It's Game Time: Go!

The "Fetal Attraction Baby Contest"...sponsored by guest bloggers GS & GS...has begun:

"This is a contest to see who can guess themost correct answers about the baby at birth. Here are the categories:

1. Gender
2. Arrival date
3. Arrival time (AM or PM)
4. Weight
5. Length/height
6. hair/no hair(or little hair)

Here's how it works:
1. This contest is open to family and friends only (random internet perverts can play...but they are ineligible for the prize)
2. Each answer to each category is assigned a number according to the answer. The object (in order to be the winner) is to get the lowest score.

Scoring is as follows:
1. gender: if it's a boy and you guess boy...your score is "0" if you correctly guess the gender ("8" if you are wrong)
2. arrival date: if you guess the exact date your score is "0". If you guess a date that is one day before or after...your score is "1"...if you guess 2 days before or after...your score is "2", etc.
3. arrival time (AM or PM): if you guess correctly your score is "0" otherwise it's "8"
4. weight: if you guess correctly, your score is "0" and otherwise your score is according to how many ounces you are off from the actual birthweight. In otherwords, if the baby weighs 7 pounds and you guess 7 1/2 pounds...your score is "8" for being off 8 ounces. If you guessed 8 pounds...your score would be 16.
5. length: if the baby is 18" and you guess 18 your score is "0". If youguessed 18 1/2" your score is "0". If you guessed 19" your score is 1...ifyou guessed 20 1/2 your score is "2", etc.
6. hair/no hair: either "0" for correct and "8" for incorrect

The Prize:The winner receives a $50 gift certificate to Babies R Us which they agree to use to select presents for the new baby! This certificate is donated by GS & GS."

Please respond to this blogpost with your entry by March 31. Only one entry per person. If you know my personal e-mail or GS' e-mail, feel free to send ballots directly.

Common Courtesies

I am a modern woman who opens her own doors and often carries her own loads. I ride public transportation to and from work, and I wear sensible shoes because you never know when you'll have to stand up for a long time.

But now I am carrying 30+ extra pounds of human life, and have had to rely a bit more on the graciousness of others.

Too bad not very many people in the Washington, DC metropolitan market are looking to be gracious.

It is not uncommon to hear complaints about people who sit in the "reserved for seniors and the disabled" seats on the Metro, and then refuse to budge when some truly deserving boards the train. In fact, I had heard so many of these type of stories that if, in my unpregnant state, I sat there, I considered myself on "special alert." I'd pay attention to see if a more deserving person boarded the train, and I got up.

A couple of stories to warm your heart (all examples are from the past four or five days):
a) On the metro.... I pushed my belly out and walked to the special seating section. Six men, all under the age of 40, sat in the seats and ignored me. I cleared my throat and said "can I please have someone's seat?" Six men continued to ignore me. I raised my voice and said "Anyone? Anyone?" Two men stopped their conversation, looked up quickly, and sheepishly stood up (giving me two seats). The other four men continued to ignore me.
b) On the bus... well, pretty much the same story.
c) On the metro today... I started walking towards the special section, but an older woman saw me first, and got up to offer her seat. I was about to protest, considering she looked like a frail chemo patient (BD's description), and her seatmate was a much more sturdy man in his 40s. But she was up and out before I could protest, so I gratefully took the seat. The three men nearby did not offer their seats to her.

Life in the big city, I guess.

The Grandmothers

The grandmothers "meet" the baby. Awwwwww....

Big Baby

My doctor on Friday confirmed an earlier report by Dr. Goofball. Cletus is big (not "scary" big, not "monster" big, but a pretty husky kid nonetheless). I noted to the doctor that both BD and I were 9 pound-plus babies, and she immediately noted it in my file (when I had told that to Dr. Goofball, he said "Did you know that when you married him?").

So as to help me think passed the watermelon that I may have to squeeze through, she noted that big babies sleep better and longer--because they can fill up their big, fat bellies!

I also feel like kidlet got bigger in just the past couple of days. The constant squirmy seems to be turning into slower mashing and lodging. I had to do the first push-back on a body part that got cozy with my right lower rib yesterday.

4 More Years! 4 More Years!

DH and I are celebrating the conclusion of our first four-year term of marriage today, as well as our re-election to a second term.

I'm proud to say that the state of the union is strong!

I encourage Americans not to be concerned if they see my bare hands (no wedding ring in sight). My fingers have swelled, and I've decided to remove the rings while I still could.

4 More Years! 4 More Years! (Then we'll have to look into abolishing term limits.)

Fetal Attraction Baby Contest

Announcing the "Fetal Attraction Baby Contest"...sponsored by guest bloggers GS & GS:

"This is a contest to see who can guess themost correct answers about the baby at birth.

Here are the categories:
1. Gender
2. Arrival date
3. Arrival time (AM or PM)
4. Weight
5. Length/height
6. hair/no hair(or little hair)

Here's how it works:
1. This contest is open to family and friends only (no random internet perverts, sorry)
2. Each answer to each category is assigned a number according to the answer. The object (in order to be the winner) is to get the lowest score.

