DD minus 2 weeks

We’re now 38 weeks in, meaning Baby McCoy could make his or her appearance at any time. As a result, we’ve been working hard to get the nursery ready. (And when I say we, I mostly mean Dan—at least as far as all the physical labor goes.) These projects may explain the dearth of blogging lately (sorry to everyone who was waiting!). Mike and Judie put in a nice new ceiling fan when they were here in December. The old pink and green wallpaper is gone—thanks to a lot of help from both of our families—and replaced with a fresh coat of sunny yellow paint. (See the picture for a glimpse of the nursery in its lovely original colors!) Dan did a great job with the painting, even though the pink trim took about five coats of paint to cover.

Stripped wall paper and the first coat of paint

Kristin even got her hands (a little) dirty

After a lot of finagling, we found a good arrangement for the furniture. It’s a good thing Dan is a very patient person. (Kristin: “Hmm… I’m not sure if I like the dresser where it is—let’s try moving it over there.” Dan: “Sure sweetie, good idea!” Kristin: “Now that you’ve moved it, I realize that it looks better where it was before.” Dan: “I completely agree—just give me a minute to catch my breath and I’ll gladly move it back.”… and so on with the crib, bookcase, changing table, and chair.) Now we just need to get a few decorations for the walls, and the room will be complete. We’re actually planning to wait until after the baby is born for those last details so we can add a few personalized (and less gender-neutral) touches. After all that hard work, I’m not sure how much time baby will be spending in the room during the first month or two, but we’re glad to have everything ready just the same!

Finally ready (as we're going to be)!

Dan here - Baby McCoy is in the last few weeks of intense growth (gaining ½ pound each week!). Kristin’s really excited about that part. There is some small difference in these photos taken two weeks apart. I attribute most of that to differences in angle and lighting, though. (It’s probably safer that way.)

36 Weeks... and 38

Truthfully, we are both excited and a little nervous about the arrival. The house and nursery are ready, and we’ve taken about every class we can to prepare. The rest is on-the-job training. I think we’ll do great. I plan on riding Kristin’s coat-tails as far as I can. For now, I guess we just try to get some sleep. It won’t happen again for a while.

Childbirth Class

29 and 32 weeks (not much room in there any more!)

We just started the 33rd week of pregnancy, so to help us get ready for the (quickly approaching) birth of Baby McCoy, Dan and I took a childbirth class this past weekend. In addition to getting a tour of the birthing center and watching some videos of women in labor, we also learned quite a few techniques for (trying) to stay calm during the labor and delivery process. We did pretty well with the breathing and mental focus techniques, though we’ll see how much of it we remember on delivery day. Actually, Dan will be in charge of remembering all the details. I just have to be there and wait for the baby to arrive:)

Dan says that he is undaunted by all his responsibilities as my labor coach. Since he’s usually pretty calm in stressful situations, I’m pretty confident that he’ll do fine. (Keeping a laboring woman happy can’t be tougher than navigating Iraqi roads while watching out for IED’s and talking on the radio, right?) He did, however, say that I can’t use his exercise ball as a birthing ball, and he’s a little worried that I might squeeze his hand kind of hard during contractions. I don’t know what he’s so worried about.

In another fun discovery about the birthing process, Dan was very excited to find that his hospital bracelet makes him eligible for a free burrito at Chipotle. He assures me that I will also be well taken care of. There is a fridge stocked with Jell-O, popsicles and three flavors of broth in the birthing center (Yay!). That sounds almost as good as a burrito.

All in all, we feel much more prepared for the whole experience. Plus, the class made delivery day feel a lot closer. Now we just have to finish the nursery!

Babymoon Part 2

With just two more months until Baby McCoy makes his or her big debut, Dan and I took one last quick weekend trip away. This time, we headed to Monterey for some beach time and relaxation. It was a beautiful spring weekend at the coast, and we enjoyed the chance to read, take a nap, and eat lots of good food! Our next several weekends are going to be filled with baby preparations… thirty-one weeks down, and just about eight more to go.

Baby Shower (A Hers and His Account of Pre-Parenthood Festivities)

She said… My sister Maggie and my Aunt Sue threw me a baby shower this past weekend. It was a great chance for the women in my family and Dan’s family to get together to celebrate Baby McCoy’s approaching arrival. I was so excited to have people come in from Idaho, Missouri, and Chicago, as well as from around California. In true baby shower fashion, we ate, we played games, and we did (a lot) of talking! (Dan was happy to escape before the first game began.)

The only man brave enough to stay for the shower (cousin Julia’s baby, Liam)

Shower cake (hand-made by cousin Elida)

Thanks to everyone, the baby now has plenty of clothes to wear, a crib to sleep in, some fun toys, and a well-decorated nursery. I can’t wait to start reading him or her all our new baby books and using all our new baby gear (including some very impressive hand-made blankets and clothes!).

Already preparing to be a Domer, and the requisite dachshund gift

It was also nice to get some words of wisdom from some experienced mothers—everyone from my grandmas to Julia.

