Doctor Appointment

Well I went to the doctor today for my normal 4 week check up. Overall it was a good visit Chris sat this one out and my mom came with me. I have been worried that I have not been eating enough for the baby but my doctor said that I am doing good and my weight is doing good. She said that I am at a good weight right now which made me feel much better.

We also got to hear the baby's heartbeat again for me and for the first time for my mom. It was really exciting seeing my mom's reaction when she heard her grand baby's heartbeat for the first time. It was a good heartbeat it was a bit slower this time around it was only 132 beats per minute instead of 181.

I also asked my doctor about Diet Pepsi to see if it is ok to drink and to my happy surprise she said that it is ok as long as it is in moderation which works for me.

All in all everything is going good with the baby and with the mommy and I think with the daddy but who knows about him. More to come as the days fly by.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Ten-year renunion

I was thinking a bit about my ten-year high school reunion last night while I was running. I really don't know when it is, and have never really been all that excited about going back to it. But the more I thought about it, there is probably quite a few people that I went to school with that I would be interested to see nowadays. There is no doubt I still wouldn't want to face it alone...I doubt I will go unless I can convince a few other close friends to attend as well...but it still would be interesting to say the least.

The reason I bring it up is because as I was contemplating how many people I would actually want to see (names like Keith Marsolo, Tim Wolfe and Shannon Flaherty came to mind, amongst others) I thought about what they might be up to these days, and I began to wonder how many of them are probably going through the same thing as Heidi and I right now. Maybe not right this second, but really I just got to wondering how many people were having kids and have already had kids.

I know it's not like we're young anymore, so there's probably plenty out there, but it was just kinda fun to sit back and think about people who you could have never imagined even getting through high school, actually growing up and getting a job and a family. I think it might have all been brought on by a recent message from an old friend of mine who was one of the craziest people I ever knew and now has a couple of kids and seems to be really embracing fatherhood.

Seriously, it's kinda encouraging to think that if Curt Grether can be a good dad, then why the hell can't I?

Chris

I think I want a Japanese baby

Lately, everyone is always asking me whether I want a boy or a girl. It's a hard question, but I think I've finally found an answer. From now on when someone asks me, I'm just going to reply "I don't care, as long as it's Japanese."

I will go into detail on why I'd much prefer one of the cute little dark-haired Japanese babies, then the surely odd looking child Heidi and I will produce. If necessary I will break out the wallet-sized examples I have provided below as proof of why these children are much cuter and more fun than normal babies (just look at the one with rice all over him, he's having a BLAST!)







My hope is that by this point the asker of the question will either run away, thinking I am insane, or be so intrigued by my answer that we continue down a long path of conversation that includes further questions such as:

• "It is possible for two white Americans to have a Japanese baby?"
  
• "Do you plan to go to Japan and kidnap/save one, Madonna-style?"
• "What is the financial cost analysis of raising a Japanese baby vs. and American baby?"
• "What are the long-term rammifications of having a Japanese baby? (i.e. Do you still prefer Japanese teenagers over white teenagers?)"

Either way, I win. Awkward question avoided. Problem solved.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that I have no idea which sex is better, and it kinda annoys me that people think that I would prefer one over the other...either way it is going to be my first (and probably, only) child and I will love it. I refuse to be one of those people who goes out and has like 6 extra kids because they weren't happy with the first five being girls...

And seriously, you have to admit those Japanese babies are cute, right?

Chris

Maternity shopping

My God, I had no idea maternity shopping was going to be so hard. I usually have a pretty good time trying to find things I think Heidi will look good in. I will generally go out and buy things that are much more stylish than what she would pick out for herself (what can I say, I'm an artist...I have good taste), but when it comes to maternity stuff it's a whole different game.

I could go into much more detail about why the guessing game that is shopping for maternity wear is so confusing, but I'm sure I would end up giving away too much. Yes, I know I've already giving away the secret that I've been buying maternity clothes, but really this was all she asked for for Christmas. I'm pretty sure the secret was already out.

Still, just in case you are interested, here's a site I came across in my maternity wear research. And no, Heidi, it's not one of the sites I bought from.

...or is it?

BeHereSoon.com

What to Expect When Expecting

Well I have been doing a lot of research on what to expect while I am pregnant and it is all pretty overwhelming and great at the same time. I have been reading What to Expect When You're Expecting which a very helpful book for the first time mom. It is filled with a lot of helpful information on what to expect during each trimester and what sort of questions that you should have for your doctor.

I did not realize how much you had to watch what you eat it is crazy all the rules that you have to follow now that you are eating for two. My hardest thing that I had to give up during pregnancy is Diet Pepsi which I used to drink like it was water. The reason that I had to give it up is because there is aspartame in it. I am going to ask my OB at my next appointment if it is ok to have in moderation because I am feening for an occasional Diet Pepsi but if my OB says it is not good than I won't risk it.

