Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder

I am writing this in a rush, I couldn’t wait. I just got a notification on my mail that my camcorder was delivered today. I looked outside and there was freezing rain but the urge to see the camcorder was so big that I decided to go to mailbox anyway ..man it is cold outside. This is great timing, since Deepwali is tomorrow and we will be able to record the Laxmi Pooja proceedings now for our little bubble-dubble. After all he just missed it by few weeks his/her first deepawali.

We didn’t wanted our little monster getting mad on us asking why the heck we didn’t record his/her first smile or his first crawl or first whatever …just kidding..how can we not capture these moments. We’d been contemplating a camcorder for several months after a deep careful thought and several trips to local Best-Buy we decided to buy the Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder. I had no idea that selecting a camcorder is going to be so hard. This particular one doesn’t have all the features I wanted but it gave the biggest bang for the buck. This has 40 GB built-in 40 Gig hard drive, which should be good for about 9 hours of recording (More than enough). Vin’s preference was to get the smallest size possible and it is pretty slick. The optical zoom (42X) is best in the segment. The best feature is optical image stabilization which is such a blessing when we won’t have a tripod handy. I think this will be great for capturing our life moments while the little munchkin is growing up.

I just take a quick video of the Pooja place and played it on the TV and I have to say it looks great. Hopefully, I will be able to post some videos but don’t hold your breath until after the baby birth.

Doctor’s Appt (Week 36)

Another Friday is here and we were at clinic for our regular 36th week check up. I decided to write a separate post for this as I had so much to report and won’t want you guys to miss anything. It was nothing like any other appointment we had so far; Mom had a Non-Stress-Test (NST). I believe they will do this with every visit now. NST is essentially baby’s heart beat examination for a longer duration (of the order of 15-20 mins). Apparently, just as our heartbeat increases with exercise, the unborn pumpkin’s heart beats faster when he/she moves. The NST allows the doctor to look at the baby’s heartbeats as he/she kicks or scratches. With every move, the baby’s heart beat goes up and comes down slowly. This is normal and means that the baby is getting enough oxygen and nutrient from mom’s blood stream. I looked at this as that baby is now able to regular its heart’s functioning depend upon the amount of oxygen he/she needs (ONE BIG STEP FOR THE MANKIND!!!). The nurse attached the heartbeat and contraction monitoring instrument to mom’s belly and left. Thankfully she told us that it is perfectly normal if the heartbeat disappears for few moments, essentially the little monster moves so much that the monitoring instrument can’t find him/her and you get no reading. After 20 minutes or so the Dr Mc came in and looked at the results. He was happy with the results. In fact he was thrilled when he looked at the mom’s sugar results, they looked great except one which was at 120 (still below the limit 125). So after all the little pill which he prescribed last time was working great. The sugar results lead us to the discussion on the baby weight. Of course, he can’t tell the baby weight just by looking at it but he mentioned that the Asian women generally have smaller babies and with Mom’s sugar in this case might just nudge us to normal US percentile. However, since this is just a guess he suggested that we should go for an ultrasound on 3rd November which will give him a clear idea of where the baby is in terms of size. The follow up appointment of ultrasound is 7th November when we will find out on what’s our next step.

One final update from doctor’s office is about the Group-B test we had last week. The test results were normal, one more thing out of the way.

We both are so much looking forward to it, several times a day we will be like ..please come out already !!! I am at a stage where my nervousness is all gone, I think the thought of holding my baby overcomes everything.

Deepawali is next week; we are missing home a lot. We will definitely make a trip to temple and also to the grocery store in Cleveland to get the Laxmi Pooja Samgree.

Hospital Bag and Crib

Finally we decided to have our hospital bag packed, we realized that we didn’t have everything we need for first few days after the baby arrives and for moms hospital stay. We made some long trips to Burlington to buy everything we need. When we started to pack it felt like we are going for a month long trip. Seriously, I didn’t knew that we are going to need so much ..I always thought that all you need is a whole bunch of diapers and you are good to go .. Ugh!! We packed everything which Mom is going to need and almost everything what little kiddo is going to need. Few more thing for the baby (which we have in the house) but just need to make sure that we put them in the bag.

