37 Down, 3ish to Go!

We made it through another week, and we had a pretty major milestone: Chris and I attended a breast feeding class (for couples), and we didn't even leave early. It was an excellent class, and I highly recommend it to anyone who might be considering nursing, or other individuals who just want to learn about the cradle hold, cross-cradle hold, and football hold. I mean, seriously, I can't believe that individuals are required to take tests to be able to drive, and yet they'll let any dummy do this parenting thing. I just thought you held the baby so that his or her head didn't fall off and you were good. Man, are we unprepared for this...

We went for our second weekly appointment this past Wednesday, and again, much to my dismay, they told us nothing. I guess I was kind of hoping the Doc could give me an approximate 2 or 3 day window as to then we could expect SHIM, but I was sadly mistaken. Just the same old routine and we were sent on our way until next Wednesday. We did learn that my doctor would be vacationing away for the holiday weekend, so depending on when Baby Miller decides to come say hello, he might be greeted by a complete stranger. I'm OK with this though, as I feel confident that when the time comes, I'm not going to care who is calling the plays as long as he makes it all quick and painless. (That's right, I said it, QUICK and PAINLESS. It's possible...) We did get a good laugh when Dr. Joffe started telling us about the silly requests that some of his past patients have made as part of their "birthing plan". People are crazy (refer back to above point about not having to have a license to have kids...). Let's just say that while I thought the one lady's request for red wine during delivery was not all that ludicrous, I think I'll stick to the ice chips (at least for the first couple of weeks).

Our Little Cucumber Part 11

Baby Miller has now reached Terminal Velocity FULL TERM which means that if SHIM arrives now, the lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though that is still a couple of weeks away (However, I am sure that Allison would be happy if it was sooner rather than later).

Our baby weighs about 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel like a stalk of Swiss chard (Yep...Exactly like a SWISS CHARD) If you have ever eaten Swiss Chard Please Raise Your Hand (You can raise your hand on the Internet...Silly Readers but just as I thought...NOT ONE PERSON RAISED THEIR HAND). Seriously (as serious as I can be anyway, which is not that serious) let us know if you are the one person who has had Swiss Chard and what the Swiss Chard was like (does any else enjoy saying/reading Swiss Chard? I do...Swiss Chard...Swiss Chard...Swiss Chard...Swiss Chard...Swiss Chard...Swiss Chard...Swiss Chard...Sorry got carried away yet again!) Also, for those adventurous types you can buy the seeds at Johnny's Selected Seeds to grow some for yourself but don't be to disappointed that the Golden Sunrise Swiss Chard seeds are SOLD OUT (I hear they are ALL THE RAGE this year). If they are good we are going to ask Susan if Baby Miller can plant some in the garden next year.

The World Wide IntraWeb says that many babies have a full head of hair at birth, amazing as many of you voted that I would have more hair than my newborn...Actually, I was the only ONE who voted that I WOULD have more hair (and I will if you take into account the amount on my face but Who really needs enemies with Friends like you all. Or who needs self-confidence or a good self-image...Well I am off to Shoot Myself, Get Hair Plugs, and/or Counseling to deal with my bad self image you have instilled in me. Really Thanks to ALL who voted) and that the locks could be a 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. The World Wide Intraweb also said that SHIM could come out as blond or a redhead…That would be funny if the kid came out with RED hair…We would have to give them an Irish name like Finley or Murray (I guess in that case LL Cool J would be surprised).

See you next week on Our Little Cucumber...

Lucky Guess

If you haven't had a chance to enter your guesses for when Baby Miller will arrive, how big shim will be, and what she/he will be, take a few minutes to check out our poll at  http://www.expectnet.com/games/BabyMiller_09

Here are the results so far:

Another One Down

With week 36 having come and gone, Chris and I are starting to really feel the pressure. As the trusty Babycare website says, I am now considered "full term", and Baby Miller could arrive at any time! The "Eviction Notice" has been sent.

Of course we're completely prepared for that, and everything that needs to be done has been finished for weeks now in anticipation of the arrival of Deuce... (or, nothing has been done, the nursery furniture still isn't here, and Chris and I are holding on with all of our might to our "ignorance is bliss" mantra). Either way, we're getting more and more excited, and we (I) can't wait for shim to come on out! Sleep is no longer a restful experience, and turning over at night has become something like an Olympic event for me, so I will be happy when our little bundle is on the outside!
Week 36 brought with it my last day at work, for which I was very thankful. Summer has definitely arrived in Atlanta, and the heat has had an adverse effect on my already long-forgotten ankles, which has made it hard to wear cute outfits. With work now over, I can feel quite confident as I go about my days in "lounge wear". I'm hoping this isn't an indicator of how I'll "let myself go" once shim gets here.
Chris and I have started our weekly doctors visits now, and I think we were both hoping when we went to see Dr. Joffe on Wednesday that he would tell us the baby was on his/her way. No luck. We got the "everything looks good, see you next week" speech and were sent on our way.
This week has given me plenty of time to focus on washing all of the great baby clothes/ blankets/towels and other fun stuff that we've acquired over the past few months, and it's been fun pulling the miniature shirts and socks out of the dryer and trying to figure out the best way to fold them (without the use of Chris' handy folding board). It makes it all seem very real when you have a room full of neatly folded onesies, socks, and mittens, and it makes me so very thankful for all that we've been blessed with over the last 8 months. Looking back, I can't believe (ye of little faith) how far God has brought us since we first found out we were pregnant nearly 7 months ago. God is good.
So, week 36 in short: clean baby clothes, no more work for Alli, ankles that resemble something from the Dinosaur age, continued blessings from God, and sleepless nights.
Can't ask for much more than that.

