Origins of P

I have had a couple of people comment to me that they want to know why we are calling the baby Little P. At first it sounds so normal and cute…our little P. But if anyone knows us we are not exactly normal.

P stands for 2 main things: parasite and pan.

Yes, yes there is a story. First, before I was pregnant I was talking to friends about the fact that I am a little creeped out (and still am at times) by something growing in me, taking my energy, food, nutrients. And I joked that babies were like parasites….they take your food and when they get older they take your money…hopefully they will not kill you doing either. Second, the pan, okay about 2 years ago Anthony and I were washing dishes talking about having kids. I asked him if he wanted kids and his answer was PAN. So every time we starting talking about kids and babies he was yell PAN; which was our little inside joke for him wanting a baby but not wanting to say it in front of people.

Yep…that is the origins of P. Don’t judge! lol

Creepy Little Widget

Well it has been a while since I posted and it looks like I will be going back to previous subject. ALIENS!!! That's right ALIENS. This came back to me after I looked at the revamped blog and the widget off to the right there and how much a baby at 10 weeks looks like an ALIEN life form. Which by the way you can see by the previous post was confirmed this afternoon. So not only is pregnancy cause some fears of are we doing the right thing, are we going to be good parents, and stresses out the wazoo. It is also pretty creepy, another life growing inside the abdomen of another, who's idea was that? Granted I guess it is better than the alternatives, the woman could lay an egg and then stay in one place keeping it warm until it hatches, but that would get boring and just think of the charges through Internet shopping. Or another alternative we can just spontaneously split like amoebas. Then you would have to deal with the confusion of everybody looking, acting and thinking the same since we are all of the exact same genetic make up.
Well I guess there is one more option that is satisfactory to all, you can still drink, party and do everything right up to the moment of delivery...that's right the stork! What better way, you just need to make sure that you have a good tracking number, I mean how embarrassing would it be if you popped out to get a latte and the stork missed you for the third time and returned the shipment to the sender. Have you ever seen the waiting lists on those stork delivered babies? It's unbelieveable. So I guess they all have their downsides and maybe the human way of pregnancy is a better path. Well all you women out there may not think so, but at least you don't have to since around incubating an egg, we don't all sound like Micheal Keaton in Multiplicity, and there is no worry about if you left the signature slip on the front door or the counter. So I guess the ALIENS will continue in their places and creep out perspective parents for years to come.

Happy Little P

This is the heartbeat.

Baby Ellerbe

You can see baby's head and arm/legs....baby was moving!!

Our little jumping bean at 10 weeks!! We wish we could have taken a video. The baby was moving and shaking its body and limbs. The heartbeat was at 170 which is really good. I have the belief that the baby was moving so much because it knew how happy its Mommy and Daddy were to see it...Daddy is hoping that baby has more rhythm than him :)

Stuffed

This week has had many ups and downs. First, my hubby celebrated his 28th birthday. One year older to 30 ;) However, due to a horrible cough and cold, his birthday with kinda a bust. I made up for it the next day by cooking his favorite dinner...Chicken Parmesan...but the actual day was eating out and a movie at home.

Luckily for me and Anthony, I now have some antibiotics and I hope to be on the way to recovery. Or at least being able to sleep. On that note, how do I feel? Well the best way to describe it is that I feel like I just ate Thanksgiving and am stuffed. I have pressure from my stomach pushing down on my bladder and up on my stomach. This means that I can not eat much at any meal but whenever I drink I have to pee. What a fun combination. Sometimes I think it is a race if I will need to eat again before I pee.

Right now I am just looking forward to Monday when we have our first official ultrasound. I am hoping and praying that we have a healthy baby with a good heart beat. I also need the shock again that I am actually pregnant and not bloated. It does not matter how long you plan...it is scary and surreal.

New form of sleep depravation

Well I have discovered yet another plot of nature to make the husband uncomfortable during the pregnancy process. First it is talking about the thing growing within their partner's body, way too much resembling of the Alien line of movies, next it is how your partner has 9 months of discomfort and generally not feeling normal, my new discovery is the fact that increased levels of estrogen cause increased levels of mucus and phlegm production. You may say "How does that make the husband uncomfortable?", well I will tell you. It prematurely starts the sleep depravation process for both partners. Every time she lays down to sleep she will start coughing and hacking to the point I think something is about to burst from her chest and go running and screeching across the dinner table on the Nostromo.  Oops, sorry there I go again having flash backs to the first time I watched Alien from around the couch while I should have been in bed. 

So anyways I guess my topic should have been that nature has found yet another way to make both partner's uncomfortable. I n reality though the partner being uncomfortable is purely collateral damage because it is their job to run out into the night to get the Burger King Hamburger, the Wendy's Frostie, and McDonald's fries. So guess the phlegm and coughing is to ensure that the partner is fully awake when the pregnant spouse has those 2:45 A.M. cravings. Well it looks like I have solved yet another mystery, it is all part of the plan to ensure complete attention of the spouse or partner for those late night cravings.

