We attended our first of four birthing classes last night at Banner Thunderbird hospital and were not really sure what to expect. We were instructed to bring two pillows and a large towel so we assumed we would be sitting on the ground just like you always see in the movies. I was not so thrilled about this because 2 1/2 hours on the floor even with a pillow was not very enticing. I grabbed two pillows off the bed but had to discourage Danielle from bringing the memory foam one with the Tow Mater pillowcase from the movie Cars. If this class was in 4 months we could say the pillow was DLB's but for now I didn't want to be the only one with a Disney themed birthing practice bed. When we got there we found it to be in a large conference room, with chairs and tables around a large space in which it seemed we would be getting comfy later. All the soon-to-be parents seated around the U shaped table setup with all their pillows and towels looked like some strange kind of adult slumber party waiting to happen.
We were packed in there pretty tight so instead of hiding behind the stack of pillows we had brought, and to spare us and those seated around us from the strange mothball smell that permeated the clean pillow cases we pulled form the linen storage, I laid down my jacket and put them on the floor behind us. I though I was the only smart one in the room as everyone else kept them on the table in front of them. As I was about to find out once again in my life I rarely am the smartest one in the room. The first thing our teacher talked about was we would not actually be on the floor because she felt that hospitals floors were incredibly dirty and she would not want to expose our linens to that kind of cornucopia of germs. I however, in my infinite wisdom, had not foreseen that tidbit of knowledge and could hear the germs jumping up and down on our pillows behind us. Actually, I had laid down my germ resistant leather jacket to protect us so all would be well. I really believe that so let me be.
Our teacher has been a nurse since 1954 and has a lot of knowledge of obstetrics and babies. The first part of the class was a little boring as she talked an awful lot about nutrition which we have already heard from our doctor. She was informative but we were getting a little bored as was the rest of the class so we had to stand up and do some 'breathing exercises' to wake us up. Not necessarily to help with easing the 'discomfort' of childbirth but to wake us up. It did work though and I'll probably try it at work next time I get to the point where I'm zombified.
At the end of the class we watched a video that I expected to graphically show what happens during birth. Crowning, water breaking, splatters, epesiotomies, cottage cheese covered babies, and the other wonderful things I have had described to me. Over the years I have seen parts of these things on TV until I accidentally changed the channel before the images burned into my mind and produced night terrors. Fortunately it was a very interesting film that was more informative about the third trimester and what is happening to a woman's body as the baby prepares to enter the world. I expected to see a film like the ones in Health class back in high school, shot in the 60's or 70's and narrated by the same guy who used to do the Disney nature films from the same time period. This one was not quite as old, obviously shot in the early 90's, and well narrated. I pointed out to Danielle one guys haircut that was the same one I had when I was hired at Sardella's in 1991, shaved all the way around the sides and back but long on top pulled back into a ponytail. I remembered how cool I looked. I think she choked on her laughter.
At the very end they did show an actual birth but not too graphically and I made it through fine. It made me feel that I would make it through our baby's birth without landing on the germ laden hospital floor. Then I saw the placenta. My jaw went agape. WHAT THE? No one ever told me that after the most incredible experience I could imagine, my wife was going to 'give birth' to a bloody melon that they would catch in a bucket. I always thought a placenta was a withered piece of fleshy stuff that kinda just came out after the baby and I wouldn't even see the thing. In the video the doctor brought it over to show the mother the bloody watermelon she had passed and even moved it around for a better view for her. NOT NECESSARY. Even as I write this my face is wrinkled in shock of seeing this. We (I) must remember to bring this up with the doctor and let him know that we (I) do not need to get a better look at the afterbirth produce aisle.
That concluded our first class, and gosh darn it, we only have 3 more to go!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
BIG surprises & DLB 'speaks'
So this post may get a little personal but trust me I have implied permission to write about it, gotta love my wife.
