It's time!

Hey everyone, we are here at the hospital, waiting for baby Miles. Heidi's water broke about 6:30 p.m. this evening to everyone's suprise. Luckily she was at her parents' house waiting to come meet me for dinner, so she had the whole family there to drive her to the hospital to get checked out.

Checking into the ER was a little hectic with all the bikers and paperwork, but everything after that has been pretty calm. Of course, the nurses predictably had a little trouble finding a vein to get her IV in, but overall things have been smooth. We've seen the doctor and they have advised us to do whatever we can to get some rest and sleep for a few hours because the real action likely won't start until the wee hours of the morning.

I'm pretty tired after staying up late last night for work, but something tells me with the rush I have going now it's gonna be tough to get any sleep. Instead I will likely be up all night...

That's about it for now. If you want to check in on how things are going, pop on over to www.twitter.com/mowder and see how everything is going.

Dr. Appointment today

Well I went to the doctor today for my wonderful weekly check-up. First off I lost 4 pounds since my last appointment last Monday which is always nice but weird. I still eat and eat so I was surprised to see a weight lose and no gain. I have officially gained 16 pounds at this point which is really good if you ask me.

Well my doctor did a wonderful pelvic exam that they do every appointment now to see how far if any that I am dilated and effaced. To my surprise I was dilated 1 cm and 80% effaced today which means I am on my way to deliver Miles sooner than later. My doctor was very pleased with these numbers she said she was surprised that I was at those numbers already with my first pregnancy. She told me to be prepared because I could go any time.

We also discussed Miles he is still a bit of a big baby. So we discussed an induction before my due date so that I do not deliver a huge baby and so that I can try to avoid a c-section. We decided on an induction date of June 3, 2008 if Miles doesn't decide to arrive before then. I am so excited I have an actual date to when I will get to meet my little monkey. I am also starting to get more nervous knowing that I am already dilated and effaced and can deliver any time now.

12 days now until Baby Miles arrives if not sooner!!!!!!!!!!!!

Updates

Ok, I know I have disappeared for like ever on here but I am a back.

First off I would like to thank everyone for all the wonderful gifts for Miles that we received at the shower and all of the diapers that my co-workers got Miles at my work shower. The baby shower was wonderful and lots of fun. I was so happy to get to spend time with my great friends and family. Once again thank you all so much.

Second I have been so busy washing baby clothes and accessory's and organizing Miles room I have hardly had time for anything else these days. I am happy to say that I only have one load of laundry left and that the room looks really good. Chris and I finished organizing it and I absolutely love the way it looks. The crib with all of the safari bedding is too adorable there will picture to come soon.

Third I finally think that I have my bag packed and ready for the hospital which is a big accomplishment for me. For those of you that know me well know how much I like to procrastinate so I am pretty proud of myself at this point. I still need to do a quick double check but I feel good about my progress. The only problem is that I couldnt decide on a take home outfit for Miles so I packed all four that I liked good thing they are small and don't take up too much room.

Finally I am sooooo ready to have this baby it is not funny. I have had a pretty easy pregnancy up until late. Now I am suffering from everything that you can imagine and some things that you can't. I have so much pressure some days I can hardly walk which makes for a great day at work. I have also started to suffer from swelling which is just gross my feet have never been so big and ugly in my life. Ankles? What are those? I know I am being a whiner but hey this been a long 9 months and I am anxious to see my little guy.

Birthing class recap

Heidi and I attended our first birthing class on Monday night at Grand Strand Hospital. It was a pretty interesting experience, but not for all the reasons I thought. I am definitely glad we went, but I can't really say I learned much. I think with this being the first of 3 classes it was meant to be more of an intro, but really it just repeated alot of what we've already been learning. Overall, it just left me feeling a little more comfortable with the whole process, but there were also plenty of uncomfortable moments as well.

