| Dad's Diary |
| Archived Journal |
| Week 33 The Health Update Mostly unchanged. Erika is feeling pretty good, but still has some swelling and has some trouble getting comfortable in sitting positions. However, in a scary move, she announced that she feels as though she could give birth any time. I said, "You mean like right now?" She said, "Well, not right now, but it just feels like it could start at any time." She is having these occasional mini-contractions, called Braxton Hicks contractions. These are apparently the bodies way of exercising the muscles needed in labor, or so I've been told. Erika says they don't really hurt, but they feel like a tightening around the belly. We are now at the point where whenever she takes a deep breath, I look at her for "the sign." Erika had a midwife appointment this week (blood pressure very good) and they told her she was looking as though she would give birth about two weeks ahead of the due date--so around May 15. So, the baby shouldn't really show up for a while, but you never know. Our friend Barry Kirby's wife just had her baby about a month early. Lucy Our friend Ruthann and her daughter Anita recently allowed us to baby sit a Cabbage Patch doll named Lucy. She comes with her own diapers and car-seat. It's very cute. I haven't spent much time with Lucy yet, but we do need to practice diaper changing and car-seat arranging with her. For me, any diaper changing is good practice. Thanks to Anita and Ruthann for letting us take care of Lucy. Nesting Erika is now in a serious nesting state. Yesterday, we spent most of the day at Target and that suburban house of horrors IKEA. Now I have three large pieces of furniture to put together. Those of you that know me well know what this means. We also bought lots of baby and mother supplies. After Erika's comment about being ready at any moment, we felt we needed to get the house in order. So, now we think we have just about all the necessary equipment. We just have to get it organized in the next month or so. Kids need lots of stuff. I can't imagine what it will be like when he gets to the point he can actually play with toys. Programming Note Thanks to all of you who sent in references to the recent study on the long-term impacts of circumcision. I'm evaluating the new evidence. It's compelling new evidence, but I'm not sure it has swayed me. I'll let you know the final decision in a future journal. Next week: Feeding time |