Tough start

Quinn Lee is in stable condition. He chose a good day and age to come into the world. He was born with an uncommon combination of a few common anomolies. Outside he looks fine, but inside, he'll require a few surgeries to get him working proper. My insurance company is gonna have to break out the checkbook. Let me do the best I can to explain.
Right after he was born, the doctors noticed he was having trouble with too much fluid remaining in his lungs. They went to drop a suction tube down his throat when they ran into another problem. His asophogus was not fully connected to his stomach. So suddenly he was being transported to the Women and Infants intensive care unit for further eval. Steph remained at the hospital to recover from the child berth while I went up to Providence to be with our new son.
In Providence, they found two holes in his heart and some underdevelopements that will require surgery to correct. They found his intestine not fully developed, and a few anomolies with his asophogus, and windpipe. All of these are completely fixable with todays doctors, but timing has become the issue with him being so young and the doctors wanting to make sure his heart can handle the operations.
The first day of his life has been unexpected and I feel awful for what he has to go through. The night he was born was quickly pulled from a sentimental moment to a whirlwind of decision making and doctor consulting. Steph never got to hold the baby, only look at him and touch him for a short while from a wheelchair. When I followed him to Providence hospital, the doctors wanted to have him moved to Boston hospital that same night for immediate heart surgery. I'm doing my best to relay this information back to Steph while reading surgical waivers, and still sound calm and optimistic. Well, Quinn's heart kept beating steadily and his blood oxygen level rose up and maintained. So the doctors shifted priorities of having him moved again. They will now be repairing the anomolies other than his heart because his heart is strong.
We are still in the IC unit in Providence. Steph joined me today and we've been hanging with Quinn. The poor guy has quit a few IV's and tubes going into him. The section we are in will only allow parents, and one grandparent at a time that is accompanied by one of us. Quinn is surrounded by tiny premie babies, so even at six pounds he's looking like the big kid on the block.
I have a few pictures from the first night that I spent with Quinn. It was day two for me without sleep. No sleep feels much different than it did at 20yrs old in the navy.

This is Quinn about two hours after his birth. He was moving around, breathing good, and crying.















Once Quinn and I got to Providence, I finaly got to hold him. With nothing to do all night but hang by his side alone, I got in some good bonding time. And a one of a kind true test of whatever emotional capacity I thought I had. I don't know how I looked, but I don't think I hid my nerves very well. A few of the nurses watched my face as the doctors explained the issues to me and began crying themselves.














When he cries or gets fussy, his blood oxygen level goes down because of how his heart pumps the blood. He stays on these calming meds that keep him pretty much sedated and keep his testoserone in check. So most of the time he's just asleep with the machines monitoring him.

And these are some close ups.

Like I said, he is stable and strong, and a bigger trooper than I would've ever imagined. I have more pics of the grandparents visiting and Steph before and after (not during) labor. I will be putting them up shortly. I just wanted people to be able to see him because he will be in IC for a good while. The word is over a month at least for the required surgerical procedures. Thanks everyone for having your thoughts with us.

He's here

His name is Quinn Lee. He was born Nov 22 at 3:09 AM. He is 6lbs. We are in the process of informing everyone. Pics will follow along with more details. Thanks everyone.

Oops...

Sorry honey bunch. I forgot you look at this blog too. I'm at work trying to take the edge off my brain by racking everyone elses nerves. For what it's worth, it worked. I feel better now, cause I thought it was funny. Thanks for putting up with me. I'm teaching you patience and discipline too huh? You'll be such a wise mom.

Please ignore the title on Dan's post

I love my husband, but I don't want people to get upset when they read the title of his post. He just likes to have fun.

He's here!!! And WOW!

