Disclaimer

The stories contained here may or may not be actual stories from our lives. They very well may be fictional accounts. I have a creative mind. They could be fictional parenting examples to help you, life stories, or true stories to help the readers of this blog. I can't confirm or deny the accuracy contained in each post. Take the information contained here and laugh a little, shake your head a little and ask yourself if he is serious. I will deny that any of these accounts were actually from our lives.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Doctor's Visit

06.26.08

We went to the doctor today and when I walked through the door, I just about passed out. There were no seats in the entire waiting room and the floor was full of kids. I decided to turn around, carefully trying not to step on something that was breathing, and sat outside and sent text messages to LA who squeezed into an empty seat in the waiting room. I told her to put on her mask because of all the germs floating around in that place. So as you can imagine it took a good while to get called to the back and even when she got called to the back, they didn't have a room ready for her yet so she came back out to the waiting room.

Our total wait and doctor time today was 1.5 hours - that's unacceptable. The only positive thing we had going for us at this visit was the fact that the drug reps had someone cater lunch. I knew the nurses and doctors weren't going to miss free food. We meet with the "new" doctor today. She is "new" to the practice but has 18 years of experience that's the good part. She didn't just fall of the doctor truck. Our first opinion was mixed. Hopefully, she is still getting used to how they do things in this office. She seems nice/cordial and knowledgeable but wasn't bubbly like the other doctor and NP in the practice. The baby's heart rate is 139; right on target - 140 is the midpoint. LA is low on iron - just below the normal level but she wouldn't be classified as anemic. The doctor is not overly concerned at this point and instructed LA to take an iron supplement a couple times each week. She doesn't want her to take so much that it makes her stomach upset and makes her constipated. I don't want that either! She measured LA and she measured 31cm. LA is plus 2cm. The margin of error is +/- 2cm. This means it is possible that she is two weeks ahead of schedule. She is officially 29 weeks according to the original due date. Evidently, she doesn't have the "sugar". The doctor mentioned it but we did not specifically ask about the results. The jury is still out on the "new" doctor. We are going to give her another chance in two weeks.

I am pretty sure the Clemson vs Alabama game on August 30 is officially off of my scheduled events for 2008. I was planning on going, but my friends Travis and Minde having their baby early and Travis not being there and then the measuring today have pretty much sealed my fate. I am holding out some hope that she caves in...ATL is only 4.5 hours away. It not like her water breaks and the baby pops out. I will keep working her and my Clemson friends reading this can sign the petition to let me go and offer verbal support for me going whenever you see her. Just assure her everything will be okay..I will have a cell phone. It's really not that far (just like going to gvegas) and he can leave at a moments notice.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Furniture Purchase

06.25.08

We purchased a crib today from Burlington/Baby Depot. We actually picked it out on Monday but I went back today to pick it up and that was an adventure. The young lady working in the baby section looked shocked and surprised when I told her I was buying a crib. I soon found out why...there were no males working in the store and she is pregnant. She called the manager who offered no solutions and asked if I could come back tomorrow. If you know me, you can imagine the look I gave her. Before, I gave up and left to go to Babies R Us to purchase our second choice, I asked the associate if I could go in the back and attempt to get it out of the store. With the help of a couple of hard working female associates we were able to get the crib from the furthest point in the store out the door and loaded into my car. The next mission is getting it out of the car and into the house. LA seems to think this is going to take two weeks because I procrastinate. We've got 11 weeks why rush things?

I have tried to find a picture of the crib online that I could insert but I have been unable to, so here is a link for those interested in checking out the crib.

http://www.europababy.net/

Almost forgot the bedding came in today also. What did we end up choosing?


Doesn't it look so soft and comfortable? Could a baby possible cry wrapped up snug as a bug in that? I don't think so or else it's going back and were getting the $9.99 bedding from Wal-Mart.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Poison Ivey Update

06.24.08

Travis called today and Caroline has a rash....just kidding. He said she hasn't got poison ivy! That is GREAT news! I still don't think I am out of the woods yet.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Baby Feeding Class and Viewing Options

06.23.08

Poison ivy update - I broke out with a new patch on my arms today. Great...Hopefully, Caroline hasn't gotten it.

