Birthing Classes - It's like spending an afternoon with Nancy Reagan

Mac-n-Cheese comes with directions on the box: boil water, cook noodles 8 min., add powder cheese and, if you're feeling crazy, add 1/4 a tablespoon of butter. It's quite odd really, that an American culinary staple of 3 ingredients should come with such detailed instructions, but having a baby comes with none (see just goes to show you that a woman must have created Mac-n-Cheese and god must be a man). Thankfully for all of us, there are quite a few people out there that designed classes for people like us, who have no idea what to do when the baby is ready for its debut.

Sara and I signed up for classes on the Bradley method after a little research and testimonial from our good friends Dale and Liz. The Bradley method, created by Dr. Robert Bradley, focuses on relaxation techniques designed to help mother's and their coach (Errol) achieve a natural, drug free, child birth. That's right, I think Nancy Reagan is a farce, Dr. Bradley is the true architect of the Say No To Drugs campaign.

The classes themselves have really been great. Each week we climb no less than 108 steps that were built a 60 degree angle - if you can't feel the burn, you aren't ready to birth that's my motto - not Bradley's. There are 3 other couples in our classes who are all doing their best to seem the most prepared each day. I joke, of course, but each of them have been incredibly friendly and welcoming; I just find it interesting that everyone seems like they're stressed about knowing the right answers for our review questions, especially considering the point of the Bradley Method is to relax.

Each class we learn new information about nutrition, saying no to drugs during birth, relaxation methods, saying no to drugs during birth, the birthing process, saying no to drugs during birth and exercises that can help the mothers to be prepare their body's for labor followed by - yes - saying no to drugs during birth.

So far Sara and I have learned a lot and have been trying to keep pace with our assignments. I know it's a lot of work on Sara's part but we know in the end it will all be worth it. Sara's been doing an amazing job of keeping track of her nutrition and working on her daily exercises in fact she doesn't even mind that I only respond to "Coach" now.

Thankful for neighbors and good friends

Oh the joys of parenthood to be. Emails, texts and phone calls of congragulatory celebration from friends, relatives, telemarketers and spammers - "viagra for .99 cents a dose!" Thanks Mr. bgpoppy08@upallnite.com but I'm pretty well covered in that area. What I could really use is some baby shwagg, you know, the myriad of "stuff" that babies need.

Thankfully Snapper is off to a good start and already had some of the essentials: loving parents (check), a place to call home (check), a mom with growing milk factory (check, check). But what about all that other good stuff like: a place to sleep, a comfy seat to cruise around in the family Corolla, something called a boppy (whatever the hell that is) and a serogate milk factory? Yep, apparently in order to eat, sleep and poop you need a few things...

As luck should have it, just after we started telling people Sara and I are expecting we ran into our neighbors at the farmers market, Andrew and Anita. After comparing notes on the bumper crop of Maryland tomato's and who's selling the best zuchini, I happen to mention that Snapper was on its way. They were both incredibly happy for us. With two wonderful little girls of their own they could appreciate the excitement and anxiety we both are feeling.

It was lucky that Sara and I ran into them because as it turned out they were scheduled to move that week. After the congratulations and due date details were shared, Andrew quickly jumped on the opportunity to pack a few less items into his U-Haul. In addition to some of the best tomatoes of the year, we ended up with a beautiful crib, a super duper infant car seat and the Mammy 9000 breast pump machine from Modela. Needless to say, we were overwhelmed by their generosity and glad we could "help lighten their load" back to Boston. Thanks Andrew and Anita!

In addition to that, our dear friends Rose and Robbie who also have two adorable children of their own have begun gifting Snapper with items their kids have grown out of or no longer need. We are truly appreciative of their generosity and advice on how all this "stuff" works considering it took Sara and I about 20 minutes to figure out how Cadyn's stroller opened on Sunday!

Procrastination

Not only is Baby Mazursky kicking with greater force these days, but the little one is also a new found source of procrastination at work. With the kicks getting stronger I am now able to see the kicks in my belly!

I saw it for the first time last night. Snapper has been really active today at work and has provided me with numerous minutes of diversion. I'll admit it is a little creepy to have this alien like form kicking me from the inside, but it is amazing at the same time.

Unfortunately when I was trying to show Errol last night, Snapper decided to take a rest so he has yet to see it. Considering we are only 21 weeks along I am sure there will be plenty more kicks and punches for him to witness.

Origin of Snapper

As you can read from the previous post, we have taken to calling Baby Mazursky "Snapper". Strange nickname, sure, but it does have a story behind it. The first people to know about our pregnancy were our PC friends who we went to Costa Rica with in June. It was still early in the pregnancy but it was difficult to disguise as Sara was not able to drink and was really exhausted. Well, it was really that first point that tipped our friends off!

Anyways, it was Errol's job to come up with a creative way to tell our friends about Baby Mazursky and after 2 full days Sara was getting impatient. Finally at breakfast one morning, with a lull in coversation the topic turned to the fresh red snapper fish that had been purchased earlier that morning and how the men needed to clean it before we left the house for the day. Errol feeling the pressure to spill the beans says "Speaking of snapper, there will be one joining us in December". Huh? Blank looks from many, but after a few moments everyone realized that Errol had just equated our unborn child to the main course of our next dinner - red snapper.

Thus, more for the fondness for the friends we travelled with than the fish itself, Baby Mazursky's is also refrerred to as Snapper.

Tupelo Honey

Well, Snapper is 20 weeks old today and that means that it can hear - at least 9 out of 10 authors think so. In honor of its two new ears we decided to get Snapper's musical taste in sync with mom's and played it Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey through the iPod.

If mom has her way Snapper will likely be listening to the entire Putumayo catalogue next. This of course is probably a pretty good idea considering Sara and I aren't particularly proficient at foreign language acquisition. Perhaps prenatal Putumayo is the secret to acing 7th grade Spanish! "Hola Snapper. Tu nececitas estudiar espanol porque tu familia no habla bien."

Half Way and Still Growing

So we are 20 weeks along which means we are half way through the pregnancy. This does not seem possible as December still seems a long way away. Sara's belly really started showing this week as you can see in the pictures which are at 15 and 20 weeks. Baby Mazursky seems to have undergone a growth spurt...either that or Sara is really taking to heart her midwives advice to eat extra milkshakes!

Seriously, we're really pregnant

OK, so this is my first post to the baby's blog or any blog for that matter. Sure I know what you're thinking, he's been buried up to his eyeballs in books about how to latch a nipple right? Well, you're half right. To be honest though, the fact that we're actually going to have a baby is really just starting settle in.

Yeah, we've had an ultrasound, two actually, but the first one was just a large dot. For all I know it could have been a smudge on the screen or maybe a gumball Sara decided to swallow whole. The second ultrasound of course looked a little more babyish but I don't think it was until today, when Sara told me today that the little one is kicking her, that it really hit me - holy crap I'm going to be a daddy!

Digestion or a Kick?

Today was the first day I was able to distinguish between the feeling of digesting food and the baby kicking me. I am fairly certain that Baby Mazursky was happy with my breakfast of banana bread and string cheese and decided to start kicking me in the bellybutton on my train ride to work.

Olympic Swimmer in the making

We had our second ultrasound this week and by all accounts it looks as though we may have an olympic swimmer on our hands. At a mere 8oz., Baby Mazursky is full of energy and a bit camera shy as you can see by the not so clear pictures we have.

The baby is still scheduled to make their grand entrance at the end of December and is doing well. Sara is still scheduled to sleep a lot, start eating more and continue to use the baby as an excuse for not doing yard work!