Insert Baby Here

Following many UPS deliveries, much assemblage and the re-ordering of missing parts, the baby room is coming together! Here's a little taste of what it looks like so far:




While Brian has been deciphering assembly directions and mastering the use of the allen wrench, Carrie has been testing out the new rocker-glider, reading to the bean and training the cats not to jump in the crib. Thank you to everybody who has contributed to our "baby stuff" collection. We have so much baby clothes we're not sure we'll ever have to wash anything! Although, we have been informed that it's not uncommon for babies to soil and cycle through several outfits in one day...


And it has been a few weeks since we posted a picture of Carrie's ever-growing belly, so we though we'd include a couple of those. While some significant belly-expansion is occurring, Carrie is still nimble as a ninja on her toes. Okay, Carrie's never been THAT nimble, but she is still tackling four-mile hikes in our uphill neighborhood! (This is Brian bragging about her, by the way, she hasn't officially approved this post yet.)


Behold the belly:

"Poop a pumpkin"

Our childbirth educator actually used that phrase to describe giving birth. And she told us the following story about a husband passing out during labor:

A doctor is performing a vacuum-assisted delivery and is having a hard time getting a good seal on the suction cap placed on the baby's head. Mom is in the typical throes of labor, and dad, while holding her hand, is curiously watching the doctor negotiate the vacuum cap. The doctor believes she has a good "grip" on baby's head and gently tugs. The suction cap comes loose, "thwops" off and subsequently flings a splattering of vernix, vaginal blood and yucky debris over the doctor's shoulder to land on the wall of the delivery room. Dad, believing his newborn's brain has just been sucked out of its skull, passes out.

Okay, I think I like our childbirth educator's sense of humor, but I'm not sure this was the best forum in which to express it.

Un-name Our Baby!

Okay, one of the most frequent questions we get asked by people is: what's the baby's name. Now, in an effort to avoid awkward moments in which we tell people the name we've picked out and, inadvertently, this happens to be the name of their grade school nemesis, we have decided keep the name hush-hush. Well, except Carrie spilled the beans once and told her nephew Gabe, but he's only a year old and is still working on putting together multiple syllables.

So, to respond in some small way to these questions, we will now post a list of names which will not be given to our child. In no particular order:

• Buehla
• Zelda
• Esther
• Olga
• Britney

There you have it. Our apologies to anyone who may have been pulling for any of the above, and to fans of Ms. Spears.

Your Breast Friends

We're doing our homework:

Carrie attended an informational meeting last night presented by a pediatrician and a lactation specialist. At the end of the night, the lactation specialist gave everyone one minute to write down a list of all the benefits of breast feeding, with a prize for the person with the longest list. And WHO'S LIST WAS THE LONGEST? That's right, Carrie's. She's now the proud winner of the gift basket pictured here.

Lucky for Carrie, Brian had to work last night, otherwise he may have given her a run for her money.

The Not-So-Beautiful Parts of Labor

Well, we dutifully attended our second childbirth class last night. We are in a large group of about fifteen couples at the hospital with a leader who is, for good and bad, somewhat like Alvin of the Chipmunks, meaning she's full of energy, chipper and blunt with a tendency to talk a lot about herself. Last night we practiced a lot of massage exercises and breathing techniques (slow, deep breaths building to ah-hee's, next week we progress to the hee-hoo's).

We also watched our first video of a live birth in last night's class, which Carrie did not find to be a therapeutic experience. At one point the instructor said something like, "You'll all probably duck at one part, because the amniotic fluid really flies in this one!" Afterward, Carrie said something to this effect: "There is a reason why my head is on the other end of my body, because I am not supposed to watch that happen to me."

Rub Mah Belly!

We thought we'd post our most recent pictures of Carrie and her expanding bump, so you can all rub your mouse cursors over her belly and think healthy baby thoughts. Carrie likes the full-length shots, because they don't make her look all-belly, but Brian likes the all-belly shots, so we have one of each. 

And here's a couple pictures of Allie and Sophie testing out the new crib.

      

    

Greetings Family and Friends!

In an effort to thwart the distances between all of you and us, we have decided to start a baby diary! We also thought it might be fun to create a forum where we can share the joys, terrors and weirdness of pregnancy, as well as our transition to being new parents. So all comments, wisdom and commiserations are welcome! 

Here's what we know about our little bean so far:

1. She likes milkshakes

2. She doesn't kick, so much as she slides around and pushes out

3. She has two arms, two legs and one head- yay! (Would a two-headed baby cry twice as much?)

4. Frequently hiccups

5. She's not so much a morning person

6. She likes it when Brian reads strange poetry to her

7. She looked like this a while back:

So that's all for now. Carrie's body has now been held captive for thirty-one-and-a-half weeks, and somewhere in her belly there's a little person dreaming of soft belly hugs, milkshakes and warm, loving voices, and she's looking forward to meeting you all very soon.