Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Belly Button!

RJ turned two weeks old on July 3 (also my sister Amy's 25th Birthday, and Andrew Otte's 29th Birthday - Happy Birthday you two!!!)

In addition to his being another week older, he also woke up without his umbilical cord stump! That little piece of dried up crap that looks like a brownish green raisin showed up in the top of his diaper. Now, I don't have to worry about hitting it or worry about the green goo that was oozing before it fully dried up!

And of course, here is what his cute little belly button looks like!
And here are some more pictures of our 2nd week with RJ, including his first sponge bath (he couldn't have a full bath until his umbilical stump fell off),


some family naps,

time with his grandmas,

his first restaurant visit (Jimmy Bean's Cafe in Berkeley),

and some random cute pictures too (clicking on this one will link you to the rest).

Back to "Work"...

I went back to the daily grind today after my two week stint of bonding time. I had considered taking one week and then taking a single day a week off for awhile, but having just gone through it I couldn't imagine taking any less time. Maybe when we have a third kid and I don't care anymore, but having the extra time now was really important so that I could be around to help Cheryl and RJ find their routine. It also helps that California has a pretty good Paid Family Leave program. The way it works is that the state through disability insurance funding agrees to pay roughly 55% of my paycheck. The company then uses vacation time to make up the other 45% and allows me to take 5 sick days. I can take 6 weeks total over the course of a year, so my usual 13 days becomes roughly 33 paid days off.



It wasn't all work today though, we had a special screening of Transformers. I wouldn't say it was a good movie, but I loved every minute of it. It delivered what I expected it to be and was a lot of fun as a result. In fact, I drove home with a goofy little boy smile on my face.

2 Weeks Down, 934 to Go...

We know a measley four pictures cannot possibly hold you for very long, so here are some snapshots of our first two weeks together. A word of caution, in order to see the cuteness that is RJ you may also be subjected to looking at my new, much larger boobs. However, we're all adults and you've seen boobs before -- so a little side-boob and cleavage aren't really that exciting are they?

We spent the first 30 hours or so in the hospital. There is not a whole lot you can do in the hospital, but they do depict our first bonding moments and lots of broken sleep. There are also a few pictures of kangaroo care, skin to skin therapy, to help RJ get warmed up his first evening in the world.

Here is a rare glimpse of the kid without his essential accessory of a hat. He's got some big feet if you know what I mean.

With the concern for jaundice the doctor recommended some brief exposure to the sun.

By the fourth visit to the doctor, RJ was getting quite bored with the whole process.

RJ has hands like Hines, and some instincts clearly kick in from birth.

Screw you dad, this is my territory now.

Believe it or not but the hand down the pants and birdie shots were natural and not staged. More pictures from our first week at home:

RJ's First Trip to the Doctor

So RJ had his first doctor visit on Friday June 22. And there are pictures of our visit.



Newborns typically lose some weight before the mother's milk comes in, but RJ was just on the cusp of weight loss where they start to worry and he was a little jaundiced, so in the last few days, we've gone for multiple weigh-ins. But the good news is that since my milk came in (the day after his first visit) he's back on track with gaining. I actually have my suspicions since he was weighed on 5 different scales, that perhaps his dramatic weight loss wasn't actually as dramatic as it seemed, but since he's turning around anyway, all is good.

Here's his stats:
Birth (Scale 1, Dr. 1): 6.13
Day 1 (Scale 2, Nurse 1): 6.9
Day 3 (Scale 3, Nurse 2): 6.0
Day 4 (Scale 4, Nurse 2): 6.7
Day 6 (Scale 5, Nurse 3): 6.5
Day 8 (Scale 5, Nurse 4): 6.9

Perhaps if Scale 3 (what I see as the outlier) didn't exist we wouldn't have had to go to the doctor's office 4 times in 6 days just for weigh in and color check. But the good news is that he has started gaining, the jaundice is gone (which has coincided with our getting our breastfeeding rhythm down as well) and we have a 9 day break from the Dr. before he needs to go in for his Hep B shot and 2 week checkup late next week.

Happy Birthday Boca Chica!

On June 19, Boca Chica turned 2. And if you think this is just another silly post about the cats, think again...

In addition to this being Garfield and Paula Abdul's birthday, for Boca's Birthday present we gave him a little brother named Reed Jeremy (RJ) DeLancey.


RJ was born on June 19 at 4:24pm Pacific time (that's 7:24pm for you East Coasters).

Here are his stats: 6lbs, 13oz., 20.5 inches long.

Taking it from the top, on the morning of June 19th I woke up pretty restless, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, and I felt a bit off and a little crampy, but I was just having slightly stronger braxton-hicks contractions. At about 8:00 AM, Lance left for work, and I almost told him that maybe he should stick around, but I didn't want to raise a false alarm, so I didn't. But I still was really restless - I couldn't decide what to eat for breakfast and so I checked some email first. Then my back hurt a little with what was still like a braxton-hicks contraction and I figured that maybe I should ask my mom if it could be a real contraction. She said it might be, so I called Lance, who was now about 15 minutes into his commute. He turned around - and in the process managed to almost exit into a truck weigh station instead of the next exit. I then ate some breakfast and took a shower. (If the contractions went away during the shower, then I would know they were braxton hicks and not the real deal - they didn't go away, in fact they got closer together - we were varying between 8 and 2 minutes apart - very irregular, but still very much there. We got some stuff together and Lance, Momma C, and I got into the car to head to the hospital. This was around 9:30 AM. Along the way we called our midwife and she said that being about 3-5 minutes apart now, that heading to the hospital was a good idea. At this point I could still talk during the contractions pretty well, although with each contraction, my back would hurt more and more -- I actually think my back was contracting more than anything else.

When we got to the hospital (it's about an hour away), we went right up to the maternity ward and into triage. They checked me and listened to the baby briefly - I was 4cm dilated, 100% effaced and at 0 station, so I was admitted and we promptly got the largest labor and delivery room on the floor.

Using the combination of jacuzzi tub, birthing ball, standing positions, and kneeling on hands and knees -- I tolerated 7 hours of back labor without medication. The last hour of pushing resulted in the delivery of a screaming baby boy.

After making a few initial calls we were directed to the post-partum suite with a gorgeous view of the city across the bay.

