Week 30, Not Quite on Schedule...

Billy has just 10 weeks to go, which means Antoinette is soon going to begin her 8th month of pregnancy. In just 6 weeks (March 9th), she will be considered full term. Hard to think this little journey is coming to a close this quickly. Although we know tha this is really just the beginning of a much longer journey. While many women feel like they have been pregnant forever at this stage, Antoinette doesn't at all. Despite the increased symptoms of pregnancy, she is still loving every second of it. She's typically bright and cheery, and seems to spend a great deal more time rubbing her belly and just smiling, especially when she's laying on the couch.

The little guy is growing like a rabbit inside of his Momma. He's approaching 11 inches in Crown-to-Rump length and exceeds 17 inches from tip to toe. If you were to weigh the little guy, he would be a bit over 3 lbs. now. Just 4 more to go to hit typical birth weight for a healthy full term baby. We're still in a healthy growth phase of pregnancy where baby, placenta, and amniotic fluid are increasing in size and amount quite rapidly, which is why Antoinette's belly has begun to push out so quickly over the past couple weeks. This will continue until about Week 36, at which point his growth will slow until birth, typically in Week 39-41. Due to this phase of internal growth, Mom's should be packing on about a pound a week for normal baby development. We'll get an update on that on Monday when we wrap up the week.


With the increased size, clumsiness is close behind. The body is attempting to adjust to its changes, but the mind struggles to catchup in some areas. The increased weight out front is throwing the body's center of gravity off, and this adjustment is not easy to correct for. The result is that pregnant women can lose their balance easily, and during pregnancy, while few falls result in any significant injury to Mom or baby, no fall is a good fall. Also, the increased water retention in the hands causes some issues with grip and the brain doesn't overcompensate for this quick change, which results in a lot of dropped items. Antoinette seems to have a reoccurring problem getting her lunch in the fridge at work and routinely drops half of it on the floor.


Antoinette is doing her best to keep good posture while sitting and standing to help alleviate many of the symptoms of pregnancy, especially in her back. Having a bad back to begin with, the increased weight shift to the front is a tougher adjustment for her than for most women. For those of you with back pain, you can imagine how amazing it is that she is able to remain so pleasant during this time. She is also trying to aid herself in this department by rolling to her side when she has to get up instead of just attempting to lift herself off of the bed/couch.


Billy is cushioned well from any sort of injury by the strong muscular wall of the uterus and the shock absorbing qualities of the amniotic fluid, but that being said, he can now distinctly feel pain and will react accordingly. The baby's lungs continue their stretching "workouts" to prepare for a life outside of the womb. These are his first "breaths", although they are not of air, and each one becomes stronger and more efficient at this process. Unfortunately for the little one, this also results in some fluid going down the wrong pipe which can increase the frequency of hiccups. Moms can typically attest to the feeling of hiccups inside their belly. Antoinette has not experienced this very much.


The accumulated fat inside of Billy's body has allowed him to likely have crossed a threshold of development. At this point, his fat accumulation has begun to "smooth" out his skin in appearance, which is allowing him to insulate himself and to have sufficient emergency energy stores if need be. The milestone is that if he were born today, he could satisfactorily keep himself insulated, regulating his body temperature on his own, which is a key to human survival. Translation: Less time in the incubator if he were born today.

Wrapping Up Week 29 Two Days Too Late...

Here's a Baby Room picture that just shows Antoinette unpacking the gigantic box of stuff that she received from my Sister and Mother. While she's not actually in the picture, she was just a minute before. I promise. This stuff that's all over the floor is only about 1/3 of what came in the box from big sis. Literally, we have nearly all of the clothes we will need for little Billy's first year of life. It was really very helpful. This box was full of clothes, socks, toys, books, videos, baby medical supplies, grooming kits, hats, stuffed animals, shoes, dishes, changing mats and pads, etc. It was a huge box. The box was actually so big that the mail lady apparently had to back her SUV on my lawn in order to get the box close enough to the front door to unload it. Tire tracks gave her away.

The Baby Room is really beginning to fill up. My Dad just bought little Billy his first football, baseball glove, T-ball bat, and Authentic Major League baseball with a stand. That all just arrived yesterday, so I'll include that in Week 30's Baby Room update. For Week 31 and 32's updates, my big Brother and his lovely wife are sending another massive box that has a baby swing and bassinet in it, which I will put together and take a few pictures of so everyone can see them.