We went to breast feeding class at Summerville Medical last night. The good news is that I wasn't the only male. There were other men who obviously understand that it's important to support your pregnant wife. We're a team.
It was a tough 2 hours of not busting out laughing or making funny comments. I learned that as a nurse you can specialize in this field and become a lactation consultant. The only quote I will post on the blog from the lactation consultant is "it's the original fast food". They recommend you breast feed for 1 year...holy crap! I guess we really shouldn't have rolled our eyes and mouthed "Oh, my goodness" at the lady at Babies R Us that was looking at pumps and saying her twins were 9 months and only had three more months to go. I don't think LA is up for that but it does save money and has 2 - 8.5 x 11 pages of benefits listed for the baby and mom.

We actually killed two birds with one stone last night because we got the tour of the maternity part of the hospital. We visited the delivery rooms, post delivery rooms, the surgery room,...etc. It's probably not the red carpet treatment and service we would have gotten at St. Francis but it will be fine. The waiting room on the floor is so small that we had to pay to reserve 4 seats and LA decided that she is going to allow me plus three others to be in the birthing room - nothing like having seats on the front row for this important event. However, it kind of puts us in a bad situation of having to choose and we don't want to do that so we decided to auction those seven spots off to immediate family first. The bidding starts at $50 dollars for the "Being There Package" and $15 for "Almost Was There Package"(Waiting Room). Being there when your grandchild/niece/nephew is being born = priceless. All money will used for the baby's education, unless we have to raid the fund to take a vacation. We will accept bids up until LA's water breaks. For everyone that can't be there when the baby is born but wants to be kept up to date with a detailed account of LA's delivery progress, delivery time, sex, weight, and length, via text messages and email, you can sign up for the "Wish I Was There Package" for $5 to be some of the first to know.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Registering

06.22.08

Today, LA and I went to Babies R Us to start registering(actually figuring out how much debt you have to get into before the child actually arrives…actually I have gotten my 401K deduction switched and it now goes directly to Babies R US…the only way spending all this money up front can be justified is if you have more than one…hopefully, the tax deduction for having a child is HUGE)…

Wholly Cow!!! We got 2.5 hours in and covered about ½ the store. That means I get to go back and finish another day…I’m thrilled! Do you realize how many different types/styles/brands/shapes/colors of pacifiers, bottles, breast pumps, wash basins, wash cloths, towels, strollers, diaper genie’s, car seats, pack and plays, high chairs, wipes, and first aid kits there are? I finally decided that the only way to choose was if it was “top rated” (by whom? Doesn’t matter, it’s “top rated”) or cost the most money (Does that make it better? Who knows? Probably not, but if you going in debt don’t go ½ way, make sure they take it all). It at least sped up the process. I have decided that 98% of that crap really doesn’t matter. You only really need diapers, wipes, bottles and formula. The rest are just luxury items. Hopefully, we will have a boy and then we don’t have to worry about shirts and pants for the first year or so.

My thought of the day/week/month:
If an instruction book doesn’t pop out with the baby, we are in trouble. What do we know about taking care of a baby? We can barely take care of ourselves. Aren’t you supposed to start with a dog/cat? Great, we skipped step 1!! Is it too late to get a dog? Our only hope is that somehow, you receive baby wisdom and knowledge the instant their born, otherwise it is going to be a heck of an adventure for this child.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s post – it is going to be a dozy!!! We are attending breast feeding class tonight.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Poison Ivey...

