More baby room

Well I have finished putting all the pieces of furniture together (crib, glider, dresser and changing table). It was exhilarating and I like to gaze futuristically at the furniture strewn in the room without any particular order to it yet. We still have to put the borders up and add some decorating touches to it but the room as it stands tells a story in and of it self.

This weekend should see the finishing touches put in so for those who have been clamoring for pictures you may get a peek Monday or so. Unless Nikki decides to come up with something else. Like getting block letters that spell Nicholas’ name to hang in the room. So please be patient!

Oh interesting tidbit here. I was sent to the Baby Depot with instructions to pick up some block letters that spells out N-I-C-H-O-L-A-S. So I get there and located where these items are and then start to dig through to find the 8 letters. As I find each letter I put them on a table behind me (really, when I said I had to dig for them, I really had to dig). I realized after thorough searching that I only had four letters and I looked at the table behind me and the four letters that I had found spelt N-O-A-H. Not sure that Nikki would go for that but it would have made an interesting story when he grows up and ask how we decided what name to give him.

More on the birthing class

More on the birthing class. While we were in the class our instructor was telling us (Dads) about what goes on in the delivery room. She said that there is one doctor who, while in the delivery room would commandeer the dad to help with the delivery. So instead of Dad holding Mom’s hand and encouraging her to push, he would be taking a front row seat saying something like “ten centimeters, I can see the top of his head, keep pushing!”

Birthing classes

Nikki is totally enjoying the pregnancy and I am anxiously awaiting the end of this voyage. As Nicholas waits to make his entrance in this world, we were busy attending a couple of classes in the past week. There was a meet and greet session at the pediatrician’s office. As part of gearing up for the big day we were encouraged to choose a pediatrician now and not wait until the baby is born. Good advice I believe. This physician came highly recommended and I could see why. Nice and relaxed. He made the group feel at home and put all anxieties to rest. So now that we have a pediatrician we are comfortable with, that is one less thing to worry about. I can’t say that I learned anything new per se. But I have a doctor that I like.

We also had a childbirth class which I was a bit skeptical about at first. I thought we would have gotten a member of the Man-Hating Gestapo unit for an instructor but it turned out okay. The instructor was a nurse; old school, who has seen it all and basically understood all the concerns from around the room. She was more helpful than she first appeared and was more than willing to explain everything as patiently as she could. I was actually happy that I went and felt good about us choosing this particular hospital. It seems willing to be as accommodating as possible. I was delighted to learn that the baby will be in the same room as Nikki the entire time she is admitted. That is nice as I sometimes hear stories of babies going missing or accidentally switched.

The class helped us understand what our choices are relative to the hospital policies. We watched a video of a live birth and it was well………….. interesting. I am not particularly squeamish (I hammer up drywall and go deer hunting for fun) but I had to shift around in my seat a few times. Our now darling instructor pointed out that one reason men didn’t have babies was that the pelvic region does not support the birthing process. I thought the comment was funny because as I watched the video I thought there was more to it than that. But who am I to second guess.

The most important thing I learned at the class was what I should be expected to do during labor and delivery. What is that you ask? Freak out.

Although fainting would also be a nice touch…………..

The Waddle

I have come up with a little tune to complement and describe the new dance move that is invading the Maxwell household. It is called The Waddle.

My Jamaican (or Caribbean brethren for that matter) might just be able to put a beat to it.

Here it is……… sing along


Dis is de new dance Nikki find again
Around the house and around the bed
The Waddle is the name and the title
Done by all the pregnant people
It’s my fault my wife love it so

Here’s what you do
Push out yuh belly
Like you having a baby
Put yuh hands on yuh hips
Like yuh gonna trace somebody
Throw your head back
Breathe in deeply

Shimmy to the left
And then slide your body
Shimmy to the right
Curse out yuh husband properly
Grab him by the shirt
Don’t injure him bodily
But let him know
Him responsible for your body

Take it from top
New dance Nikki find again………..

That’s all I have. Clearly I have too much time on my hands but you try driving more than an hour each way to work and see the crap you come up with.

More on Couvades’ Syndrome

I know I wrote on this before but I thought I would touch on it again. Couple days ago I said to Nikki that I was not feeling too great. I described the symptoms by saying I feel a tad bit dizzy. Not overly so. Imagine you were spinning around and around until you get dizzy. Now imagine recovering from the initial dizzy feeling. That is what I felt like. Not totally dizzy just a slight touch of it. Then I told her that I felt fatigued. Not tired because I was doing this or that, just a feeling fatigue. There were more symptoms but I can’t remember them right now.

