Two and a half weeks

Dear Quinn,

You've only been our baby for just over two weeks.

But we're pretty sure we've always made coffee (and brushed our teeth, and written emails, and done laundry,...) one-handed.

We've always gotten up at 3am to change a soggy, soppy diaper, to nurse for 40 minutes, to swaddle you into the tiniest "baby burrito" ever imagined.

We've always laid awake at night listening to the once-frightening, now-too-funny gremlin noises emanating from your bassinet.

There was never a time when your mama didn't smooth-and-spike, smooth-and-spike your amazingly plentiful baby-bird hair while you nursed.

There was never a time when you didn't spend the early dawn hours asleep on your daddy's chest then stare, fixated, at his face as he sang you good morning songs.

We've always known your beautiful, enormous eyes, your out-of-control, flailing hands, your indignant squawks of protest, that adorable post-sneeze sigh after a good five in a row.

Because you were always going to be our baby.
Our first baby boy.
Somehow we've always known you.
And we've always loved you beyond words.
We always will.

Love,
Mama and Daddy

Already making plans for prom night...

I can see it now:

"Alright Dad, Vanessa is here so we're going to head out to Prom." says Quinn

"Can you have her come in for a quick picture?"

"Sure, but we've got to get going"

"I know, I know. It will just take a second."

Tim quietly connects a laptop to their new wall size TV.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"I just wanted to show her some of your old pictures ..." says Tim as Em gamely steps in and deadbolts the front door.
"Here's Quinn's first bath. Isn't he cute when he's mad? And here he is in his sailor costume..." Tim continues.

"I will never forgive you, Dad. In fact, I have no father." says Quinn lovingly


Yeah - it will be so great.

Quinn Arrives

Aug 17th brought us our baby boy: Quinn Elijah Sands. He's 9 lbs 13 oz (!) about 21" tall and perfect.

So far his favorite things are eating, making goo-goo eyes, pooing, breasts and burping. Many of these things will remain popular throughout his adolescence as well.

We've been at this whole parenting thing a week, and we've managed to hold it together with a lot of help from friends - thanks for the food, company, advice and support.

Hurry up and wait...

We're pretending that we don't notice. You've all noticed, I'm sure. No baby.

He's not really in a rush to evacuate the premises. I mean, he has this pretty comfy (w)room(b) reserved until the end of the month. Why should he vacate for parts unknown?

I imagine him listening to our anguished speculation ("But when? When will he come?") with a little smirk and then propping his feet up on my ribs to get a little more comfortable, settling in for the long haul.

No amount of "encouragement" will entice him out before he's ready.
(Foreshadowing a willful personality?)

Intellectually, we know it's a little premature to get as antsy as we are.

So we're doing "normal" things. Like going to the Chinese Garden (above), taking walks, going out for ice cream or drinks, visiting with friends.

But our calendar, really, is remarkably empty. We're not making plans that take us too far from home these days, and everything we do plan is pretty low-key.
And maybe that's the problem!

"Really expensive theater tickets," my midwife prescribed. That, she said, was sure to get labor going.

And given the pleasure he takes at making us squirm, I wouldn't be surprised if that does the trick.

H-h-h-hot Wings

Anecdotally, spicy foods are said to be a safe, natural way to encourage labor to begin. Unfortunately, like most of these natural methods, it doesn't "work" unless baby is really ready to make an appearance.

Nevertheless, we hit up Fire on the Mountain last night to try to encourage The Bean to make an appearance. Because, seriously, having his birthday on 8.8.08 was just too cool not to attempt.

I ate 9 hot wings! Spicy Peanut, Bourbon Chipotle and Extra Hot. I also ate a bunch of sweet potato fries.

Sadly, we had zilch in the way of action last night. Unless you count getting out of bed a ka-zillion times for potty-runs and Tums.

Anecdotally, the Tiramisu at Screen Door is also said to help encourage labor. I've also heard that they'll give you a really big piece if they know you're trying.

I really think we should try that. I'm pretty sure it's going to work.

Then and Now

3/27/08 (19 weeks, 6 days):



8/5/08 (38 weeks, 4 days):



And to think...

I actually imagined I had a belly worth photographing!

(In the paraphrased words of Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee: "That's not a belly...This is a belly.")

Pretty Ready....

Let's get a move-on, Sweet Bean.

Sweet, enormous, makes-my-hips-and-sides-ache Bean.

Oh, you are so much bigger than a Bean.

Your room is ready for you.