Some final notes to wrap up this week. Antoinette's symptoms are becoming increasingly uncomfortable, but she's still handling them well. There are plenty, but of the ones I can name on this blog, she's beginning to really get the onset of fatigue, hunger, back pain, some swelling, etc. She's also getting a few other symptoms we'll leave off of here, but some of you women out there can probably fill in a gap or two in this update with your own special symptoms 7 months in. The bad news is that as her belly grows, the symptoms are likely to increase in severity. The good news is that she only has a few weeks to go and she's doing great with them so far.

As for Billy, we're closing out the week with increased versatility in the head and neck allowing him to twist and literally face the noise that may have startled him, fully developed skeleton that is still soft and pliable, and increasing stores of iron, calcium, and phosphorous. Billy's adrenal glands have also begun to secrete a hormone called androgen (and others). Androgen travels to the placenta and stimulates it to begin to make estrogen. Estrogen, in turn, stimulates Antoinette to begin manufacturing prolactin. The increases in prolactin could really kick in by Week 30 (which we are already in) or Week 31. Prolactin triggers the body to begin making colostrum. For those of you who have never had babies, colostrum is what comes from the Mother prior to milk for the first few weeks after the baby is born. Colostrum is richer in protein and weaker in fat and milk sugar. It also carries antibodies that the little guy needs desperately in order to help him fight off any illnesses. The bad part about colostrum production is leakage. Most of you know what I mean. We're not down that road yet, but many women experience this between weeks 29-32.

Week 29 is in the books. Tomorrow, I will send out the first Week 30 Blog Update and hope to have us back on track by Saturday.

Week 29 or Week 30?...

All right. I'm pretty far behind right now due to having been in Orlando for the past week on business, but I'm back. Unfortunately, that means we're way off the mark with plenty of catching up to do. Technically we've just begun Week 30 today, however, I have two more updates to get out from Week 29. So today, I'm going to get out the Belly Pic from Week 29, followed by the Baby Room Update tomorrow. On Thursday, you'll get the first update from Week 30, which will be the Baby update. Friday or Saturday I'll send out the next Baby Room Update and then on either Sunday or Monday, we'll cap off week 30 with the next Belly Pic as we move toward the beginning of the 31st week. So here comes the rapid fire.

First things first before we get into the Baby Room. At least six of you have asked me where Antoinette is registered. As of Saturday, she has registered at Babies R Us and Walmart. Luckily they just opened that Babies R Us in our area or it just would've been Walmart and Target, which would have left us looking for a place to fill in a lot of holes. Anyway, for those of you who asked, now you know.

As of today, we're starting with the Belly Pic for Week 29. The picture was taken today, which is one day late for a typical Belly Pic, but its close enough. Also, I flipped the order of Belly Pics vs. Baby Room Pics to try and spread out the next two Belly Pics for you all. Since we're on a Belly Pic, we'll talk about the Baby and Antoinette.

Antoinette is feeling great again, relatively speaking. She's had some increased back pain though, which is uncharacteristically located in the center of her upper back between the shoulder blades. To help offset some of that pain, we swapped her old pregnancy back brace for a fresh one and it seems to help a bit. On her next doctor visit on Tuesday, 2/3, she's going to ask her doctor for the ins and outs of proper back brace support. Other than that, she's putting on weight still, but is still lagging the average by 4-5 lbs. No major headaches or illness to speak of either. Just some back pain and some discomfort sleeping at night. Next Tuesday we should get the results from her Gestational Diabetes screening.

Generally, in Week 29, most women begin to experience increased water retention which can lead to clothes and shoes that really begin to not fit well at all. The best solution for edema (swelling) is slowing down, putting your feet up, and occasional back rubs from your better half.

Some good baby news. At 29 weeks, a baby has about a 92% survival rate if born premature. He can also regulate his own internal temperature now, but every week of excess baby fat that he packs on will continue to help with that. The typical brown baby fat is beginning to turn into traditional white baby fat, which is OK for babies, too. The little guy is also kicking up a storm in that belly. Tonight, while laying on the couch, we turned everything off and just watched Antoinette's belly. From across the room I could see it bouncing and rolling around in there with each movement. He gets very active just after dinner time.

Baby Room update coming tomorrow...

Week 29 Starts Late & Finishes Fast...

I've been a bit tied up with some things lately, so there was a delay on getting out the first Week 29 update. But since I'll be tied up early next week too, be prepared for these things to come flying out this week in rapid fire mode. First one tonight, next one on Saturday, and wrap up the week's updates by Sunday afternoon.

