I Cook, He Cleans...

We have a rule around the house that whoever cooks, the other one cleans. Good news for me is that the rule also applies to feeding and cleaning Avery. Since I'm the one doing all of the cooking for her, Mark gets to do all of the clean up. Bad news for me is that after a couple days of explosive poos, he's now put me on a pretty strict diet. Who knew that tomato sauce and citric fruits cause a gassy baby.

Speaking of her explosive poos, she's not afraid to let them rip whenever and wherever. Maybe when she gets a little older we'll fill her in on some rules of etiquette, but for now we let her do her thing while we either laugh or look at her like it's the cutest thing we've ever seen. Anyway, her pediatrician's office offers classes before each check-up so new parents can meet one another and learn tips for caring for their new babies. We had the first class on Thursday and not only did she want to snack during most of the class, but then she let one rip in between her feedings- Mark doesn't have to worry about any of the boys in that class now!

That's probably enough on that topic, though it has become a major topic of conversation around our house. Two more things and then I should probably sign off- first is how lucky we are to have my mom around. It's fun to watch Avery play and cuddle with her grandma and mom has been a ton of help around the house. She cooks, cleans, does laundry, plays with Izabel, and comes up to get Avery in the mornings so Mark and I can get some extra sleep. We're trying to talk her into buying the house down the street or letting us remodel our basement into a nice little apartment for her, but apparently she likes having Tom around :) The other thing I wanted to talk about was something we learned in our class on Thursday. The pediatrician said to wear a shirt and then let her sleep with it because the smell will calm her down. Since I've been wearing my Montana sweatshirt almost every morning and night, we decided to try it. Mom turned the sweatshirt inside out and then put it over Avery when we put her down for a nap. When I went to check on her a couple minutes later, not only was she sound asleep, but she had pulled the sweatshirt all the way up by her face! We'll be thanking that pediatrician for a good night's sleep last night!

Parenting from a week long veteran

Turns out keeping a blog with a newborn is difficult work. First off, there is the very serious issue of sleep deprivation that impairs the creative thought process. Secondly, who wants to sit in front of a computer instead of hold the most amazing creature that has ever graced the planet Earth. The good news for those of you that enjoy reading the updates here is I have to occasionally share Avery with her Mom and Grandma. So, here I am.
Speaking of Avery's Grandma, Tina (Nikki's Mom) flew in on Friday and is spending about 3 weeks with us. Initially, I think the two gals had different ideas of Tina's role here. I believe Tina viewed the visit as quality time holding, kissing, and cuddling little Avery. Nikki viewed it as a live-in maid. My guess is they have landed right smack in the middle. Tina came in a got Avery this morning around 6 or 7 and by the time I rolled out of bed the dishes were done and Tina was vacuuming the floors.
Tina and I are also rolling out some great meals. Granted about half are coming from friends that drop by and bring food. By the way, I didn't know that was a custom when you have a kid... I apologize to those of you who've had kids and I failed to follow this tradition.

As for Avery's Mom, Nikki is built for bearing the babies! We have joked through the pregnancy that she probably was supposed to have 20 kids. She is already back up and running at nearly %100. She can fit into all her old clothes. (Notice I say CAN, because she hasn't really gotten out of Pajamas... she is on vacation after all!) She is so good with Avery too. Granted there is the whole Oxytocin rush that is influencing her, but looking into Nikki's eyes when she sees her little girl just amazes me.
And me, I have learned all those silly cliches that people constantly tell you when you are getting ready to have a kid are incredibly accurate. For example: "Your kid is the cutest." When Nikki was pregnant one of our chief concerns was having an ugly baby. Yes, having a healthy baby with 10 fingers and 10 toes was much more important, but you've all seen ugly babies and didn't want to say anything. Nikki and I are not afraid to admit some babies are ugly. We were absolutely thrilled to see how gorgeous Avery is. It took about 2-3 days for me to consider that maybe... just maybe... I could be slightly biased. Nichole will still not even consider it. She assures me that Avery is, in fact, a cute baby and she can say that without any shadow of a doubt. I'm gonna go with her on that regardless of rationality. Another cliche that popped up repeatedly was: "You'll never know you could love something so much." I am constantly enamored with every little coo, grunt, stretch, and smile that Avery does. I am a fairly grounded dude that likes to rationalize before being emotional, but I am nearly brought to tears every time I look at this little girl.
"It's okay when its your kid." This one is surprisingly poignant. Within 48 hours of being alive she pooped, peed, and puked on me. And I smiled!!! What the hell? I adore my niece and nephew but I ran like a screaming little girl when they pooped/puked/peed. Now I am laughing about it? Crazy things happen when you become a parent. I mean Nichole can blame irrational behavior on the oxytocin rush, but me... I am just another goofy parent.
And on one final note, the Bears are undefeated in Avery's lifetime... and we were talking after the game on Sunday and she doesn't see any reason why they don't end up winning the Super Bowl this year. Lock it down... Avery's early prediction!

