"I Don't Need That Crap. I'm Not Broken, You Know"

Alive and Kicking
AWM is alive and kicking...Angie's rib cage. While it's a positive sign that he may be moving in the right direction and out of his transverse position, Angie is finding that he being situated head down and feet up can have painful consequences. He's been nudging his appendages into Angie's lower ribs all day today, causing visible and audible pain. Much to her chagrin, she reminded herself there may be up to 2 more months to endure.

Totally Phat!
Angie at 32 weeks.

Choosing A Pediatrician
In the coming weeks, we hope to settle on a pediatrician for A.W.M. Since I know some of our potentially 11 readers have children and have gone through this process before, we'd like to know if there is any one thing to look for when choosing a pediatrician. You can comment anonymously to this post below.

Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
A swift breeze (leaves leaves) everywhere, a clear blue sky above. At home, 3.05pm. Summer is behind us.

If I Had One Wish....
I need to preface this post by saying that we are by no means a divided household. I know all the words to "White and Gold" and "The Ramblin' Wreck", have traveled to Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta to see them play Notre Dame and have witnessed a Georgia Tech appearance in the Final Four in 2004. I even have a healthy dislike for all things UGA. We love Georgia Tech and all it represents but we haven't even stepped foot in the state of Arizona to see the mighty Sun Devils of Arizona State! So while the football team in Maroon and Gold are 7-0 and in the Top 4 in the BCS for the first time since it was created in 1998, I'd like some time to enjoy the moment (however short-lived it will be).
All things being equal, if I had one wish for our son it would be that he turn out like the kid in this video: Go Devils!

Vote Atari Into His First Pro Bowl
Our brother-in-law Atari Bigby is having a dream season so far with the Green Bay Packers. The Packers have started the season 5-1 and the defense is 13th in the NFL in Total Defense. The polls are open for fan voting for the 68th annual celebration of the NFL's best players. Atari is second only to Nick Barnett in total tackles for the Pack, and ranks ahead of the Packer's 2006 1st round draft pick (5th overall) AJ Hawk in all defensive statistical categories. Not bad for an undrafted free-agent.

So log on to NFL.com (link) and cast your vote to send Atari to Hawai'i as the best Strong Safety in the NFC. He deserves it.

"The Worst Feeling In The World."
It's not that dramatic. However, being pregnant can fray your emotions to their ends. Angie is a beautiful pregnant woman, I know that coming from her husband is more than expected. And I want to give a lot of credit to all of the women, especially our friend Holly, who have handed down maternity clothing and allowed Angie to relax in her own skin and dress beautifully at the same time. She's a wonderfully optimistic person and I'm so glad to be going through this with her.
As mentioned, were into the single digits as far as scheduled weeks to delivery, and Angie is on schedule to gain the appropriate and expected weight associated with pregnancy. But the pants are getting a little tighter and time and space is running out for the 'stretch' in the stretchy pants continuing to give. The pants without stretch are right out! As Angie described her last moments in her last remaining pair of pants without 'stretch': "It's the worst feeling in the world."

9½ Weeks
We're into single digits! That's all that's left for our little guy in utero. Time is flying, and our Prepared Childbirth classes are doing a lot to relieve our growing anxiety. But watching birthing videos is strangely reminiscent of watching videos in drivers education: more scaring straight than educational. Expect the unexpected is the lesson and Prepared Childbirth is looking more and more like You Have No Idea What You're In For! But Angie is happy and healthy and AWM is as active as ever, ready for the world but content and comfortable for the time being.

The Birth Poll: Results
With 11 votes in the "When will Angie give birth?" poll, we were surprised to see we had more than 4 readers as we originally estimated. Thanks! But its been on 11 total votes for some time now and since it was pinned to the top of the blog taking up space, we felt we should put it to bed and publish the official results!

When will Angie give birth?
0% said December 26th, "On Time"
9% (1 vote) said "More Than 1 Week Early"
18% (2 votes) said "Less Than 1 Week Late"
27% (3 votes) said "More Than 1 Week Late"
45% (5 votes) said "Less Than 1 Week Early"

Watch this space for the official birth date and time!

A Very Ferry Foursome
Its difficult to fathom just how long you've known somebody when it stretches back into the decades, but I recently got together with some old friends to attempt to play a regular game of tennis. A quick calculation: between us we've know each other a combined ~64 years! It's a great way to keep in touch and to stay in shape.

Top: Robert · Will
Bottom: Ben · David

Whatshisname Has Initials
While we're still holding his name close to the vest, we have decided that its only right to give a little peek into what were going to name our first child. As you may know, its a boy. But that's about as much information as we've given you. But with leaks here and there, Angie's family knowing his first name by virtue of a few ill-advised clues spread out between family members coupled with their excellent deduction skills, we sit with such a short time to hold on to the last ever secret! But secrets are hard to keep for a reason, and we're excited to know what his name will be and excited to know that spilling the initials won't do much harm. So here we go:

AWM

Oldies But Goodies
This past Saturday, we went to our local library's Fall book sale. Slashed prices on children's books were the order of the day, and we made out with some real gems. 13 books for $6, like Peter Rabbit and Snow White. Most notably however, we came out with a 1976 printing of Curious George Goes To The Hospital. We also found good books to help teach diversity, religion and culture. One of our favorite finds was admittedly more suited to our taste, but with any help from us our son will come to love our discovery of A Middle Earth Album, published in 1979, that includes paintings by Joan Wyatt inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings book series. Thanks Montgomery County Library!

No Pain, No Gain
Cold compress, check. Prescription pain medication, check. Silver bell for wife assistance, check. Dunce cap?
Who knows what will become of me after all 4 wisdom teeth are removed today. I'm already not the sharpest knife in the drawer, brightest light in the building, etc. Doesn't one need wisdom teeth? I need all the help I can get, a few concussions ago. Fingers crossed I'll get through this and still remember what it was like to have all my wisdom....teeth, that is.

Sitting Sideways
As much time as we're spending with our little bump these days, we still don't know that much about him. The nighttime attention to his every move has revealed a few things including that his 'hiccups' are getting more and more frequent. Another thing we've come to learn is that he is positioned transverse, or sideways, in the womb. At this stage of pregnancy babies that sit transverse aren't at risk for any complications, however, the mother faces some discomfort from the child stretching the womb and its supporting ligaments. Thankfully for Angie, there are some exercises she can do to encourage him to move into the more traditional position of head down in the womb. The bad news is that if his position does not change within a few weeks of delivery he will almost surely be delivered via Cesarean Section.

Anniversary #2
Today marks our second wedding anniversary! It feels like just yesterday we hosted friends and family in Colorado Springs for a wedding and brunch in the cool Colorado sunshine. The day of our wedding was a perfectly blue-skied day, and boy were we lucky. The following day, Colorado Springs was dumped on with 2 feet of snow! So here we are, two years down the line and never happier, a baby on the way and those same great friends and family to share our lives with. We'll never forget the lengths that some our friends went to to join us that day two Octobers ago, and we'll raise a glass for them today as we celebrate an unforgettable day.

Word of the Day
Knalf (nâ·f), n., pl. knalves (nä·vz)
1. When the distinction between the knee and the calf becomes blurred, unnoticeable.

Angie At 28 Weeks!

Sleeping Softly
Updated Pillows-In-The-Bed Count: 9