2323=;9<=<94=3232;9<;:3457nu0mrj.jpg">











He's not here. Thats cousin Mary from a year ago. Sorry, it's just me messing with you all and this opportunity seemed to irresistible. I know that's evil, but that's how I roll with friends and family. However, I've spent much time recording times and lengths of Stephs contractions. They seem pretty hard and long. Then after several hours, they decrease in intensity and intervals. The kid has us all guessing, even the Doc. I even took a day off of work already because we thought it might be "time". But we thought wrong. So he's teaching us patience already.
Maybe I shouldn't be admitting this on here, but I wonder if the average man learns as much as I have during their wives pregnancy. Guys don't ever talk about what they don't know. That's how we try to sound smart. Every day seems to be some sort of lesson about the female body. From anatomy to hormonal tendencies. Very interesting stuff, but not typically the common topic for conversation. I could be better at this guessing game if I knew more. Even my buddies who have children. I wonder if they learned a lot during their woman's pregnancy or if it's just me who feels so ill informed. I know I don't feel obligated to talk about my wife's pregnancy to any of my buddies who haven't gone through this experience. I'd probably be right in assuming that they wouldn't care for the details. TMI. I've had only one friend who would even attempt to fill me in on the details of pregnancy. And it took ten years of knowing her and my own wife being pregnant for us to even engage in those conversations. And whats more, she seemed amused at how little I knew. At any rate, I thought I'd post for everyone that Steph is having contractions and the baby is getting periodically squished but nothing else seems to be changing.

Yup, still pregnant

Hey guys, I just want to keep people updated. We are still pregnant.

Happy little camper

Well, it looks like I've made life so good for this little man that he doesn't want to go anywhere anytime soon. Tiffani asked earlier if I had dropped yet and I didn't get a chance to tell her that I hadn't and I still haven't. Because of the extra fluid I have, he's still happily floating around in there, so who knows when this little guy is going to make an entrance. Other than that he's healthy, he's still moving around, his heartbeat is good, and he measuring just fine. I'll continue to keep you all posted.

Hip hip hurray

So, this post is only baby related in the sense that he can come anytime he likes now. I have successfully defended my thesis. Not just defended it, I felt good about my performance. Yay. There were two questions that I really didn't feel like I answered well, but overall I did really well with the rest of them. AHHHHH. I'm just so excited. I can't tell you how great I feel. I can breath much easier now. I feel badly posting this right after Dan's post though, so if you haven't seen his post from today, scroll down to it, it's really beautiful. I also just want to add a thank you to everyone who has been silently following along with us. It's nice to know you're thinking of us.

More thoughts

Thank you so much for all the comments. I thoroughly enjoy reading them. The Cisneros family brings about an interesting point of view that I've been pondering. The whole pregnancy process is easier on the man. We can tune it out if we want, and focus on other things and not have a constant moving and kicking reminder with us all hours of the day. There's no question it's easier for men. Being a guy rocks. But I don't think it's an entirely accurate assumption to say that I calm my own nerves by simply not thinking about the baby coming. In fact what I should have said was that the more I think about it, the more excitement and happiness I feel rather than nervousness or concern.
One of Stephs favorite conversation pieces for me is to hit me with every hypothetical question she can conjure up about what if our kid does this or that or causes all manner of chaos. And I humor her every time and answer each scenario. But I think the thing we all have in common as good caring people, parents or not, is that we know what values we admire and think are important. And from what I've seen, the biggest difference between good parents and mistake prone parents, is patience and conviction to the values that make them good people. And whenever I do feel nervous, it's from hoping I can keep that in mind when the going gets tough. I've seen kids give their parents strength. Every parent I know has talked about how children open your eyes and give you focus. Beneath the surface, Steph knows better than to worry about things she can't control. And I think she has every reason to be a very confident mother to be.
Jess, it will be nice to see you and show off my new son. You can spend all the time you want with him, but he can't see you on a dance floor until he's old enough. Kristin, your vote of confidence is always welcome, confused or not. You talk about Mary testing your ability as a parent as if it's all in the past. You're going to have a teenage daughter someday. I'd like to see a blog about that.
Also, I must apologize to anyone who thinks I am rambling. Sometimes I wonder if you all just come to stare at belly pics. I don't get to communicate as much as I'd like with the important people in life like friends and family. It's mostly the people I work with. But I am constantly thinking about this kid coming. I may not have nerves of steel, but I am trying.

