Day 31 - Wait? What's That? It's Looking Like Another Cold Dinner Night...

10:10pm

I want you to think hard about your favorite meal. What is it? Picture it in front of you right now.

It looks delicious, right? Smells good, your mouth is watering, anticipating eating a wonderful dinner.

Sit down, grab your eating utensils, and reach for that first bite.

Wait? What's that?

Your newborn's diaper has leaked? Your baby's legs are dripping grainy, yellowish poop?

I guess that fresh, hot dinner is going to have to wait. You have bigger problems to solve.

Strip the baby's clothes off. Carefully, so that you don't make more of a mess than you are already dealing with.

Try to rinse the majority of the baby mustard(as I like to call it) off in the sink, before a real bath is ready.

Twenty minutes later, baby is all clean. But we still have to get her dressed.

Put on a fresh diaper, get her in some clean pajamas. About 45 minutes have passed since the first sentence.

Now she's hungry. She cries and cries until she is fed.

Prepare a bottle, feed her for ten minutes, until she is content. Can't feed without burping.

Pat her back for five minutes, or so, until a burp or two is released. Let's set her down.

Get her comfortable in her sleeper. Pacifier in. Blanket tucked around her little body. She's finally asleep.

Might as well eat dinner on a plate made of ice. It's cold, and ruined. It cannot be repaired. It's the norm these days.

Take a few bites, it's just OK. At least it's food. And edible.



Wait? What's that?

She's pooping again....

Dinner is going to have to wait. Again.


Welcome to my world.

Week 39 Day 2 - Maternity Photos

9:18am


Our baby is now the size of a watermelon. Thanks BabyBump.com newsletter for the constant reminders of how big of a fruit my wife has inside her belly. Brain is still developing, more fat is being stored under the skin, etc. More fat? She already seemed fat enough in the ultrasound photos...


Don't be surprised if a 9 pound baby comes out of there. I won't be.


So we got our Maternity photos the other day. They came out really good. But if you know me, I can't have a photo that I didn't edit somehow. So I took a few and had my way with them. Let me know what you think!

We have all of the originals on a disk. Higher quality so if you would like prints let me know. (Mothers and/or Random Creeps)


I need to find a sponsor who will donate a new DSLR camera for me to play around with... Anyone? Sony? Canon? Nikon? Can you hear me, now? Verizon?

*Disclaimer - Some links on this page may contain affiliate links. All opinions are 100% my own.

Week 36 Day 6 - Pulled Pork Photo Shoot

8:55pm



Holy hectic day. Had to be at work at 6am so that I could be off in time to make it to our maternity photo shoot.

I also made all kind of samples today. We have pork shoulders on sale for .99 a lb. They wanted me (the chef) to showcase them, so I made some BBQ Pulled Pork, and Pork Carnitas, too. Customers loved both. I loved both. Not only because it was delicious, but because it was a free lunch. Gotta love that. Store director praised me for my hard work. I guess that's good. Not sure how sincere it is, though.

We met up at my wife's sister's house after work. She lives literally 2 minutes from where we had the photo's taken. So I took a shower there, and got ready. My wife just had to do her makeup and get our outfits figured out.

Photos went well, I think. We will see when we get them. Should be in a couple weeks. It was a beautiful day, and the park we were at was also very nice. Would love to go back and spend a couple hours there walking around. I like nature-type things like that.


Looks like we are going to spend the night cleaning out our drawers. Lots of crap in there saved that we don't need. My wife is a hoarder, I swear. 

Week 29 Day 1 - Baby Girl Clothes

3:15pm

Another day in paradise here at work. At least I'm off in a couple hours. 

Yesterday we did some grocery shopping, maybe a little too much, considering that my ice pack for my lunches is so buried in the freezer now that I wasn't able to find it this morning. At least we won't be hungry for the next couple months. Eating a nice, fresh nectarine right now. One of my favorites. 

We stopped at Target and Kohls as well. Like we always do, we ended up in all of the baby aisles. My wife and I like to look at all of the clothes. Sometimes she gets a little carried away there, but it's ok. I know how excited she is, well, how excited we BOTH are. 

We also found out today that one of my friend's girlfriend is pregnant. So that's pretty cool. We know a lot of people that are pregnant. Either we are just at that age, or there is something in the water. 

