2 centimeters - what does it really mean
OK, we went to the doctor. I'll leave out the details of some of the tests, but the good one is that Dawn is already starting to dilate (and actually, she is at 2cm, imagine that). Apparently, that is a little bigger than a Cherrio (thank you Tosca for explaining that one to us - FYI, she was the nurse that taught our class, also FYI, she rocks). Anyway, in the overall grand scheme of things, we could say that this is 20% and that that is cool, but really, it doesn't mean squat (and FYI, if it took this long to get to 20% it would mean Aiden would be born in mid 2005 - safe to say Dawn won't put up with it). The doctor said that it is a good sign that something is happening, but it doesn't actually give us anything that says when the baby will be born - some people don't dilate at all until 2 days before the birth - others hang out at different sizes for a while.
In other entertaining baby news, Aiden decided to test the ejection system the other night. Thinking life was good, Dawn and I had racked out in bed, which usually involves watching a little of the nightly news on channel 12 before we actually go to sleep. So, here we are, Richard with a bunch of work to do before the 14th of September (or die) and Dawn with a bunch of support stuff to do helping me out (thank you honey). I'm answering some esoteric question, or at least talking to myself, when she reaches up and grabs my arm and starts breathing funny. I look at her and say "are you OK". The "don't talk" answer indicated a contraction. Oh how I had figured my good friend Mr. Murphy had shown up on my doorstep. We don't have the seat in the car right, my bags and Dawn's bags aren't packed for the hospital and I really really have to do some work tomorrow. Taking all this into account, I figured the odds that Dawn would just up and have this baby on the first pass was pretty good. So, after it passed, I noted the time and got up and started getting the bags ready. 8 minutes later, she's breathing funny again. I figured we had a few hours if she really got serious. Birthing class said something about 5 minutes apart and 30 seconds long we should go visit. Oh the joy. Needless to say, after an hour it went away. Everyone went back to sleep and life was good.
News Archive
Finally got that news archive link working. I was going nuts on some code I was working on and decided to take a break (by working on some other code) - this part of the site came to mind and here it is. Click on it and you can see that I've been here talking to myself for quite a while - 
.
On the upside, it is pretty straight forward and someday I'll finish the other links.
Baby steps
OK, nice title, doesn't mean we have a child yet. However, we have found out that some people are claiming to have been 2cm for 4 weeks!!! So, needless to say we aren't quite as excited about that whole 2cm thing as we were a few days ago.
We are getting some things done around the house and we put together his little crib (which is sooo cute). I figured someone would want to see a little baby's bed pic. No we haven't finished moving Dawn's stuff out of the Aiden's bedroom, but we hope to finish Dawn's new styly desk today and get Aiden's room at least partially completed somehow.
Here's a pic of Aiden's cute little crib, which was actually set up last week. I'm sure I'll have more of something to put up here soon. 
New Desk
Well, time just seems to be flying by with the baby due in 16 days or something like that. I finally finished Dawn's new desk which was a very exciting moment, since someone was pretty convinced that I wasn't going to get it done (no names...). Here is a pic:
One of the defining moments in this little production was when I went to go add new circuits for the additional outlets that are now available on that wall. Took a little too long apparently (like Saturday and part of Sunday). Just a little FYI, don't call me for your electrical work - it isn't my favorite thing. Could be the whole fat guy in the hot attic thing, but I think I'll stick to programming.
In other news, tomorrow we go to the doctor again to find out what's up with Aiden. I've been informed that if there isn't some multi-centimeter progress there will be some definite sadness. Even 1 centimeter would be acceptable, but there must be progress. In the meantime, Dawn has been walking a bunch (like all over WinCo Foods this morning), going to water aerobics with some great regularity, etc, etc. Tomorrow morning, we shall find out and yes, I'll probably have to post something here. Of course, if you don't see anything for a day or so, then it is because we got lucky and went to the hospital to pop the little guy out.
NO BABIES!!!
