Man & Pregnancy: week 20-22

What a blur! All of a sudden we have surpassed the 1/2 way mark and time just seems to have sped up ten fold! the coolest thing lately that has happened is that baby moves, quite a bit at night time, and I can feel it!!! Baby is over 10 inches now and weighs about 1 pound. All anyone talks about anymore is whether or not we know if it is a boy or girl, alas we did not find this out. The Queen is looking very pregnant, there is no mistaking it now. She looks wonderful, I love the belly.

We have traveled some over the last couple weeks, spending some time with the Queens family, eating well, spending late nights visiting, playing with the family kids, and a whole lot of sitting on the beach and swimming. Let me tell you, there is nothing like summer time in a country that has such a long winter, everyone is so happy. the baby/belly finally got a good dose of sun (vitamin D) which keeps the whole family smiling,...the love is flowing.

the list of things we wanted to get done before baby comes seems to have grown, or, did the time just fly by and now we are going to have a baby in 4 months,...?!?!?!?! Any way, the Queen and I have started an email thread back and fourth that is just a list of things we need to remember to do, so far:
* Financial Planner
* Belly pictures
* 3d ultrasound
* party - confirm w. bands
* get the venue booked
* evite and website made
*Glenys (when should we book with her? next weekend?)
*Dinner w Lorne and J
*White rock w ryan and jenny
*Figure out when Michelle is moving out
*Get van from Rick to move table this weekend.
* Daycare
* SPUD
* Montessouri school
*Diaper P/U - delivery
*What makes a good parent blog
* water filtration
*http://www.mealsformums.com/index.html
*MAN blog entries corresponding to week-by-week preg
* Eat well, good food
* Take videos
* RESP's
* Baby carrier
* Rocking cradle from dad
* organize stacey coming
* organize family coming
* spences goes to doctor to get checked (mouth and others bits)
this has created a little anxious stir with the family, but excitement underlies it all, that fact remains unchanged.

On top of it all we are moving to a place that is absolutely awesome! Exposed brick walls, fireplace, big bay windows, beautiful kitchen that our friend renovated recently...and we are filling it with furniture that is going to make the most comfy home ever...baby will be happy.

Thought I would share this following article with the dad's around,..it is a little thing called 'couvee'.

Dads, have you ever noticed that you were gaining weight along with your partner's pregnancy? Do you find yourself feel queasy at certain times of the day? Have you experienced appetite changes? Then you may be experiencing Couvade Syndrome.

Couvade comes from the French word couvee meaning "to hatch". It has come to mean a man having a "sympathetic pregnancy." Yes, ladies, this means that your partner could start to vomit, gain weight, and have many of the "joys" associated with pregnancy.

Generally, couvade syndrome begins in the end of the first trimester and increases in severity until the third trimester. The only known cure for couvade is -- birth.

Some people have doubted the reality of couvade syndrome. These doubters say that the weight gain that the father may experience is caused by the eating habits of the mother, nerves, or other changes that pregnancy makes in one's life. The vomiting? Of course, that is blamed on nerves, too.

What do the dads have to say about this? They don't know what to think about vomiting, weight gain, and changes in sexual appetite. How can you tell everyone at work that you need to lie down because you have morning sickness?!? And, of course, they would stop vomiting if they could.

This is something that has been researched and found to be quite real. Some men are more susceptible to couvade than others. For instance if you and your partner have experienced infertility or if you were adopted, you could be more likely to experience couvade syndrome.

So, guys, know that you are not alone, and that you have the medical community backing you up. Eat some crackers, get out of bed slowly, drink some ginger tea and try to get a bit of rest and know that birth is right around the corner.