We were discharged after a hectic and sleepless 30 hours. We weren't sleepless because of RJ, he was an angel, but the non-stop interruptions from the nursing staff led us to turn down staying an extra day so that we could recover at home.

Want a Boy or a Girl...

From a Psychology Today article:

In comparing identical twins, Kohler found that mothers with one child are about 20 percent happier than their childless counterparts; and while fathers' happiness gains are smaller, men enjoy an almost 75 percent larger happiness boost from a firstborn son than from a firstborn daughter. The first child's sex doesn't matter to mothers...

Cute Kitty Update

So Bacardi and Boca Chica are probably going to get a lot less attention once the baby comes. Or at least they're going to hear the word, "no", a lot more. For example, "No Boca, get out of the crib" or "No Bacardi, I can't pet you now, I'm breastfeeding". And they've been getting the silent treatment on this blog, even though they're very much a part of our lives. So, since they were being cute the other day, I snapped a picture and decided to share. Now, this pose lasted long enough for me to sneak out of my chair, waddle to the hallway to get the camera and waddle back and take this from a couple of different angles. However, after I snapped a few pictures, Boca ruined it by pouncing directly on Bacardi (what else is new?).



Also, both kitties know something's up. Boca in particular loves to snuggle up to my belly at night and tends to follow me around the house. Although I think he senses a change...since he decided that attacking my legs was a good idea today, when he hasn't done that for a really long time. Although, it's also possible that he was pissed that he got his claws trimmed by me this morning...who knows?

Also, for those of you counting, Boca Chica is celebrating a birthday soon. He will be 2 years old on June 19th (yep, on my due date). We're not sure if this is ACTUALLY his birthday, but it's the birthday the vet gave him when they saw him the first time.

Belly Shot Update - 39 Weeks

Yep, still pregnant...and still huge...and still not tipped over.

My due date is Tuesday, so I'm HOPING that this will be the last of the belly shots!

My progress...

Cheryl is not the only one making progress, my STARmeter rating is up 185% since last week. I don't really know what that means, but it's cool.

Nugget's Prenatal Appointment - 39 Weeks

Both Nugget and I are doing fantastic. Everything is right on track. For those following my progress toward the birth, I am now 60% effaced (that's 10% up from last week), and still at about 1.5 cms dilated. AND Nugget has dropped. Of course, like always, this doesn't actually mean anything, these aren't indicators at all - I could still go post date or have the baby tonight, it's all a mystery, but progress is good! I'm thinking that this weekend will be a good time to start following the advice of Rachel's OB on 'Friends' in "The One Where Rachel is Late". I'm not late or anything, but it would be nice to have this baby, or at least we'll have fun trying to start labor!

For those of you who want to know what all those terms mean, read on. For those of you (like Sully) who have no desire to know what exactly is happening to my internal organs, you might want to stop here, although I don't think these descriptions are particularly gross or anything.

Dilation: This is the one that most of you probably already know. Basically this is the cervix opening up for the baby to pass through. It's measured from 0-10 centimeters. At 10 centimeters, the mother can generally start to push the baby out, although some don't get the urge immediately, usually because the baby hasn't moved down that far yet (see Station).

Effacement: The thinning out of the cervix. A cervix is usually like a cone that sticks out of the bottom of the uterus. When a woman is preparing for childbirth, the cervix starts thinning, or disappearing. It basically gets sucked up into the uterine wall or becomes part of the uterine wall. Keep in mind that the cervix can be closed and still effacing. When the cervix is effacing it also gets softer and more pliable, thus making it more able to dilate. In first time moms, most of effacement usually happens prior to dilation, although in subsequent births, they can happen simultaneously.

Station: I don't have numbers on this one yet, but it's basically how far into the pelvis/birth canal the baby is. I know that the Nugget's head is at my cervix, since the midwife could feel his/her head, and I'm guessing that Nugget's head is somewhere in my pelvis, since he/she has definitely dropped, but I don't have a station number on it. Station is measured from -3 to +3, where -3 is floating unengaged over the pelvis, 0 is reaching the ischial spines on the pelvis, which means that the widest part of the baby's head is engaged in the pelvis, and +3 is when the baby is crowning, or visable at the vaginal opening to the outside world.

(Diagrams from http://www.healthline.com/images/yodo/big/obip02-05tcg-g1.gif and http://www.healthsquare.com/fgwh/wh1c2603.jpg)

Nugget's Nursery

Nugget's nursery is officially ready for it's little occupant and we took pictures to share the end result (click on the posted pic to see the nursery from other angles). We'll eventually put more decorations on the wall, we have the Madagascar Movie Poster and a limited edition print of the characters that still need to be framed and hung, but that will all happen in time! And at some point there will be a cover for the lampshade too, but that requires me to actually make one!

Belly Shot Update - 38 Weeks

Yep, we only have another week to go 'til Nugget's Due Date! For those keeping track, I still have not toppled over, though my back and pelvis do feel like they might just let me crack in half sometimes. :)

Let's see if I make it to Saturday for another picture!

Cowboys, Gorillas and Hippies...Oh My!

We don't plan on becoming hermits once the baby arrives, but we thought we'd have a fun weekend in the California sun just in case we find ourselves busy for awhile.

On Saturday, we went to the Livermore Rodeo. Yes, in addition to being known for wine and nuclear weapons, Livermore has a very well attended annual rodeo event. Of course, we didn't actually go *in* to the rodeo since we're not rodeo people and couldn't justify the $12/person plus $8/car -- but we did see the (free) parade in downtown Livermore.



We rolled out of bed at an early hour on Sunday to go to Golden Gate Park. We didn't spend much time in the park but we did take a little stroll (err waddle) and saw the gorillas. There is a 7K race that raises money for African Gorillas, and all the runners get a gorilla costume with their registration fee. But in San Francisco it is not enough to *just* wear a gorilla costume. No, you need a costume for your costume. Anyway, it was an interesting spectacle - we might just have to do this one ourselves next year!

Finally, for some social interaction we went to Erin Medlin's appartment for her mimosa and "baked" goods brunch prior to the Haight/Ashbury Street Fair. It is the 40th anniversary of the summer of love for those keeping score. One particular highlight of this hippie scene was a local PTA tent pictured here. It might be hard to see, but yes, that is an elmo-adorned bra wearing, scantily clad woman manning the PTA's "big red yarn ball of love".