To keep my mind and hands busy I decided to take some notes (mostly of the offbeat variety) about basically everything we did. Here's what I came back with:

• 7:10 p.m. - Class starts with only 3 couples. Everytime the nurse decides to begin, another couple strolls in. This ends 5 minutes and 3 couples later.
• 7:15 p.m. - Introductions. Everyone knows the sex of their baby, 4 girls vs. 2 boys.
• 7:20 p.m. - Video begins on basic anatomy, announcer refers to baby only as "him."
• 7:25 p.m. - Woman on video tells about her dreams while pregnant. "I gave birth to 5 rabbits," she says.
• 7:30 p.m - Diagram of a baby at 37 weeks. For some reason the baby has a HUGE forehead.
• 7:35 p.m. - Quote from nurse: "Labor is a messy process, we'd rather you ruin our stuff than your own."
• 7:40 p.m. - Found out laptops and cell phones are allowed in the labor room and the department has wireless internet. WOO HOO! On with liveblogging the labor.
• 7:45 p.m. - Talking about making up a birth plan
• 8:00 p.m. - Talking about Group B strep test and how it killed a bunch of babies back in the 80s. Uh oh, time for the $50 million dollar question; "How do I know when I'm in labor?"
• 8:10 p.m. - Break time. Grab snacks from the table of fruits, cheeses, and cookies, not a horrible spread really. Try to call mom for her birthday to no avail.
• 8:15 p.m. - Nurse breaking out the dialation chart. Looking at it, it's hard to believe a vagina could be as big as any of them.
• 8:20 p.m. - Video #2. Must be old, because folks are wearing big 90s hair and red parachute pants.
• 8:25 p.m. - Closeup cervix animation. That's top-notch computer animation...for 1996.
• 8:27 p.m - There's the money shot! I knew it was coming, yet it still caught me off guard. Gross...
  
• 8:30 p.m. - Nurse quote: "Relatives just love vaginal exams!" referring to people always asking to how far the mother is dilated.
• 8:35 p.m. - Don't eat China Buffet before birth, it makes for a bad combination of vomit, contractions and diarrhea.
• 8:40 p.m - Video #3. This woman is out eating soup at Boston Market and taking walks in the park while she's in labor.
• 8:45 p.m. - I've made my wardrobe choice based on what the guy in the video is wearing while his wife is in labor. SUSPENDERS it is!
• 8:50 p.m - Final Nurse Quote: "You just have to be limp like a noodle."

And there you have it. All the knowledge of a two exhilarating hours of obstetrics education packed into one blog post. I've got some more gems, but I will save those for another time.

How to Make a Baby Romper from a T Shirt - wikiHow

I don't know that either Heidi or I are crafty enough to pull this off, but it seems like a pretty fun idea. Also, there's the fact that our baby currently has more clothes than he will ever be able to wear before he grows out of them and we have to buy all new ones...well, maybe that will be my chance. Now if I could just learn to sew.

How to Make a Baby Romper from a T Shirt

Go from this...

to this!

Baby Maker

Heidi and I are planning to go see the movie "Baby Mama" this evening with the free movie passes I won at work. Personally, I would like to see "21" or "Harold & Kumar," but seeing as how I'm going to be dragging her to "Iron Man" next weekend, I figured I best oblige her request.

I went on the movie's website to check times and they had this "build your own baby" feature that I had to try. So here it is...hopefully this is just for fun, because if Miles actually comes out looking this way I may have to send him back. Or at least get him used to the paper bag he will be wearing.

Go to BABYMAMAMAKER.COM to make your own.

Check it out for yourself and make your own baby.

Baby Shower Photos

It has been a pretty quick and crazy week since the baby shower, but I just wanted to drop in an show off some of the photos. I will leave it to Heidi to give her impressions, but I just wanted to make sure and thank everyone again for a great turnout and for all the great gifts which we received. I can only share a few here, but if you are interested in seeing all the photos, check out my mom's Snapfish album.


Heidi and I with the bassinet.


The cake.


Some gifts.


Heidi opening gifts.


Heidi and some Gallipolis girls.

More Miles

Hey guys, it's been pretty hectic lately. Alot of stuff going on, getting ready for the baby shower this weekend, Heidi is SO excited! Also a bunch of work stuff and a barrage of doctor's appointments now that we are going every two weeks, plus an extra check up in there and another ultrasound last friday.

Everything went well, as expected. Miles is measuring normal in terms of his head size and the measurements they took around the waist and of the fluid surrounding him. He is now so big that they couldn't get a full body shot in the ultrasound anymore, instead they focused on showing parts of the body (leg, foot, bones, etc.). He has gotten turned back around and is now facing the correct direction to be delivered head first, so that is a good thing as well.