Welcome Avery Ash Beddes!!!

The most amazing little girl in the world showed up yesterday morning at 2:37! After many long talks about scheduling she decided to listen to her Dad and wait until the Bears game was over. I am guessing she came immediately following for one of two reasons. Option #1 to kick Mike Tice and the entire Bears O-line right in the jubblies. Or option #2 to make her Dad feel better about the Bears loss. I'm gonna go with #2.
Speaking of her favorite football team, we were talking yesterday and she has already decided on the Bears for her favorite team. I was completely supportive of her choosing any team she wanted but turns out she knows football straight away. I know this comes as a shock because even I didn't choose my favorite team until 4-5. However, this girl is exceptionally smart (she'll probably be in the third grade within a couple months!). I apologize to my father-in-law who no doubt wants to talk her into becoming a Dolphins fan, her step father-in-law who wants to switch her into a Vikings fan, my Dad who would corrupt her into a Packer fan, and above all to my brothers who I may have had a bit of an influence in making all their kids into Bears fans (Tristen and Traden we'll talk in a few months).
Obviously not running on Ashworth time... Avery arrived exactly on her due date. Like I said right after the Bears game Nikki thought her water had broke, so she called the mid-wife to get some opinion and she set up an appointment for the next day (Monday) to take a look. At this point, Nikki and I decided a walk was in order. So, we made a few swings around the block and the contractions started coming. I whipped out the trusty iPhone and started timing the contractions (of course, there is an app for that). At 11:30 p.m. they seemed to be on schedule according to labor signs but they didn't hurt too bad, so Nikki called the mid-wife again and we decided to stick around a bit longer.
A little after midnight they were getting real bad so I called the midwife and waited for a response. Now we are 5 minutes away from the birthing center, which we thought very convenient, but the mid-wife is 30 minutes away. We gather up in the car and get over there at 1:10 and Nikki is feeling the urge to push and I am praying I don't have to catch the baby in the front seat of the Prius in the birthing center parking lot. Luckily the mid-wife came in about 5 minutes later and we headed in.
Nikki immediately jumped in the tub and starting getting our little girl out. Within an hour of being in the tub, our this cutie came out and said "hi". Uncle Nick and Aunt Cara were there to help us welcome this sweet, sweet, little sweetheart.
The mid-wife/birthing assistant ladies did their paperwork and checked little Avery out then left at around 5:30-6 am. Cara left for work around 6:30 and at about 7 am Nikki and I decided we might as well head home as well. So, the entire process took around 3 hours and we were home within another 6. Not too bad for Nikki Marie, my inside pick for mother of the week!
I am sure that this is a rambling blur, and I am not my usual witty self... but sleep deprivation can seriously impair one's ability to string sentences together. Stay tuned for something a bit more coherent (I hope).

Well we thought we were having a baby...

...but now I'm thinking that I just might be pregnant forever. I know I shouldn't be complaining since my due date is still a week away, but I really thought this baby would be early. It's funny how I went from worrying that the baby would be early to now worrying that the baby might be late. Although we're still not completely ready for the baby, we're ready enough and I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore! Overall the pregnancy has been smooth sailing, but my feet and ankles are starting to swell, I don't have as much energy at work as I need to deal with 150 pre-teens, and I'm really getting sick of wearing the same clothes over and over again.

Mark, on the other hand, seems to be pleased that the baby has decided to stay put. This does make sense since he'll actually have to share the responsibility once the baby is born! Plus, he's trying to get the addition finished (with the exception of the little finishing touches and touch-ups), which I will say is coming along nicely! However, he knows that eventually the baby is going to decide that it's time to experience the outside world, so he's been negotiating with him or her to not come during a football game- he has his priorities!

Well, hopefully the next time we post, we will be sharing pictures and adventures of the little one so keep checking!

Oh yeah we are having a kid!

Alright so the football coaching season has started, school has in full swing, we just got the kitchen finished (except for the 1930's wallpaper) and the upstairs add-on is winding down to the details. I have been so busy it was hard to keep focus on the much more important thing coming... leave it to Bear to remind us!
I know some tend to think I am exaggerating when I say Nikki has been a dream preggo, but it is the gospel. Aside from the occasional grunt and/or groan when she stands up, she has been fantastic. That is until last week, when Bear seemed to want to make a push on his way out. Then she was whiney, needy, and stressy (spell check is telling my stressy isn't a word, but I'm going with it anyway). I am certainly not complaining about her demeanor, if I had some little dude kicking me in the ribs all day long and woke up 4-5 times a night, I would've hooked a hoover up to the birth canal by now. And beyond that, we watched a horror show, I mean educational birthing video, in our last birthing class that I am pretty sure if shown in every public school, would cut teenage pregnancy in half. So, Nikki has bee great to say the least.
Speaking of our birthing class, we have now officially graduated. We even got a fancy piece of paper. Now I feel fairly confident that I won't hide in the corner and cry like a little girl when my child comes out. I have however decided that my focus will be directed primarily waist up, and the cord cutting process is something best left for a qualified professional.
We also did a newborn care class. This one was a bit unnecessary in my opinion. At least 30 minutes of time was devoted to how to put on a diaper. I am no diaper practitioner at this stage, but I have put one on and it seemed to hold the poop in. And my teacher was a 5 year old girl and it only took about 5 minutes. So, I think I should be solid on that end.
That is about it for now, I'm probably going to go sing a lovely rendition of "Bear Down Chicago Bears" to my wife's belly.