After the fair we stopped off in Pleasanton at Stacey's Cafe for a late lunch. I have recently taken up reading Scott Adam's blog. He for those not familiar is the creator of Dilbert and his daily reflections remind me of Dave Barry. Anyway, this was his restaurant that we snacked on some Grilled California Free Range Chicken Sandwiches with Avocado (the menu is quite witty).

(If you click on the pictures, you'll see more pictures from our weekend adventures).

Directions to the hospital...

We could be heading to the hospital any day now so we wanted to make sure we had directions. For those who haven't heard about it, or those who have but couldn't find any place they were interested in seeing with it -- here is the google street view of the hospital.

Mothers, make note of these directions yourself in case nugget decides to come and you find yourself needing to tell the cabbie where to go.

Nugget's Prenatal Appointment - 38 Weeks

Yesterday Nugget and I went to the midwife. Weekly appointments (which are routine at this point in pregnancy) are really a pain in the ass, but I suppose the peace of mind that everything is going along as it should is good.

So, no new news really - Nugget sounds great on the doppler and appears to be growing appropriately. I'm doing good too. For those interested in the progression toward the birth, I am about 50% effaced and about 1.5 cm dialated. Remember that this could mean that I will go into labor tomorrow or that won't go into labor for weeks. It's amazing how little we still know about what predicts birth timing! But Nugget is full-term now, so it can be any time.

Anyway, all is well and we're slowly getting ready for the big day.

Week 37 Belly Shots

Here are the links to this week's belly shots.

I also should point out that we've been labeling them by the whole week of pregnancy completed, which basically means that even though we took this picture this morning and it's labeled 37 weeks, I'm in the midst of my 38th week and actually closer to being 38 weeks pregnant, since on Tuesday, I'll have 38 weeks of pregnancy under my belt (heh...literally). This is true of all the belly shots, since we take them on the weekend.

Yes, I know, I'm huge. But, I've managed not to tip over yet, although I do wobble like a weeble. I also waddle a good amount too - I'm sure that will only get worse once the baby drops!

All work and no play has made Cheryl insane

I don't know whether it's my sudden lack of pile of portfolios, papers, and exams to grade or pregnancy hormones, but since I finished grading my last portfolio (about 10 minutes ago), I've been pretty much giggling uncontrollably with a goofy smile on my face while Lance looks at me like I'm a circus monkey.

I think it's relief. I made it through my first year as a new professor, and I managed to finish the semester BEFORE going into labor! Ah if only I could celebrate with some tequila...well in a few weeks maybe I can have a delayed celebratory sip.

Now let the nesting begin!!

Pregnancy FAQ...

Aunt Debbie sent us this forward which was quite relevant for us so I thought we could share with everybody.

Pregnancy Q & A

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q: I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q: What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational.
A: So what's your question?

Q: My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor?
A: Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q: Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.

End of the Semester Countdown

I really really really really can't wait for this semester to end. I don't know what I was thinking teaching 4 classes rather than 3 this semester. The extra money for the 4th class will be nice once I get it (they don't pay us until the grades are in for extra courses), but it's just exhausting and stressful. This is why you haven't heard from me in a while!

But the end is near. At this point, I have 22 portfolios, 8 research papers, 33 Cognitive Development finals (which I proctor on Tuesday), and 24 Social-Emotional Development finals (which I proctor on Wednesday) still left to grade. I hope to be completely done with all my grades turned in by June 1. Then I can focus completely on nesting and Nugget's impending arrival! Or maybe I'll just rest up for birthing the little one! I certainly need it after my first year of being a professor. I'd probably need it even if I wasn't 37 weeks pregnant!

More Belly Shots and Nugget Update

There are three new weekly belly shots since I last posted and some new stuff to share.

Both Nugget and myself are still doing great . Nugget is growing right on target and his/her heartbeat sounds great. I'm doing good too. At my 34 and 35 week checkups, we found that I was 20-30% effaced and 1.5 cm dilated, and my mucous plug has started to break down and pass. This process of normal cervical changes started a little earlier than usual, but it's not really anything to worry about either, since many women walk around for weeks being even more dilated than I. The midwife basically said that my body was just preparing for childbirth and that I'm not at risk for preterm labor even with these factors and Braxton Hicks contractions. At 34 weeks, the Midwife told me that I should take it easy since my activity level can lead to labor - so I started making myself walk slow across campus to class, started taking the elevator, and started rolling my laptop around campus in a small suitcase instead of carrying my backpack. It must be working since at almost 37 weeks now, Nugget is still safe and sound and healthy in my belly and has so far let me continue working. I'll be happy as long as Nugget stays in for another week - so I can proctor my class' exams this week, finish all my grading and not have to do it while recovering from childbirth!

On Tuesday I will be at 37 weeks gestation, so technically Nugget will be considered "full-term" at that point! Although I'd still like the little one to stay put for another week or so!

Survey says...

We were fortunate to collect the opinions of 38 people in our survey. Here's what you thought.

The good news is we think there is a 50/50 chance the baby will be either a boy or a girl -- and it was a 48.6% tie on the gender question with 2 people not giving an opinion. No help there, so let's move onto names.

There is a lot riding on the name for the baby, so we asked about baby names. We already know a middle name of Wayne is a bad idea. The Social Security Administration also just recently released the popular baby names for 2006.

        Boy        Girl
1   Jacob          Emily
2   Michael        Emma
3   Joshua         Madison
4   Ethan          Isabella
5   Matthew        Ava
6   Daniel         Abigail
7   Christopher    Olivia
8   Andrew         Hannah
9   Anthony        Sophia
10  William        Samantha

Despite the obvious benefits of being able to google a unique name, there is some criticism for being too novel as reported in this Guardian article.

In his book Baby Name Report Card, UCLA psychology professor Albert Mehrabian tested a host of names to see how attractive people found them. Some names immediately aroused images of success, others of popularity or kindness. On the whole, people judged to have more traditional names such as Rachel and Robert did extremely well. More alternative names scored badly. Breeze, for example, was given 16 out of 100, while Christopher received full marks. 'A name is part of an impression package,' said Mehrabian. 'Parents who make up bizarre names for their children are ignorant, arrogant or just foolish.'

