Sunday, May 14, 2006
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Monday, April 24, 2006
7 long hours
...of "pregnancy class" yesterday. I have to say that it really wasn't that bad, and I actually learned quite a bit.
The class basically covered EVERYTHING from the few weeks before giving birth until the actual birth. We also took a tour of the hospital so that things would be familiar when "the Day" comes (the instructor made a point of saying that it's always the most important thing to the father-to-be to find out where to park the car and if they'll tow it if you go to the ER. I found that hilarious, because that was my first question). We got to see all the newborns, which was great.
At this point I think Shaina is not interested in an Epidural, despite all of the advice and suggestions otherwise from friends and family. It's not really up to me, but I think she'll change her mind 14 hours into labor. That's just my opinion.
What was most interesting to me was the instructor's advice to call the insurance company and notify them of EVERYTHING that happens, and she meant every little thing. She told stories of insurance companies not covering the childbirth and subsequent healthcare for the baby because the parents neglected to call within the first hour of labor. What sheisers.
Next week we have another class that will cover basics of after-birth care, such as breast-feeding, diapering, etc.
Every day that passes, Shaina gets bigger and bigger and we see the baby twirlin' around in there, poking out Shaina's stomache with legs and arms. We'll put a video up of that soon, it should be pretty amazing!
As the days go by I'm reminded that I'm soon going to be a father. People ask me if that freaks me out - and I suppose fear is a normal emotion for people in this situation. I am scared of a few things, but having a child and becoming a father is not one of them. I am so ectstatic for this baby, I keep myself up at night thinking about it.
The class basically covered EVERYTHING from the few weeks before giving birth until the actual birth. We also took a tour of the hospital so that things would be familiar when "the Day" comes (the instructor made a point of saying that it's always the most important thing to the father-to-be to find out where to park the car and if they'll tow it if you go to the ER. I found that hilarious, because that was my first question). We got to see all the newborns, which was great.
At this point I think Shaina is not interested in an Epidural, despite all of the advice and suggestions otherwise from friends and family. It's not really up to me, but I think she'll change her mind 14 hours into labor. That's just my opinion.
What was most interesting to me was the instructor's advice to call the insurance company and notify them of EVERYTHING that happens, and she meant every little thing. She told stories of insurance companies not covering the childbirth and subsequent healthcare for the baby because the parents neglected to call within the first hour of labor. What sheisers.
Next week we have another class that will cover basics of after-birth care, such as breast-feeding, diapering, etc.
Every day that passes, Shaina gets bigger and bigger and we see the baby twirlin' around in there, poking out Shaina's stomache with legs and arms. We'll put a video up of that soon, it should be pretty amazing!
As the days go by I'm reminded that I'm soon going to be a father. People ask me if that freaks me out - and I suppose fear is a normal emotion for people in this situation. I am scared of a few things, but having a child and becoming a father is not one of them. I am so ectstatic for this baby, I keep myself up at night thinking about it.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Baby loves passover food; also - our baby as the messiah
No new pictures today. Just thought I'd let everyone know that this child is either really irritated by passover food (aren't we all) or really likes it, because it was going absolutely nuts over the past 3 days.
On a side note, it has been suggested that if the Cubs win the World Series this year, our child will be the messiah. After thinking about it for a while, I'm not sure what I'd be happier about. I'd be stoked if our kid was the world's savior, but I'd probably die and go to heaven if the Cubs actually won the whole thing.
Only a few more days till our pregnancy "class." Joy.
On a side note, it has been suggested that if the Cubs win the World Series this year, our child will be the messiah. After thinking about it for a while, I'm not sure what I'd be happier about. I'd be stoked if our kid was the world's savior, but I'd probably die and go to heaven if the Cubs actually won the whole thing.
Only a few more days till our pregnancy "class." Joy.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Official 3rd trimester
So Shaina's officially in her 3rd trimester already. The baby is very noticeably kicking - I've felt it at least a dozen times! It's remarkably cool to see Shaina just sitting down and all of a sudden have her stomach move.
We got the video from our 3D fetal photo thing we did. It's pretty cool, sometimes very scary looking though as the baby 3 weeks ago still was not really developed to the point of normalcy. I might rip the whole DVD and link to it on google video next week.
We have begun empyting out the room that the baby will be in so that we can begin to paint and furnish it..fun fun fun.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
More 3D Photos
Looks like s/he's checking the time to see how much longer s/he's gotta stay in the womb!
This is one of my favorite ones - you can see the umbilical cord across the cheek.Also, Shaina has become VERY aware of the baby's movements. it's only a matter of time before I start to feel it kick!
I wonder if there's any way we'll give this much attention to our second pregnancy, whenever that is? =)
3d Fetal Photos
Earlier in this blog I posted about 3D imaging of infants in the womb, and how cool it was - and wished that Shaina and I could find a place to do it for us. Well, as we arrived in Florida last Friday for a mini-vacation, an office complex a few blocks from my father's house had a store called "3D Fetal Photo." Naturally, we checked it out! The cost was a bit crazy but I think it was well worth it.
For those of you that complained that you couldn't make out the images of our baby on the ultrasound, I don't think you'll have a problem doing that with these!
S/he is smiling in the one above!
Sucking her/his thumb.
