Last Friday, we hit 37 weeks. Thirty-seven freaking weeks. For those of you who are kid-free (or pregnancy ignorant), 40 weeks is end goal. That means that we are less than a month away from our house transitioning from a 2:1 to 1:1 adult to kid ratio. That is slightly daunting. The one kid is wearing us out!! Our baby training camp has consisted of watching our friends with multiple kids to get a better understanding of what this second kid will do to us. Just like watching our friends with a single kid prior to having Mackenzie, I am not convinced that watching others gives you any indication of what your life will be like when a change of this magnitude occurs. We are in a whole world of who knows what is going to happen when little man comes out to say hello. A coworker of mine had a great analogy for the the difference between kid #1 and kid #2. When you have kid number one, you essentially add an extra activity or hobby to your life. The second kid is like picking up a second job. I can't wait for that second job, to be honest. I anticipate enjoying this job more than my first job (although the pay is terrible!).
One of the mysteries of human nature is that the same thing can happen to a person multiple times and be absolutely nothing alike. Pregnancies are one of this strange things - the differences between the CASH pregnancy and the Buckshot pregnancy have been ridiculous. Sarah's been the beneficiary of one of these differences (no nausea this time) and the victim of another (anemia leading to ridiculous fatigue). However, both of us agree that the biggest difference between the pregnancies has been the perceived amount of time that it has taken. With Mackenzie, it seemed to take forever. The anticipation of that first child, the preparation that takes place, and the mystery of the future make those months feel like years. Compare that to little Buckshot, where I feel like we just found out that we were pregnant last week. Possibly two weeks ago, max. Despite how quick this pregnancy has felt, we were on top of things fairly early. His room is ready, the baby stuff is out of storage, our bags are packed for the hospital, and Sarah's telling him that his reservation is over. Let's do this, little buddy!!
One last point - we have been prepping Mackenzie (as best as we can) for this slight variation from her normal routine that is oh-so close. She is starting to understand that a little brother will be coming. The other day we asked her if she was ready for her brother to come and she said, "Baby brother is going to POP out of Mama's belly." If only it were that easy, buddy. Someday, she might learn the error of that statement!!
The next time you hear from me, I hope that I am proudly displaying pages and pages of pictures of a happy and healthy little boy!
Until the next post,
Mike
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Buckshot Jones
August of 2011?!! August of 2011?!! AUGUST OF TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN?!!
There are a few things that have happened since that post from a over a year ago. The obvious news is that little Baby C.A.S.H. (we tend to call her Mackenzie) is now over two years old. The less obvious news is that come early to mid January, Mackenzie will have a little brother. And his name will be Buckshot Jones. Naturally.
For those of you who don't know, having a baby is not easy at all. Not one iota. Still, for every one-night-stand baby and oops! baby and we-weren't-really-trying baby, there are hundreds of people who desperately want kids try for months and months and years and even more years. Our attempts at baby #1 followed the formula of the latter. Baby #2 decided to move closer to the former. During May and June, we were attending a few big parties that would require liver functions (Steph and Dan wedding in Costa Rica, Katie and Jorge wedding/boda/is that correct Spanish?). Because of the upcoming nuptials, we decided to postpone the arrival of our next little bundle. Naturally, right before we left for Costa Rica is when we found out Sarah was pregnant.
The trip to Costa Rica consisted of countless virgin drinks masquerading as spirited. Numerous glasses of wine miraculously jumped across the table from in front of Sarah to in front of me while empty wine glasses did the maneuver in reverse. I complained about this arrangement frequently (never).
Katie and Jorge's wedding involved a trip to the bar when the line to imbibe had disappeared. A quick conversation with the bartender, a little Sprite and cranberry juice in a rocks glass, and we were in business.
After our second appointment, we began to spread the news. You may have received a phone call or visit in person. More likely, you saw a nice picture of some feet on a Costa Rican beach with the simple text, "January 11" and the hand of a little person pointing at the date. Our odd family of three was scheduled to even out to four.
Because of some family history (and just like we did during Mackenzie's time in-utero), baby #2 got the privilege of undergoing some additional screening. This happened at the 18 to 19 week mark. During that super long ultrasound, it was determined that baby #2 was in fact a baby Buckshot. This was exciting in a couple ways. It is cool to have a boy to complement our little girl. Even more importantly, the Flick part of the Flick family tree has narrowed significantly. My dad is the oldest of eleven living siblings. Of the eleven, four are boys and seven are girls. Of the four boys, there are only three Flick males able to pass on the name to the next generation - my brother, my cousin Evan, and me. That is it. Since I am the oldest of the three, the only one married, and the only one that is open to children at this exact moment, I had the first attempts at transferring the name down to the next branch. Hearing from the doctor that the Flick name will continue to the next generations of corny-joke-telling-gentlepeople was awesome. Realizing that all those pink onesies and sweaters and dresses weren't going to cut it was not as awesome. (Sidenote - babies are expensive little buggers!)
Last week, Sarah had a routine appointment. During this appointment, the little guy decided to display an irregular regular heartbeat. Maybe it was a regular irregular heartbeat. One of the two. Regardless, the heartbeat was not normal, but it was repeating itself each time. Because of the potential issues that could derive from such a symptom, an additional ultrasound was completed. In the span of two weeks we had more ultrasound time than most women experience in an entire pregnancy. This second in-depth ultrasound focused mostly on the heart. Fortunately, everything looked normal and healthy. The irregularity of the heartbeat with the Doppler could have been the result of many different factors. My guess it was caused by the three 5-Hour Energy bottles that Sarah chugged before the appointment. (Jokes, people.)
