New Baby and New Puppy?

So, Melanie and I are thinking of getting a puppy, or at least a young dog. We've always talked about getting a dog, but have always said we didn't really want to get one until we had a baby, as we didn't want to have to 'come home' to let the dog out.

We figure once you have a baby, you're going to have to 'come home' anyway, so having a dog fits in better. We also figure it would be a good idea to get a dog, get it housetrained and get a routine before the baby arrives. So... anyone have an opinion on getting a dog AND having a baby? Good idea, bad idea? I mean we're probably going to go it anyway, but thought we'd see if anyone had any opinions.

We are looking at a Boston Terrier or a Beagle. Or some mix of that. We're going to use petfinder.com and it will probably come from a shelter... here is a sample of a few that we are looking at now, with the one in the middle being our current favorite (pending actually meeting the dogs and ensuring they aren't crazy!)

Kid Reality?

CBS has announced their fall lineup and it includes a new reality TV show called Kid Nation. 40 kids will be heading to a deserted old west town to create a new society, including an economy and a city council. Each episode one kid is awarded a 'real' gold star, that is worth $20,000.

Is this an interesting concept, or an absolute horror? I could go either way with it. On the one hand , it seems like it would be entertaining and perhaps informative to watch. On the other hand, who the heck is letting their 8-15 year old kids go to a reality TV show for a month?

Anyway, check out the concept here: http://www.cbs.com/innertube/?src=ext&vid=139183

Pokey Pup - Music/DVDs/Books

This is a cool little website that collects CDs, DVDs and books that are kid-friendly, but not kid-freaky. They aren't about Barney and teletubies. it's poppy catchy music that's appropriate for kids (i.e. no foul language or racy themes), but it's still good music.

It's an interesting website, and it has some reviews as well as some clips that you can listen to before buying.... check it out!

Vicky and Jen - Ft. Thomas Moms Take To Internet

Two ladies from Ft. Thomas are taking the internet by storm with their parenting website and podcasts. The site provides tips and suggestions for busy families. It includes recipes (in the Oven Light)and fun 'things to do with kids' (in Kids Can Do).

The main part of the website is the weekly podcast. it's a substantial undertaking with each topic being a 30-50 minute episode. They tackle all kinds of topics with the main theme being making life more simple.

They are doing great, with over 200,000 a week listening, and ad revenue continuing to grow.

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

i don't think i realized that i would get to celebrate my first mother's day this year, but apparently other people did. i got cards at work and in the mail, hugs and flowers from friends, and gifts from my mom and from my husband. pretty cool really. 29 years of celebrating that holiday for my mom (who deserves every second of it) and watching other people celebrate it. and finally i get to celebrate too. for myself. it's funny that i've wanted to be a mom for so long and then when my first mother's day arrived, it felt normal. it felt right, like nothing was new or different. makes me excited for next mother's day, when this baby is on the outside rather than the inside and we can celebrate together. joe got me a body pillow for a gift, which is quite possibly the best gift he could have given me. i snuggled that pillow like we were old friends, and had one of the best nights sleep. now i have to come up with something just as perfect for father's day. i think i've got an idea.

Offsprung

There is a new online parenting/magazine/blog collective called www.offsprung.com. Or as they state it on the website: "A humor magazine! And community! About parenting! On the Internet! Offsprung is all these things, and so many more. Welcome to the perfect online antidote to a parenting culture gone barking mad"

I just started toaking a look at it, and it's basically a collection of about 12 bloggers, including Neal Pollack, the author of AlternaDad. I haven't yet looked at it enough to vouch for it's content, but thought i'd share it along for others to take a look at. In only it's first week, it got a mention in USA Today

16 Weeks - Fetal Doppler

Melanie went in to the doctor today, and heard the heart beat. We officially took a pass on the quad screen. Next appointment is in 4 weeks and it'll be the first time in several months that we get to 'see' the baby. Should be lots of fun.

Speaking of heart beats, I think we're going to rent a fetal doppler for a couple months. Mostly just because we think it will be fun to hear the baby every once and a while. Not sure how long it will take for the fun of that to wear off, but we'll probably rent it for a month or two. It's only $20/month... pretty cheap for a month's worth of entertainment. We're getting ours from http://www.storkradio.com/dopplers.php. If any of the other 'preggos' out there want to borrow ours, you are more than welcome to it! Just let us know.