Scoring is as follows:
1. gender: if it's a boy and you guess boy...your score is "0" if you correctly guess the gender ("1" if you are wrong)
2. arrival date: if you guess the exact date your score is "0". If you guess a date that is one day before or after...your score is "1"...if you guess 2 days before or after...your score is "2", etc.
3. arrival time: if you guess correctly your score is "0" otherwise it's "1"
4. weight: if you guess correctly, your score is "0" and otherwise your score is according to how many ounces you are off from the actual birthweight. In otherwords, if the baby weighs 7 pounds and you guess 7 1/2 pounds...your score is "8" for being off 8 ounces. If you guessed 8 pounds...your score would be 16.
5. length: if the baby is 18" and you guess 18 your score is "0". If youguessed 18 1/2" your score is "0". If you guessed 19" your score is 1...ifyou guessed 20 1/2 your score is "2", etc.
6. hair/no hair: either "0" for correct and "1" for incorrect

The Prize:
The winner receives a $50 gift certificate to Babies R Us which they agree to use to select presents for the new baby! This certificate is donated by GS & GS."

Please respond to this blogpost with questions only. Once we clarify all of the confusing points, I'll repost the contest and begin accepting entries (which will be tracked and scored by independent auditor, GS).

Gentlemen, start your engines....

Heartburn-Hair Link Drawing

Credit: Leif Parsons, New York Times

Pig Power!

http://www.bloggingbaby.com/2007/02/20/year-of-pig-babies-can-expect-fortune/

How Hairy is Cletus?

The plot (and hairline) thickens...

My mother sent me some of my baby pictures to show that I had a respectable thatch of light brown hair (not a Trump style coif, but certainly no baldie either).

And then I see this in today's New York Times (for the record, heartburn is actually one of the pregnancy symptoms that I have had, and with some regularity):

Really?
The Claim: Mother’s Heartburn Means a Hairy Newborn
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR

Published: February 20, 2007

THE FACTS It is an odd adage that has stuck around for ages: women who suffer heartburn during pregnancy will have babies with full heads of hair. But doctors have long shrugged it off.
Until now, that is. In December, researchers at Johns Hopkins University conducted a study intending to put the claim to rest. To their surprise, they ended up confirming it. The study, published in the current issue of the journal Birth, followed 64 pregnant women, about 78 percent of whom reported having some heartburn. After the women gave birth, two outside observers looked at pictures of their infants and rated their levels of hair.
Of the 28 women who reported moderate to severe heartburn, 23 had babies with average or above-average amounts of hair. Conversely, 10 of the 12 women who reported no heartburn had babies with little or no hair.
Other studies have shown that in pregnant women, high levels of estrogen and other hormones can relax the sphincter at the bottom of the esophagus, causing heartburn. The same hormones, other studies show, can influence fetal hair growth.
The lead author of the study, Kathleen Costigan, who runs the fetal assessment center at Johns Hopkins, said the findings came as a shock.
“We’ve heard this claim hundreds of times, and I’ve always told people it’s nonsense,” she said. “Since the study came out, I’ve had to eat a lot of crow.”

THE BOTTOM LINE Heartburn during pregnancy may mean a greater likelihood a baby will have a lot of hair.

So maybe BD's dream isn't so far off-base (though he concedes that the newborn looked more like a 5-month-old baby).

Dreamgirl

It's a girl! Or at least, according to the dream BD had last night. So while I'm still basking in the pride of having my first pregnancy dream and finally getting some nesting instincts, he does a lap around me, and has the fist actual baby dream.

According to the dream, he's in the hospital, holding the new born little girl. She's perfectly healthy and, reportedly, 100% cute. He shows her off to the grandparents, who marvel at her full head of brown hair. At one point, she even looks up at him and smiles (though BD, when awake, knows that babies don't really do this for a couple of months).

I like this dream.

Nesting?

Oh yeah, it's for real!

Top Design

So the room formerly known as Unkie Matt's room is starting to look like a baby's room.
An awesome baby's room.

Major Turning Point

I'm going to blame it on the baby shower. I am now officially more interested in thinking and doing baby stuff than working or studying.

I mean, why would I want to work on a post-launch partnership plan when I could look at crib mattresses online? Why would I want to print out journal articles for my upcoming research paper when I could be practicing "breath for birth"?

Uh oh. It begins...the balance is shifting.

Tribute Names

The recent comment on this blog about naming the baby after the new president of Turkmenistan (sp?) has gotten me thinking: what are the best tribute names ever?

My bro's middle name is "Gandhi"...and I've already tossed out "Molly Ivins" and "Oscar" (for the Academy Awards) on this blog...but what are the really inspirational, hilarious, and best tribute names?

What could I do with the following...
Mother Teresa
Martin Luther King Jr.
Nelson Mandela
Aretha Franklin
Coretta Scott King
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Lisa Simpson
Margie Lundegaard
Quentin Tarrentino
??

Or come up with your own worthy tribute names!

Thank You!

I have always loved baby showers, and mine was no exception. Despite my best attempts not to start the traditional chorus of "ahhhhs" for every item I opened, I couldn't help it: baby stuff is just too dang cute. I double-dog dare you not to marvel at a three tier "cake" made out of cloth diapers, onesies, and bibs (topped with a rubber ducky).

