More Baby Photos!

We went to the doctor today and got three new images:

1. Back with ear and shoulder.




2. Face ... oooh, ghostie.



Actually, Baby Thiel behaved per usual and faced toward my spine during the vast majority of the screening. This was a brief face image caught on camera. Generally, Baby Thiel hid its face - either by looking away or by expertly waiving its hands and obscuring the image. Gosh Darn It!

3. Shoulder, arm, hand and ear ... 3D, fun!



[Revision]

All in all our visit went well - Baby Thiel weighs in at approximately 2 lbs 2 oz now and both the baby's and my growth are 'on target.' We think they got all relevant measurements this time, but won't know until our doc gets the official ultrasound report later this week.

- H

97 Days

The little ticker at the bottom of this blog told me today that we have 97 days left in our pregnancy. I have two reactions to moving into the two-digit day count ...

For. Sure. This. Is. Awesome. Wonderful. Baby Thiel will be here in just over three months. Woo Hoo!

But.

Now. For. Sure. This. Totally. Freaks. Me. Out. Baby Thiel will be here in just over three months. Goodness Freakin' Gracious.

Just needed to type that out loud. ;)

Just a snipet ...

Things are going well.

Our baby room is coming together. Our home is coming together. Despite crossing many things off (and knowing that what needs to get done will indeed get done), our to do list can be daunting,(some days more than others!) but it will work out.

We are excited to watch my expanding waistline, but my feelings are not so certain about the increasing numbers on the scale. Watching the numbers go up has never been a good thing and reconciling that change while in a 'heightened emotional state' feels like walking a tightrope. (However, I did try on swimsuits last weekend - never my favorite activity - and while it was NOT fun and we did not actually purchase a swimsuit, I survived and walked out of the store laughing rather than crying.)

On the extremely urgent scale, I finally selected yarn to make a blanket for the baby. It is colorful and happy and I am excited to work with it - as soon as I pick up needles in the right size!

- H

Easter Sunday

Miss Zoe sitting pretty:




All dressed up for Easter:



Happy Easter All!

- H

Its a jungle out there ...

Several people have asked us about nursery themes ...

For awhile, I wanted a rocker covered in large graphic giraffe print. (Have I seen such an animal, er rocker? No, but I have a good - and unfortunately specific - imagination.) Also, Kyle loves monkeys - and I recently brought home a very cute stuffed monkey (that incidentally, Zoe thinks is her new best friend).

Putting these facts together, a few people have asked if we are having a jungle themed nursery. The first time it was asked I was caught off guard and went home to discuss the issue with Kyle. Now, acknowledging our apparent affinity for jungle-type animals, I am much less surprised when someone asks.

Our nursery theme is 'bright and happy' - Kyle actually prefers describing the nursery as without theme. With our art projects and the brightly colored citrusy fabrics, we think bright and happy is sufficient. (It allows us creativity within a pretty good spectrum.)

And, as for the rocker, I think we're going with bright turquoise blue or granny smith apple-ish green ... the giraffe print in my head is hard to find in reality and our citrusy fabrics don't really lend themselves to being paired with a big honkin' giraffe chair.

- H

Beginning at the End

This is our Z.

Slow slow quick quick slow ...

Spring comes fast and slow here to St. Louis (and I'm sure elsewhere too). We are eager for Spring to be here and stay. The daffodils have long since shone their faces and tulips are starting to join in the fun. But we got snow last weekend (though it melted within 24 hours) and have more in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow (it is APRIL for GOODNESS SAKES!!!).

One of the fun things for me about spring is taking the time to clean house, rearrange furniture and trade 'fall/winter' for 'spring/summer' clothes. Most of my clothes have already been 'traded' for maternity fare which wasn't nearly as much fun as digging into a box filled with spring clothes in light fabrics and bright colors. But we are definitely in full swing spring cleaning mode.

The roof, the door, and the garage are all things crossed off of our to do list, but our work preparing the house for Baby and generally maintaining the house for us continues. Kyle is almost finished repairing some of the sheetrock damaged by water on the second floor or by my overloading a shelf on the first. Having those two items taken care of and the paint repaired will be a wonderful development.

We've also played furniture fruit basket turnover this weekend. Some friends took the bed on the third floor, we moved the guest bed up to the third floor, and we picked up the crib and assembled it. (Yay!) Various other pieces were moved around, and I am adjusting quite nicely to the end results.



(This image is of the crib assembled to bassinet stage. We first assembled it to bassinet, then took it apart and built the crib stage, and then took that apart and built the bassinet. I know, we're a bit crazy.)

There are slower parts of spring for us too. We're still lingering over a new front door. (Hello, mail slots let cold air out and cold air in ... why would you think your home might be energy efficient with a big hole in the front door!) And work on the yard is still in limbo - last time we addressed that topic we waivered between an ostrich approach and a full-on wrecking ball to address that purple deck monstrosity out back. Also, things are slow because we are slow. After full work days and many work weekends, we just are not good at coming home and breaking out the paint brushes - but some day our projects will wrap up and the house will be as lovely in reality as it is in our dreams!!

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speechless

the other night i felt the baby kick - wow!

