And the winning sex is....!

A true VideoBlogger would have caught the information as the call came in, but, alas, I am just a hack. (And I was getting my faulty ipod replaced for the 3rd time.)
So, I just got done with a great callback for some show called "Big Day". It was really neat because I read for the director and it was Adam Arkin. I did everything I could NOT to tell him how great it was to listen to him, when I was younger, and he was the voice of Biggs Darklighter on the Star Wars Radio Broadcast. Geeky enough for ya?
Then it was off to the gym, good workout and guess who was there? Yes, Dr.McDreamy himself, Patrick Dempsey goes to my gym. No, I don't know him but we shared a moment a couple years ago when a really hot girl was working out and her shorts rode up in very revealing way. So, McDreamy and I had a nice "male bonding" time.
Then, at the Apple Store, while I was waiting, there was the slutty girl from Showgirls. Remember? The OTHER one who ended up doing the black choreographer dude?
So, celeb and semi-celeb sightings and then....Beth calls.
Just as I was about to take off.
And she has news.
The CVS testing went really well. Only really waiting on the CF sampling and that is the least likely thing to go wrong.
Oh, yeah. And we know what it is.
So, gang, click the video and find out if it's Zoe or Dashiell!



http://youtube.com/watch?v=BWjAahSDx_Q click that if the link doesn't work

Blood tests and boredom

I have just realized that a weekly blog about a 9 month long gestational process is a pain in the ass. Mainly because nothing much happens for a long time. Now, I should have remembered this because I've done this before but, there ya go, selective memory at work.
Beth just called. She had an appointment to have some blood drawn, I think it was to check for Spina Bifida and it since it was really no big deal she let me sleep in and left.
Of COURSE they forgot about her in the lobby and made her wait for over an hour. Of COURSE the nurse had no idea why she was there. Of COURSE said nurse as chewed out for making a pregnant mother wait for just a blood test. Of COURSE Beth was upset.
It seems I should have tagged along for nothing except to at least document the frustration that comes with even the best insurance plans.
With the mundanity that is human procreation I realized that, in keeping with my own determined agenda, I MUST blog something. So, here goes a little nothing.
I really really really want this house to be done for the baby. As many of you know our kitchen is a disaster zone. One of the reasons we bought the house was because it needed a new Kitchen and a new bathroom. Glenn, Beth's father came out last year and we cranked that water closet out in 4 days. But, the kitchen. I would like something that is commensurate with our lifestyle, reflects well on the home and creates ease and comfort. So, we are hiring the local Jefferson Park/bungalow expert contractor to do the job. We have met with him a couple of times, met his designer, love their ideas, hate the cost, and plan to demo the kitchen on November 1st.
But, yesterday, a new wrinkle.
Before Liz was hospitalized I submitted our back "yard" to an HGTV show called Urban Outsiders. They turn crappy inner city backyard spaces into something amazing.
We were picked to be on the short list and the host and his producer came out yesterday to measure and brainstorm.
If we get picked they will come out probably DURING the kitchen demo and tear up the backyard as well. At the same time, Beth's best friend from high school, his boyfriend and aNOTHER friend are coming to stay with us for a week.
Okay, what does this have to do with the baby? Well, nothing inasmuch as the kid will have no idea that this house was in disrepair before she arrived. But, plenty when you consider the baby's room.
With Liz gone, we are going to use that room for the baby. Which means we are going to have to paint it, remove all of her belongings, get rid of her bed and redesign. All before April 1st.
And we start this process after the holidays. It's too hard to dismantle now. The loss is still too fresh.

So here are some pictures of the baby's room "before". Obviously, it was Liz's room. And it might make some sad to see it, but we will find a fitting tribute to her for her sister or brother.





In 8 months it will be filled with diapers, toys, mobiles and the crying wails of a newborn.


It's really pink, no?

Genetics testing

This morning's test was, in a word, daunting. In another word, kind of boring. In a third word, exhausting.
We decided to have the CVS testing instead of the Amnio because we could do it earlier. It was especially hard when the interviewer starting asking questions about CF. Not that it is hard to talk about, just that when we looked at the common gene mutations and she indicated the two that Elizabeth had, it was really difficult to see her as statistical numbers. Reduced to that on one hand and being the informational catalyst for us on the other. Very difficult.
You know what was also hard? Realizing that Beth's family is fine and dandy, while my side, replete with CF, still born twins, Autism spectrum, possible schizophrenia and SIDS, is a mess. Maybe we shouldn't procreate at all. Now, admittedly, most of these ailments, diseases and the like are distant relatives, but still, kind of makes you wonder, you know?
Enjoy this short VideoBlog of our latest test as we continue to, unabashedly, document our life.

