This afternoon I heard distressful screams and groaning coming from the living room. It sounded like it was coming from my pregnant wife. Could she be experiencing early, early labor pains? Surely not. We are still many months away from our delivery date.

As a concerned husband I quickly ran into the next room to find out what was happening. And sure enough it was coming from Anne. She was squirming and fidgeting — anxious and nervous. Her body twitched. “They’re going to eat me,” she screamed. Anne quickly maneuvered her Pacman away from the ghost as she gobbled up more dots and ate her way to the top score.

I was relieved to see that the groans were just Anne playing Pacman but concerned how much stress it seemed to be causing her. (Anne had put in my Christmas stocking one of those joystick games that features multiple classic arcade games including my favorite Galaga.) Maybe Pacman will be banned from Anne when she enters her third trimester. Pregnant women do not need the stress of trying to get through a maze while being chased by ghost named Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde.

Jack continues to grow and this week has hit the one and a half pound mark and is about 8 1/2 inches in length. Our pregnancy book says that he is now gaining about 6 ounces a week.

The other exciting news in baby development is that Jack’s tiny face is almost fully formed complete with eyelashes, eyebrows and a little bit of hair. I am hoping Jack will have blonde hair like me when I was young. (Although there is a rumor going around that I am no longer blonde but I refused to acknowledge this false news story).

For a baby who is still in the womb and not doing much but growing and kicking around, Jack has already become a veteran of receiving gifts. While Anne and I certainly were blessed with some great gifts from family and friends this year, our unborn son is the one who is piling up the presents. He received new clothes, shoes, stuffed animals, books, blankets and toys.

I can’t imagine what he will start to receive when he is actually born.

Merry Christmas, Jack. You were our favorite gift this year.

Jack may come into this world a Tennessean but I want him to always know that part of his roots are from Texas — the land of his father.

This evening Anne and I arrived in Dallas for Christmas with my family and this marks the first time Jack has been in the great state of Texas.

Tonight Jack has been kicking, punching and moving around and I am assuming it is because he is in the land of Cowboys and open ranges, of oil wells and everything big.

We may be tired from the almost 10 hour drive but our little boy seems ready to get his Texas adventure going. His parents are just ready for bed.

In my last post I wrote about how Anne has been struggling to find a comfortable way to sleep. She has tried many different positions and small pillow placements but nothing has worked. She has remained miserable spending most nights tossing and turning. There was still one option remaining. I knew it was a possibility but I was hoping she could find another solution. But none could be found so this afternoon Anne came home with a new member to our bed — The body pillow.

Obviously I see the writing on the wall. There will soon not be enough room for both me and the body pillow. It is only a matter of time before I am sleeping in the guest room.

As little Jack continues to grow and Anne’s belly gets bigger, finding the best sleep position becomes more of a challenge. She nightly struggles to find the right pillow combination / placement to give her the best chance of actually sleeping. So I’ve decided to do a quick Q and A with Anne about this new bed-time dilemma

Jeff:  What was your favorite sleep position before getting pregnant?
Anne: On my stomach.

Jeff: Obviously, sleeping on your stomach now is probably difficult. How do you currently sleep?
Anne: It is very tragic. I have to only sleep on my side. If I sleep on my stomach, Jack kicks me.

Jeff:  Really? He actually kicks you?
Anne: Yes. This morning I actually talked to him about it and he kicked me again.

Jeff: Hmmm. Maybe I need to talk to him about that. I noticed there are a lot of pillows on your side of the bed.
Anne: Yes, I use them to try to prop myself up and become more comfortable. Sometimes I have one under my head, one under my belly and one under my back.

Jeff:  Are you able to sleep that way?
Anne: Not great. I haven’t found the perfect solution yet.

Jeff: Well, I hope you find the right pillow combination and sleeping position. In case you are wondering, I’m sleeping fine on the other side of the bed. Thanks for letting me ask you some questions.
Anne: Your welcome!

Now the question is: What will Jack look like? Will he have blonde hair like his dad or brown like his mom? Will he be tall? Will he have a big smile? These questions will remain unanswered right now but if he does look like his dad (and enjoys finger painting), he might look something like this cute kid:

By the way, this picture of me was taken when I participated in a children’s art program at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and later featured in the Dallas Morning News (our local newspaper).

This week Jack has reached 22 weeks old and more importantly now weighs one pound! According to our pregnancy book, he is also nearly 8 inches.

He continues to stay active as Anne frequently feels him kicking and punching. Our book says that Jack is now sensitive to light and might move when there is bright light close to the belly. He is also very aware of noise hearing Anne’s heartbeat, her blood circulating and of course our voices. I have been trying to regularly talk to him. (training a child begins in the womb.) Anne thinks we are already forming a secret boys club.

Anne is still feeling well. She’s been trying to get to the YMCA and walk a few times a week. Right now in Nashville it is wet and cold so it is tough to walk outside.

Next week we officially move into the sixth month of pregnancy!

When Anne and I decided on the name Jack for our first son we knew we were going with a popular name. But how popular is it? Babycenter.com just released its’ 100 most popular baby names of 2008 and Jack ranks as #8. His middle name of Eliot did not make the list so I guess that gives him a little distinction.

And if we would have had a girl, our first name and middle name for her were definitely popular this year, too. But we will keep that one a secret until we have her.

Now that we found out we are having a boy, the most popular question we get is, “Do you have a name?” And our answer is always a strong, “Yes!”

So without further ado, I would like to present to you the name of our first son:

Jack is a name that both Anne and I liked and Eliot is a family name on both sides of our family. Anne’s grandfather was Eliot. My dad’s middle name is Elliott which was his mom’s maiden name.

Disclaimer: And while we really like the name, we reserve the right as parents to change our minds once we meet our son face to face. But right now, we really like the name!

Well, our son is now 21 weeks old. He is about 7 inches in length and almost 11 ounces in weight. His arms and legs are finally in proportion, neurons are now connected between the brain and muscles and the cartilage throughout the body is turning to bone.

Anne is definitely feeling the baby move around. He is kicking and punching and shifting to get into a more comfortable position. This of course can create some uncomfortable moments for the mom. But Anne is feeling great. Her eating habits are basically back to normal — able to eat a lot of what she couldn’t in her first trimester.

We also want to give a big “thank you” to my sister Meredith and her family for sending us our first “boy” items which were very fun to receive in the mail. Little baby items are starting to appear all over the house and he isn’t even going to be here for another 4 months.

I don’t know why but it seems that pregnant women must give off a vibe that says to every stranger, friend and well-meaning family member, “Please rub your hand on my pregnant belly!”

Anne had her first encounter with the casual pat of the belly from a passerby. This can be an awkward moment no matter how close you may be to that person. Right now, Anne has an unspoken rule: “Unless you are my husband, please refrain from touching or rubbing my belly.” But even though she doesn’t necessarily want people touching her, often there is not a lot she can do. Most people will just go for the quick rub. 

So Anne is looking for your advice. What do you say if someone wants to touch your belly? How do you kindly and politely let people know that you would prefer they not rub your little one. And how do you also avoid the quick touch that you often do not see coming until the last second?

So for all those moms out there who have experienced being a magnet to every curious hand rubber, we need your advice!!

When they did our ultrasound, they also took some 3-D imaging of our baby. Maybe for the doctors this is useful but for the parents it can be disturbing. The images make the child look like an alien baby or something that is made of wax. But as first time parents we were excited to see any image of our new son. So I have included a picture of our baby in 3-D. I have labeled a few of the baby parts to give you perspective.