My Delicate Condition

Wow – so I think I’m going to have a baby (18 weeks into this and I’m starting to get the inevitable). Emily is a little worried about me because I made myself a “baby doll” the other night with one of the pajama outfits that D-Gina gave us. I don’t know if anyone else in the world has done this but I feel like its making the baby seem more real to have some sort of physical – outside representation of the little one who is coming (soon…). I sit and look at “him” (the t-shirt stuffed yellow duck pajama boy) and wonder what I should say to “him” – is this behavior somehow preparing me for parenthood? I have no idea – but I do feel an odd sort of affection for lil yellow pj guy.

I have been reading the Sears Birth Book (a present from some of my great work compadres) and folding the onesies that em brought back from Boston & it does feel like something is sinking in. Last night Em & I were at Ikea for storage options & we also looked at baby room stuff – I’m not into the Ikea options –but I do have a list of what I think we need – from crib to receiving blankets to vaporizer etc… It’s not too bad so far. I’m gonna ask some of the recent parent friends & family if its on target.

Emily is funny cause she kept getting mad at me for trying to carry stuff or pick stuff up at Ikea – she is concerned (suddenly) with my delicate condition.

18 Weeks today - visembryo update

Week 16 Post Fertilization...

Growth continues, but no new structures form after this point.

HEAD

Eyes are at final destination and face forward rather than to the sides and reflexes, such as blinking, develop. Ears move to final position and stand out from head.

ABDOMEN

Meconium begins to accumulate in the bowels. Meconium is the product of cell loss, digestive secretion and swallowed amniotic fluid.

LIMBS

Fingertips and toes develop the unique swirls and creases of fingerprints and toe prints.

NERVOUS

The nerves are being coated with a fatty substance system (myelin) to speed nerve cell transmission and insulate them for uninterrupted impulses.

BLOOD

Circulation is completely functional. The umbilical cord system continues to grow and thicken as blood travels with considerable force through the body to nurture the fetus. The placenta is now almost equal in size to the fetus.

http://visembryo.com/baby/week16.html

OB VISIT 3

OB VISIT #3

Today we went in for our December appt. – and everything went great. My uterus has moved up higher in my belly and the babes heartbeat is 150 beats a minute (its really fast) - and my blood pressure is good – no sign of diabetes. All in all everything is looking good.

Maternity Clothes

Well we discovered a trick for tolerable butch maternity shopping - that is to go into a "real" maternity store first. Em and I were downtown last weekend and we went into this ladies shop and I was horrified!!!!! It was filled with clothes I would never ever ever in a million years touch - much less wear. Then we went across the street to Old Navy (thank you Phancy) and up to the 3rd floor maternity ward and suddenly even the jeans with the applique didn't look nearly so bad.

Size hurts though... even before getting pg I was getting a little freaked out about the fact that after a childhood & youthful 20's of being a skinny stick guy I started to gain lbs and waist size every year since 30. Gone are the youthful days of the 28" waisted jeans of yore... and 10 years later at 40 I'm digging the baggy fit Lucky Jeans 38's that fit much closer to a 40 - and this is sinching the jeans on my low hips under where the tummy is actually making itself known.

So my initial maternity thought was that I'd just step up the jeans into the really big guy sizes - 42, 44, 46 etc but then when blasto started pushing out into my low guts I realized that in a month or so I'd be wearing jeans that would fall off my butt cause there wouldn't be anything holding them up.... This called for a change of plans - hence the trip downtown.

So the good folks at Gap and their sister stores make jeans & cords to fit the big belly - but they size them funny... there is no 38"x30" like Levis & Luckys and real jeans -- no now I am looking at S, M L and XL with a hard to find chart that says L = 12, 14 and XL is 16 etc - how hard would it be to add the inches to this chart????? Too hard to do clearly. Long story short - after the humiliation of trying to pull on a pair of med's and a pair of Larges - Yup I'd be an XL. - Fuck!

Humiliation suffered I am now the proud papa of 2 pairs of roll front pants that better get me through the next 6 months. On a happier note - the Manifesto Mens XL shirts are PERFECT dude maternity shirts & I snagged two beauties at their sample sale a couple weeks back (plus I got two really cute shirts for the lil dude when he gets here).