The (real) Dancing Kid

How exciting. How great to live in the future. Screw flying cars! We have VideoBlogs. Ladies and Gentlemen, we present, DaZoe! In the fluid. Dancing in the belly of my wife.

Quick update: We are changing the length of reported pregnancy. While Beth IS only 9 weeks, according to "the formula" she is 11 weeks. But, actually, that's better. Now we get to close out the trying and difficult first trimester. Whew!

If the complete video didn't load then go here

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3iAlqxZhdJY

Number 9...Number 9.....

What is it like to be pregnant with a LuluSpawn at 9 weeks? Apparently, not much different than being pregnant at 8.....except that Beth has a little more energy.
But!
STILL NO MORNING SICKNESS!!!
Of course, we aren't counting chickens quite yet, but, hey, thank god for small favors!

This is Sunday afternoon. E True Hollywood Story, "Rich Socialites", "The Hilton Sisters", "Lost - Recap"....Baked Lays and French Onion Dip. Good times.

Oh, yeah, Dr. Doom and Shenanigans are visiting while Kristen and Vinny are off jet setting in Tokyo. Ah, to be able to drop everything and go off to Japan.....yeah, that'll be easy when the alien arrives.

Now, for some reason Beth finds this comfortable. The only thing missing is Sparky, our resident anti-socialite. As I write this, Huck has finally left the brood, Doom is contemplating attacking Lulu and, instead, opts for smelling her ass. Shenanigans is still depressed, missing her mom (or lamenting the poor reception of the last Cure album) and Lulu is wondering how come she hasn't been put to sleep yet.

Third Trimester of the First Trimester.....

Month 2 comes to an end.
Pardon the crappy image but I HAD to grab a shot of Beth just as she stuck her fork in the "gargantuan" sized Fettucine Alfredo from C&O Trattoria. But, pictures do lie and what this one doesn't tell you is that the chicken on the side is for me (apparently fowl makes mommy feel foul still) and we split the portion because, well, seriously, I learned early on that Beth will NEVER finish a full meal on her own, so what's the point of ordering two? More tip for the waiter, I guess, but when service is good and a dinner out with the mother of my child is less than $40 in Los Angeles, then the waiter gets 30%. So, I grabbed this shot of Beth and her giant bowl-O-food. Even though it's really OUR giant bowl-O-food.
On the preggo front: avocado is the word of the day. Guac! And lot's of it. The parasite is craving Mexican. Great. Beth is doing a bang up job of walking every day and getting just the right amount of rest.
Bought Beth a book by a friend of ours, "Mommies who Drink" by Brett Paesel. I guessed that it was the perfect book for a "beer-a-day, ex-nightonthetownie" and I was right. Now, Brett apparently did more cocaine than we ever did, but the sentiment is there. An hysterical book. Apparently. I am waist deep in the new (mediocre) Chuck Klosterman.
I swear, it's going to get more interesting that this......it has to, right?

Sunday in the Park with Dash......or Zoe......

As week 7 comes to an end we take Huckleberry up to the recently opened dog park in Culver City. It's a hot Sunday and there aren't many other dogs but it's a good time to get out. We also just got our bikes back from the shop so Beth can tool around the neighborhood and I can get back to riding.
I made a delicious Chicken Mole the other day. I'm not sure if it was the cloves, the cinnamon, the cocoa, or a combination of all of it but just the smell of it made Beth want to gag. In fact, I had to brush my teeth immediately afterward since she could smell it on my breath from 4 feet away.
Exhaustion? Check. Melancholy? Check. Fatigue? Check. So far this pregnancy couldn't BE more normal.
All she seems to want to eat is macaroni, rice and tuna. Unless she wants something else but it's never what I have cooked. So, it's a crapshoot.
BUT! We have pretty much settled on names.
For a boy: Dashiell Zave Lulu. The Dashiell because we wanted something literary AND easily shortened. Dash is cool and Dashiell is...well...dashing. Zave is the name that Liz made up for her eye color, which were blueish and hazel-ish. (But there is a small chance that Algernon will be the middle name.....very small)
For a girl: Zoe Mina Lulu. Zoe is way popular, yes, we know. Not all that original, but, like Zave, it has a "Z" that represents Lizzie for me and it is a fun name. Zoe's are cute. Short. Sexy, spunky, fun, smart, etc. The middle name is the name that Liz wanted to name her daughter. Once again she thought she made it up. She was heartbroken to know that it had been featured in Bram Stoker's Dracula. It is also Persian for "daisy" and was extremely popular in the US in the late 1800's. So, it reps Liz, and is literary at the same time. As is Zoe, in a way. Salinger's Zooey is spelled differently but I don't know anyone who pronounces it that way.
So, there ya have it. The race is on. Dash or Zoe. Zave vs. Mina.
We'll know in about two weeks.