Since we did all of our registering online, it was also fun seeing some of the stuff we had picked up close and in person.

So thank you to all: those who attended, those who couldn't make, those who gave great suggestions about what to include on the registry, and to those who won't make fun of me for being a sucker for cute baby socks and homemade blankeys!

We're Back!

So what's been going on?

Dr. Goofball

I just had my 30-week appointment, and all went well. I'm rotating through all of the OBs at the practice, so I'll have met whoever is on duty when the time comes. Today, my appointment was with a guy who seems to be their silliest and most entertaining doctor.

First things first, though, everything looks really good. My weight and blood pressure are on point, and the baby's size and heartbeat are quite healthy.

Dr. Goofball asked me if I knew the gender and I told him that I did not. He then announced that he has an amazing streak of being right 50% of the time, when he guesses the gender using the heart beat trick (slower=boy, faster=girl). So he took one listen and announced that I was most certainly going to have a boy. He took another listen, noted that the heart beat was speeding up, and said it might be a girl. He said his instinct plus this scientific approach (which he called "total poop") was noted by about half the office as being nothing short of amazing. His final call: boy. And I 50% believe him!

Maternity Leave

Wow, who knew figuring out maternity leave was going to be this complicated? Oh wait. I did. Sheesh!

More details when I actually work them out...

Cat in the Hat

BD thinks we should start making our cats wear hats.

We're going to be good parents!

Baby Needs a Vacation

Having a baby is a wonderful time for companies to make money. So it's no surprise that the travel and leisure industry is getting into the swing of things. Have you heard about "babymoons"? This is the new effort to brand pre-birth vacations where couples can get away from it all and pamper themselves before the big arrival.

I think the term is dumb, and the actual "babymoon" packages are ridiculously expensive, but the concept is great! Of course, I've never been one to think anything but positive thoughts about travel and vacationing.

So Cletus, BD, and I are off on Thursday to Florida, partly for a baby shower, partly for our "babymoon." This will include a spa day (yes!), partying (yes!), and then lying on the beach at Sanibel Island without e-mail and cell phone access (yes!). Okay, so we'll probably have cell phone access, but that's not what I'll tell work folks.

But this also means that I won't be updating this blog. Are there any topics or things you want me to post before-hand? I'm happy to do like three or four posts a day. You can then pace yourself and read only one at a time, carrying you through the week.

Speaking of Shopping and Registries

Check out this timely article: http://www.theolympian.com/105/story/63914.html

Fun with Baby Registries

I'm looking forward to two upcoming baby showers, but I have failed miserably when it comes to putting together a reasonable, balanced baby registry of needs and wants. I had tried to keep it narrow, since I've gotten so much free stuff and hand-me-downs already and because I assumed that folks would rather pick out the onesies and blankets they found cute rather than follow my directions.

The result? Two sparse lists (at www.babiesrus.com and www.greatbeginningsonline.com) with many "on back-order" or "unavailable at this time" items. I had justified this by believing that the items would clue people into the direction we were going (cloth diapers, for example), without dictating the exact products that were needed.

My mother, probably rightly, was not buying my justifications and excuses. After trying to persuade me to visit a store in person and adding more, we came up with a much more acceptable solution. I just gave her my name and password for the registries, and she added twenty more products she believed we needed.

She got her shopping fix and I didn't have to mess with it. Perfect.

Thanks ma!

Who's Baby? Poll

I believe "boy" won the earlier gender poll. Time for a new poll!

My receptionist declared yesterday that the baby was going to be a girl, and that she was going to look just like me.

So what do you think?

Are you predicting a baby who looks:

a) more like me
b) more like Baby Daddy (BD)
c) a mix of both of us
d) someone entirely different

?

Vote now! Have your voice heard!

If it's a Girl...

...I might have to name her Molly Ivins S.

I loved this woman: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013101767.html

May she rest in peace.

Dream Baby

After seven months of pregnancy, I finally reached an important milestone: I had my first dream about being pregnant/the baby.

I had heard from many other new moms who said they dreamed about their babies early in their pregnancies and that's how they "just knew" they were having a girl (or whatever).

My dream gave me no clues about the gender. And I know exactly why I had it.

Yesterday, Cletus the Fetus had a dance party in my belly all day long. It was the most motion I had felt, ever. And this kid moves a lot in general. BD couldn't believe it when he put his hand on my belly. It really, really felt like kidlet was trying frantically trying to find an escape route through my belly button. It was a scene for Alien.

Anywho, that was reality.

In the dream, Cletus was moving around a bunch and I looked down and saw the first visible imprint of a body part. It was a little tiny hand, just above my belly button. I got excited so I start tickling around the hand. It then pushed back a little harder until a little belly skin-covered hand lifted up and grabbed my tickling finger (just like a little baby does, because of the palmar reflex). It was cool, and didn't freak me out at all.

Then, for the rest of my dream, I was really excited and started telling everyone about how I finally had a dream about the baby.

Weird.

Analyses? Other pregnancy or baby dreams people want to share?