Belly shots

Sorry to keep you waiting. She won't let me take pictures of her belly while she's tired, so it's a bit of an event for me to get these pictures updated.




















This is Steph's rocking chair. I don't care for the color so I decorated it with a few items. A little personality. She's asked me to use it a lot to help break it in, so I put it right in front of the bedroom TV.














I asked Steph last night if people ask if she's excited a lot. She said all the time. I get that question from everyone at work too. Well, only women ask that particular question. Makes me very curious to know how they'd react if I said "hell naw, it's just a baby. Happens every day. Ain't me givin birth". Of course I'm excited. It's not everyday that OUR baby comes. Anyway, the conversation with Steph was about how excited we each really were. I told her that I try not to think about it too much at this point, because it's getting so close that I'm making an effort to stay patient and calm, and go about work and stuff. I've always been a day dreamer, but work is going along at full throttle so staying engaged is discipline for me. Steph told me she is worried about the baby coming, because she's been thinking so much about all the responsibility and the fact that we'll be parents for the rest of our lives and all that. While all that stuff is true, I think they're the kind of thoughts that can psyche you out as a brand new parent. Maybe I'm just talking all big now, but I don't feel nervous. People don't do well when they're nervous. And the most reassuring thing I can think of to tell Steph is that she'll make a great mom and the kid is lucky to have her. I'll admit, my moments of getting really psyched happen when I'm on the long drive from work or doing some brainless chore alone for a while. But in the end, I really try to keep the focus on having a healthy boy. Welcoming him to the world and all that jazz. After that, it's nothing but hoping that things go according to plan. And everyone has their own stories about that. To those of you I haven't talked to in a while, I really miss you. Work seems to be the main theme in life right now, especially now that it gets dark out before 5:00. At least this baby will change the life theme. And as always, thank you all so much for supporting Steph.

Still Pregnant

I've had a couple of calls lately just checking to see whether we had the baby, so I wanted to assure people we are still hanging in there. A couple of people are dreaming that we've had him, which is really cute, because I haven't had that dream yet. I wonder what that means. OK, that's it for now. I'm still feeling really good, so I guess that's it for now.

First portrait

I just wanted to share the latest baby photos. When Dan gets home I'll have him take more belly pictures.

Our little man rubbing his eye. Yawning.

Apparently I'm a snow globe

Let me explain the header. So, what the ultrasound discovered today is not that the baby is too big (not too small either about 7lb 6oz give or take a bit) but that I have a lot of amniotic fluid. The baby is shedding a lot of the vernix cream right now so in the ultrasound it looked like the baby is in the middle of a snow globe. I think that's kind of funny. I'm glad I've kept him so well cushioned. OK, so bottom line, they aren't worried about the size of the baby so induction for that reason is not on the table any more. Of course it can't be quite that simple though can it. Now the concern is when my water breaks that the umbilical cord might come out with it because there is so much fluid. So they are still talking about rupturing the membranes in a controlled environment, they are however going to wait for now. We'll probably talk more about it next Friday at my appointment. So good news, a little mixed, but good. Thanks everyone for everything, advice and just knowing you've been thinking about me.

Thanks again

The advice and encouragement, so nice of you all, and I'm always glad to see people caring about Steph. She's been asking me to post more thoughts. So I've been thinking. I have no idea when this kid is coming, but. This is another of my good ideas Kristin. If our kid really is a big baby, and the doc induces Steph, I plan to smuggle a prosthetic arm in the delivery room. That way I can hold it out so Steph can just squeeze my hand during the contractions.