Back to the Update today, which is the Baby Focus Update. Billy is nearly 10.5 inches long crown to rump and approximately 16.7 inches long from top to toe. His weight is just under 3 lbs. now and that has corresponded to Antoinette having put on around 15-16 lbs. The average baby weighs 7.25 lbs. at birth, so his weight still has to more than double over the next 11 weeks. Most of that growth happens from now until week 36 and then development speeds up, but actual size/growth slows.

For Antoinette, her colostrum should start coming in this week. Colostrum comes in before milk and is generally the baby's first food for a given period of time. Its the baby's stage of development in the womb that triggers these changes in the Mother.

There is increasing evidence that given the right lighting conditions, an awake baby at this stage may even be able to see the silhouette and/or shadow of a human being standing in front of his/her Mother's stomach. The Baby's fetal kick count should approximate 10 kicks per hour for a Mother who is resting on her side. Speaking of kicks, I've thrown up a picture of arguably the most famous baby-kick pic ever taken. Baby's at this age have proven to have the ability to learn, remember, and recognize various things such as their Mother's voice.

Tomorrow, I'll get you all an updated Baby Room photo followed by a Belly Shot on Sunday.

Closing Out Week 28 With a Belly Pic...

I won't be able to update this to start Week 29 for at least a couple days because we're going to be pretty busy. Anyway, today caps Week 28 and Antoinette's belly is continuing to pop out on us. As far as physical symptoms, they are still mild. We went ahead and bought her a pregnancy back brace to hopefully ease some of the stress on her lower and middle back. Its only going to get worse, so we figured we should just go and take care of it now and get it over with. Her little belly button has gradually worked its way into "outie" status at this point, so the belly ring has officially taken its final curtain call.

Tomorrow is the big "Sugar Drink" day at the doctor's office to test for Gestational Diabetes. Antoinette is going to really reduce her sugar intake prior to that visit because a positive initial test will result in a secondary three hour test which I hear is not much fun. Other than that, the doctor will test for all of the typical items on the list and may set us up for the next ultrasound, which should be at Week 32 or Week 34. We'll see.

We also have a new Pediatrician. Our neighbors (about our age with a little 5 week old of their own) swear by this group. I called today and it turns out that we just have to tell Antoinette's OB about them and then we don't have to see them until after the little guy's born. We can attend a meet and greet prior just to get acquainted. For the first two months of visits, you rotate through doctors and then after two months, you get to pick which one you liked the best and that one becomes your Pediatrician. Its a pretty neat setup. I'll fill you all in more as we move along and possibly after we get to see the practice and meet some or all of the doctors.

The list of visitors is beginning to take shape. We try our best to stay at one group of visitors per month, as it helps us to maintain a regular routine in the home. That list is beginning to fill up fast, as this year, we've got a new main attraction!!! In February, Antoinette's Mother and her Mother's friend will be coming down to visit us so she can see her first pregnant daughter's belly in person. I can't wait because I want to see someone's take on her belly growing who hasn't seen her pregnant yet other than in pictures. On top of that, both Antoinette and I are really looking forward to the visit as it seems like quite some time since we've gotten to see her Mom.

In March, Antoinette's Father and Stepmother are coming to town. Her Stepmother, a journalist for a publication in Kentucky, will be doing a story in Gainesville, FL, which luckily is only about an hour and a half due west of here. That sets up perfectly for them to drop in and also get to sneak a peak at the expanding belly in person. We haven't seen them in a little while either, so that should also be fun.

April is Baby Month and Antoinette's Mom will be back down for the birth of her first Grandchild. That should be really exciting for everyone. As new Parents, we could always use the help and the advice, and as a new Grandparent, Charlotte can spend some quality time with the new addition, fresh out of the oven!!!

May brings my folks to town. This is old hat for them. This baby is being referred to as "the Tie Breaker". My parents already have 10 Grandchildren between my brother and sisters and the current tally is 5 boys and 5 girls. Little Billy, the Tie Breaker, does just that, bringing the tally to 6 Grandsons. Again, the welcome extra sets of hands, patience, and time with Junior cannot be said enough, and like Antoinette's folks, its been too long since we've had a chance to see my parents, too.

