Well, here we go..

After all the waiting, I think we are actually going to give this labor thing a shot.

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this to actually happen, but it seems like Dom is actually having some kind of consistent contractions. So it could be anytime in the next two days.

Honestly, I was going a little stir-crazy last week. All I wanted was to see this baby out of the belly for the first time. All I wanted to do was to hold her. But in the next morning I would get this weirdest feeling that I couldn't make it happen. I couldn't possibly be a good father.

Did I have any business being a Dad? Did I have any business being around a woman when she had a baby, much less my wife? Well... I had a little break down, then got it together and realized, if I couldn't do this, who would? I'm the Dad! No one else! This is my deal! Me and my wife!

Well, I have done nothing but pray this weekend and I am ready to take this on. Now with Dom having the contractions every hour, I just want to do what it is I am supposed to do. I'm excited, nervous, and scared all at the same time.

I just hope I don't pass out.

10 Days Away!

I wanted to do a few things:

1. Thank everyone for making the shower so great for Dominique and myself! It was so much fun to see everyone and Dominique and I were both overwhelmed with everyone's generosity!

2. Dom has not dropped or diallated or any of that good stuff, so we are still on hold, waiting for this baby to come out!

Dom's belly has really popped out and she looks amazing. Work has been good to the both of us and Grandma Lemieux and Aunt Brynn were able to make it out for the shower. Now we are just putting together furniture, trying to ride out the rain, and hope that we can close on the house that we purchased.

We were blessed that we were able to come to terms with our landlords to buy the house that we are currently living in the top floor of. It is a small move to the ground floor, but one that is needed with the growing family.

Pray for us with all the transitions as we enter this important time!

Peace!

Starting School

Well, Dom and I are both starting a new school year this week and we are very excited to get into the classroom and get to teaching.

Our little girl is kicking a ton and she won't stop. Sometimes she kicks right into Dominique's lungs which hurts, but the cool thing is that she is in the perfect position.

At our last sonogram, the doctor said that everything is looking perfect and that the baby is estimated at four pounds four ounces. That seemed a little big for 32 weeks since she is probably going to gain a half a pound a week for the next eight.

It is just kind of cool that we can say that the baby is going to be born NEXT month. That is GREAT!

Sometimes I just sit and wonder what it will be like to have a little girl running around. Then I get impatient for the day when we will have our little girl at home and it just makes me giggle.

With everything that is going on, I just get more and more excited. Even though I have to start waking up earlier for work (www.kellenberg.org) I just think of it as training for when the baby comes and I have to get up really early and get no sleep.

Hope everything is well with everyone, keep praying for us!

Transitions!

The last month has been filled with traveling and transitions. From the LIFE TEEN Training in Arizona to the Notre Dame Leadership Conference, to a vacation in Montauk for some much needed R+R to my latest trip. A training day in Corpus Christi, Texas. Leaving early Friday morning, I was back in time for Mass on Sunday evening at Maria Regina.

The weather has been close to unbearable for Dominique with temps in the 90s to 100s and a humidity level that makes it worse. Since Maria Regina is undergoing construction on the roof, we have been celebrating mass in the NON-climate controlled gymnasium which has been a feat in and of itself.

Dominique's belly is getting bigger every day and she looks wonderful. The little girl continues to be active and kick and move consistently inside her. She seems to be a little shy, though, because anytime you try to stare at the belly and catch her moving, she tries to stay as still as possible.

We start LaMaze this week, which is getting mixed reviews from those we tell about it. Some claim it to be the greatest thing in the world and others tell us that when the time comes, it all goes out the window. It's probably somewhere in the middle, but we are really looking forward to it. There is also a new parents class we are taking that talks about new stuff with having a baby, what to look for in health, care and the like.

On the housing front, we are continuing to look for a house in the Lindenhurst area with a rental in it. We have a couple of good leads and some good agents working for us, so we hope to figure something out soon since the financing is all ready and set to go.

Praying for everyone... continue to pray for us!

All right. Long before she typed this on the screen, I used basic biology to look between the legs from the bottom (just to the right of the exclaimation points) to see that I was going to have a little girl running around in about four months! 

Look at the hands! The close ups in this sonogram machine were incredible. 

I personally believe that she is singing here. 

She is holding both of her arms over her face in this shot. The bones in the arms appear bright white. 

FEET! She has two of them. 

This is the first of a few neat profile shots of the our little girl. 

FINGERS! The little black hole below them is Dominique's Aorta that brings blood to her lower body. 

I'm facinated by the following shots of the face. You can make out the nose in the center and the lips. The chin is clearly just like Dominique's as it is pretty defined below the lower lip. 

Well, I guess we know that she has a skull. 

In this image of the face you can see the open mouth and barely make out the eyes and the nose. 

Here is an image of the nose and mouth poking through the darkness. You can see the nostrils right below the "H" on "MOUTH" and the lips. 

This is a close up on the face with the left hand above the head. She was actually tapping her nose in this image. 

Profile image from the most recent sonogram. You can see the baby with the arm above the head and kicking up with one leg! 

Halfway Point

All right.

I know it has been about a month since I have posted everything, but there has been a lot that has been going on in our lives.

1. The 20th Anniversary of LIFE TEEN in California was a blast. We were only there for the weekend, but I had to do a number of talks and there was a lot of preparation that went into it. Then we went to David and Liz Lemieux's wedding which ruled.
2. Work has been crazy and I should be making a formal announcement in the next few days. I was hoping to post with more news, but details will follow.
3. We were hoping to find the sex of the baby soon, but it won't happen until July 1 so everyone will find out then and pictures will be posted!

Dom has been doing great. The stomach has been calm for about a month now and the only issue seems to be the headaches that won't go away. Our big step now is to try acupuncture. It doesn't have any drugs involved and has a pretty good success rate. There are fifteen million people with fifteen million opinions, but nothing seems to be helping.

Dom is carrying the baby really well except for the fact that she complains a lot because her body is changing so fast it is hard for the clothing to keep up. Of course, any time that anything gets tight she complains that she is carrying the baby in the wrong part of her body, but I think that she looks beautiful and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Last night we had a concert with the band at Maria Regina. It was a real blast and Dom felt some "cramping" during the concert. I think that the baby was dancing while mom sang! I tried listening on Dom's belly that night later but my five o'clock shadow itched and all I heard was gas.

Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers for the safty of Dom and the baby.

Week 16

Well, here we are in week 16 and Dom has been experiencing some pretty bad headaches. They faded a little over the last two days, but this morning they came back with a vengeance.

I'm saying "they" like they are little men that travel all over her head with pickaxes and try to burrow in.

Every week we wonder, is this going to be the week when the nasea stops? Is this going to be the week when the headaches let up? Is this going to be the week when the 1st trimester really ends?

It seems like every week we say that the first trimester is over, it isn't really over because some other person comes up to us and says... "nope you have another week to go!" They have been saying that since week 12.

I read something where they said the baby is the size and weight of a hot dog bun. Pretty cool!