Week 28 Day 6 - Eight Things I Have Gone Without This Pregnancy

10:00am



I got to thinking, not only has my wife had to give up several things during her pregnancy, but so have I. There are certain things that pregnant women cannot have anymore. Or, at least, SHOULDN'T have. I suppose there are pregnant women out there that don't abide by the "rules". And that is fine, but it's not us. My wife is very strict about it, if the doctor said it's not recommended, then she is not doing it.

There's a good chance that because she isn't doing it anymore, I am probably not doing it either. Or a lot less. So as I was thinking about the things that we no longer are a part of, I came up with this list.

SUSHI

We both LOVE sushi. There are several places around our area that are just incredible. The main reason we no longer eat it is because the chance of foodborne illness is much higher in raw foods. While pregnant, your immune system isn't as strong, therefore creating a higher risk of not being able to fight off any illnesses that could be caused from eating sushi. Plus sushi is expensive...

 

OYSTERS

 Another raw delight that we can no longer participate in. I actually ordered a few at Red Lobster while she was pregnant. She just looked at them sadly, while I enjoyed them. She possibly had a tear in her eye. I haven't had them since.

ALCOHOL

She hasn't had any since she found out she was pregnant. I on the other hand, have. I like a nice, cold beer on a hot day. So what? I sometimes miss drunk wife. She is pretty funny when she drinks. At the same time, I always have a Designated Driver. I don't drink much if I do. One or two max.

 TANNING

We both had tanning packages. She ended hers immediately, even though they consider tanning while pregnant safe now. Or you might have to do something differently, like stay in less time or something. I'm not really sure, look it up if you'd like. I kept tanning just up until about two months ago. I gave it up more for the money savings. Plus there is a Banana Boat self-tanner that works great. Need that money for the baby!

EXERCISE

I still do occasionally, and we do go for walks sometimes. But I used to be really dedicated. Not anymore. I would like to be, but we have so many other priorities now that it's hard to find time. I have no space here. My workout room turned into a baby's room. I could go to the gym, but my crazy work hours wouldn't allow a regular schedule. So I will just get fat. 

SPENDING

What's that? You want to buy something for yourself? Forget it. All of our extra money goes towards baby stuff. Having a baby is EXPENSIVE. No money for gadgets or toys. This baby already owes me more than she can imagine. If you read this 20 years from now. I missed out on Apple TV because of you. 

ENERGY DRINKS

Every day I wold buy a Monster, or Rockstar energy drink at work. It helped me get through the day. Plus, I really like how they taste, and they are refreshing. But at 1.50 a piece, they had to go. Occasionally I will get one, but it's a rarity now. That's a lot of money saved in the long run.

MOTORCYCLE

Still have it, barely ride it. It's next on the list to go. At a couple hundred dollars a month for payments and insurance, we just don't need it anymore. Plus it's a crotchrocket. It's made to go fast. What does going fast do? Speed kills. I am having a baby now, she needs her father to stay alive. Hopefully in the future we can get a nice cruiser bike. Something not made to break the law.

We were driving the other day and I noticed this sign. Somehow. 

Effective Advertising at it's finest.

Week 28 Day 3 - Third Trimester Pregnancy Changes

9:07pm



Since we are officially in the third trimester, I figured I would look into what to expect from the next couple months. This is what I have learned.

• The baby is now the size of an eggplant.
• The lungs are mature enough that, if the baby were born today, it has a pretty good chance of surviving. 
• She is putting on layers of fat.
• She weighs anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 pounds.
• She measures 13.6 to 14.8 inches long.
• My wife thinks she has had a few Braxton Hicks contractions.
• She has plenty of energy but according to some pregnancy sources that will start to fade away in the third trimester. She will start getting worn out, and tired, quickly.
• She has some spider veins, but that is normal and will fade after delivery.
• Some unexplained bruising. One on her leg that looks pretty brutal. But she doesn't even know where it's from. The doctor reassured her that the elevated hormones make the body sensitive to bruising.
• Still no stretch marks!
• The baby is shifting around all day in her stomach, she seems to like to hear her daddy's voice!
• She can't see her legs when she looks down while standing up!

28 Weeks

Week 25 Day 5 - Gyro Burgers

3:37pm

I have to share this with you because it is just too delicious. Today at work, we had some extra ground lamb and ground veal. They pretty much let me cook up whatever I want to let the customers sample our products. So this is what I came up with. Extremely basic. 

