Category Archives: Baby

Baby, Family, Home

Mending Fences

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We had a full day of really high winds last weekend, and came home from the grocery store to find that the privacy fence on one side of our yard had blown down! We never did figure out whether the fence belonged to us or the rental property next door but it came down to this: If it was theirs, the landlord wasn’t going to fix or replace it, and if it was ours, we’d have to pay a $1,000 deductible to repair it under our homeowners policy. Patrick figured he could do it himself for less than half that, so that was his weekend project.

As you can see, the whole thing was pretty gross and rotted, so he kicked it all into the neighbors’ yard and started from scratch. Look at the finished product, a day and a half later!

(Please excuse the messy yard. Between water restrictions and pregnancy, it’s been pretty neglected for the past few months!)

Lola is so happy to have her fence back. She was on the leash for a while there, and not happy about it.

We did get down to Fayetteville for a day to celebrate Dixon’s 3rd birthday. He had a party at Jumping Time, which is a big warehouse full of those inflatable bouncy house things. Patrick had as much fun as anyone — we might have to do his birthday there as well …

In other news, Joe has been a little kickin’ chicken for the past few days! He may be developing into a morning person (God help us) — yesterday morning he did a whole dance routine in there, complete with high kicks. It never ceases to amaze me. Some days I sit on the couch with my shirt pulled up, just watching these little pokes pop up all over my belly.

We started our confident childbirth class last week. We learned about stages of labor and various positions for dealing with the pain. At the end of the class, we all had to lie on the floor and do this guided imagery thing where we were supposed to imagine ourselves on a beach with the waves crashing and just relaaaaax … It didn’t work. We got the giggles so bad that I thought we might be asked to leave! We have three classes to go, including a tour of the birthing center. Fun!

Patrick has started a blog on Joe’s behalf. (http://www.joetremblay.com) He’s only got a few posts up, but you may want to bookmark it for future reference. Enjoy!

Baby

Presents!

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Yesterday the mailman brought two really cool gifts for Joe.

From Matthew (by way of his lovely wife, Alecia): Joe’s first camel, all the way from Kuwait!

And from Patrick’s folks, a super-snuggly Superman outfit! It’s for 6-12 months, so it will be just the right size for Halloween and cold-weather crimefighting.

What a lucky boy he is, and what lucky parents we are!

Baby, Fun, Home

Last Weekend

I’m getting behind on these updates!

My sister, Amy, came to visit last weekend. We had a whirlwind tour of children’s consignment stores and then Patrick met up with us to see Ira Glass at the Modlin Center.

Ira Glass is the host of This American Life, a great NPR show that we’ve all been listening to for as long as we can remember. It was very strange to hear his voice and see him at the same time, but the show was great! He explained a bit about how each show is put together and gave the background on some of the more memorable stories. Here he is on Letterman, to help you put the face with the voice:

He even showed a clip from the new This American Life TV show, which I’d never seen. It was a story about Haider Hamza, an Iraqi who was traveling around the U.S. to talk to Americans about how they felt about the war in Iraq. He sets up a sort of lemonade stand that says “Talk to an Iraqi” and waits for people to come up and say hello.

In some places he was pointedly ignored, in others he was met with instant anger and in some he had some really thoughtful conversations with people. I remembered that Hamza had been to our hometown of Fayetteville and I worried that the clips from that stop would be among the most contentious. Instead, he said that of all the people he spoke with, the military families (whose loved ones were there or had been there) were the most understanding of his worries and the most pleasant to talk with. Whew!

After the show, Amy and I went to a few more shops and then had dinner at Panera before coming home to collapse. The next day we got up early and went to do the baby registries at Target and Babies R’ Us. It was great having her along because she gave me the scoop on what we’ll really need vs. what will just take up space, and she knows what we’ll inherit as hand-me-downs from her. (Speaking of hand-me-downs, did I mention she arrived with five huge tubs of baby-boy clothes for us? Sweet!) Anyway, even with her guidance it turns out there is a lot of stuff that one tiny person needs. And that doesn’t even include furniture, which we’re starting to learn our way around now …

Once the registries were all set, we went to see “The Business of Being Born,” a documentary about how childbirth has been medicalized over the past century in the United States. The C-section rate here is up to 40-something percent, about four times the rate recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO?) In Europe and the rest of the world, most births are attended by a midwife and result in healthy moms and babies. Here, with all our shiny equipment and through-the-roof medical costs, it’s handled by doctors — but our newborn death rate is the second worst on the planet. So, more money + more intervention = more deaths. Super!

I went into the movie knowing that I wanted to avoid a C-section (I’ve never had major surgery, and the day that I become a mother hardly seems like the time to start), but I walked out with the realization that so many other things (the beloved epidural, for example) can lead me right into one.

Long story short (too late!) … I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but I’m going to try to have Joe as naturally as possible. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll go to a hospital (I’m not brave enough for a home birth!), but I’m going to be much more wary of all the “standard procedure.” If a medically necessary (i.e., not because the doctor is impatient) C-section happens, it won’t be the end of the world — I will be glad to know I didn’t just get hustled into it.