The biggest accomplishment this weekend was to put together the crib I had a great feelling while I was working on it. Mom helped me a lot. We had a lot of fun ..specially when I got stuck and mom figured out ..what is the next step. Finally when everything was assembled and we looked at it … it brought a flood of emotions. During the pregnancy, waiting moms have nothing real to hang onto. It’s the little things like painting a room and putting up a crib that they can hang onto. I could see Mom could no wait to hold the baby

Mom and I have also been nesting (ie, cleaning, washing)– The room is piled with a lot of stuff we bought and got from the baby shower. We started dividing them in two categories, one which we will need right away and one which we will need after the baby’s arrival to the home. We are holding on to the purchase which are color sensitive until after finishing out the gender. While I am at work Mom is washing got all the onesies and blankets to swaddle the baby at a moment’s notice. We are getting ready..it feels good …all we need is the little peanut. Well no hurry, though, just get here when you’re ready.

Week 36

Week 36 DONE!!!! I am feeling great. I can’t wait to hold my baby ..just four more to go !! We have been going to the doctor every week for a while now due to mom’s sugar issues but this is officially when doctors starts to check moms every week. We had a fun visit to Doctor last week, Last week we had Group B test, hopefully we will have the results when we go next. Group B test check for viral infection in the birth canal which can be harmful for the baby. Mom is not yet dilated but doctor said the baby seems to be in the head down position… This is wonderful !!! I am sure the baby want to see us as much as we want to see him/her !!

As the countdown continues most of the bones (soft skull aside) in the baby’s body is becoming harder thus provides a good solid structure/shape for their grand debut into the world. In the “NASA mission language” one can say “structure support is go” !! The physical fitness has improved significantly. The mom feel like there is no room left for the baby to grow and she is so tired of feeling so “big“. In the birth class they told that starting this week the mom may notice an increase in the amount of Braxton Hicks contractions. Braxton Hicks, in my opinion, is nothing but the natures way to get you ready for the big day. True labor eventually follow the Braxton Hicks contractions, however, the mom has not yet felt anything significant. While baby is packing on pounds the fine downy hair, lanugo, that has covered the baby’s skin is beginning to disappear, along with the vernix caseosa. Vernix caseosa is the thick, creamy substance that protects the baby’s skin while he/she has been submerged in amniotic fluid. Both of these are swallowed by your baby, along with additional amniotic fluid, which combine together to form meconium, or your baby’s first bowel movement..wow that is so disgusting !! The doctor mentioned that the baby is between 16 and 19 inches long and weighs 6 to 7 pounds. I feel like he/she is running out of room but I swear the little monster is still turning flips in there. I really hope he isn’t turning him/herself into some awkward position that guarantees a C-section. I mean, one might be guaranteed anyway, but work with us, kiddo! This is a wonderful experience ..mom can’t describe it but she tells me she would not exchange this for world !!

Interestingly, I read somewhere that at the end of this week the baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.). For some reason I do have a strong feeling that she will deliever by 39th week. We are going for the ultrasound in the 38th week to find out the size of the baby and if the doctor feels that the baby is big they will induce the labor as soon as possible.

The biggest problem mom is facing is not being able to sleep properly …she keeps telling me how she hates night !!. She often complain with terrible shoulder and back pain. She is also having some breathing issues…but the breathing techniques learned in the child birth classes are a blessing. And yes…swollen feet are still playing hide and seek.

Mom and I had a awesome weekend. We did spent a lot of time shopping around and carefully selecting what all we are going to need . We bought several small things for the baby, though we cannot buy too many cloths as we don’t know the gender. Mom got treated on Saturday evening at “Marconi and Grill”. She had her favorite Mushroom Ravioli. What made her day was when the waitress told that she didn’t even notice that mom was pregnant ..she got herself an extra 10% tip there. We made a resolution that until the baby comes out we got to eat out as much as we can and wach as many movies as we can. We are planning to see the “ body of lies” or “W”.

Here is a funny thing ..apparently the little pumpkin loves the music .. The beats makes her/him Monster wiggle as if he/she is dancing ..well this doesn’t surprise me given mom’s passion for dance.

Got the VISA

I am happy to report that my mom’s VISA got approved yesterday. According to her VISA officer was extremely polite and helpful. Other then a small “this photo won’t work” accident everything went fairly smoothly. Vi’s mom and Bro waited outside until she came out (3 hours). She is already back to jodhpur and should receive her VISA in few days. Finally all that hard work paid off.. ..We collected so many papers but the officer did not even asked for one document..amazing !!! Next thing would be to book the tickets but she need to get her vacations approved first.