Thank you

I just wanted to post quickly, yes I am still pregnant (I'll try to do this occasionally from now on). Also, I just want to thank Kristin, Kelly, and Tiffani for their insights into my last post. I appreciate hearing all of your experiences. Not only is it good information, it just reminds me that this is life and things don't always go as planned. Which I know and they always emphasize it in the baby classes, but you never believe it until it's happening to you. OK, I hope you're all doing well. I'll update you on everything tomorrow.

Latest baby news

I realized that I haven't talked about my last Dr. apt yet so this will be a combination of last appointment and this one. OK, so last appointment I weighed in at 194 .... so not quite at 200lbs yet. I am 1cm dilated, which is no big deal, pregnant women walk around like that for a month or more. It just means that my body is getting ready which I know is true because I've been really crampy at night. I'm strep-b negative which is nice, no need for antibiotics when I go into labor. So last appointment went just like they usually do, nice and easy. Now my appointment today was a little more interesting. I weighed in at 197lb ... getting closer. Blood pressure looks good. The doctor walked and I said, so a lot of my friends and family don't think I'm going to make my due date, care to weigh in on the subject. Also, about how big do you think the baby is at this point. He jokingly says 12lbs (luckily I realized he was joking so I could laugh instead of choke). Then he said as for the other question I was just going to talk to you about that. Apparently I've been measuring ahead of schedule this whole time. It didn't even occur to me to ask before, I just assumed I was on schedule because the doctors just kept telling me everything looked good. So, yes he is a big baby. My doctor wants to do an ultrasound next Thursday to try to determine how big he might be (I know there is a huge margin of error with these things) and then he wants to discuss what to do from there. He also mentioned he is definitely not going to let me go a week past my due date. So now I'm left with a dilemma. The word induction actually scares me more then c-section, however I'd really like to avoid one of those if I can. I've also heard so many stories of women being induced because the doctor thought the baby was too big and they come out a normal size. I'm trying to figure out what to do at this point. I want the baby to be able to decide when he's ready to come out. Well, I guess I will just have to wait and see what the whole picture is next Thursday and then I can make decisions. Maybe the utlrasound will look fine and I won't have to say anything, but if the baby does look to big .... I have some things to figure out. I'll keep you posted.

Big and strong

When we're asleep, and Stephs belly is against me, the kid will kick me awake. And Steph will remain sound asleep. So far the little guy is not on our sleep schedule. When he gets here, I plan to just explain to him nicely how important mom and dads sleep is and I'll get his full cooperation. I'll let you all know how that works out.

And the halloween party this weekend. Steph loves anything sacrilegious. (I hope everyone understands that he's just kidding here)

I hope everyone's doing well.

Guess the Stats

Hey Everyone,
OK, so I have a little game for you. My friend Kelly did this before her daughter was born and I thought it was great. So, I am going to be a copy cat. What you do is click on this URL http://www.expectnet.com/index.php and type guessthestats in the box under invited guests. You can then type in what you think our babies final measurements are going to be. OK, have fun, we'll let you know who gets the closest after the baby is born.

Hiccups?!?!?!

Hmm, I may have spoken to soon. So I was sitting at my desk at school and all of a sudden I thought I could feel my pulse in one part of my abdomen and I could see that spot rhythmically pulsing. I watched that spot and thought about it for a second and realized that the pulsing was a little too slow to be my pulse. So I'm guessing it must have been his first bout of hiccups. It was actually really neat, a little hypnotizing. I still love feeling him move, it's just such a connected feeling. Alright, so I guess the countdown has begun. About 4 weeks left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent

Well, I got the best news this weekend. Apparently Dans trip has been canceled for now, at least until December. That means no worries about him not being here for the birth. Yeah!!!!!! That's basically it for the new updates. My overstuffed glider (Per Kellie's suggestion, thank you) came in this weekend. I was so excited, we picked it up, put it together, and it doesn't work. The glider frame was bent. It doesn't rock forward. Errrr. I was so excited about this chair. We had to reorder the whole chair (they couldn't just order the frame) and wait another week for it to come in. I just can't wait to get it in our room, it's the last baby thing I need to be ready for the baby (well, materialistically ready). Alright, when the chair finally comes in I'll take a picture of the babies area in our room. Nothing very exciting, but it's comfy and it will work very well while he's small.