The boy name theoretically was a no brainer. It may go back even farther, but there is a pattern to boy names in my family:

  William Robert DeLancey
  Robert George DeLancey
  George Jay DeLancey
  Jayson Jeremy DeLancey

Most of you also liked Jeremy, 21.1% (or 8) in fact. The other top choices:

  18.4% 7 Reed
  13.2% 5 Logan
  13.2% 5 Benjamin
   7.9% 3 Finn
   5.3% 2 Marshall

There were a lot of other suggestions getting one vote each: Koos, Mechanic, Lupay, Deven, Noah, Gabe, Bobby, and Reece. Nobody seemed intrigued by Leif or Stone.

For girl names there was not as much of a variety to choose from. Most of you (50%, 19) picked Lily as a good name for a girl. Gabriella was second with 28.9% and Harmony receiving only 3 votes. There was also votes for Reagan, Tia, Driver, Stefanie, and Erotica Jones.

Our choice of first names come with some ambiguity in spelling. Using the baby search tool on the Social Security Administration website we have some indications. First off, in the past 15 years there are no boys named Lily or Lilly and no girls named Reed or Reid. No gender confusion, check. As for popularity in 2006, Lilly ranks 151 while Lily ranks 33. Reed comes in at 470 and Reid has a slight edge at 422. Your opinion was consistent with the overall trend.

Belly Shot Update

Yep, it's time for another belly shot update. You know the drill - click on my belly to get the rest of the belly pictures. 33 weeks and counting.

Mind Altering Media...

Cheryl has for some time held the belief that TV is detrimental to child development and behavior, particularly the large majority of children's programming which portrays violent themes. This discussion has come up a few times over the years. I only have anecdotal evidence to suggest that media alone cannot possibly be the cause as there is a long history of violent behavior prior to the invention of electricity. Even Stephen Pinker brought this up at the recent TED conference and in an article in New Republic last month:

In sixteenth-century Paris, a popular form of entertainment was cat-burning, in which a cat was hoisted in a sling on a stage and slowly lowered into a fire. According to historian Norman Davies, "[T]he spectators, including kings and queens, shrieked with laughter as the animals, howling with pain, were singed, roasted, and finally carbonized." Today, such sadism would be unthinkable in most of the world. This change in sensibilities is just one example of perhaps the most important and most underappreciated trend in the human saga: Violence has been in decline over long stretches of history, and today we are probably living in the most peaceful moment of our species' time on earth.

I played video games, I watched R rated violent movies, and I played with a gun and I turned out ok right? Well, the April issue of New Scientist has a feature article Mind Altering Media that discusses the effects of television and video games on children. They point to some research that further backs up the findings that helped formulate Cheryl's beliefs:

When it comes to TV, however, there's no getting away from the fact that the bad news outweighs the good. One of the biggest studies was done by Jeffrey Johnson and colleagues at Columbia University in New York, who followed more than 700 families for 17 years, recording their viewing habits, health, backgrounds and various behavioural tendencies. Their findings confirm those of previous, smaller studies showing that the amount of TV watched during childhood and teens correlates with changes in attention and sleep patterns, among other things.

The group's latest analysis will be published next month, so Johnson can't reveal details yet, but says: "High levels of TV viewing may contribute to elevated risk for a type of syndrome which is often characterised by two or more of the following types of problems: elevated levels of verbal and physical aggression; difficulties with sleep; obesity and long-term risk for obesity-related health problems from a lack of physical exercise; and attention or learning difficulties."

There is also reference to Bandura's Bobo effect (also known as Social Learning Theory in Academic Circles):

One of the most straightforward demonstrations dates back to 1961, by Albert Bandura at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He showed short films to pre-schoolers. Half saw a man beating up a plastic clown (called a Bobo Doll). The other half saw more innocuous images. After watching the film the children were allowed to play with all kinds of toys, including the doll. Those who had seen the beating went and punched it, even copying details like words the clown said. The Bobo doll studies show that children will imitate violent acts in precise detail.

So, it really comes down to a risk assessment. How much enjoyment is there from these violent observations versus the risk that good parenting will not be enough to counter-act negative behavior. The American Academy of Pediatrics made a few recommendations in the article:

* no tv at all for children under 2 (Cheryl says babies need direct interaction that the TV does not provide - so all those Baby Einstein videos are overpriced crap and studies have shown that the potential costs greatly outweigh any meager gain in knowledge that a child could and generally does get elsewhere.)
* no more than 1 or 2 hours a day thereafter
* with teenagers, set conditional rules with homework
* encourage alternative activities
* look for nonviolent shows and games (there are some spatial awareness and other positive effects from video games)
* discuss what is real and what is make-believe (Cheryl says this is one of the many reasons why Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is a quality show)

More information:

* www.tvtroubles.com
* www.mindscience.org

So, even though G.I. Joe taught me that "knowing is half the battle", our kids will learn that lesson from a different source.

Funny things that professors say...

Usually all the "fun" job-related posts come from Lance. After all - he has mandated screenings of movies such as "Meet the Robinsons" and he gets to play with Shrek all day long. But, even in my more mundane job teaching college students about Child Development, occasionally something fun comes along to share with you all.

Last week, I was teaching my Developmental Assessment class all about Standardized testing, and the various types of standardized testing that exist. We were talking about Screening and Diagnostic testing, and primarily the differences between the two. Like any good professor, I was giving them well-known examples of such tests. One frequently used diagnostic test used in special education is the "Woodcock-Johnson-III", which, if you're interested measures "general intellectual ability, specific cognitive abilities, scholastic aptitude, oral language, and academic achievement." So I ask (since many of my students work part-time in classrooms or have taken a break from work to continue their education), "Are any of you familiar with the Woodcock-Johnson-III?" And the response I got was a bunch of giggles AND one student, who I now have much admiration for, blurted out, "Wow, that's three for three!" and then any hope for serious conversation was of course temporarily suspended.