Danielle and her friend Mary Beth went to the Motherhood store in search of new bras to help with her seemingly endless blessing of newfound cleavage. She had been putting it off both to money constraints and not knowing what size to go with or when to buy so that she wouldn't need to replace it in 2-3 weeks. When she got there she asked the clerk for any advice she may have, so she helped her to find the right fit for both now and when she gets even bigger. Danielle was shocked to find that 40F was her current size and that only left a little bit of room for growth! I had no idea that the letters even went that high, much less keep going form there! Needless to say I am pretty impressed, maybe even proud. But pride is a deadly sin (so is talking about your wife boobs on the internet most likely) so I'll just be impressed. Well it seems that the baby was pretty impressed as well. While Danielle was at the cash register paying, DLB did a little dance about the large supply of yummy food mommy was preparing, and to let the world know, pushed a joyous 'toot' out, much to Danielle's embarrassment and Mary Beth's amusement. Mary Beth was kind enough to let her know that even though she was acrosss the store she was able to join in the good times. The clerk either didn't notice or remembered reading Chapter 4.2 of the Motherhood Employee Handbook where it talked about what may happen when dealing with the pregnant woman and followed the corporate code of 'Don't ask, Don't tell'.
Danielle and her friend Mary Beth went to the Motherhood store in search of new bras to help with her seemingly endless blessing of newfound cleavage. She had been putting it off both to money constraints and not knowing what size to go with or when to buy so that she wouldn't need to replace it in 2-3 weeks. When she got there she asked the clerk for any advice she may have, so she helped her to find the right fit for both now and when she gets even bigger. Danielle was shocked to find that 40F was her current size and that only left a little bit of room for growth! I had no idea that the letters even went that high, much less keep going form there! Needless to say I am pretty impressed, maybe even proud. But pride is a deadly sin (so is talking about your wife boobs on the internet most likely) so I'll just be impressed. Well it seems that the baby was pretty impressed as well. While Danielle was at the cash register paying, DLB did a little dance about the large supply of yummy food mommy was preparing, and to let the world know, pushed a joyous 'toot' out, much to Danielle's embarrassment and Mary Beth's amusement. Mary Beth was kind enough to let her know that even though she was acrosss the store she was able to join in the good times. The clerk either didn't notice or remembered reading Chapter 4.2 of the Motherhood Employee Handbook where it talked about what may happen when dealing with the pregnant woman and followed the corporate code of 'Don't ask, Don't tell'.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Mommy looks so beautiful!
Just thought I'd add a few of my favorite pictures of Danielle that were taken rece
ntly.
ntly.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Another doctors visit
We had another visit this week and really have nothing much to add. It was a very basic visit and everything seems to be going along swimmingly. We are going to be scheduling another ultrasound for about 4-6 weeks from now so hopefully we will get one last chance to get some awesome 3D pictures before the live presentation in March. The doctor is pretty happy with Danielle's sugars and seems to be pleased all around. Danielle was given some medicine to help her with the 4 week cold she's had so hopefully the coughing will subside and she will have one less reason for her sleep to be interrupted.
We really feel very blessed that all is going so well and would like to thank all who have sent their best wishes and prayers our way.
We really feel very blessed that all is going so well and would like to thank all who have sent their best wishes and prayers our way.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Another great ultrasound and a gender clue?
This past week we had another ultrasound done which included a couple of 3D peeks at our beautiful baby. Every thing is coming along wonderful and the doctor found nothing at all to be concerned about related to Danielle's diabetes. The baby's size is just under 2 lbs now and is in the 30th percentile for size. Neither of us were very large babies so we believe that should be the case for our little one as well. Danielle is probably more hopeful for that than me for some reason. I think she's particularly happy that my nickname when I was little was 'Little Mike' instead of 'Big ol Satelite Head Kenan'.
