The scary part of pregnancy

The wife has a 'cough'. That in and of itself isn't scary, but it hasn't gotten better and despite my suggestions she call her doctor she hasn't yet. Oh the frustration...

Today was the first time I've officially felt 'fear' during the pregnancy: She was about to take the risk test for Downs. Risk factors, certain weeks, etc- all add in, and in another two weeks she's back for another round of tests to give us a percentage chance that the baby will have downs. Personally, can't ya just pull a sample and screen it?
11 weeks and 1 day old, approximately, as measured by ultrasound.

Back again from ANOTHER trip

I think it's official: I hate traveling.

Nothing went wrong on this trip, other than the fact I did the work of 3 people. (Some of the work I do is brainless, but I do it very well.. wait a sec).

On this trip I calibrated monitors. Originally I moved a laptop to each screen, plugged it in, ran diagnostics, verified, calibrated, and repeated. There were no power plugs to be seen anywhere along the wall, so I had to run power cords everywhere. Since calibrations are done in the dark, that meant trip hazards. And I was in a main walkway.

I calibrated a display, picked it up, moved it to it's station, stickered it, attached/ detached it, managed to eat, drink, hit the bathroom- every 12 minutes. I think that's a record. And there is no way in hell I could do it again.

Also- soon to see three breweries, three days. Coming soon: Rock Bottom, Sonora, and 4 peak brewing company.

Second set of parents told

My sister got her wedding invitation today- we had written it down as '2.25 guests attending'. She called and left messages ALL day trying to get ahold of me- and I'm on the west coast and inside an area that doesn't allow cell phones. Poor girl.

Wife calls her that night and tells her and she gets all misty eyed on the phone. I love my Sis.

Right afterwards I called my father and the wife called my mother. I tried to get them both to put us on speaker phone- that took a few minutes of frustration- and eventually when we did we both announced we were pregnant. It was the best we could do given the circumstances.

I called my grandfather the next morning to let him know before I went into work- he was very happy.

Abbotts Frozen Custard

Abbott's Frozen Custard. A delicious, creamy product that implies 'unsafe' and 'unpasteurized'. See their website here: http://www.abbottscustard.com/

I feel SO much safer when a food manufacturer answers several questions with one word: "yes". The question :"Are your frozen custard products pasteurized? Are they safe for pregnant women?"

See, here was a great opportunity to say "Yes, our products are 100% pasteurized. All products are made from pasteurized eggs and milk and we regularly clean the production equipment in order to assure a clean environment. In fact we will be adding this question to our FAQ so that others can receive similar information".

Which is a better answer?

When I make custard I make it from egg yolks, cream, sugar, vanilla bean. It's cooked but it certainly isn't cooked to temperature- because if it was I'd have scrambled eggs and cream- and then I ladle on sugar up top and blowtorch it until it's nice and crystalized/melted.

The two of us raked the yard yesterday; neighbor's kid asked us where our kids were. He's 3. We told him we didn't have any... so he asked if they were at school or 'grandma's. Heh. Liz didn't want to confuse him by saying in her belly :)

Our neighbors don't know yet... yet....

1 set of parents told...

We had dinner with a set of parents last night and in the course of the conversation their neighbors came over (we insisted- they're fun). Eventually the talk turned to 'baby' that my brother in law is having... so they began detailing who, how many, and when. Liz was practically bouncing in her chair to say something but I had insisted on waiting a week.

But really, who can say no to that gorgeous face when she wants to say something.

Her delivery could use a little work- "Jason and I have some important news. We're pregnant". Not nearly as dramatic as I'd thought but they all started cheering and shouting "Oh My!" etc. It was fun... quite a bit of happiness around that evening.

My sister's invitation should be arriving soon- and with 2.25 guests I'm wondering how long it'll take her to figure out, call Mom, and ask if she knows whats going on. Then I can tell them! :)

Travel Everywhere but Here

It's been a long week. Last week I was in Dayton, OH for work followed up by being bumped off a flight (Thanks US Airways!). Upon returning home at midnight I only managed to get a few hours of sleep due to the cold I've been fighting... and up 5 hours later to drive to Boston for a wedding.

