Brykbaby Blog

Kickin' It

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 15:48:00 +0000

WEEK 24
There is a steady routine of kicking, poking, prodding, and twirling inside my belly. Though they've been happening for a few weeks now, the big kicks can still catch me off guard and make me jump. The sensation is indescribable. It's as if I've eaten something alive, and it has managed to stay alive despite all the harsh acids determined to take it down. I'm sure no one has experienced that scenario, but maybe it'll help you conjure up the image.

Steven is singing regularly to my gigantic mound, and most of the time he gets a wallop of a response, particularly with his rendition of the ABC's.

Mama Needs a New Pair of Shoes

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:12:00 +0000

WEEK 23
The old adage: "if the shoe fits, wear it!" definitely does NOT apply to pregnant women. All of my shoes fit, they're just too damn uncomfortable!! Literally, every pair of shoes or boots I own, become unwearable after a couple hours. Even my sneakers can only hold out for about 4!!???!!

I read that a pregger woman's feet start to spread during pregnancy and can even grow a whole shoe size...permanently!

Feeling too dependent on my husband's footrubs for relief, I went out and bought the most comfortable (read, most expensive) shoes I could find. Eureka!..I am a brand new person. SoftWalk shoes rock! I wear the shoes all day because, with their magical "massaging footbed," they're more comfortable than going barefoot.

Reading is Fun or Mental?

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 01:33:00 +0000

WEEK 21
Raegan read that it's never too early to start reading to the baby. While I would be happy to read Al Franken's latest to get the little one started on the right path, Raegan insists I read children's books, exclusively. According to her, the baby will enjoy hearing my voice.

Do you?
Do I what?
Enjoy hearing my voice.
Well, no. Not really.
That's what I'm saying. The less exposure to my voice, the better off the baby will be.
What's the matter with you?
Hold on. How does the baby even know what a voice is?
What do you mean?
Well, has it ever seen anybody talking?
But the book says...
Has the baby ever talked?
I don't think you're taking the right approach...
So how is it supposed to know that when a human being moves his or her mouth around that it makes a sound comes out that communicates meaning to other people?
Somehow, I don't think that's the issue here.
It doesn't even know what other people are! As far as it knows, the world is a dark, cramped place with only room for one.
Not unlike mine, Steve. Not unlike mine.

I'm Feelin' You, Baby!

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 02:04:00 +0000

WEEK 22
Last night, Raegan thought I might be able to feel the baby, on account of it had "the hiccups." I placed my hand on her belly and did feel a couple of slight bumps in my hand. Maybe it was a psychological thing and I was just feeling my own pulse. It kind of felt like there was maybe a hamster in there. Or maybe as though Raegan had eaten a lot of Mexican. Or one little Mexican. In any case, it was a very alien-ish experience, though an emotional one. I'm thinking when I kept pushing on it, the kid was probably getting annoyed and was just kicking to get dad out of its womb.

It must be pretty bored in there, right? So beyond playing with the umbilical cord, kicking and flailing around is about all it's got in the way of entertainment. I offered to slip a couple Scrabble© tiles up in there, just to give the baby something to do, you know? Maybe help it learn to read, even. But for whatever reason, Raegan wasn't so hot on the idea. Women. What can you do?

Flutter Bys

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 18:28:00 +0000

WEEK 20
Good news. We are officially halfway through the pregnancy!! Even the baby commemorated the joyous event with a spirited squirm in my mid-region. Only this time I was sure it was the baby. For weeks, what I had believed to be the baby's wriggling, turned out just to be gas. Despite rolling around inside me during the entire ultrasound, our over-active bundle hadn't rustled a single nerve inside me.

At this point, I'm not experiencing any pattern in the movement, just moves big enough to let me know this is, in fact, my baby. Here are some highlights from the last few days:

During pregnancy, it's recommended that you sleep on your side. This is more essential in the latter months of pregnancy because apparently the baby can squash the inferior vena cava. Though my doctor said I didn't need to worry, I've now mastered switching from side to side in preparation. And each time I switch sides, the baby does a quick about-face (literally) and repositions him/herself.

The baby also seems to get active when Steve and I jam in the morning. This is a good sign, since Steve expects his son or daughter to be the essential member of The Brykman Family Singers.

TV or not TV

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:27:00 +0000

Raegan has developed a new love for (read: "addiction to") TV baby shows. Not shows for babies. Shows about babies. Specifically the ones on the Lifetime Network, the same channel that runs programs like "Boy Without a Face," or "The Lady Whose Skin Fell Off." Sometimes the births they show get a little heated and the mother-to-be winds up screaming something unfortunate like, "Get it out!! Get it out!!! I don't care what you do, just get it out now!!"

Raegan remains surprisingly calm throughout such ordeals, but I generally start to freak out and often have to talk myself down. "Feh!," I say to myself. "That lady's not really in pain. She's just an actor. She's on TV, isn't she? She's just acting. And look at that baby. It's not even real! All wet and squishy looking. Have you ever seen a baby that looks like that?"