In June, its our turn to travel as we'll be heading back to Chicago with the little fella. We have an action packed weekend that month where we'll be bouncing around from weddings to baby showers and back again. That creates lots of extra one on one time with the Grandparents and lots of extra time for all of you to get your first glimpse of our little pride and joy at the Shower.

So that being said, I'll get back on here with your Week 29 update in a few days. Hang tight and enjoy this week's belly shot.

Baby Room Overview...

Here is the overview of the Baby Room. All of the furniture is in its current place in the room. We still have some decorating to do around the walls and plenty more to store in here. My sister has begun shipping me boxes of good stuff that her three little boys will no longer need and its a lifesaver. The last box was about half full of stuff we hadn't even thought of, but then again, we don't have four kids yet like my big sis. Little by little, this room has begun to fill up with items, much of which are not in this photo which was taken soon after the room was put together. Many of you have begun to send gifts and Antoinette is arranging them all over the room (even though most are not in these older pictures). Thank you very much to all of you. I'll get an updated Baby Room photo in the coming weeks, as well as a photo of the print on the crib linen patterns, which many of you have requested. But for one thing, the rug in the middle of the room has already been removed by Antoinette. Didn't make the cut, I guess.

As for Billy and Mom, they are still getting acclimated to each other's schedule. Billy has reached the point where he is being lulled to sleep by Mom's daily activities and then seems to want to wake up and get this party started when Mom is getting ready to lay down for the night. Now that his kicks and punches are getting a bit more weight behind them, Antoinette is definitely aware when he is up and active. Her belly has really begun to expand now and you should be able to see noticeable changes week to week now. We're in rapid belly expansion mode as you'll see the little guy's weight totals begin to rocket up toward 8 lbs. in just 10-12 weeks.

For the little guy, he has begun to dream now. His body fat is at about 2-3% and his muscle tone is improving rapidly. With each passing day, his lungs take another step toward self-sufficiency, and respiratory movements are coordinated and regular. His enzyme system is up and running and his endocrinological processes have begun. With Antoinette's updated belly picture on Monday, I'll get you a bit more detail on how she's feeling.

Today Marks Week 28's Beginning...

Remember, a baby is considered full term at 36 weeks, so Antoinette only has 8 weeks to go to meet that mark. Of course, its always better to keep that kid in there as close to 40 weeks as possible. In fact, 85% of all babies born that are not induced, hold out until at least 39 weeks pregnant. And 65% make it until 40 weeks.

As of today, the baby's crown to rump length is 10 inches and from head to toe, he's just a pinch under 16 inches. Billy weighs just under 2.5 lbs. now. A typical Mother at this stage has gained 20+ lbs., but Antoinette is still hovering around the 13-15 lbs. mark. As the little guy grows stronger, the blood vessels in the umbilical are going through a period of rapid growth in order to accommodate the increased nutrients that a rapidly growing child will need (so I included a picture of the umbilical). His brain is becoming more detailed with the telltale grooves and folds that you think of when you think of a human brain. He's packing on brain tissue like he's packing on brown baby fat. Very rapidly. The hair covering his scalp is also getting longer now.

For Antoinette, we've seen some increased nausea, discomfort while sleeping, and a little increased hunger. Her doctor visits have increased to one every two weeks now. As stated before, her next visit to the doctor will involve the sugar water Gestational Diabetes screening test. Also, the baby may have reached the point where the doctor can tell his presentation, or the way that he is generally positioned within the uterus. That can allow the doctor to make a determination on the likelihood of the little guy being breech at birth. Again, this is just a determination of "likelihood" and if found to be positioned feet first, there is still plenty of time for the little guy to flip himself around and right the ship.

Approximately 3 Months to Delivery & Mom Looks Great...

We are wrapping up Week 27 with a picture of Antoinette in her 27th week. Not bad for a 3rd Trimester pregnant lady, right? Can I pick 'em or what? Just teasing her, although I'll probably get slapped for that comment, but it was worth it. Anyway, Antoinette is rolling through the beginning of her 3rd Trimester symptoms. She's begun to experience some extra back pain in both her lower and upper back. There is a lot of weight shifting going on back there as her body begins to adjust to the rapidly expanding belly out front. This throws off the body's center of gravity in a short period of time which again leads to that pregnancy clumsiness and even the back pain. It is very important that she remember to bend at knee instead of at the waist as our doctor advised that the last thing she wants is to throw out her back, etc. with three months of extra belly weight in front of her.

