I Don't Know

I realized something the other night. I do not know my lullabys and I suck at reading out loud.

Amber informed me on Monday night that I must start singing to the baby. We were in bed, so I shimmied up to her stomach and started to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. A couple verses in I drew a complete blank. I finished the song with something like "dum de dum" in the rhythm of the song. Amber happened to have a book on her nightstand that had some songs in it, so we broke it open and picked one. We sang it together, allthewhile I was thinking, "Are these versus new?"

I wasn't about to let The Remix down, so I belted out one of my favorite songs, Sixteen Tons. (I like it so much I have three versions of it in my collection.) It's not exactly an empowering song to say the least, but Johnny Cash did a version, so at least I'm influenciung It's taste in music toward the good stuff.

In this same book happened to be some nursery rhymes. Great, I thought, I'll soothe the beast (the baby not Amber) with a story. I start to read outloud and I swear to the God of Breast Milk I sounded like a 3rd grader with a severe st-sss-st-studder. It got b-b-b-better by the end, but I was shocked and appaled.

I've heard people say that parenting is the hardest thing they've ever done, and I know I'll learn a lot, but these are not the lessons I had in mind. I was expecting the subject matter to be diapers, baby-proofing a house, and eventually the hair "down there" talk. I'm sure I'll be f-f-fine reading to the kid and learn all the important songs, but for now, Johnny Cash and Tennessee Ernie Ford are going to have to do.

Nurseries and Showers and Lazy Boy's, Oh My!

Amber said something to the effect last night, "this thing could be here in two and a half weeks." She's totally right! When we hit 37 weeks, the doctors most likely will not stop labor and the Remix will be here, and finally have a sex. Yowza.

It's a good thing the nursery is almost done. It's all painted, furniture is setup, nightlight installed. We even got our Lazyboy delivered, and I'm American enough to admit that it is one of the most comfortable chairs I've ever sat it. Sure, it's a little big and ugly, but we got the nicest looking chair in the ugly chair store. Go us. I'll post some pics soon.

Amber had her family baby shower on Sunday, and again, the generosity of people is amazing. I'm sure Amber has a list of stuff we still need, however, to me it looks like we're fully stocked. Diaper Genie, tons of clothes, numerous blankets, Amber's pooh-bear from when she was little, and most importantly, numerous diapers, although I'm sure it's enough for about eight days.

Again, thanks to everyone for the shower on Sunday. Amber had a blast and really loved it.

We Have a Baby License

On Saturday we attended and successfully completed a birthing class. After the 8 hour course, they gave us a certificate with our names on it. I'm sure you've made or heard comments like, "people should have to get a license to have a kid", well went and got one.

The class consisted of us and about 10 other couples who were also having their first baby. Most were due in the next 2-3 months, and surprisingly, 30% of us were not going to find out the sex of the baby. I was expecting us to be the only ones.

We did everything from watch videos, gave massages to our partners, and practiced breathing exercises. We talked about the different options for pain management (hard drugs, epidurals, au naturale) and the pros and cons of each. I don't think anyone was going full-natural birth, mostly epidurals. The instructor (a delivery nurse veteran) also predicted the sex of the baby for all us surprisers. She says we're having a boy.

The videos made everyone a little squeamish. When they showed the first pictures of crowning during a delivery, it was a strange mix of gasping and loud silence. I have a new found amazement for women and what their bodies are capable of. Oh, and all the women shown during active delivery we naked. Even the instructor had no idea why.

All in all, the class was good for both of us. I learned a lot and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I'm excited to put our baby license to good use.

A Bunch of Lasts

I've noticed that Amber and I seem to be completing something. I think we're both wrapping up our pre-baby lives.

We both start sentences with "This will be the last time," a lot. "This will be the last time we'll be going to the lake without a kid," or "This is the last weekend I can be away without having to worry about you going in to labor." It's really interesting. It feels like being at Disney World, the park is going to close in one hour, and we both say to each other "Oh my god, we only have time for two more rides!"

I must say that I like it. It's amazing to think that next summer we'll have a rug rat to swim with, or that Christmas will involve a new little elf and it's own stocking on the mantle. (You better believe that The Remix will be dressed like an elf, if I have anything to say about it.)

For those of you wondering, Amber is doing great. I can tell she is getting a smidge uncomfortable and sleeping is an effort for her. All that aside, she's radiant and healthy. Her doctor says her weight is spot on and all is going well.

Generosity

I'm floored by the amazing generosity of those around us.

Amber had a baby shower yesterday afternoon with some of her dearest girlfriends. She has known some of these girls since kindergarten! The gifts she received were wonderful and it was great to see how excited Amber was about it all.

The party sounded like a lot of girly fun too. Private chef, games, homemade desserts, the works. They played one game which was to guess the number of skittles in a baby bottle. The answer: 252, correctly guessed by the grandma-to-be, Jackie Coe.

Anyways, a big thanks to everyone who was there yesterday. It meant the world to Amber, which means the world to me.