Anxiety of a New Level

   

     Normally I blog about things as they happen but for some reason I didn't share this story when it happened.  I have retold the story a few times now and realize I should have just blogged it in the first place.

     It wasn't until 4 weeks and 1 day before my expected due date that I finally got an appointment with the doctor that is supposed to deliver this baby.    She is the same doctor that delivered my last 2 boys and typically I would have seen her a few times by that point.  Since it was a little later than usual and I hadn't seen my family doctor in over a month there were a few (unpleasant) things that needed to be done.  With that stuff done she goes through the rest of the appointment like normal and tells me to make an appointment for every Thursday until the week after my due date.  Then she springs on me that she is going on vacation for 2+ weeks and I will have to see her resident Dr. Boy for my next 2 appointments....  I know I've been through this whole birth thing 3 times already but no pregnant women likes surprises -especially at this point in a pregnancy.  Her vacation not only means that I will not be seeing her for 2 appointments but it also means she will not be delivering my baby if I go into labour in the next couple of weeks which is quite possible.  Let the anxiety soar!

     I left the appointment feeling anxious and a bit stressed.  Between the hour plus wait sitting in pregnancy unfriendly chairs, the news that my doctor very well could be away when I went into labour and that I was going to have my next to visits with Dr. Boy instead......Wait a minute....I didn't meet Dr.  Boy.  No face visual, no introduction, no handshake, nothing and I'm expected to let this dude all up in my business next week?  Welcome to another level of anxiety!

     When the appointment with Dr. Boy (He gets the alias of Dr. Boy as he looks to be almost old enough to grow a beard.  Until you can grow a beard you are a boy) finally came I was a bit relieved.  Dr.  Boy was really nice and not "hot" -there is nothing worse than a really great looking doctor when you are there for appointments below the waist.  The blushing and stuttering just seems to make the whole experience that much worse.  He was very professional and the appointment didn't seem so unlike that of my usual doctor.

     He measured my bump and felt around to see the position of the baby.  Then he got out his stethoscope to listen for the baby's heartbeat.  He set the scope and listened, set the scope again and listened, set the scope again and listened, set the scope and listened, gave the baby a little poke and listened, poked the baby again and listened, gave the baby a little shove and listened, another shove and listened, yet another shove and listened.  This went on for what seemed like forever....  Through all this poking and shoving going on, my usually extremely active baby didn't budge a smidgen... At least if the baby were wiggling around I would just know it was Dr. Boy's issue and not a problem.  I could feel my own heart rate pick up, my cheeks start to get hot.  I could feel myself start to sweat and basically about to $hit a brick.  Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and I looked at him and said "Dude, you are freaking me out!"
He looked back and said "ummm I'm going to go get the doppler".
"I think that would be a really good idea." -You think?!
...and I reached a new level of anxiety I didn't even know existed.

     When he returned with the doppler and started probing around again things were not much better and it still took him forever to find the heartbeat but he did eventually find it.  Apparently the baby was laying in a weird position that was making it hard to get to an area where the heartbeat is easy to get....and apparently having one hell of a good sleep to have remained so still through the poking and pushing he was getting.

     I think Dr. Boy and baby Cuatro were in on a practical joke together.  Dr. Boy said "I'll pretend like I have no idea what the heck I'm doing, you just lay there and don't move a muscle and we'll see how long it takes before she completely loses her $hit.  It will be hilarious."  Yeah, really effing hilarious...

Times a Tickin'

   

When Papa Bear talked me into trying for Baby #4 (I wanted to make a cheesecake, he wanted to make a baby) we made a deal.  The deal was that Papa Bear would complete the not yet started renovation on our back room and make it into an office/bear cave to free up the room that was currently our office to use for the baby.  It was agreed that this renovation would be complete by Little Bear's birthday which was at the beginning of March.

     Papa Bear is the definition of procrastination.  It is now the middle of May and less than 3 weeks from Baby #4's due date.... We do not have a complete office and we do not have a complete (or even started) nursery.  You can imagine how incredibly happy this makes me.   It's not like I can renege on my half of the agreement.  We are currently waiting on carpet that I ordered yesterday for the back room.  The crib and dresser and other assorted baby items are scattered throughout my living room in the meantime.  This also makes me very unhappy.  We women do this thing called "nesting" in the final weeks of pregnancy where we go completely crazy cleaning and reorganizing our homes in preparation for the little one on the way.  The state of chaos that is my home at this moment is really standing in the way of my nesting and trust me, this house is in need of some serious nesting.