She started laughing and said Honey, you are having sympathy symptoms again. As it turns out I was really describing how she felt. She had all those symptoms. Weird.

Nicholas' wardrobe

Nikki is totally addicted to baby clothes. She cannot go anywhere without picking up some cute outfit. Now, she can’t walk from here to there without being tired but she has just enough energy to get another outfit for Nicholas. This is despite me telling her to knock it off. She bought him a little leather jacket as part of an outfit that look like he belongs on a Harley. So, since she does not listen to me I put my request in. I want to get a little suit (shirt and tie) for him to wear to church. The perfect little gentleman!

I already have the dresser assembled. I spent the past weekend doing that. Still have a ways to go but I must admit it was a thrill to put it together. Took me all day to get it done but I did it. I had a sense of accomplishment that was made even more sentimental because it will be in the nursery. So as it stands, I have a freshly painted room with curtains and a dresser. Progress. Definitely progress.

The funny thing about finishing the dresser is that Nikki already has some baby clothes to put in there. She was folding a couple onesies and some cute little outfits. As much as I tell her to quit buying these things (addict!) it is nice to open the closet and see the little outfits hanging there. I opened the closet door a few days ago and there they were lined off and hanging. Little outfits! I am thinking, when did she buy these things? I think she sneaks away to get them. And there is a shirt that says “Mommy’s new man!”

Am I being replaced? Now that is disconcerting and I will have to definitely have a stern talk with young Nicholas. I take exception to being phased out. He needs to go get his own girl!

Baby Shows on TV

Well at this point it is a waiting game. I am waiting to go to those childbirth classes, waiting to go on the hospital tours, waiting to meet with the pediatrician and of course waiting for the blessed day. Problem? We are still in the 7th month. So there is a bit of waiting left. I am behind schedule on the assembling of the furniture and Management (Nikki) is getting more and more anxious amidst my procrastination. So, I bribe her by giving her back and foot rubs. Seems to work. No complaints out of her.

Nikki enjoys watching these various child birth programs on The Learning Channel. We usually see a couple leading up to the date of delivery, from labor to delivery and a follow up a few days after to check in on the new baby and family. It is a nice program to watch as we go through preparations. Nikki tapes these and watches these enthusiastically. Me? Well I can watch only one every couple of days at best. There is only so much “ooohh and aaaah that is so cute” that I can handle so I generally limit my viewings. But, each time I watch I can’t help but to think about how tangential the dad’s role is. I swear that the dad’s job is just to stay the hell out of the way and not get in the way of the team that is swirling into action. There was one episode I remember where the wife was pushing and yelling and yelling and pushing and the dad to be was in a corner watching until the baby finally emerged and the doctor announced it was a boy. The dad then jumped in the air raised both arms and shouted “yes” like he just scored a touchdown. As for me I will be doing the tootsie roll!

More on Nicholas' room

I have finally completed the painting of Nicholas’ room and will get started on the assembling of the furniture this coming week. I must say it is a nice feeling getting the room ready even though I still insist that I am doing the painting and stuff for Nikki and not Nicholas. See, my take is this: Nicholas couldn’t care less about the color of the room and its theme. So aside from a crib, the entire room is really for Mommy.

And Daddy. I find myself secretly glancing back from time to time with a lingering stare at the room whenever I walk past it. Not only am I admiring my handy work but also just pausing long enough to process the significance of the room. What it represents. Its symbolism. Pretty soon there will a baby in there hollering for attention!

I find it funny that we are taking the time to meticulously put the room together perfectly. I doubt we will be able to keep it like that once he gets here though.

4D sonogram and a little reflection

This should have been posted last night for my Wednesday post but I was too tired. A few things before I get into it: The painting is completed; I just need to cleanup now and start putting the furniture together. I took down the polls since no one was voting for my stuff; not the names or the theme so down it came!

This past Labor Day we went to get a 4D sonogram done. The experience was awesome. We go there and of course Nikki didn’t need any invitation to hop onto the bed and prepare for the sonogram. The deal was that we would get pictures on a CD and a DVD where we could see him moving as if we are watching a movie. Like I said Awesome! Although at some points I could not make out what was on the screen. They had this huge screen and music playing in the background to give you a really nice feel to the exam. So I made myself comfy and sat back and watched the show.