Visa Interview

Today Mom left for new Delhi to appear for her Visa Interview. I gave her some last minute tips. Actually I didn’t even realized that she was suppose to leave today, I was giving her my teachings without realizing that everybody was waiting for her to get off the phone. Hopefully, she will get the VISA. I am not keeping very high hopes though, as everyone who has appeared for a visa knows, that the process is more or less random and luck is a big factor. We have prepared all the paperwork the best we can and she has spent a lot of time studying them. Lets see what happens !!

Baby Shower

Finally Vi’s big day is here ..the happy Saturday …Only one hiccup was that Pandit Ji decided to change the time from 4 PM to 1:30 PM so we had to give everybody invited a telephone call to make sure they make note of the new time…hey try going against stars !!! Wow..It was a busy day for me as it is imagine if I didn’t had any help (Thanks Guyz!!).

The day started with me making a trip to the airport to Pick Ni. It is going to be one hectic trip for her..she is leaving back to Chicago tomorrow. Raj and Kam arrived 15 minutes before we reached home. Prash picked up the flowers and cake while I was shopping around for DVDs for the video camera. Meanwhile Vi, Ni and Kam went to Mani’s house to get ready. I took a second shower and put my brand new “Kurta” on and went to the community hall with Raj. Raj started fixing up his video camera and took some test shot ..everything was going as planned. The food came right on time 1:20 PM, they arranged the food on the tables as promised ( by the way we all had arranged the room the previous night). Pandit Ji came at around 1:00 PM..as planned. As he started to prepare for the Pooja, people started to show up (Thanks to all who did not follow Indian Standard Time). Ni, Raj and Kam started preparing for the games ..and guess what they forgot one at their home ..no biggy ..everything still as planned…almost as planned. Vi and party got ready and came to the community hall (All the girls looked so pretty..money well spend J) around 1:45 PM. Expert camera guys (Thanks Guls, Prash, Arj) took few pictures and we sat down for the pooja ….

Overall, I enjoyed the pooja ..It was neither too long nor too short. The Pandit ji was funny, at one time he wanted me to sit like a Rajasthani King. I had no idea how you do that ..but he showed me and I kind of tried. It was hilarious when he called Raj sa “the movie-wala”. Once my part in the pooja was over he let me go and all the ladies did the “Godh-Bharai” for Vi. Interestingly one of ritual in the “Godh-Bharai” is where the brother-in-law slaps the “to-be-mom”. Prash, Guls and Arj did the honors. Once the Pooja was done we planned to serve food ..again everything as planned..

Are you guys thinking …wow excellent planning…hold your though right there ..As we started to uncover the food we realized that WE HAD NO SERVING SPOONS…we thought the catering guy is suppose to provide that but apparently not..Mani, Prash and I ran to homes to get whatever we could find…Minor detail…. Once the serving spoon crisis was over we invited everybody to start the lunch ..The food wasn’t the best but was not that bad too …above all I guess everybody enjoyed the company.

Once everybody done with the food we invited them for the game. Ni, Kam, Arj and Raj became the volunteers. The first came was where we were suppose to identify the flavor of the baby food. I guess I got all of them wrong and there were 7 of them !!! They all smelled same to me and I swear were pretty disgusting …I don’t know how you can give that to a baby. Kris was able to guess all of them right ..no doubt she just had a baby. Second game was where we were given a sealed packet with some baby stuff in it and we were suppose to guess what was in it…I still didn’t win (even though I cheated with Arj and he already has a 4 month old). Next game was Baby Bingo and you all know about that one .. Everybody had a great time….the funniest game was where everybody had to guess the right length of the toilet paper strip which would come closest to measuring Vi’s belly. My dear friends warned me to make sure that I significantly underestimate her belly ..which I of course did.. I think Penn won that.

Last item on the “planned” agenda was the Cake and it was the cutest cake I had seen so far. It was really sugary but I guess that’s how it is suppose to be

Everybody left at around 7. We were planning to open the gifts in the party but It was getting late and we decided to worry about that. Next two hours, we cleaned, cleaned and then some more cleaned ..I realized that time it is so nice to have help ..The guys did a great job …

All got together at home, had dinner and we knew Vi wanted to see the presents so we decide to open them. All the gift were really nice …what was even nicer were the thought people put it. We got a lot of stuff for the little one and that marks the beginning to a never ending shopping spree for the baby…

Everybody was exhausted but were very happy. I knew that the baby shower would be fun, but I never realize just how incredible of a day it would be. Again its all about the company and we had some really nice one.