Here are the photos we got of his face. I have to admit that they are not the clearest of shots and you may not get it at first, but I assure you it looked really cool in person. As the technician dragged the ultrasound machine from side to side you could get some great 3D-looking views of his profile, where the nose and eyes were clearly standing out. However, whenever she would stop to take a photo you would lose the depth and he view got a little more muddled. Still I think if you look real hard you may be able to guess what is what.


Can you see the baby's face?


How about now?

Labor Predictor quiz

I just went to a cute website Justmommies.com and they have a labor predictor quiz so I thought what the heck let's try it out. All you have to do is answer a few short questions about your birth and your significant others birth and it gives you this fun little prediction. Remember it is just for entertainment purposes only and there is probably no actual truth to it, but it is still fun to see what it says.

So here is my labor prediction:

I know you were hoping we were not going to say this, but don't expect this baby to come early. Your baby is nice and comfy tucked away in your womb and has no intrest in joining the rest of the world. We predict your baby after it's due date. Your baby will most likely be born in the morning. Justmommies predicts that your baby will weigh approximately 8.5 pounds and that your labor will be about 16 hours long.

Now doesn't that sound like fun I hope that they are wrong with the 16 hours part but it will probably last even longer than that so I shouldn't complain. Well let's wait and see how close there were with their predictions.

Stress busters:)

Ok so I am on Babyfit.com like 20 times a day if not more. I find it really helpful with lots of good information espically for first time mommies like myself. One of the articles that I really enjoyed recently is 7 Simple Stress Busters. I know that I am starting to feel the stress and any relief that I can get is very helpful. Stress happens to everyone but being a pregnant women it seems to find ya much faster.

Step 1:Take a walk-It helps to clear your head and it helps keep you in shape. This is one activity that I actually enjoy doing but lately I just can't find the time to fit a good head clearing walk in. No wonder I am a stressful mess most days.

Step 2: Call a good friend or fellow pregnant lady-Talking to someone that you enjoy really helps you to relax and clam down. Sorry guys I know I am horrible at staying in touch I will make an effort to change that for my own peice of mind and I really miss talkin gto good friends.

Step 3: Write down your thoughts in a journal-Expressing one's feelings is a great way to destress. Writing things down is a quick release of all your feelings at once and it never hurts to get things out of your system.

Step 4: Play a board game-This I am not really sure about who really has a chance to sit down to a wonderful game of Life these days. I guess I will get reaquainted with how fun board games can be in a few short years when Miles wants to play Candyland or any other fun game that I have not played in years.

Step 5: Work up a sweat- Now doesn't that sound like fun. It didn't really specify how to work up that sweatbut I am sure any way is fine and will help you destress or maybe cause more stress who knows.

Step 6: Plan something fun- Like a mini-vacation or a night out on the town becuase soon for Chris and I these will be hard to come by. We went to a nice dinner the other night at PF Changs and it was really relaxing and very enjoyable.

Step 7: When all else fails take a nap-This has slowly became one of my favorite relaxation techinques. I never really enjoyed naps until I became pregnant now I can hardly function some days without a little bit of shut eye.

Well these stress tips are probably not anything new but they are super helpful to this pregnant lady that stresses out easily enough not being pregnant so one can only imagine my state of mind at times now that I am worry not only about me but also about this wonderful little guy that Chris and I are about ready to bring into this world.

Catching Up

I'm not feeling particularly eloquent tonight, but I thought I better say something seeing as how Heidi has been a little too busy nesting to blog about anything lately. And I tell you, she is missing out on some good stuff too. Since she has written last there has been...

• Buying of baby books
  Barnes & Noble was having a moving sale, so she had to go grab one of those big cushy books with like only 4 pages. Something about Elmo and it makes lots of noises, etc.
  
• Doctors appointments
  Went for like 5 minutes worth of doctor time, only to have to sit with the obstetrics coordinator (yeah, I'd never heard of that either) for like 20 minutes to schedule her next 8 appointments for this month. OK, maybe not 8, but she's now at the point where she'll have to see a doctor every two weeks, plus a special visit to a neurologist because she is considered to be high-risk.
• Putting together a dresser
  This has been a few weeks back, but we got our second of three big pieces of baby furniture. It looks really nice and the room officially looks like it is ready for Miles now, but putting the darn thing together took an entire Sunday afternoon, about 4-5 hours. Guess we better get used to it, eh?
• Narrowing the weight gap
  I'm sure she will get pissed that I told this one, but with her nearing her 8th month of pregnancy and me being on a diet we are almost weighing in at the same weight. It hasn't quite happened yet, with her just above 195 and myself just under 205, but I keep saying it is really only a matter of time before we pass somewhere right around the two-bills mark.
• Lots of laundry
  Bought some special detergent called Dreft to start washing all the baby clothes we have bought. I still can't see why babies can't just sleep on regularly washed sheets, but I guess that's just me. Heidi has also been doing about six times as much laundry as normal, including some washing things I didn't even know were dirty. I think it is all just part of a process to get used to doing more laundry because I hear babies can be dirty.

