What Dreams May Come

24 weeks today. Nicole had another doctor appointment... no sonogram, so no new pics of our ruggedly hansome fetus, but we did find out one thing: this kid hates doctor equipment. The only thing major that they needed to get done today was a quick heart rate check. So the "quick" check up turned out to be a skills competition for the nurse. I waited forever to hear the heartbeat, with everybody being real quiet, and then I started getting nervous. Then it was over. I still don't think I actually heard a sustained heartbeat, but Nicole and the nurse both say it was there. The problem was with that boy of mine. He did not like them listening in on him. Nicole said he was running all over the place and that he hasn't moved like that ever. Goose has apparently become very skilled at avoiding the microphone and has apparently developed some moves. He would dart off to her side, run up high, slide down low... basically whatever he had to do to dodge the microphone, short of coming out, he did it. Normally, hearing the heartbeat is my favorite thing at these appointments. It's why I come. But seeing the display he put on today really makes me proud. All I can say is, "That's my boy!"

So thanks to everybody for the feedback. Pertaining to the necessities we were asking about, there is so much baby stuff out there that who knows where to start. The suggestions were great, and much appreciated, but it sounds like we will need to find out for ourselves what works best for us and Goose. For me, that will probably be having Nicole do everything and only helping out during daylight hours. I'm probably no good after say... 8 pm anyway. Pertaining to the names, we definitely appreciate the suggestions. We have some ideas, but are going to buy a baby name book just to make sure we don't miss out on anything great or have a tremendous lapse in judgement. Names that are currently on the hot list are as follows: Maddox ("Max" for short), Nolan, Jacob ("Jake" for short), Cash. Picking a name is difficult. There's a lot of pressure there. And for somebody as indecisive as me... he may wind up with a first name and 5 middle names.

One other fun thing I am starting to learn about pregnant ladies is that they have some really wacked out dreams. Has this happened to everybody else out there that has kids? From what I have read and researched, wild, vivid dreams are fairly normal during pregnancies. Nicole is definitely not an exception. She has been having some really crazy episodes... so much so that she has started to get really concerned. Mostly because her dreams aren't the typical floating through the clouds, eating chocolate flavored rainbows. Hers are quite different, and to be honest, they are kind of violent. It's funny. For instance, here's one she had last night that had her worried:

• Scene: Nicole high in a tree house, clothed in a sniper outfit, armed with a bee-bee gun. Her target? Oh, a pasture full of children mocking her and her gun. Saying things like, "That won't hurt me". Her move? Well... obviously angry about something, she squeezes off a few rounds and peppers a poor unsuspecting boy right in the rear! He falls to the ground and lay motionless hoping Nicole will move on to her next target. (And so you don't think I'm the crazy one... this is completely legit. This was her dream!)

So needless to say, she has been pretty freaked out thinking these dreams are some kind of indication of what Goose is going to be like. She's worried she's growing some kind of danger to society in there. Like our first born child is going to be born with a straight jacket and the Hannibal Lecter face mask. Kind of a funny thought though. The doctor pulls Goose out of the womb only to find that he is wearing the afforementioned outfit and he does the whole, "It's good to see you again, Doctor." Pretty funny. Anyway, sorry about the sidetrack. So since both of us were obviously a little concerned (and I was at this point), I did some research this morning to help ease her mind. Turns out a lot of women have crazy dreams. Her violence is apparently derived from her ever growing motherly instincts and, of course, the hormones. So long story short... do not mess with our baby! Nicole will rip you a new one!

Help Wanted

Hello all. As I'm writing this today, Goose is currently 22 weeks old. Outside of the increased playtime he's having in Nicole's belly, everything else seems to be going eerily smooth. Well, outside of the fact that Nicole is without a doubt pregnant. It seems like every morning she wakes up a few sizes bigger than the night before. But it seems that the bigger she gets the more at ease she gets with it. Probably because there is no doubt now that she is pregnant with a baby, whereas before, a case could have been made that she was pregant with Little Debbies.

While we are on the topic of increased belly size, Nicole is currently employing the use of a "belly band". What a great invention that is! According to her though, it isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'm guessing because if left unattended, it could easily ride up into turtle-neck status, but I still think it is a great idea. For those that don't know what I'm talking about, I'll explain. Nicole's belly is so large now that she can't wear her normal pants without getting Goose all wrapped up in a half-nelson. So, in the time between her size now, and her gi-normous size a few months from now, she can wear her same pants, but with the button and zipper undone. The belly-band then wraps around her waist, covering the pants and holds them together. Such a great idea somebody had. But also, such a great idea I have... me, a belly-band, and some Mexican food!