Please Pass the Gas

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:20:00 +0000

WEEK 19
For 2 days now I've been rendered achy by a large gas bubble lodged just below my left rib cage. The pain isn't so much a constant one, but is very painful. I tried all of my usual tricks, shouting, "full steam ahead!" to my GI tract to flush out this gaseous mass. But to no avail.

Here's a list of some of my failed remedies:

• Pooping (obvious)
• Laying down (all positions)
• Simethicone, Code Name: GAS-X (OD'd)
• Palapation (paltry)
• Yoga Ball - Bounce to Relief (none)

It wasn't until last night that I brought in the Big Guns; my husband's two popeye'd drumming arms. In combination with his pocket rhythms and my now-trademarked Rotissery Rotation™ methods, the gas slowly made its escape. Let this be a tip for future sufferers...Shiatsu the poop out of that gas!!

Ultracool!

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 20:23:00 +0000

WEEK 18

The ultrasound this afternoon proved to be the coolest experience yet. The baby had even the technician giggling at how many moves it had. It didn't stop fidgeting the whole time. Between the flips and twists, and the punches, and the dancing came the ever-precious yawns. We still don't know the sex, and the technician said it probably would have been impossible for her to determine it anyway, given that the baby never gave her a chance to get a good look at anything.

Since the baby was so feisty and moved around so much, I'm assuming it must take after Raegan. Anything with my genes in it would have just lay there, sleeping. My guess is the baby was trying to make something out of the umbilical cord. Or maybe redecorate its womb.

Hormoaning

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 23:20:00 +0000

WEEK 16
Since the beginning of the pregnancy, I've witnessed my hormones hard at work. There's the the schoolgirl acne, the increased blood volume that pools through my entire body, expanding areas (as in all of them), not to mention the "achy" relaxing of all my muscles. The one thing I hadn't experienced were the emotional effects of all these busy hormones. That is, until today.

It started early when Steven suggested we take Madge, our '91 Westy, out for a spin while we ran about our errands. On our drive to pick up fireplace tile, something kicked in. Not with the car, which was surprising, but with me. As Steven attempted to merge onto the 95 onramp, I recalled our potentially-fatal Honeymoon accident, and a sudden sense of fear fell upon me. As Steven accelerated, every nerve in my body demanded he slow down. I worked up the courage to vocalize my worry of never making it to my delivery date, and Steven snapped: "I'm only going 55!" This lead to a 15 minute shouting match, with a final result of Steven slowing to a cool 54.

Later that evening, while showering, I felt it important to recap what had happened. No matter how carefree I was without child, it all has changed. Every cell in my body is doing its best to protect the new life that bobs and swims inside me. I'm taking the stairs a little slower, using the handrail upon decent. I felt Steven was being completely insensitive to my request that he drive a little slower. After all, there was no hurry, no threat of turning into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight. But still he insisted on disregarding my feelings. Then I started crying. In the shower (for twice as long as the actual shouting match itself) while I wondered how I wound up with such a monster for a husband!

Since Raegan herself admits she was in the throes of a hormonal psychosis at the time, I will do our readers the favor of depicting verbatim how it all went down:

Steven, slow down!
I'm only going fifty-five.
I don't care! That's too fast! Don't you remember what happened on our honeymoon?
That was our other car.
I don't care!
In the middle of a blizzard.
What kind of a father are you going to be?
On a mountain.
You don't care about this baby!
How can you say...
What kind of man did I marry?
We just got new tires...
I DON'T CARE!!!
And brakes...
Why won't you slow down for me?
I'm slowing down! Can't you see I'm slowing down? See, everybody's passing us. Are you happy now?
It's not slow enough!
They have a minimum speed limit too, you know.

And now the facts:
1. The conditions which resulted in our accident could not have been more different than our current ones. On our Honeymoon, we were driving our first Westy down the Big Horn Mountains, one of the steepest grades in the country, in the middle of a blizzard, with no snow tires (and crappy old tires to boot). The wind was insane. I was snow-blind. We were almost out of gas. And even after the car spun around, travelling briefly backwards down the mountain road until it hit the dirt and rolled, landing finally upside-down, thanks to our seatbelts, we emerged unhurt. Totally freaked-out, but uninjured.

2. On the day in question, we were driving our new(er) Westy, just back from the shop, with brand new tires, clutch, and brakes on a dry, flat highway in the middle of the day. There was absolutely zero risk involved. Except, apparently, to our marriage.

Before you go making any judgments, let it be known that my husband has been involved in far more accidents than the average human (four in his Miata alone!) and the number of cars he has completely totalled in his lifetime now stands at three: a Toyota Tercel, a Geo Metro, and a VW Westfalia. So I can never be too sure what he's thinking about while he's driving, but clearly it isn't the road.

Touché, sailor.

