Instant Smile

I found something that brings an instant smile to my lovely wife. And i mean instant. Marilyn isn't what you would call a morning person (you Merkleys can attest to that), so getting her to smile before noon is quite an accomplishment. We both woke up today and went through our routines. We had to get an early start so that we could make it to our 9:15 appointment with the doctor. These appointments are pretty routine. They check her blood pressure, weight, and get a urine sample. Then we wait for the doctor to come in and let us know that everything is moving along as expected. Then comes the magic moment. He puts that little device on her tummy and there it is: The most precious sound in the world. That little woosh, woosh, woosh of the baby's heartbeat. Instantly, Marilyn's face lights up and she smiles so big i think she might pull a muscle in her cheeks. I don't know what is better, hearing that sound or seeing the smile on her face. I love that moment. Sure, i enjoy hearing the heartbeat as much as her, but i really enjoy seeing that smile.
I know i promised a poem or a song or something inspirational in my next post. I should've taken a picture of her smile. That is inspiration: The reaction of an expectant mother who can't wait to meet the little girl who, for now, can only speak to us through that precious heartbeat.

Now i understand

First time blogging for me. I didn't understand why people would spend time blogging or why anyone would read someone else's blog. Well, now i get it.

Now i understand why parents are so proud. Now i understand what unconditional love is. Now i see the world through a whole new set of eyes. Now i am excited for my friends who have kids. Now i know why they acted like their kid was the most exciting thing on earth.

So, i have to apologize to all those parents when i didn't get all giddy when you were talking about your kids. I promise next time i will.

I will admit that, at first, i was pulling for a boy. All guys do, i suppose. Now it is different. We are bringing the first girl to be born into the Newman family in who knows how long. We are bringing the first grand daughter to my parents. Sorry, Angel. Anyway, you got to bring the first grandchildren. All that aside, she is unique to me for some reason. Now we can refer to the baby as "she", and that is exciting to me. I can't put it into words, but i am so happy that we are having a girl. Not the reaction that i expected from myself. Now, i wonder why i wasn't pulling for a girl the whole time.

Well, enough for now. I know you can only take so much when reading about someone else's kid. Just thought i would share some thoughts that are so new to me. It is inspiring. My next entry will probably be a song or a poem or a drawing or a picture or a plan for world peace. Now i have the motivation and i know all you parents out there understand what i mean.

Princess Newman

We had the sonogram Monday morning (1/7/08) and learned just how active this little baby is at times - I had no idea! I can't really feel her yet, other than some slight quivering in my lower abdomen, but for most of the time the tech had the utlrasound on my belly, that little girl was kicking her legs and moving her arms and even appeared to be sucking her thumb at one point (don't tell my mother! or Judge Judy, for that matter)! We could see her ribs, her spine, part of her face and even her heart beating! We even brought a videotape to record it, but for whatever reason it didn't work. The tech didn't realize it until after she'd gone through everything (typing on the screen, freeze frames, etc), so after she caught it, she did a few more quick minutes, but the baby had decided to go to sleep at that point, despite the tech's efforts to wake her up. We were pretty disappointed about that!

The tech said she had been doing this for 25 yrs at one point, so that was reassuring when she told us the baby looked like a girl to her. She said that of course she IS human and there's never 100% guarantee until the baby actually comes out.

I guess I won't be "bucking the Merkley trend" of having girls first, as I previously thought might be case!

So, the baby has now graduated from "Peanut Newman" to "Princess Newman" (as Ann Marie affectionately called her)!

We are pretty excited, even Eric, although he is seriously considering investing in a shotgun - lol! This will be the 1st grand-daughter for his parents, and probably the 1st female born into the Newman family in quite some time! Woo-hoo for making history! Already we have accumulated a couple of "pink" girl outfits, thanks to his mother and sister-in-law (gee, they wouldn't be excited about a baby girl, would they?).