[audio http://www.adaptationtech.com/music_files/03%20Blood.mp3]

The Middle East – Blood

Sorry if the title of this one loses some of you, but if you grew up in the “Road Trip” movie generation, you’ll understand this one pretty well.  With the baby’s grand entrance only 2 months away we decided to take a little “babymoon”, which is another new concept that I was not aware of until my boss threw that word at me 6 months ago.  To be honest the first thing that came to mind was a baby mooning me  out a station wagon window, but that farthest from the truth.  This was a trip for my wife and myself to get away, see a show or two, eat some good food and enjoy our last trip as just the two of us for quite a while.  You’re probably asking, “Why Austin?”, and it’a pretty simple answer.  Being the ever so picky musical fan that I am, I have somehow always been able to dodge seeing the show Wicked.  When we were looking for places to go with our Half Off Southwest Airlines deal, she immediately looked for locations where the show was playing.  Since we had missed our last opportunity to travel to the metropolitan mecca of Peoria, IL, we found that the show was only in two places, Austin and back on Broadway.  Now this is usually the time of year when a trip to NYC to see some of our favorite Irish folks, as well as stuff ourselves silly with 30 course tasting menus, this time the threat of bad weather and extended walking trips in the cold made us look at Austin with it’s proximity to the southern hemisphere.  So after my generous father in law covered the cost of the hotel with his bajillion Hilton Honors points, we were off to the land of big steaks and eclectic music for a long weekend.

Now I’m about to try and knock on my desk while typing this next line, but for the first time in our vacation history, our travels went flawlessly.  No delays, quick flights, and best yet, enough time for a shoe shine.  As my father said, one of the great things a man can enjoy in life is a good shoe shine every once and a while, and boy did I enjoy.  We got in the first night and after pulling a lazy card and just eating in the hotel with some big haired ladies and a ridiculously friendly bar tender, we began our trip with a nice sleep in leading up to a leisurely walk to SoCo shopping.  For those of you not familiar with Austin, SoCo is the land of “interesting” shops and tex mex.  As seen in the picture below, even their signs are eclectic.  

To be honest, we could have put a pretty big dent in the wallet at all the stores if we really wanted to, but we restrained ourselves in hope that we can return one day with a fortune in tow and buy those hippies out of everything they have.  We spent the day enjoying Yelp reviewed restaurants and still had time to fit in an afternoon nap before heading to Wicked.  All I can say is that our little bun in the oven was eating well to say the least.

We saw the show, shared a cab with some new grandparents who we befriended waiting around for any sign of public transportation, and again were in bed before 11 pm.  If we had any goals in this trip, it was to sleep more, and believe me, it wasn’t hard to accomplish.   Just two days into the trip and we were already exhausted from all the napping and eating, and with no scheduled events, we were well into our routine and ready to see what else Austin had to offer, queue Whole Foods Day.

I’ll stop at this point in order to have enough room for my raving review on the Alamo Drafthouse, Uchi and some of the other great shopping that we did.  I’ll even end with an artsy picture that we took for the Baby room.  We may couple it with the one from above in a montage de silly, but that will just have to come in future posts.

[audio http://www.adaptationtech.com/music_files/02%20Livin%27%20Thing.mp3]

Electric Light Orchestra – Livin’ Thing

So I actually wrote this quite a while ago, but wanted to wait a couple of weeks in an attempt to make sure that the Pregnant prey had time to tell others so that if for some reason, people put 2 and 2 together, I wasn’t going to be blamed for letting the cat out of the bag.

So a few weeks back, my mother called me to say how happy she was that my wife’s friend (who also happens to be the daughter of one of my mom’s good friends), was now pregnant.  Now at this point she hadn’t told any of her friends, so when I mention this to my wife nonchalantly, I get a loud scream of “I KNEW IT, I’m like the pregnancy hunter.”  The funny part is that after a few chance encounters with said friend for different reasons the previous month, and after a claim of some “no drinking in January story” for her and her husband, my wife the pregnancy hunter was assuming that she was just pregnant and not telling people.  She was so convinced that she was going to try and trap her into some drinking strategy or try and get it out of her husband through me.  Now I’m not saying that it’s because her hormones are crazy, or that she works with babies all day already and just knows what pregnant women act like, but I have to say I’m impressed.  Apparently this is not her first correct guess, and while looking back at our attempts to hide our pregnancy until we were far enough along we realized that sometimes it’s not easy.  Maybe it’s the way you look like you’re not feeling very well, or your last minute excuse why you can’t go out and get a drink with friends.  Maybe it’s your “attempt to loose some weight” conversations as to why you’re not drinking during the week or your sudden interest in home cooking or seeing your family.  Either way, she’ll figure it out, and just wait for the call when she says “I KNEW IT!”  Either way, I just think that she’s been looking for friends in the non drinking club to join her for some mocktails and sober driving adventures.

