No News is, Well, No News

Today was yet another uneventful doctor's appointment, which I guess is a good thing. Leah had booked one of the earliest appointment times--8:30, which basically gives the doctor less opportunity to get behind. Dr. Bannister came in, asked how she was feeling, listened to Nicholas's heartbeat with the doppler thingee, and answered questions. Our childbirth class instructor advised us to ask what the recommendations were for contraction frequency as an indicator of when to go to the hospital. Leah also had some questions about the so-called "restless leg syndrome" that seems to be plaguing her at night. One of the most incredible facts of her pregnancy is that thus far, Leah's net weight gain has been 5--that's five--pounds. And that's after gaining back one of the two pounds that she had lost last time. But don't worry--Leah's not starving, and neither is Nicholas. Although she hasn't had the proverbial bottomless pit pregnancy stomach, her weight gain (or lack thereof) is actually good as a factor of her pre-pregnancy size.

After spending no more than 45 minutes on he premises, we were both headed to work. We'll return on Columbus Day (an off day for Leah--gotta love those banks!), which is two weeks away. After one other two week increment, we'll start the every week thing.

Wow, this thing is getting close!!! I told Leah that as of Saturday (Oct 1), we'll be able to say that our baby is due next month. Incredible. It seems like only a month or two ago that we were questioning a very faint double line on a home pregnancy test. Now, we're staring parenthood straight down the barrel. Ask me in 3 months what I think about it!

Showertime

The funny thing about wedding and baby showers is that you want them, and can't wait to have them, but you don't exactly plan them yourself. I kinda always thought that having a housewarming party was much the same--akin to saying something like, "I'm throwing a shindig for all you folks to come over, congratulate me, and bring me presents." I was even asked a couple of weeks ago by somebody, "When are you'll gonna have a baby shower?" I was like, "I don't know--I'm not planning it." I guess it could be done, but something about the "Given by: Self" line of the invitation might turn people off.

Over the last week or so, 3 showers have been put on the calendar. I guess all of our friends/co-workers/relatives/sunday school class members got together and decided to call off the conspiracy to let our baby go unrecognized. : ) So as it stands now, we are having one at my office on a Thursday, another one given by family on that Sunday, and yet another one given by our sunday school class on the following Sunday. So while you all are loving fall festivals, planning Halloween (or "Harvest" time, for any politically correct readers), or even thinking about Thanksgiving, we'll be organizing our loot. That's right--3 baby-providing and ego-boosting parties in 11 day's time. Wow. To that end, we spent Wednesday night at Babies R Us (OK, not the entire night, but it almost felt like it) making sure our registry had the things and quantities that we wanted, and deleting the stuff that we decided we didn't. We probably need to do the same thing at Target, but my wife can't be taken in there without costing me at least $50.

No More Class

Tuesday was the last night of our 4-week "Preparation for Childbirth" class. With pillows in tow, we headed on over to the hospital for our final installment. This session dealt with relaxation techniques and simple breathing patterns. The relaxation techniques come into play more for those who choose a "natural" delivery--i.e., not having an epidural. Suggestions involve such things as a back rub, a focal point, and even something simple as changing positions. I did enjoy part of this discussion--the first thing she had the women do was give the dads (that would be me) a massage. Apparently studies show that people give massages the way they want to receive them. I don't know about all that, but I do know that I got a decent shoulder massage for 5-10 minutes (but I'm sure Leah won't be up for repeating it when she's in labor).

Then our instructor hit us with something that caught us, and our emotions, off guard. When returning from a break, she held out some stationery envelopes and some paper, telling us to pick one of each. Uh, ok. Then, she said that she wanted us to write a letter to the baby and seal it in an envelope. She got the idea several months ago, after her mother passed away. In going through the stuff, she found her baby book, complete with a letter that her mother had written to her several years ago. She (our instructor) didn't even know she ever had a baby book, so it made it even that much more special. So anyway, all of us got quiet and began writing. It really was impossible to put all my thoughts in a pithy manner onto a 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper. But I did. I probably could've written several more pages, but I didn't. I didn't read what Leah wrote, and she didn't read mine. Leah was noticeably wiping her eyes, as were several other moms in the class. I even found myself wiping away a tear or two--I guess parenthood does strange things. I don't know when we'll open them up to read, but I'm very anxious to. Something tells me if we wait until Nicholas is like 10 or 12, he might thing they're stupid. I can already hear myself saying someting like, "When you get older, you'll understand" or "When you become a parent, you'll know what it feels like." I'm sure we'll come up with something, though.

