Alright, now we are going to put you to work. 😉

Victoria knows quite a few mothers/grandmothers and we are hoping that collectively you can provide us with advice on baby products. So, feel free to post a comment on this blog entry or send us an email.

Everyone will have different thoughts and suggestions, but we are looking for what has worked well (or didn’t work well) for you. If you purchased something and felt it was truly necessary and helpful for you and/or the baby, please post us a note. If it just didn’t work or you didn’t make use of it, let us know. As I mentioned in the previous posting “Overwhelming…”, we really didn’t have a clue on what to buy. We are better prepared now and have updated both of our Baby Registries, but still could use some help.

Here are a few things we can use some advice on:

• furniture (cribs, bassinets, changing tables, dressers, etc…)
• pack-n-plays, baby swings, bouncies, etc…
• strollers (jogging and regular)
• baby monitors
• high-chairs

If we don’t start to see comments from you experienced moms, we will start to call you out one by one on this website. 😉

THANKS!

Daddy and Mommy had a busy weekend with me.  They took me to a store with all these things for me, BUT didn’t buy me a single thing.  Come on, they should be spoiling me.

Then we went to the driving range last night and hit golf balls.  A lot of twisting and turning from Mommy and from what I could tell, she was hitting the ball about as good as my Uncle Danny does.  Actually, I think she was putting better than Uncle Danny.  😉

This morning, Daddy worked on the car and Mommy and I helped.  Mommy was pumping the brakes on the car so Daddy could bleed the brakes.  Boy, that was a lot of work for Mommy — she had to stop and get something to drink and eat.  Now, we are taking a nap together.

So, I had a busy weekend.  I guess Daddy is trying to start me early on golf and car repairs.

Talk to you all later, I’ve got to get back to my nap.

Baby Woodruff

Alright, I have figured out how to work my video phone and also how to add the videos to the website.  Take a look at the video on the right (of Victoria at Babies-R-Us) and let me know if you can view it.

Send me email if you are having a problem and I’ll see if I can help you out.

We had another doctor appointment on Thursday. Everything is going just fine. Victoria and the baby checked out fine. We actually got to see a doctor this time. Well, he was only there for about 2 minutes. Long enough to squirt some gel on Victoria stomach and then to use the heartbeat monitor. We heard the heartbeat again — pretty cool!

He was a young guy and didn’t wear the typical doctor garb (white jacket, etc…) He had khaki’s and a shirt that was not tucked in.  We laughed about it after he left because he looked like he walked in off the street.

Alright I had my first “overwhelming experience”. Victoria and I went to register at Babies-r-Us today. I’ve been reading the books on what is happening with the pregnancy, but we have not read anything on what items we will need once the baby is born. So, we were NOT prepared to go and pick things out for our baby registry. And we went mid-day on a Saturday — it was packed and everyone was signing up for their baby registry. (Jaime warned me not to go on Saturday because it would be crazy in there.)

We went aisle by aisle. First starting in the breast feeding and bottle area. I can’t believe all the options you have and all the “gadgets” that are needed. I mean come on — you’re just putting milk in a bottle. It is not rocket science. Well, they have special brushes to clean the bottles (and like 10 different kinds of brushes). Which one is the best one??!?!?!?! Then different kind of nipples for the bottles (I lost count). Then there are the bottle sanitizers — microwave, plugin, etc… Too many choices and we aren’t out of the first aisle yet.

I quickly realized I am a rookie. I have figured out where moms go for entertainment. I am sure there are a bunch of women that sit in the back of Babies-r-Us watching the live video stream of those rookie fathers attempting to be helpful. They probably place bets on when the father is gonna freak out and head for the couch. Well, I didn’t cave in and I stuck through it.

Victoria and I walked around like two chickens with their heads cut off. Victoria went to Jaime’s baby shower and has spent some time with her friend Trish (she has a 10 month old), so she had an idea on a few things. But all in all, we were lost and overwhelmed. 1.5 hours later, we called it a day. We will need to make some modifications, but we can do that at home through their website.

I had to decompress after that experience, so Victoria and I went up to the golf course and hit golf balls this evening.

Victoria’s cousin, Sandy, was in town this weekend and saw her for the first time since we found out she was expecting.  She was surprised at how much Victoria was showing already.

It has been funny watching Victoria over the past couple of weeks.  My cousin, uncle, and 2nd cousin visited last weekend and Victoria was showing off her stomach then.  She loves for everyone to touch her growing stomach and doesn’t mind showing her bare belly in public.  I think it is pretty cool that she feels this way.

Now to the “official diagnosis”.  Sandy made the comment that she feels we are going to have a boy because of how Victoria is carrying.  That’s good enough for me.  Time to sign that golf contract, baseball contract, etc…

Now don’t get me wrong, I am just having fun with this.  Prior to the pregnancy, I always said two boys is what I want but after we found out Victoria was pregnant, my tune changed.  I am just looking forward to having and raising a child — no matter what sex.

But for now, I hold Sandy’s comment as an “official diagnosis” on the baby’s sex.  I mean come on, she is as qualified as anyone (she has a boy and girl).  Now only if we can get Sandy and Phil to train us how to be great parents — they have done such a wonderful job with their kids!

Victoria went shopping with her Mom and Catherine last week and pick out a few things for Baby Woodruff.  Here are the first “noise makers” and a couple of cute outfits.  Take a look at what the outfits have printed on the front.   (As always, click on the thumbnails to see a larger view.)

Back by popular demand…more belly pics.

These were taken today and as you can see, she is showing quite a bit.

Some are suggesting there are twins and one of them has been hiding during the ultrasounds.

Here are a few more pictures of Victoria taken on June 9th.

Victoria and I went to have some additional screening done today. Part of this screening process included an ultrasound and a couple of extra treats for us!

Baby Woodruff was cooperating today! We got excellent shots from the ultrasound. They are at the bottom of this posting.

One of the extras we weren’t expecting was to hear the heartbeat. The ultrasound device they have at this office was much more sophisticated and it was able to do infrared as well as pick up a heartbeat. The doctor flipped the switch and caught Victoria and I off guard. We heard the fluttering heartbeat — it was beating away at 156 beats per minute. That was AMAZING!

As I was writing down the stats on our future Olympian (156 bpm), the doctor then switched on the 3-D view on the ultrasound. Victoria said, “Look, Donnie!” I looked up and I was amazed. I actually started to tear up a little bit — what a proud moment for the both of us. I am still getting chills typing about it right now. I am going to be a “basket case” when it is time for the birth! Oh, well — that is what this experience is all about. Be sure to check out the print out of the 3-D view below. It doesn’t look quite as amazing as it did in person, but you can definitely make out the facial features and 1 or 2 arms.

The baby was quite active and was jumping around. Imagine lying on your back and bouncing up and down. That’s what he/she did a couple of times during the ultrasound. At one point, it moved its arm as though it was waving at us. Pretty cool!

What an amazing day for us!!!!!!!

Well here are the pictures (click on them to see full size):

3D Ultrasound here –>