Archives For April 2006

No news, yet..

4.21.2006 — 5 Comments

Contractions continue to disrupt my wife’s life. (and mine when she grunts)

Doctor’s visit this morning gave us the same 1 centimeter, 70% effacement news.

The visit ALSO gave us the news, however, that Jess is no longer able to go back to school to work.

This, of course, saddens her.

We are thankful, though, that since she has been “taking it easier” here at home, she has lost 4 pounds due to the intense swelling that is now mostly gone.

We are anticipating the hospital-run anytime!

Nesting (v.)

4.20.2006 — 4 Comments

Nesting (v.) nes-ting
1. My wife continuing to put things away.
2. My wife cutting coupons for the first time in our married life (for diapers!)
3. My wife baking 2 batches of chocolate-chip cookies.
4. My wife walking back and forth in and from the baby’s room.
5. My wife washing all of the dishes and complaining about the cups that I washed and didn’t stack correctly to allow “optimal drying”.

No baby yet. No water breakage. No hospital run. Just pain – every 10-minutes or so.

If I had abs as hard as my wife’s tummy right now, I would be ab-alicious.

Do you think dads “nest” before a baby?

I spent 6-hours outside today. 5.5 of those hours were spent working on our soon-to-be garden. I tilled, I pounded on some of the biggest roots in North America with my new axe – I even picked out numerous “baby roots” with my hands to make the dirt look better! (dirt look better?)

Jess DID NOT go to school this morning – a good sign that baby is near, I think.

She got her blood-test results (they took her blood on Tuesday) and everything is normal. However, since she has been having constant contractions, the Doctor wants to see her tomorrow morning. We’ll be there at 8:30AM.

One last thing –

Timing contractions – definitely one of those things that seemed easier in movies and on paper than it has been in real-life.

Tonight we timed three contractions in a row.

9:30PM – 9:40PM – 10:00PM

I think I will sleep with one eye open (and with my rainsuit on!) tonight.

Jess is doing absolutely amazing. She is able to talk to me throughout the contractions and gives me the play-by-play about where she’s feeling the pain.

Tomorrow’s plan (if there is no baby birthing…) – get up “early-ish” and get out to the freshly tilled garden. I purchased an axe tonight at Lowe’s and am ready to swing and remove those pesky roots from our yard. Once the roots are clear, I will continue to till until we’ve got a garden full of loose dirt!

Tilling the Garden - Day 1
note the “intense” facial expression

Tilling the Garden - Day 1
Finally got through the whole plot in about 2-hours – now if I can just go back through with an axe and clean out the HUGE roots!

Tilling the Garden - Day 1
quite possibly the whitest legs in Warsaw (or maybe even Indiana!)

Tilling the Garden - Day 1
there is something terribly wrong with wearing work boots and shorts (not to mention white socks), but who cares, right?! Right.

Softball Game #1 – We won.

Baby Update

4.18.2006 — 10 Comments

Jess is 1-centimeter dilated and 70% efaced.

She experienced yet another mild contraction during the sonogram and the doctor said that if she doesn’t go into hard labor tomorrow or Thursday that she needs to come in on Friday for a blood pressure check.

She is experiencing some pretty incredible swelling in her legs and feet these days and has a pretty bad pain through her back, too.

Continue to pray for baby and mother (and Dad!).

We’re excited and waiting for water-breakage!

I’m off to a softball game (first of the season). I tilled through the entire garden this afternoon and found atleast two large roots that will need to be hacked through with an axe. Anyone got an axe I could borrow?