I like to call this one "The Thinker"
For those of you that complained that you couldn't make out the images of our baby on the ultrasound, I don't think you'll have a problem doing that with these!
S/he is smiling in the one above!
Sucking her/his thumb.
I like to call this one "The Thinker"
Thursday, March 09, 2006
2nd Ultrasound..IT'S A....
So I buckled under the pressure. The ultrasound was so damned cool I had to find out whether it was a boy or a girl! Very happy I did.
Here are the pictures (sans the sex revealing ones) from the ultrasound...my favorite is the first one when the baby looks like it's smiling!
Here are the pictures (sans the sex revealing ones) from the ultrasound...my favorite is the first one when the baby looks like it's smiling!
Sunday, March 05, 2006
First pregnancy scare; or, breaking Shabbos
On all acounts, I'd say that the pregnancy has been pretty smooth so far. Very little nausea and sickness, hardly any eating issues, and no problems other than some minor sleeping issues.
That all changed Friday night. Or so we thought.
After dinner, Shaina began to feel a tightening sensation in her stomach - at first it didn't seem like much, but after she was bowled over on the floor screaming in pain, it took about .2 seconds before I was on the phone with the doctor, who suggested we head to labor and delivery at the hospital. I'd like to say we weren't freaked out, but I'd be lying if I said we weren't.
So, we got in the car, on Shabbat (there's always a first time for everything), and hit every single red light on the way to the hospital. When we got there, we were taken care of right away. After a few examinations, the long and the short of it was that Shaina's pain was due to....gas. Oh well, at least it's a funny story.
On a lighter note - while we were at the hospital, they checked to see if they could monitor the baby's heartbeat (which was a longshot, since it's quite difficult to get a heartbeat for babies under 20 weeks or so), and we were fortunate enough to listen to the heartbeat - for over an hour! It was really unbelievable. At least we know our child has a strong heart!
That all changed Friday night. Or so we thought.
After dinner, Shaina began to feel a tightening sensation in her stomach - at first it didn't seem like much, but after she was bowled over on the floor screaming in pain, it took about .2 seconds before I was on the phone with the doctor, who suggested we head to labor and delivery at the hospital. I'd like to say we weren't freaked out, but I'd be lying if I said we weren't.
So, we got in the car, on Shabbat (there's always a first time for everything), and hit every single red light on the way to the hospital. When we got there, we were taken care of right away. After a few examinations, the long and the short of it was that Shaina's pain was due to....gas. Oh well, at least it's a funny story.
On a lighter note - while we were at the hospital, they checked to see if they could monitor the baby's heartbeat (which was a longshot, since it's quite difficult to get a heartbeat for babies under 20 weeks or so), and we were fortunate enough to listen to the heartbeat - for over an hour! It was really unbelievable. At least we know our child has a strong heart!
Friday, March 03, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
2nd Belly Pic
Wow! Shaina in her 18th week. "Big" improvements since the last picture nearly a month ago.
Monday, February 20, 2006
The Baby Business
A few weeks ago Shaina and I made our first outing to look around and learn about essential baby items (cribs, etc). First stop was Babies R Us, the Sam's Club of baby-shopping. This place was gigantic and overwhelming; women breastfeeding on your left, toys on your right, baby furniture straight ahead.
First, we learned about cribs: wood/plastic, intergrated/visible parts, converts to a bed, doesn't convert to a bed... Then, dressers etc...The one thing that was consistent in all of this was that the costs seemed outrageous. Now, obviously, we're not going to go buy a rent-a-wreck crib for our child. All I'm saying is that this kid is going to urinate, defecate and vomit all over whatever we get it - does it really have to be that expensive?
Once we had an idea of what we were looking at, we went to "Lazar's," which was recommended to us by members of our family. If I thought $400 for a crib was insane initially, it looked like a coupon clipping bargain when I walked into this place. $875 - 1600. FOR BABY CRIBS.
WTF. Honestly.
To make a happy ending out of all of this, our grandparents hinted that if we registered for what we needed at Lazar's, they'd buy it for us. I never thought they were serious, but they bought us everything we registered for. On the one hand I'm ecstatic, on the other hand the money used to buy the crib/furniture could be used to start an IRA or something.
First, we learned about cribs: wood/plastic, intergrated/visible parts, converts to a bed, doesn't convert to a bed... Then, dressers etc...The one thing that was consistent in all of this was that the costs seemed outrageous. Now, obviously, we're not going to go buy a rent-a-wreck crib for our child. All I'm saying is that this kid is going to urinate, defecate and vomit all over whatever we get it - does it really have to be that expensive?
Once we had an idea of what we were looking at, we went to "Lazar's," which was recommended to us by members of our family. If I thought $400 for a crib was insane initially, it looked like a coupon clipping bargain when I walked into this place. $875 - 1600. FOR BABY CRIBS.
WTF. Honestly.
To make a happy ending out of all of this, our grandparents hinted that if we registered for what we needed at Lazar's, they'd buy it for us. I never thought they were serious, but they bought us everything we registered for. On the one hand I'm ecstatic, on the other hand the money used to buy the crib/furniture could be used to start an IRA or something.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
It has begun
That's right, our first major parental decision. And this is a big one. Whether boy or girl, no matter... it shall be a Cubs Fan.
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