    To make matters worse, instead of helping me to empty the nursery of our office contents, Papa Bear woke up and decided that he would lay the tile in our mud room that I purchased 4 or so years ago.  Not only does this choice tie up Papa Bear from helping me but it means my washer and dryer are unhooked and moved into another room making them useless until the tile job is complete.  Papa Bear has been at it for almost 4 hours and has less than a quarter of the tiles laid.  Taking into consideration his pace and the amount of work still required to finish I should have my washer and dryer back in commission by.....I don't know....July!

    Times a tickin' and I'm pretty sure you are not supposed to put road blocks like this in front of a nesting mother.  I'm pretty sure bad things will happen -like a new swear word is invented or she just goes bad $hit crazy which is where I think I'm headed.  I don't know how much more I can take and I just know that this little peanut is in my uterus going "I am totally coming before my due date just to screw with her".   No name, no nursery and a mother that is only inches from the nut house -not a great way to start out.  I would just stay put if I were you little mister.

Naming Baby Cuatro

 
   




     With baby #4 on his way in just 9.5(ish) weeks.  Papa Bear and I find ourselves still playing the name game.  We have known since about 21 weeks that this baby is going to be another boy which you would think would make things easier since we only have to concentrate on boys' name.  You would think but that is not at all the case.  We could agree on a girl's name before we even knew what the little peanut was going to be.  Boy names are a different story.

    I like more original names - not awkward sounding, made up names but more original than say, Peter.  I'm not a big fan of trendy names or anything rhyming with Aiden, Caiden, or Brayden.  Papa Bear likes his grandfather's name which I don't hate but it is common and very plain.  Beside the other 3 boys' names is just sounds like we ran out of imagination when naming #4.  I also know about 4 other  little ones with that name that will be in the same age range as my little man.  I was 1 of 4 Stacey's in my class for most of my elementary school years and went to school with several Jennifers, Jessicas, Jasons and Stevens.  So far none of my boys have a duplicate of their name in any of their classes.

   It may be because I have had to do it so many times, but picking boys names seems to be much harder.  I could think of a dozen girl names that I would name a daughter but I have already had to pick the perfect boy's name 3 times.  When picking a girl name you just have to make sure it doesn't rhyme with anything that could be used against her by other kids and doesn't mistake her for a boy (some people fail on 1 or both of these points).  When it comes to boy names you have to be careful to choose a name that suits a baby, doesn't get him beat up as a teenager and still suits a grown man.  I can't call a baby Lyle and have a hard time calling a grown man Sabastian (no offence to any Sabastians out there it just doesn't scream masculine to me).

   Papa Bear isn't big on the name I like best.  I'm not sure if it is too "out there" for him,  if he just doesn't like the way it rolls of the tongue or the fact that Fuzzy told us it is also the name of a character from Lego Ninjago (which I was not aware).  The reactions from the few people I have mentioned the name I like are split down the middle.  That doesn't help sell the name to Papa Bear and it doesn't make me overly confident in the name myself.

   The days are ticking by and this little prince is going to be here before we know it so we better get our acts together and pick a name.  We have one name that is a compromise of parts that we both want and both like at this point but that could change too.  When people ask if we have a name chosen I tell them we can't agree on a name and at this point we are just going to call him Cuatro (after all "Four" is too boring).  I'm still banking on Papa Bear caving when he seems me go through the pain of labour again and tells me I can call him whatever I want :).




*Feel free to leave any boy name suggestions in the comments.  Who knows maybe you will suggest something we haven't thought of.

Ugly In The Cradle, Pretty At The Table?

Have you ever seen a baby that is just...less attractive than most,...attractively challenged,...or just plain butt ugly? You don't have to lie, I'm pretty sure everyone has come across a Baby Egor or two in their time.

What's worse than an ugly baby? Parents of an ugly baby who don't know that they indeed have an ugly baby. They post their pictures on Facebook and send them to their friends and family via email without being the wiser. "Oh isn't she just a cutie?". How the heck are you supposed to answer that? This is one of those few times when it is recommended that you lie your face off. Stay calm, DO NOT let the "No" escape your lips or let out a scream.

These homely little beings get entered into baby contests and have their picture displayed on Grandma's wall for visitors to be subjected to. They are dressed up in frills and lace but come on you can't disguise a turkey as a swan.

It's not the baby's fault they didn't ask for the less than stellar genetics. They are just victims of poor meshing of genes. Poor little ugly buggers.

Someone once said to me "ugly in the cradle means pretty at the table" (she was also famous for asking "Do I look like I jut fell off the turnip truck?"). I have heard her say this a few times about a few babies but have not actually seen the results she predicted. Usually "ugly in the cradle" results in a homely looking toddler, youngster, and teenager.

Of course I can not relate to these parents of ugly babies since I, myself have 3 of the most gorgeous boys ever. ;)