37 weeks -- Max, you can come out now...

Max is getting really heavy.

I think I've addressed the sentiment of Amy accurately, she's been a trooper through this and it's tough for her to find a sleeping position. On Friday night, I thought I'd try to find out a little more about what Amy was feeling--in fact, what all mothers feel at 37 weeks of pregnancy. I know it does not compare but I did what I could. I grabbed a dumb-bell weight and tried to find a comfortable resting position while holding on to it near my belly. It was pulling on my spine, I was having a hard time breathing, I was winded and it was a workout just finding a position to rest in. After feeling this for only a few minutes I too started praying for Max to come out. The baby's coming out when it's good and ready--period.

On Saturday, I was watching a movie with Shayne and started to get uncomfortable, sick and nauseous. Shayne asked me if I was ok and I told him that I got sick like this back when Amy first told me that Max was starting to brew--late November of 06. Back then, I thought the world was falling apart and didn't know why I was so sick, weak and nauseous. I read a little about sympathy pains and also read that these pains return around delivery time. I've been feeling nauseous now for about a week and I've been pre-empting Amy's pregnancy symptoms by about two to three weeks. I told Amy that I was both hungry and nauseous and she said, "welcome to pregnancy--that's what it feels like", so we'll probably see Max really soon.


Pregnant fathers?

For the record, some men also feel pregnancy symptoms for nine months--I have been so far. I wish that I could call it simple sympathy pains but when you start feeling the symptoms before your wife does, it's a little disconcerting, distracting and frightening. Scary? Yes because men don't get pregnant so we have nothing to blame it on and the problems resemble other serious illnesses. A few trips to the doctor confirmed for me that there was nothing serious going on. Only that I too am feeling some pregnancy symptoms--it happens!

Because of this, it's now clear to me that there is an amazing link between children and their parents. Maybe some parents are more sensitive to this than others but whatever it is--it's nothing short of a miracle, maybe even divine and something that reminds us that we are more than just petri dishes with a less than 100 year lifespan.


More Max stuff

Amy picked up some swaddlers--they're so tiny, I've never seen diapers that small. It's just not something you think about. It's hard to say how many Max will go through in a day by suffice it to say that I'm thinking of investing in Procter and Gamble. I'm looking forward to it. I've always wanted to see what it was like to change a baby on those changing tables in bookstores. And there are more wonderful gifts that we've received for Max.

We finally got the changing table in an unsual way. Amy was looking for a changing table that matched the crib, or at least came close to it. We couldn't find one. Then one afternoon, a friend of my dad's that remembered me as a teenager ( they've been friends for many, many years... ) offered my dad a changing table for Max that he changed his children and grandchildren on. It's in perfect condition. He only asks for a photo of Max getting changed on it. Amy packed it with all of Max's diapers and toys and I hear that there is a changing pad on the way.

Everything's falling into place perfectly. Now we just need a baby to fill all these wonderful things that we're receiving.