To get to the meaning behind this title, Nicole and I are requesting a little help from everybody that reads this blog. We would like some serious feedback on the following 2 things:

1. For those that have kids: What was the one thing that you could not live without when taking care of your newborns? (i.e. diaper genie, something called boppers, or maybe chocolate?)
2. What are your favorite boy names? Now, I know this will take some restraint (Mrs. B), but we would like serious names... meaning names like Finius, Lars and Hobart should definitely be left out of the mix. And also, if you are saving a name for your future child, then by no means include it in your list, because with Nicole's pregnancy has also come a hightening of the senses, meaning she will no doubt be able to sniff out your weakness and believe me when I say... she will pounce!

Also, one more thing to wrap up. I pulled this from a pregnancy website. It was talking about what things Goose has developed.

• Your baby is able to hear. (Dads, did you know: low-frequency sounds mimicking a male voice penetrate the abdomen and uterine wall better than the higher frequencies of the female voice?)

I would just like to point out... like father, like son. I have a hard time hearing Nicole too. Good times.

Kick It!

Well what a week this past one has been. According to Nicole's lady doctor, Goose should have begun moving around by now. Nicole thought she felt him move for the first time 2 weeks ago... over a box of nerds no less. I guess the thought of a sugary, candy-coated high was too much to stay still about. But even his movement then left Nicole unsure that it was actually Goose and not any of the multitude of changes her body is undergoing (i.e. gas). So we weren't completely certain then. This past week; however, is a completely different story. Where last week was more "I think that was the baby moving", this week has become "What the &*^% Goose, knock it off already!" He has been gettin' with it.

So I believe it was Wednesday night... Nicole and I were watching some mindless television before we go to bed (our usual routine), and Nicole comments that Goose is really moving around. Then, she asks me/tells me to put my hand on her belly so I can feel him. I'm sure it's the same for all dad's the first time this happens, or maybe I'm a little different, given my uneasiness with all things slightly out of the ordinary. I much prefer thinking everything through so that I'm completely prepared for what's about to happen to me, in hopes of warding off the girl screams that are both untimely and unbecoming. But I balanced that side of me with the side that says that I'm not just a man, but rather, "THE" man, and therefore I did what I always do, fake some manliness, push myself through and I say "Sure" and I put my hand on her belly. And then... I wait. I'd compare the situation at this point, to a kid that wants to hold a bug, or a bird or anything else that they haven't felt before. They want to experience it. They want someone else to put the bug or the bird on their hand and they cringe and close their eyes and turn away in the moments before it happens because they don't know for sure what is about to happen. (Sure, some of them probably pee their pants and scream like little girls too, not saying I know of this personally, I'm just guessing it probably happens. It's a big world.) Anyway... so I wait. And so I realize that I'm on somebody else's time line. And I think, "Can he feel my hand on Nicole's stomach? Is that why he's not moving?" "Did I just freak him out?" "What's going on in there son!" Then it happened, and I will never forget it. Goose kicked and moved and rolled all at once. Sort of like a whale breaching the surface of the sea. Or maybe like the roll a gator does when it catches something. Sure, maybe a dog doing the roll over trick, but that is much less glamorous. Add a kick to all these things and you've got it. It happened so fast that it took a few seconds to process, so if anybody is curious, I didn't yelp like a girl or yank my hand back quickly. I just felt happy. Such a strange feeling. Hard to completely describe, but it was monumental to me. I will no doubt carry the feeling with me forever. Good for me, but great for Goose. He's going to be a quick one. He's going to be a soccer player. (Ref. Billy Madison).

Also this past week Nicole and I learned that Goose has been developing his sense of touch. Probably why he has been so active. I have a few theories on this. The first... that he is much like his father and is uneasy to the "new" experience of feeling things and he continues to freak himself out repeatedly. The second is that he has been playing a game with Nicole that she is unaware of. The old childhood game of "I'm going to start kicking, and I hope you don't get in my way." The third, while extremely doubtful, is the vision I have of a jailed inmate pumping iron to pass the time. He's got nothing better to do than say, grow some eyes, so in the downtime, why not beef himself up a little. Now, I'm in no way calling Goose a criminal so much as saying that when he arrives, there's a good chance he is going to be a bad a$$... and possibly a smoker.

That is all.