36 weeks

We are closing in on 36 weeks now and the belly is growing and mostly due to the baby.  At our last check-up U/S  the little lady was nearly 5 3/4 lbs. at the 57th percentile for growth.  Yes, we are still getting growth checks, or BPP's every two weeks because of the weird insertion of the umbilical cord: velamentous insertion of the cord , but everything is still looking A OK.

Jaynah's last day of work will be May 1st, and she is truly counting down the days.  She has been an absolute trooper through this whole process, but the past week or two have really seen her excitement for a long commute and really physically demanding work diminish.  I think this is due to equal contributions of two things: 1) The end is in sight, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and 2) the third trimester is no joke, hormones, the belly, and the body's metabolism is in overdrive to fatten the baby up for delivery.  Of course, a flat tire at 6:30 in the morning last week did not help the cause.  Luckily, AAA to the rescue and she was quickly on the road after a nice patch job on the tire.

Don't feel sorry for me, I am off school, haven't started my job yet so I'm just enjoying some free time.  I feel really bad to still be in bed when my lovely 35 week pregnant wife leaves for work at 6:00 a.m. every morning.  But I've been busy with lots of things and have a lot of things left to do on my list before intern year begins.  We took Jaynah's 36 week pictures tonight:

Nickel shy of 36 weeks - 4/22/09

I apologize for the teaser last time, and I apologize for the catalog bright-light feel of these next images, but the wolves are circling, so I had to get some pictures up, and fast.  Honestly, I had to wait for Jaynah to "nest" after I finished getting all the furniture together.  This used to be our guest room and we had a lot of fun with the paint, chair rail and..., okay not so much fun with the chair rail, but we are really excited about how it turned out.  Still to come: custom artwork by Mimi Morgan aka (...she hasn't picked her grandmother name yet), as well as a glider chair and ottoman that we ordered this past weekend in Savannah.

Okay, so the crib is filled with every fluffy thing we have right now just for Jaynah's enjoyment. Fear not, everything will be taken out when it is time for baby to actually sleep. (except the tan bear on the right end, he makes sounds of the womb)

Never underestimate the complexity of the mobile.  After remodeling the kitchen, the nursery and all the furniture assembly, the freaking mobile was the thing that had me scratching my head.

View as you walk into the door. Colors: (Pink, brown, green and white)

Looking from the crib to the other corner.  The stuff stacked in the corner, don't ask, a place will be found and this is actually a huge improvement.

Chair with ottoman and side table are going to go where the little pink bounce seat is.  There is plenty of room, you'll just have to trust me.

Tall chest with "neat" pile of stuff that will find a home.  Honestly, a big thanks to everyone, we have gotten so much love and support, and gifts from all our family and friends, it has really been amazing. 

 

Low chest, aka changing table, aka "The Poop Deck"

Hit us up with some comments.

That about does it for this episode.  We're going to be scheduled for an induction at 39 weeks so that Jaynah's labor can be monitored with this crazy cord insertion. So it is looking like May 19, 20, 21st are gonna be the big days coming up.  Not sure when it is going to really hit me about what is happening.  I can only hope that when it does I'm sitting down and preferably not near my car keys and the Garmin.

Next update should be Savannah adventure pictures and/or a maternity shoot I'm doing tomorrow for some good friends here in Augusta.

Work Hard, Play Hard.

Long overdue

I was doing good there for a few minutes then kind of fell off again. Lots of photos so let's get going.

First one is 2 weeks late, we are taking the 34 week picture tonight.

Still glowing at 32 weeks:

Jaynah getting used to the video camera during our photo shoot:

Jaynah's co-workers threw her an excellent shower a few weeks ago:

The HealthSouth crew: Thanks so much

A group of old friends also threw Jaynah a shower at Callaway Gardens last weekend:

Our hosts: The Grahams

Jaynah's little bro, Chandler, watch out ladies.

The awesome Hills and my long lost Best Man, CKIII.

The tower of presents was impressive, but as Leslie's husband the engineer put it, "It isn't structurally sound..."

Can you feel the excitement? The fear is palpable.

Jaynah's cousins and their assortment of kids.

Great to see my buddy from MCG Jonas and his fia...girlfriend Heather. He's a Blue Devil now.

