I admit it. I am one of those people with a hyper-sensitivity to physical stimuli (a.k.a. weenie). Even after enough anesthesia and laughing gas to sedate a horse, I still feel the drilling sometimes when I have my teeth fixed. And when I had my LASIK done, they had to give me a double dose of knock-em-out pills. I don’t know if I’m just hyper-attuned to my body or what, but my mom says that when she would put me in the crib as a baby, I wouldn’t go to sleep right away, but would sit there for awhile just feeling the texture of the sheets with my fingers.

Well whatever you want to call it, when it comes to the baby, my sensitivity has actually come in pretty handy. For example, I could tell before I was even four weeks along that I was pregnant. It was, like, the first time it could’ve potentially happened so I didn’t think it was possible, but I just knew something had changed. And then when I developed placenta previa shortly into my second trimester, I could tell right away that something was wrong. Although I missed out on some birthday festivities and had to push back a job change due to bed rest, it was still a lucky catch that we found the complication when we did. (By the way, it has since cleared up and now everything is peachy keen, knock on wood.)

So I think that’s why I’ve been able to feel little Wilkimer or Wilkimena (as Marilyn, my mother-in-law, calls it) kicking since around 17 weeks. [Note: The picture above is NOT a picture of my belly.  It's just a cool picture I found on the internet.]  Usually a first-time mom can’t feel the little flutters until at least 20 weeks. Of course it could be that our baby is just an especially large and active little champ. It has been measuring big all along. Brad’s been able to feel the kicks since around 21 or 22 weeks, and we’ve been able to see the little rump or whatever sticking out since about 25 weeks. That’s all pretty early.

I have no idea what it’s up to in there, but it seems to be making itself quite busy. At our last doctor’s visit, our OB couldn’t keep a heartbeat with the Doppler because the baby kept wiggling around so much. She finally gave up and said, “Your baby is all over the place.” Even though it’s quite industrious, it has been pretty gentle on me so far. Aside from one time, the kicks haven’t been brutal. I can’t wait until I can tell which end is up. Right now, it’s a mystery whether the little taps we feel are punching, kicking, or underwater basket weaving. Or maybe it’s like me, and it has been busy decorating its habitat for the holidays.

We get our final sono tomorrow. Maybe that will shed some light on what’s going on in there. I just hope that by the time I have to deliver, I can lose a little touch with what is going on physically. That would be totally okay w/me. My big fear is getting the epidural too soon and having an extremely long labor where I can feel that part at the end – you know, the one where you think you’re dying. Yeah, I’d be just fine to skip that part. Here’s hoping!

Well here it is, my first post on our new blog. Believe it or not I have actually tried blogging before. Possibly even before “blog” was added to the Websters, and everyone including my mom knew what it was. (Mom, you do know what blogging is, right?) Primarily due to my disdain and ineptitude for all things ritual, our last attempt lasted all of two weeks. And I never could get the pictures to work. But since this fad has been around for a few years now and ain’t nexy no mo (read: “is no longer the next, sexy thing” for those of you needing a translation) thanks to MySpace or whatever those hip young whipper-snappers are doing these days, I figure it’s about time for me to get back on the bandwagon. No offense to my fellow bloggers, by the way. As you can see, I’m right here with you. But in all honesty, I don’t think blogging still qualifies as nexy.

Anyhoo, my motivation is simple. I’m all about efficiency and organization, so being pregnant, I figure this might save me the shelf space and manual effort of a detailed baby diary. Assuming I keep it current (despite the aforementioned ineptitude/disdain for routine), the fam and anyone else feeling obliged to feign interest can get their baby fix in real time, and probably with the added bonus of less repetition or “you had to be there’s.”

So, what on earth should I write? If you’re waiting for any sort of wit or wisdom to pour forth, you have a long wait ahead. I can only promise to try to keep you abreast of current happenings in the Birchfield Barnyard within what I consider to be a reasonable timeframe. Please note: we must all recognize that this is a subjective standard, and since I’m the one writing the blog, I guess we’ll go with my interpretation of “reasonable timeframe.” Actual results may vary.

So, welcome. Enjoy. Peace and glad tidings. Or whatever normal people say in closing.

Welcome to our new website!  We finally got with the times and changed our site to be mainly a blog. In addition to the change in the looks of the site, you may also notice it running much faster. In the past, we were hosting our site on an old computer in our house over our DSL connection.  But last week, Verizon came and hooked us up with their FiOS service (fiber optic to the home).  This made our internet connection blazing fast, but Verizon conveniently blocks you from running a webserver out of your home.  So we had to bite the bullet and start paying for someone else to host our website. It’s now being hosted on a much faster computer with a bigger pipe to the internet.  So we hope you like the changes and the increased performance of our site. Be sure to check out our photo gallery while you’re here.