Lub-Dup II

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 18:42:00 +0000

WEEK 15
Our last visit to the doctor was less eventful, and lasted all of ten minutes. The baby's heartbeat is "good" (apparently a medical term) and the rate is 151 bpm, for those of you who've been keeping track. Also happy to report that Raegan has been puking with less regularity.

Let's Talk About Sex

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 15:27:00 +0000

WEEK 17
We're only 5 days away from our first (and hopefully last) ultrasound. It's our second big milestone, just behind hearing little Thumper's heartbeat. From the beginning, Steven and I have had mixed feelings about finding out the sex of the baby. I felt strongly about finding out the sex. To me, it was a surprise either way, just a matter of when the surprise was revealed. Plus it would help with my shopping. Steven was definitely opposed. He thought we should stay the course and hold out. I think mainly because he didn't want to be disappointed this early in the pregnancy. This was surprising, seeing as how Steven abhors surprises (see blog posting "Moms The Word.")

Somewhere along the way, though, after many conversations with friends and family, we completely flipped sides. Now, I'm the one who wants to wait and Steve's the one who wants to find out (I knew it!).

Will our two heroes ever find out the sex of their baby?? Stay tuned...

Lub-Dup

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 23:53:00 +0000

WEEK 10
The day proved to be a hectic one. We got to Dr. Gittinger's office at 10:30 to find out she was doing a delivery at the hospital. They sent us home about a half hour later with a new appointment for 1:30. After filling out 20 pages of paperwork, we headed home. At 1:00, we get a call from the doctor's office. Dr. G is still in delivery, could we come in at 2:45.

When we got to the office, they said Dr. G was on her way. They brought me in and took my blood pressure and weight. Up 3 lbs in the last 5 weeks. Though I look heavier from all the bloating.

We met Dr. G just after 3:00. We really like her. She's young, has a great sense of humor, and is very honest. After talking to Steven about med-school, she actually told us she just-barely passed the bar, herself! She did the usual background evaluation and asked if we had any questions. Then it was time to listen for the baby's heartbeat. Though she said the heartbeat was difficult to find, and most of our friends told us not to freak out if she didn't find one, within a matter of seconds, there it was. The most beautiful sound to ever ring out from my belly. This was the proof: I can grow people!! Check it out:

From there, we went down to the Blood Lab. Steven and I were both going to have blood tests. She needed 10 vials of blood from me for all the various tests. The phlebotomist said normally they take 7, max. I asked if it was safe to take more and she said "yes." She asked if I ate recently. I said I felt good.

Somewhere between the 4th and the 10th vial, my reality started to pale. Steven insists that I full-on passed out, but I thought I remembered everything. The sudden hot flash and the sound of the phlebotomist wacking the ice pack against the wall.

After a few moments, bathed in ice packs, I started to feel better. Steven brought me some water and my blood volume was back on the up-swing. The technician was apologetic and said that she got everything she needed, which was all I had to give.

For the record, Raegan definitely passed out, and stayed out for about fifteen seconds. It was pretty creepy, what with her eyes rolling around and such. With the baby in there it made me think of being in a plane with no pilot. If you talk to Raegan, she might try to deny it happened, but don't believe her. After all, I should know, being the only one of us who was conscious at the time. In hindsight, I should have shot a video.

Craving Mad

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 00:48:00 +0000

WEEK 14
I was certain the whole food craving/aversion phenomenon was simply for those fickle female eaters whose tastes change with the latest trend. But after eating a half bowl of "Black Licorice Scotties" at our neighbor's party, I'm here to say it's very true! I didn't even like black licorice before this day, I downright abhored it! Is my new love of licorice here to stay, or is it just a ship passing in the night, hmm??

On the flipside, there are a handful of things that the mere thought of will have me running to the loo. One of which is Orange Juice. It's even hard typing the words. There's something about the thought of the sweet, syrupy texture that makes me...

makes me...

I gotta go.

Raegan's New Favorite Things

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 21:07:00 +0000

1. Throat-Clearing
2. Meat
3. Nose-Blowing
4. All Baby Shows
5. Singing the "Baby Furniture Warehouse" Jingle
6. Throwing-up

Though not necessarily in that order.

Baby's Name is Ralph

brykman@gotyournose.com (Raegan McCain and Steve Brykman) — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 19:57:00 +0000

WEEK 12
Despite having been the only one not partying Friday night, Raegan, nevertheless, was the only one puking Saturday morning. Though I may be partially, if not entirely, to blame.

While attempting to clear my throat of phlegm this morning, I apparently made some "revolting," "horrific," "death-rattle-like" noises. Noises which Raegan claims triggered her vom-a-thon. Personally, I think it's more likely her nausea's due to the fact that a small human is growing inside her, but who knows? Maybe my phlegm issues made the fetus sick too.

I am happy to report Raegan's health quickly improved after I swore to "never make those noises again."

PS: Raegan has since lost her lunch several times since this incident occurred, citing the following as causes: "the smell of that fish," "just seeing that cookie," and most recently, "looking at that orange juice." I think I've officially been vindicated.