Great to see UGA friends Jen, Jess and Erin.

My boys:

These girls shared pacifiers I'm pretty sure.

My Dad also happened upon some tickets to this year's Masters practice round. After 4 years here, I'd driven by the National every morning but had never been inside.  My Dad had also never been while he was here so we were looking forward to it.  You aren't allowed to bring cameras in on tournament days so I was actually pumped that we were going on a practice round day.  I shot in RAW all day and have been working on the images as I've had time, really having fun with it.

Scoreboard w/ flags of all of the countries represented in this year's field.

The 10th green, a beautiful hole.

Jaynah was tiring out with all the walking so as soon as I got my Tiger fix, we headed out.

Tired, but still smiling for a portrait on the way out.  She was more excited about her "lady-fit" hat than anything I think.

More Masters pics here, link is also on the right side for future visits.

Since it has been so long I had some catching up to do, and if you have made it through this whole post, then you DESERVE something special.

How 'bout a preview:

Hope you have a great one, yard sale this weekend, should be interesting.

Work Hard, Play Hard.

4D Ultrasound

So this is turning out to be the most photographed baby in the world.  Well some of you expected that already, but not before the little thing was even born!  It turns out that we've been having weekly Ultrasound check-ups, called Biophysical profiles (BPP's) for the past few weeks to monitor growth, movements, etc.  

This has been done just as a precaution because of the way the babie's umbilical cord inserts into the placenta.  I tried to search for a decent diagram but all that came up was post partum gross pathology pictures of the placenta that most would not enjoy looking at.  Everything has gone fine to this point but as the baby gets larger and larger, our doctors have just wanted to keep an eye to make sure she keeps an adequate blood supply and keeps growing as she should.  

With that, we got some new 4D pictures of the face at our most recent visit :

31 weeks

Peace....bro....

In other news, I am done with Medical school.  I had my last clinic on Friday morning and now I have a glorious three months until I begin the trials of internship.  It was interesting to tell my last patient in clinic that she would be the last patient I saw with my short white coat (as a student).  She failed to grasp the gravity of the moment, but was sweet and said "Hun, as long as you know what you are talking about and can refill my medicines you can wear whatever you want."

Lastly, my class ring for medical school came in last week.  Many years ago,  I got a high school class ring and ended up regretting it because I never wore it after I graduated.  I mean who wears a high school ring at college?? No one!

I didn't get a college ring....and funny enough ended up regretting that.  I will be proud to be a Bulldog until my dying day, and I've seen some rings from there that are really nice looking that I'd be proud to wear with a suit any day.

Well there was no doubt I was getting a medical school class ring, mainly because the rings at MCG are freaking sweet.  They have had the same custom class ring for about 100 years or something crazy like that and the most prominent design element....you guess it, the skull and crossbones:

Makeshift macro with the trusty 50/1.8  ...almost has a Lensbaby type feel to it:

A little further out:

A cool thing is, my dad has this exact same ring, except on the other side it says '84 and his is 10K gold so it has the yellow tinge.  

I'm enjoying it so far.

Tomorrow, going to Florida fishing with my brother and Grandfather for a few days if the weather will hold out.

Playing hard...

Lily Menagerie

It happened to me.  I'd say for the past maybe year or so, I've had a real photographic block. You might have noticed that my other blog has been all but abandoned and I've done no recent weddings, or posted any other real photos in quite some time. Honestly, this blog has been mostly prose with just a few ultrasounds sprinkled throughout.  Any of the other photos you've seen posted here have been pretty much the only photos I've taken.

Sure, I've been busy finishing up school, working, traveling for interviews, etc., but deep down I've known that it's been more than that.  I've had a mental block of some sort, and I can't really describe it more than to add that even when I've had time off and have been relaxing, I just haven't had the urge to grab the camera to take with me as much as I normally would.  

Call it coincidence that today (the day after the Match is off my shoulders) I got home and didn't check my email, did not pass go, did not collect $200.  I went straight to my office.... grabbed the camera..... grabbed the trusty 50mm f 1.8.... checked the battery....'good it's only half dead'.... and went out shooting.  

