Our Non-shower Shower

A couple of weeks ago, kind & generous friends, the Walkers, hosted a gathering of well-wishing friends, complete with cake, tasty food, a wonderful blessing for our baby and family, and gifts. Yes, sounds a bit like a baby shower but with menfolk, minus games or themes, and generally just a good time.

These babies were all in the hatch or brand new a year ago at this time. How fast things change.

The ladder featured pictures of little Shannon and little Paul, and others who contributed.
Our kid will be cute, we predict.

You do the cake feeding thing at the baby welcoming events too, right?

Paul is very helpful with the unwrapping... and commentary on the unwrapping.

Our most discussed gift... the pelt.

Release Date Contest

In publishing, the date when a book goes on sale is called the "Release Date". We always release on Tuesdays and ninety-nine percent of the time, that date is set in stone months in advance.

Oh, that you could plan a baby's arrival the same way. :) "Sal" Marchese is due on November 26th, and we allowed our little person to keep his or her gender a secret from us. Sal is just the baby's in utero nickname and is not our final moniker choice.

You are welcome to submit your best guesses regarding the release of our "first edition" in the comments section of this blog post. You don't have to register if you don't want- although Blogger will prompt it - but if you sign in as anonymous, just make sure to put your name in the comment too. Please note that you must first click on the header of this entry "Release Day Contest" and then go to the bottom of the entry and click on "Post Comment" - not subscribe to comments. That should take you to the comments page.

Prizes! Yes, we will award three prizes for correct or closest guesses - because there should always be prizes.

Birthdate:
Gender:
Boy Name:
Girl Name:

{Not weight and length, because I don't want your big baby guesses to jinx me.} :)

Ice Ice, Baby

Last Sunday, we went to an all-day birthing class at the hospital. I should say, the hospital-- as it's the spot where we'll be having this baby.

I had hoped that we'd be able to join a birthing class like the ones you see in the movies. All the couples become buddies and the teacher feels like a beloved, oversharing aunt. But no one offers a weekly birth class on a Saturday and our schedules don't allow for weeknights. {That must be why all those couples become buddies - they have 9 to 5 jobs.}

So the hospital class is a sort of crash course in childbirth. Eight hours of birthing videos, breathing exercises, and what-to-do-if scenarios. I think we did pretty well. Paul was a pro, no screaming or racing from the room, and just some subtle snickering at the early eighties 'fro guy featured in one of the "earthier" labor videos. Okay, we both snickered.

One "highlight" (translation: memorable but not necessarily pleasant) of the class was the opportunity to practice our Lamaze breathing while under some level of duress. Not labor pain, of course, but a like pain. Our instructor brought each couple a bag full of ice and during the moment when we were simulating contractions, the mom would immerse one hand into the bag completely. We were to grip the ice until the instructor told us that the contraction had ended. And I can tell you that gripping ice for a couple of minutes hurts. Nothing unbearable but I'd question anyone who'd tell me that her gut instinct was not to get her hand out of that #&@$ ice. It was a valuable opportunity to practice the breathing and visualize other things while being uncomfortable. I thought about all the beaches I've spent time on... hot, non-icy, exotic places. Mexico, Malaysia, Sydney, St. Lucia, Florida, New Jersey.

The only problem with this technique is that my coach can't read my mind. So Paul's gentle coaching - he's very good at it - splashed some cold, salty water on my mental beach vacation. The lesson of the class and the chilly pain tolerance experiment? We have some imaginary vacation planning to do to have this kid.