The Babycue Experiments: Light and dark

At 15 weeks, Babycue can now sense light and dark, though its eyelids are still fused shut. In a related development, Babycue is now covered in lanugo, a fur it will lose by birth. This is better than being covered in Luongo, the Vancouver Canucks' goaltender. Interestingly, anorexics and other victims of malnutrition sometimes grow lanugo.

Both Babycenter and Mr. Dad have suggested that Babycue will react to the light by turning away. In the name of science, we decided to see what would happen if we shined a light on the subject.

After Smileycue peed for the 37th time today, we shut off the lights in the room and turned on our Maglite. I pressed the light against Smileycue's belly and...nothing. This is not a surprise; Babycue's movements won't be noticeable to Smileycue for another few weeks.

We also tried shining the flashlight on my belly. No movement there, either. We did discover that Smileycue's belly is more translucent, creating a reddish-orange glow.

We'll try again next month.

cleaning out the cupboard

Last week I went through our pantry and took out everything that I can't have right now, including things I might be tempted by (Ghiradelli hot chocolate, anyone?). I took the bag to mom, and I'm not sure what she will do with a box of graham cracker crumbs...but she traded me homemade peach jam and some pears for it.

Saturday I went to visit a friend I used to work with. She decided to go through her cupboards and find things I could eat. Then she sent those things home with me. First she was disappointed that most of what she had I couldn't have, but we found a few things. So I took home a bag containing canned pumpkin, Bush's homestyle baked beans, a can of mandarin oranges, a Jiffy pizza crust mix, a can of frozen grape juice, and some strawberry daiquiri mix. Now that is a friend, someone who will give you a can of pumpkin and some daiquiri mix! No, really, I very much appreciated it, T, and the pizza was very good and I ate too much of it. Thanks for everything!

Babycue book club: The Expectant Father

Welcome to the first installment of the Babycue Book Club. It's like Oprah's Book Club, if Oprah were pregnant. (Maybe not.) Anyway, our first book is The Expectant Father, by Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash.

The Expectant Father walks through pregnancy from the perspective of the father. Each chapter focuses on a month of the pregnancy, outlining what's going on with my partner (Smileycue, the mom), the baby (Babycue), and me (Q, the dad). Topics include emotions, communication, sex, and finances -- in other words, everything we're already discussing. Chapter 2, "The 2nd Month," gave recipes -- helpful for us, given the food allergies that have intensified during the pregnancy. Brott and Ash have a conversational, "you-and-I" style, giving first-person experiences. Sections often begin with "When you..." or "You may..."

Though we're only in month 4 (hello, week 15!), I've skipped ahead to month 6, which has a great discussion about FMLA and creating a family-friendly workplace. The Expectant Father spends significant time addressing the insecurities fathers may feel, advocating for fathers to be involved in the pregnancy. Certainly, I've dealt with insecurities through these early weeks. ("I'm capable of fathering a child?" "Can we afford a child?" "Am I fit to be a father?") Fortunately, friends, family, and colleagues have shared in our joy and offered their support. No one has asked the snarky question, "So, who's the father?" Also, my employer has a generous paternity leave policy, allowing six weeks to be with Smileycue and Babycue.

I recommend The Expectant Father to any other dad-to-be.

PS: Read an excerpt of the book. Armin Brott also has a website.

2nd trimester and milk

Welcome to the second trimester. So far it is a lot like the first--being sick about once a week, being nervous at potlucks, sleeping a lot. I did notice Saturday that when I tried to button the pants I was wearing for my band concert, I had a bit of a struggle, and my form fitting white shirt definitely fit my form, and my belly. And since I know I still haven't gained weight, it must be the baby...which, by the way, is about the size of a lemon now, and it can pee.

Saturday night we took our newest international student out for dinner (family weekend) and ran a couple of errands on the walk home. We stopped at the store for milk, and ran into Dr. B, who informed us he was buying toilet paper. I said, "we're getting milk...again." He seemed a little surprised that I was drinking about two and 1/2 gallons a week.

Babycue's first gift

Babycue has gotten his or her first gift, for him or her alone. A lady stopped me at church yesterday, and I got to open babycue's present--a pair of crocheted mittens. SO cute. She tells me they will look huge on the baby...And I'm impressed that she made them already.

But of course, my mom has almost finished the maternity dress I asked her to make for me for Christmas.

And I heard from Q while he is in Ohio, and apparently Babycue has gotten his or her first stuffed frog, and some clothes.

Guess I better pick up some baby thank you notes.

Act II

We've entered the second trimester. Really, that's about it. The pregnancy seems...ordinary. Babycue is still too small to create a baby bump. Smileycue's energy and ability to keep food down has stabilized. Her milk consumption, however, is noteworthy - 2 gallons a week.

and the beat goes on...

Ah, twelve weeks. Today we heard babycue's heartbeat! We were excited, as was our doctor. The heart rate was 165 beats per minute, and we could hear mine too, so it sounded like a cool ostinato. This week the baby is the size of a lime.

Speaking of food, three things. I have lost three more pounds, and my body is burning fat, which is not good. Doctor's orders: eat more. But, I have found food I can eat! Macaroni and cheese is my hero, and so is Breyer's chocolate ice cream. Bless the people who use cocoa. McDonald's and Dairy Queen, not so much. Sometime when you really want to be frustrated, just go into one of those fine establishments and ask if there is soy in their ice cream. They don't know. Now, I know I was at McDonald's on a Friday night during the after the football game rush, but they should still know where to look. At Dairy Queen last night, they had no clue, and one girl even pointed out that she doesn't even know what soy is. I laughed, after I walked out, because she probably eats it every day.

I was really sick on Saturday, and we blame the two bites of chocolate chip cookie I had on Friday night.