Snow Days! - 34, 35, 36 weeks

We are finally defrosted! We got a LOT of snow up here! School was delayed on Tuesday and cancelled for the next 3 days, which made for almost a week at home.

1/15/2012

35 weeks

Baby's 1st Snow Day!

We had fun, but I was happy when the sidewalks finally cleared and I could walk without worrying about falling every time I went outside! We couldn't go sledding like Kenley, but we did scope out some great sledding hills for next time! We kept ourselves busy with mountains of baby laundry, puzzles with mom, made 36 burritos for the freezer and 10 jars of jam with mom, and got lots of other things checked off our list. Including sleep. :)

Things are looking babyish around here! This is a bassinet borrowed from a friend...doesn't it look cute with a snowy background?

We finally ordered bins for the changing table and they are just perfect! I've also re-organized the drawers at least 3 times... Everything is washed and ready!
We moved in the rocker that Dad spruced up for us! He turned a $25 antique store find into just what we needed! Perfect for reading books with baby.

Jason braved the snow to go to TWO Targets to get a stroller we wanted, which we got mostly with gift cards from my students...thank you families! I also had a great shopping date with Mom, Nan, and Kenley. We visited an adorable children's shop in Edmonds, scored a few great items at our local consignment shop, and had a great lunch!

This week we had our 36 week midwife appointment (and we go every week from here on out). She confirmed that baby is still head down (good girl!) and went over our birth plan with us. The midwife checked me and said I am already 80% effaced, 1-2 cm dilated, and she has dropped to -2! She said, "well, you COULD still go to your due date." Yikes! That has definitely gotten us to get our booties in gear. I'm organizing things for my sub at school like crazy, we installed the carseat, and are collecting stuff for the hospital bag! She did say that when labor happens, it will probably be fast. I don't mind if she stays in a little longer. She is comfy, I'm happy, and I'd love to get through the next 3 weeks of school. We'll see what happens!

More December Fun! 30 + 31 Weeks

We have been keeping this baby busy over the past couple of weeks! Both of us wrapped up school on Friday, and Jason turned in his last projects and papers for the quarter. Phew! All three of us are ready for the time off! We went to the midwife yesterday, and everything with baby is right on track (she said we are doing a great job! yay!). We met Shana for our 31 week appointment, the last midwife we hadn't met, and she was great. She said the midwives have been able to attend 2/3 of their births, and the moms who have delivered with OBs have been very happy with their experience. That made us feel much better about our decision to stay at Evergreen. Phew! So far, so good. She also reassured us about some birth plan-type things (all routine tasks are delayed with baby for the first hour of her life so that we can bond with her! We knew we picked Evergreen for a reason!). She also said baby is head down, and was able to help us poke some body parts. No wonder I've been feeling her a lot on my right side, because that is where her feet are! There is still room for her to move around, but we're hopeful that she is cooperative and stays in the chute ready for take off for the next 2 months. She has been especially active for the last week or so. Pretty soon she will be too big to move around (she's probably about 3.3 pounds right now!). We're at the point now where we start going to the midwives every 3 weeks...that means we are getting close!

Here are some things we've been up to:

Aunt Becky came for a visit! We took her to check out the Bellevue Botanical Garden lights and Snowflake Lane at Bellevue Square. Jack is the perfect age (5) for this stuff, and it's super fun for us to see how excited he gets! We had to find every single animal at BBG!

Last Saturday we went to Greenlake for the annual Luminary Walk. We were happy that it wasn't pouring like last year! All 2.8 miles of the path are lined with candles, musicians, and people decked out in light-up holiday attire.

Then Jason and I headed to his cohort's Ugly Christmas Sweater party. We were kinda deficient in the ugly Christmas sweaters, so we had to make do. Yes, my belly shakes like a bowl full of jelly.

On Sunday we headed to the T's for a pre-holiday get together. They just got back from Kauai, luckeeeee. Mark made a delicious lunch, and then we all headed to the theater to see Arthur Christmas, which was super cute!

Maggie and I...she's off to high school next year, yikes!

