Anecdotes of the Skipper: Phantoms

Ever since I learned that Skipper could hear things inside of the womb, I've been obsessed with playing all different types of music for her. No, I don't put headphones on my belly, but I do sing along to the radio or Pandora. And if Sam's home, he likes to turn music up fairly loud.

Since moving into the new house, Sam's project has been to re-rip our collection of CDs. Some of them haven't been ripped since the late nineties, and unfortunately it shows when you listen to the MP3s. A couple of nights ago, he got around to ripping the movie soundtrack of Phantom of the Opera. I expected that if any of the songs would grab Skipper's attention, it's the opening sequence, because A) it's loud and B) just seems like the sort of thing that would penetrate the womb.

Not so much as a tremor.

Ah well, I thought to myself, Sherri will have her work cut out for her.

A little later this song started playing, and Skipper started going absolutely NUTS.

I'm like, Really? This is the song that gets you going?

And then I remember that it's Gerard Butler singing it.

Sherri still has her work cut out for her.

Anecdotes of the Skipper: Rhythm and Blues

About a month or so ago I experienced my very first back spasm.

Allow me to state that I hope to never go through such a thing again--once is more than enough. At the time, however, we did not realize that that is all it was. It occurred at about eight o'clock at night, and after my whining and whimpering for about 45 minutes, we opted to go in to the hospital just to make absolutely damn sure nothing was wrong with Skipper.

First time parent panic: check!

Would I do the hospital trip all over again? You betcha.

We arrived, we explained that it was lower back pain combined with being about 21 weeks pregnant, and they immediately sent us to the labor ward. They got me into a hospital gown, put me into a hospital bed, and then proceeded to wrap some strange device around my abdomen to ascertain A) was I experiencing contractions and B) how Skipper was doing.

I told the nurse what side Skipper seems to favor (my right, for the record) and she quickly found the heartbeat. She then enlisted Sam to help hold the heart monitor in place while she contacted the overnight doctor. While we waited, Sam started talking encouragingly about how Skipper didn't seem distressed at all.

Chka-chka-chka-chka... probably the most reassuring sound in the world just then.

And that's when she discovered the heart monitor.

BAM! went the heart monitor as Skipper kicked where Sam was pressing it down. The noise was extremely loud--so much so it startled Skipper, as her heart-rate kicked up a few notches.

Silence.

Chka-chka-chka-chka-chka-chka-chka-BAM!

Silence.

Chka-chka-chka-BAM! Chka-chka-chka-BAM! Chka-chka-chka-BAM!

This went on for a good three minutes before Sam started laughing so hard the heart monitor slipped. He then repositioned it until he found Skipper's heartbeat again, but after that she didn't kick so consistently.

But it's true--my baby kept 4/4 time while in the womb.

(And yes, everything is still just fine. The official diagnosis was that I'd been over doing it. I'm being a lot lazier now, so stop worrying, Dad!)

Operation almost complete

Until tomorrow my friends, here's an awesome video:

Four things

I've got some stuff to get done today, so I can't focus too much attention on the blog at this moment. However, I have come across a handful a links I feel like sharing.

• For Literary Cat: A Dribble of Ink has a post up with a series of links for free downloads of short stories, novelettes, novellas, and one novel that are all up for the Hugo this year. If you're looking for something good to read on the cheap, feel free to go through these!

• For Something Catchy: Here's a rage comic that Sam and I came across last night. I have a feeling you'll be able to relate.

• For the history buffs: from the article, I have the impression this is only for the iPad and doesn't include the iPhone, but I wanted to point it out because it's pretty freaking awesome. Basically, someone's designed an app that is an interactive newspaper that takes you through the Civil War in real time. Meaning they started releasing articles on April 12, and each day they update with headlines from the actual war, photos, military maps, and other trivia/information that had to do with that day during the Civil War. It's $7.99, but would be an awesome learning tool.

• For my D&D buddies: This video is pretty cute, and made me giggle.

Seven kinds of awesome

I'm apparently having good luck coming up with fun videos today.

(No, the computer isn't here yet. Yes, I'll let you know when it happens. Trust me.)

As it is, please enjoy this fantastic music video of Scattered Trees' "Love and Leave."

(Found on Boing Boing)