06.21.08

We got to see Travis and Minde's baby tonight at the Providence/New Journey Frogmore Stew party at the Salisbury's. Everybody seems to always makes a big deal about me holding a baby so they insist that I hold the baby. It's really no big deal.
Someone asked if I wanted to hold Caroline, so I said "Yes". However, after holding her for awhile it suddenly hit me that I have been battling poison ivy and I worked the yard today with bushes and vines in our jungle of a back yard (which is were I originally got it in the first place). I quickly handed Caroline back to Minde and assured her that babies are probably immune to poison ivy and she shouldn't worry about it (because I am going to do all the worrying for her). I am praying that she doesn't get it...how bad would that be - ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Father's Day - Not Yet

06.15.08

Father's Day...I don't think I really qualify for a day yet - next year. We had a good Father's Day. We went to lunch with mom and dad and then stopped by their house for a nap. In the evening we went to Lodge to spend the evening with Swoop C and the brothers. I am going to see if we can stop this process of LA having a baby. I don't think I had all the details and responsibilities before this process started. (Where's the instruction book?) Emmy (Heather and Mike's daughter) was sitting with her father next to me on the sofa and earlier had been telling everyone her stomach was hurting and everyone assumed she would be fine. However, her stomach had another opinion. She threw-up and Mike did an excellent job of catching it in his hand and with her dress and most importantly off me. Awesome, what a great father! The smell was just like you remember throw-up. It never changes...makes you want to throw-up. If that is what I am in store for- I'm out...hopefully, our model will come with the iron stomach and impenetrable immune system...I'm praying.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Keep'em Working...It's Good For Her

06.14.08

I took this picture when I got up from taking a morning nap today (Saturday). LA hard at work. You've gotta love a wife that isn't afraid to get her hands dirty and won't let being pregnant slow her down. Pregnancy is a temporary condition not a disablilty...just because you are pregnant doesn't mean you can't work. It was hot outside, so I only stayed out long enough to take the pictures and get her something to drink. Does this mean our baby will be a hard worker like LA? I hope so, she needs some help with the yard and house. I love air conditioning, cable tv and my wife!

PS - your guess is as good as mine as why I had to change the color of the font to get it to show up...!#@&*)^ computers

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Tang...Not Exactly

06.11.08

LA went to the place this am to take the gestational diabetes test. She successfully drank the thick syrupy mixture under the five minute deadline. She choose orange flavor over the lemon-lime which isn’t surprising. You know how much see loves an orange drink. She didn’t think it was too bad with the flavor – tasted like just the syrup from a fountain drink but not something she would choose to drink on purpose. Anybody that had to drink it unflavored, she feels sorry for you. She sat around for an hour reading magazines ( I am sure they were all the magazines that tell women all the reasons their husbands suck and how to change them and if they don’t change to dump them, take ½ and find one you can change…can’t wait to get home to see what step 1 is) and then they took her blood. If the results are bad, then we should know something in a couple of days; otherwise, it’s no news is good news. Hope she doesn’t have “the sugar”.
LA and I want to give a shout out to our friends Travis and Minde. They had a baby girl early this morning - Caroline Elizabeth Wheeler 7lbs 12oz. They are going to be great parents. Check out their blogspot http://www.travisandminde.blogspot.com/ as Paul Harvey would say "to get the rest of the story". Trust me it's a good one. God is Good!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Lamaze Class

06.10.08

We signed up for Lamaze class in July on a Saturday. What else could we do on a Saturday in July during the summer? However, that option is better than the taking the class for 4 weeks. Hope we get a take home book but I am pretty sure I know everything already (I’ve seen it on TV and read about it on the internet) Looking forward to that and already practicing with her…breathe, breathe, breathe, push, push, push, breathe, breathe, breathe, push, push, push….and were done. :)

Monday, June 9, 2008

Walking With LA

06.09.08

Monday…No school…We have decided to keep roughly the same schedule each day as we had grown accustomed to during the school year – instead of waking up at 5:15am we have pushed it back to 5:45 – 6:00am. We are walking each morning for about 45 – 60 minutes. It is good way to start your day…spending time walking with my pregnant wife. Hopefully, we will be committed and continue this.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Time To Start Working Out

06.08.08

The pregnancy workout program has started. We went to Swoop C’s pool today and I swam laps while LA got a sun tan. Who is supposed to be getting in shape? It was so hot that I could not stand not being in the pool so I swam laps (like up and back, take a break…it hard to keep my fat behind on top of the water without sinking). LA did start working out by treading water in the pool and I joined her. That is a pretty good work out. She is going to keep the pool part of the workout going during the week.

Friday, June 6, 2008

School's Out For Summer

06.06.08

School’s Out For Summer! LA survived her first year.