- @MaryeStew Oh, is tonight the night! I’ll look forward to your tweet-report. I had other things to spend the $ on & host graciously refunded in reply to MaryeStew 2013-05-13
- @MaryeStew Plus I would have never made it there tonight anyhow, so there’s that, too. in reply to MaryeStew 2013-05-13
- Good morning. Yesterday was a whirlwind, but a good one! Do you like busy days at the start of your week, or do they wear you out? 2013-05-14
- @taxgirl Philly can never let us enjoy Spring weather. It’s like, “You’ll take these nights in the 40s and like it, soon it’ll be 90.” in reply to taxgirl 2013-05-14
- In other news, I must eschew the comfy @rjmetrics couches for more balance ball. Just because it’s comfy doesn’t mean it’s good for my back. 2013-05-14
- But, couches! At work! And green armchairs! They call to me. 2013-05-14
- Quite brilliantly contentless: @stevenpoole‘s review of Dan Brown’s new book, written in the style of Dan Brown http://t.co/xsGzu9Whf8 2013-05-14
Baby McFidgets
Our unborn baby is a veritable battering ram.
I am not stating this in a bragging way. No. I am quite certain this is relatively average fetal behavior. Instead, as with all things baby-related, I am coming to you from a place of deep and enduring ignorance.
Yes, I was aware that when babies “kicked” they weren’t really just kicking – really, they were doing any manner of nudges and somersaults in the womb that could be felt from outside of it. I did edit our maternity program manual that one time, you know.
However, I was under the impression that this was mostly after said fetus had feet larger than a quarter, and that you couldn’t get a visual on the kick activity from outside the belly until pretty far down the line. Oh, and that it was not a constant internal artillery barrage that would keep my wife awake for months.
Actually factually, E was being “kicked” by Project Sidecar as early as 15 weeks into our joint venture in genetics. Possibly earlier, but at that point any sort of interior motion seemed more a fit of whimsy than of unborn baby breakdancing. Yet, around 15 weeks the kicking became quite distinct. If I watched extremely closely I could see E’s stomach make the tiniest of jumps.
Now we’re nearly twice that far along, and Sidecar is all motion, all the time. Kicking, punching, twirling, and apparently hiccuping several times a day, because that is also a thing.
I honestly had no idea about the whole range of motion we’d be experiencing, and so I had no expectation of the result: that the baby has become quite a character in our lives. She or he already has nicknames and favorite times of day, as well as activities that wake her up or put him to sleep.
While I’m sure the little thing probably cannot help causing such a commotion, I also wonder about the evolutionary role of it. Our eventual baby is reminding us all of the time that it’s on the way. Every kick is another chance for E and I to worry about where it will sleep or if we have any clothes for it. In that way, the kicks are pretty good for our eventual babies eventual health. Sure, these days even America’s shamefully high infant-mortality rate bodes well for a baby’s longevity outside the womb, but what about in places where it’s even higher? What about 100 years ago? Did a more kick-tastic baby wind up with better-prepared parents?
Of course, I was going to worry about everything anyway – it’s not like I was going to take a more lackadaisical approach to parenting if it had kicked less. This is just one of those child-rearing topics where my mind wanders away from the neverending how-to books and parenting blogs to a time when someone as ignorant as me really was at a disadvantage when it came to being an eventual father.
The kicks can’t teach me how to diaper, though. For that I’m going to need diagrams. And coaching. Possibly anxiety medication.
What I Tweeted, 2013-05-11 Edition
- Congratulations to all that ran Blue Cross Broad Street Run, and thank you to all who supported the runners! So proud of the @ibxrun10 team. 2013-05-05
- @KaraLaFleur You rock! in reply to KaraLaFleur 2013-05-05
- Good morning! My body didn’t seem to want extra sleep, so I’m heading in early to see if I can beat @bengarvey into the office. 2013-05-06
- @bengarvey I can’t possibly claim victory based on your post-@ibxrun10 limp; I’d feel as if I fixed the results ;) in reply to bengarvey 2013-05-06
- @saranmatthews No mustard in the fridge; currently eating soft pretzels slathered in sriracha. 2013-05-06
- @saranmatthews Also contemplated: Sriracha Butter in reply to saranmatthews 2013-05-06
- @saranmatthews Sriracha Veganaise would essentially be vegan sushi spicy sauce, no? Sriracha and Mayo is how I make mine at home. in reply to saranmatthews 2013-05-06
- @saranmatthews It’s more or less just creamy sriracha. Related: I want sushi for lunch. in reply to saranmatthews 2013-05-06
- @SmashleyDubs I cannot turn off my inner Peggy Olson. 2013-05-06
- @SmashleyDubs No, but that doesn’t mean I suddenly have a Peggy Olson off switch ;) in reply to SmashleyDubs 2013-05-06
What I Tweeted, 2013-05-04 Edition
- @themslyss You might have to come back here, I don’t think I’m done excitedly hugging you. in reply to themslyss 2013-04-28
- @CheapGN Happy to know it’s a help! The Reading Order was quite an undertaking. I’m sure you’ll let me know when Affiliate stuff is underway in reply to CheapGN 2013-04-28
- The Great Expectations cover of Back to Black is a travesty. Dig the idea behind the arrangement, but the vocals are incongruous to the song 2013-04-28
- At one point Andre and Beyonce are just straight up out-of-tune to each other, it’s like nails on a chalkboard. 2013-04-28
- @mikeyil @bengarvey How did we make it through the whole party last night and not talk to each other about this? ;) in reply to mikeyil 2013-04-28
- Good morning! It’s my first day @RJMetrics, helping companies make data-driven decisions! Don’t think Monday morning gets much more exciting 2013-04-29
What I Tweeted, 2013-04-27 Edition
- Standing sounds better in studio than it does in my head. I played my best single take of guitar on Saving Grace, ever. EP is nearly ready. 2013-04-21
- To celebrate I am taking myself out to see Rufus Wainwright sing Judy Garland at the Kimmel Center tonight! 2013-04-21
- @jmooreconrow I couldn’t turn down the $10 rush tickets. Plus, hopefully nothing from his awful last LP in the midst of opera and Judy! in reply to jmooreconrow 2013-04-21
- @KMBTweets A fantastic Bowie deep cut. Haven’t played that in an age! in reply to KMBTweets 2013-04-21
- Sitting close enough to Rufus Wainwright to run over & hug him before anyone could’ve stopped me. Didn’t even realize. Probably for the best 2013-04-21
- Soprano Melody Moore’s voice was absolutely hypnotic. I saw vivid peals of indigo & violet swirling during her opening runs. (Not on drugs.) 2013-04-21
- “If Judy Garland studied the science of rainbows, she would have known they weren’t something to fly over, but simply refractions of light!” 2013-04-21
- Encore of Oh What A World, Babs/Judy Happy Days / Get Happy, and Hallelujah. I’ve died, in case you were wondering. 2013-04-21
- @HokuleaSF Saw the Prima! Rufus! Judy! show in Philly, he was sitting right in front of me during Prima and I didn’t even know! in reply to HokuleaSF 2013-04-21
- Open floor plan offices are groovy & collaborative until the person breathing at you from the other side of your monitor has strep throat. 2013-04-22
- @aworldgoesnova I relocated for the day. I love my team dearly, but I have preggo wife, and vocal recording all week, and [SPOILER] next wk. in reply to aworldgoesnova 2013-04-22