The Grandmas with the Momma-to-be, and Maggie and I

I feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends! Thanks again to everyone for making the trip. And not to worry—Dan wasn’t left out of the weekend’s activities…

He said… This past weekend was a great opportunity to spend time with family. I’m very thankful for all the people that made the trip to the Bay Area. It was especially nice to see my Mom and Aunt Marian who made a quick weekend trip from Missouri. Aunt Sue and (soon to be) Aunt Maggie put together quite an event for all the ladies. They apparently had bingo and cute crustless sandwiches. I’m not sure, because everyone that can walk (sorry Liam) and has a Y chromosome split for our own event.

The guys all went to Campo de Bocce for an afternoon of bonding and talking about our feelings. Actually, it was more along the lines of beer, (too much) great food and some BSing. I probably should have taken pictures there, because Lee started a vicious rumor that we went to Hooters instead, and now I can’t prove otherwise.

Afterward, I did get a chance to play with all the wonderful gifts that people got for Baby McCoy. I’m not sure which one of us will be more excited about the toys – the baby or me:) Thanks again to all who made the trip or sent their good wishes!

Babymooners

With the start of this week, our second trimester is now officially over. It’s hard to believe how fast six months have gone! The baby has been going through a major growth spurt lately—or at least that’s what I like to tell myself since my belly expanded a lot last week. Dan is always sweet and positive (“I think you look beautiful, sweetie!”) He’s going to be great in the delivery room! Nonetheless, I’m starting to feel very big. Some days I have to make a conscious effort not to waddle. It’s all worth it, though, when I feel the baby kick or get to hear its heartbeat.

Dan and I headed up to Yosemite this past weekend for a quick Babymoon. With work and school we knew we wouldn’t be able to take a long vacation before the baby is born, so we’re taking advantage of a couple quick weekend trips instead. Yosemite is beautiful this time of year and not nearly as crowded. There was still snow on the ground, and the waterfalls were really starting to pick up. We had a great view of Yosemite Falls right out of our hotel room window. We did a little hiking and a lot of relaxing—a perfect weekend getaway. After May, we know there won’t be any trips for awhile!

The Name Game (A Boy Named Upen)

Hi everybody! Welcome to our third blog posting and the first primarily authored by me, the dad to be. Up until now, I have been content (read: lazy) with assisting Kristin with her blogging, which has been excellent. However, with so much going on for the three of us, it seemed like a good time to make my first foray into the blogosphere.

Kristin is six months (27 weeks) along this week and second only to the popular “Do you know the sex of the baby?” (We don’t) is “So, have you two started thinking of names yet?” It turns out naming babies is quite a task, and we have made it no easier on ourselves by failing to rule out 50% of the options. Luckily for us, there are countless books on the subject. The book we purchased apparently has over 100,001 of the best baby names (I’d hate to see what didn’t make the cut). While that number of names may seem daunting, you have to realize that the vast majority are entirely unsuitable. I won’t go into detail on the ones we wouldn’t use, because I would hate to offend anyone whose taste may differ. They also give you the origin of the name and the meaning. For instance Daniel (Hebrew – God is my judge) and Kristin (English – Follower of Christ).

What is difficult is taking a name you initially like and submitting it to the rigorous testing all potential names must go through. The first of these is the spouse reaction test wherein one parent-to-be says to the other “Ooh, how about Gaylord (French – High spirited)?”, and then watches the spouse’s face for the tell-tale crinkling of the nose or furrowing of the eyebrows. This is usually followed by “Hmmm, do you like that, sweetie? We can think about it.” Dead in the water. Following this test are saying it in conjunction with the last name, seeing if the initials spell anything obscene and/or embarrassing, and shortening it into potential nicknames. If it passes all of these, it makes the list as either a first or middle name option. We would tell you what happens after that, but we haven’t yet reached that point.

The book has lots of lists that can help us name the baby based on potential jobs. For instance should we want our daughter to be a tri-athlete, we could name her Emma (German – A universal woman). This would also prepare her for a career as a gardener, lawyer or philosopher. There are names from various regions of the world, too. We are fond of Canadian names and also have a soft spot for Irish and Scottish names. Adventurous, we know.
At this point, we will probably have a couple options ready for each gender at delivery. Once we see the baby, we can see which fits. Right now, if it’s a boy, I’m pulling for Upen (Hindi – Indra’s younger brother) as the first name. Middle name – Adam. Yes, I do like that, Sweetie :-)

Stretchy Pants

We’re about five months in now—25 weeks, to be exact—and I’m getting bigger every day (Kristin, not Dan!). I had to get a new wardrobe, complete with stretchy pants to fit my every-stretching belly. On the up side, there are some very cute maternity fashions right now, and I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to start wearing some of my dresses. (A side note for all those readers living in colder climates—yes, it is in the 60’s and occasionally even the 70’s here in California now that it’s February, but since we’re kind of wimpy here, I’m still finding it a little too chilly to wear my spring and summer dresses!) Another plus—stretchy pants are very comfortable, and you can’t tell that they go up past my belly button as long as I avoid the midriff-baring shirts. Dan has been a good sport about all the shopping trips!

The belly at (left to right) at 14, 20, and 25 weeks

I’m still feeling really good—so much better than a couple months ago! It’s nice to have energy again. Dan is back at school for the spring semester, so our lives continue to be very busy. We’re making good progress on our house projects—the wallpaper is gone, the washer and dryer are installed, most of the curtains are hung. We still have quite a list of things to go, but we’ll get there eventually! We’ll put some house pictures up soon.