Once my classroom settled down and we could talk more seriously about the test (although we all had to refrain from referring to the test by name in order to prevent any further giggle outbreaks), we began talking about how to interpret the results and to be careful about how we use the results, when I, clearly not thinking straight, used the following phrase. "We really need to be careful about who administers the tests, because usually so much is riding on the Woodcock-Johnson that it can change the whole course of a child's educational opportunities." And of course, the class erupts again, and I snarked, not realizing what I said yet, "really? the name of the test is still funny?" and got the response from one student who could barely contain her giggling, "No, you just said that a lot was riding on it." This of course led to even more of a giggle-eruption.

Anyway, needless to say, I really appreciate these students much more now that they've revealed that they're just as immature as my dear friend Grundle.

Prenatal Appointment - May 3

So, all is well with both Nugget and myself. Our midwife is very happy with my weight gain. I've packed on about 20 lbs so far - with about 6 weeks worth of gaining to go. About half of any future weight gained will be going directly to Nugget - the average weight gain for a woman to gain is about a pound a week - and usually half a pound goes directly toward making baby look like a fat little cherub. So if we extrapolate, when all is said and done, I will have gained approximately 26 lbs over the course of the pregnancy. Of that 26 lbs, about 8 lbs (give or take) will be Nugget, 1.5 - 2 lbs will be Nugget's placenta, about 12 lbs is a combination of amniotic fluid, uterine enlargement, increased blood volume, and fluids in maternal tissue. Plus, about a pound or two is all in my breasts . So really when it comes down to it, not a whole lot of my weight gain is fat that needs to be "burned" after Nugget and his/her placenta and amniotic fluid comes out - most of it will be taken care of naturally in the course of the month or so after Nugget's arrival with regular uterine shrinking and a naturally decreasing blood and fluid volume. Our midwife told me right out that she suspects that within a month or so of breastfeeding I'll be right back to "normal" and maybe a little less with the exception of my breasts (which I'm perfectly okay with!). She even noted that I'd have to watch that I don't loose too much weight since I have a naturally fast metabolism and will be putting extra energy into breastfeeding.

She also noted that Nugget is growing at a perfect rate. Nugget's heart sounds great too. And, Nugget is head down (and has been for weeks now), which bodes well for birth.

My blood pressure has remained remarkably steady - I've been at 110/70 at every prenatal visit. This time I was slightly lower at 100/66, but still well within that normal range, and nothing to write home about. This bp is actually closer to my pre-pregnancy normal - which is usually about 100/60.

Nothing else is really exciting about our progress, but I figured you'd all like to hear that Nugget and I are doing really well. 6 more weeks and counting!

Stroller-Carseat Erected!

Strollers and carseats are made to travel, and ours, even without the baby in it, has had quite the journey already. Still in its box, it made it from the store to my baby shower in January, and then at the end of March, after Amy & Luke's bridal shower, I checked the box and the stroller flew back to California with me. (Don't worry, I didn't lift it at all - Luke carried it to check-in in Buffalo and Lance carried it from baggage claim in Oakland.)

Then it sat in our hallway, blocking the door to the nursery-to-be for a couple of weeks. That's where Lance left it and well, I couldn't do much about it.

Then last weekend we embarked on the journey of starting to actually make the nursery a nursery. So we went through the box room (the guest-room-to-be) and consolodated some of our yet unpacked boxes (yeah, we STILL haven't really moved in), and Lance moved a bunch of them to the closet and the spare garage. Then Lance disassembled and reassembled the twin bed to make room for the crib (which is still in its box). And finally, we took the stroller out of the box and put it together. It's now hanging out where the crib will be when we try to put that together next weekend. Thanks Grandma C, Aunt Jill, & Aunt Mary Carole!

Asparagus Festival

An exciting Saturday out west. First up, we went to Stockton, CA and braved the escaped convict manhunt to check out the Asparagus Festival. Yes, you read that right -- Asparagus. Apparently it grows well enough to celebrate out here.

The highlight was the deep-fried asparagus and the asparaburrito. All in all it was a rather boring festival, and expensive at $10/person and $6 for 5 deep-fried asparagus (but it was yummy!). There was a skate-boarding dog that we couldn't see, and a half pipe where they were doing stunts (professionals, not the dog). If you are into arts and crafts there was a bunch of vendors peddling their asparagus themed wares. There were even margaritas with asparagus stirrers. I guess I'll have to wait until next year to actually sample the "Aspararitas"!

Destination Magazine rates it as one of the 100 best events in the nation but I find that surprising. At the "Farmer's Market" you could buy asparagus for $3/bundle (its cheaper at one of the many roadside stands) and the only other produce were strawberries and cherries (again cheaper out of the back of the truck at the end of our street). It was super crowded, and a very hot day at 91, but thankfully, the port-a-potties were not as scary as anticipated at an asparagus festival. After all, being 32 weeks pregnant and drinking enough water to stay hydrated in the heat, visiting the port-a-potties was unavoidable! I also learned that while 91 is not usually hot for me, being pregnant has apparently lowered my comfortable temperature maximum, so we only stayed a couple of hours, even with taking breaks to eat in the shade.

Life Imitates Art

After some shopping at Babies R Us and Indian food, we went home and sat down for some TV. As we were skipping around the TiVO, we caught the beginning of the Friends episode, The One Where They're Up All Night. For those of you who do not have a Friends obsession, this episode features Phoebe destroying a smoke detector that won't stop making it's "battery-low" beep. Unfortunately for us, when Cheryl woke to pee around 3am, life imitated art. Only she didn't want to wake me up and proceeded to try to fall back asleep even though our smoke detector beeped every 6 minutes. Finally around 4am, her tossing, turning, and obvious lack of sleeping did wake me up.

Our smoke detectors are mounted to the ceiling, and while we have a step stool, our ceilings are, like, 12ft high so it is a bit of a stretch. So I climbed up and pulled out the battery and started heading back to bed. It beeps again. I climb back up and pull it off the ceiling to find it has backup AC power connection. So I disconnect the power and satisfied stumble back to bed. It beeps again. Just as I was going for the hammer I realized the beep was coming from a different smoke detector -- we have something like three in every room apparently. So, I shuffled my chair and phone books to the other one and silenced it. Falling back to sleep, Cheryl was concerned about the first one now being disconnected, as it was the only one that was a CO detector as well -- so I got back up again and hooked it all together and put the battery back in. Done.



Good practice for baby wake-up calls I guess.