Belly pics for everyone!

Hello friends and family. Thought I'd get on here and just give everyone what they really want to see.














This is a before dinner pic.











And a during dinner pic when she will not be interrupted. My beautiful 200 lb wife.

It just keeps growing

Of course I am referring to my belly. There are some of you who will be very excited to know that I am going to break 200lbs with this baby. I think it's pretty funny. Especially since I don't feel it, if I did it would probably be a very different story. I do have new pictures, but they are not on this computer so I will put them up later. So, someone recently asked me how I'm doing with everyday tasks, which amusingly enough is exactly what I had been getting ready to post. Of course with my ever expanding abdomen I had noticed that bending was getting increasingly more difficult. Bending over while sitting in a chair is next to impossible. The stomach is just so solid, there is just no give, and it's so protruding there is pretty much no space left between my stomach and my lap. So I can bend forward about 20 degrees, and that's not even that comfortable. Standing up and bending over still happens to some extent, however I have to lift one of my legs out behind me to make this happen. Putting on socks is impossible (although I recently discovered that if I sit on the floor it actually is still possible to put socks on). The days of being able to put my pants on standing up are rapidly approaching an end and I keep hitting people with my stomach because I just don't really have a concept of how big it really is. It's funny though, because I still get very conflicting reports. There are women (mostly women who have been pregnant before) who tell me I'm still pretty small. And then there are women who tell me how HUGE I am. Hmm, who knows. Luckily I'm still really enjoying being pregnant. Other then bending over, I'm still comfortable and able to do pretty much anything I want (that is when no one is looking). People are very quick to help you out when you're pregnant, which is very nice, but they are also very quick to tell you what you shouldn't be doing as a pregnant lady. I know they mean well, but sometimes it can be a little bit of a hindrance. OK, and then the last comment of the day, this little guy never had hiccups. Just in case he ever wants to know. So, have a good day everyone, I'll try to write more soon.

Classes and anniversaries

Did the anniversary thing and now the birthing classes. Man, I can't get outa nothin. At least it's all been fun and I learned a lot. I learned how to be a labor coach. That wasn't so bad. Just do what the pregnant mamma says and help her focus and do the breathing technique. Now, I don't know what most men think about child births before they've ever seen one. I think you take what they show in the movies, and whatever your friends will describe for you, and sort of develope what you think you would expect. But you relaize that there is still a mystique about it until you experience it. We watched a film in the class that showed a bunch of different child births. The first one I wasn't sure exactly what they'd show or how graffic the film would be. I was sipping a coffee and watching intently as one of the women was about to have a baby. Suddenly the sheets lifted up and the camera got right down into the mix. Into the business. All the fluids and more fluids, and then the tiny deformed and discolored baby. I swallowed my coffee a little hard but I knew Steph was watching me to see how I handled it. So I leaned over without even taking my eyes off the screen and whispered to her, "I'm fine honey, no sweat." Which, by the way, is my story and I'm stickin to it. That child birth was followed by four more, complete with labor coaching and helping the mamma through all the contractions. Back births, C sections. I'm glad I got to go to the classes with Steph because we had fun and even met a few couples there that we knew. I'm looking at all these guys who are going to be new dads, and it kind of helped my confidence. I just hope I do as good as I plan to.

Happy Anniversary

Thank you everyone for the anniversary well wishes. We had a very nice day yesterday. My wonderful husband made it home from work before me which is quite rare nowadays and had a dozen beautiful roses for me. I on the other hand had two anniversary cards for him (very heart felt though). I guess I was the slacker this year. Now just to show how long we've been married, we hadn't even decided what we wanted to do to celebrate yet. We ended up going downstairs to our favorite restaurant and had a wonderful time. The cook even gave us a scallop appetizer (the funny thing is, he didn't even know it was our anniversary until after the scallops arrived at our table and we told him). We had a great meal, great conversation, and even indulged in some chocolate cake. We finished eating around 9p and went to bed at 9:30 stuffed and happy :).