I decided to focus on our menagerie of Asiatic Lillies that we've been enjoying so much lately and had a few things in mind I wanted to do. I played with several different lighting settings (full sun, shaded with my white umbrella, backlighting, and softer evening light) and decided to shoot most of the pictures in RAW format (something I've dabbled with off and on but this year made it a resolution to convert).  I played/processed the images in Lightroom (where I've been building a preset library, thanks for the tip, Matt) and decided to post a few here to break up the monotony of this constant babbling on about the baby.   

Just kidding dear.  Enjoy

I'm back.

Work Hard, Play Hard.

University of Alabama Birmingham

The question is answered, we'll be in Augusta for one more year where I will do my internship year in General Internal Medicine.

Then we'll move to Birmingham, AL where I'll start my Residency in Radiology!!!

When I got home from the ceremony it was nice to have an email from the Program Director at UAB and he sent a sheet of the 2010 class of Radiology residents.  One is a classmate of mine, and the most of the others I met on the interview trail at some point.

Jaynah has already started talking about re-arranging furniture, but we are both grinning ear to ear!

Click the image to enlarge.

Cardiology clinic is going to be a little more laid back tomorrow morning.....

Time to play hard!

Timeline Gaps filled

Our first home movie 20 weeks:

Peyton's first portrait 24 weeks:

Lovely at 28 weeks:

Family Portraits 29 weeks:

We were so happy with our photo session shot by our close friends over at altmix photography .

You can see more of our shots on their blog and you should also check out the slideshow .

On a side note, I loved the latest post by another close friend and a genuine Southern Belle

My six word story:   Tomorrow we will know the future.

The 4 word Mantra:  Work hard, play hard.

Stuff

It has been far too long since a post. Alas, rotations, travel, etc. have kept me occupied.

This post is about STUFF. And you know what I'm talking about.

I didn't think I'd ever own 1000 bibs. But right now, I might just. I am super excited about this child, and I know that women have a need to "Nest" that men just can't at all understand. Jaynah and I are in a unique situation in that right now we don't know where we'll be living right after the baby is born and so our hands are really tied when it comes to preparing a nursery. We do, however, have a closet now dedicated to any and all things baby. This is where my lovely bride gets her "Nesting Fix" as I've come to think of it. She folds, re-folds, admires, coordinates, organizes and re-organizes all the STUFF in the closet to fulfill this primal urge.

With that context, Jaynah and I made a deal regarding STUFF. We have agreed that she can get one item for the baby whenever she ends up inside a store with said baby things. So far this has been mostly baby outfits (glorified doll clothes) that are very inexpensive and honestly really fun to look around and pick out. The problem becomes, we are T-Minus 2 1/2 months and counting until splashdown and the aptly named "baby closet" is nearly full of baby clothes. If you throw in a Saturday shopping with a future Grandmother or a shower sometime in the future, we might just get to critical mass.

Luckily, we'll know soon where we will end up. Two days in fact from now. Then either one of two things will happen:

A) Jaynah comes home, gets straight on her computer and makes a list of things for Andrew to get at Home Depot (or Lowe's now that Tony Stewart has moved on) to decorate the baby nursery in our current home.

B) Jaynah comes home, gets straight on her computer, looking at house listings online, contacting realtors, then making a list of things for Andrew to get at Home Depot (or Lowe's) to decorate the baby nursery on arrival to an unknown city.

Either way, something is going to give and give soon, and frankly right now as I sit at the VA Hospital awaiting the arrival of my next clinic patient, (at the VA everything is on computer so if you are on a computer, everyone assumes you are working on important stuff, which this is) it is really nice to know that right now:

- I have MATCHED

- I have a job as a Doctor (ahem..intern) starting July 1, somewhere

- After 12 months of that, my dream comes true when my career of Radiology begins, somewhere.

It is hard to wipe the smile off my face right now, and everytime I feel the little baby kick in Jaynah's belly, or Jaynah suddenly says, "Excuse me young lady, can we lay off the bladder, please?" the smile gets bigger and I thank God for getting me and my young family to this point. We are truly blessed, and pray for continued health and happiness in the months and years ahead.

I have some pictures and things to post later, but I felt it was time to get a post out there.