Shrek Ears Recall...

I picked up a few of these to give away -- but word on the street is that if used improperly you can put your eye out. Caution is encouraged. See the Forbes Article for more information.

I bought a car...

The insurance company gave me $6900 for my totaled alero and a rental car with a one week deadline before they would stop paying. They also provided through AAA a buyers service to help me find a replacement. It took a few days to search for an Alero and after thinking about it I decided that if I still had mine and it broke down a year from now I would say "that sucks" but if I bought a used car with the money provided and the same thing happened I would say "I got screwed".

So, I went with conventional wisdom and started looking at other used cars with a good track record -- ie. Honda and Toyota certified. What I discovered is that the depreciation on these cars was not too substantial. For instance, given my estimate that I may drive 25k miles/year I found these prices online:

                  NADA             Kelley
 2007     0k    $19,510     ---   $20,105    ----
 2006    25k    $19,175   $ 335   $18,590   $1515
 2005    50k    $16,062   $3113   $15,235   $3355
 2004    75k    $13,925   $2137   $14,060   $1175
 2003   100k    $11,550   $2375   $12,275   $1785

With the exception of the difference in price when passing the 36,000 mile warranty the depreciation appears relatively constant. Looking at vehicles online at autotrader also confirmed this trend. This led me to look at new cars instead.

Next I considered a hybrid vehicle. The tax credit is down to $750 but I drive a heck of a lot of miles, so looked at gas savings. Things may change, I may start carpooling, I may get to telecommute a day a week, I may move closer to work, gas prices will change, so with all these variables considered I wanted to do a price sensitivity analysis. The Civic EX is rated 30mpg city, 40 highway. They Civic Hybrid is 40 and 50mpg respectively. I was able to get the Civic EX for Invoice price, but the Hybrids are in higher demand and would have been closer to MSRP. That is a difference of $4645 - $750 tax credit = $3895. How much would I save in fuel costs?

Well, my manager has a hybrid and gets only 43 mpg. Reviews online at Car and Driver also suggest that it is really difficult to actually achieve 50mpg. So given my driving parameters of 110 miles/day, 5 days/week, 46 weeks/year = 21,850 miles. Assuming an average gas price of $4.00, 38mpg on the civic, 43mpg on the hybrid, I could save $22.29/month in gas or $267/year.

I'm all for doing what's good for the environment, but even with the ridiculous amount of driving I do and escalating fuel costs it could take 14 years to justify the additional cost.

So, what did I get? I got a blue one.

You should have seen the other guy...

The occupational hazard that is commuting 55 miles caught up to me. While driving to work at 7:55 AM on Thursday March 22 I came upon a sudden slowdown in traffic. As mentioned in an earlier post, this is a daily occurrence in Livermore but I still felt it sudden enough to check on the car behind me. I decided not to turn on the hazard lights because they were slowing down. Unfortunately the car(s) behind that car did not get the message and came plowing in once we were stopped.

The detail of the accident are not clear, there were either 5 cars involved in the collision, or 4 and the truck just hid from view the traffic the final car was surprised by. Either way the impact was enough to push me into the car in front. There was no damage to the car in front, but my car was written off as a total loss when the estimate to fix was over $6k. The rear quarter panel needed to be replaced, the trunk mechanism was all busted up, and the frame was bent as well.



Nobody was seriously injured though my neck and back were sore for a week or so after. The last car in our lineup had the airbag deployed, windshield broken, and was pretty smashed up overall. The Volvo in between also lost their bumper to the side of the road and had some significant damage.

Latest Belly Pictures

Yeah, I know - I'm getting HUGE! This brings us to 31 weeks!

Shrek appears on American Idol...

For the record, May 18 -- not June! In case you missed it, here's the video:

Prenatal Appointment - April 19

All is still well with Nugget. It's really annoying to have to go to the midwife every two weeks now, especially since everything is going so smoothly and there's no new information.

Our midwife estimates that Nugget is about 3 lbs right now (which is right on track). Plus, Nugget is head down, which is good.

In other pregnancy related news, I discovered that my heartburn was linked to lemonade and that my couch and drivers seat in my car are causing middle back pain. I seem to have an insatiable appetite for sweets too. And my sushi craving is pretty much constant - I can't wait to give birth so I can bite into some yummy yellowfin nigiri!

It's not too much longer now though!

Snopes is sinister

From my favorite comic xkcd:



but seriously, don't send us forwards.

The future of text messaging...

Work can be amusing at times.

Zazzle and Dreamworks BFF

Nugget's Tour of the Birth Center

Today we visited the place where, barring any traffic delays coinciding with a fast labor, Nugget will be born and get a real name! My mom went through the first twinge of labor to holding me in her arms in 4 hours flat - so it's possible given my genes that I could give birth in the car on the way.

The birth center is in the Alta Bates Summit Hospital in Berkeley. I've mentioned my apprehension about hospitals, and this still isn't my ideal (after all, birthing at home with a portable hospital parked in my driveway just isn't realistic - and we're just too far from a hospital if anything were to go wrong), BUT I am comfortable with our decision now that I've seen the birth center and heard their philosophy and policies about birthing.

They seem to share the general philosophy of our midwife, which is no unnecessary interventions, and to always try the least invasive, most natural interventions first if they become necessary. For example, IV's are NOT routinely given to healthy laboring mothers if not having an epidural or IV drugs. Episiotomies are also NOT routine. The labor/delivery rooms are all private, and they have a rooftop garden in which to wander around while laboring, tubs for laboring in particular rooms (and either showers or regular tubs in the other rooms), and are amenable to what seems like many different labor and delivery positions, including squatting with the squatting bar - which is supposed to be best for opening the pelvis and minimizing tearing. I was VERY happy to hear about the squatting bar since we learned about this method in birthing class and it seems to make the most sense, given gravity and positioning of the baby.

I am allowed to have up to 4 visitors/support people in the labor/delivery room, including the time of birth, and unlimited visitors after birth. And if we already had children, they would be allowed to watch the birth as well, provided they had their own support person to look after them.

I was also happy to hear that they had no restrictions regarding videotape, since we plan on buying a tripod for our video camera in order to catch the whole thing on tape. Don't worry, no one will be required to watch it - including Nugget's future significant others or anybody that would be equally embarrassed by it (i.e. Sully). I'd just really like to see myself birth a baby from another angle when I'm not experiencing the pain.