That's about it for now. I'm sure there's more...specifically some little issue called unpaid maternity leave, but I suppose we will burn that bridge when we get there. Until then, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a lucky lotto ticket and pinching my pennies wherever possible.

Keeping the baby alive

I was in my Weight Watchers meeting today (yes, I'm a 28-year-old male in Weight Watchers...wanna fight about it?) and we were talking about how responsibilties change over time and how you learn to watch and account for yourself. My group leader asked me this question.

"Chris, you're about to have a baby, right? What do you think the role of a parent is for a child from 0-3 years old?"

I was stumped. I've never really been one who thinks quickly on my feet...so I just said the first thing that came into my head.

"To make sure they survive beyond that age..."

Everyone laughed at first, but then she went on to talk about it a bit and really her summation of taking care of a baby more or less came down to making sure it is doesn't die. There was more to it than that, something about a blur of diaper changing and sleepless nights of lying awake listening to a baby monitor to make sure it is still breathing. But regardless of what anyone says, that's basically what it boils down to.

And that, in a way, is why I'm not really worried about becoming a parent. If all I have to do is keep it breathing, then it should be a breeze, right? Something like eighty percent is gonna be instinct anyway and the rest I figure I can just learn along the way.

Chris

Time is flying

Well according to Babyfit.com I as of today at 27 weeks have officially entered my 3rd and last trimester which is super exciting. There are conflicting time lines to when exactly the 3rd trimester starts some say 28 weeks which is 7 months but I say that I agree with the 27 week mark just fine. I just can't believe I only have 91 more days to go if I deliver on my official due date which is June 10, 2008 just in case anyone forgot.

We are slowly getting ready for baby Miles we have already painted the nursery a nice shade of green that will fit Miles just perfect. We have already got the crib courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Mowder. The crib is an awesome sled bed with a cherry wood finish from Target that I absolutely love. It was a trip putting it together Chris and I took 2 whole days to get it done but it is done. We have a few of the stuffed animals that we already had placed in the crib and it looks so cute. We have already had to watch and try to keep the cats out of the bed Mays really loves it in there which is not good.

We are slowly getting more and more stuff for the nursery which is so much fun. Grandma Linda and Grandpa Dave have sent us a few things already. We have a nice safari hamper, some wall hangings all safari animals an elephant, an alligator with a turtle on it's back, and a giraffe. I just can't wait to finish the nursery and get it all set up for Miles.

Time is just flying right on by but I am still loving every minute of it. I just can't wait to hold Miles in my arms and see how much he reminds me of his daddy because I am sure they are going to look just alike.


Crib in pieces.


Chris tightening some bolts.


Finished product.


Baby Mays in the new crib.

I bought diapers yesterday

I'm not sure why I did it. I know full and well that the baby will not be here for another few months. On top of that, there's the fact that Heidi will most likely get a gross of them at her baby shower and the possibility that our baby could be big and grow out of newborn diapers almost immediately.

But despite the many common sense reasons not to, I found myself browsing the baby aisles of Wal-Mart (why I was at Wal-Mart, don't ask...) alone on a Wednesday evening looking for something, anything to buy. I think maybe I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it without feeling awkward or maybe I did it as a reminder that there's not a whole lot of time left before baby.

Either way, I ended up with a pack of 10 or 20 (I can't even remember how many were in a pack) Huggies diapers in size 1. They have sizes you know...I just learned that recently as well. I always just thought a diaper was a diaper. And, damn those things are expensive. It was like $10 for the small pack, which I can only assume will last me like half a day or something.

And then there's the fact of what the diaper is actually for...not particularly exciting stuff. But that's about all the diaper talk I can take for today. I'm out.

