero) is adding on baby fat, refining your blinking, and sucking, inhaling and exhaling (yup, you're still breathing in liquid!).

But, all that's really just practice! You're ready for the big show any day now.

And with that in mind, your Mom and I are trying to get "ready" too.

"Ready or not, here you come." Definitely, we know that's true.

But we still had a few more things to check off our lists to make us feel a little bit more ready.

So this weekend, we put together your stroller and unwrapped your car seat/infant carrier and installed it in the car! Seeing as how they won't let us take you home without the car seat, we thought it was a good thing to get done.

We also got down our big red duffle bag from the attic and started packing for our trip to the hospital. I got my change of socks and boxers and t-shirts all packed up. The toiletries are all ready to go: toothbrushes, toothpaste and (very important) deods. Your Mom is packing all her clothes and other necessities today, including some pretty cool long socks (which may be the first thing you see) and nursing tops.

This bag, of course, is a complete luxury. You can be born with or without it; but since this whole deal is about keeping your Mom as comfortable as possible, so you can be born as comfortably as possible, it's probably a good idea to get this Emergency Bag all packed and ready to go.

So, the bag is ready to go, as are you. And now we're just playing the waiting (until March) game.

And, surprisingly, an odd calm-before-the-storm mentality has settled over our household...as long as that creep with the moustache and the sledgehammer isn't lurking about (Gallagher, not Pops!)

I've got a feeling & a Stroller Coaster

Baby W, you are now 19 weeks old! We're getting closer and closer to that official half way point!

You keep growing, and so does your Mom's belly! This week you're the size of a Mango!

Seeing as how you're really climbing up the produce food chain, and that you're moving like crazy in your Mom's belly, it's no wonder that she's been feeling you kick and turn and move for just about a full week.

But, what was a wonder to me, was that I felt you move too! We were on the couch watching a movie (oddly enough, a movie about an expectant couple called "Away We Go"). During the movie, I had my hand on your Mother's belly and...POP!...I swear I felt you move below and to the right of her belly button.

Was that you in there?

Holly said that she "wasn't paying attention" to know if what I felt was, indeed, you moving...but I'm pretty convinced that was you! It felt almost like being gently flicked, but very quick and abrupt. Was that your foot? Your hand? Did you hit your head?

No matter what it was, it made my night! No, it made my whole week! Maybe you could hit your head against her belly again tonight?

Speaking of moving, you'll be happy to know that your Mother and have moved forward in a particularly difficult arena: registering.

As you'll recall, we were both incredibly overwhelmed by Babies R Us and hightailed it out of there with our tails between our legs. I was happy with never going back to that store again, and figured you'd do just fine in hand-me-downs and old cardboard boxes taped together to create a crib. Little did I know, though, that your Mom found her comfort zone for registering and basically went through every category of everything you'll ever need by registering online. It was way easier!

But, when I got filled back in on the loop, there were still two items that were vexing your mother: your crib and your stroller. So, I figured we should take it up a notch. Biting the bullet, we headed to another baby superstore: Buy Buy Baby.

They even let me park right up front!

This store was A LOT better: each employee is an expert on baby things, and the store is laid out to not induce hyperventilation and vertigo. So that's a plus. On our first trip there, we learned a heck of a lot and saw about 15 million strollers and cribs.

Stroller Over-Load! We felt like this couple, except that I still have my lucious head of hair! (as of this writing)

We definitely still felt overwhelmed...but not as badly as before. I guess going to these baby stores and registering is like being bludgened: the more you experience it, the less pain you feel! But we ironed out a lot of ideas and brainstormed and discussed and talked and thought and thought some more and sought advice and turned inward and...we made a decision on both fronts!

So yesterday, we decided that we needed to go back to Buy Buy Baby to see if our idea would even work! In order to make ourselves feel better about being bright-eyed and deer-in-the-headlights at these baby stores, we decided to bring some folks who would make us feel like old pros: enter the Nodelands! So, with BJ and Kari in tow, and confidence artifically heightened, we went back to Buy Buy Baby to register for more amazing junk for you and test our stroller idea.

Registering can stink. Is that a fake burger patty in your hands or are we in a PetSmart?

After a hands-on demonstration from three different associates, encountering an even-more bewildered couple than us, and test driving (and test lifting) about 10 carrier and stroller combinations, you might have thought we'd high-tailed it out of there again. But no! Consider your stroller and infant carrier registered-for! You're gonna be so comfortable (and safe (and stylish))).

I've got a good feeling about this!

Your new ride! We don't look too scared, do we? Plus, check out your Mom's 19 week bump!