Ok, so on with the scientific studies. I often talk to DLB about how excited we are, how we love him/her so much, and sometimes a little scolding if there's a little too much bladder bouncing going on. That last one is so I can feel a little involved in this whole incubation thing since Danielle seems to be capitalizing on all that stuff so far. Anyway, back to my little test. This afternoon I called "Laura Anne" to the right side of Danielle's belly and got a kick. Tried "Laura" on the left side and got the same result. Then I tried "Daniel Laurence" and "Daniel" and neither one illicited any response. After entering the results into the new Microsoft Baby Aural Response Analysis and Scientific Synopsis (or M-BARASS for short) I have come to the conclusion that our baby must be girl since the response to it's new name was so obvious and immediate. Or it is definately a boy and was simply bopping me in the head for being so silly to call him by the girls name. That and we all know that if a boy is concentrating on something, like let's say growing a lung or toenails or watching baseball, it takes alot more than 2 or 3 times of calling of his name to get any response so it really could point towards DLB using selective hearing. Which I think is developed in week 30 so we are way ahead of the game!
So basically we still only know we are having a baby, and it's o' so stinkin' cute!
Ok, so on with the scientific studies. I often talk to DLB about how excited we are, how we love him/her so much, and sometimes a little scolding if there's a little too much bladder bouncing going on. That last one is so I can feel a little involved in this whole incubation thing since Danielle seems to be capitalizing on all that stuff so far. Anyway, back to my little test. This afternoon I called "Laura Anne" to the right side of Danielle's belly and got a kick. Tried "Laura" on the left side and got the same result. Then I tried "Daniel Laurence" and "Daniel" and neither one illicited any response. After entering the results into the new Microsoft Baby Aural Response Analysis and Scientific Synopsis (or M-BARASS for short) I have come to the conclusion that our baby must be girl since the response to it's new name was so obvious and immediate. Or it is definately a boy and was simply bopping me in the head for being so silly to call him by the girls name. That and we all know that if a boy is concentrating on something, like let's say growing a lung or toenails or watching baseball, it takes alot more than 2 or 3 times of calling of his name to get any response so it really could point towards DLB using selective hearing. Which I think is developed in week 30 so we are way ahead of the game!
So basically we still only know we are having a baby, and it's o' so stinkin' cute!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Daddy felt the baby!
So for weeks now Danielle has been able to feel DLB moving around inside but unfortuantely I have not been able to feel it on the outside. Yesterday she guided my hand where she thought I could feel it and sure enough, I felt movement for the first time. Even though I know there is a baby growing in there, seen the pictures, seen it move on the ultrasound screen, to feel it move for the first time was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. I'm not sure, but it felt like DLB was practicing sliding into second base, breaking up a double play. Or telling Daddy that I was invading it's space.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The Amazing DLB presented in 4-D! Boy or Girl? Hmm...
So this was the 'big' ultrasound we've been waiting for and boy have we been anxious for today to get here! This was the 20 week visit that would tell us any visible concerns about the baby's development and hopefully start to give us an idea of what our child looked like. Our anticipation has been growing steadily and our curiosity had about peaked so it was good that today finally got arrived.
Oh, and we could find out the sex if we so chose. Which we didn't. But did we? More on that later.
The setup for this was pretty cool, with a flat screen monitor mounted up on the wall so we could comfortably watch the scan as it happened. Danielle's mom Paula, and our 'niece' Marissa were with us so it was really neat that we could all see it so easily. This was the most advanced equipment they have used so far so we were quite amazed at the amount of detail it is able to pick up. It can look right into the baby itself and the doctor was immediately able to see the brain and measure its development and size to make sure it was coming along nicely. Both lobes were visible and all looked normal, at least to us. We were told it was normal as well. After that we were able to basically see every part of DLB as the doctor looked at each area to see if there was any cause for concern and take measurements to see if growth was within the normal brackets for this point in the pregnancy. One of the complications that diabetes can cause in pregnancy is a large baby, so this was one of the primary things to be looking for. Measurements of the head and torso showed we were on track and she put the due date as March 27th, 3 days later than we had been told previously. The size was normal and was not an area of concern at this point.
Each area of the scan amazed us when a recognizable portion came into view. Looking at the screen you would be searching for something that looked familiar and all of a sudden the head would materialize with definite eye sockets and facial structure, and a tiny hand moving by as if to wave at us. The feet came into view and if we tried we may have been able to count the bones in the foot! As each hand was frozen on the screen we counted 5 perfect little fingers on each of them, stretched out a big as could be. The heart beating away...wheao, wheao, wheao... this time we could hear it and see it at the same time, sychronized in its dance and melody. A lot of time was spent on the heart for the Heart Echo. This was pretty amazing since we could see each ventricle pumping away and it showed red for blood pumping towards the transponder and blue if it was moving away. Looked even more like a Rave with all the blinking lights. The spine would come into view with all the ribs surrounding the chest.
