Week 10 Day 2

   I think I might be in trouble.  Not really, but I am feeling a bit disoriented about everything that needs to be considered.  Insurance.  Money.  Will.  Birth & Death.  Circle of life.

   Yikes.  I guess I’m ahead of the game because I’m actually thinking of all these things now.  But every step forward feels like 3 or 4 back.

   It’s hard not to be an ass under these circumstances.

Week 10 Day 1

   My fetus is apparently a fruit.  I guess to give people an idea of how big the embryo/fetus is during pregnancy, ‘they’ compare it to the size of fruit which is something that everyone can pretty much relate to.  However, are we talking organic or non-organic fruit.  Because the non organic stuff is larger.

   As a carpenter, I think I’d like to make my own list with items that are much more standardized.  And while not everyone will know the size of a 3/8” nylon nut, it works for me.

Weeks 3-4 – The thickness of a sawblade

Week 5 – The head of a 12d nail

Week 6 – 5” Caster bearing

Week 7 – The head of a 3/8” carriage bolt

Week 8 – Foam disposable ear plug

Week 9 – 1” wooden furniture dowel

Week 10 – ¼” Fender washer

Week 11 –  #20 joining biscuit

Week 12 –  2” spring clamp

Week 13 – 9/16” deep throated socket

Week 14 – 3” C-clamp

Week 15 – 25’ tape measure

Week 16 – Chalk line

Week 17 – 14.4v DeWalt Battery

Week 18 – Safety goggles

Week 19 – 1qt containter of minwax wood stain

Week 20 – Speed Square

Week 21-24 – Porter Cable 8” Dual Action orbital palm sander

Week 25-28 – 7 ¼” circular saw

Week 29-32 – Milwaukee Hammer Drill

Week 33-36 – bench grinder

Week 37-delivery – 3 gallons of latex paint

Then again, maybe it easier to imagine fruit inside a uterus rather than power tools.

Week 9 Day 7

   Time to not be an ass and learn how to give massages. 

   Everybody likes massages.  But apparently, the baby’s demands take their toll on my wife’s back.  One of the books I’m reading (Your Pregnancy for the Father to be) has a good section in Chap 5 on how to give a massage depending on whether the pain is in the upper or lower back.  The lil guy is about 1 ½” and doesn’t even add that much weight, yet.  But, I can imagine how encumbered my wife will feel with an added 30 pounds on her abdomen.

   Yes, it’s time for my thumbs to suck it up and start massaging.  This is definitely a good way to not be an ass.

Week 9 Day 6

   It’s hard for me to feel helpless.  Seeing the difficult time my partner is having and knowing there is absolutely nothing I can do to ease her discomfort is painful for me.

   The nausea, back-aches and tiredness are palpable.  I can get her whatever food she needs, give her massages and let her sleep 12 hours a day, but it still won’t be enough. 

   As a guy who is pretty proactive in solving problems, that makes me fee a bit like an ass.  Even though I know there is nothing I can do.

Week 9 Day 5

   I have good memories of eating at the dinner table with my family as a child.  I hope to give those memories to my child. 

   I’ve been watching Jamie Oliver and it really hit home tonight just how important it is to sit and eat as a family.  Not just for the nutritional benefit, which is a big deal in this day and age of diabetes and morbid obesity.  But also for the face time.  I want to be a father who knows what is going on in the lives of my family.

   I’m fortunate.  For the last couple of years, my partner and I have changed our diet for the better.  (Really she is the one who instigated the change and I just let myself go along for the ride.)  And the benefits have been incredible.  This is yet one more thing I have to thank her for. “Thanks, hon!”

   But despite our better dietary choices, we still find ourselves in front of the TV or computer watching Netflix and Hulu.  This understandably limits our conversation.

   So I hope that we can instigate more change when it comes to where we eat and not just what we eat.

   I hope I don’t let us all just sit in front of the TV wordlessly wolfing down our food.  I hope I can continue to support my partner in all of the choices that need to be made to increase the quality and health in our family.  I realize this may be easier said than done, but to not support her and not want this myself would make me an ass.

Week 9 Day 4

            There is little else that can be considered more “manly” than working on a car or truck.  And something about doing it brings out the testosterone in me.  I did a pretty simple repair today by replacing the battery connectors on my 1992 Ford Ranger.  The old ones were pretty worn, made of lead and the bolt had broken off one of them. 

            How is it that working on a truck brings out the masculine nature in me?  Why can’t I get that feeling from unloading the dishwasher, dusting a ceiling fan or changing a diaper?  (I suppose I might feel that way since I haven’t changed a diaper yet.)  Is our cultural programming so intense that these other tasks are just not ‘adequate’ for a man to feel manly?  Perhaps I am alone here and overstepping cultural assumptions, but I hope that in the future and future generations the desire and need to inject doses of manhood by working on cars, watching pro wrestling and earning more money than your partner can be replaced with more domestic past times. 

            I’m a man.  I feel manly.  I’m a carpenter.  I do the laundry.  I am not an ass.

Week 9 day 3

   How did we get to where we are in America where the rate of C-section in hospitals is 1 in 3?  What kind of odds are those?  What is wrong with this picture?   

   Maybe all this knowledge I’m getting from these books isn’t as helpful as I thought.  I’m getting too smart for my own good and now I’m just worried.

   The WHO has done studies world wide and decided that the average rate for cesarean section should be 15% for optimal survival for both mother and baby.  But in America it’s 30%.  Hmmm… Thoughts?  Is it the movies?  Media? Republicans?  All of thee above?

   Can I please have a doctor who will not be an ass?