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!