Showers for Baby Miller

Chris and I have been very blessed to have wonderful family members and friends help us get ready for the arrival of Baby Miller. We've had several showers over the past few weeks, and I want to say a HUGE thank you for everything that we've been given (hopefully I've sent you a thank you card by now..., and a great big hug for all of the hosts (Megan, Kate, Kristin, Debbie, Leigh, Kelly, Michelle, Sam, Kevin, Angel, Courtney, Katherine, Susan, and Pam).

Baby stuff is the coolest stuff in the world, and we can't wait to put it all to use! I can't lie- Chris and I didn't know exactly what a receiving blanket was a few weeks ago, but we're starting to get some idea of what all this baby stuff is for!

Weeks 33 and 34

OK, so I kind of fell off of the blogging wagon, but I'm jumping back on!  I figured all of the posts that Chris has been writing were more than enough to take up most of our diligent followers' free time, but what the heck-  I'll add a little too!  I can say that there are two things for sure that I hope Baby Miller gets from his/her dad:

1.  His ability to talk/write about absolutely anything and sound like he knows what he's talking about

2.  His ankles (I use to have ankles, but it's been a while since I've seen them, so I figure it's a safe bet to hope for ankles like Chris has...)

Note:  There are a ton of other things I hope this kid picks up from Chris, these two are just presently at the top of my list.

I digress.

Weeks 33 and 34 brought many tired days and nights with them.  It's getting harder and harder to sleep, and nearly impossible to get comfortable while sitting, standing, or walking.  Which pretty much means that I am uncomfortable most, if not all, of the time.  I will say again though that this pregnancy has been fairly easy on me (physically), so I'm trying to not complain too much as I come into the home stretch (don't quote me on that...)

Chris and I have had fun reading to Baby Miller at night before we go to bed.  Hopefully this is a tradition that we're able to keep up with once are little guy/gal gets here!  A huge thanks to all of our friends and my students for the books that have been given to us.  It's fun to read books that I read when I was a kid, and it's even more fun for Chris to read many of them for the first time.  Our current favorite:  The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton.  It's a cute little book about hippos and belly buttons, and I highly recommend it!

Our Little Cucumber Part 10

Back for OLCP10, Yep that’s right another week of me impersonating a writer and sharing with you important things about our how our Little Cucumber Bundle of Joy is developing and what ever happens to spill out of my pea size brain that sits on my shoulders.

BM (Baby Miller) (Yes, that is the first and last use of those initials together) is almost 6 pounds and still packing on the pounds at a rate of about an ounce a day (and jumping around all crazy like in BabyMamas belly (seriously last night the kid moved over to one side and it looked like Allison had a lopsided belly (it could still be an Alien) but as Long as SHIM is happy and comfortable, right?). In addition to nearing a good fighting weight to “Take On the World” (queue Rocky Music) Baby Miller is also about 18.5 inches in length from head to heel.

So the fruit/vegetable of the week is a Crenshaw Melon, which happens to weigh about the same as SHIM this week. I had planned on providing a wealth of knowledge on the said "Crenshaw Melon" but I was unable to find anything on the fruit at Wikipedia. However, Wikipedia did highlight that Crenshaw is a town in South LA that brought us Ice Cube, Ice-T (and several other cold items), two mayors of LA, Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry, and a portion of the LA Riots. I might try to look the fruit up in other places next time on the World Wide Intraweb like in a food dictionary.

So there is a lot the baby is doing in these last 3 weeks of living in Allison, which I will spare you most of the details of. However, Procter & Gamble should change the name of that fabric softener which SHIM seems to be shedding and eating which leads to other things…

At the end of this week Allison will be considered Full-Term, which means she made it to 37 weeks with Baby Miller (which I think is about as long she has made it with me if we factor in the Boston/Brazil living arrangements). It is amazing/scary to think that we are only a matter of weeks (and it could even be DAYS) away from being parents and having a child.

I wonder if Baby Miller is having thoughts of what is to come. SHIM is probably thinking and saying “So I am not going to be working living around here anymore?”. I wonder if that baby is as scared as I am that they are coming into my life and into this world. I have no idea what to expect and in a lot of ways what to do.

Such big things are all happening at once…Pregnancy, birth, a new life, a child, being parents; I hope and pray that I RISE up to the challenge, I hope that I am a good parent, I hope I am a good role model, I hope SHIM looks up to me, I hope he/she doesn't do the things I did wrong, I hope that I instill faith, character, honor, politeness, toughness and teach him/her to dream, have great confidence and self-control. I hope that this Baby achieves everything I want for him/her (AND MORE) and achieve all he/she wants to accomplish, I hope that….well I could go on and on for all the things I wish/hope/want for my new child and one thing is for sure…It will be an interesting journey.