So women beware, if you’re trying to hide your little miracle from your friends and family, steer clear of my wife…..or she will break you (in a Dolph Lundgren voice).  Speaking of Dolph Lundgren:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGFJ-I9eSkc]

[audio http://www.adaptationtech.com/music_files/08%20Winter%20Song.mp3]

The Head and the Heart – Winter Song

After what totaled 5 Christmas centric parties, we finally made it to New Years, in what I call the “we’re just trying to stay up until Midnight” effort. This years event planning came with a little help from another pregnant couple to keep us company.  The thought of a 6 month pregnant chick in a club after overpaying for some crappy appetizers just didn’t seem like the best use of resources.  So what do you  do when only half a party can drink?  I’ll tell you what you do, you make a crap ton of food and spend the money that you were going to throw at an ill staffed all you drink event on some King Crab and Filet.  That way your ladies get to eat, and you feel slightly less intimidated by the fact that you’re still going to drink as much as you normally would.  I mean wine not? (that one was for a friend, he knows who he is).   So thanks to some great friends, great cooking (on my part), and Ryan Secerest, we were able to still see Midnight and get home to get a few hours of sleep for my CSN wife who had to work the next day.

In hopes that you don’t think that I’m now just a raving alcoholic, I will also include a few details as to how we spent the rest of our holiday time off…….SICK as dogs.  The week between Christmas and New Years we both had the attack of the stomach monster, as well as a pesky cold that somehow crept in while we were already sick with other symptoms.  My wife also had the experience of something like 5 tests all within a couple of days.  Fetal MRI’s, Echo Cardiograms (misspelled I’m sure), and then the ever so fun “drink this orange flavored sugary crap to see if you’re diabetic”  test.  The good news is that all is looking ok, and while that stupid mass of cells (that I’m going to continue to criticize throughout this blog) isn’t getting any bigger than her lungs are, we are still going to have to keep watch every couple of weeks like we thought.  So to wrap up an otherwise exhausting holiday sprint, we got to at least get a little bit of good news.  I wouldn’t say that it’s great news, but you gotta take what you can get.

With just 14 weeks left at the point these events took place, you’ve got to be asking “Hey Dad, when you are going to get that room painted?”  and “When are those great showers going to kick in?”, and “Hey, I really want to hear your uncomfortable experience with birthing classes.”  Oh you just wait folks.  Within the last two weeks we’ve loaded our calendars and already started with the efforts around the construction of her majesty’s castle.  You can look forward to another post about the ever growing pile of stuff to do in preparation for this little one later tonight.  Until then, enjoy some easy listening and I hope that you’re not watching too much football.  Also, apparently this is her first Rachel Zoe outfit whatever that means. I’m only posting it to try and vent now before I actually have to dress my child in something like this per her mother’s request.  The first time I hear “Put her in that cute furry vest thing with the sparkly pants…”, I’m calling on each and every one of you subscribers to remind me that yes I am a man, and no, you don’t have to know what shoes go well with this outfit.

[audio http://www.adaptationtech.com/music_files/12%20Cold%20December%20Night.mp3]

Michael Buble – Cold December Night

I feel like the majority of this blog will be me apologizing for not keeping it up to date, but if you know me, you know that “Sorry, Sorry, Sorry” isn’t anything new to spurt out of my mouth.  That being said, I’ve broken up a couple of weeks into a couple of posts, as there is always plenty to go around.

This is Holidays Part One to lay out the cornucopia of Christmas events that I have to say are quite interesting in the fact that while there is no child yet out of the womb, the quantity of gifts she received are more than my wife and I got added together.  Part two will mainly be New Years fun, along with a little planning for the new year.

So for a couple with two 6+ kid families, the idea of just ONE Christmas celebration is completely out the door.  We have one Adult Christmas on my side, as well as Christmas Eve.  On my wife’s side, we then have one family Christmas a couple of weeks ahead, then Christmas Eve, then Christmas Day.  Count ’em people, that’s 5 events full of food, drinks, and presents.  And with the addition of a Murder Mystery theme and enough alcohol to run a Buick cross country, let’s just say that Dad has been using the designated driver card a little more heavily than in the previous months.

