Second Heartbeat

Baby Mine

April 13, 2006

Well, today I am really excited, I am 6 months pregnant and today is the day that Matt has set up for me to get my belly casted. I have been in the studio with the boys almost non stop and it is amazing. The work that they are coming up with is fantastic. Matt is still trying to convince them to do “Big Bear” but he is still trying.

I am convinced that he will get them to do it soon because they are all getting a little bit frustrated that nothing else seems to work. Baby Deathbat has definitely made his/her presence known in my belly, besides the kicking, my stomach is pretty big.

But, the kicking thing is alright too, just not when he/she decides to kick my bladder and use it as a kicking buddy. That is not fun at all because sometimes BD likes to do that when I am trying to sleep or when I am in the studio with the boys, trying to give my input on a song.

Matt and I have also gotten some more furniture for Baby Deathbat’s room, we have gotten a chest of drawers, a bookcase, a glide rocker, a “calm rocker” which is a little rocker just for the baby, and a blanket for him/her (we got one pink and one blue). Well, Matt and I had our appointment with James at 1:00 P.M. so we got up around 9 A.M.

We got dressed, Matt decided to wear his “Kick Ass Dad” shirt with some jeans while I decided to wear my “ Hands off the Belly!” shirt with jeans. Thankfully my wedding rings still fit, but just barely, I think by the time I have my baby shower next week, I might have to take it off.

We ate our breakfast, Matt made blueberry pancakes, and then played with the dogs for a little bit before heading out to go to Glowing Body Art. We got there pretty early but James was more than happy to talk with us for a while before our appointment. He assured us that I did not have to reveal my breasts, to which Matt said,

“Well, that’s a good thing because we don’t want our child or others for that matter looking at this and ask questions about why Mommy’s chest is on display.”

He also said that if we wanted, Matt could put his hand on my stomach and we could plaster that too.

I said,

“He already does that enough without the plaster so why not commemorate it for all time?”

So, I changed into a strapless bra and shorts while Matt got to take his shirt off and put on a pair of shorts. Once James told us he was ready and we told him that we were ready the process began. James put us into our “position” which was Matt and I sitting down on a stool with me in between Matt’s legs and his hands on my belly.

James, once satisfied with our position and sure we were still, put the alginate, the powdery substance that when mixed with water became very rubbery, over my stomach and Matt’s hands. He told us to try and be as perfectly still as the alginate can only be used once.

After that dried in about 7 minutes, James started to layer casting fabric to create a shell to hold the alginate in place. Once this was finished, James told us that it would take about 20-30 minutes for the whole thing to dry and he would be able to remove it.

During those long minutes, Matt and I talked to James about our baby,

“No, we don’t know the sex.”

“Because we want to be surprised when he or she is born.”

“Yes, we already have names picked out.”

“Ryleigh Gracen or Charles Boyce will be the name it is a girl or boy.”

And finally he asked when my due date was…

“I am due July 10th.”

Matt told me he was so close to finally convincing the rest of the band to record “Big Bear” that he hoped by my baby shower, he would be starting it.

Finally, when 25 minutes had gone by, James came over to take the cast off of us. He told us that it would be finished in about 3 weeks because of the custom piece we had desired.

We wanted James to paint the whole thing white with “Baby Deathbat” written across the top of my stomach with a Deathbat painted in the middle of Matt’s hands. We thanked him, paid him and then went back home to relax.

April 20, 2007

Today is the day of my baby shower and I am so excited. Matt said that he and the boys would come for about half an hour but only to give me their gifts (from the boys, not from Matt). Matt also told me some great news on Tuesday the 17th,

“I finally got the boys to agree to record ‘Big Bear’ Ash, I am so happy, my hard work finally paid off.”

I was so happy for him, but knew it would be a long process to figure out how to record it and what to do with it. I just hope they finish it before Baby Deathbat gets here.

I can no longer wear either of my wedding rings, my fingers have grown too tight for them but I know I cannot force myself to wear them when it hurts to have them on. Matt and I have started to go to Lamaze classes and have begun to make a birth plan for Baby Deathbat.

Since today is my baby shower and Matt and the boys have to go to the studio for most of the
day, we both got up at around 10 A.M. I got out of my “pregnant chick” shirt and pink flannel pj’s and Matt changed out of his red pajamas and we took a shower together. Don’t worry, nothing dirty happened. Before we got in Matt set up the stereo and played “Sweet Child O’ Mine”.

“Every time I hear this song,”

Matt said,

“I think of you and our wedding. I also think about Baby Deathbat and how cool it would be if BD were a girl and had your blue eyes.”

“Aw Matt, thank you, I just don’t know what to think about that. I mean sure, I think about what Baby Deathbat might look like all the time, but I never knew you did too.”

“Of course, I do baby, I wonder if he or she will have brown, green, hazel or blue eyes. If he or she will have my dark hair or your blonde hair and if it will be straight or curly, millions of things run through my mind every time I see your belly.”

We continued our shower just enjoying each other’s bodies (not in that way) and at one point, Matt even started to sing to BD and he or she kicked. It was incredible but unfortunately, we had to get out of the shower after about 15 minutes because we had to get ready.

I got dressed in my maternity shirt that said “if that’s my family I hear out there, I’m not coming out!”, a maternity belly ring and maternity jeans while Matt decided to wear his “FCUK” shirt with jeans.

My baby shower is being held at our church, Good Shepherd Presbyterian. Courtney is holding it for me and I am so excited because I have not seen her since she was home for Spring Break! Matt decided to drop me off and then go to the studio and promised to be at the church with the boys by 2:30, the shower starts at 1:30.