It's the final countdown...

...da na na na...da na na na na...Since the blog doesn't have music, I figure'd I'd try to get the Rocky song stuck in your head so you kind of have music while you read... You're welcome!

Well we're definitely down to the final countdown. Our due date is a month away, but we're thinking this baby is going to come early just to mess with us! At my doctor's appointment last week, the midwife said I was 80% effaced, dilated 1 cm, and the baby was at a +1. Since that was my first time being checked out, I was a bit shocked (freaked out might be a better description). Then, to top it all off, I started having contractions quite frequently, to the point that I didn't sleep well Monday or Tuesday night (the lack of sleep was not great for my emotional well-being, and for one of the first times I was a pregnant wreck). Fortunately the contractions were irregular, so it wasn't labor- phew!

Anyway, I guess one good thing about getting so close is that it's motivated us to get ready (comparatively speaking of course). We finally went and bought a carseat to bring the baby home. That was an hour ordeal at Babies'R'Us. First we had to decide whether to get a travel system (carseat and stroller combo) or buy the two separately. We decided to go with the combo, but only after we checked and priced all of the options. Then we had to check out the combos. We chose one cheap, one mid-range, and one expensive, and proceeded to push them around, fold and unfold the strollers, take out and put in the carseat, carry around the carseat, etc. We ended up buying the expensive model because it was so much easier to use (you get what you pay for) and we're definitely happy with our purchase- though it's currently sitting in the box in the garage! The crazy thing is that after all that, the one we bought is the one we registered for and that we've liked from the get-go. I guess we just needed to convince ourselves that it really was worth the price! Aside from buysing a carseat and stroller, we also registered for the diaper service (we're going with cloth diapers and the service takes care of all of the laundering), and started looking into insurance and pediatricians. Now all we need is a place for the baby to sleep and a place to change the baby and we'll be set!

PS- We took maternity photos yesterday, which was a ton of fun and the ones we've seen so far turned out great! Hopefully Mark will post some of them on the blog (the photographer posted them to Facebook and I'm not sure how to get pictures from Facebook to the blog). We went with a "Bellies and Babies" package, so we also get newborn pictures when the baby is born. Although it's a bit expensive, it's something we'll always have and never regret!

Bittersweet...

So I had an appointment last week and casually mentioned how I feel so much smaller than the other pregnant girls in our classes. Apparently the midwife took this as a serious concern of mine (that or she was a little concerned herself since I really haven't gained weight in this last trimester), so she scheduled an ultrasound to check on the baby's growth. Now I'm not one to turn down an ultrasound, especially since I haven't had one since my 20-week and my insurance pays 100%. It's always fun to see the baby and to finally figure out what body parts have been digging into my ribs and hips. Turns out the two lumps that I thought were the baby's head and butt are actually the baby's shoulders and butt, which means two things. First, the baby is much bigger than I thought if the shoulders and butt span my belly. Second, the baby's head is down either towards or inside my pelvic bone. We learned in our birthing class that this is what the good baby's do to prepare for birth. We've also learned what the good mommies and daddies do to prepare for birth, and let me just say that nowhere on the list was tear apart a house!

Anyway, back to the ultrasound. Using different measurements on the ultrasound screen, they are able to estimate the size and age of the baby. The baby is growing just fine, which means that my insides are just much more squished than the girls in class, and it seems the baby still has pretty long arms (makes me think monkey and makes Mark think quarterback) and legs. They also told us the baby is 5.5 lbs and measured at 33 weeks and 5 days. Here's where the bittersweet comes in. First, the baby was only supposed to be 33 weeks and 1 day. Now I know that 4 days might not seem to be a big deal, but remember, we're sleeping in the baby's room (which doesn't resemble a baby's room at all) because our room is under construction, and we start work next week, so we need each and every one of those 4 days. However, if the baby already weighs 5.5 lbs and gains .5 lb a week, which is average, and if I go full term, then this baby is going to be well over 8 lbs. This is an issue for two reasons. First, we've got a lot of really cute newborn clothes that say they fit newborns that are 5-8 lbs. I'd hate for the baby to outgrow these clothes before they're even worn. Second, we've talked about things and watched the videos in our classes and while I know it's the size of the baby's head that really matters, I doubt we'll have an 8+ lb baby with an itt-bitty head (and if we do it'll really look like a monkey). So while a part of me is hoping this baby runs on Ashworth time, the other part of me is a bit concerned that I'll end up delivering a large toddler rather than a small newborn.