Baby Showers, Setbacks, and Update

I feel the need to apologize for the lack of blog activity recently, but to say it was pure laziness is not entirely true! I have had some medical issues and needed to go under the knife to repair a hernia that I got from shoveling, which is why i am about to begin raising a snow shoveler/grass cutter! All is well now and I am recovering just fine! I can not lift anything over 10 pounds for another 4 weeks or so, and Christine can not lift anything over 20...So we make quite the pair!

I have had surgery before, and i usually handle it very well - I mean, come on - you are in the best hands and professionals are in charge...what can go wrong! For some reason I turned into an emotion sap this time. Now, I know what you are all thinking - "Anthony, you are ALWAYS an emotional sap!" But, this time it was different! I was worried about going into surgery because there was a chance that if something went wrong that I would not be able to meet my son, and that had me completely bent out of shape! Now, hernia repair surgery is not open heart surgery - but things can happen! Anyway - I made it through, and now I am back to being a normal emotional sap!! Things are getting back to normal! I have to say that Christine was a trooper through the entire "Anthony is stealing my Spot light" moment! She was there to take care of me when i should have been taking care of her, and she was fantastic!

Since the last blog we have had 2 out of 3 Baby Showers! In our NY shower I didn't think we were going to be able to get everything home...in fact, we didn't! We needed my in-laws to drive some of it to MD when they came for the MD Family shower! After the MD Family shower we could not sit in our living room or dining room anymore...and then it hit me - I wont be sitting for a LONG TIME! I used to hear new parents complain that the kids' stuff was taking over their house, and i always thought to myself - "Then don't let it get to that point!!" i now know that you can't help it! You need the swing, the stroller, the travel system, the pack-n-play, the high chair, the glider, 750 bibs, 647 burp cloths, 234 stuffed animals, walkers, bouncy seats, and pacifiers to successfully have a kid! Thanks to help from both sets of parents, we are now able to live in the same space as our future child! i found that the main barrier to space is the boxes that all this stuff come in! I am pretty sure that we are going to have a cardboard and Styrofoam shortage in America if Babies R Us and friends keep packing baby things in boxes that are 45 times bigger than the actual item it contains! It took us longer to break down the boxes than it did to put everything together!

The nursery is complete!!! All of the crib accessories are set up, the monitors are in place, the rug is on the floor, the changing table is on the dresser, the letters and pictures are on the wall, and all it seems now that we need is Baby Kevin! I will attempt to put the video on here later.

Christine is doing great...33 weeks pregnant today and has not gained a single pound during the pregnancy! We found out that she has gestational diabetes and needs to follow a special diet. She has done so well with it and I could not be prouder! We have both recently lost weight because of all the diet stuff in the house! I think I am brushing my teeth with 100% wheat toothpaste, and using fat free toilet paper....that's how much is diet in the house!! The baby is now 4 pounds and 10 ounces, and is right on track. He is in the 56 percentile for weight, and appears to be a long one! They cant get an accurate reading on the length because he is all curled up! The doctor did say that he has "Scholarship Arms!" I am just hoping that the scholarship is a FULL ONE!

We are very excited, and also getting a little nervous. We had a child care class the other day where they successfully explained the top 15 ways your kid will choke, suffocate, or drown and the ways to "bring them back!" I lost about 5 years of my life watching the videos of these people talking about their kids choking, biting power cords, and falling in various water holes! I think I will actually be paying attention my child so I can rule a bunch of those video scenarios out! For example, "I was curling my hair, and the phone rang, so I looked at my 2 year old and said, Mommy will be right back - don't touch that!" Guess what?? He touched it! Shocker! Seriously though, it was good to get the CPR training, and i am glad that i know what to do in an emergency!

We also found out this passed week that Kevin is breached. He has until week 36 to flip into proper alignment or we will need to schedule a C-Section. We hope he flips, but either way we are comfortable with any decision that needs to be made! All in all things are going extremely well with the pregnancy and my wife has shown me that she is stronger than I ever imagined! We are counting down the days!! We are also still counting the people that tell us how tough having a baby is...I don't need the negativity folks - i am sure it will be tough - but I cant wait for the tough times because that means I am a Dad! BRING IT!