Week 30

Another one down!

This week was fairly uneventful, if you don't count the track and field event that seems to be going on in my belly. It is the strangest feeling in the world to wake up to someone kicking you (from inside) in the middle of the night. Strange, but really, really cool.

I'm starting to get a little sad thinking about the fact that in just a few short weeks I won't have this little one all to myself anymore. I sat down to chat with a friend this week, and was so touched by what she shared with me. She was asking me if I had been enjoying the pregnancy (which I have- I've been so lucky to have felt pretty good this whole time), and she told me about how wonderful her last pregnancy was- about how much she loved being pregnant with her baby (who is now a young adult). What touched me the most was how she talked about the last weekend she had before she was scheduled to deliver her little girl, and how she was so emotional over the idea that once she was born her little girl would no longer belong only to her, but to the world. It's a powerful thing to think of having to let go of something that has belonged only to me (in the physical sense) for the last 7 months. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet, but I am so excited for Chris, and all of our family and friends, to get to meet Baby Miller and fall in love with him/her as much as I have. (And I'm secretly hoping that he/she will throw a few punches in each of your ribs once he/she gets here- so that you fully appreciate what I've been experiencing!)

The Name Game

Still no name for Baby Miller, but we aren't too worried about it yet. Without knowing if we're going to be having a boy or a girl (even though I have a strong feeling about this...), it's hard to really fall in love with a name.

At least we're not in this boat:

http://blogs.babycenter.com/momformation/2009/04/21/womb-with-a-view-everyone-hates-our-baby-name/

Lucinda Miller. Not so bad, huh?

Our Little Cucumber Part 5

With 10 weeks until the Stork above crosses the finish line and drops Baby Miller upon us (Hope WE catch him/her) Allison is entering into her 30th week of pregnancy and our Alien Baby now rivals a good-size cabbage in weight, tipping the scales this week at 3 pounds and is about 15 3/4 inches, head to heel. (I hope no one does any comparison to what I rival in weight...Chris now rivals a small elephant….or a large Sumo Wrestler and is tipping the scales at just over 2 tons...Not a good thought)

In addition to having a 3 pound cabbage riding in her midsection, Allison also has a pint and a half of amniotic fluid that surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as Baby Miller gets bigger and takes up more room in her uterus belly (Not all medical words need to be shared, name changed to protect the parties involved).

Baby Miller’s eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he/she is born, the eyes will be closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision (my vision after Lasik is now 20/15) — which means that he/she can only make out objects a few inches from his/her face. (I hope that is the same when the Stork drops off the Baby Miller, I do not want to scare my new child… How horrible would that be to scare my new baby the first time he/she sees me...Could you imagine seeing this bald bearded mug the first time you ever opened your eyes…Scary!!!)

The miracle of birth is something that I still have not been able to comprehend. Each time I read what is happening in the coming week I am just amazed with the entire process and how this little life has been created. Not to mention how my Wonderful Wife is doing through the whole process; if it were me I would be complaining and milking it for everything it was worth (ask her about when I am sick). Instead, Allison puts up with me (for those of you who know me this is no easy task), works a full time job, makes sure our house is in order (again for those of you who know me this is no easy task), and still finds time to carry our baby. Allison in case I have not told you...Thanks for putting up with me and finding the time to carry our child!

Week 29

I use to have feet, and I could see them when I looked down. Chris tells me that they're still there, but I have a brief moment of terror each morning when I sit down at my desk and realize that there is a distinct possibility that I may have on two different shoes. I now keep a spare pair of (matching) flip flops in my office so that I can correct any fashion mishaps that may occur as a result of not being able to see what's going on at the end of my legs.

Only 10 weeks left, but this week has left me wondering how I will ever make it that long...