Every now and then the doctor would hit a button and a perfect 4-D picture would come into view and our baby's face would appear and it was absolutely astounding. Seeing our beautiful baby for the first time, eyes closed with it's tiny nose and little lips, took our breath away, and tears to my eyes. What a picture of perfection and serenity.
Believe it or not, our baby was being a bit of a pain and would not cooperate fully with the procedure. Danielle had to roll to the left, then to the right, then flat again, then to the left, and so on, so they could try to get the right angles to see everything. Danielle and her Mom blame me for the stubbornness, but of course we all know it's Danielle. The Irish aren't known to be stubborn and uncooperative. We're cordial and inviting, here to please. And I won't believe otherwise. No matter what you say.
As far as the rest of the scan, the part that everyone wants to know except us, was the inevitable sighting of "the parts". We have told every doctor and nurse from the get-go that we did not want to know at any time what the sex was going to be. Surprise is more than a suburb of Phoenix to us (Surprise, AZ is a town for all of you out of state) and we wanted it to join us in the delivery room at all costs. We knew that these scans were going to be the place to ruin that so we repeated that to everyone we came in contact with. When the time came to see the area in question we were told to look away and we did, not even peeking. Paula watched the whole thing but she says she couldn't tell head nor tail so the secret seems to be safe from her as well. After seeing all that we did see, we can piece together what we are indeed having in March. The 4D is so detailed you can't help but notice, the tell tale signs, the small but perfectly shaped pieces poking out at you from the dark. We are happy to announce that we are having a beautiful, bouncing baby human. 10 fingers, 10 toes, two feet, two hands, a cute face, and everything else in between. We still don't know what gender and it truly doesn't matter to us. Just a baby is what we asked God for and that is the prayer He answered.
Full frontal view, rather Terminator-esque. In a cute way though.
AWWWW! A foot!! How cute!! We were assured it is attached to one of the legs.
Full profile with leg and an arm. Maybe?
Right arm is folded next to the head, left arm is extended with the hand fully open waving at you! Wave back! C'mon you know you want to! This is also the best facial features we can see. Ear, eye, nose, mouth are all visible.
These last two are pretty amazing as well. The first one is a reenactment of "hear no evil" with the hands up over the ears. The second one is rather cool because it shows the umbilical cord curling in front of the face. Or maybe its a boy and he's showing off. Hard to really tell just yet.
We will have another set of these done in 6 weeks to help keep track of the growth and make sure that the baby is not getting too big. Another big day to look forward to!
Oh, and we could find out the sex if we so chose. Which we didn't. But did we? More on that later.
The setup for this was pretty cool, with a flat screen monitor mounted up on the wall so we could comfortably watch the scan as it happened. Danielle's mom Paula, and our 'niece' Marissa were with us so it was really neat that we could all see it so easily. This was the most advanced equipment they have used so far so we were quite amazed at the amount of detail it is able to pick up. It can look right into the baby itself and the doctor was immediately able to see the brain and measure its development and size to make sure it was coming along nicely. Both lobes were visible and all looked normal, at least to us. We were told it was normal as well. After that we were able to basically see every part of DLB as the doctor looked at each area to see if there was any cause for concern and take measurements to see if growth was within the normal brackets for this point in the pregnancy. One of the complications that diabetes can cause in pregnancy is a large baby, so this was one of the primary things to be looking for. Measurements of the head and torso showed we were on track and she put the due date as March 27th, 3 days later than we had been told previously. The size was normal and was not an area of concern at this point.