I've washed all of your impossibly tiny t-shirts. (I suspect you will be bigger than these impossibly tiny t-shirts, so I've washed the next size too)

And this belly...this belly is getting a bit too swollen with baby. Probably for either of our tastes. Aren't you feeling a little crowded? You're not so much "kicking" anymore as bulging and stretching and, as far as I can tell, participating in some kind of excruciating head-grinding exercise on my wimpy, not-so-tough-as-nails cervix.


By the way, thank you for being head-down. That's really clever of you. And thank you also for getting me 3 cm (at least) dilated already; that will be a big help when the time comes.

But, basically, Sweet Bean, what I'm trying to say is that Mama's getting ready to have a little mobility again. And ankles. Ankles would be nice.

I totally understand that maybe it's pretty cozy in there. And I totally understand that maybe you actually need to cook a little bit longer before you join us on the outside. But when you're ready...we're totally ready to meet you.

Baby Gets a Bedroom

We're making progress on The Baby's room. We found a lovely changing-table/dresser on Craigslist and a white storage tower from Ikea that both fit quite nicely in the little nook by the window.

And since the "theme" of the room is camping/outdoors, we've designed a tree mural for the wall above the kiddo's bed. I made some good progress on it yesterday. I've been cutting leaves out of paper and--though the tree itself needs a little more work--I couldn't resist giving a few branches a little foliage just to see how they looked. Not bad, I think!



It's coming together. The physical house, at least. Whether we're psychologically-prepared for this enormous life-change is another matter entirely. I'll be 35 weeks this Friday. At 38 weeks, Baby would be "on time"...amazing...terrifying...exciting....

Baby Goes Camping

It reached 100 degrees this weekend. The air was thick and murky and sticky. Rather than sit around and melt in the city, Tim, The Belly and I took the opportunity to head out into the Gorge for a night of cool, relaxing camping with our friends Mark and Marie and their son, Zach. We lounged the evening away next to a beautiful, icy-cold river.


I think the Boy in The Belly liked camping as well. He was especially active, as if he, too, experienced some relief from the heat. Or maybe he just liked eating marshmallows.


Sleeping on the ground wasn't as challenging with The Belly as I thought it would be. Tim padded the ground very nicely with a blanket and a sleeping bag and we (mainly) slept through the night. We rested well enough that we thought a little hike in the morning might be nice. Heidi and Zach led the way.


By 10am it was 90 degrees; I don't think we made it more than a mile up the trail. But it was such a gorgeous hike while it lasted. We crossed little streams and went, up, up, up above the river on a trail bordered with perfect lush green ferns and studded with little white and pink flowers.


But the heat and the general drowsy-feeling of the day finally got the better of us and it was time to take The Belly home. And stop for iced coffee on the way.

Blue-Flavored Baby

Tim's 30th birthday party went beautifully.

Our little house was filled to overflowing with good friends and delicious (and "interesting") food and drink.

In keeping with the theme "Three Decades of Tim," everyone contributed an item that conjured one of the three decades for them. I saw lots of bad beer, capri sun, rice krispie treats, banana runts, and pigs-in-a-blanket. There was silly putty, temporary tatoos, and those funny plastic bubbles you blow up with a little straw (and which pregnant people probably shouldn't sniff too closely).

We ended the night with a few good games of cosmic bowling. Tim, as usual, was in rare form.

Of course, the highlight of the evening was The Big Reveal. Tim and I had asked our neighbor to open the envelope so carefully sealed by the ultrasound sonographer and to stuff a pinata with either pink or blue candy as appropriate. Everyone gathered around Tim outside as he smacked that pinata open and bright blue candy came tumbling out. It was exhilarating. And so wonderful to share the moment with people we care about so much.

So, Baby Blue! Sweet little boy-flavored baby.

It's a...Belly!

The Belly is getting mighty impressive.
My midwife says the little one has handily moved all of my internal organs out of the way (so that's where my liver went!) to make room for more growth. Because that's what it's doing these days: growing. The Bean will put on another ounce and half this week.

Also this week, The Bean has added REM sleep to its schedule...neat! Fetuses dream about...turning somersaults? Searching for a thumb to suck and finding it right there? The next time mama will have a chocolate milkshake? The Bean may have limited experience, but I'm sure its dreams are as rich and varied as they are for us.

Or maybe fetuses do dream of the world outside the womb. And maybe we mistake an baby's expression of wonder for his incredibly intense experience of déjà vu.

Little Bean? XX or XY? We'll find out tomorrow.

First peek at the little one

Here is baby's first photo. S/He is about 0' 6" , a healthy 12 oz. and quite active - Em and I were already so proud of how well s/he was kicking. And growing important things, like spines, feet, and clavicles. Yes, we're a little biased, but I'm pretty convinced we've got an exceptional little one on our hands. Just wait.