When I think back to the times that Chris and I have been in training for big races, it doesn't seem like I was anywhere near as tired as I am right now. I can't sleep through the night (with the exception of Tuesday night, when I didn't move an inch until the alarm clock went off), and by 1:00pm I'm not sure how I am going to make it through another reading class and two private tutoring sessions. All I can say is, thank God for well behaved children... There is no doubt that the Big Guy new what he was doing when he orchestrated the timing of this pregnancy. I have been so blessed at this school, and I know that it was not a coincidence that this all happened like it did. God is good- ALL of the time.

Speaking of timing... We're still in the process of trying to pick out a crib, and this week is our deadline. It seems as though, generally speaking, it takes anywhere from 4-10 weeks to have a crib shipped, so we're now entering into the "red zone". I call it this not because of the urgency of placing the order for the crib that we have not yet found, but because of the color my face turns when I start to stress about having to house our firstborn child in a dresser drawer because his/her parents couldn't make a simple decision... I digress.

On a lighter note, Chris and I watched a show on TLC the other night about women who didn't know they were pregnant until the baby fell out in the campground bathroom or during their dinner break at work. Seriously? I think I watched the entire show with my mouth wide open in pure shock (and horror) over the idea that someone could carry a child for 9+ months and never even know. I thought Chris and I were behind on the planning, but we've got those jokers beat...

Tomorrow I'll be 30 weeks pregnant. Chris will write a funny blog about our little vegetable, and we'll be one week closer to meeting this little guy/gal. It's all very scary, but even more exciting, and I can't wait to meet the new Miller. He/she is in for quite a ride!

Strolling Along

Chris and I are trying to research/decide on a jogging stroller. It seems that there are a huge variety of these available, and I'm thinking that the likelihood of Chris and me making a quick decision about this purchase is highly unlikely. We are open to ANY and ALL suggestions about which jogging strollers are the best- please contact us immediately with any information!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Chris's birthday, and it was fun to remind him that this will be his last birthday without a child. Next year he will be celebrating this day as a daddy. It is still so amazing, and overwhelming, to imagine that in just 10 weeks we will be parents. There's still lots to do to get ready, and plenty that we'll probably never really be prepared for, but we're doing what we can, while we can. We're still at a standstill on the crib front and the naming front... Maybe we'll figure these things out soon!

Our Little Cucumber Part 4

I know that all of our Blog readers have been waiting with unbridled anticipation as to what Baby Miller is this week... apart from being a baby. Well, here is what you have been waiting for. Drum Roll Please... More Drum Roll... a Little More... AND... WAIT FOR IT...WAIT FOR IT...WAIT FOR IT...

Our baby is now a

Yep, I am sure that you all figured out. I know I did when I first saw the picture. That is right- our baby is a butternut squash. OK, I hope my child does not look like a butternut squash (Really, who came up with this list?), but who knows maybe it will. If I had to choose a vegetable or fruit I hope it comes out like a MR. POTATO HEAD have you seen all the cool stuff they come with these days (I mean taters are timeless and still rule!). Actually, I not hoping for a boy or a girl I am just hoping and praying for a healthy baby...just a healthy baby.

Now Baby Miller weighs about 2 1/2 pounds and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His/her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his/her head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his/her increasing nutritional demands, Allison needs plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his/her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, Allison needs to drink lots of milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). So since they say find a good source, I think this is a good time to introduce Baby Miller and Allison to the best way I know how of getting said calcium. That means getting a high dose of…
AHHH, Yeah...Oreos and Milk

I figure if we do that the baby will not only add the 250 milligrams of calcium that will be deposited in our baby's hardening skeleton EACH DAY for the remainder of the 3rd trimester (at least that is what the World Wide Intra Web says) but maybe even double or triple that amount. Not to mention that will start the training for me and Baby Miller to share Oreos and Milk in a Frosted Beer Mug (I think Milk in a Frosted Mug may just be the best use of a Frosted Mug...MAY). I believe if we do this then everyone wins, Allison gets her calcium, Baby Miller gets calcium, and I got milk get Milk and Oreos (what more can I ask for).

