No, I am not having twins....

In the past two weeks, I have been asked 3 times on if I am having twins.  And two of the askers, were women.  I’m sorry, they should just know better.  The one man that asked was quickly reprimanded by a father in the room that he is to never ask that question, just say you look great or say nothing at all.  I have pretty much come to terms with my belly; however, I really don’t think that I am the largest pregnant woman that I have ever seen.  I actually think I look pretty good for a woman walking around with what could be a full grown baby in my loins.  I will say that my height is definitely working in my favor that I don’t look like I am going to tip over at any moment.  Now the following information may not paint the best picture.

I had my 34 week appointment this morning.  Everything looks good, but I am measuring 40 cm.  Now for those uninitiated, you are supposed to measure about 1 cm for every week of pregnancy you are.  This for me means I am measuring about 6 cm ahead of schedule.  There are several reasons for this.  I could have a lot of fluid in my tummy, an 8 plus pound baby in there, or she has dropped but not giving back the room at the top of my tummy that she has taken over at the bottom (in other words, she is being greedy and not a team player.)

This past week has been a tough one.  I have had a few mornings of nausea, and the feeling of being stretched like William Wallace in Braveheart has intensified and is pretty much an all-day feeling now.  Yesterday on the way home I gave Hannah a stern talking to about her participation in my physical deterioration.  I have kept up my end of the deal with nutrition, sleep, exercise and weight so the least that she can do is give me back my rib area and more graciously share my abdomen space with me.  I did have one other request that she give me a heads up of when she would like to make her appearance.  Some suggestions that I gave were to put the Justin Bieber song “baby” in my head, move her feet over to the left side rib, or lastly push her little fist in a thumbs up fashion into my belly.  As long as she is ready physically, an early arrival would be appreciated at this point as well.

Hope this finds you all well.

Best,

Team McCarthy

Jimmy Legs, A Case of the Mondays...All Week, and That Baby has Devil Eyes

So I have now entered not only the late days of summer, but it seems that I have also entered the part of the pregnancy where very little is comfortable.  I am now in my 33^rd week and am finding it hard to stay in one position for very long.  Hannah continues to enjoy lodging her foot into my rib which makes it uncomfortable to sit for long.  Standing sometimes provides some relief, but then the heaviness of my tummy starts to catch up.  The only relief right now is to lie on my back for a little while until gravity does its job.

However, once in the laying position, the tossing and turning starts and the Jimmy Legs begin (Seinfeld reference).  Theses random kicks mainly come when I am on my back, but they can also come about while on either of my sides.  My Jimmy Legs were diagnosed by Clark.  Apparently Nixon (our 4 legged daughter) shares my affliction, which causes her to get kicked out of our bed and put in her cage.  I am hoping this isn’t my fate as well, although, Nixon is a good snuggler.  Needless to say, sleep has been difficult recently, both for me and by consequence, Clark as well.

This lack of sleep has been routine for the past two weeks or so.  It is starting to take its toll.  Motivation to roll myself out of bed each morning and waddle into the office has been hard to come by.  I compare this feeling to having a case of the Mondays, all week long.  I have had fleeting thoughts of throwing in the towel and taking leave until she comes, but am going to try to stick it out until the end.  Maybe making that decision was good for the soul because I had the best night’s sleep last night that I have had in months.  I actually woke up ready to meet the day.

Last but not least, Clark and I attended our first of four parenting classes last night.  Last night’s syllabus included washing, feeding, and daily care and monitoring (yes that includes a tally sheet to keep track of their diaper business, sweet).  Each of the couples in the classroom was given a baby to practice holdings, swaddling, dressing and washing.  We should have chosen our seat location a little better, because the look on my faux baby’s face was creeping me out.   It was definitely giving me the devil eyes.  Maybe it didn’t like the way we were burping it or that we left it exposed to the cold air too long after our fake bath, but those eyes were evil and had hate behind them.  Next class I am going to try to get the Asian baby with the smiling face. 

The class was quite informative and I am glad that we are attending.  It did however debunk some of the suggestions from family friends and yes, even my Mother.  Sorry Mom, adding rice cereal to their bottles doesn’t help them stay full longer to sleep.  Babies are able to digest the rice much faster than the formula or breast milk. It was just a coincidence that we were good sleepers. Don’t worry, I am still going to take your advice, you raised me and I’m pretty awesome, so you probably weren’t off too far.  The instructor encouraged us to ask our parents and friends about “infant feeders.”  Apparently this contraption launched food down the baby’s mouths?  Do tell.

An Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!

We had another wonderful shower this past weekend in the Atlanta Area.  It was hosted by our good friends Andy and Molly Camp and Parker and Shannon Hurt.  Andy and Parker are two of Clark’s best friends from Auburn.  It was a wonderful shower and really continues to show us how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends in our lives and a wonderful circle of friends for Hannah to jump into.  The gifts for Hannah were incredibly generous and we get closer and closer to completing our “tool kit” to handle all the unknowns in front of us.  The show was stolen with one of the gifts from the Camps and the Hurts, a Pink Daisy BB gun.  Clark was over joyed with the gift and can’t wait to one day take our little one out into the woods and show her how to use it.  He also mentioned that if he can get Hannah to go hunting with him, he’ll be able to go more.  I laughed and said if she is anything like me, she’ll do anything her Dad does to spend time with him.

Seeing Clark talk with his friends about being dads was funny.  They keep trying to tell him how different it will be and how much it will change him.  Clark being Clark retorted with it is not him who will have to change.  Our friend Ryan just sat back during this exchange smirking and shaking his head.  Ryan and his wife Carrie have a little girl Carli and another one on the way, so this isn’t his first Rodeo and knows better.  Clark really seems to have embraced the idea of parenthood and has even muttered the words “let’s knock this part out and get to meet her.”  He seems as antsy as I am but in a different way.  He is just ready to tackle anything that comes our way.  I am antsy in the way of, oh S%*t, are we ready?  If you would have asked me 8 months ago, I would have said our roles would have been reversed.  However, his confidence is very reassuring.  He continues to make me laugh to calm me down on purpose or not.  His best lately was about one the gifts from our friends Blake and Julie.  They gave us the book “Go the F#@K to Sleep.” Clark asked if we read it to Hannah, I told him to read it first and use his best judgment.

On the home front, we are making some serious progress.  The new carpet for upstairs was put in last week and looks wonderful.  The crib and dresser have been ordered and will be delivered sometime next week.  I have already re-arranged the current items in her room once, and this probably will be the first of many.  I am really getting anxious to have everything set and ready.  We start our parenting class next week.  It is at Huntsville Hospital and will be once a week for four weeks on Tuesdays.  I am hoping this will answer a lot of the questions that we have or haven’t even thought about yet.

I did find a good article on what to bring to the hospital with you to make your stay more comfortable.  I would have never even thought of some of the stuff.  If you have any good suggestions, send them my way.  I am starting to pack my bag for the hospital.

Hope this finds everyone well and healthy,

Team McCarthy

Letter to Hannah

On the way to work the other morning, I heard Brad Paisley’s song “Letter to Me”.  It is a really sweet song and I have always liked it.  It got me thinking about writing Hannah a letter now to give to her on her 18^th Birthday.  It would capture all of our naive thoughts about what is coming up but I think it would be a nice thing for her to read about how excited we are about her arrival and how much she already means to us and she hasn’t even made her appearance yet.  I want Clark to write his own letter as well.

I want to tell her about our families and friends.  How she is the newest addition to a long line of strong women.  Women who are independent, headstrong (okay stubborn), generous, witty, caring, and often times outspoken.  We are women who have chosen our husbands wisely and carefully.  We are women who are proud of our families and take care to represent them well.  We are women who have learned as much through our failures as we have through our successes.  We are women who have been blessed by friends because we have been taught that in order to have good friends, you have to be a good friend.

I want to tell her that we have probably already been through the roughest time in our relationship and no matter what decisions she makes in the future, there is nothing that she can do that would change how much we love her. I would tell her that she is about to start a very exciting part of her life.  College is where her father and I came into our own as people, found lifelong friends, and learned that our parents were right more than they were wrong, but it is okay not to admit that yet.

There are other things, but I think this will be a good start for now.  To all of you, what advice would you give to your younger self or what things you hope your child has learned by their 18^th Birthday?

This Blog is a big thank you to all the women who have shaped my life. Thank you to all the Fraiser, Whitner, Brock, Fuller, and Passinetti Women for their advice and patience.

Cheers,
Team McCarthy