Shameless Plug

We have been very lazy bloggers the past few months. Bad bloggers, bad!

Those of you who follow the news will know that life has been, err, exciting for Shervyn the past several weeks. And I just started my PhD program - they actually expect me to work! - and have been swamped. But here we are finally sharing pictures of the alien critter as he grows and makes me expand.

As of August, the baby's alien nature was still visible in the sonograms. Look at that face. I've got a Grey growing in me.



This was my second trimester, so we were on the once every 4 weeks visitation schedule. We didn't get to see the little alien for four more weeks. However, come September, it was time for the level 2. This is basically a super intense sonogram that makes sure that everything is developing normally. There were lots of pictures. Got to say, I'm not so sure why they hand these things out like candy. The images are a little disturbing. I don't want to know that my baby is freaky looking.



Notice the big ol' mouth on the baby. Clearly he's going to like eating and talking. Just like Mommy and Daddy. Is he smiling in the first picture?




This month we had our last second trimester appointment with the doctor. From here on out it's every two weeks again. Ahhh, the joys of peeing in a cup on a regular basis! He is rearranging my insides to his liking and making sure that he's got plenty of room. It looks like I swallowed a whole watermelon. He's also getting very active. As usual, they took lots of pictures. The doctor assures me this is a picture of his head.



The little beastie is floating head down these days. So while my bladder isn't getting too much abuse, my rib cage is. Here is a picture of what makes my tummy wiggle like a special effect out of Aliens.



Let me tell you, the kid's got a mean kick on him! I'm intimately acquainted with that foot these days.

So while the baby keeping to schedule, growing bigger, and getting more active, his parents are far behind. We haven't painted the nursery; we haven't put the crib together; we haven't picked a pediatrician. Poor little guy, he's going to be the most prepared person in this family!

Although we haven't done anything important, we did manage to complete our registries! See, we're not totally useless. Most of the stuff is at Babies R' Us. We did the best we could, but we're newbies. Hopefully we registered for all the stuff we'll actually need. Sadly they don't carry the baby carrier we want so we had to go to that company's Web site as well. Finally, we decided that maybe a reference library would be needed. You are talking about two first-timers at work here who have no idea what they're doing! So we registered at Amazon for some basic baby care and breast feeding books. Yes, I know it looks like we're getting greedy, but someone's got to make sure the kid makes it through in one piece and we're not going to be able to do it without instructions.

We've another appointment next week, so we'll have more pictures to share. If only they'd stop giving me pictures of his boy bits. It just seems a little inappropriate to post those.

The Alien In Me

You think I'm joking? Look at this sonogram from 12 weeks. It seriously looks like a prop from an episode of The X-Files. The kid looks human from the side (see the image immediately below), but from the front it is clearly not of human origin. And look at that creepy, bony arm. This is clearly not the product of two well fed (human) individuals such as Shervyn and me.



At 14 weeks, we learned that we were giving birth to the hyper active spawn of Skeletor. In 1 minute 7 seconds the kid did a total flip from laying on its back, to floating face down in the womb. And note that once again the kid looks human-ish in the nice side view. I promise that the blob on the right side is the head and the blob in the middle/left side is the body. But in the second picture you can clearly see the skull, spine, and ribs.




Creepy I tell you, seriously creepy.

It Begins

Well, it's begun. The cumbersome process of figuring out what you need and how much you can afford to spend. Buy a breast pump? Rent a breast pump? Will I even need a breast pump? Glass bottles? Plastic bottles? Both? Swing or bouncy chair? Do we get duplicates because of the lake house or does the kid deal with only having a swing at the apartment? Gates, drawer and cabinet locks, toilet locks? Sure, some of this stuff we don't need to worry about until after the kid is mobile. But if any of the stories of Shervyn as a kiddle are true, I fully expect to find an 18-month-old spawn standing on top of the crib laughing its head off. Or trying to swim in the toilet. Or trying to take the wall sockets apart. Yikes. Let's just focus on how to survive the first couple of weeks, shall we?

Our trip to Babies R Us was both overwhelming and comforting. Shervyn realized that an $999 Bugaboo stroller really wasn't necessary and that a 13 lb Maclaren umbrella stroller is a good thing. I had a hard time not getting distracted by the things with music, vibrations, spins, etc. Oh and the library we have to set up. Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Good Night Moon... So much good stuff.

We eventually buckled down and started looking at cribs. The ones above are listed in order from least to most favorite. Most cribs are pretty ugly. And the quality and price of the other nursery furniture is ridiculous. We'll buy a crib from a baby place and then Ikea the rest of the furniture probably. An Ikea dresser is about half the cost of a "baby" dresser and the quality is actually better. Now on to all the other scary stuff we've got to get done.

As Shervyn promised, here are some more shots of the house. It looks much bigger from the outside than it actually is. And the garage is useless for his poor car; the driveway is so steep it threatens to rip the bottom of his car off when he attempts to get into the garage. But we do have a big porch with a loverly gazebo. Which I'll never actually sit in because I'm sure there's spiders in there. The lake is restful and, rumor has it, full of fish. Shervyn may turn into a bass fisherman in his free time. And finally, Gabby doesn't seem to mind the ride on down to the house much at all. Doesn't she look elegant in her purple (much-hated) harness. From the peaceful expression on her face in this picture you'd never think that putting her in the damn thing led to a melt down worthy of the crankiest of 4 (or 34) year olds.

A Not So Random Walk to the Edge

The edge of our property that is. The walk starts in the livingroom where our incredibly, calm, and understanding real estate agent, Lisa, is struggling to open French doors out to the side porch...trust me the doors are really that complicated, you have to twist a couple of knobs, rattle the handle just so and wait for the moon to enter the house of Mars before you can actually open them. Which is why we're going to go out the front door.

Once you turn around to get to the front door you can't help but notice our nifty fireplace. But don't dawdle...out the door and into the woods where the safe path is demarcated by these deliciously cheesy statues that are a cross between a garden gnome and Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Finally you walk along a babbling brook to the boundary wall as we like to call it. All I can say is that I am glad someone else built it, cause I can just look at it and appreciate it's beauty. Up next: the Ravenous Red Head will post more photos...after she finishes eating my dinner.

Enter Boogie Baby

I have to admit that this was an annoying visit if only because we showed up at 11:30, went into the examining room at 12:30, and still didn't see Dr. M until 1. But seeing a image that made it clear our child had been watching Saturday Night Fever made it all worth it. Hence our latest nickname for the baby, Boogie Baby.

Shervyn also had the opportunity to share his Dr. A cervix trauma with our OB. She laughed, shrugged, and said "Well, it's a good thing you met her sooner rather than later."

Next time: The Lake House.

Take 2 or a 2nd Bite at the Apple

Because we live in the Big Bad Apple we get to visit the OB every 2 weeks for the first and third trimester. Let me tell you about our OB. She is a wonderful, caring, reasonable and very funny woman named Dr. M. A good friend was kind enough to introduce the Redhead to her. Well the second visit was not with Dr. M, but with her partner and friend Dr. A. Dr. A is also a wonderful, caring and very funny woman. But because she is Iranian...there is nothing reasonable about her. Trust me, I know from Iranian. Let's just say I had no choice but to inspect the Redhead's cervix....

Anyway, on a happier note: here is the mutant in all his/her glory at 8 weeks.