Ps. you may have noticed links in this post. We are not getting paid for them (but I should...I mean do you have any idea how many Oreos I have eaten and how much Milk I have drank over the years). I happened to be looking on the internet at work home and saw those sites... and thought Man Tatters have gotten cool, the ability to share your Oreo moments (who does not have one of those), and the got milk sites where pretty cool. Thought the three people (I increased it from a previous post as I ran into someone who said they read the Blog but I think they were not telling the truth or they moved to Cali (shout out to Josh)....kinda like "I love all the names you picked out for the Baby") that follow the blog would find them funny or interesting.

Week 28

One down, 11 more to go!

Things I've learned this week:

1. While high heel shoes are a must in a woman's wardrobe, they do not pair well with the swelling feet of this pregnant woman. After a day of sporting really cute shoes for Easter (because Jesus cares about these things), my toes looked very similar to the Reese's Peanut Butter eggs that filled our baskets...

2. My students, especially the boys, love the idea that there is a baby in my stomach. One child in particular (whose father "makes medicine") informed me today that:
- the baby is probably a girl because it doesn't kick me very hard
- that touching my belly button with my pinkie will make the baby kick, and that
- the baby is probably going to come out soon. (All of his statements can clearly be backed up by my findings on Web MD.)

3. Finding a crib that both Chris and I like is impossible. Baby Miller might spend his baby years in a cradle.

4. Manufactures should consider making adult sheets as soft as crib sheets. (That's right, we have the crib sheets, sans the crib.)

Last Easter without a bunny

In preparation for the arrival of the new Miller, I'm making note of the "lasts" that Chris and I will have without a baby, and it makes me get more and more excited about the idea of having a little one around. For example, this past weekend we celebrated our last Easter without a baby, and I got excited about the idea of having a munchkin to dress up next year. I mean, generally speaking, Chris does not let me pick out his clothes, nor does he get excited about wearing bunny ears and going on hunts for eggs, so next year, and the years to follow, will give me plenty of excuses to do all of the silly stuff that I loved doing as a kid. And, despite what Chris might say, we will be showcasing a variety of inflatables in our yard this year for Christmas. I love, I mean, I hear babies love those things!

Week 27

As week 27 comes to an end, I'm beginning to really realize that my body has changed a lot over the past 6 months. Take for example the fact that I can no longer bend over without feeling like there is a soccer ball in my stomach. Add to that the fact that I haven't been able to sleep through the night for the last week (natures way of preparing me for a baby?), and the (not so welcome) realization that doing yard work while pregnant is a sure-fire way to wake up with a crazy backache. So there you have it. I'm prego, and I'm old...

I must say that I've been very blessed throughout this whole pregnancy- I haven't been sick for any long amount of time, I've felt pretty good, and I've had an amazing support system.

The big news this week: I won't be going back to work in the fall. This has been a very hard decision, mostly because I adore my job, and I am terrified of the idea of being at home all day with a baby (a creature whose only form of communication for some time comes in the form of grunts, cries, nods, cries....). You get the picture. I do feel at peace with the decision, and I know that it is the best thing for our baby, but it's going to mean a lot of changes for the Miller family, and that's a little hard to swallow. We are blessed to have this option, and I just pray that I can be the mom (wow, that's crazy) that God has intended for me to be.

On a funny note: Chris and I went to the bookstore on Wednesday, and I gave him the mission of finding a book for the baby. He was game, and the next 10 minutes or so would have been nice to have on video... Chris found a book, Baby Goose, which is a collection of Mother Goose rhymes, and he proceeded to read EVERY one of rhymes OUT LOUD in the middle of the store. Priceless. To his credit, I think it was a good idea to take the book for a "test drive" to make sure it "fit" just right. Chris is going to be a great dad!

That's all for this week. Only 12 more left!

