I spent the first part of the week (Mon-Wed) in Chicago on business. The weather was perfect. I think the daytime temps were in the mid-60s. Nice change from the 100+ temps we’re still having in Phoenix. Fortunately the worksite was right downtown, just a block away from the Art Institute of Chicago. I only had an hour to spend in the museum. Fortunately the Impressionist collection was out on loan. Otherwise it would have been a real drag to only have one hour to view them. I saw some of Millennium Park, including the Cloud Gate (very cool!).
Check out the rest of the Flickr photoset.
Debra had a busy week at school, which isn’t easy with only five weeks to go until the baby’s due! She never complains though. If it wasn’t for the perfectly round belly, you’d never know she was pregnant. Monday night she had a breastfeeding class at Banner. We had another class at Banner Thursday night on infant care, featuring a very spirited nurse/doula that Debra knew in a past life from Shadow Rock.
We had our second in-home appointment with Robin and Mani, our midwife and doula. They are wonderful. They spent over an hour with Debra, Diane and me, answering our questions and checking Debra’s vitals. Everything looks great. The baby is active and right on schedule growth-wise.
This last week we met with our midwife for the first time. Debra and I have decided to have a home birth. If you hadn’t already heard, I’m sure your first reaction might be akin to ARE YOU NUTS?! We came to the decision quite naturally. There were many things that we wanted as part of a hospital birth that we knew would be resisted by the OB and hospital staff. Initially we considered hiring a doula to advocate for us at the hospital. Then we met several women who had home births. After hearing their stories we were hooked. We’ll be blogging more about this soon as we want expand on why we made the decision and the implications of a home birth.
This weekend Marissa and John hosted a party for all the August birthdays (John, Marissa and Jason). We had a blast swimming with the kids. John grilled up some excellent sausage. Debra did underwater handstands to turn the baby (she’s breech). We think it worked. I insulted Jason with the ‘doofus mode’ comment. Sorry brother. I swear it was a reflex action 
Complete Flickr photoset.
We got a load of baby gear from Amy and Colby (stroller, jogger, highchair, etc.) last weekend. We cleaned it all up and it’s practically brand new. Thanks guys! We can’t wait to put it all to good use.
Debra spent Tuesday-Thursday up at Camp Colley outside Payson. Kids from her school visit the camp each summer and she helps out as a volunteer. She goes again week after next. Apparently it’s not fun sleeping in a tent six months pregnant. She does report the kids had a blast.
She had another OB visit today (I couldn’t attend). Good news across the board. The baby is a good size and Debra’s blood test came back clean. No gestational diabetes!
We have both been digging into Facebook. It’s quite addictive. All the annoying little widgets aside, it’s a great way to stay in touch with friends. If you don’t have a Facebook account, you should get one.
Finally, I got the iPod 2.0 update for my iPod Touch this week. Yes I’m a geek and the update is extremely fracking cool. Debra’s brother John has been working on a cool application for the iPhone called iToony. It let’s you jazz up photos and email them or post them to Flickr. If you have an iPhone you need this app. Here’s my first iToony creation.
We just finished our 20th week of pregnancy. Debra’s been wearing her new maternity clothes. I also caught her doing the pregnancy waddle for the first time. After feeling the baby move for the first time this week, I feel so much more connected. I spent night after night with my ear to her belly. Last night she (the baby, not Debra) kicked me in the cheek.
Doesn’t she look beautiful?
I spent most of this week re-vamping the blog. Most of the changes might look minor, but my coding skills are limited so they took me a while. We hope you like the new look.
Debra hasn’t felt much like posting lately. She’s understandably tired and preoccupied. We had our third OB visit on Tuesday. This last week was our fifteenth week of pregnancy. There was no ultrasound, so the sex is still a mystery. We did get to hear the heartbeat. Little Lulubelle or Perciville has a strong ticker.
On Saturday Marissa and John hosted a birthday party for Diane. For those Bacas wondering, “Who?”, John and Marissa are Debra’s brother and sister-in-law and Diane is their mother. Thanks guys. We had a great time. Marissa made great fajitas and John showed off his very cool new IPhone app. I’ll get you more information as soon as it is released on the ITunes store in June.
Dulce found a new obsession this week. Each Spring a wild rabbit visits my backyard and munches the weeds. He’s back and driving the dog bananas. She obsessively paces between the backyard and computer room window looking for him. Each morning he sits outside the window taunting Dulce. It’s hilarious.