30 Weeks

Our new carseat! Thanks, T's! We immediately had to try out every single feature and read the manual cover to cover. Luckily they have a few babies around their house. :) We love the "cowmooflage" pattern!

This weekend, Mom, Rachel, Kenley and I zipped to Orinda for a quick visit. We were very thankful to go down and see everyone, especially Grandma who was recently home from a visit to the hospital. We were sure anxious to give her some love! Kenley is becoming an experienced flyer. She loves to go on the airplane (mostly because she knows it means ipad and snacks!!). We mostly relaxed around the house with Grandma, ran errands, and did Christmas preparations. KK was a big help in decorating the tree, and was very interested in Grandma's ornaments! She also liked to sing her 3 Christmas carols that she has memorized (loudly), and move all the gifts around the house!

We also made time for a family tradition that is now 3-generations old...riding the Carousel at Tilden Park! Rachel and I remember riding when we were little, and especially eating pink popcorn with Mom. At Christmas, they have a special display of lights and trees, so we headed up to check it out. Kenley loved the carousel and got to go for 2 rides! Another surprise: Mom learned that a best friend from high school is now the manager of the carousel, and we found her! We spent some time catching up, and are excited to now be reconnected.

It's a.....

GIRL!!

We had our big 20 week ultrasound yesterday! Mom flew in from DC just in time so that she and Rachel could be there for the big event. It was really amazing to see our teeny little baby swimming around in there! The tech said my placenta is in a good position (phew, I was worried about good placental attachment), and that the baby looks good! We checked out all her body parts and major organs. We saw her little heart fluttering and measured her brain, kidneys, etc. The tech said she seems to be normal sized, about 11 ounces. She even said her head looks normal sized! Phew! She also seems to be on track for the due date we hate previously calculated for February. We got to switch over to 3D for a little, which made her look even more like a real baby. The tech also made us a DVD of part of the procedure! Screening party, anyone?? :)

Isn't she the cutest??

Tiny baby feet!

We got lots and lots of pictures!! Bebe is super excited for another baby girl!!

Mom and Rachel both brought boy/girl gifts. Finally, we can buy the pink stuff!

We went straight to our favorite Indian restaurant for dinner to celebrate with Papa.

Time to start working on names for this baby girl! Here is the list my first graders came up with...I think Sparkle is definitely the front runner right now!

Here's a video Rachel compiled of the whole event!

17 Weeks!

Rachel - 17 weeks with Kenley, March 2009
Michal - 17 weeks with Baby F, Sept. 2011

Baby is 17 weeks, and we survived the first week of school! I was pleasantly surprised at how much energy I had each day, and am looking forward to a full 5-day week with my kiddos! So far my class seems pretty dreamy...just what I needed this year! I hope it continues! Jason had a great week too. His school was even featured on the news! You can catch a glimpse of his head in this clip. :)

We had a quick midwife visit last week. We checked in on baby's heartbeat, and got test results that Baby has less than 1/5000 chance of having any genetic issues. The baby is about the size of a 4 inch turnip, and is supposed to gain weight like crazy over the next few weeks. Next midwife visit is the big ultrasound, and we can't wait! Hopefully Baby won't be feeling shy. We're hoping to check off some baby stuff over the next couple weeks, too; find a pediatrician, apply for district childcare for Fall 2012, and other kinda important items. :)

Big birthday weekend! + 15 weeks

We celebrated 2 birthdays this weekend...Jason turned 33, and Kenley turned 2! To celebrate Jason, on Saturday we opened some great gifts (thanks, fam!) and headed out for mini-golf!
Here we are golfing at Interbay, where the heated rivalry between Michael and mom continued, Jason snuck in 2 holes-in-one to beat all of us, and Nan and Ron admitted they played a lot of mini-golf when they were dating.
Then we all piled in the car, shoved in some delicious cupcakes and Cupcake champagne, and headed to the waterfront to catch the Argosy boat to Tillicum Village! We've been having great weather, and it was a stunning day for a boat ride across Elliott Bay to Blake Island for dinner.

We were greeted by mugs of clams and baking salmon.

Nan and Jason checking out the salmon baking over an alder fire.
We make a pretty cute totem pole, don't you think?

Photo evidence of visiting PVA members!