Our Little Cucumber Part 3

Last night before falling into a very deep sleep Allison and I looked up what our “Little Cucumber” is this week and found that Baby Miller is like a Chinese cabbage. This is a little weird due to the fact that the single best dish I had last week in China was a Chinese cabbage with Red Chinese Chiles.

Also, the creation of life is continuing to amaze me. Now Baby Miller weighs around two and a quarter pounds and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her/his head to her/his heels. Baby Miller can blink his eyes, which now sport lashes (Can Blink and Sports Lashes, truly amazing). With eyesight developing, she/he may be able to see the light that filters in through the womb. Development of billions of neurons are occurring in the brain (Let’s hope and pray that these neurons are coming from the lady who went to “Hahvad”) and our little guy/girl is adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Breaking News...

One of my students decided to include me in her last book report, and the result was pretty funny! She created an original version of the popular magazine PEOPLE, and yours truly was featured in the "Chatter" column. The story read:

"I'll do the best I can, " a confident Mrs. Miller tells Devyn Edlestein.

Mrs. Miller thought she had the world's most difficult job, teaching reading at the Atlanta Speech School...but soon, that will all change. See, up until now, Mrs. Miller got to leave those loud and obnoxious children at school, but soon, Mrs. Miller will be unable to escape. Mrs. Miller is expecting a child of her own!

In this week's, "Chatter" column, PEOPLE writer Devyn Edelstein asked the Schreinerites what they thought Baby Bubbles' name should be. Here are there suggestions... Nariyah Angel, Josiah Angel, Isaiah Angel, Jeremiah Angel, Jonah Angel, Makai Angel, Noah Angel, and Maliyah Angel."

Now that's good stuff!

Side note: The fifth grade class, The Schreinerites, decided to name the baby "Baby Bubbles". A touch of alliteration, and a nod to the fact that I recently became an expert "bubbler" when they took standardized testing (and I had to fill in about a million bubbles...)

Orange Kool-Aid and A Beat….

On Monday Allison had a doctor's appointment to be screened for gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that can develop in some women late in pregnancy (usually after the 24th week), THAT'S WHAT THE DOCTOR SAID :)…She really enjoyed the oral glucose tolerance test, which involves quickly drinking a sweetened liquid (called Glucola-it looked nothing like any Cola I had ever seen), which contains 50 g of glucose and looks like Orange Kool-Aid. The body absorbs this glucose rapidly, causing blood glucose levels to rise within 30 to 60 minutes. We were told by the doctor's peeps that "Precisely 57 minutes after drinking said Kool-Aid (which did NOT seem to go down like Kool-Aid) the nurse would take her blood Hah, hah, hah ...a blood sample and measure how the glucose solution was metabolized" and let us know in a couple of days the results. Man I sound all official and stuff, but when they explained the above at the office it sounded like...blah…blah…glucose….blah…blah…Kool-Aid…test…blah...blah… But then I got on the old handy dandy Intra-Web thingy and looked it all up on my Crackberry.

Anyway the real reason for the post was that whenever we go in to see the doctor, they always listen to the baby’s heart beat. Monday was no different, but I decided to use my Blackberry (which I am never without) to record the sound from the monitor they were using. Yes, I know I probably should have left my Crackberry in the car, but we all know that I cannot function for more than 10 minutes 5 minutes 2 minutes without said Crackberry looking things up on the Intra-Web (mostly to prove I am right).

Ok, back to the reason for my post... It is truly amazing to hear the heart beat of our little Alien…Baby, so I wanted to share that with the two people that read our BabyMiller09 Blog. So for the first time ever and for the first time on the World Wide Intra-Web...Baby Miller performs in its first video “The Heart Beat” (the pictures are from our last post).