Chris

Maternity Shopping

Chris and I went shopping today for a nice dress for me to wear this weekend to Christopher's Newspaper Awards in Spartanburg, SC. I thought this would be an easy task I mean it is just a dress right? Well it wasn't as easy as one might think. First of all we went to J.C. Penny that just opened up at the Coastal Grand Mall because we had a $10 coupon. The store was really nice and had some really cute little baby clothes and accessory, but there was no maternity section which was not cool. I looked at some of the regular size dresses and there was some pretty ones but I was not sure if they would fit and I did not really want to try any of them on and have them not fit so we decided to move on and see what Motherhood Maternity had to offer. Motherhood is slowly becoming my favorite store for the time being some of their clothes are just to cute and pretty much affordable. Most of my maternity clothes are from Motherhood so I thought finding a cute dress in there should not be a problem.

Well there was a lot of pretty dresses to choose from so I picked out a couple nice pant suits to try on instead of a dress. Well the pants suit was nice but it looked to much like a work outfit and not a dressy outfit so I sent Chris on a mission to pick out a few dresses that he liked for me to try on. He brought back 2 dresses one size large and one size XL. The large dress was black, white, and yellow pattern and the XL was a pretty pastel dress. Well the Large dress was just a little to tight on my boobs so that one was out. The pastel one was just a bit too big and it made me look like an Easter egg which was not the look I was aiming for.

So off I sent Chris and the saleslady on a mission to find more dresses for me to try. This time they came back with 3 different ones for me to try on. They ranged from size Large to XL once again. The first one I tried on was just a plain little black dress which was a large and it was super cute on and it helped hide my big ol' belly so I was pretty much sold on this dress but I thought I should try on the other one just to see how it fit. It was a really cute black and off white polka dot dress that tied in the front under the chest area. It was a size XL so it should fit right no such luck my chest once again was causing a problem the dress just would not fit right around my big old chest so that dress was also out.

By this time I was tired of trying on clothes and I really had to use the bathroom because that is where I spend most of my time these days. So I said heck with it and decided on the little black number and a pair of black tights to cover up these good old white legs of mine. To dress up the dress I decided to get some pretty turquoise jewelry to match with Chris' shirt and tie that he is wearing. We will look really hot so there will definitely be some pictures to come so that everyone can check us out.

Heidi

Baby Shower

Well I have been trying to figure out what exactly is going to happen at the upcoming baby shower in April. I have spent most of the evening looking at baby shower games trying to find some fun ones to try. There are some fun games out there but most of them have been done before. I really want to try to play some different games if at all possible.

Some of the games that I am thinking of doing:
1. Using the baby name to see how many words can be made out of the name. I know this is not a new game but it is always a fun game.
2. Another one that is not a new game but it is a have to play is the measure the mom-to-be belly with string to see who is the closest to the actual size. I can't wait to see who can measure my belly size I am getting pretty round already, but I love it!!!!

These are the only two games that I am sure that we are going to play at the shower I am open for any ideas that you all have leave me a comment with you great ideas. You know me any help I can get I would really appreciate it. Hey maybe I can make this one of the games whoever has the best idea for a game gets a little prize if you are at the shower.

One game that I saw on one of the baby sites that I like to look at is a definite no go. It is similar to the measuring the mom-to-be belly but instead of using string to measure the guests put down a number that you think will match up to the measurement that you think my belly is and then I get measured with actual measuring tape. I think I am big enough and knowing how much I weigh is good enough for me.

Well ya'll give me some ideas on shower activities that we can do so that the shower is a good time for all. I can;t wait to see everybody and catch up.

Heidi

It's a boy!

Well, at least we made it six months without ruining the surprise. But alas, after many conversations with people who asked "You're really not gonna find out what the sex is?" we somehow broke down and learned the truth today at Heidi's latest doctor's appointment. With any luck, in just about 4 months we will be the proud parents of a bouncing baby boy. Boy!

I still stand by the fact that I would have been just fine going the whole time without a clue as to the sex of the baby had it not been for one overzealous doctor in Florence who accidentally let a couple "he"s slip at one of Heidi's appointments. But, as soon as that one little clue popped into my mind that it might be a Miles instead of a Lilly, then it just kept eating at me, up until today when I finally gave in and told Heidi it was OK for her to find out.