Wow, that was a long update! Some other small things, just to wrap up:

  • Patrick finally felt Joe move! He had his hand against my belly as we went to bed one night, and just when I started to think Joe had called it a day, Patrick got a big THUMP! against his palm. Yay!
  • I am officially huge. Belly photos coming, as soon as I get up the nerve.
  • Patrick has been busy transferring some of our old VHS tapes to digital so that we can throw the tapes away. There are some old home-movie gems in there — we’ll be posting clips soon!
Baby

23 Weeks …

Here’s what Joe looks like in there at 23 weeks. He has eyebrows already, can you believe it?

I’ve been enjoying some really crazy mood swings lately. Tonight at the dinner table, I burst into tears for no reason at all. Patrick took me to the couch and hugged me until I felt better, and managed not to laugh at me until I had cried it all out.

Later, when I felt Joe kicking, I pulled my shirt up and stared down at my belly for a few minutes. I noticed that my belly button is turning inside out, but somehow it came out, “My umbrella is turning inside out.” This caused me to laugh so hard I thought I was going to hurt myself. Hormones are fun!

The nursery is all painted now, and it’s so cute! Patrick noted that it matches the cover of Joe’s first book, which Patrick went out and bought for him as soon as we found out we were pregnant:

Baby

New Ultrasound Photos!

Joe cooperated fully with the ultrasound tech this morning, letting her get all the shots she needed of his little heart and kidneys. His heart was pumping away in there and I could see all four perfectly formed chambers. What an amazing thing to see!

Once all the organ-examining was over, the tech got a few fun photos for me to take home. Here’s his baby face in profile — you can even see a little eyeball!

He’s looking to the upper left of your screen. Look at that sweet nose!

He was quite the wiggle worm, moving all over the place. He yawned twice (who knew they yawned in there?) and at one point had the back of his hand draped dramatically over his forehead, like “Enough already!”

Oh, and I do believe he’s developing his father’s feet:

Baby

Joe's First Outfit

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My co-workers Nick and Val surprised me with a little gift when I came in after the ultrasound – Joe’s first outfit! (They had a “Betty” outfit tucked away too, just in case!)

How cute is this:

When I laid it out just now to take the photo, Patrick asked what “Flat Joey” was doing. Hee.

On Saturday, I’m cashing in the gift certificate he got me for a prenatal massage.  He’s even picking me up so that I don’t have to worry about driving once I’m all relaxed.

Then on Sunday, I’m going to start cleaning out the guest room to officially make it a nursery. There’s so much to do! I want to get started right away so that we’re not totally overwhelmed when the manic nesting phase kicks in ….

Baby

It's A Boy!

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This morning’s ultrasound revealed what we’ve been dying to know — Champ is very much a boy, and a healthy one at that!

(Grrr … scary Skeletor face!)

As soon as the tech pointed out a little tushy and some legs, Patrick looked and said, “So it’s a boy?” I was sure the tech was going to say, “No, that’s his foot” or something. But after a few seconds of waiting for me to get with the program, she said, “Daddy’s right — it’s a boy!”

So, now that that’s settled, we’re pretty sure we’ve got the name squared away: Joseph VanderClute Tremblay. (I’m already calling him Joe!)

Joseph is the middle name of Patrick’s dad (and all his dad’s brothers) and VanderClute is of course my maiden name. I like the idea of being able to pass that on. (My dad said, “Are you sure you want to saddle a kid with a middle name like that?” Hello, you saddled me with a last name like that! At least Joe will only have to write it out if he wants to.)

Now, the shopping begins!

Baby

Baby Classes!

We are all signed up for our “Confident Childbirth” classes at Bon Secours, starting on Feb. 15. I’m so excited to tour the hospital, watch the video, do the breathing exercises … all of it. Patrick will try to make me laugh during the parts where we’re supposed to pay attention, but I won’t be distracted!

I’ve also scheduled my first prenatal yoga class for Jan. 15. There will be eight classes in all — one per week. I hope it will help me relax and ease my already-aching back. I also hope I’m not the only new girl in that first class; if everyone is doing handstands and splits while I’m struggling to stand on one foot, I will not be happy.

(Pffttt … I can do that.)

In the meantime, this Tuesday is our big day to find out if Champ is a boy or girl. If it’s a girl, we’ve got a pretty good idea what her name will be. If it’s a boy, we have some ideas but still have some thinking to do. I’m just looking forward to calling the little one by name instead of always saying “he or she” or even “it.”

I wonder if Patrick will still call the baby Champ as he/she grows up?

Baby, Family, Home, Travel

Post-Christmas Post

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We are back safe and sound from NY, where I saw my first white Christmas in who knows how long. We had a nice time with Patrick’s folks, racked up some great gifts, ate our weight in candy and just relaxed for a few days.

We also saw I Am Legend, which was scary as all get-out and incredibly sad at one point. That’s all the details you’re getting out of me — go see it!

I’m happy to report that I am finally starting to feel Champ move! What a weird, amazing feeling. It usually happens at bedtime — just when I’m nodding off, this little tumbly sensation pops up in my belly. Tonight I took a long bath and that inspired some acrobatics, too! I can’t wait until Patrick can feel all that movement going on. It makes Champ more of a current presence to me instead of just someone I’ll meet eventually.

This weekend we’ll go to my parents’ house to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of my mom’s mom and stepdad, known to us as Mumsey and Grandy.

After that, New Year’s!