So, overall, I'm very pleased with our decision and feel MUCH better now that we've seen the place. Now here's to actually getting there before the baby comes (i.e. Berkeley is about 45 minutes from our house when there's no traffic)!

Other highlights include the Whole Foods grocery store across the street and Barney's and Zachary's, considered the best burgers and pizza in the bay area respectively, only a couple blocks away.

Breast is Best! (Why we're Breastfeeding)

I figured since I was all excited about my breast pump that I should explain why my choice is to breastfeed.

First, it's the best food for babies. Numerous studies have shown that there are compounds in breastmilk that can't be synthetically created in formula. So much development occurs in the baby's first year, that I want to give the baby the best start I can - some of the compounds in breastmilk are linked with increased cognitive function. The other components of breastmilk that are really important are my antibodies that I give to the baby. With my seasonal allergies and history of asthma, giving my baby breastmilk can help little Nugget maybe avoid some of those allergies. Granted it's not certain that it will do anything - I was breastfed and I still have allergies and asthma, although they didn't show up until I was 11 or 12. But it's worth a shot!
I'm not going to say that formula is evil or anything, it's certainly a good thing for adopted children and for those children whose mothers can't physically breastfeed, and we have made excellent advanced in formula that make it closer than in years past, but if you pit breastmilk against formula, breastmilk will win by a landslide.

Second, breasts are smart - they read signals from the baby's saliva and create milk that has the exact balance of nutrients and fat, in the exact amount that baby needs. I would like my boobs to live up to their intelligent potential instead of just being body ornaments.

Third, the action of suckling on a breast promotes good jaw strength and development. There is no bottle on the market that does this, despite their claims to be "like the breast".

Fourth, breastfeeding encourages my uterus to contract back to it's dormant-state size (and can reduce the risk of post-birth hemmorage if done immediately), and some women find that breastfeeding helps with taking off any extra pounds that came with pregnancy. I have a matron-of-honor gown to wear just over a month postpartum - so I'll take the benefits to me as well.

Fifth, not only does it promote attachment and bonding with baby, but breastfeeding also releases oxytocin in the mother, which has calming properties in addition to creating the neurochemical balance needed to stimulate caring behavior and bonding. Oxytocin has also been implicated in the post-natural birth euphoria experienced by mothers.

Sixth, It'll keep my boobs bigger for longer, which will help my waist look smaller as I'm loosing baby weight and toning my tummy again (yeah, I know they're still small - but every little gain in size counts!)

Seventh, on average exclusively breastfed babies diapers don't smell AS raunchy as formula fed babies - they're no picnic either, but it's not AS bad. This all goes out the window the second cereal is added though.

Eight, you can feed wherever you are without needing powders, water, can openers or anything - you can just whip out a boob and baby is fed (this also means less dishes when you're not pumping). I really did need a viable excuse just to post the phrase "whip out a boob" on the internet.

Plus, I think that it's really neat and I'd like to experience all the neat things that my body can do. I know it won't be easy (after all if it were, formula companies would go broke - there aren't statistically enough women who adopt or who physically can't breastfeed to keep them afloat all alone), but I think it's well worth the sacrifice - even if it means that I'll have to keep my wine tasting to a minimum when we go to Napa Valley!

Breast Pump

My breast pump arrived via FedEx today! Thanks Mom, Amy, & Gramma Ho! Ho! I got a Medela double electric pump (it's called the Advanced In-Style Backpack pump), which has fantastic reviews and NICU RN Mom says is the best brand. At some point I'll have to figure out how all the tubes and bottles and cones go together, but for now, at least I have it, so I'm ready when Nugget arrives and I start lactating. I plan on exclusively breastfeeding off the breast at first, and pumping to amass a supply of what Lance once referred to as "breastmilk freezer pops", so we can have a babysitter from time to time or go winetasting. Also thanks to Stef and Koos for sending us the bottle kit to use with the pump! We'll definitely be using the whole set of them!

The pump will also be a necessity when I go back to work in September and Nugget will be in daycare for half the day. I would really like to exclusively breastfeed Nugget until he/she is interested in other foods (usually recommended around 6 mos.) and continue breastfeeding at least until Nugget is a year old, at which point I'll continue until he/she weans him/herself. Having the pump will help to ensure that I can do that and bring home the bacon!

Plus I'll get to fulfill my lifelong desire to understand the experience of a dairy cow. :P

Prenatal Appointment April 5, 2007

I like to try and keep you all updated on the health and well being of Nugget and myself. Be reassured that all is going well and everything is right on track.

Earlier in the week I had to get some routine blood work done and at my appointment we found out that everything is looking good. And for the first time in my memory, including my first round of pregnancy-related blood work, I didn't pass out. Perhaps the extra blood volume in pregnancy is good for me.

I was tested for anemia and I'm not anemic.

She also had the glucose challenge test (this is the one where you have to drink the stuff that everyone says is awful but just tasted like 7up to me, and then get your blood tested an hour later), and there is no sign of diabetes. Also, for added information, my Mom tested my glucose with my Gramma Ho! Ho!'s glucometer at my sister's shower last weekend and my sugar levels 2 hours after eating are right at the normal level too.

My midwife said that all of my numbers looked great.

And finally, since my blood type is A- and Lance is B+, I had to be retested for Rh Antibodies again. Everything checked out and so she gave me the Anti-Rh Antibody injection at my visit.

Nugget's heartbeat sounded good and was head down at my appointment - which is a good sign even though he/she doesn't have to be head down quite yet at this point.

So both Nugget and myself are healthy and right on track for 29 weeks and we're starting to see the midwife every two weeks now, which is normal once hitting 30 weeks.

Also, new in Nugget's repertoire of behavior is kicking me in the ribs and stretching his/her little foot into my rib cage. At least I'm still sleeping through the night for now!

Staying in touch...

While I'm sure most of you go to the website twice a day, we'd like to make it even easier for the rest of you to keep up with what's going on as we near d-day. To that end, you have two options:

1. Subscribe to the RSS feeds. I will just refer you to Koos's instructions rather then repeat them here. Just substitute delanceyfamily for salmagundis in the description. Read the instructions here.

