You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘family’ category.
A couple of weeks ago Katie and I wrapped up our Preparing for Childbirth class, a six-session weekly meeting at REX Hospital in Raleigh. It’s hard to say exactly how valuable the class was, primarily because we missed half of the sessions. One of our absences was legit because we had to leave town on short notice. The other two absences were not legitimate, but we rationalized skipping class by working on other little baby-related projects around the house.
I like to think that Katie and I learned a lot of the material covered in class from the baby books that we’ve read over the past six months, so we really didn’t miss that much when we were absent. Of course, some of the parents-in-training went a little overboard with their questions and participation. I would even go so far as to say that the people in the class (Katie and me included) were a bit weird.
For example, on the second night of class, a guy who sat near us wore a t-shirt that grabbed my attention. A nebulous, abstract image on the center of the shirt was bordered by illegible text (in a gothic, thrash-metal-band-logo kind of font). I was fixated on the mysterious t-shirt for the first hour of class. Then we had a break, and I was able to get a closer look while the guy proudly described the shirt to another father-to-be. It turns out that the abstract image was a silk-screened representation of his unborn child. He had taken a still image from the 3-D ultrasound and printed a t-shirt. Upon closer examination, the cryptic text read, “DADDY’S LITTLE GUY.”
Depending on your personal taste and perspective, this guy is either the front runner for 2009 Father of the Year or he’s a bubble off plumb (as my father might say).
Overall, I would give the class a five out of ten on the valuable-knowledge-gained scale. It earned a much higher score on the new-parents-act-strangely index.
Katie has been doing great — still working hard and dealing well with ninth-month aches and pains. Jackie is due December 12th, so it’s truly the final countdown. I feel confident that we’re ready (probably because we’re so excited).
Here’s a brief tour of Jackie’s nursery (minus Jackie), recorded with a new camcorder (Canon Vixia HF10) we recently bought. We only have two small lamps in there, but I think the picture quality is fairly decent considering the low-light environment.
Poor, poor Baxter. It has been eight weeks since Baxter limped back to my parents’ house in Boone with his front left leg looking like a peeled banana. We didn’t see him injure himself, but he must have snagged it on a barbed-wire fence. The muscle and bone weren’t damaged. At the time, we couldn’t have imagined the amounts of time and money required to get him well again.
The little guy has not run in eight whole miserable weeks. He’s been locked up in the house. Short walks are his only break from the monotony and boredom. He wears an Elizabethan collar and frequently has a red bandage (our vet is an NCSU grad who knows I’m a Carolina fan) 24 hours a day — the outfit makes him look like a sad little clown, sidelined during the circus. I’ve never seen a bird immediately after its wings are clipped, but I imagine it’s similar to watching a forlorn, invalid Baxter, banging his e-collar on furniture, doorjambs and my legs as he mopes around the house.
Maybe you need a visual to make the sad clown connection…
Poor, poor sad clowns.
Joe Dan Burns
June 13, 1926 – October 7, 2008
I’m really going to miss Joe Burns. Katie’s grandfather was loved and respected by everyone who got to know him, and considering how he never met a stranger, there were a lot of folks who were lucky enough to know him. The memorial service for him on October 11 was well-attended, and the memories shared by his family and friends were a unanimous testament to his character. Repeatedly, I overheard mourners say that he exemplified Brokaw’s characterization of “the greatest generation.” He was an expert in his field, a cornerstone of his church, and a revered leader to his family and friends.
His widow Faye, who has always made me feel like a grandson, is going to continue living in Knoxville for the time being. She’s an oak, and she has a wonderful group of family and friends who love and support her. I look forward to the day my daughter meets her great-grandmother, and hears some of the many stories about her great-grandfather.
A black walnut grove on the Burns tree farm.
Jackie W. Jones’ Recovery
My mother’s health is improving. Blood counts have begun trending in a positive direction. For the first time in months, she isn’t dependent on daily blood transfusions and mineral supplements. Still, a few nagging problems persist. I don’t mean “nagging problems” like a crick in your neck or a head cold. I mean nagging problems like a bladder infection and altered vision due to inflammation of the eye.
If you know my mother, you know that these afflictions are small potatoes compared to what she’s been through the past two years. She has overcome so many hardships; there’s no reason to doubt her ability to overcome these lingering ailments. Our hope is that my mom’s immune system is gradually recovering, and that my parents will again have a semblance of normal life in the near future.
I accompanied Katie today to her appointment at the obstetrician’s office, and the ultrasound was about what I expected (including complete amazement and wonder at the tiny little girl inside my wife). The baby was flailing her arms and legs throughout her time on screen. Her heart rate was right at the normal rate of 150 beats per minute. Katie’s fundal height is 24 centimeters, which is at the higher end of the normal range for a pregnancy at week 22. So, everything is copacetic.
We’ve narrowed down the child’s name to either Jacqueline (Katie’s choice) or Jacquelyn (my preference). Regardless of which formal name we choose, her name will be Jackie. If you’re wondering why we chose to name her after my mom, click on the link to the Perseverance page on this blog. Katie and I aren’t parents yet, but we already know we want to give our children the means, values, and mindset they need to be a positive part of the world around them. With the name Jackie, we can also give our first girl a legacy of kindness, strength, and love.
Please don’t get the wrong idea. Naming our child Jackie is not just a tribute to my mother and her struggle. It is not a memorial. It is part of the expectation that our little Jackie will soon be able to look up, literally and figuratively, to her grandmother Jackie. Here’s my definition of hope: I look out the window on a sunny day and see them walking down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand.
Here’s a picture of little Jackie at 22 weeks:
I have one other brief domestic update. Here’s a picture I took of 320 Avon Drive when Bax, Robah and I jogged past last Friday…at least they spared the old dogwood tree:
According to the ultrasound today (images are shown below), all systems are go for baby Jones. She/he has now surpassed six centimeters, so her/his length is about the same as the width of my iPhone. If you click on the first image posted below and view the larger image size, you’ll see that she/he already seems to have Katie’s nose. Katie has been feeling fairly good lately except for some nagging allergies.
We’ve just begun deliberating about potential names for the child. There will be plenty of future debate, since Katie and I have only agreed on the family names that we’ve had in mind for awhile now. Speaking of family names, we’re probably going to let Robah keep his.
Katie had her first ultrasound a couple of weeks ago; the images below are our first looks at Baby Jones. As you can see she/he still relies on a knapsack full of sustenance during this early stage. She/he is only about 2 cm, and her/his appendages are just starting to take form.
By the way, Dr. Spock said that it’s perfectly normal for expecting parents to have a preference when it comes to the child’s sex, so I don’t feel bad about sharing our partiality with our family and friends. For the record, Katie wants a boy and I want a girl. Oh, and we’re both much too impatient to wait until the baby is born to know the sex.
I think I spent the dog food money 