A Busy Month

It has been exactly one month since our last post, and a lot has happened. Billy continues to grow and become more like a little boy. We had our first true doctor's appointment earlier this week, and Billy now weighs 8 pounds and 9 ounces, or 1 pound more than his birth weight. I definitely can feel that one pound after rocking him for 10 minutes. We got visits from Cousin Asher and Uncle Jordan and Aunt Casey. We survived our first hurricane evacuation. Our first stop was in Jackson, MS where we bunked with Scott and Jenny Pollack and Billy and Michelle Tiep, not to mention baby Zachary, baby Lilly, dogs Oliver and Simba. After a few days of fun in Jackson we moved on to Shreveport, LA. We even managed to get in a visit with cousin Isaac, Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Warren, Nonnie and Papa, and the great grand parents, Mimi, Pappaw, and Nana. We are all looking forward to a less hectic September, and you can count on more frequent posts from now.

Some Spicy Food, Some Sweeping, and Some More Contractions

We took Saturday as a final day to get our baby errands done. Having decided to get induced on Monday Morning, we figured we would sleep in on Sunday and have a nice relaxing day to ourselves, capped by Scott Pollack's surprise party on Sunday Night. That meant hanging curtains, a trip to Michaels, and a quick peek at a rug at World Market. Without firm plans, we decided to go have Thai food with Billy and Michelle in the Marigny. We knew that a dinner like that might be a luxury in a few short weeks. Jody ordered her food extra spicy and we had an enjoyable dinner. When we came home, we did some cleaning around the house, and Jody even pulled out the broom and swept (someone had mentioned that the motion can induce labor). Exhausted, we finally hit the sack at midnight, relishing the quiet and the prospect of a nice 8 hours of sleep. Instead, we got 1 hour and 45 minutes of shallow sleep before Jody's water broke at 1:45 AM.

Some Mild Contractions

We were at the store today when Jody felt a weird tightening around the middle of her stomach. As instructed, we noted the time and went about our shopping. A little while later, Jody announced that she was feeling the same sensation again. We checked the watch. 7 mins had elapsed. Whoa! That seemed pretty quick. We shot each other amused smiles. Was this the moment we have been waiting for? In my mind, I could hear the Winn Dixie clerk calling for a cleanup on Aisle 7 (Frozen Foods) as we hurried out of the store and back to the house to grab our things. Luckilly, things settled down, and the sensation (perhaps some mild contractions) have stopped for now. But it was a friendly reminder that we are getting close.

Along those lines, we had a doctor's appointment on Thursday. The baby has yet to drop (though we think he's heading in that direction) and the quick pace of dilation appears to have slowed. She measured Jody at just under 3 cm. You can judge for yourself whether you think the baby has dropped since Thursday.

We have taken these episodes as a sign that we need to be ready at a moment's notice. We spent a good part of the weekend doing house chores, and made a trip to the grocery store to stock up, just in case it's our last trip before the baby arrives.

Feeling Ready for the Big Day!

2 cm. and Counting

We had another doctor's appointment on Thursday and Jody has progressed to 2 cm. and is 50% effaced (softened). What does all that mean? To paraphrase Malibu Stacey, "Don't Ask Me, I'm Just the Father!" But, she did say that considering that we are still three weeks from the due date, it may signal an early arrival. May! Meanwhile, Jody and I are trying to get our lives in order and get the nursery put together. Last weekend we hung blinds and I finished painting my much ballyhooed Dresser. As an aside, this may be the first time I've ever used the term ballyhooed. Awesome!

We went over to Lou and Susan Good's house last night for a swim party. You know you've reached a turning point in your life when the parties that you go to on a Friday night start at 5:30, end at 7:30 and involve crying over whose turn it is to swing in the porch swing. My kind of parties are the ones that start at 7:30 and end at 5:30. Obviously they've got their priorities screwed up. Coincidentally, I often cried at parties when the booze ran out, so I can't be too critical.

We'll update you again soon. In the meantime, pray for some cooler weather so that Jody is more comfortable.

1 cm. and Counting

A lot has happened since our last post. Most notably, we had a doctor's appointment last Thursday and were informed that Jody is 1 cm dilated, which means she's 10% toward being ready to push. We don't get the sense that anything is imminent, but at least it's a start. Helaine and Bill (henceforth Nonnie and Papa) were in town two weekends ago and helped us take care of some items on the "to do" list. We now have a crib and dresser/changing table set up in the nursery and we have started washing some of the newborn clothes. Jody had me move the entertainment center out of the nursery, which was the final step towards transformation. Gone are the tasteful decorating touches that I added when we first furnished the house. We are in full-on baby preparation mode, and are firing on all cylinders trying to take care of everything. We may need longer than 5 weeks, but we'll see if he cooperates with our schedule.

Strolling In San Francisco

On Day Two we had some good weather and decided to take Isaac out for a stroll. It must have been pretty boring to him, because he slept the whole time. We picked up some Kati rolls and some strong coffee and went to the park to lounge around.