| Dad's Diary |
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| Week 39, Volume I The Health Update/The Waiting Unchanged. Everybody's OK and the status quo rules. Like a Good Neighbor Today I participated in State Farm Insurance's National Child Seat Safety Awareness Day (I'm not sure that was the exact name of the day). State Farm had stations set up throughout the region where you could go and make sure your car seat was installed correctly. I discovered this due to a newspaper ad and subsequently saw a TV commercial--I had to go on-line to find out the location nearest our house. I had spent the day last Saturday putting the car seat in the backseat of our trusty 1990 Honda Accord that is approaching 220,000 miles. I thought I had done a pretty good job. The seat was pretty stable, although it did sway side to side a little. My hunch, however, was that my job could be improved upon. So, I pull up to the State Farm Service Center out by Midway Airport at about 11:30 a.m. First, I am asked if I am there for a crash-repair estimate. Now, my car has some dents and scratches, but I thought this was a little overboard. It's not that bad! Once I convinced them I was there for my child-safety seat demonstration, they asked me where my baby was. When I told them he was still, uh, undergoing final edits, the chief safety seat inspector said, "Wow, how progressive." The forms they had me fill out (yes, they had lots of forms) didn't have a category on them for unborn child. Digression: There was only one other couple there--both very tall thin parents with an oh-so-cute blond son, also decked out in running attire. In fact, the deputy chief safety seat inspector (yes, there was a hierarchy to the staff there) told me how fit they looked and made a joke about people like us (me and the deputy) being at Krispy Kreme while these three were out running (then apologized to me for the implication that I didn't look as buff as these two--and I'm not as buff, but her comment did make me feel the need to hit the gym). Back to the story: So, since there were hardly any other parents there, I had a full crew of 5 safety seat inspectors look at my installation job. B+. So, they tried to show me how to get an A. Not as easy as you might think. After two attempts that weren't any more successful than my attempt, they decided to move the seat from the middle of the backseat to one of the sides. Apparently, the hump in the middle of my backseat is an impediment to a completely secure installation. To get the most secure installation, it took 3 of us pushing down with all our weight on the carseat to retract the seat belt to its fullest extent (which makes the car seat most stable). It must have been quite a sight seeing three people using their knees and hands to push this car seat and seat belt as far as possible. There was someone there taking pictures of all of this, so you may see me on the State Farm web site or brochures sometime soon. My only regret is that I didn't get my picture taken with the State Farm Good Neigh Bear (the State Farm Mascot). I could've put it on the web site (www.jakecowan.com). Anyway, after about 45 minutes, the inspectors were satisfied that my car seat was installed correctly and I signed another form and left. Apparently, they use these event to train safety seat inspectors (I guess they have to get so many hours of on-the-job experience per year) and that's why I had to sign a form for each person. All in all, quite an experience. Week 39 Part II The Health Update We are now on the every 3 days schedule with the midwives. On Tuesday, Erika had an appointment where they stated that she seemed to still be a week away from birthing. They strapped this monitor around her stomach and measured the baby's heartbeat, movement, and environment. Then, she had a mini-ultrasound, where we got to see the kid one last time in-utero. He looks big (close to 9 pounds, according to the midwives) and seems to have inherited his dad's chubby cheeks. Poor kid. We went back on Friday for another check up. This time, there was some progress. Erika is more dilated and is having some small contractions. So, we seem to be getting closer. The midwives gave us this list of things we can do to induce labor. One of them is eating a salad with gorgonzola cheese and balsamic vinagrette dressing. We've had it twice in the last two days. And, our midwife is advocating that we have lots of sex (another way to induce labor). She even said this in the presence of Erika's mom. I must admit that was a conversation I never thought I'd be having. Next time: Be My Baby |