Matt dropped me off at the church and as I walked into the East Fireside Room and saw all of the decorations I could not help looking at everything, it was so beautiful. Courtney, Mama, Val, Heather, Alexa, Michelle, Gena, Lacey, Leana, Amanda (the nurse whom I have become almost best friends with), Nicole (a friend of mine from ballet) and Claire had decorated it in Winnie the Pooh decorations, just like the nursery.

Then I saw the food table, it looked amazing with little cheesecake bits and a cake with Winnie the Pooh characters on them and many other things. I looked at everyone and asked,

“Would it be ok if I went ahead and ate? Matt and I had a very light breakfast.”

Claire said,

“Sure, we were waiting on you to get here before we starting eating or playing games. Go ahead and give my grand-baby some food!”

I waddled to the food table and then picked out a little turtle cheesecake bite, a piece of the Pooh cake, some pineapple and strawberries and then one of the Subway© turkey sandwiches. Then I went to sit in the chair that said “mommy to be.” Once everyone else sat down I could feel all of them look at my stomach, obviously trying to read my shirt and finally I just got frustrated and put my food down and said,

“It says ‘if that is my family out there, then I am not coming out.”

Everyone laughed and then continued eating while we all discussed Baby Deathbat’s name,

“I think it is adorable that you are using Matt’s middle name as the first name if BD is a boy,”

Claire said.

“I like how you spelled Gracen for Ryleigh Gracen.”

Mama said.

Then they all wanted to know if they could do anything for me before we started playing any games. I told them they didn’t need to worry about it.

The games began and we started with a “guess about the baby” game. This game is where everyone (except me) guessed about Baby Deathbat’s birth-date, birth time, gender, length, weight and hair/eye colour. They made a chart and let me keep it so when Baby Deathbat was born, we could all get together to see which guess was the closest.

Then they brought out the string and played “guess how big Mommy’s tummy is” where they unraveled string enough to go around my belly without actually touching my belly until everyone had a piece.

Once everyone had a piece of string, each one of them came up to me to see if they had measured correctly by putting the piece around my belly to see if it matched perfectly. Most were pretty close but Claire won.

Then Claire decided it was time to open presents, but once I sat down, Matt, Jimmy, Brian, Johnny and Zacky came in and Jimmy and Brian carried two pretty big presents. Then Matt said,

“We all chipped in a bought these for you, baby, hope you like them.”

So, I opened the first box and inside were 2 smaller boxes labeled “Baby Deathbat” and “Ryleigh Gracen” then at the bottom were baby sized Vans. I decided to open the box labeled “Baby Deathbat” first because I didn’t want to look at the baby girl stuff just yet. Inside the “Baby Deathbat” were 4 shirts/onesies for Baby Deathbat.

They included a shirt that said “Megadeth” which wouldn’t fit until he or she was 4 but it was the thought that counted. Also there were onesies that said “Guns N Roses” “Metallica” and a long sleeve romper (or long sleeves and long pant legs all in one) that said “My Daddy Rocks!”.

Then I decided to open the box labeled “Ryleigh Gracen”. Inside there was a romper very similar to the one that was in the “Baby Deathbat” box, but the writing was pink instead of red. Also, there was a black dress that said “Badass” on it. Then there was a onesie with “I’m With the Band” written on it.

Finally I decided to look at the bottom of the big box and saw not only baby Vans and a Red Sox Nation bib, but also a dress that Matt said was from the band “Good Charlotte”, since they were good friends of A7X, that said, “Punk Rock Princess.”

Then Zacky came up to me and told me to close my eyes and I did then when he told me to open, I saw the cutest thing for Baby Deathbat’s nursery, a mobile with little guitars around it and it plays “Brahm’s Lullaby.”

Then they had to leave and I had to finish opening my presents.

skip to the end of the night

Well, my baby shower was a success and Baby Deathbat, as if we didn’t already know, is going to be so spoiled. He or she got so many gifts it’s not even funny. BD got 2 pacifiers, but each pacifier is for a boy or girl so we cannot use it for either. They say “Rock Star” and “Princess”. Then he or she got baby blankets, diapers, Ryleigh Gracen got a little dress and Boyce got a onesie that said “Sleep, Hugs and Rock and Roll.”

Ryleigh Gracen also got a little shirt that said “badass” on it and Boyce got a little sleeper outfit. Finally, I actually got 2 gifts, 2 shirts. One said, “I don’t want to. I don’t have to. You can’t make me. I AM THE MOM!” and the other had words right near my belly that said, “If you didn’t put this baby in here then don’t even think about touching my belly.”

Today was a great, albeit exhausting day and now I can just relax and go to bed with my husband, our dogs and of course our unborn child. Only three more months to go before we meet Baby Deathbat and I cannot wait!

♠ ♠ ♠

Sorry for the wait in chapters but I messaged someone about doing something for me and they never got back to me so I just decided to go ahead and update. If they do get back to me, I will use it in the next chapter (don't ask if you can do it because it is only between the two of us and they know who they are and what I mean ;)...) Anyway...hope you love the LONG chapter and I am not sure if I can update during Thanksgiving because I have a lot to do while I am home including 2 projects! AHH!!
So here are the links from the chapter!

Baby Deathbat's room
Belly Casting Day!
Belly Casting in LA
Baby Shower Day!!
Pooh Cake
Baby Pool
A7X Baby Gifts
Rock 'N Roll Mobile
Rest of Gifts