That being said, while I know that my wife has appreciated the additional variety in food intake, her patience with my ability to keep up “like an Irishman” will definitely be repaid 10 fold in diaper changing, late night feedings, and other such nonsense that I don’t even understand yet.  

As for my little girls part in all of this, she had the excitement of getting 4 car loads worth of gifts for no so sober Dad to pile into the car each night, as well as some of the most feminine gift items a little princess could want.  Tutu Dresses, pink blankets, and bows galore.  She even received both the Playskool Inn @ Bethlehem and Nativity scene.  Now, I’m Catholic, and while I appreciate the gift from my parents, I have yet to understand the need for the Inn @ Bethlehem?  I mean, Mary and Joseph spent all of 15 seconds there, and somehow they receive their own Playskool set for it?  While I still am trying to figure it out, we’ve packed it away with the Christmas decor, along with the small wooden and cotton ball nativity set that we had already, that for some reason my dog tried to eat this year.  Apparently the stick manger and baby Jesus looked at her funny one day and she took it upon her self to set the record straight as to how many babies she was going to allow in this house.

All in all though it turned out to be a successful holiday season for these upcoming parents.  Mom got a Kate Spade diaper bag, and Dad his very own Grill light so that he can cook in the dark without wearing a less than flattering head lamp.  There were a few other smaller gifts in there from Santa or from Baby Girl Denny, and with the help of our over generous families, her first experience with Christmas was a good one.

Sorry that you had to hear one more Christmas song so late into January, but if you share the same man crush on Michael Buble that I do, you won’t care.  Just pretend that he’s singing “Cold January Night”, as it is freezing here in St. Louis anyway.

[audio http://www.adaptationtech.com/music_files/12%20World%20Watching.mp3]

Good Old War – World Watching

Today was meeting number 3 with the good old folks at the FCI (Fetal Care Institute) to check up on baby “girl” D.  When your wife just gets to walk downstairs from her “office” for an appointment, I have to say I’m a fan.  But when they call and say come in earlier, and it’s already early for you to get up and drive your ass down there before your work day starts…not so much a fan.   But hey, the appointment was quick, the people are awesome…..and they have free soda.

So now that I sound like a 12 year old, I think I’ll update you peeps that everything is looking good.  No growth from that little cyst of stress, and while taking a closer look, we were complimented on the “perfect 4 chamber heart” that our little princess is working.  And I quote : “It could be in a textbook.”  Yep, that’s my kid kicking ass at life before she’s even out yet.  It’s like getting an “A” on your driving test before even getting into the car, or getting your paycheck before you show up for your set at the Funny Bone opening for Jim Gaffigan.  Yeah, so maybe his rants about bacon are funnier than your comparisons of baby development to loosely related experiences in a normal life, but hey, we gotta take what we can.

Not really sure where that one was going, but all in all a healthier baby makes a little healthier baby daddy, at least in the sleep department. OH SHIT, I almost forgot to tell you that I got to feel a kick last night.  Yes, this required an extended period of time in which I had to awkwardly move my hand around my wife’s ever growing (yet adorable) belly, but I finally got a couple after talking a little to her.  Yes, the content of the conversation wasn’t exactly what I’d call memorable, but hey, at least she can hear me and now knows how I feel about boys she’s dating staying the night (I’m against it).  It may have even been her first kicking and screaming temper tantrum about the subject, but I guess we’ll never know.

Just to assure everyone, as my wife said “do you want these ultrasound pics for today’s blog entry,” I promptly said no way Jose, as there will not be anymore of those popping their 3D head around here.  I did want to also comment on the fact that while some are getting sick of Good Old War being a majority of the soundtrack of the blog lately, you’re just going to have to deal with it for a few more songs.  They are just too good and their songs just fit in too well.  Be sure to listen when you can, this one fits the fact that we’re seeing this kid more in the last few weeks than we did in the first 4 months.

Alrighty folks, for now I’m off to finish up the last few hours of work before the holiday with a training session for Hawaiians.  Aloha, Melikileke Maca and all that jazz, and we’ll talk to you all on or after the Christmas Break.  Go get your Santa on and be sure not to forget the cookies.  Happy Holidays.

(music at the bottom of the post, read parts 1 -3 first….cheaters)

So after our first few ultrasounds with the new doctors, and a very comforting (yes, guys can be comforted) first meeting with some of the best specialists in the business, we’re doing a lot better.  By “we’re doing a lot better”, I’m mainly referring to my ability to talk about these things without putting on my serious deep voice.  My wife and I are getting more excited as each day brings more “partying” in her belly, and a better realization that hey, we’re over 23 weeks in.  Yes, we’re on the downhill friends.  We’re going to get so many pictures along the way, and now that we know it’s a …. almost told you again, shoot.  What I was trying to say is that now with a lot more information and a better watch on our little one, we’re getting more excited day to day and put a face to our expectations.  We’ve got a month full of holidays, a new year full of possibilities, and a great group of pregnant friends to keep us motivated.

