Yesterday, Anne was given her very first baby shower. The women at her office hosted a fun and festive baby party showering her with some great gifts and encouragement. They had cool posters that said “Baby Jack” along with balloons, games, cupcakes and great food. She received a very cool Pack and Play, baby clothes, a hand-made blanket and the ever-popular breast pump. (Only your co-workers can give you a breast pump.) Anne had a really great time.

A special shout out goes to Katie Schaber and Antoinette Morgan who put a lot time and hard work into making it a wonderful shower!

Friend of the blog Christine Moers recently talked about still getting diaper samples in the mail even though none of her kids are still in diapers. Yesterday we received our first diaper sample from Huggies. It was finally affirmation from corporate America that we are indeed having a baby or have a baby or that we are simply the “Current Resident.”. This little complimentary gift legitimizes Anne and I as real family consumers. We will now begin the journey of being targeted by Madison Avenue as parents of infants, toddlers, little kids, preteens, teenagers, and college students. Before we were just a couple that most of the advertising world really didn’t care about. We weren’t those active consumers that bought everything from toys to happy meals. But now we are a part of that club where three-fourths of our budget will now go to our children.

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Last week I had written that I was on the hunt for a changing table. I was searching Craigslist but was coming up empty. This morning I saw a new listing and they were just a few minutes from our house. I called and they said I could come on by. I went and checked it out. I sent pictures of it to Anne to view and she gave her approval. So I gave the young mom $15 and put the changing table in the car. I just put it the nursery and its waiting for Jack.

Mission Accomplished. (This fatherhood thing isn’t so hard)

Anne had a friend today give her a tip about how to pass time in the delivery room. She mentioned that she and her husband played cards. So Anne and I are trying to gather up some of our favorite games to pass the time between contractions. We are still working on our list. Here is what we have so far:

Connect Four
Uno
Phase Ten
Regular playing cards 

Do you have any other game suggestions for us? Or other ways to pass the time in the delivery room?

We have officially entered into the eighth month of the pregnancy. Our book defines the eighth month has approximately 32 to 35 weeks. Today we are at 32 weeks!

This week Jack is reaching 4 pounds and stretching about 19 inches. His skin is no longer see-though but opaque because of increasing fat accumulating under the skin.

While Anne definitely looks like a pregnant women, she apparently must also look motherly. As she was giving our names to the hostess at the restaurant after church, the hostess asked Anne if she would also be needing a high-chair. The strange thing is not only did Anne not have a little child with her, but she was wearing a coat that hid her pregnant belly. I guess it was that glow on her face that shined, “I am ready to be a mom!”

And it’s true — she is definitely ready and excited to be a mom!

Anne is a planner. She likes to be prepared for everything. I think it must come from her military upbringing. So with 2 months still to go until our due date, she has already purchased all of her items she will need for her hospital suitcase.

“When will you actually pack the suitcase”  I asked.

“Oh, very soon” Anne said excitedly.

“What will be in it?”

“Enya CDs, chapstick, Elf DVD, pajamas, a going home outfit for Jack, clothes for you…” she said.

“What kind of clothes for me?”

“Just some change of clothes”

I assumed that was something you pack a few days before your due date. Not with Anne. I wouldn’t be surprised if by Tuesday that suitcase is packed, zipped and sitting next to our front door or even in our car.

It’s always nice being prepared. Especially when you are married to a last-minute husband.

Anne’s parents Sue and Rich Goldsmith (also known as Grandpa and Grammy) have come to Nashville for a few days. This is the first time they have seen their daughter really pregnant since Thanksgiving when Anne was just starting to display a baby bump. This afternoon we all headed to Babies R Us to browse. Anne was showing her mom some of the items on her registry. While the two women eagerly moved through the store, Granpa and I slowly shuffled behind hoping we would discover a secret sports bar in the crib section. No such luck.

Since they were not going to be able to make Anne’s showers coming up over the next month, they decided to buy some shower gifts now. They bought us two great gifts. First, the Chicco Cortina/Keyfit Travel System or in layemen’s terms a stroller and car seat. and then second the Rainforest Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym or as normal people might call it a blanket with a mobile.

We have both items set up and sitting in the living room. We are two-months out and our house is getting overwhelmed with baby items and Anne is loving all of it. We just gave the stroller..I mean Travel System a test drive on street. It handled the road like a pro. Jack will definitely be traveling in comfort and in style.

Thanks Grandpa and grammy for those great gifts!

It seems that people acquire baby stuff in numerous way. They can go to a place like Babies R Us and buy it like we did with our crib. They can have friends generously give you their used stuff which recently happened with us. They can have family and friends give you stuff through showers. And then there’s Craigslist.

Anne and I are currently looking for a changing table. I assumed with so many people moving out of the infant stage on a daily basis, there would be plenty of used ones available. For the last several weeks I have been keeping my eye on Craigslist to see what is available. You can find people selling these tables for $15-$100. I have seen several that were nice and so I try to contact the seller. No luck. Either they are going as quickly as they post the ad or they just don’t want to respond to me.