So after an incredibly quick recap, here we are today. We will be at 22 weeks on Friday. Forty weeks is on January 11, 2013, but our tax returns are hoping for a couple weeks early. Sarah and baby are doing great. She is being a trooper, as always. Unlike the first pregnancy where each morning she did her best impression of a rushing freshman frat boy, this pregnancy has shied away from nausea. Instead, her issue has been fatigue. I don't think I have ever seen her this tired this often. The little man is kicking the energy right out of her. We have started moving the kids rooms around, shifting my clothes into the basement guest bedroom, moving Mackenzie into her big bed in the upstairs guest bedroom, and getting Mackenzie's old room ready for another newborn. The walls may have to be painted. . .
Lastly, we do not have a name picked out for the little guy. And no, we are not just saying that so we can keep the name close to the vest. Most likely, the name thing will come down to the day of the birth, just like our little ginger. When it all is said and done, I don't think there will be another option that outshines my original suggestion. He'd be destined for greatness at that point.
Until the next post,
Mikey
There are a few things that have happened since that post from a over a year ago. The obvious news is that little Baby C.A.S.H. (we tend to call her Mackenzie) is now over two years old. The less obvious news is that come early to mid January, Mackenzie will have a little brother. And his name will be Buckshot Jones. Naturally.
For those of you who don't know, having a baby is not easy at all. Not one iota. Still, for every one-night-stand baby and oops! baby and we-weren't-really-trying baby, there are hundreds of people who desperately want kids try for months and months and years and even more years. Our attempts at baby #1 followed the formula of the latter. Baby #2 decided to move closer to the former. During May and June, we were attending a few big parties that would require liver functions (Steph and Dan wedding in Costa Rica, Katie and Jorge wedding/boda/is that correct Spanish?). Because of the upcoming nuptials, we decided to postpone the arrival of our next little bundle. Naturally, right before we left for Costa Rica is when we found out Sarah was pregnant.
The trip to Costa Rica consisted of countless virgin drinks masquerading as spirited. Numerous glasses of wine miraculously jumped across the table from in front of Sarah to in front of me while empty wine glasses did the maneuver in reverse. I complained about this arrangement frequently (never).
Katie and Jorge's wedding involved a trip to the bar when the line to imbibe had disappeared. A quick conversation with the bartender, a little Sprite and cranberry juice in a rocks glass, and we were in business.
After our second appointment, we began to spread the news. You may have received a phone call or visit in person. More likely, you saw a nice picture of some feet on a Costa Rican beach with the simple text, "January 11" and the hand of a little person pointing at the date. Our odd family of three was scheduled to even out to four.
Because of some family history (and just like we did during Mackenzie's time in-utero), baby #2 got the privilege of undergoing some additional screening. This happened at the 18 to 19 week mark. During that super long ultrasound, it was determined that baby #2 was in fact a baby Buckshot. This was exciting in a couple ways. It is cool to have a boy to complement our little girl. Even more importantly, the Flick part of the Flick family tree has narrowed significantly. My dad is the oldest of eleven living siblings. Of the eleven, four are boys and seven are girls. Of the four boys, there are only three Flick males able to pass on the name to the next generation - my brother, my cousin Evan, and me. That is it. Since I am the oldest of the three, the only one married, and the only one that is open to children at this exact moment, I had the first attempts at transferring the name down to the next branch. Hearing from the doctor that the Flick name will continue to the next generations of corny-joke-telling-gentlepeople was awesome. Realizing that all those pink onesies and sweaters and dresses weren't going to cut it was not as awesome. (Sidenote - babies are expensive little buggers!)
Last week, Sarah had a routine appointment. During this appointment, the little guy decided to display an irregular regular heartbeat. Maybe it was a regular irregular heartbeat. One of the two. Regardless, the heartbeat was not normal, but it was repeating itself each time. Because of the potential issues that could derive from such a symptom, an additional ultrasound was completed. In the span of two weeks we had more ultrasound time than most women experience in an entire pregnancy. This second in-depth ultrasound focused mostly on the heart. Fortunately, everything looked normal and healthy. The irregularity of the heartbeat with the Doppler could have been the result of many different factors. My guess it was caused by the three 5-Hour Energy bottles that Sarah chugged before the appointment. (Jokes, people.)
So after an incredibly quick recap, here we are today. We will be at 22 weeks on Friday. Forty weeks is on January 11, 2013, but our tax returns are hoping for a couple weeks early. Sarah and baby are doing great. She is being a trooper, as always. Unlike the first pregnancy where each morning she did her best impression of a rushing freshman frat boy, this pregnancy has shied away from nausea. Instead, her issue has been fatigue. I don't think I have ever seen her this tired this often. The little man is kicking the energy right out of her. We have started moving the kids rooms around, shifting my clothes into the basement guest bedroom, moving Mackenzie into her big bed in the upstairs guest bedroom, and getting Mackenzie's old room ready for another newborn. The walls may have to be painted. . .
Lastly, we do not have a name picked out for the little guy. And no, we are not just saying that so we can keep the name close to the vest. Most likely, the name thing will come down to the day of the birth, just like our little ginger. When it all is said and done, I don't think there will be another option that outshines my original suggestion. He'd be destined for greatness at that point.
Until the next post,
Mikey
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