FSU Child Development Center

I don't know what I expected.  I guess I imagined rows and rows of screaming infants, all wanting to be held, stinking like poo, red faced and ignored behind grey bars in a cavernous hall painted white.  Where do I get these images?  I have seen one too many documentaries about the orphanages in the former Soviet Union and Romania.

Last week we put "Geneva the fetus" (I'll add this to the nickname list - the S is silent) on the wait list to get in to the child development center at FSU.  We are having a baby and I still want to complete my degree and one day get a J.O.B. that pays actual money - well, money that I'm worth.  Luckily we have the option of an extraordinarily cheap and pretty excellent childcare facility.  We just have to get in...

Jason, my mom, and I made an appointment to meet with Jennifer, a 14 year employee of the FSU child development center, in the early afternoon on a Monday for our guided tour.  I asked my mom to come with us because she has seen lots and lots of these types of facilities - both good and bad.  I wanted to make sure we were looking at the right things, sweeping our white glove over the right surfaces if you will.

The childcare facility is located in the middle of Alumni Village.  It's an old, externally run down apartment complex just off campus restricted to FSU students.  From what I hear the residence hall is geared toward students with families.  It looks a little sketchy but I think it's just an old facility.  There are sidewalks and lawns and it's college.

Jennifer began the tour by explaining the security door and the sign in policy.  Jason and I will have a punch code and can come and go as we please.  When we arrive in the morning we sign Geneva in and then hand the caregiver our baby.  Then, apparently I cry.  I think I almost cried standing there considering delivering Geneva to someone else to care for while I work.  Jennifer made some noises about how babies adjust quickly and that it's no big deal and how all her kids went here...I think I heard some stuff she was saying.

This was all before we went to the infant room.  The infant room is a short covered walk up a little hill next to a Japanese pear tree.  There is a patio out front with a giant umbrella mounted on a swing arm.  On beautiful afternoons they bring the babies outside to coo in the sun.  When we entered everything was quiet.  One caregiver was feeding a baby in her lap and there was another child lying quietly on the floor.  We were asked to remove our shoes to look around because the infants crawl all over the rugs.  There are three rooms in the little building: a kitchen, a play room, and a quiet room for sleeping.  Each infant has a little cubby box and hook, a crib, and bed linens.  There are no TVs and Enya was playing softly on the speakers piped throughout.  The sleeping room had eight little wooden cribs lined up neatly.  There was a large glass window so the caregivers could see the sleeping infants but otherwise the room was kept quiet and dark.  The kitchen was big and bright and had two refrigerators in it.  I can come nurse any time I want and can store up to 6 months worth of milk in the infant kitchen.

The ceiling, walls, corners, nooks, toys, heck - the entire facility was clean.  There wasn't a speck of dog hair anywhere, which is more than I can say for my house.  There were very few toys on the floor (easier to clean I assume), the room smelled nice and fresh.  The lights were low and all the caretakers were calm, happy, and seemed to enjoy their jobs judging by how long each had been employed there.  They seemed genuinely delighted to meet us and willing to answer all of our questions.  We left feeling confident in our decision and hopeful that we will get in.

So, while I write in my office on campus, less than a mile away, Geneva will take long stroller rides around Alumni Village with 3 of her closest mates, read stories, sing songs, have tummy time, lounge under the umbrella, sip gourmet milk, and take long cozy naps.

I don't think I'll cry...much.

It's a GIRL!!

We're 90% sure it's a girl.  Two weeks ago we went for a test called the "first screen".  This test is a single tailed hypothesis test that determines whether we are in the 95% of women who are at low risk for delivering a fetus with chromosomal abnormalities, specifically down's syndrome and trisomes 13 and 18.  The test is offered to all women and we could have opted out.  We opted to have the information.  The best news is that we are in the low risk 95%.

As part of the test we were given a second ultrasound.  This is a picture of the baby looking right at us.  You can see the cavities in the skull that hold the eyes, the shape of the head, the large abdomen, a little hand and of course the belly button.

This second picture is of the phallus.  Look where the arrow is pointing.  All fetuses start with a phallus that will eventually form either the penis or the vagina.  If the phallus is in line with the body pointing down toward the foot then the fetus is a girl.  If the phallus is running perpendicular to the body pointing toward the hand then the fetus is a boy.  Our phallus points toward the foot and is therefore most likely a girl.  The doctor will confirm the sex when we return for a second screening in about 3 weeks.  However, the doctor was pretty experienced and seemed VERY sure of his theory.  Yes, we have begun buying fun girl things.

In all, the ultrasound technician gave us 6 photos.  I will only put 3 on the blog for now.  The blurry grey photographs can be redundant and require a shadow reading degree to understand.  

This last photo is pretty cool.  The baby is facing away from us and is curled into a fetal position.  Notice that you can clearly see the spine.  It's the dark line running the length of the body from the gigantic head all the way down to the little butt.  Look how strait it is!  I'm so proud.  

So, if you are still with me, I have a couple more pieces of information.  The first is that the baby is actually a week older than originally thought.  They took some measurements and at the time these pictures were taken.  She is either an abnormally large fetus or she was 14 weeks instead of 13 weeks.  The doctor suspects the latter.  The second item you should know is that we have chosen the name: GENEVA PEPPER STAMM.  If for some reason you are unhappy with the name - tell someone other than Jason or myself.  Write your displeasure on a piece of paper and throw it away.  I say that with all sincerity, love and good humor.  Doing so is in the best interest of a happy family.  We love her name and are very excited to know who she becomes.

Finally, we happily accept all enjoyable and funny nicknames you can concoct.  Jason and I, our family, and our friends offer this hopefully growing list, in the spirit of falling in love with a name and ultimately a child.

Gena (Dad)

GeePers (Mom)

GenaPer (Also Mom)

GiGi (so what? I'm good at this)

GenaStammbina (Grandpa)

Gena in the bottle (Meemaw)

GPeppa (Aunt Dori)

GiniP (Aunt Em)

GPS (Cousin Lex)

G-Clef (Also Lex)

G-Unit (nickname prowess runs in the family!)

Gena Ballerina (My fav contribution from Alexis - even if she isn't a dancer we have at least 13 Halloweens to use this nickname.)

Can you think of more?