So last visit, last week, Dawn was 2cm and 40% effaced. This week we are at a "generous" 2cm and 50+% effaced. So progress is being made, but not at the super fast speed the 7-11 generation is accustomed to. We are still waiting patiently (more or less).
Why God wanted Man and Woman to be married...
OK, somewhere in the Bible, God says that man and woman should be married. Then of course, he talks about kids. Not that I think I know more than God, but I think I may have discovered the reason for this.
You see, it is my understanding, that children get up at odd hours in the middle of the night (possibly reliving the nightmare of birth, of course, if someone spent several hours shoving you through an opening the size of a donut you'd probably have nightmares too). Anyway, if you are married, or at least living together, then you are awaken at odd hours in the middle of the night with the pregnant wife's newly-formed and very unusual sleeping habits. These may include, but are not limited to, snoring, talking to someone else, moving (as if running a marathon, engaged in skydiving or some kind of new jazz-disco dance combo), getting up to use the bathroom (at 20-30 minute intervals).
This time is used by the man to transition into a state of "functional-unconsciousness" brought on by massive sleep deprevation. I can only imagine the suffering of someone who is not given the opportunity to experience this natural learning period. On the upside, it is a little after 9am and I've already mowed the lawn, been to the gym, wrote 200+ lines of good code, ate breakfast, helped some surveyers in Ashland, washed my car (twice) using only 4 cups of water, recycled all the water from my car wash, and counted each individual blade of grass in the front yard. Off to do some more working...
Oh yeah, Aiden is still tucked away safely inside of his mommy's tummy and his room is finally cleared out and completely ready for him. I'll get some pics soon...
What a day!!!
Well, no babies yet!
Figured I better get that out of the way with a title like "What a day!!!". I had a hard drive that was giving out on me. It was constantly giving me little messages like:
Windows - Delayed Write Failed : Windows was unable to save all the data for the file [insert file name]. The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.
Needless to say, that will freak a person out. Usually it was a system file (like $Mft or something) which could be repaired by running scandisk. All in all, it is quite funny since it is a delayed write, which means the OS has already told the program that the file was saved so you can't really go back and tell it to save it somewhere else (unless you happen to have the program open). This can have substantial impact on your stress levels.
Finally tonight I tried to boot up and the computer came up with a message that said it couldn't find that hard drive. Uh, that's a problem. I rebooted and after 3x it finally found it. So, freaked out as I was, I got on my backup computer and started looking for ideas on how to solve this. Finally realized I have Norton Ghost (part of Norton SystemWorks 2002, which I will be upgrading to 2003 very soon) and that I could go get a new hard drive at Staples for $100 and copy the old drive to the new one and continue working.
The good news is that it worked perfectly. I must say I'm a little euphoric at the moment - I love when tech works (sometimes I'm frustrated when tech doesn't, but only if I can't ever fix it). Anyway, I'll make another happier entry with the pics of the baby's room (we hung little sticky things on the wall today while my drive was mirroring itself).
Aiden's room is even more ready
OK, here are 2 quick pics of Aiden's bedroom. It is pretty much all ready to go. I'm sure there are a few things that we would like to add, but if he comes tomorrow this is A LOT better shape than we were in during the first ejection test.
Pardon the funky shadows, I'm an amateur!
Off to see the Dr.
We are off to see the Dr. this morning. We should be back around 11:30am our time and then I'll post something here. If, of course, it is about 1pm Pacific time and there still isn't a posting, then we're at the hospital. Just so you know.
No babies, yet!
OK, no babies at this point. There is good news in the progress department, but we aren't headed to the hospital yet. Dawn is now 70% effaced and just shy of 3cm dilated (or at least that is what was on the chart).
We scheduled an induction on the 30th, but we have been assured that we can back out of that without any problems. Apparently, it is easier to schedule them than to try and shove them in at the last moment. So, we shall see. Officially, Dawn would be 40 weeks and 4 days on the 30th. She is debating the 7th of October as well. Only time will tell at this point. Aiden may very well decide to get out on his own before either of those two days.