Today we threw Kenley's big 2 party!! I'm sure Rachel will post more pictures soon at Kenley's Blog. :)

We celebrated another landmark recently...Baby's 1st trimester is complete! We did an all low-impact kickboxing this week (gotta keep the midwife happy!). Baby and I worked full-time last week, and lead 10 sessions of professional development for my fellow Bellevue teachers! Everyone is getting all geared up for the first day of school on September 6th! Jason has an official placement...he is going to be a 2nd Grade teacher this year! He had his first work day at his new school on Friday, where he unpacked tons of books and met lots of his fellow teachers. "September Experience" starts now, and then he will continue to spend a few days a week at the school leading up to his full-time student teaching in the spring. Very exciting! Our next baby appointment is on Friday, and we are looking forward to "checking in."

We hear a heartbeat! - 12 weeks

On Friday, we had our second midwife appointment. We heard Baby's fast, strong little heartbeat! All our tests were clear, and everybody looks healthy, which was great news! We met a new midwife, who we liked just as much as the first. We feel like we are definitely on the same page as these women. Though she did say I may have to cut back on my kickboxing addiction...luckily pregnancy is temporary! According to my books, the baby is about 2 inches long, about the size of a lime. The baby is starting to look like a baby, move around, and develop reflexes like opening and and closing fingers.

We've been busy over the last 3 weeks. We got to work spreading the word about baby, and have had fun revealing our news to family and close friends. Jason announced the baby to his entire cohort at school! I've been feeling better and have more energy, which is nice. I feel like I can actually get stuff done without having to take a nap! Just in time for things to start ramping up at school. One highlight was last weekend at the Oregon Coast with the Friesen family. Here's a picture from the top of Neahkahnie Mountain, where we hiked with Nan and Ron. We lucked out with beautiful weather and an awesome view!

7/29/11 - 11 Weeks

We Get to See Our Baby! - 9 weeks

Baby F. - 7/15/2011 - 9 weeks

On Friday, we had the big appointment that we had been waiting for! We went to meet our midwives, and got actual confirmation that we truly are pregnant! The nurse did joke with us that "yeah, our stick is SOOO different from your stick." Haha! We were thrilled when the midwife ran to grab the ultrasound machine, and we actually got to see Baby! She's pretty sure there is only one baby in there (phew!), and we saw the little heart fluttering away. Reality is setting in...we are going to have a baby!! Our midwife said I have a "roomy pelvis" (sweet!!), and also feels confident that if my identical twin had a smooth pregnancy and delivery, then I will, too.

We've decided to deliver with the midwife group at the Center for Women's Health at Evergreen. The group is separate from the hospital, but their offices are in the hospital, and the deliver at Evergreen Hospital, of which we have heard nothing but great things! We will meet with a different midwife during each visit, and then the midwife on call when we go into labor is the one who will deliver Baby! We felt really comfortable with the nurses and midwife that we met. The midwives tend to lean towards natural and holistic medicine (just like us), and avoid medical interventions as much as possible. The hospital itself has been designated as a "Baby Friendly" hospital based on their success with breastfeeding, and has an award winning NICU, should we need it. Also, it's location in Totem Lake puts it smack in the middle between home and work. We think this is the spot for us!

We got to go on a hospital tour a few weeks ago. We had to wait until 9 weeks to see the midwife, but a hospital tour we could sign up for right away! Ron, Nan, and Rachel came with us on a quick 20-minute tour...this hospital better get used to our entourage! We got to figure out which parking garage to park in, which doors to go in, and how to find the Family Maternity Center. We got to see a labor and delivery room, and Ron and Nan have already picked out their comfy chairs in the waiting room. Rachel and I grilled the tour guide with all our questions about all the options, nurses, doctors, prep classes, etc. Luckily we have done this once before!

6/24/2011 - 6 weeks

Please ignore the fact that I already look pregnant...that's just the shirt. Or maybe our Greek dinner. Either way, can't blame it on a baby bump yet!

We have a couple more appointments this summer, but the next BIG one will be the 20 week ultra-sound on September 28th!! We are planning to find out if we are expecting a boy or a girl!