Ellie

I know you have all been waiting with great anticipation for the results of the baby pool, so here they are:
Aunt Wendy Ratkowski wins the baby pool! She picked 8/31 at 2:15 AM, 7lbs 1oz, and 20.5 inches long. She wasn't the closest in any category, but she was best overall. Congrats Wendy!
Wendy graciously donated her winnings back to the Eleanor Grace Dauernheim 529 fund, making a grand total of $225 for her college education. Thanks Aunt Wendy!
For more geeky analysis of the results, click for more...

You can download the full spreadsheet here to check how you did.
Second place went to Roger Ratkowski (hmm.... a conspiracy???). And third place went to my co-worker, Kevin Dalzell.
Consolations go to Christine McGowan, who came closest to the date and time (8/29 at 7:30am, only off by about 11 hours); Deb Bloom and Linda Fingerson, who nailed the length on the dot at 19.75 inches; and Roger, Kevin, Mom Dauernheim, Taryn Petryk, Tony Bower, and Amy Balog, who were all only one ounce off the correct weight of 7 pounds 3 ounces.
Thanks to everyone who participated. The money is going to a great cause.

Posted by Brian at 7:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Too tired to post this last night, so here you go. Baby Ellie's first hiccups!

Posted by Brian at 9:23 AM | Permalink

At 6:21pm on Friday, August 29, 2003, we welcomed into the world Eleanor Grace Dauernheim. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and measured 19.75 inches long. You can see more pictures from right after the birth here. Here's a preview:

Yes, the time on this post is correct, it's 2am. So, I'll post more tomorrow with all the details of how this came to be.

Posted by Brian at 1:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, today is the day that Lisa and I figured would be the day, since it is the only day this week we have plans. If the child is anything like its mother, Lisa will be in labor around 6pm, in the middle of my Fantasy Football Draft (Lisa really hates fantasy football).

As always, you will be the first to know!

Posted by Brian at 2:51 PM | Permalink

...for every time someone asked "Anything yet?", I'd be a rich man.

In other words, we're still waiting.

The good money is on Thursday, because that is the only day this week that we have anything going on.

Posted by Brian at 10:35 AM | Permalink

Today's horoscopes (I am Aries, Lisa is Taurus):

Aries: The moon in your fifth house of romance has you daydreaming.
Children could be foremost on your mind and are affecting your outlook.

Taurus: This mooring sees you in a melancholy mood. You may have to take
the initiative in sorting out a career hiccup. There's good news about a
pet project or children.

Could this be the day???

Posted by Brian at 10:33 AM | Permalink

And still no baby. At this point, I think our child will be the most stubborn ever born. I also think the child can hear the doctor saying "You won't make it through the weekend." And the child responds "Oh yeah? We'll see about that!"
One good thing to pass along though: Lisa made peach cobbler this weekend (my favorite), and the kid apparently loved it. Good stuff to know. :-)

Posted by Brian at 8:43 AM | Permalink

It's official. For the third week in a row, our doctor has predicted that Lisa will go into labor before the weekend is over. We've heard that story before, so we'll believe it when we see it. Stay tuned...

Posted by Brian at 4:23 PM | Permalink

In case it wasn't clear from my earlier entries, Lisa has NOT given birth yet. In spite of the doctors all predicting that she wouldn't make it through the past two weekends, let alone the past two full weeks, we are still awaiting the arrival of our bundle of joy. We go to the doctor again tomorrow, so we'll see what they say then. Lisa is getting a bit frustrated with her elephant sized feet, so any suggestions on how to encourage the baby to come join us are appreciated!

Posted by Brian at 9:16 AM | Permalink

Sorry, no update on whether the baby is coming soon or not. Lisa's feet are swelling and really starting to bug her. We have another doctor's appointment on Friday with the doctor that Lisa doesn't like very much, so Lisa really hopes she's in labor before then.
We've also finished the nursery! We went and bought a mattress last night (whoever bought it off the registry, let us know! We're too impatient to wait!). We also bought a rug over the weekend and finished painting. Last night I moved the La-Z-Boy into the nursery and moved all the furniture around in a giant game of Tetris, trying to make it all fit. I posted some pictures so everyone can see the final results. We're ready for you now kid!

Posted by Brian at 10:44 AM | Permalink

We had the latest doc's appointment today. 3-4 cm dilated for the past week or so. No contractions or anything yet, but the doctors are convinced that she won't make it through the weekend, let alone the week. But then, they thought the same thing last week. The baby pool entry deadline passed, sorry. :-) As long as it's not tomorrow (when the doctor Lisa doesn't like is on call), we're ready to go!
They were a little concerned that the placenta was Level 3 already, which is "older" than it should be, so they ran a no-stress test today. Baby passed with no problem, which meant that the heartrate increased when kicking (rather than decreasing). So no need for alarm.

Posted by Brian at 1:10 PM | Permalink

We painted two out of the three walls in the nursery this weekend. We're painting all the walls a different color, using a baby book for inspiration on the colors. It's looking pretty good already, but pictures will have to wait until we can get the last wall done and all the furniture back in place.
We also put the car seat in the car, getting ready for going to the hospital sometime soon. It's only 20 days till the due date!
Hopefully you all got your baby pool entries in. If not, we may give a little leeway on the deadline, but get them in today!

Posted by Brian at 8:40 AM | Permalink

Unfortunately, there aren't any new sonogram pictures to share like I promised last week. This baby just doesn't cooperate when it comes to taking pictures! The one image that Lisa did bring home literally shows nothing.
This week, we have our second child birth class. We'll also be finishing up the nursery, painting and decorating. Only a few short weeks till the due date, and who knows? Maybe the kid will come early.
Don't forget, your baby pool entry. They are due by Sunday. Email entries are accepted, as long as you get your money in too!

Posted by Brian at 8:47 PM | Permalink