I'll try to keep the site updated in the meantime.
Still no babies, but lots of "cramping"
Well, I'm not totally sure what "cramping" means in the over all grand scheme of things. I'm sure Tosca probably went over this (FYI, if you are having kids, go to RVMC and take some classes, they are worth it). So, I guess Dawn was out on the couch last night sleeping and moving around and basically feeling like crud while this "cramping" was going on. The doctor said that anytime Dawn is uncomfortable we should be a little happy, since it means progress. No, it doesn't mean we are sadists and enjoy the wife being in pain.
I'm sure that come Monday any additional "cramping" will probably be followed by us walking around the block/mall/Ashland in some vain attempt to assist in the progress of this baby. We'll let you know.
Happy Anniversary to us...
Nothing new on the baby front. Of course, we are currently invested in the work front. There will be a demo of some of the software on Wednesday of next week so we are both working pretty hard at getting things ready for that.
Dawn still mentions the induction on the 30th and she is pretty set with that at this point. She had a conversation with her cousin Toni (who, as it so happens, is a nurse) and since then the inducing idea is sounding like something that she can handle. So, we should have a baby sometime this month, exactly when is still a bit of a mystery.
About that kid...
Well, still no baby. Dawn is getting more and more uncomfortable. Last night she was a wiggle worm (means she moved around alot in bed). Apparently, Aiden was "flopping" over to whatever side she was laying on and pinching off all kinds of nerves/circulation/air/water/feeling/blood/etc. You can tell Dawn is ready to get that kid out. She keeps telling him he can't come til later, but secretly she wants him out now (this probably has to do with the demos that are coming up).
I guess the one other thing that I should do is get some "just before the baby popped" pictures. Well, off to gym (finally).
Kids, contractions and mothers...
Well, looks like the kid is gonna be getting here soon. Dawn and I were lying in bed talking before going to bed and I put my hand on her stomach like I frequently do when I'm trying to feel Aiden kick. Usually there will be a little hard spot where Aiden is pushing against something. I just happened to land there this time so I started feeling around trying to figure out if that was his leg or his butt or what. Well, guess what? There isn't a soft spot anywhere. I got up and started checking and her entire uterus (from what I can tell) is all hard. I'm laughing and we are talking about it some more and I tell her that this is what a contraction is. Apparently, she isn't feeling any of this. It doesn't hurt at all. She says she can barely feel it!!! Then I remember that she had told me her mother was the same way.
We were talking to one of the nurses one day and explained that Dawn's mother didn't feel any contractions prior to having her or her brother, Darrin. Apparently, Dawn's mom just went in to the doctor's office and they told her she was having the baby. Well, my 3.5 minutes of birthing-guy training tells me that someone needs to lay off the crack pipe and the reaction from the nurse we were explaining this to, indicates the same. I think her expression was more of a "oh, your mother wants to lie to you about it, huh???". Anyway, I think I'm beginning to understand that, in fact, she probably didn't feel anything.
Anyway, to continue with the evening. We are laughing our asses off because this is for all intensive purposes, what a contaction is supposed to be. So we talk for a little while longer and her stomach softens up, then a few minutes later it is all hard again. Of course, Richard decides to push on it so that he can tell when it is contracting and when it isn't. Needless to say, Dawn isn't big on that one so I don't get to find out these things. Anyway, more programmer predictions for you, if she keeps this up, that baby will be coming before we make the next doctor's appointment on Thursday. Of course, if I was good at predicting stuff, I would play the lottery and the stock market alot more.
Contraction update
Dawn is able to feel them more and more now. They are 8 minutes apart and lasting about 40 seconds. Back to my birthing-guy training, this means "uh" (yes, that is officially). Actually, at 5 minutes apart and 30 seconds we are supposed to go play at the hospital. However, one should keep in mind that we have experienced this fun stuff at night before, so... I'm going to go to bed and get some sleep, just in case.