Another thing that I did not realize that if you are pregnant you should be cautious when eating lunch meat and hot dogs because of a bacteria that is in these. I now need to make sure that if I eat lunch meat that it is heated up first which is just as good to me.

The only thing that I am really worried about is that I am not eating healthy enough or eating enough food to help my baby grow and be as healthy as possible. I pretty much eat a little bit of something when I am hungry but who knows if it is enough.

Well I will keep ya updated on any weird cravings that I may encounter at this point the only thing that I really crave is Mac & Cheese I could eat it ever day if Chris would let me. I am still learning what to expect while I am pregnant and it is fun and crazy all at the same time. There will be more to come about what I learn about my pregnancy as I go along.

I held a baby today...

It was scary. We went to my work's Christmas party this evening and had a really great time, but the evening ended on a strange note.



Heidi was talking to one of my co-workers, Rebecca who just had a baby recently and she was holding the baby, talking about the baby, etc. Apparently she said something about how I will never hold a baby, because although I wasn't really paying attention, next thing I know there was a baby being thrust into my arms.

Rebecca, who is kinda a blunt type of person, said the best way to do it was to just thrust the child upon me and make me deal with it. It was a little startling, but somehow I managed to not drop it and she didn't even cry. Sure, this baby was unbelievably calm and I'm sure mine will not be the same way, but still I guess it was nice to know that I didn't break it.

To be honest, it wasn't bad at all, but I still think that I'm gonna have a tough time dealing with it, simply for the fact that I'm too impatient. Every time I try to hold a living creature, my ADD kicks in and I just get the urge to move around and re-situate myself. I do the same thing with my cats.

I guess it's just one of the hundreds of things I'm gonna have to get used to.
Chris

Gender anyone?

Hey there again I thought that I would give ya another quick up-date. This entire pregnancy ok the whole 13 weeks of it I thought I knew what I was having.

I had this overwhelming feeling that I was having a boy. Even before I knew I was pregnant I had a dream and I had a boy. Mother's intuition is always right so they say. Well now my feeling has changed I have thought the last couple of days that I am having a girl.

Well either way Chris and I don't have a preference of a boy or girl. We just want a happy and healthy little one.



Heidi

Baby T-shirts

In this town of beachwear stores and bad novelty shops I am constantly bombarded by t-shirts with stupid sayings on them 99% of which annoy the hell out of me. I'm talking about such gems as "You say DIVA like it's a bad thing" and "I support single moms" and about 10,000 of the most white trash sayings you could imagine.

When you combine these bad sayings with overwrought graphics of large flames, half-naked women from 1987, fast cars with big engines, snakes, dragons, tigers, unicorns, tribal designs, american flags, eagles, and skulls they make for the most gaudy examples of what is wrong with America today. I honestly hate these shirts so much that I believe my version of hell would include slaving away behind a computer coming up with designs for these pieces of crap.

Sure, I've owned my fair share of dumb shirts in my life. Among the worst of them are a "booty call warning" shirt and a handmade shirt that reads "I am the smartest man alive" which I used to wear to tests in college. But yet, my decision to wear these monstrosities was my own. They weren't forced upon me by my parents like so many of the poor babies I see being hauled around wearing "I'm a boob man!" t-shirts.

I've seen so many of these goofy things that I have been telling Heidi that I am dead set on not doing the same thing to our child when it is born.

*cue hypocrisy bell*

Today I found a site with some baby clothes I can finally relate to. Instead of cliche's like "I'm mommy's favorite" they offer more tech-saavy options such as these geek favorites:




Sure they are stupid, but since I'm 90% sure my baby will grow up to be a nerd I figure it's never too early to label him or her with obscure references that people will think I'm crazy for putting on his chest. OK, so maybe it wasn't the idea of labeling my baby that bothered me as much as the things that people label their baby with. Besides, my kid will be better than everyone else's, right?

I got a bunch more of these sites coming down the pipeline too...I found a whole plethora of web resources on raising babies for techies, so I plan on sharing them as I explore further.

Chris

Finding out...

So, a few people have started to find out my secret today, since I started linking to this site from my personal blog. For the most part everyone has been very cool and congratulatory.

Still, I'm just waiting to see how a select few of my oldest friends react to the news. I could be interesting...we'll see.

Chris

Fun Quotes

Here's a couple quotes I found today, that I thought were cute:

"A baby makes lover stronger, the days shorter, the nights longer, savings smaller and a home happier."

-Baby Love.

"A news baby is like the beginnin of all things -- wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities."