Photo Op

A few pics of the baby along the way

Face first at 18 weeks

Profile at 18 weeks

The baby's arm, 18 weeks

Head shot, 24 weeks

Bigfoot, 24 weeks

Leg up, 24 weeks

Our Little Cucumber Part 2

As Allison has mentioned in a previous post, every Thursday night we check to see what our Bundle of Joy has grown into. We are now into Week 27 and our baby is no longer a English Hothouse Cucumber. Now it is like ... (drum roll)... ... ... ... a Head of Cauliflower.

In addition to growing in the dirt and looking very strange, our baby now weighs almost 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2 inches long with its legs extended. Baby Miller is sleeping and waking at regular intervals (if Baby Miller is anything like Baby Mama Allison the sleeping is a long interval and the waking is a very short one). The great World Wide Wed tells us that the little Cauli is now opening and closing its eyes, and perhaps even sucking its fingers. With more brain tissue developing, Baby Miller's brain is very active now. "Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements Allison is feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which are common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother the baby but it does tickle Allison."

If you just can't wait till the next episode of "What Vegetable Will Baby Miller Be" you can check out the slide show at this website: www.babycenter.com/slideshow-baby-size

Disclaimer: I found things on this site that I am not sure I wanted to know. I am also not so sure that this whole Internet thing is good....way to much information. I am still not sure all of what they put on this site is accurate (or at least that is what I am telling myself).

Week 26

Another week down, and another week closer to meeting Baby Miller. All in all, this was a good week. I know that everyone says this, but I am feeling fairly certain that this baby is going to come out as a kick boxer... I've gotten use to the feeling of being kicked in various parts of my belly, ribs, and side, but it still makes me laugh every time. I have noticed that Baby Miller is on a schedule already. Baby is very active in the morning and at night, and he/she sometimes kicks "on demand", which always gives me a little thrill. Already a good listener.

Baby Miller does not, however, frequently cooperate when I'm trying to get Chris to feel the movements. He has felt the baby move a few times, but I feel kind of bummed that he doesn't get to feel it all of the time like I do.

This past week Chris went out of town for the first time since we found out I was pregnant, and at the same time I took a trip out to Houston to visit Lorraine for her 30th birthday. This trip was one of the first times I have gotten emotional about traveling without Chris. It occurred to me as I was waiting to take off that Chris and I are about to have a family, and it was a little overwhelming to realize how much love I have for my husband and for our baby. As a Christian, it's impossible not to think about the sacrifice that God made when he sent His son to die- I haven't even met this baby yet, and I already feel more love for it than I ever could have imagined.

Highlights from week 26: Baby Miller can now hear us talking to him/her. Guess I'll have to start teaching Chris some lullabies...

Low points of week 26: My tail bone has a mind of it's own. I found out this week that being on a turbulent flight when 6 months pregnant is likely to end badly...

What's in a Name

Without knowing if we're having a boy or a girl, Chris and I have been trying to think of both boy and girl names. Because Chris was given three names (William Lewis Christopher), we have decided to uphold the tradition and give our child three names if it is a boy. A little history behind this: Willy Bill, Chris's dad, read somewhere once that if a child is given four initials, he will grow up to be either rich or famous. Chris jokes that he's still waiting for either of those two things to happen...

So, we've been keeping a running list of some of the names that we like. While our favorites change from day to day, we have some names that keep popping up over and over again. And there are a few that we don't agree on, so I'm sure there will be many future editions of this list...

I'm thinking we'll probably make the final decision once this little guy or gal shows his/her face, but in the mean time, this is what we have so far:

BOYS NAMES	GIRLS NAMES
Lawson	Elizabeth
Emerson	Celia
Finn	Janie
Griffin	Wynn
Haygood	Mae
Garrison	Flynn
Pearson	Layla
Ryder	Powell
Wyatt	Harlow
William	Lilly
Joseph	Isabella
Henry	Madeline
Elijah	Hadley
Sullivan	Sophia
Laughton	Elsa
Brady	Ava
	Lila
	Olivia
	Violet
	Chloe
	Gabriella