Thursday, October 28, 2010

Rockabye Baby and Braxton Hicks

One of our goals in raising our son is that ... basically... we want him to rock out and be a cool baby, and then a cool little guy, and then a cool teen. And maybe even a cool adult later on. What better way to start him off early than nursery music that rocks? I mean REALLY rocks?

We first heard about this from our good friends Lux and Karis when they gave us an early baby gift several months ago of a CD called "Rockabye Baby". Basically it is a CD of Metallica cover songs recorded to sound like nursery music.


It's pretty hilarious... and very peaceful. We think our little guy will love it! We also loved it, and when we looked into it further we discovered there are many other CDs sold covering other bands, like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, The Beatles, Bob Marley, Queen, Nirvana and Greenday, to name a few. I am particularly thrilled about the Led Zeppelin one and plan to buy the CD (orrrrrr download the songs for free) before our baby gets here.

Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCKVwjYdl70&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLyWDzU0ucs&feature=related


In other (mostly baby) news, I have been having a TON of Braxton Hicks contractions lately. According to Wikipedia, this is what Braxton Hicks are:

"Braxton Hicks contractions are a tightening of the uterine muscles for one to two minutes and are thought to be an aid to the body in its preparation for birth. Not all expectant mothers have these contractions. They are not thought to be part of the process of effacement of the cervix."

Basically BH contractions are "practice contractions" and apparently nothing at all like the intensity of real labour pains. Mine don't feel like just a tightening of the muscles, my whole belly feels achey and even crampy when they happen, and they tend to last longer than several minutes. It feels strange to have them as often as I do - and as of last week I've been getting them on and off all day for quite a chunk of time each time I feel one. If they don't have too much of a purpose that is okay with me because at least I know ahead of time where I will be feeling real labour contractions when they start in earnest. It is a little unnerving though! It reminds me there isn't much time now before __________ gets here. :)

Speaking of "not much time now", I was recently doing some grocery shopping in Zehr's, and as I was walking down one of the aisles a lady pushing a grocery cart stopped me. "Wow, not long now, eh?", she called out as I tried to scoot past. "Yep, not long now," I replied, hoping to make a quick getaway (I don't love chatting with strangers about how large I am). Not to be deterred, the lady loudly remarked to my rapidly receding back, "How overdue are you?" !!!!!!!!

Not knowing how to respond, feeling slightly embarrassed that I STILL HAVE MORE THAN A MONTH TO GO, I muttered "... yep... not long now..." and speedily walked away from the lady and around the corner to the next aisle, my face burning in shame.

OH STRANGERS! When will you learn that just because I am visibly pregnant it does not give you license to comment on my size or even the fact that I am pregnant? I don't know you.

I don't mind friendly chats with random strangers if the comments are benign and positive enough to be considered polite. I don't, however, wish to discuss how much weight I've gained, how big my baby is likely to be based on my size or whether or not I'm planning to breast-feed. I don't chat with strangers too often in normal circumstances... why would I start now just because I'm knocked up? ;)

2 comments:

LUX 4:48 PM  

Wooo! Rock on little Allen baby! He's going to be a rock star, I can see it... :D

mandiemoon 6:51 PM  

Oh man, I'm starting to get the odd comments from strangers too...Thankfully, I haven't gotten too many belly rubs from people I don't know. I figure, if they rub me, I'll reach out and rub their stomach right back! :)
I have many of the Rockabye Baby cds, and I love them! I especially love the NIN and Smashing Pumpkins ones. They are pretty awesome!
I haven't started the old Braxton Hicks contractions yet, well, not that I am aware of, so let's hope they aren't too bad when they come around!