Now, don't think I'm going to go out and repaint the room bright blue, buy some plastic trucks, and reserve my spot in "learn-to-play hockey" classes for 2011 just yet (...OK, well maybe the last one). I think we are both quite glad to be having a boy, but I just want to make sure not to be shoving blue stuff with baseballs and dumb macho crap down his throat from day one.

I don't even really know what else to say...it is truly a rare occasion that you find me at a loss for things to write, but I'm just so happy!

Baby room coming along

Now that we've gotten that whole running thing out of the way, it looks like the Mowders are now free and clear to focus on getting ready for baby. We actually started working on adapting a room for baby probably a month ago, but it has been pretty slow going up until this point.

We started by taking down the bed in the twin bed CPU room and moving over our Full-sized guest bed. Then, it was on to cleaning out the closet in the baby room and getting rid of alot of the junk stored in there. We began painting last weekend, getting all but the touch-up work done. And just today I was able to get a paint edging tool to finish up the painting. Now, with just a quick once over with the vaccuum we will have a nice, blank, green-walled room to work with.


Me taking down nails to prepare for the paint job.


Heidi's brother touching up around the ceiling. Color isn't great on the photo, but I think you can get an idea of what it looks like here.


And, it doesn't stop there. While my parents were down over the weekend, they were nice enough to go ahead and help us buy one of the biggest, and probably the most important piece of baby furniture, the crib. It came from Target, and is a kinda dark mahogany color that I think should look nice in the room (assuming I can figure out how to put it all together.)

All in all, it seems like we are either right on track with the preparations or possibly even *GASP* ahead of the game, when it comes to getting the room together. I think the next step will be to look for an old dresser to work with as another painting project. I'm hoping to do something fun and jungle-looking, much in the same vain of the mural I painted on our coffee table.

Run Daddy Run!!!!!!!!

Well yesterday was te first big day of the year for the Mowder's. Chris ran his first Marathon the Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon. He did an awesome job he finished with ease and looked good doing it.

I can't wait until next year and Baby Miles/Lilly can be there to cheer him on. Of course this year Baby Mowder was there but had no clue what was up other than Mom was very uncomfortable all day long but it was well worth it.

I AM so proud of Chris he was a rock star and it even made me think thatI want to start to train for next years race. But I think that I will shoot for the half 13 miles will be hard enough for me.

Well I just wanted to share my excitment with you all and let you know that my husband is an offical marathoner now. I can't wait to get up at 4:30am and get out there for the next race day!!!!

Heidi

Loving being preggers!!!!!!

I think that I am finally enjoying being pregnant or at least getting used to it. Now that all the wonderful nausea has gone away. I was pretty lucky though and never really had morning sickness which is great. But the wonderful nausea was probably just as bad if not worse. I am actually not as tired anymore but I am waiting for that to start again once I get farther along and bigger.

The best thing is I am finally showing. I have a cute little(ok maybe not too little) baby bump going. I actually feel pregnant now too. I can feel the baby moving around a lot more even though I have really yet to feel it on the outside. Chris has tried to feel the little one kicking but it doesn't like to cooperate(I think little Mowder acts just like daddy). My mom did get to feel a little bit of kicking tonight because the baby was kicking up a storm. Baby Mowder actually moved around today and started kicking me in a different place which was neat to experience.

The one thing that I still am having trouble with being pregnant is having the baby just chillin on my bladder and the constant trips to the bathroom. I guess I will get used to it because it is just going to get worse not better.

This whole experience has been amazing and it is just going to continue to get better as the due date approaches and I get to see Baby Mowder for the first time I can hardly wait. The count down is on. Oh yeah I plan to put some baby bump pictures up for all to see just how big I am already and I am just now 23 weeks here real soon.

Heidi

Laughing baby videos

Why do people love videos of babies laughing so much? It's hard to believe that this one has 36,000,000 views. I'm pretty sure that's more than an episode of American Idol. Anyways, this one is pretty famous, but there were also plenty of others on Youtube that had like 7 or 8 million views and they were the same thing...just babies laughing at something.



I'm thinking that is going to have to be the first displaced dream I will have to push upon my baby once it is born. If I can't be an internet superstar, maybe my baby can.

Chris

Baby's 1st Kick

I was so excited on Friday morning when I got up from bed in the morning I felt the baby Mowder kick for the first time. I have felt the little one moving around in there plenty of times but I had yet to feel and real kick. It was really amazing at how strong of a kick it was for such a little thing. The baby kicked me right in the belly button which is an odd place to be kicked.

