Gothic Baby is Here!!!
Updated 9-14-08
See below for details!
Darkest Greetings!
From your gracious hosts!!!
Thedog and Baby Riel
Proud Member and a Forum Master of the
Coven of Midnight Dreary
I pay homage to
All Genre Travel
and my friends from the
2007 Gothic Cruise
for inducting me to the Rave.
Can't wait for the 2008 Gothic Cruise!!!
Who I Be:
I'm almost 6-foot tall, bald, and armed with bright, piercing blue eyes. I have, and will, continue to share my life with my lovely wife, Melanie.
We have been married since 1994, and together since 1991. You get to do the math for the years.
I am an industrial "rivethead" of old. I've been stomping to the greatest sounds of insdustrial, EBM, goth, and alternative since the very, very early 90's. (I listened to The Cure and Nine Inch Nails before it was cool to do so...).
My wife and I used to stomp and flail at some of the fine local Daytona clubs called 701 South and The Coliseum (may the rest in pieces...)
Some of my favorite artists:
- Front 242
- Front Line Assembly
- VNV Nation
- Bigod 20
- Assemblage 23
- Velvet Acid Christ
- The Cure
- Covenant
- and many, many, many more...
GOTHIC BABY WATCH!!!
Mel and Riel (say "Rail", short for Gabriel)
September 2008 (NEW!!!)
Gabriel and I are bonding and becoming best buddies. He loves and adores me...
June 2008
Gabriel is here!!! He was delived on 16 June 2008 at 6:05 pm. He measured in at 7 lbs 6 ozs and 20 inches long. Not bad for 35 weeks and 5 days of gestational age.
Mel is recovering as best she can. Here is a copy of his announcement:
May 2008
Week 29:
This has been a fairly eventful, uneventful month. Mel is now at 34 weeks and is officially in what I call the DANGER ZONE, which means that if there is any complication, the doctor will just deliver the baby.
Mel is now going to the doctors twice a week for exams and tests. Everything is looking good, blood pressure, blood sugars, baby heart rate, etc. So, the plan for now is to carry the kid as long as possible.
Now, let us review our to do list from Week 26:
Birthing Classes - Check!
Breatfeeding Classes - Check!
Crib - Check!
Changing Table - Check!
Car Seat - Check!
Pack Mel's "Labor Bag" - Started putting it together
Baby Shower - Scheduled for next Saturday...awfully close...
Tour Birthing Facilities - OH CRAP!!! We forgot! Now we are not scheduled until the 18th of June, which is only 2 weeks from the due date. We'll see if Mel and Riel last that long!
34 days to go...
April 2008
Week 29:
We went to the doctor's this Friday for Mel's bi-weekly check up and decided to try out one of those new-fangled 4-D sonograms for a few extra dollars.
This is one of the photos we got for the money. Worth every penny of it...
Doctor is please with the progress. Mel's BP appears to be elevating slightly, but not enough to warrent a medication change. The doctor said that she was going to plan for a delivery on week 35, so we need to start making our preparations. She will try to go the full term, but for now, this is the plan. WEEK 35!!! That's in 5 WEEKS! Needless to say, we are a little freaked out by this news.
Week 26: I'm sorry there has not been an update in a bit, but here it is. A week and a half ago, Mel got fired from her job. She did technically screw up, but if every person where I worked used "colorful language" got fired, there would be no one left at work... She took it REALLY hard, which is fine, because that shows that she cares, even if it is a shit job. Five days later, she went to the doc for a checkup, and her blood pressure dropped 20 points to 118/74. No work stress will do that for you!! Now Mel stays home, relaxes, reads, and spends time in the pool, now the the weather is ready for it!
Riel is moving and kicking several times a day, and at times, makes Mel very uncomfortable. But at least we know he is doing well!
Coming up in the next 88 days: Breatfeeding class (yay..), Birthing classes, buying and assembling baby funiture (getting a really cool set in BLACK), and rearranging the house some more.
March 2008
Week 23: Good news of all kinds. The amnio came back clean, so no worries in that area. Mel's blood pressure and blood sugars are doing well. She finally gained a pount this month instead of losing weight. Riel is moving quick a bit. He keeps kicking Mel in the kidneys and bladder, just what a pregnant women needs. Here is the latest picture of our demon:
February 2008
Week 20: Another fun flurry of doctor visits and activities.
The short version, Mel has to take a little insulin at night, blood pressure is holding nice and steady, "quad screen" blood test indicated possible issues (but not likely, since sonograms look good), no spina bifida, no Down's syndrome, but we've done an amnio to verify no issues (now we wait for 2 weeks for the results). Mel can feel Riel moving around a bit, which is quite cool. I have not felt him yet. Here is the latest pic of the kid (in a nice, reclining, race-car position):
January 2008
Week 15: Went to visit a specialist today who handles high risk pregnancies.
They started out the appointment is a detailed sonogram session that was concentrating on finding any signs of deformities, Downs Syndrome, or chromosomal anomalies. The good news, the baby is developing normally and no sign of any issues. While checking out the kid, the tech asked us if we were going to find out the sex of the kid? We said, "Yes."
She said...
IT IS A BOY
Mel is soooo happy! She wanted a boy, I wanted a girl. She wins. That is fine. She deserves this since she is doing all the hard work the make the kid. So, dudes and chicks, let me introduce you to
our little boy,
Gabriel Brody.
Week 13: Scary day today. Two hours before the doctor appointment, Mel calls my cell in hysterics. She has blood appearing and is afraid of a miscarriage. We call the doctor and I rush home to get her calmed down and carted to the doctor's office. Right off the bat, they immediately perform a sonogram to ensure all is well. Within seconds, the tech tells us that there is still a baby, it is moving around, and has a heartbeat within a healthy range.
Yeah!!!! What a relief. We actually got to see the Runt wiggling around. The doc checked Mel out, said things were looking fine, but was worried about Mel's elevated blood pressure.
For now, things are looking good, if not much better.
December 2007
Second and thrid doctor vists. All is looking good. They tried to listen to the baby's heartbeat with the external mic. No dice. They said it is normal to not hear much at this time. We are still on week 11 at this point. Maybe during our January appointment.
November 2007
First doctor vist and a sonogram to ensure we have a viable pregnancy. We do!
October 2007
Our negotiations have been completed, and we are now waiting to be parents. If all goes well, we should be welcoming our little bundle of demon-goth-industrial spawn into this realm sometime during the last week of June 2008.
If it is a boy, he shall be known as:
Gabriel
If it is a girl, she shall be known as:
Jennifer
The Rest of our Children
Our long-haired Dachshund, Olaf
Our kitty, Eureka (Monster).
In memory of our beloved Beverly (Bev-Bev)
February 1992 - 30 September 2008
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