K

Ain't Misbehavin' 2 - Electric Boogaloo

So Heather, the baby, and myself went back to the doctor for our reprise of the 18 week sonogram.  And wouldn't you know it, Baby Thiel was once again in no mood to be photographed.  The technician spent at least 45 minutes pushing and poking Heather's stomach in order to get all of the necessary measurements. Heather had to roll from her back to one side then to the other so that we could get all of the required images.  Eventually, reinforcements had to be called in to get that last crucial heart image.  A second technician was called in to try her hand at poking my wife in the belly with the ultrasound wand.   But all seemed to be well, the baby weighs (according to the magic ultrasound device) 1 pound and 2 ounces. And it seems to be on pace at this point in it's development.   However, when all the dust had settled and the doctor had the opportunity to review the results, there are a few more images that she would like to see.  So there will be an upcoming third try for our little growing bundle to pose for the camera.  Stay tuned.

K

With a squeeze of ... orange?

Arguably, Baby Thiel's birth will be the beginning of a brand new adventure, but making decisions about baby supplies and baby room decor is an adventure in itself ... what a roller coaster!

We are starting to make furniture decisions. First, we found that locating furniture 1) in our price range, 2) suiting our style and 3) appearing to be made of wood but surpassing the strength of cardboard is a particular challenge with respect to furniture sold for use by infants and children. Arg. But - we finally decided on a new bassinet/crib/bed combo (which according to my Mom, "looks like a bed an architect's baby would sleep in").

Also, we plan to repurpose some of the furniture that already lives in our house. So .... we will be doing some painting in the near future - we're leaving the walls in the baby room pale yellow but plan to paint two bookshelves and a dresser bright white for the baby's room. We are still working on a rocker - hopefully, Kyle's Dad, Russ, will be able to convert one of our chairs into a rocker ... he's mulling that over now.

What did Kyle's Mom, Rae, and I do this past weekend while the guys labored away? Why, we shopped, of course! We investigated the crib, finding a very helpful sales lady who owns the same style crib we selected (and whose mother-in-law also made bedding, etc. for her nursery). Then we drove around the mulberry bush to find several fabric stores. Rae was a trooper in the face of my resolute stance against 'baby fabrics' and pastels. We found several good options and ended up with these great happy fabrics that don't scream baby but are still very youthful.



Another very exciting thing about this fabric is that it coordinates with this piece Kyle and I picked up last fall at the Marimekko store in New York. It was intended for use as a hanging in our room, but we both think it will make a great addition to Baby Thiel's decor!



- H

Preparation

We're implementing subtle changes to our home which will make it more friendly for us and the baby.

Last Wednesday, roofers fixed the infiltration point where the pitch roof meets the flat roof. We hope that this change will mend the pesky drip that develops in the future baby room and on the second floor landing during hard rainstorms.

Also, Kyle's parents were in town this weekend, and the guys made great headway on more projects. On Saturday they installed a new garage door opener; now we can press a magic button and the garage opens, without one of us manually lifting the door! Sunday afternoon, the guys installed a new storm door on the third floor. This may sound mundane, but it is very, very exciting for us.

Our house project list may never end (ah, the joys of owning a home), but it is fun to see a few things crossed off!

-H

Half-way There!

This week we have completed 20 weeks of our pregnancy which means, given the sages contemplate only (only!) 40 weeks of pregnancy, that we are half-way through this pregnancy. Woo Hoo!

- H

Glamour Shots

it's official, our baby is on the internets. these are the first photos of our little one.



sonogram #1 - december 2, 2008

as we have said before we have been told (by medical professionals) that the first image is indeed of the baby, and, if you squint, i think you can start to make out something baby-esque. perhaps that is just wishful thinking on this father's part.



sonogram #2 - january 13, 2009

now we are looking a lot more baby-like. i think he has my belly!



sonogram #3 - february 2, 2009

this is our latest trip to the magic baby see'n machine (see also heather's post - Ain't Misbehavin'). our little one was not as cooperative as she was supposed to be during this visit so we are scheduled for another in a few weeks. this appointment was to be the one where lots of measurements were to be taken, however the baby was not informed of her obligation to pose for the camera she remained facing heather's spine for the entire 45 minute session. we got a few good looks at her back, heart, and brain, but little else. (she was turning away just as this image was shot, so its a bit blurry.)

K

Don't Poke the Baby!

We are near the time when Baby Thiel's movements should start to be recognizable to me.

So, I periodically concentrate on the new feelings in my belly to try and discern whether it is baby movement or other new pregnancy feelings. Last week I confessed to Kyle that sometimes when I feel something that *might* be the baby, I mush on my belly to see if the feeling will replicate. In my head, duplication of a feeling will confirm whether it is or is not a baby movement.

Clearly, Kyle said ... "Don't poke the baby! In 9 months, it will not be socially acceptable to poke the baby, and we should not do it now." How can you argue with that, really?

However, Saturday evening we had guests over, and I took 10 minutes mid-afternoon to pause before our prep began. I felt a little internal kick that I just knew was Baby Thiel making himself or herself known, so I mushed on my belly to see if the feeling would replicate itself - and it DID!

When I told Kyle, he shook his head, and turned away - trying to conceal what I KNOW was a grin.

- H