The techs first had the image in 2D just like a regular sonogram and then switched over to the color fancy stuff. We asked them to tell us what the sex of the baby was and they obliged. A boy was the reply and they showed where the scrotum sac was along with the penis. Of course I couldn’t make out crap so I just took their word for it! When they switched over to the 4D we were able to make out his features. His head was resting against the placenta as if he was getting ready to go to sleep and didn’t want to be disturbed. The techs claimed if he moved away from the placenta the image would be better but we thought it was good enough. We could see his face somewhat clearly. His eyes, chin and lips were all evident. Nikki claims he has her lips and chin. At one point he was rubbing his eyes. He may have been crying because we interrupted his sleep. Another time he seemed to be sucking on something which we thought to be the umbilical cord (the end attached to the placenta) and then he seemed to be trying to suck his finger. We could see his hand moving towards his mouth. I will have to have a stern talk about this finger sucking thing.

No amount of cajoling could get Nicholas to move away from the placenta though. Walking around or gently poking mommy’s tummy wasn’t working. Nikki pointed out that he is like me in that regard. See, I am the only person I know that will not do something simply because someone may expect me to. So, he knew that we wanted him to move away from the placenta and this is reason enough for him not to. Stubborn? Perhaps, but that’s my boyyyyy! I will try to post a picture from the 4D thing on my Sunday night post.

On a more reflective note, it is quite a humbling experience to see the baby still in the mother’s womb. I suppose with being unable to feel the kicks firsthand like mothers do, this is as close as us dads can come to the romantic side of a pregnancy short of the baby actually being born. So as I sat there I was truly excited and amazed in a subdued way. This occasion really didn’t call for the backslapping or patting on the back as sometimes accompanies the daddy’s involvement. It was more of a marvel and a blessing of nature (and science) to see Nicholas sufficiently developed and very much human presumably doing the things that babies birthed would do only this time still inside the womb. It made me so much more appreciative of the joy we are experiencing now and that will continue long after birth.

Marketers and their tricks

Today on our way home we stopped by the baby store to pick up a couple of items that Nikki claimed we needed. While Nikki was busying herself picking out the items she wants I took the time to have a seat in the gliders that the store has on display and it was while waiting that I figured out how marketers go about marketing their products and how their strategy extends to baby products. Here is my theory. With any product a marketer has to make the product appeal to something that is considered sacred. With baby products, the marketers chose to appeal to expectant moms and their unborn child. Nothing is more sacred than this. These wily marketers then position their products where the expectant mom feels she must have this product for her child. These masters of deception also know that the expectant dad dare not object to these items for fear of what the irrational expectant mom will say.

Here is part two of their strategy. They take each product and place it into one of four categories: necessary, useful, cute and you-want-me-to-buy-what? Now the trick is to get each product into the necessary and cute categories from the useful and the you-want-me-to-get-what? since every product starts in the latter two. So take a crib. Many years ago it was a useful item at best and then it became cute with all the decorations. Now it is just an absolute necessity. And now take a valance. That is clearly a you-want-me-to-get-what? item. But somehow it is now in the cute category. And so it is with every product. Armed with this knowledge I refuse to be caught into their trap.

So much so that on my way out of the store I snatched up an outfit that I absolutely loved (khaki pants and a top) and one of those onesies with the phrase “Mommy’s alarm clock” written on it. Why did I do so? Well they were just too cute! I really hate those darn marketers!

Nursery update and upcoming classes

Well things are getting quite hectic as we approach the November due date. We have bought the baby furniture which includes the crib, dresser, changing table and rocking chair glider. I should have those put together throughout the course of this week. We are also set up to have a newborn and infants class at the hospital this month. October will see us attended a variety of classes including childbirth class, breastfeeding, infant cpr and newborn care. I think Nikki has made the childbirth class mandatory but I think I have been given a free pass on the breastfeeding one.

And I have started the painting of the baby’s room. After changing her mind for the umpteenth time about the color of the room Nikki finally settled on a color and I went to work. It will take a bit longer than I had thought since I have to do a second coat of paint. So I hope to finish it maybe by midweek. We’ll see. My Wednesday post should tell that story. Though tiring I am actually enjoying the preparation thus far

Diaper-free baby

There apparently is a movement towards raising children without the use of diapers. Click here for the link to that story. I came across this on MSNBC. Not sure if there are any merits to this so you be the judge. If you have been keeping up with my posts you would no doubt guess that I might give this idea some thought. This idea of diaper-free childrearing would save a boat load on diapers and wipes. So what if you have to clean up the occasional mess or two. Maybe well worth it to give it a try.