A message from daddy-o

Dad should post once in a while too, right? Well, here I go...

Yesterday I joined Vita for her appointment at AABC. We met one of the midwives, Vickie, who really made a good impression on us. She's very knowledgeable and down-to-earth. She asked Vita some questions, and then felt where Baby E is. As Vita had already figured out, Baby E is hanging out on the right side, head down, with legs curled toward Vita's left side. As if to further prove this, today Vita could feel Baby E's bottom rubbing against her ribcage. Not a very comfortable thing to be sure!

After Vickie let us leave, we went back and signed our names on the form that declares me Baby E's legal father. This was important since we're not married and in no rush to be married. I was proud to sign my name to the legal document that basically says I'm going to be partly responsible for Baby E's life. Not that I needed a legal document to prove that, since I've already accepted responsibility for our kiddo, but I understand it's not just for me.

Then, we had our 3rd birthing class last night (technically, that is...our previous class was the 1st two classes combined into one). We went over the early stages of labor, things to look for, ways I can help Vita deal with it, and it was mostly interesting. I know Vita's done her homework on the subject of pregnancy, but I never looked into it so I'm really learning a lot. We ended class with an exercise where each of the moms-to-be had to hold an ice cube in one hand and try to relax. The first time they did this, the dads-to-be couldn't help them and our instructor gave them no tips to help them deal with the frozen block in their hands. As you can imagine, it wasn't easy for them to relax. Then our instructor told them to envision themselves in a relaxing setting (such as floating on one's back in a swimming pool), and told the dads-to-be that we could help the moms-to-be relax in any way that would work. The second time was MUCH easier for all the moms-to-be. Most (all?) didn't even realize that the time they held the ice cube was longer than the 1st time. So we'll be practicing this technique in the coming weeks to prepare us for the real thing.

Our excitement grows every day as we await Baby E's arrival. I'm often amazed how far we've come in what seems to me like a short time. It won't be long now....