Each area of the scan amazed us when a recognizable portion came into view. Looking at the screen you would be searching for something that looked familiar and all of a sudden the head would materialize with definite eye sockets and facial structure, and a tiny hand moving by as if to wave at us. The feet came into view and if we tried we may have been able to count the bones in the foot! As each hand was frozen on the screen we counted 5 perfect little fingers on each of them, stretched out a big as could be. The heart beating away...wheao, wheao, wheao... this time we could hear it and see it at the same time, sychronized in its dance and melody. A lot of time was spent on the heart for the Heart Echo. This was pretty amazing since we could see each ventricle pumping away and it showed red for blood pumping towards the transponder and blue if it was moving away. Looked even more like a Rave with all the blinking lights. The spine would come into view with all the ribs surrounding the chest.
Every now and then the doctor would hit a button and a perfect 4-D picture would come into view and our baby's face would appear and it was absolutely astounding. Seeing our beautiful baby for the first time, eyes closed with it's tiny nose and little lips, took our breath away, and tears to my eyes. What a picture of perfection and serenity.
Believe it or not, our baby was being a bit of a pain and would not cooperate fully with the procedure. Danielle had to roll to the left, then to the right, then flat again, then to the left, and so on, so they could try to get the right angles to see everything. Danielle and her Mom blame me for the stubbornness, but of course we all know it's Danielle. The Irish aren't known to be stubborn and uncooperative. We're cordial and inviting, here to please. And I won't believe otherwise. No matter what you say.
As far as the rest of the scan, the part that everyone wants to know except us, was the inevitable sighting of "the parts". We have told every doctor and nurse from the get-go that we did not want to know at any time what the sex was going to be. Surprise is more than a suburb of Phoenix to us (Surprise, AZ is a town for all of you out of state) and we wanted it to join us in the delivery room at all costs. We knew that these scans were going to be the place to ruin that so we repeated that to everyone we came in contact with. When the time came to see the area in question we were told to look away and we did, not even peeking. Paula watched the whole thing but she says she couldn't tell head nor tail so the secret seems to be safe from her as well. After seeing all that we did see, we can piece together what we are indeed having in March. The 4D is so detailed you can't help but notice, the tell tale signs, the small but perfectly shaped pieces poking out at you from the dark. We are happy to announce that we are having a beautiful, bouncing baby human. 10 fingers, 10 toes, two feet, two hands, a cute face, and everything else in between. We still don't know what gender and it truly doesn't matter to us. Just a baby is what we asked God for and that is the prayer He answered.
Full frontal view, rather Terminator-esque. In a cute way though.
AWWWW! A foot!! How cute!! We were assured it is attached to one of the legs.
Full profile with leg and an arm. Maybe?
Right arm is folded next to the head, left arm is extended with the hand fully open waving at you! Wave back! C'mon you know you want to! This is also the best facial features we can see. Ear, eye, nose, mouth are all visible.
These last two are pretty amazing as well. The first one is a reenactment of "hear no evil" with the hands up over the ears. The second one is rather cool because it shows the umbilical cord curling in front of the face. Or maybe its a boy and he's showing off. Hard to really tell just yet.
We will have another set of these done in 6 weeks to help keep track of the growth and make sure that the baby is not getting too big. Another big day to look forward to!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Heartbeats at last
We went in today for our next visit and everything seems to be coming along swimingly. Danielle is doing great, rarely feeling ill at all and DLB is growing just as is expected. Our visit today was remarkable because it was the first time we have been able to hear the heartbeat with out any problem whatsoever.
Wheao, wheao, wheao, wheao, wheao.
The beating is so fast it's amazing. I tried to figure out a song that had that fast a beat but the only ones I know of that fast are nameless Techno songs. Little did we know that DLB was attending a rave in there. Maybe the black lights and glow sticks will look cool in the ultrasound.
The first sound was truly amazing, hearing our baby for the first time. The little heart that we have loved forever, much longer than these 19 weeks, was pumping the blood that was building its mind and body in preparation for meeting us in just 5 more months. Growing stronger and bigger with each beat, it's tiny, tiny muscles working overtime to run the greatest construction project imaginable. It really leaves you dumbfounded how God can create like this and awestruck that we could have any part in it, and yet it has gone on for all time. To us it seems like the most amazing original celebration of life there has ever been. And it is.