Ah screw it……it’s a little girl.  It’s my little girl in there and I couldn’t be happier.  Sure, she may have a life full of OCD Dad antics, along with dealing with my new interest in intimidating potential boyfriends, but she’ll have the best support that parents can give her.  Also, I was reminded again by my wife that girl babies develop faster than boys, especially in the lung areas, so that should help whatever things we run into.    Also, I was right for once.  My wife might as well had bought a little SLUH (St. Louis thing) t-shirt for what she was expecting, but I win this round.  Our little princess will be the first girl grandchild on my wife’s side, and will be helping even the score on my family’s side with 7 girls and 10 boys (hey, we’re Irish).   She’s going to walk into a world of pink bows, tutu’s and what I imagine will be a second savings account for a wedding.  With all the stress of the CCAM in our minds, it’s great to finally be able to call “it” a “she”, and when talking to the doctors, avoid references such as “peanut” and “your babe”.  Now, if she will just be a little more cooperative on Ultrasounds and stop laying sideways all the time, we might be able to get a few additional pictures.  I’ve put in a few of the creepy 3D ones below just to prove to you folks that she DOESN’T have a huge head like my sister in law keeps saying, and that we’re going to keep a watchful eye as much as we can.

Sorry for those of you that thought this wasn’t going to have any of the crazy ultrasound pictures, I feel like I’ve let you down.  But with so many to chose from, I had to put a few up. I promise two things from here on out to you my 7 fan blog community : 1.) No more ultrasound pics, 2.) Weekly updates if not more than that.

So now that you’ve gotten through 4 parts, I’ll let you go until later this week.  I promise to bring more laughs and strange observations, just remember, we still have baby showers to get through.  Thanks for you patience fans, we’ll keep you updated.

[audio http://www.adaptationtech.com/music_files/03%20These%20Girls.mp3]

Ryan Adams – These Girls

[audio http://www.adaptationtech.com/music_files/Calling%20Me%20Names%20%28Single%29.mp3]

Good Old War – Calling Me Names

So as you read in the last entry, we had a ton of bricks, then a piano, then maybe a balloon full of paint  fall on top of us at what was supposed to be one of the more exciting parts of our pregnancy.   So what does it all mean?  Well, it means our baby is going to have to get used to photo sessions every other week, as well as a few additional trips for Mom and Dad topped with a little more stress then we were already feeling.

The one scary thing that my wife didn’t put in the email that even I as a man (a manly man that gave my woman a child) was really afraid of, was the fact that if this thing in my baby’s chest did continue to grow, that there was a chance that the baby’s symptoms could start to transfer to mom.  Yes, this whole thing could just disappear and not be a big deal, but if it continues to grow, I need to watch my wife to see if she’s looking any different.  Now I’m not sure if you’ve hung out with pregnant women before, but it’s pretty damn difficult to know what changes are normal and what ones may not be normal.  That being said, with the next few weeks being extremely critical to the baby’s growth, it is also the riskiest time for this thing to grow and become a problem.  So what do the doctor’s prescribe?  Sit and wait.  Then we check it again. Sit and wait. Then we do some other tests that sound like they are from the movie Ghostbusters (Ecco What?).  Sit and wait.  All this time we have to still be excited about my wife’s GROWING BELLY, and hope that not everything is growing quite as much.

The good news, especially for my wife and I’ll let you guess why, is that the baby is healthy everywhere else and is only in the 50th percentile on size for babies at this age.  50% is healthy, but not TOO healthy if you know what I mean.  I on the other hand may or may not be in the 110th percentile and counting, wondering if the upcoming holidays will reek more havoc on me or my wife when it comes to the need for maternity pants.  I know that I’m joking a lot about this, but to be completely honest, that is the only way to curb my impatience.  Also, after Part Two and trying not to freak out again reading my wife’s email, this is the way that I feel I can best help this little bundle of joy….by being positive.  So the song is a new release, not even available for purchase.  I think that it’s helping me focus on a more important topic, what name am I going to give to this little one to avoid too much ridicule and torture from annoying rhyming and nicknames.  I’m not expecting he or she to be someone that has to worry about this, personally because I was awesome as a kid, but because this is my one fear in life…..that my kid has a name that rhymes worse than my wife and I.  The path of Andy and Mandi and Candy and Sandy or Randy or any other delineation should probably stop sooner rather than later.  I love my wife and I and our ability of people we meet to remember our names before their own relatives, but I don’t want my kid to have to worry about it at PTA meetings.