Everyone keeps telling me about the great deals you can get on Craigslist. I am still optimistic but slowly losing hope. But I will keep persevering. I know that there is a changing table out there in Nashville (or surrounding area) just waiting to find its new home. So I will keep searching…

When I was a single guy and at a house of friends with young kids, there were always strange baby contraptions all over the house. They normally consisted of odd chairs attached to mobiles or toys designed to capture the little ones attention. Sometimes there would be babies in them casually bouncing and other times the chairs just sat in a corner waiting to be used.

These baby contraptions seemed odd to me so far from my normal world. Well that strange world has now collided with mine.

Yesterday we received a big box in the mail. It was from our friends Jason and Catha Huff. They had sent us some clothes, an infant tub and a Fisher-Price Kick and Play. ”It was one of those,” I thought. “That strange seat/toy/mobile thing that had always bewildered me.” And now it wasn’t in someone else’s home, it was in my home.

This afternoon I put the Kick and Play together and Anne placed it in its new spot in our bonus room. Right now it just sits there waiting for Jack. I realize that for the next several years these strange objects will now be a part of my everyday life. I’m officially an owner of a toy/seat thing-a-majig–and I think I like it.

It is never too early to map the route to the hospital. When the time comes I need to be operating out of instinct. Every movement of my body needs to be responding to months of practice. So with 2 months out I think its important to have the exact route mapped and examined for every possible scenario.

I started by mapping it using Google Maps only to see Google making a classic mistake. They advise a route that is 13.9 miles. Are they intentionally trying to make my wife deliver the baby in the car halfway to the hospital? As a knowledgeable and savvy Music City motorist, I know I can get my wife to the hospital in 10.9 miles. Three miles is the difference between delivering Jack in a comfortable hospital bed versus delivering him on the side of the road.

It’s all about being prepared.

One of the questions I asked during our childbirth class was, “Did the hospital have wireless?” The answer was yes which of course meant that when I am not coaching and encouraging Anne I will be able to bring you constant blogging updates about the delivery. Maybe we will just hook up a webcam and everyone can watch the delivery live. I am sure Anne would have no problem with that.

This is our last week in our seventh month. Our pregnancy book places the seventh month at 28-31 weeks. Not a whole lot to report. Jack is 3-plus pounds and growing. He still has 3-5 more pounds to go before his actual delivery date which means he will do quite a bite of growing over the next two months. He continues to be active–moving and kicking around. Our book says he will start sleeping longer and in more defined patterns of awake time and sleep time.

Overall, Anne is feeling well. She seems to be sleeping good with her occasional bad night. I hope you have enjoyed your week 31 update. Have a great week!

Anne has been wanting to get more exercise lately. She would love to get out more and walk a little bit. Not anything too much just something to keep active during her pregnancy. Well today she got her wish and maybe a little more. With a holiday on the calendar, Anne and I decided to drive up into Kentucky and visit historic Bardstown. We had never been there but saw the town online and thought it seemed like a good day trip. But funny thing happened on our way to Bardstown, we saw a sign for Mammoth Cave. “Hmmmm,” we thought. “That could be fun.”

So we made a detour and found ourselves in Mammoth Cave National Park. The tour was starting in five minutes (the next tour wouldn’t start for another hour and a half) so we quickly bought tickets and jumped in with the group. The first thing the tour guide said before we started was we would be doing a lot of climbing and descending for 2 hours and anyone who couldn’t physically handle that should tell him now. Anne looked at me with the look of a little kid trying to convince her parents she could handle the scary roller coaster. “I can do it,” she assured me.

So we headed out with the group. The tour started by descending straight down 250 feet through winding steps. Good exercise for a pregnant women.  Knowing the tour had its share of climbs, they had several resting and sitting spots along the way. Overall, The cave tour was very interesting. Anne was definitely winded during one stretch at the end where we were ascending back up but she did great.

We probably won’t be touring many caves once we get closer to the due date but we can’t wait to head back to some of these spots when Jack gets older.

After 10 hours of learning about childbirth and childcare, Anne and I are exhausted. If we could describe our experience in one word it would be: OVERLOAD. I have already forgotten half of it and the rest of it will soon fade away in just a few days.

Day 2 got long at the end but we survived. We watched a video of a c-section being performed. This would probably fit into the category of “too much information.” I don’t think watching that procedure was something we really needed to see.

I practiced coaching Anne on how to breathe and giving her encouraging and soothing words.
“You’re doing great”
“The contraction is almost over” 
“You are digging your hands into my hand and I am losing feeling” 

The dads were also required to hold a fake baby through the last part of the class. I nurtured mine with fake love that he seemed to receive well. Although my fake son will probably grow up to resent me for it.

The best part of taking the class this weekend were 2 main things. We learned exactly where to go and check-in when Anne is ready to go to the hospital. That might not seem like much but before this weekend we didn’t have a clue where we should go. The other important thing we did was get registered with the hospital. All the insurance stuff is done and we even gave them the info for the birth certificate. We also were given a tour and so we know exactly what the delivery rooms, recovery rooms, nursery, etc. looks like.

In about 2 months we will be doing all this for real. I hope these 60 days go quickly!