All in all, I think we enjoyed the class. We learned a lot about the labor process and what to expect. I'm sure that nothing can prepare you for the real thing, but at least we'll know ahead of time what's going on, and hopefully be more prepared when the nurses start saying stuff about breathing patterns and "cleansing breaths."

Baby Girl

All you loyal Russellbaby blog readers will recall, back in early February, me reporting that Leah's co-worker Stacy announced that she was pregnant. As it turned out, they were about 8 weeks ahead of us, so if you've got your calendar handy, you will see that it was almost time for the stork to come and visit their house.

Yep, a scheduled induction was interrupted by a trip last night to the ole' hospital, and Abby Grace Bailey came into the world at 11:05PM, weighing in at 6 lbs, 11 oz. Apparently it was a relatively quick and smooth labor, and Stacy seemed to throw all of that "first time" crap out of the window--she even had the medical staff 2nd guessing her statement that it was her first baby. Apparently she went from 5 cm dialated to "Oh crap, call the doctor!", and was even told at one point to STOP pushing because said medical licensee had not yet arrived. 3 pushes later, their little bundle of joy had arrived.

Stacy made the comment today when I was talking to her that part of her wanted to sleep last night, but part of her wanted to just sit and stare at the baby. I told her that I can only imagine what an overflow of emtions occurs at the very moment that we see our son for the very first time. Certainly the moment that Nicholas goes from depending on mom's direct line for feeding, and oxygen, and the like, to being a part of the outside world is nothing short of miraculous, but I'm sure that likewise a profound transformation in viewpoint will turn Leah and Eric into "Nicholas's parents." The amount of love that we will have for him at that moment is unfathomable to me, but I'm anxious to experience it.

Congratulations, Mike and Stacy. We're very happy for you, and hope that God blesses you and your family for many, many years to come. We're anxious to see her, and make sure she knows that she doesn't need to be hitting on my son. : )

Dr. Does-Little

A visit to the doctor yesterday, and they pretty much went like normal: Arrived a few minutes early, got called back a few minutes before appointment time, and then proceeded to wait for about an hour before the doc came in, measured Leah's belly, listened for the heartbeat, asked if everything was OK, and left. In all fairness to them, I think the delay was due to 2 women already being sent to the hospital in labor, and another one that in all probability was headed that way, too. (Of course, if you'd take childbirth classes, you might know when you're in labor, but that's another story).

At this stage of the pregnancy, that's about all that needs to be done. Leah's weight and blood pressure are checked by the nurse, and then Dr. Bannister measures the belly and glances over the chart. That's it. I told Leah when we were leaving, that I know that she's probably not looking forward to the exams and scrutiny that the final weeks hold, but at least there will be some hard facts at that time to hang our hat on. Something to indicate how close we are to the big day. For example, if the doc says, "You're ___cm, so I'll probably see you at the hospital before next week's appointment," then we'll know our life-altering event is upon us.

So what was the report? Leah has actually lost 2 lbs since last time. I really don't know if that's a problem or not, but they didn't really say anything about it. Blood pressure is still awesome. Dr. B made some suggestions as to alternatives for the iron supplement (the other one made Leah feel wacko), so I picked some of those up at Kroger last night. Her only other choices are green leafy vegetables, raisins, etc.

Appointments are now 2 weeks apart instead of 4. Which means we're definitely getting closer. I think they are like that until we're one month away, when it goes to every week. We're finishing up our "Preparation for Childbirth" classes next week, so we'll have that behind us. 3 showers are now on the calendar for mid- to late-October and early November. So things are definitely starting to indicate that Nicholas's arrival is imminent!!!

Editor's Note: In case you're wondering whether it's Nicholas's or Nicholas'--both are grammatically correct.

What's In a Name??

Nicholas (Greek) - "Victorious People"

Clayton (English) - "Town on Clay Land"

Nicholas Clayton Russell

"Son of Eric and Leah"

Hospitals and Classes and Sitters, Oh My!