2. I have setup an email mailing list that will receive every post. You don't need a gmail account but you will need a google account to subscribe. Just go to the google group and we'll approve you.

New Belly Shots

The most recent belly shots have been posted. Just click on the bellies to get to the clothed and bare-belly albums.

We're on Week 29 now!

Amy & Luke's Bridal Shower

On April Fool's Day, my sister, Amy and her fiance, Luke had their Bridal Shower and I was able to attend - it coincided with my conference trip, so I sort of got to hit two birds with one stone.

Anyway, Luke and Amy had fun at this couple's shower, and I had a great time getting to see my family again this year. I was really glad I was able to come!

It also gave a number of people the opportunity to feel Nugget's kick-boxing - even though Nugget is not one to perform on command!

Just click on Amy's face for more pictures from the event!

Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD) Conference

Some of you might wonder what goes on at a professional conference while many of you might have an idea since you've been to conferences in your own fields. Either way, I figured that I'd talk about what my conferences are like in case you're curious.

As an academic, part of my job is to stay abreast of new research and techniques being used in my field and also to be engaged in my own "cutting edge" research. Most of the time one can keep up reasonably by reading the recent research reports, but even then, some articles take well over a year to be printed. And before they're accepted, there's probably a year or two between when the data was actually collected and the article is even accepted to a journal. So, that's really where conferences come in - you get a slightly quicker turn around time on acceptance AND unlike journal articles, you can present pieces of research that are in progress, and you can submit preliminary data in liu of having your complete data set. So by the time the conference rolls around, those people who had preliminary data accepted are going to be presenting their full data, sometimes only a month (or a few days) after data collection is finished! So you really do get to see what people in the field are working on at the moment - and you get to talk to them one-on-one at poster sessions (which are condensed presentations of studies that are literally in the form of a big poster put up on a tack board) or ask questions at paper symposium talks where they verbally present their research (usually using powerpoint as a visual aid). The only drawback of conferences, or at least in the case of SRCD, is that it's HUGE and you can't possibly hit everything you want to, and a full day of information can lead to quite a case of sensory overload (particularly just walking into a huge room filled with over 200 posters!).

This year I didn't present anything - since I pretty much exhausted my dissertation data between my conferences in Louisville and Melbourne last year and don't have data yet for the project I'm working on now.

As it's name suggests, the Society for Research on Child Development Conference, has a really broad focus on the many different facets of Child Development and Developmental Psychology. I tend to try to find the sessions that focus on Emotional Development and Gender Stereotyping in Children, but this year I also was drawn to a lot of the infant research and parenting socialization research as well (surprise, surprise!).

Also, I was lucky enough to be able to attend this year's Teaching Institute on Developmental Science, which was a fabulous experience. The Teaching Institute was actually a special pre-conference which focused on how to teach development to both undergrads and graduate students. Being new to the teaching game, I was incredibly excited about all the information that was presented. Now I just need to find the time to implement all these fantastic ideas!

So, all in all, I learned a ton at this conference, even though my brain was all cloudy from the cold I had!

Cheryl & Nugget's Trip to Boston

Most of the reason that I wanted to go to the SRCD conference was really to get a partially subsidized trip to Boston, which was conveniently the location of the biennial conference this year. My evil plan might have worked better if a.) I didn't end up with a nasty cold and had more energy to actually get off my butt and call more of you Bostonians that I wanted to see and b.) if the conference wasn't so darn intellectually engaging and c.) if my department wasn't trying to recruit a new faculty member. But I was happy that I got to see some of you when I was there!

A special thanks to Sully for letting me crash at his place, picking me up at 7am at the airport, and dropping me off at the airport during half-time of a basketball game, not to mention providing a door-to-door morning shuttle service to the conference, etc..

Nugget would also like to say thank you for his/her new kickin' footwear!

Coming back to Boston really showed me how much I miss you guys though, and while I don't miss the cold at all (55 degrees is NOT shorts weather Sully!!), I really do miss Boston too! In fact, I even got Nugget a Red Sox onesie so Nugget will learn how cool Boston is too. However, don't get too excited - Lance has made it clear that the little one won't be sporting any Patriots attire.

Nugget's Last Prenatal Flight

Nugget has flown across the country a total of 6 times, and has been on a total of 12 airplanes to do so. Pretty impressive for someone who hasn't even been born yet!

This last trip to Boston and Buffalo was Nugget's last airplane ride as a fetus though, just because a.) I'm in my third trimester now and there's something magical about that milestone that equals not flying. I think it probably has something to do with the airlines not wanting babies prematurely born at 30,000 feet! Although how cool would "somewhere over Cheyenne, Wyoming" look on a birth certificate?
and
b.) I don't really have anywhere else I HAVE to go before Nugget appears on the scene and it's tiring to travel.
and
c.) While my midwife had no qualms about me flying at 28-29 weeks, I wouldn't expect her to be thrilled about me flitting about the country any more from now on!

But as far as flying is concerned, Nugget seems to be mostly unaffected by it. For his/her first flights, he/she wasn't strong enough to have me feel any movements, but for this last one, Nugget was as active as ever. In fact, Nugget was particularly active during decent and landing. Whether that indicated enjoyment or discomfort is indistinguishable, I think that moving around a normal amount is an indicator of "goodness", so that's what I'm sticking with.

Now if only my flights didn't include such characters as "Seat back gripping turbulance freakout woman", "Incessantly Snoring Man", and "I've eaten a stock-pot full of beans Man", I would say that flying pregnant hasn't been too bad.

This could've been worse had I not had aisle seats so that I could get up and stretch my legs (and use the toilet!), but overall travelling pregnant is really not bad at all.

And the media/marketing frenzy begins...

Am I really a geekatron?

Okay, this is completely off topic, but ... if you are wondering where all the stylish and adorable lads and ladies are—they’re at DreamWorks! I couldn’t believe how many cute, geeky, quirker bees I saw floating down the halls and around every corner. Seriously, I was in pain. By the end of the day, I couldn’t bear to see one more tousled-haired, black-framed, well-shoed geekatron.

Actually her write-up is entertaining and insightful if you are interested in some of the inner-workings:
IESB's Shrektacular Day at DreamWorks!.