Beginning today I am going to post the e-mail version of the Deuce Daily here on the weblog. This way, the final weeks will always be archived here as well as on paper. Happy anniversary sweetheart!!!

My Favorite Cliche

Time flies when you're having fun. Man does it ever! Today is five years since Deb and I got married. It was a special day in more ways than one. The weather was exceptional...so much so that there has not been a day like it in April since! It was 70 degrees and breezy and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was truly the most beautiful day in the history of April 25ths. Although I have many memories of that day, one particular conversation I do not remember and I wish I had. It's the conversation that every newlywed couple has. I wish I had a recording of it so that I could play it back today. NO - no - no - stop it. I know what you are thinking and that's NASTY. I DID record that and save it. I would not forget that!! How dare you! :-) No, the conversation I'm referring to is, "Where do you think we will be in five years?" What did we say? Did we say we would have 2.5 kids and a white picket fence? Did we think we would be selling our house and looking for a bigger one??? Did we say that I would be overweight and balding? Man, I wonder what we were thinking... See that's one of the reasons why I write this journal every day. I want to recall everything about life so I can see how far we have come. Deb likes to tell people about my weekly 4-line mini-journals that I kept in high school and college. Each Thursday (Diary Day) I wrote a short description of what was going on in my life and the world. I did this inside my notebooks....while the teacher was talking of course. There were several times that I actually started off my entry with the words, "To my child who will someday read this..." I don't really know what I was thinking then either but I must have been planning my life or something because that kind of freaks me out. Thoughts in your mind have no way of being retained unless you write them down or record them in someway.

Anyway, this morning while Elijah was trying to say "Happy Anniversary," we were trying to explain to him what an anniversary was. "Happy Versary" was how he was saying it. Finally I showed him a wedding picture on the wall and he said, "That's a picture of Mommy and Daddy getting married." So I told him our wedding was 5 years old and he said, "today it's the birthday of when you got married." That's it!

Deuce's intestines are accumulating considerable meconium, a dark-green mass of cells and waste product from Deuce's liver, pancreas, and gall bladder. This meconium will be eliminated shortly after birth, but it sometimes can be eliminated before, if the birth is delayed too long. In the latter case, fecal material will be present at birth in the amniotic fluid.

By today, Deuce's toenails have reached the end of the toes. After Deuce is born, you may need to trim its fingernails and toenails.

If you feel like you have extra energy, save it for labor - don't weed your entire garden or strip and wax your floors!!! Hear me Speck???

Now you preggos have probably discussed the difference between false labor and true labor with your doctor. The main points will be reviewed here in the Daily over the next several days to keep them fresh in your mind...

FALSE vs. TRUE LABOR: With Braxton-Hicks, or false-labor, contractions, the pain begins in your lower abdomen. The contractions that accompany true labor begin in your lower back and the pain spreads to your lower abdomen.

Maryann checks in this week with this e-mail for everyone....

"Well, here I am towards the end of my 38th week and still only one centimeter dilated. The doctor said not to let that upset me because you can go into labor and things can progress very quickly.
I am hoping to have the baby next week, just a feeling I have (hope I'm right)!! Tell all the preggos out there to just be patient, there's not much else you can do. I know it's really hard to do that especially with all the anticipation and excitement!
I'll give another update after my appointment next week. I hope your wife is feeling better.
Take care!
Maryann"

Thanks Maryann....and Deb is doing fine. We bought hand splints last night at the drug store and wearing them makes her feel a little better. Last night she had trouble holding the steering wheel of her car. The doctor says carpel tunnel is common in pregnancy and it should go away after Deuce is born.

"We have here a baby. It is composed of a bald head and a pair of lungs."

Everyone have a great weekend!!!! See ya Monday!!

dad