So much for 'rest, relaxation, and fluids' to get healthy.

I'm back.... and more humour is coming right your way...

Recovering from the Mud

Mudding the old rooms always makes me nervous- you never know what grew in that mud before you scraped it off and started anew. I guess it should be no surprise then that when I saw the little black spots on the strip of old tape I ripped off I'd be in for it.

Z-Pack it is. 6 hours later and I'm already feeling better.

Poor wife though- she's had to stay away from me... and I her. And she's not even irritable yet ;)

Dodging the Flu Bug

I had to abandon my bed at 230am: I think I have the flu, or at least I have something nasty that's pretty much no fun all the way around. Cough, nose, throat, aches, pains, etc. Have I mentioned how much I hate water?

My wife, on the other hand, insists I stay in bed. I don't want to get her sick- she can't take anything except tylenol when she's with child and I don't want to have her go thru this. So the argument will never be won...

Anyways- free networking crap for whomever that wants it. And computer crap. And dvds. And CDs. I have to get the rooms cleaned out!

-Side note. My sister in law called today and was giving my wife grief about me not having cleaned out the den- that if I were to move I still wouldn't want a kid because then I'd always be working on the new house. At first I was annoyed at my wife, but then I realized: SIL didn't KNOW that we were expecting. SIL is a twin, and my comment back to her is and always will be "When you get knocked up"....

It'll be interesting when she finds out, that's for sure, but for now some of her comments about "You've gotta have sex to have a kid" get a bit annoying....

The solution to Morning Sickness

Apparently I've stumbled upon the solution to morning sickness. I wake up at 4am, wander down to the kitchen, pick up a cracker and a can of ginger ale, wake my comatose wife up, feed it to her, and then go back to bed. She doesn't get sick in the morning.

Now if I could only remember doing it.

... anyone want some spare cables? I've got only about 40 extra power cords, network cords, USB serial ata firewire... time to clean out the den!

Did you just call my baby a Rodent?!?!

Whoops. So I thought I was being funny. I called the baby a rodent- she had stolen ALL of the blankets from the downstairs and up stairs and made a little nest on the sofa. SO, being the sensitive guy I am I pointed out certain habits of mice that invade the shed.

All future fathers, please take my advice: Do not call your unborn child a rodent. Women Do Not find it nearly as funny as you might.

Still mudding. Had friends over the night before - 1/2 knew, the other half suspected but we didn't confirm. Kinda hard to ignore when everyone knows a woman that isn't drinking is knocked up or trying to get knocked up. Especially when they make their own beer...

Day 5: The Stomach Strikes Back

Things that don't cure morning sickness: Spicy Jalapeño Cheese eaten at 930pm the night before.

Pregnancy and Drinking in College seem to be related. To comfort in either rub her back, hold her hair, and try to tune out the puking sounds as she hugs the toilet. What a way to wake up in the morning.

Drywall mud is officially dried, now to repair the corner again. I' m afraid it will always crack due to the poor job they did while laying drywall (1/4" seam!).

Closet remodeling is almost finished being drawn- I should model it in a package first though just to make sure I'm going to like how it looks.

Day 4: Return of the Dinner

The burps started again. If I feel helpless now I can't wait until she's screaming expletives at me and telling me it's my fault she's in this much pain. I'm thinking I need to learn some sort of pressure point techniques, preferably one that puts the subject out cold. I wonder if that's possible.

Sponged down the bedroom nail pops and the ceiling seam. Realized I would probably prefer to use concrete instead of joint compound- it would look better. Used the sand stones on a few seams to make sure they were tight; will compound the rest of them tomorrow night.

We have a friend coming over to bottle his wine on Wed; this will mess with my work schedules but so be it...