Humor

My pal Ryan put this together. It seems that my doc's mustache has generated more interest than the birth of our child. I guess it's Violet's own fault that she's keeping everyone at bay.

This made Melissa and I laugh so hard last night that I've decided to dedicate an entire post on the blog to it... Enjoy.

We have another doctor's appointment with "The Dude" tomorrow evening, which is also the due date set for Violet. It also happens to be Melissa's birthday. She and I are really done with the pregnancy thing. The novelty has worn off and we're ready for the kid to be a kid instead of a bowling ball lodged in Melissa's abdomen.

More to follow soon.

Progress?

A very uneventful week thus far for the both of us. Monday rolled around and upon coming home from work, Melissa thought that maybe, just maybe her water broke to a slow trickle. I then moved our bags closer to the door and I hurried making the turkey chili I was in the progress of making. A half an hour later... no spots or leakage and we were back at square one. We both concluded that she probably laughed too hard and or sneezed and lost a little fluid.

During that 30 minutes of her resting and testing to see if her water broke, my mind was ablaze. I was focused, projecting thoughts about the future, what was going to happen in the next few hours, etc.. As soon as I was in 100% baby mode, it was a false alarm. I even suggested that she should call the doctor anyway because if it was her water, the baby could be deprived of nutrients. Luckily my wife has a better idea of what's going on with her body than I do and she assured me that everything was fine.

We visited the doctor yesterday for our weekly visit. At that point I was halfway done with my spring break and the hopes of having my daughter in my arms by now had long since fizzled. After an examination, the doctor said that Melissa is now officially 2cm dilated, 80% effaced, and our daughter is still in the -1 station. He read the dismay on both of our faces and told us that Melissa is farther along than most women. In fact, most women are always looking to be 5cm dilated, but it's the effacement that counts toward the duration and length of labor. He also suggested that Violet is approximately 7-8lbs already!

Our doc is really cool. We decided to go with the same doctor that delivered my niece, Maddie Rose. He refers to himself as the "UPS" guy every once and a while insofar as he's just there to bring them into the world. He's got a repertoire of stories he uses for the issues that all new mothers share. My favorite is the one he told us after Melissa expressed her concern over weight gain. We've heard it three times now, and it just gets better each time. If we hear it again, I might get the balls enough to help him tell it. Should be interesting to see his reaction. If you happen to see me in the immediate future, ask me for an impression... it's totally worth it. His laid back demeanor and quirky sense of humor put Melissa and I at ease with our progress and the actual birth. He also has a mustache that gives Sam Elliott's a run for his money. If their mustaches were to fight, the results would be cataclysmic. You be the judge:



Our Doc



Sam Elliott

Am I wrong?
We're talking global thermo-mustachclear war here!


I need help.


Back to baby...

This morning before work, Melissa woke me up and said that she noticed what might be a little show when she was bathing. She looked it up online and it could be the beginning stages of labor or the body's reaction to the exam she had yesterday with the doctor. Here we go again...



Just a quick note for all of you that have posted. I wanted to say thank you and be sure to identify who you are in the post as I won't post anonymous comments. Thanks for your support and thanks for bringing a smile to both of our faces.

Exhaustion

Not the most flattering of pictures of my wife. She'll probably make me take it down after beating me with one of her shoes, provided she can bend down and pick them up off the floor in time.

On many occasion I've told Melissa, particularly after comforting her during times of high anxiety, stress, or exhaustion, that she's my hero. Cheesy, isn't it? Some of you are probably thinking, damn.. way to score points, Sean! But I assure you that I mean it 100%.

More often than not, my wife (shown here) has really tough nights fraught with insomnia, emergency bladder evacuation, cramps, you name it. I've slowly gotten used to the early morning routine of her lumbering in and out of bed. Although I will admit that wearing earplugs helps immensely.... but oddly enough the earplugs fail to drown out the snoring. OH MY GOD the snoring! I'll get into that some other time.

Let's go back to why she's my hero. It wasn't until the third trimester that I actually started observing and really watching how my wife copes with the weight she's carrying around her abdomen and how tough it really must be to do things with a massive belly in front of her. Aside from the jokes and a little mockery, I really don't know how she does it. I think I would end up tossing myself off a bridge instead of coping with the frustration. She has got to be so uncomfortable that I try to imagine times when I was uncomfortable and I'm sure that those experiences pale in comparison to what she's experiencing.

Some days, especially after work, her edema is so bad that her legs and feet look like the mystic warrior that explodes in Big Trouble Little China (She laughed through the tears at that comparison). Exhaustion doesn't seem to come close to what state she's in if she's had a rough night and/or had a busy day. I can only imagine how this is going to change (worsen?) when Violet arrives. I might be in the same boat as she is.

When she crashes, and it's often, she crashes hard. The above picture was taken today after treating ourselves to Taco Bell and heading over to Target to look for whatever we were looking for. I suggested that I would drop her off and head to the comics store to look for the newest edition of Twisted ToyFare Theater, but I decided to stay here an keep an eye on her. Hell, I might even do the dishes that have been sitting there for a week, just to make her life a little easier.


Cloud says, "HEY! Quit hogging the couch!"

Anticipation

Ugh. The anticipation is killing me. It's also killing my beautiful wife. Just a few days ago after eating some frozen pizza and watching an episode of The Soup, Melissa looked down at her swollen tummy and said "Get out!" I joked and said that our daughter (who will probably be named Violet) is a deadbeat tenant and owes 9 months of back rent to us. If Violet is still an occupant in my wife's womb after the due date of April 1st, we may have to send Violet an eviction notice. She can work off her debt by cleaning the house as soon as she can walk.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. I normally stay occupied and focused at work, but it seems that any moment not spent in the classroom and on instruction and evaluation is dedicated to thoughts of what Violet is going to be like. What kinds of conversations I'll have with her. Will she be willful and chaotic, or will she be calm and mild mannered as she grows and develops?

I also have not been sleeping well at all due to anxiety. My appetite has decreased, yet my cravings for ice cream and junk food are on the rise. My gym bag has made a permanent crease in the back seat of my car due to its stationary position the past 4 weeks. I was gung-ho about hitting the gym and getting in shape at the start of the pregnancy and was going strong for 3 weeks, but when my wife really started showing... it all came crashing down.

I've been coming to work tired and exhausted but I haven't really done anything to justify the fatigue. Some of my colleagues joked about me being tired now, and to just wait until Violet is born. Then I'm going to know what tired really is. Sleep deprivation is going to have an impact on both my wife and I. Here's to hoping that we can cope with the crabbiness and focus on what's most important when Violet enters the world.

When I think of my daughter I'm met with myriad emotions. The strongest of which makes me want to cry. It's not a doomed or saddened cry, but it's a cry that comes from the feeling that my heart is going to explode. It's a feeling that makes my chest warm on the inside and gets my hands tingly. Maybe I should take a cardiac stress test? But seriously, when I think of putting Violet to bed every night and reading her stories, making her laugh by acting like a goof, hearing her first words, the feeling is absolutely overwhelming. It's almost too strong for me to take. It's an extremely positive feeling... one that I don't think I've ever felt before.

As of today my wife is 2-3 cm dialated and still 70% effaced. Violet is hovering at -1 station and is almost in the "locked and loaded" position. From here on out, it's a waiting game.