Very good news

OK, as a lot of you know, Dan was supposed to leave today on a work trip. Well, he's not. Which means, he will be around for our 6th anniversary tomorrow (very excited about that), but best of all, he will be around for our birthing classes (very very happy about that). That has actually be one of my biggest stresses lately. Dan's travel plans for work are often very unstable, but I was still trying to plan the classes around them. First he was supposed to be gone in Sept. so I signed us up for mid-Oct just in case. Then he was supposed to be gone mid-Sept. to mid-Oct. (stress set in), then it was supposed to be January (stress relief), then is was all of Oct (OK, at least he'll be there for the birth), then it was Nov. (umm excuse me, this kid is not going to wait for him to come back), and now his amazingly wonderful boss has made it so that he is leaving on Tues. and will get back 2 weeks before the baby is due. Everyone pray that this little guy holds on, oh, and that Dan's plans don't change again. This may work out after all.

Not a showboater

I guess I should feel lucky that Dan has been able to feel the baby move. I think he will be the only one to feel him move before he's born. Somehow this little guy knows when I am trying to get someone else to feel him and he just stops moving. He's certainly not a showoff, yet.

Hello Everyone

Hello Everyone,

I'm so sorry to have been so absent. I've been trying to get so many things done before our little man (still no name) gets here, that posting has fallen to the wayside. I have a lot of unanswered e-mails I need to respond to. I have been keeping mental notes in my head though dating all the way back to the weekend of Aug. 25th, ouch.

OK, so I went over to Long Island for a friends bridal shower and while trying to get another friend to feel the baby move I realized his movements were getting much less vigorous then usual. I just figured that he was having one of his quiet days. He had this pattern of being incredibly active for a day or two and then being very still for a day. But it continued, so on Sept. 4th I went in for a nonstress test (they monitor the baby while you just lay there). Apparently I don't have a clue. The nurses said that he was very healthy for his age, which was nice to hear, and that he just had less room to move because he was just getting bigger. It was actually a really nice experience, I got to hear all the movements he was making that I couldn't really feel, which were a lot, and I got to hear his heart beat for about 40min. It was a very intimate experience. I got a little glimpse of his world.

Sept. 10th was the first time I got to feel an actual body part. I'm not sure which one, but it was something like a foot or a forearm. I started to feel a lot of pressure in my right side, when I put my hand over the spot I realized I could feel him through my skin. There was a long ridge like bump sticking out of my side, it was kind of weird. The way I feel him now (movement, body parts, etc.) is even more fun then it used to be. When he moves my stomach ripples and moves and jumps. It happens a lot during class and while I'm tutoring, I can only imaging how one of the student's would react if they saw it (I think if anyone was looking at my stomach it might creep them out). I can feel where he is a lot too now, I feel stretching when he leans or presses parts of his body into my stomach. My belly gets all deformed and I can see bumps and bulges where he is. I am very happy to report that I am still feeling really good, however I'm getting more and more comments on how big I am. Luckily I have Dan to tell me how great I look. There are several people who think that I'm not going to make it full term because I'm so big. Whatever, I'll make it. Like I have a say. I just want him to hang in there and get strong and healthy. OK, so here are the long awaited belly pictures.

So Moody!

I realized shortly after greeting my wife last night that I needed to clarify something. She is not getting moody or short on patience with me. She's very kind and cheerful to me all the time every minute of the day. She gets angry at things like not knowing how to spell words, or not being able to get comfortable while laying on the couch. She's not going crazy or throwing dishes at me anything. Except when she found out I told you all she was moody. Then she went a little crazy. But you guys know Steph, I'm really spoiled at how even tempered she is. And also, I don't mind talking to her belly in the mornings. Yes it's very nice, and important. OK, so I hope that covers any missinterpretation anyone might have possibly had. I'll post her belly for you all as soon as she lets me.