- Eda J. Le Shan

Heidi

Heidi's first update

Hey there everybody I just wanted to give you all an update on how my pregnancy is going so far. It has been an exciting journey so far and I am sure it is just going to keep getting better. I love being pregnant it is such a crazy feeling knowing that there is a little one growing inside of me.

I was a little surprised to find out that we were expecting. We were actually pregnant in August but at the end of August we had a miscarriage which was pretty hard on me. My doctor said that we should wait at least a month before we tried again so I was not expecting a positive test. I am not even sure why I took a test when I did other than I had a odd feeling like I should. I am glad that I did because it showed two pink lines. Yep, I am totally preggers!!!!!!! I showed Chris the test and decided that we needed to set up a doctor's appoint to confirm the test. I went to the OB at the beginning of October and they confirmed that yes we were pregnant and so the journey begins.

We went in for our first ultrasound at 7 weeks to confirm how far along we were and to set a due date. The first ultrasound was really neat you could hardly see anything but you could see the flutters of the heartbeat. I was just so happy to share that experience with Chris it was really amazing to see the first picture of our little baby.

So it is official my due date is June 10, 2008. It is quickly approaching I am 12 weeks already which is crazy. Well this is starting to get a little long so I think I will end with this we got to hear the heartbeat yesterday for the first time which was so great I cried but I know that the baby is going strong and is continuing to grow big and strong and I am looking forward to that next ultrasound.

And before you ask...no we are not going to find out what we are having it is going to be a surprise odd I know but that is just how we are. Well Chris and I are happy that we are able to share this happy occasion with all our family and friends and keep checking back for more updates as we go along.

Luv ya all,
Heidi & Chris

Chris's welcome

Welcome to the Mowder's baby blog. Being a (very) small-time blogger for the past few years, I have enjoyed the outlet the internet offers and decided long ago that when the time came to have a child, that it would be important to share this part of our lives online as well.

I have been putting off setting up this site until it was time to start "officially" telling people we are having a baby, but since Heidi just passed the 12-week mark...I figured it was about time to break the news. Now, I won't go and steal her thunder by giving a full introduction to what we are planning to do with this site over the next 6 months and beyond, but it should be alot of fun.

Instead, let me just share an interesting little article I came across today on the common fears expecting fathers face. According to the article the fall into 7 categories:



Seven fears expectant fathers face

1. Security fears: Fear of not being able to provide financially.
2. Performance fears: Fear of not being able to due your husbandly duties during the delivery (i.e. getting her to the hos pital, being in the delivery room without passing out)
3. Paternity fears: Fear that the child may not be yours
4. Mortality fears: Fear of your own death due to the fact having a child makes you realize you are not young anymore.
5. Fear for your spouse's or child's health
6. Relationship fears: Worries that your spouse will love the baby more than you.
7. Fears of "women's medicine": Fear of the unknown factors of the OB/GYN.

Read the full article here.

Now many of these are completely ridiculous or don't apply (paternity fears, seriously?), but there are a few that are pretty dead-on if you ask me.

Financial worries pretty much a fact of life for us, and I have to say that is and has always been my number one concern about having a child. Luckily, I have a great support system in my family and know they will always be there to help, but it always feels like a failure o have to ask anyone for help in that area. Honestly, if I had all the money in the world I would have probably had kids sooner. But I've heard from plenty of people that no matter what you are never financially ready for kids, so you just have to take it as it comes.

Fear of my own mortality has never really been something that bothers me, mostly because so many people I know have lived great, active lives into their 80s and beyond. I know the fact is that I'm closer to 30 than 20 now, but still I feel like I will be young at heart well after the birth of my child. My parents proved that is possible a long time ago.

I do really worry a bit about Heidi's health. She has had numerous issues, ranging from mundane to quite serious, in the past. Although there is nothing that is setting off any red flags to this point, it is something that I know is always in the back of her mind and therefore has to be something I think about, at least a little.

As far as our relationship goes, I think it's bound to be a little bumpy at points, but then again it always has been. We are nothing if not aware of our own flaws, but I know that all the trying things that have happen through two years of marriage have only made us stronger and I am pretty confident this will be the same way.

And finally, the worst of all. I am deathly afraid of women's medicine. Everything bit of equipment is creepy, everything has ridiculously complicated names and women act as though men shouldn't even be allowed to know anything about how any of this works. Not knowing anything about a subject is creepy enough, but compound that with the fact that at least half of everyone you know has first-hand knowledge of the process and it gets really scary. And not a one of them will hesitate to present you with their opinion on the matter as if it was fact, quoted directly from the Bible or something.

It's quite frustrating, but I guess you just have to take it all with a grain of salt, knowing that none of it will help you in the end anyway. Maybe that's my biggest fear of all: the fact that we're gonna have to figure it all out on our own. Or maybe that's the fun part...who knows.

Hello World!

Hello World!