Some other new symptoms for the Mom-to-be include sore calves. Antoinette makes sure that she's all stretched before bed and tries to take her extra calcium supplements to fend off what we have been told are inevitable leg cramps, but so far, so good. Right now, the extent of them is calf soreness as if that cramp may be coming, but it never does.

Antoinette is also dealing with limited shortness of breath and she is also starting to see some things she may have taken for granted as being slightly more difficult now, such as going for our daily walks. The subdivision is broken into "loops" (bear with me here). There's a short loop which takes 15 minutes to walk, a medium loop which takes 30 minutes to walk, and a long loop which takes about 40 minutes to walk (there's also a super extended long loop which takes nearly an hour to walk). Anyway, in her early pregnancy, the long loops of 40 minutes a piece were no problem. But these days, those medium loops are a challenge unto themselves. Sometimes a break is nice about halfway through, or we need to slow our speed. Antoinette's uterus expansion has begun to put upward pressure on her internal organ systems including her lungs, which is dramatically reducing her lung capacity. Couple that with a substantial increase in blood volume (50% increase) that doesn't carry with it a proportional increase in iron content and you get a young lady who can feel tired and winded pretty easy.

We're also seeing increased trips to the rest room as that uterus expansion is also putting downward pressure on the bladder. Little Billy is in a competition for space and he won't be denied his necessary room. The other systems simply need to move over and that can create substantial discomfort. Billy is getting wedged in places he's not supposed to be a bit more frequently, like under those ribs, and his kicks and punches from the inside out are clearly seen even through Antoinette's shirt when she's laying down. And last but not least, here comes that appetite. Antoinette's developing a healthy 3rd Trimester appetite, which is critical for her to have during this period of rapid growth (the little guy will more than triple in size over the next 10 or 11 weeks).

The 27th Week and Little Billy...

Billy has made some impressive leaps lately. As I type this, he's approximately 9.5 inches crown to rump, which means from the top of his head to the bottom of his butt, he's about as long as my foot. If you stretched him out to get a head to toe measurement, he's over 15 inches long, which is about the length of my thigh. Weird to imagine him all cramped in there, but in this picture, you can see that he's folded up pretty good. He's well over 2 lbs. now and his growth is about to explode. Billy has to nearly quadruple in weight in 3 months.

If the little guy were born today, he would have an 85% survival rate, but would need to spend significant time in an incubator due to the low levels of baby fat on him right now. He's adding that fat at a rapid pace, which is a huge part of that rapid change in weight. He would also be placed on a respirator to help his little lungs breath as the lack of surfactant, a chemical compound that reduces surface tension, prevents the lung from working efficiently without medical assistance. You would also want to see the brain, liver, and immune system continue to develop a bit more prior to delivery. Even though he is not fully developed by any measure, he's well within the limits of premature viability.

At this stage of development, Billy is waking and sleeping at specific intervals. His eyes are opening and closing with regularity and he spends more time sucking his fingers/thumb. As his brain tissue has expanded to this point, significant neural activity can be detected. Baby hiccups increase in frequency, and while there are many theories as to why this is, nobody is really sure 100% why it occurs. And finally, since he's one of the fellas, his equipment has officially descended into place.

3rd Trimester Gets Under Way with "The Crib"...

Usually this picture is a mid-week picture, but since we've heard from so many of you asking to see the crib, here it is. Just like the other furniture, it is made from a light colored beech wood. It is well built (since I had to build it twice) and is a very sturdy design. The gate has a drop latch that allows it to raise and lower to allow for easy access to the little one. Also, the entire metal frame can be lowered about two feet where it is just a foot off the floor, allowing the crib to double as a toddler bed. Down the road we'll have some closeups of the patterns and designs of the bed clothes, etc.

Today was also Antoinette's first visit to her new doctor. This guy was great and we both feel much more comfortable with him. The other doctor just kind of gave you an awkward smile and nod when you asked questions, never really answering them. She also sat and fiddled with her tablet PC for long awkward silences and almost seemed like she was in a hurry. This guy was extremely knowledgeable, far more willing to explain everything in the finest detail to you without hesitation, and seemed like he wanted to spend as much time with us as possible to ensure our comfort level. Also, his staff was a hundred times better than our previous doctor, which was the primary reason for the switch.