-1lb Ground Lamb

-1lb Ground Veal

-Seasoning of your choice, I used a peppercorn, garlic, and herb one

-Tzaziki Sauce (cucumber gyro sauce)

Just mix the two ground meats well with your hands. Form into patties. I made 5 decent sized ones from this amount. Season both sides generously with seasoning. Grill until medium or medium-well. Throw on a bun with some of the Tzaziki sauce. Like a gyro on a bun. Your welcome. 

I had several people ask where they could buy the burgers. I said you can't, you have to make them! They weren't too happy about that. Might have to keep this recipe to myself from now on. 

Like I said we went maternity clothes shopping yesterday. Can't believe how quickly time is passing. She got quite a bit of stuff and was so excited to wear it to work this morning. Usually she wakes me up when she gets up. But today she didn't. I suspect it was because she was too busy trying on all of her new outfits. If I get to sleep 30 mins longer than I will get her new clothes more often. Who would have known?

It's beautiful out today in Chicago. 78 and sunny. Maybe I can finally take the bike out for a ride later. 

Week 21 Day 4

7:13am

There are a few Facebook pages that I follow. They have some good information and entertainment for expecting mothers/fathers. You might want to check them out if you are interested. 

http://www.facebook.com/beingdaddies

http://www.facebook.com/proudparentsyay

And of course my fan page - http://www.facebook.com/pregoformen

I get a few laughs out of watching her try to fit into her old jeans(she doesn't think it's very funny, but she jokes around back with me). She knows she's pregnant, it's going to happen. Luckily for her, she is only getting bigger in her belly, she doesn't seem to be gaining much anywhere else.


We need to figure out what hospital she would like to deliver at. We have two close options. One is a 
"Level 3", meaning that they have a little bit better equipment and staff for if something were to go wrong. 
The other is a little bit closer, and has maternity suites. More comfortable for her and I, and has great reviews, 
however is only considered a "Level 2". Her doctor told her that he recommends that she does
 the maternity suites because it is less like a hospital and more like a home, and because she is healthy 
and has no complications. Now if something were to come up later on, and he thought that she was
 going to be premature or have problems, he would have her go to the "Level 3". Monday nights they
 give tours of the maternity suites in "Level 2" so I think we are going to go check them out soon. 

1:53pm

I have been messing with my blog for the last couple hours. Sometimes I want to change the layout and sometimes I don't. Does anybody have opinions on what they would like to see?

Our daughter has been kicking like crazy the past week or so. And of course my wife always says, "Wow, your daughter is hungry again!" I'm not sure if I buy that statement or not, but she sure eats a lot! Must be our daughter, because my wife still looks great. I am more attracted to her now than I ever was before. Weird... They say that's normal though.

She made me a root-beer float last night, and it was delicious, but this morning I decided, that was enough. I have to start eating healthier, and so should she. For the most part, she eats better than I do. For the second half of last year, I got really into working out and eating healthy. I lost around 20 lbs in just a couple months. I use my FitBit step tracker, combined with the iPhone app MyFitnessPal. Both of those work in harmony with each other and make your goals more achievable.

So this morning I made myself a nice healthy, protein-packed breakfast. Four scrambled eggs, a cup of old-fashioned oatmeal(sweetened with cinnamon and Agave Nectar which is much better for you than regular sugar), Fage 2% Plain Greek Yogurt(LOVE this stuff, 0% is really good too if you want NO fat), and a hefty scoop of plain old peanut butter. I LOVE hot sauce, but I especially love Cholula on eggs(and just about anything else, too). Hot sauce gives you a complex flavor boost to just about anything, without the sugar and fat of other condiments (like ketchup or BBQ sauce! Terrible!). Unless you are worried about your sodium intake, hot sauce is much better for you.

7:05pm

My wife is making me some tuna salad concoction for dinner. I'm not too sure what she is putting in it but it looks good so far. She is eating leftover pasta from yesterday. She is afraid to eat tuna because she was told to limit high-mercury fish to only once a month. I think that's crap, but she follows the rules better than I do. Oh wow, she just put the plate down in front of me. Impressive...

7:50pm

We are both cuddled up on the couch getting ready to watch the Blackhawks game. I have some Tostitos Scoops and Herdez Taquera Salsa for a snack. This salsa is the BEST! It is pretty hot, but man, is it good. It reminds me of the hot salsa from Chipotle. The red one, made with chile de arbol. Yum!

Here is my wife's prego belly pic. As you can see she still isn't very big. For 21 weeks pregnant.