Awaited update

Life is still busy for us but thats no excuse for not updating this enough for all of my wifes caring friends and family. I will accept all the blame for not doing it because Steph is still going to school and is probably more tired than I am when she's home. I know that this blog is how some of you feel kept up to speed with Stephs pregnancy, and I assure you that things are still in full swing. In fact, she is getting moody finaly and shorter on patience. Her belly is even bigger and I will put pictures of it up shortly. But overall she is still happy and smiles a lot. I am very anxious for this boy to come. I literally speak to him every morning. Steph is still in bed half asleep when I leave for work. Steph gives me the one eye open kiss goodbye and then she lifts the covers and asks me to talk to the baby. I tell her belly goodbye, and be good for mamma, and have a fun day. But it seems a little comical talking to a pregnant belly everyday. I'm excited for him to get here. We were at a wedding last weekend and here's a couple pics.














I had my wife dancing all over the dance floor with her pregnant belly. She looked fantastic and had a blast. Thank you all for checking this and caring about Steph. We are in a situation where work will be requiring me to leave the country at a very inopportune time. Steph is doing her best not to be too upset but it sucks. I am in the midst of trying to find a solution that doesn't entail quitting my job when a baby is coming. I was going to Thailand but those plans are off the list for now. It will be Columbia and San Diego. From October to late December. I will keep you guys posted. I will be pretty much beside myself if this doesn't work out.

Baby Shower Continued

I finally got pictures of the onesies that I wanted to share with you guys. I also have a picture of the cake that my Aunt made for the shower. I love it.

Baby Shower

Hey everyone, ok, so here is a much awaited post from the mom-to-be. Sorry it's been so long. My little son seems to be doing very well, which I'm grateful for. His movements are less vigorous now, as he gets bigger there is less room for him to wined up and really whack me. For a while I thought he was going to try to wiggle and kick his way right out of my body alien style. My favorite moments are the times when Dan and I get to sit together just feeling the baby move. It's like we're already a family (I guess we are really). OK, so the baby shower was wonderful. I am so grateful to everyone who came to celebrate with us or was there in spirit. There were so many people who showed their support and love I'm amazed. I think we may have had as many people at the shower as we did at our wedding. I just can't tell you how amazing it felt to have everyone there.



OK, so here are some pictures.
The shower took place at my moms house. I owe her a big thank you. I was worried about space but it turned out really well, thing always seem to work out somehow. There was so much food, thank you to everyone who brought something. I tried not to put pictures of individual gifts we received so that no one would feel left out, but we received so many wonderful things. Dan was amazed at all the onesies and receiving blankets. It hasn't quite registered with him how many of them we are going to need. I think he thinks there were too many, he'll find out soon enough.

Dan did so well, he stuck around through the whole party. I thought he might sneak away with the other guys half way through, but he didn't. I wouldn't have blamed him if he had, but he was wonderful. He gave a thank you speech, he help with everything, talked to people, and stayed with me the whole time. He even ooh'd and ahh'd over everything while showing his masculine side of trying to figure out what the heck everything was for. I was very proud of him. My cousin Amy put together some funny stories from when each of us were little and some Q&A sheets on each of us as babies. She also brought bibs and onsies that people could paint for the baby. Once I get pictures of them I will post those as well.

OK, as far as names go, nothing yet, but I think we'll probably figure it out when he's born. I told Dan to hold on to names he likes and if he still has one he loves in 2 1/2 months then we'll make decisions. Take care everyone, talk to you soon.

Belly is still growing

Usually we seem to take turns updating this, but since I like to feel helpful I'll just take the innitiative. Besides, it's the least I can do. I still love the support everyone is giving for Steph. I think she looks great. I'm trying to convince her to stop calling herself a duck. She thinks she looks like one. Even if she had webbed feet and feathers, she'd look more like a swan I think.