Again, I'll leave it to Melanie to provide the fruit/vegetable update on the size of our baby!

slippery little suckers...

joe and i spent a friday evening recently wandering around babies r us. yes, a friday evening. dinner, trip to baby store, watching a movie at home. please do not be jealous at how obviously busy our social calendars are. normally on friday nights we are out til all hours, partying with the best of 'em. just not this particular friday.
we were two aisles in (after a LONG pause at the monitors section) when we came to the bathtubs. joe immediately decided the idea of a baby bathtub was ridiculous, and he said that we could just put some water in the tub (the regular tub) and bathe the baby there. the slippery, wiggly, teeny tiny newborn in a giant tub. not to mention bending over or kneeling over the tub. joe is convinced we can either do baths in the regular tub or the sink. the sink, i think, is a fine idea. but truly, whose sink is clean enough often enough to bathe a baby? so i guess this is my plea for someone to give us a bathtub as shower gift. :)

Cord Blood

Since I started the week with the heavy topic of Quad tests, i figured i'd keep the trend going and talk about Cord Blood.

So, until we went to the doctor for the first time to find out we were expecting, I hadn't so much as even heard the term cord blood registry. Maybe I'm just clueless but I didn't even know such a thing existed or what it was. Our doctor didn't talk to us about it, but there we signs/brochures for it everywhere. I still haven't looked into it much, but here is what I have seen:

The most prevalent advertiser is Cord Blood Registry. But I am sure there are others (anyone know of any?) They have an impressive list of diseases that can be effectively treated utilizing stem cells from Cord Blood. They also have a nice listing of stories from real people.

All sounds great so far... now comes the cost. Medically speaking it's pretty unobtrusive, the blood is extracted from the umbilical cord, it is painless and takes only about 5 minutes. However, the cost is pretty high, and as far as I can tell few if any insurance companies cover the cost to extract and store the blood. It's about $1700 upfront and then about $125/year storage. While that is a lot of money, it's a drop in the bucket (what wouldn't you pay) if your child gets a disease that the blood could be used to save...

So it's a tough question... has anyone else thought about it yet... has anyone already done this or planning to?

Here are some others I just found with a quick google search:
http://www.alphacord.com/freeinfopacket.aspx
http://www.viacord.com/?gclid=CMj8zqyx9YsCFQ6EUgodgRI3bg

There is also the discussion of Private vs. Public banks (with public banks being free to donate to, but you don't then control the blood or its use...i.e. its free, but your cord blood might not be there when you need it).... but we'll save that discussion for some other time.

Kids Music

So, I figure I'm a solid 3-4 years ahead of schedule with this topic, but it's one I care about. I actually already bought my first 'kids CD' that's put out by some fantastic Bloodshot Records artists.


The Wee Hairy Beasties are a collection of really cool musicians like Jon Langford and Sally Tims. The CD is actually pretty cool, and although it's witty and poppy, it's not overly silly like your average kids CD tends to be. It's an interesting subject for me. Is there cool music, music that's actually good, that you can have your kids listen to and actually like. Or is there something about kids music that sucks kids in that that no 'adult' music can ever possibly do? I don't think so, and I feel like there has to be some sort of balance.

The Dad Labs tackle this issue as well, and they talk about a balance of music and introducting your kids to 'adult' music, but also allowing them to listen to and enjoy some kid music.
Take a look at the video....

Week 14

I won't steal Melanie's thunder and reveal the fruit size of our baby this week. I'm sure she'll post that soon.

But today is the official start of the 2nd trimester, so that is exciting. Still 2 more weeks before Melanie goes back in for her next appointment. They are supposed to Quad Marker Screen during that visit. Which is a test for things like down syndrome. It doesn't seem to me that there is a lot of reason to do this test, but maybe I am missing something. But when I read this from page two of the above article:

"Out of 1000 pregnant women, approximately 50 will have quad marker screen results that indicate an increased risk for having a baby with a birth defect. Of those 50 women, only one or two will actually have a baby with an open neural tube defect. About 40 women will have quad marker screen results that show an increased risk for having a baby with Down syndrome and one or two will actually have a baby with Down syndrome."

Seems to me that the most likely thing to happen by taking the test is increased stress. Only about 3% of the positive results even indicate an actual issue, and for Downs it is only about 4%. That just seems like you are opening yourself up to a lot of stress.

While it could possibly be a benefit to know and prepare for having a baby with special needs, it certainly doesn't seem worth the test.

Anyone else have thoughts on the test and why to have it or not have it?