Wheao, wheao, wheao, wheao, wheao.
The beating is so fast it's amazing. I tried to figure out a song that had that fast a beat but the only ones I know of that fast are nameless Techno songs. Little did we know that DLB was attending a rave in there. Maybe the black lights and glow sticks will look cool in the ultrasound.
The first sound was truly amazing, hearing our baby for the first time. The little heart that we have loved forever, much longer than these 19 weeks, was pumping the blood that was building its mind and body in preparation for meeting us in just 5 more months. Growing stronger and bigger with each beat, it's tiny, tiny muscles working overtime to run the greatest construction project imaginable. It really leaves you dumbfounded how God can create like this and awestruck that we could have any part in it, and yet it has gone on for all time. To us it seems like the most amazing original celebration of life there has ever been. And it is.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Give new parents a scanner and watch them go!
We went to Target tonight to register for the baby registry and had a great time a-shopping and a-scanning! We had to return to customer service 3 times to empty the memory on the little scanner thingy. Not really but man, can we pick out the goods! It's so fun to imagine your baby being the one that is pictured on the box looking as cute as can be, you just want it all!
Since we have decided to opt for the surprise of boy or girl at birth we obviously had to go with alot of greens and yellows. Fortunately there is a lot of cute frogs and ducks and animal themed infant gear and we were able to find plenty to furnish the nursery. We are going with a Noah's Ark theme so animals fall perfectly in line with that.
We will also be going to Babies-R-Us soon in order to make sure we did not miss anything we need in order to give DLB a perfect 1st year and get prepared for a wonderful life.
Since we have decided to opt for the surprise of boy or girl at birth we obviously had to go with alot of greens and yellows. Fortunately there is a lot of cute frogs and ducks and animal themed infant gear and we were able to find plenty to furnish the nursery. We are going with a Noah's Ark theme so animals fall perfectly in line with that.
We will also be going to Babies-R-Us soon in order to make sure we did not miss anything we need in order to give DLB a perfect 1st year and get prepared for a wonderful life.
Let me tell you a little Story.....
Our friends Angel and Cody had a gorgeous baby girl on October 1st, 8 lbs and 20". Her name is Story Jane which is a little different but it already seems to be the right name for her. 3 days before she was born Angel thought she seemed to be in the wrong position and asked the doctor, who is our doctor as well, to check and sure enough Story was breech, waiting to introduce her best assets to the world. The plan had been to do a normal birth and that changed real quick as she had to have caesarean. I told her to just do handstands to get her out of the birth canal and then flip her real quick but she went with the c-section. Story is so beautiful and perfect and her older sister Gabi is so excited to teach her all she needs to know.
I have not had a whole lot of experience with little babies, or really until the last few years kids at all. I couldn't wait to hold her and Danielle says I looked like a little kid myself, all eager and smiling. Holding that tiny new life was so amazing and pulled at my heart in such a new way I felt so impatient for our own new life to join us. She looks like her sister and is just as adorable. She would make the cutest faces and I told Danielle I think I found a bigger goofball than Gabi. Danielle asked if I meant the little baby or the grown man holding a baby with tears in his eyes. I meant the baby but I think Danielle found the biggest goofball.
The abrupt change in Story's birth made us both realize that even the best laid plans sometimes get sidelined at the last minute and we definitely need to try to be ready for anything, good or bad or just different than planned.
I have not had a whole lot of experience with little babies, or really until the last few years kids at all. I couldn't wait to hold her and Danielle says I looked like a little kid myself, all eager and smiling. Holding that tiny new life was so amazing and pulled at my heart in such a new way I felt so impatient for our own new life to join us. She looks like her sister and is just as adorable. She would make the cutest faces and I told Danielle I think I found a bigger goofball than Gabi. Danielle asked if I meant the little baby or the grown man holding a baby with tears in his eyes. I meant the baby but I think Danielle found the biggest goofball.
The abrupt change in Story's birth made us both realize that even the best laid plans sometimes get sidelined at the last minute and we definitely need to try to be ready for anything, good or bad or just different than planned.
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