Hairy Little Monkey

Last Friday, Mommy went into the doctor's office for her normal non-stress test. As usual, I was kicking and moving all over the place. However, they noticed a slight deceleration in my heartbeat for a quick second, so they wanted to run an extra test called a Biophysical Profile (BPP). During the BPP, they watched me on the ultrasound to measure my heartbeat, movements, and amniotic fluid levels. I had to stay on the ultrasound for the full 30 minutes - I was such a sleepy boy, all worn out from the non-stress test, that I just wasn't cooperating with the technician. She kept pushing me all around Mommy's belly to wake me up and made Mommy change positions several times...not exactly the easiest thing to do for a lady with such a big belly and so little energy!

I ended up doing well on everything except for "breathing movements", but the doctor seemed to think that was still ok. To be extra-safe, I had to go the next day for another non-stress test at the hospital, just because the doctor's office was closed on Saturday. All was well, but it still made for a couple of nerve-wracking days for Mommy!

The bright side of everything was that the ultrasound revealed a couple more things about me that no one knew yet. This ultrasound showed 3-D images, but I was still hiding most of the time, so the lady didn't get a picture of my face. They did find out that I have a full head of hair! Daddy was a baldy when he was a baby, but Mommy looked like a cute baby Sasquatch when she was born...score another point for Mommy in the Battle of the DNA!

Another fun tidbit is that I have crazy long toes! The ultrasound technician kept calling them monkey toes - said I'd be able to hang upside down from trees with them. Not sure whether those came from Daddy or if they're deeply hidden Mommy genes. They sure look a lot like the green bean toes that Mommy used to make fun of Aunt KK for having!

So now we're down to a week and a half at the most before I get here. My room and all of my gear is ready for me to arrive, and the hospital bags are 95% packed. Mommy and Daddy just need me to make it through Saturday - Daddy will be done with graduation then, and Mommy will be done with work and the wedding where she's singing with her choir group. After that, I'm free to arrive any time! Mommy's been having mild contractions a couple of times a day, so maybe that's a good sign of things to come!

6, 7, 8...

Yesterday was picture day! I had another ultrasound, so here are the pictures from it. They didn't turn out great - I had my hand in front of my face most of the time - but Mom and Dad were still excited to see my face.

Here's a profile shot - it's looking like I may have inherited the Woodling schnoz!

And here's one of my face...I kinda look like a ghost baby, but look how cute my chubby cheeks are!

At the ultrasound, they measured my head, belly, leg, and other parts to estimate my weight - 6 pounds, 6 ounces so far. The doctor said I'm at the 49th percentile - beautifully average! The ultrasound technician pointed out that I have loooooong legs. Those definitely didn't come from Mommy - guess I get her nose and daddy's legs. The ultrasound technician also noted that I definitely am a boy! No need to repaint the nursery any time soon. I also had one of my twice-weekly non-stress tests. I had the hiccups this time! It was really funny for Mom and Dad to hear on the monitor.

And the news that all of you gamblers have been waiting for...my birthday will most likely be June 7! The doctor's office scheduled Mommy to go into the hospital at 7PM on June 6th to be induced. It was a bit of a shock to the parents to realize they'd have a week less time to prepare for my arrival, but they're excited to have a target date. Mom is now scrambling to wrap things up at work, and Dad will only get a few short days to fit in his final pre-parental rounds of golf. Looks like both Mommy and Daddy will still be 29 when I'm born...at least for a few days. As Daddy calls it, "Babies having babies...those darn kids in their 20s." Dad gets to look forward to spending his 30th birthday either in the hospital with me and Mom or bringing me home for the first time. Mom is just looking forward to a pint of Guinness to celebrate her birthday.

Run for the Roses

Check this out - I was the guest of honor at another party! Because my first shower was all the way in Ohio, Aunt KK and Nana wanted to make sure that my Indiana/Kentucky family and Mommy and Daddy's Indy friends had a chance to celebrate with me too. Sorry this isn't too exciting of a picture - but you can see how big I'm getting in my mommy's belly! If anyone else has better pictures of the party, send them to my mommy!


The date they picked just happened to fall on the same day as the running of the Kentucky Derby, so I had a whole Derby-themed party. Mint Juleps, roses (you know - like the Run for the Roses), and a big sign on the front of the house. Uncle David's dog Calvin was even wearing jockey's silks, and somebody put a little T-shirt on my doggie Keno that said "Little Jockey"...Daddy was NOT very happy with his dog wearing clothes. Maybe once I come along, they'll put the cutesy outfits on me and forget about torturing poor Keno.

Of course, it couldn't be a Derby party without betting. Everybody got a chance to bet on the day and time I would be born. Once the day comes, the winner will get a special prize in the mail! Uncle David also took bets for everyone online on the actual Derby race - he had a cool green visor and everything. Of all the bets everyone made (over $100) worth, only two people won...all of about $5 worth of winnings. Guess nobody liked Big Brown.

There were lots of people crowded in our house - it was a bit chilly and very windy, so everybody pretty much stayed indoors. Papa C was nice enough to risk blowing away by grilling the hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone. The wind didn't keep Daddy and some other people away though from playing a few rounds of Ladder Golf. I also heard people calling that game Hillbilly Golf, Rack Your Balls, and Testicle Toss...I don't think I should probably call it that though - my mommy might wash my mouth out with soap.

In non-party news, I had my first non-stress test at the doctor on Monday. Mommy got to sit in a big comfy recliner and watch TV with Daddy while they recorded my heartbeat for 30 minutes. She had this little clicker to push every time I moved so they could track when my heart rate should go up. After about 15 minutes, they wanted me to move around more, so they put this buzzer thing on Mom's belly. Between the buzzing and Daddy's poking me, in the next few minutes I went a little crazy! I was jumping around all over the place - Mom pushed that clicker so much that you would think she was training for a future stint on Jeopardy!

I have an ultrasound on May 20, so I'll hopefully have pictures to share of me on the next post if I don't write before then.