As an offering for my blatant lack of posting over the last week, I offer you, our readers, a multi-faceted update. The last week wasn't really eventful per se, but if I was logging a daily journal, there would've been at least 2 or 3 entries.

* Practice Makes Perfect. Thursday was a "dry run" of sorts, practicing a trip to the hospital and visiting the "Assessment" area, a.k.a. the initial stop in everyone's trip to labor and delivery. Leah awoke with some significant pains in her midsection, and it wasn't anything she had really experienced before. Hoping a hot shower would relax her, she stayed in a bit longer than normal, but with no positive effects. I took the dog outside, and returned to find her getting sick. Being that it was about 6:00AM, her only option was to contact the nurse's line of her doctor's office to get advice. Their suggestion was basically to head the hospital to have stuff checked out--after all, the docs probably wouldn't be in and available until about 9:30, which was over 3 hours away. So off we went (I realized during this trip through Walnut Grove/Humphreys Blvd that I hope Leah doesn't go into labor during rush hour). Blood work was done, urine tests were done, fetal heart rate was monitored, etc. All was OK. Not really sure what the pain was, but Leah took it easy for the rest of the day and seemed to be fine. Obviously this was all extremely precautionary, but at the time, it was the only option that set our mind at ease. Leah hasn't been pregnant before, so it's all uncharted territory when it comes to pain and discomfort.

* Back to School. Saturday we took 2 classes over at Baptist. The morning session was called "Expectant Parents", and taught us rookie parents basic stuff about baby's 4 needs: place to sleep, stuff to eat, place to ride, and what to wear. So many basic things seem so elementary, but yet we found ourselves saying stuff like, "Hmmm....Hadn't ever thought of that!". We got lots of great suggestions, and even some free goodies. The ladies that taught it were absolutely fabulous, and their light-hearted approach and sense of humor made the class an absolute blast. After a quick lunch over at Wendy's, we grabbed our seat for "Breastfeeding." Now, this one was quite interesting. You see, these two lactation nazis, er, consultants, not only proceeded to monotonously read the PowerPoint slides verbatim, but also proceeded to tell us that we are evil if we send the baby to the hospital nursery (might miss the subtle mouth-twitching baby sign language that he is starting to get hungry), or don't nurse exclusively for the first 6 months, or don't consider breastfeeding until the kid is 3 years old perfectly normal (heck, he can order his own steak by that age!). I really hoped that the class would cover more stuff like pumping, and returning to work, and all the practical stuff that relates to making this choice, but I was mistaken. After they finished telling us that the kid should be offered a breast every hour if he wants it (huh? can you say "schedule", boys and girls?), the sextegenarians thanked us for coming. Yeah, thanks. Too bad you accomplished much in turning us off of your cause by being so over-the-top wacko.

Meet the Sitter. After a couple of weeks of phone tag and schedule-juggling, Leah and I finally got to meet with, or "interview", our babysitter-to-be. It's really been amazing how things have worked out. Two months ago, she didn't have an opening, and we were facing the possibility of a $600+ month daycare bill. But thanks to a quick toddler exit due to dad's job or something, we now have an ex-daycare worker who provides much the same interaction, stimulation, and feedback paperwork that we'd get from the expensive folks. So I think we struck gold. Not to mention, a much more forgiving and flexible policy with regards to sickness, vacation, and extenuating circumstances. We left, totally confident in her abilities and our trust.

Weekend Update

Not much going on this weekend in baby world, but there were some minor developments.

I think that Leah and I are much closer to a name, which means that he'll move from "him" or stuff like "when he gets here", to having a name. It's not "official" at this point, and I guess it won't be officially official until he arrives and the birth certificate is applied for, but we're pretty close. We just keep gravitating towards it, and some random informal surveys seem to agree. But we'll see.

