Getting Ready for a New Baby

Our new baby will probably look something like this, but she'll plump up quickly.

Jillian has had two steroid shots twenty-four hours apart to prepare the new baby's lungs, as the doctor said she's dilated to about two centimeters, though she isn't feeling any contractions.  If she were actually one of those rare people you see on TLC  who dilate to ten centimeters without feeling any contractions, she'd presumably give birth naturally, as the problem with her little preemies isn't cephalopelvic disproportion; it's that her lung capacity isn't really sufficient for a normal labor and delivery. She says she would never be so lucky, though.                  

She and her husband are well-educated in terms of the risks involved with steroid injections for preemies, but it's still clearly the recommended and common sensical  practice. Some doctors even recommended a second two-injection course a week later if the mother is still pregnant, but Uncle Scott doesn't think research supports the risks outweighing the benefits of the second course of injections, so Jillian won't have another course unless the pregnancy goes at leasr another three weeks, which is highly unlikely. I'm still sticking with my July 8 preduction, which is one week from today.

The nanny asked me to get out my violin and play for Andrew today. She thinks live music is good for babies and young children. I told her Uncle Scott plays violin as well, but she answered, "I've heard him. He doesn't play the way you do." Such is true, but he's only been playing for about two years. He's not really bad. He just doesn't sound like a violin major.

I have to stand up or sit on a high stool or Andrew will grab at my violin or bow, and I'm not about to let an eight-month-old baby have access to my violin or bow. Once he figures out he can't reach, he gives up trying and does the baby dance where the kid rocks back and forth from one foot to the other, usually with a fairly rigid body. He's somewhat rhythmic. He likes jigs the best. I've noticed that there's a natural sequence to baby dancing. First they rock back and forth, either on their feet or on their hands and knees if they're not yet standng stably. Next, they learn to spin slowly to the music, usually with their hands above their heads, fingers touching, sort of like  ballerinas. The next stage is to jump up and down, almost like the new wave stuff of the very late seventies and early eighties. After that, they begin to develop some of their own moves.

When Andrew gets bored with that, which isn't all that quickly, Nanny Helen picks him up and dances ballroom-style with him, which he loves.

Andrew likes piano music, too, but he naturally dances more with violin music. He loves it when his daddy plays guitar or piano and sings to him. He doesn't sing along, though. If I play piano and sing to him, he will join in. Maybe it's because a female voice is higher and easier for him to attempt to match. I really don't know. He sings along when his mother sings to him, too. Maybe it's just that Scott is so much better than we are that Andrew would rather listen than mess up the sound, where there's not that much he can do to make it sound worse if it's Jillian or I singing. I should test my hypothesis by having my mom sing to him, because she has a high voice but she's actually good. If he sang along with her, it would refute my theory that Jillian and I are so bad that he knows his singing could do nothing to interfere with the quality.

I'm working on a slightly unusual blog series about TV series and their influences on me in growing up. I'm still not sure exacrtly where it's going. I'll probably post the first very late tonight. It may seem somewhat out there (what else is new in terms of my posts seeming out there?) but I think it is ultimately going to tie together.