Contraction update
Well, Dawn was up and down a few times last night. Apparently, the contractions would start and kinda play with her for a while and then after a few hours would quit and she would go back to bed. We shall see how it plays out today. Nothing hugely serious yet.
1st visit...
We are on the way to the hospital. I'll let you know how it turns out...
We are back home...
So, we went, they hooked Dawn up to the little monitor thing for about 20 minutes and asks a few questions (that was fun), then they did one of those exam things (if you really want to know more, ask), then they told us to walk around for an hour - there actually is quite a bit to the hospital. Then we went back to the room, they hooked her up for 20 minutes or so did some more examining and told us to go home. Not a big deal all in all. Gave me an opportunity to double check that Joey was born in suite 13 (I was thinking it was 7, but I was wrong). Anyway, I took a picture, but I have to get those approved by the boss these days so it'll have to wait. I also checked out the vending machine and yes, it has food. Yes, most of it is junk food. Yes, I'll probably eat alot of it.
We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning at 9:30am...
Still no baby
Well, the day was spent like most any other, with the exception that I was so tired from not having much sleep. I worked for some of the day, though not with the vigorous intensity that I'd been working in the past. I read some of the Flash 5 Bible (would like to finish that soon), Dawn went to water aerobics for the last time and her brother called thinking we had had the baby (since I hadn't updated the website today). Oops.
We all took a nap around 4:30pm so we are ready to go when/if that baby decides to do something tonight.
Our Dr's appointment was pretty routine, he said she was definitely 3cm (which the hospital said last night, too) and wrote that she was 75% effaced. He did say that baby's tend to come at night between something and 2am (don't recall the exact time, so don't quote me on that one). He also indicated that if we ended up at the hospital this weekend for some contraction related issues we could certainly begin this whole induction process a little earlier if we would like.
Something that we did find at the hospital the other night is that they do have 2 spots (that I found) where computers are set up that have access to the internet. For $2/30 minutes you can use their machines to play on the net. The good part about this is that, if I remember, I can update this site from there. The bad part is that they don't have Word on there so I'll probably misspell something and you will all discover the secret to my fine spelling. For the nerds in the herd, these are definately not high end boxes and they are running Windows NT 4 Terminal Server for security reasons (you can guess what those are). The keyboard is "special" (even has a card reader embedded so that you can scan your card) and I'll have to 2x check for a floppy or CD-ROM drive. BUT, no, I don't plan on trying to hack on them.
Dawn's mom (Clarie) is still here and will probably stay the weekend, which is fine, but she doesn't really have a big area to sleep since Aiden's room has become Aiden's room. We plopped an air mattress in the middle of it and we're moving on.
I'll try to check with the boss tonight to see about getting those pics up here from our dry run.
No baby and no contractions
Well, last night didn't get us a baby either, even though Dawn had gone to water aerobics and everything. Oh well. Dawn and her mother are off checking out garage sales and walking around somewhere. Hopefully, this will create some wonderful change and life will be good.
Today is officially the due date, but as we all know due dates are an estimate and the date of actual delivery can very by as much as 2 weeks. If he is born today, other things that happened today in history:
We'll let you know if anything new comes up (or pops out).
Who is Tami????
For those of you who are wondering who Tami Fuller is she is my cousin on my Mom's side. She lives in Portland and was due March 9th the day after me.
Dawn can now blog.
Dawn asked if she could write stuff on my site too. Seems like a reasonable request. I gave her some different colors so that it was more obvious that I didn't have schizophrenia.
Ultrasound harassment
OK, someone out there (and you know who you are 
) was harassing me again about the fact that I still haven't posted the pics from the August 9th ultrasounds. So, here they are.
It kinda looked like he was shoving his little head around to get out. Of course, still pics don't always convey the whole message.
Here he looked like he got his head out there just a little bit more. I think that is his hand in front of his face. I should try to clean these up so that people can make out this stuff right away. But I'm a programmer (in case you couldn't tell from all the fine graphics I've used on this site...).