I think Baby Mowder is still breach at this time because it seems that most of the movement is down low. I hope that he/she moves around soon because it sort of makes me nervous knowing that he/she is not in the proper birthing position. I know I still have a few months to go before delivery but you really do worry about everything when you are expecting. It is crazy how much more your mind goes into overdrive.

Well I just wanted to share the good news of baby's first kick with ya all and hope for more to come soon. I can't wait for Chris to be able to feel the baby moving around that will be awesome. I will keep everyone up-dated as baby comes closer and closer to entering the world.

Heidi

Baby's first pictures

OK, these aren't actually the baby's first pictures, but the first one really just looked like a black dot, so I'm calling these the baby's first (and definitely not last) pictures. I think I'm becoming a sucker for this baby stuff, because I honestly can't think of anything to say how I feel about these, so I'm just going to show them.



Arm/hand view



Side view: Leg and foot



Baby feet



Back/spine shot (look at the bones in white)



AND FINALLY...


Full baby profile

Shopping Spree

Going along with Christopher's rearranging for baby I have been trying to get organized myself. So I have been trying to clean out my closets and start to get rid of stuff that I no longer need. I decided that what I no longer needed I was going to donate to Good Will since a new store was getting ready to open up in the area. Another reason I decided to donate to Good Will is that they recently hired a lot of clients from my work which was really awesome. I came home one day after hearing about a donation drive on the radio and told Chris to get some things together so we can go drop them off Saturday at the donation drive. So, we got 6 bags and 2 boxes of stuff together and off we went to Food Lion to donate.

Once we arrived Good Will workers helped us unload and offered us food and to sign up for prizes that they were giving away on opening day. I thought what the heck I am pregnant so the food and soda was a relief and it gave me an extra minute to sign up for the shopping spree that they were giving away. As time went on I got more stuff together to drop off at the next donation drive forgetting all about signing up to win a shopping spree I was just trying to get prepared for baby.

Well to make a long story short I received a phone call last Wednesday while I was at work from Jennifer at Good Will telling me that I was the winner of the shopping spree at the grand opening of the Surfside store. She then gave me the details I won a 1 minute shopping spree where I could grab all that I could. The spree is scheduled for 1-18-08 at 12pm.

I was so excited I have never won anything really before. I asked Jennifer if they had baby stuff because what better time than now to grab up some free baby gear. She said that they had alot and that I should go in and check out the store. Well the night before the shopping spree I drug Chris, my mom , and my dad down to Good Will so I could map out my plan of attack. I gathered up all the stuff that I liked and placed them on three different racks and placed a Woody costume, a Sponge Bob toy, and some rollerskates by the stuff that I had gathered so I did not misplace it.

Well it is finally Friday the big day the grand opening was being broadcast on the radio so I was getting nervous that the stuff I had picked out would all be gone so I decided to get down there a little early to scope things out. As I was pulling in I realized the place was a mad house I just knew that everything was gone and all my hard work the night before was for nothing. So, I went and checked in with Jennifer to let her know that I was there and she told me I had to wait for the radio stations to change over so she told me to go back and check on the baby area. I was happy to note that most of the stuff that I had picked out was still back there so I decided that I was going to stand guard to make sure no one tries to get any of my stuff.

Finally Jennifer tells me that it is time to announce me. She got me a shopping cart and tied balloons to it so no one could miss me. Then Ron, from Mix 97.7 announced that I was the shopping spree winner and that I was expecting my first baby and said to look out in the baby section because I was coming through. Jennifer was my cheerleader because Chris had to work so I was on my own.

I know what you think a minute is not a long time to shop but since I was organized I was able to grab 110 baby items all clothes ranging in size 0-3 months to 18 months and in both genders since we don't know what we are having. I also got the one item for Chris that he wanted a brown belt so all in all I got 111 items in one minute of shopping not bad.

After I was finished we bagged up all the stuff and it filled up 5 shopping bags it was awesome to be the center of attention even if it was just for a hot minute. I finished up the shopping spree with a quick interview on the radio so I felt really special. I would love to thank Good Will for the opportunity for me to collect some really nice clothes for my baby for free and I will definitely go back and shop there for more clothes for the baby Mowder as time goes on.