Hoopla of announcements

It's amazing the variety of advice you get from everybody and occasionally their dog if he has a mind to chime in. Most of it good to at least take on board and adapt to your on style of parenting, which of course I have no idea what that may be. There are also some off the wall ones where you just wonder if maybe you should be calling CPS. I mean hanging them by their feet to let the dog clean them up after dinner, where the hell did that idea come from? In reality though I appreciate all of the advice that I get from parents and non parents alike. Granted I am not yet sure what would qualify the non parental types in giving this advice, but oh well. 

On top of the advice is also all of the well wishers and plague spouters, I mean who in their right mind wishes triplets on someone? I have trouble just getting my mind around the thought of one rugrat running around, can you imagine three of the same age? You might as well, burn down your house yourself, collect the insurance and move into a bouncy house outside a truck super stop with shower facilities. After you get past all of the pats on the back, the congratulations and the occasional "good shooting" comment things calm down for awhile. But overall telling everyone is a great thing to let everyone know that yes on top of all the other stresses they have placed on you there is one more that will last 18-42 years so they should back off. I say 42 because if the kids try to live with us past 42 we are selling the house and leaving no forwarding address. With that being said thank you to all who have wished us well, given advice, and those who told us they hope we have triplets (may you have sextuplets in the future).

Tortilla Chips and Nausea

I just want to start off by saying that I wish I was as good of a writer has my hubby. I feel like when I write it sounds more like a technical paper or a late night sleeping pill. However, as a promise to him (and P) I am writing in the blog.

So the main question I am getting at the moment is “Aren’t you excited?”. Hmm….yes….hmm….maybe…..hmm…..I think I am going throw up. This is about my answer. I want to be excited, and I am sure hidden underneath the exhaustion and the nausea I am, but for the moment I just want to not move and stay in a bubble with no smells or food. About food, I see nothing in the baby books where you should be living your 1st trimester eating Ramon and Tortilla Chips (with sour cream). However, this is all that sounds good…mmm salt. What doesn’t sound good: chicken, sweets, vegetables, anything that does not include Tortilla Chips. Luckily though, I have a wonderful husband who is cooking for me and when on my plate I do eat a well balanced meal. I just wish that the green beans last night had a coating of Tortilla Chips.

Diapers

What is a new father to do? Especially if he has never changed a diaper before. You see I come from a family where I am in fact the middle grandchild, but they are all so close that I never changed a diaper. Will I know which end to put it on? I think so, the end that makes the noise is the one that gets the diaper right? Wait that does not seem right. Of course I am making light of one of the basic tasks of parenthood. However, I woke up this morning with a fear that I would put the diaper on the wrong end the first time. My lovely wife assured me that that would not happen and if the first attempt was not successful I would have plenty of opportunities to get it right. 

While many of you may think I am exaggerating, and I am, the point is that these babies don't come with instruction manuals, and how many of us truly know what we are doing when the hospital gives you that first baby and says congratulations and good luck? We spend our time wondering if we should do this or do that, it is a trial and error process that we gladly accept. I personally look forward to the challenges and changes that await me. So I guess my rambling point is that while many unknown things await me, it is my job to accept them with open arms and everything will be alright.

Fatherhood

Well here we are, three weeks ago we found out we were going to be parents. Granted it was from one of those drugstore tests. I mean who can really trust one of those? You have to deal with deciphering all the different symbols, hell you need to be a doctor just to do that most of the time, but we managed to find one that spoke plain old english and it said clear as the day PREGNANT, like it thought that if it wasn't in capital letter we wouldn't understand. But I am rambling now. Anyway, she headed of to Brazil the next morning and we sat a world apart wondering if everything would be ok. The next week she had three appointments with blood draws and classes. Half way through she lost her symptoms and we feared the worst. When we took her back in, the doctor did an ultrasound and pronounced that at this time we are the proud parents of a ball of cells with a heart beat.

I know that doesn't sound like much, but I am proud. I just hope that that ball of cells will grow up to be a successful ball of cells as far as balls of cells go. Now what I came here to say could have been summed up much quick but tangents are so much more enjoyable. So here it is. Over the last three weeks I have had a lot of time to think without outside interference since we just told our families and friends over the last couple of days. I am so excited that I am going to be a father. We have been looking forward to parenthood for a long time, but the time was just not right. I am also terrified, I don't know that I will be a good father, there is so much to know, but I guess nobody knows it all when they start, or when they end for that matter. So in the mean time I guess I will just be nervous and do what I can to help out.