As for the nuts and bolts of the visit, Antoinette's weight gain is at the optimum level. She's up 13 lbs. from prepregnancy weight and the doctor said that was perfect. No concern about her weight at all. She measured spot on with her belly measurement, too. Right on schedule in that department. We also took a measure of Billy's heart rate and it was in the exact range where it should be, plus his heart rate reacted to the doctor's manipulation of Antoinette's belly with the Doppler indicating solid neurological reaction time which was a great indication of a healthy baby. He also advised us that he will not allow Antoinette to go longer than one week past her due date, which means the baby will be here no later than April 21st. From here on out, Antoinette's appointments will bump up to one visit every two weeks for the next two months, followed by weekly visits in the final month. On her next visit, she will get to drink a large amount of sugar solution for the famous gestational diabetes test. And finally, the doctor also informed us that due to our switch from the previous doctor to him, he may want to take another peak at the baby for himself, which could mean a fifth ultrasound around week 34 for Antoinette and I. That would be great considering most people are lucky to get a third ultrasound. We'll keep you clued in.

I'll have more updates on the baby's development around the middle of this week, followed by an updated belly pic of the new Mom by the weekend with further updates on how she's feeling.

2nd Trimester is in the Books!!!

This entry wraps up Antoinette's 2nd Trimester. As promised, here is that 2nd belly pic that gets us caught up. Her belly is really showing now and she's also experiencing a few extra symptoms. She gets a touch of the pins and needles in her fingertips, has increased clumsiness (its true), is getting some extra powerful shots to the rib cage lately. All of these symptoms are perfectly normal. Apparently the pins and needles are caused by swelling tissues pressing on nerves and your body is simply not used to it. All of that being said, she's still doing very well. This weekend we got her a body pillow as her belly has begun to affect her sleep a bit. That thing is great!!! As for weight gain, we're still in that 14-18 lb. range, which is still training the norm a bit. Typical weight gain is in the 23 lb. range.

Tomorrow, we begin the 3rd Trimester with her first visit to her new doctor. We'll have a host of questions for him and will begin the discussion about birth plans, labor and delivery, etc. I'll have more for you guys after that visit since we're all likely to become a bit more informed.

The little guy is still trucking along. He's still very active in there and as I said earlier, his punching, kicking, and stomping are getting a bit more aggressive lately. Last night, we felt what seemed like a little fist pressed up against Mom's belly, based on the size and shape. Maybe it was a foot, who knows? But there's no way that was my kid's head, which is bound to be about the size of a watermelon when he arrives. His heart is developing nicely and he's now blinking on a regular basis. We routinely try and hear his heartbeat through the stethoscope, but to no avail. Seems like all we can hear is the umbilical "swooshing" sound that flows in tune with Antoinette's heart beat. Quite a few women will never be able to get him into a position where they can hear his heartbeat, but since we have a stethoscope at home, we're hoping we'll be a bit luckier.

Final Week of the 2nd Trimester & a Happy New Year...

Antoinette is wrapping up the final few days of the 2nd Trimester. On Tuesday, she'll begin the homestretch. For the baby, the alveoli, which are air sacs in the lungs that allow for the transfer of oxygen into the bloodstream, are beginning to come online. These little anatomical features will continue to develop and grow for the next decade in the baby and typically reach full development when he's in about 5th grade or so. There is a membrane that attaches the alveoli to the blood vessels in the lung and that membrane is key to the ability of the lungs to function properly. As the baby develops, the membrane begins to thin. At a point, it becomes thin enough to allow the oxygen to pass through it and be absorbed into the blood stream. At that critical point, you have a functioning lung.

Billy's retinas have completed their development. His eyes, which could be open already, are fully functional now. Also, his auditory and visual systems take a quantum leap forward as dramatically increased brain waves in these two sections of the brain can now be detected. For me, this marks a milestone, as it is generally considered the point at which the little guy can hear my voice and distinguish it from his Mother's internal echo. There exists mountains of research proving that babies recognize familiar sounds at birth and both Mom and Dad's voice qualify are on the top of the list.

As for Mom and Dad, we received a little hands on advice on New Year's. Our next door neighbors are about our age and just recently had a baby of their own (3 weeks ago). We walked over there on New Year's (safest place for a pregnant Mom to be on New Year's) and spent the evening with them and two other couples. As you can imagine, with little Billy right around the corner, there were questions galore. Especially since this was our friend's first child, as well. Lots of "adjustment" questions, tips for beginning parenting, etc. There was a bunch of helpful tips and advice, and it was even neat to see a near replica (from a size point of view) of who we will be welcoming into our home in the next couple months.