His grandparents from Louisville were in town and stopped by Friday night to see his room. They had spent a couple of nights in Tunica (one of my cousins works there) and even ventured across the street to the outlets. So our little man is now the proud owner of "My First Tool Box" (which is absolutely adorable, I might add, but not from Snap-On, which I'd expect from my dad) and some cool clothes from Osh Kosh. Dad and Mary still haven't decided what their 'names' will be for the baby (e.g., Big Poppy, Grand Meemaw-licious, etc.), or I'd be using those names. They loved the room, and they were pretty amazed that we already had a lot of the stuff that we do. The closet isn't exactly full, and neither are all of the drawers of the furniture, but they're all getting there. Let us get a shower or two behind us, and we'll be close. : )

When I stop to think about it, it really is hard to believe that in 3 month's time, give or take a few days, our baby will be here. Today we just kinda bummed around the house and did some cleaning. Made a quick trip to the grocery store. A few minutes ago, we sat out on our patio, in our swing. All of these simple things will be entirely different when he arrives. I told Leah when we were getting the bascart, that in a few months, there will be an infant carrier on the Kroger basket, and somebody like me will be making silly-sounding googling noises in an attempt to communicate to his little world. Will I succeed?--only he will know for sure. Kristi and Joe have already told us to expect to be spread thin. Little sleep. Cold dinners. Impromptu naps. But I know this for sure--we're almost there, and can hardly wait.

Going to Class

This week, Leah and I strapped on our virtual backpack, got in our little Honda bus (okay, it's an Accord, but stick with my analogy here), and went over to the soon-be-birthplace of our little bundle of joy. Only this time, we were preparing for said event by starting a 4-week session called Preparation for Childbirth.

I really didn't know what to expect, save for the awe-inspiring reality film clip of childbirth that Joe had warned me about. We got there about 15 minutes early, and verified the location with the Info desk person. The main reason for that was that the instructions we were given when we registered involved going through some doors that said "Authorized Personnel Only." Being the law-abiding type, I decided to make sure I was correct before I walked through there, alarms sounded, the floor dropped out from under me, and I was surround by hospital snipers in scrubs with AK-47's pointed at my wife's belly. Anyway, info-girl told me that the room had been changed, but while Leah was visiting the little girl's room, I noticed a sign that said "Childbirth Class One" pointed toward the closed doors with the snipers behind them. So I approached info-blonde again, and she informed me that there were TWO classes going on, and she had incorrectly assumed that I was inquiring about the OTHER one. So we headed throug the double doors, and hoped for the best.

The room was pretty full--probably 6 couples in there already. We were number 7, and of course, everybody always spreads out, and NOBODY, unless there's some really convincing reason, sits in the front row. But we couldn't avoid it. Oh well, we'll just sit up there, smile, and maybe be the teachers pet. Er, pets. Another couple came in, toting 3 pillows with them. Dorks. I thought they were just being premature suck-ups, but apparently we WILL need pillows in later sessions, but the people might've been told wrong by the folks they talked to to sign up. They still looked like dorks, cause nobody else had them.

Of course, in all settings such as this, you are obligated to participate in some cheesy icebreaker which involves interviewing your neighbor. We teamed with with Scout and Rebecca, who live downtown, are having a girl in late October, and met in Nashville. And Scout is here in Memphis going to school to be, of all things, a pediatrician. So methinks that Rebecca might not do much these days, or is planning to sit at home, keep the baby, watch Oprah, and ask Scout what time she should have dinner ready. Oh yeah, and tell him that the fuel is low in her BMW convertible. They were really nice folks, and we probably have more in common with them than any other couple in the room. And they're thinking about using the same pediatric group as us, so who knows--we might bump into them in the weekend sick clinic one day. The "interesting couple award" goes to a young couple who said that their boy would be named Ron Lennon, because Ron is the baby's grandfather's first name, and dad likes the Beatles. "It'll be funny, but also kinda cool," was his statement. Oh brother.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. Basic anatomy of ligaments and stuff that might cause momma some pain, as well as discussions about effacement and dialation and colorful little schoolroom charts on the wall. Interesting fact for the night: You always hear about someone's water breaking in the grocery store, or at the ball game, but care to take a guess what percentage of women's water actually breaks natually like that (vs being done by a doc at the hospital, with his little tool)? Give up? To find the answer, look all the way at the bottom and turn your monitor upside down. Just kidding--only 25%. That's right--3 out of 4 women have their water broken by the doc, and prevent that annoying "Cleanup on aisle 4!" intercom call at Wal Mart.

That's about it. Next time we'll get into more heavy duty stuff, I'm guessing. And remember those pillows? We get to play with them in class number 3 and 4.