Thanks for the Pete suggestion, but you bring up an excellent point about peeing on the carpet. And I don't have any cowboy jerseys for the little man but I'm sure he could make one look good and probably play for their team. Still no name for the kid. Maybe thats because we're having too much fun contemplating one. Steph and I miss all of you and hope everythings good. Also, I will add that I have come to learn much about pregnancies that I never realized. Since babies are born every second of the day I use to think there just couldn't be that much to it. It's nature. Well, the more I learn about pregnancies, the dumber the look on my face becomes. I'll be fine. I'm pretty sure. But it's a little eye opening to realize how clueless I was and not even aware that I needed to get a clue. Those are the worst kind of idiots. But so far, I think things seem to be going pretty well.

Update

Since Steph got pregnant I've had to ask her to tone down her out of control rock star life style. But she says that music is good for the baby, and she insists on live performing along with all her crazy stage antics. So I do my best to let her have her way. I figure if she's happy, then so is the baby. I just hope the kid doesn't someday punch me for this.



On another note, I'm finding out that picking a boy's name can be pretty hard if you don't want to go with a common name. I don't want something like bill or billy or mac or buddy. But the names Steph likes aren't working either. She's keeps mentioning these crazy names like Fire, U.S., Federal, cause she thinks it goes well with the last name. She even wanted to call him Tex, or Padre like thats where his roots are. I don't even ask what names she likes anymore because it almost seems counter productive. If anyone knows any good boy names, I just thought I'd let you know I'm both listening and contemplating.

More good news

The Doc says the kid is already potty trained and well behaved! Definately his fathers son.

Dad gets his kicks

Yes, it was the first I've felt the kid move. I have been waiting patiently to catch him when he was feeling active. I've felt children move in pregnant bellies before, but this was different. When he started kung-fuing my hand I was caught in one of those moments where you think you know what to expect but it's still stuns you a bit. I've spent so much time thinking about this kid, and now he's really letting me know he's coming. I think of him alot because he makes life seem so easy and trivial. I'm talking about days when I feel like some things aren't perfect and maybe the ball is not always in my court on every single issue. It's all becomes easy and trivial. This kid has been giving me strength since the day I knew it existed. How lucky am I to have nothing but good news everytime I hear about the baby. It's healthy, 10 fingers, 10 toes, and...IT'S A SON!!! Of course a daughter would be great, but right or wrong, the instant I found out he was a boy, I felt like a father with wisdom and advice rather than a lot of wonder. That probably is a meaningless statement, but I'm taking whatever facts I can to build my confidence in fatherhood. And for me, a boy means I have wisdom, and tons of great advice. I also want to let everyone know I appreciate the support you've been showing for Steph and sharing her excitement. I love you all for it. My idea of showing excitement might not always be in tune with what she's feeling and I think you guys really help. I will let you all know that before the baby is born I am due to travel to Columbia for work. And I am grateful she will have such great friends and family supporting her. And one more thing, belly pics to follow.

Wiggly Worm

Dan finally got to feel the baby move for the first time tonight. Our little son seems to be really active when he moves (I obviously have nothing to compare it to but) it seems like there are days that he doesn't stop moving, which has been really wonderful for me. Only recently though have I felt like the movements were strong enough for Dan to feel. I tried to let him feel the baby yesterday morning, but of course he stopped moving the second I got Dan's hand on my stomach. Granted that was probably because I woke Dan up to feel it and since he wasn't quite awake yet he put his hand down pretty firmly so the baby was probable a little startled. This time however, he put on a really good show for his daddy and kicked him square in the palm a couple of times. Dan seemed really excited about it, actually I know he loved it, he was grinning from ear to ear. Any way, hopefully he'll get a chance to write about it, it would be nice to hear what he thought. I loved it, it's so nice to be able to give him a little window into what I get the chance to experience everyday. I think it's a little sad that I get the privilege of experiencing our son all the time and Dan can only get a glimpse of it. Although I have to admit, I wouldn't want the roles to be reversed, I'm really enjoying this experience.