Heidi

Rearranging for baby

I know it's still early, but I know how busy things are gonna be throughout the next few months, so the other day I decided to take the first steps toward getting a room ready for Baby Lillian...or was that Miles. Whatever.

Point is, on my day off I was able to take down Heidi's old wooden daybed that currently rests in our CPU room and rearranged things in that room so that the full bed we keep in our guest room could slide over into that room. The room was a mess to begin with, so it took some considerable effort, but we were able to consolidate our guest and computer rooms to have one nice-looking guest/CPU room and one empty room full of junk and a few random baby items.

My guess is that it will take another few months before I get brave enough to reorganize that second room and really get it looking ready for baby, but still just doing what I did was (at least in my mind) a big step that really started making the whole thing feel more real than it has up until this point. It's hard to believe we are about to be half way through this pregnancy within the next week.

It's gonna be time before you know it. Pretty crazy stuff.

Chris

What the heck is a doula?

Hey there everybody it has been a little bit since I posted anything sorry about that. I have been busy with work, reading my pregnancy books, going to the doctor and just everyday life.

There is one thing that I would like to talk about is the difference between a midwife and a doula? Someone told me that I needed to have a doula and I was like "what is that I have never heard of that." Well the other day I was on Babyfit.com and one of their articles was about that exact topic so I thought I would share it with you all. So, if you are like me and have no clue this article is pretty helpful so enjoy.

What Are Midwives and Doulas?
Explore Your Options
-- By Antigone Arthur, Health & Pregnancy Writer --

Whether you’re a first-time mom or mom of many, having a baby brings with it many different emotions, perhaps the most common of which is worry. Mom’s worry. If you are expecting, you’re probably pondering the type of delivery you would like to have. Many women are opting for more natural births that can be performed in the home with as little medical intervention as possible.

This trend is becoming increasingly more common for second-time moms, having tried a traditional birth once, are more open to trying something more natural the second time around.

If you are considering a natural birth, you will undoubtedly want to know more about midwifery and doula practices. As a midwife or doula will tell you, there are many differences between a traditional or medically-managed birth versus a natural childbirth either at home or in the hospital.

Click here to find out the actual definitions and read the rest of article.

Heidi

It's begun!

That's right folks, the pregnancy cravings have arrived. Up through this point Heidi has been pretty good about not changing her eating habits (possibly because ours weren't too great to begin with). She hasn't had any really strange cravings, and has kept her urges to a renewed interest in macaroni and cheese.

However, as of this weekend I have seen a distinct change in her desires, starting with breakfast yesterday. As soon as we woke up I headed out to grab a drink and asked if she needed anything. Here's how the ensuing conversation went:

"An icing cookie with pudding," she says.
"What?" I reply.
"An icing cookie with pudding."
"For breakfast?"
"Yep."
"So you want a cookie and a pudding cup then?"
"No, just put the pudding on the cookie"
"Alright, then...pudding cookie it is."

And again today, we had a similar, yet much more complex conversation when I asked what she'd like for lunch. I won't bore you with the entire transcript but here's a recap of things she asked for:

• Cheese pizza from Domino's
• Cream of Mushroom soup mixed with white rice
• Amish Potato salad
• Beans and rice
• Cornbread
  

We settled on a DiGiorno pizza from the freezer, but I honestly believe that she truly wanted to have all of those things on one plate and just slam it on in. Don't get me wrong, at least some of it sounded good to me as well, but I just think the whole cravings thing is hilarious. It's crazy as hell, but it's gonna be fun to see how strange they get...next week it may be waffles with soy sauce or peanut butter and mushrooms.

Chris

Our New Toy

It's crazy. We don't even have a baby yet and already we are getting toys. Ok, maybe not toys per se, but I think a new digital camcorder qualifies as something fun to play with.

We spent part of our holiday visiting my mom in Lexington and to our surprise came home with a very nice gift, in the form of a Panasonic SDR-H18. I haven't spent any time actually learning how to use it, but I did get a chance to take some video of all of us spending New Year's together.



I was planning on looking into something like this eventually, but getting it this far ahead of baby-day should give me plenty of time to practice...Not to mention time to use it for some cool non-baby projects too.

I'm looking forward to sharing more as I figure out how to actually manage/edit what I'm shooting and actually get it uploaded online.

Chris