Hmm, maybe I shouldn't try to clean these up. 
Yep, we got two shots of his manhood just in case someone doubted us. Actually, these pics were the point of some contention during the visit. Dawn had mentioned that we learned in our birthing class that the ultrasounds are not always 100% accurate. The nice ultrasound Dr. lady (I'm guessing she was a doc, probably don't actually have to be to do ultrasounds, but who knows) was kind enough to let us know that she wouldn't have told us anything if she wasn't 100% sure - of course, then we got extra pics of his manhood. She really was trying to be nice and tell us that she knows what she is doing and isn't some flunky. I probably would have been a little more "forceful" about the fact that I know what I'm doing (if I was an ultrasound dude, that is). Of course, brings up the question, how do you tell a customer that they don't know what they are talking about without offending them?
Braxton Hicks again!!!
Last night again I had Braxton Hicks (false labor). This has happened every night this week except Thursday. Frankly I’m getting tired of it and would like the real thing. I may think different later. The good thing is that only 2 more days left. Hopefully sometime Monday Aiden will be here. I know I’m not the only one who is ready for him. Just by looking at how many times our web site has been checked this weeks shows that.
Still no kids, but Dawn's mom got a new truck
Obviously the title says it all. We still don't have a child. Dawn is having some pretty intense contractions at the moment, but she has had them at night alot lately. They get more and more intense and then the next thing you know she is saying she isn't having them anymore.
In other news Dawn's mom spent most of the day at the Lithia dealership buying a new truck. Seemed like quite a good deal when it was all said and done, but I never really feel 100% confident that I know everything that is going on at a car dealership (probably best that way). Anyway, maybe we'll put some pics up here of the new ride tomorrow.
More fakies
Well, another night spent on the verge of hospital trips. Dawn was having contractions pretty seriously this evening and we started timing them around 9:45. They lasted up until about 15 minutes ago when they just gave up. Oh well. Sunday night will probably be interesting since we can almost bet money there will be contractions. Then, of course, Monday morning we go in for the induction anyway. Maybe we'll get to go in a little early and have him really early Monday morning...
Almost a dad
Well, the girls at The Human Bean were harrassing me today about my pending daddy-dom. In part because I said I wanted a "Strawberry and BananEE smoothie". Oops.
Well, one more day left until we are definately in the hospital. Dawn said she was having some cramping this morning, but nothing as huge as last night. We shall see how the day progresses. Can't say that I envy her having to push this kid out. Doesn't look like it really feels all that great. Could explain why they say that mother's are more attached to their children then the fathers. Of course, I don't have exact quote from some one actually saying that, but I'm just helping purpetuate the rumor. Also, doesn't mean I want to do anything drastic or stupid just to remember that Aiden is my son or anything. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do that anyway.
Here is Clari's new truck that I mentioned the other night. Today is a wee on the rainy side so it looks like it will look in it's native coastal environment. 
Pre-ejection testing
Finally got around to checking with Dawn about posting the hospital picture. Here we are. We were in suite 11, not that that means we will be back in suite 11, just that that is where we went that time.
I blew up the monitor and covered the lovely window dressing. The bottom line was her contractions. I guess they weren't real consistent, but the looked cool on the monitor.
The night before the big day
There is less the 12 hours to go before I’m induced. I have been uncomfortable all day. I’ve had contractions pretty much all day. Most of the time they are mild but every once in a while I have stronger ones that last an hour or so. Right now I’m glad I choose to induce. It has made the last couple of days easier knowing that it’s not much longer. I may think differently tomorrow. Some people say inducing makes labor harder. Since this is my first time I have nothing to compare it with. So hopefully ignorance will be on my side.
As for tomorrow the doctor wants us there around 6:00 AM. He will come and induce around 7:00 AM. As for when Aiden will be here is a big mystery. I’m hoping sometime in the afternoon.