“Oh, your parents are Mandi and Andy and you’re name is Dandy? How cute…”

So that being said, we are on the hunt for awesome names.  Now you’re probably saying, “Hey, I thought you said in the last email that you were going to find out the sex of the baby, so names should at least be a little easier, right?” Well this is true, but even thought you’ll be able to find out the sex of our little dickens, we are still WAY up in the air about names, it’s really hard to come up with baby names for a……….oh, almost gotcha there.  I guess you’ll just have to read on to find out more.

[audio http://www.adaptationtech.com/music_files/05%20Sweet%20and%20Low%20%28Acoustic%20Version%29.mp3]

Augustana – Sweet and Low (Acoustic Version)

While this second part should be more about my own opinion on the situation, I felt like an email my wife had sent out to close family and friends would be a bit more appropriate, and most of the words would be spelled correctly in medical terms.  I’ll wait for Part 3 to put in my two cents, but below should best explain what we found, and what we weren’t expecting:

[audio http://www.adaptationtech.com/music_files/03%20Head%20Full%20Of%20Doubt_Road%20Full%20Of%20Promise.mp3]

The Avett Brothers – Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promises

So you’re probably reading this saying to yourself, “Hey Andy, is this a blog, or a failed attempt at a novel that you’ll never finish?”  It’s been 4 weeks since my last entry, and to be honest, it’s been the most content filled 4 weeks that we’ve had yet in the pregnancy, some good, some bad.  I’ve dedicated the next 4 posts, all that you’ll be getting right now, to what I’m calling our baby’s “Mid Life Crisis”, starting with it’s half way through pregnancy appt. on November 29th.  So at 20 weeks, we went in as eager young parents, and maybe came out a few years older.  So enjoy the next few entries with a big surprise at the end.  I recommend reading these on a computer or device that can play flash, and be sure to listen to the songs while reading through, they mean a lot to us and are helping me through this whole process.

Part One : 20 weeks and counting….

My wife and I went into the lady doctor yet again in eager anticipation to finally see something more than a gummy bear or other small fruit that they had been describing in all of the baby books/apps, thoroughly convinced that there would be another food that would become unappetizing very quickly. The main difference this time is that we had the standard 20 week ultrasound first, and then a visit with the doc in what I now refer to as “the uncomfortable room”.  The best part about the uncomfortable room is that you get to first start in the “low light creepy room” other known as ultrasound central, in which your wife gets to lay down and shoot sound waves into your unborn child.  While I could pontificate as to the strangeness that one feels seeing a picture of a child coming from a jelly covered belly, I will just say this…..it’s weird.  The Ultrasound tech sits there talking to your baby, trying their damnedest not to let on what sex it is, while at the same time talking to you like they actually give a crap what they are looking at.  Now, I’m not saying that Ultrasound techs are insensitive, and believe me when I say that I highly respect their ability to decipher body parts in what looks to me like a small intestine, but I highly doubt that after 8 babies a day that they really care about what you are seeing is your first child.  I would relate it like this.  I like computers.  I like Apple computers, and I like showing people what they can do with their Apple computers with day to day life.  But I can honestly say that when showing someone how to use iPhoto, after practice editing the first five photos and telling me about the date and time that they took them, I’m pretty much done and ready to send you to online tutorials.

So that being said, we also found out that our baby, like it’s mom and dad, LOVES to lay down.  And unfortunately, lay down stubbornly making it very difficult to get all the measurements and make sure all the organs and such are in place.  Ah, it’s as stubborn as it’s mother, and from the first few pictures,  has the forehead of it’s father.  This also lead my wife to now be almost 100% committed that it was a boy, or as her sister put it, a really “butch girl”.  We didn’t get the freaky 3D pictures, but did get a couple of foot and profile shots after working tirelessly to turn this baby around.  Without going through any of the results, we then wiped off the belly goo, and headed into the room that modern radio forgot to await our hopefully short recap and update from the doctor lady, who is also a lady doctor.  The kid was moving, all the normal parts were there, so we were hoping to walk out happy parents ready to start picking wall colors and moving forward with weight gain (mainly from me).  The next part is where I guess you’d say the reality of a pregnancy set in…..that brings us to part two.

Pics from the first Ultrasound, arm is at the top of the picture with a fist in the air ready to party: