Ian's Little Face

So far, I have had 5 ultrasounds during this pregnancy.  The first at 9 weeks, just to estimate a due date.  The second one at 12 weeks coupled with a blood test to estimate the risk of having a baby with a chromosome abnormality.  Ian was cooperative for both of the early ultrasounds.

At 20 weeks, we had an anatomy scan and found out his gender.  His legs and gender were pretty much the only thing that we were able to see that day because he was so curled up with his hands/arms over his face and head.  We went back 4 weeks later to get a look at his head and heart.  He was still very low and curled, though we did get good pictures of his heart. 

Today, at almost 33 weeks, we finally got good measurements of his head and the first look at his sweet little face (and really big lips). 

 

The ultrasound tech said that he is about 4.2 pounds right now and estimated that he would be between 7.5 to 8 pounds at birth.  She also said that he looks strong and is taking lots of practice breaths.  We were able to see his heart beating and his diaphram moving as he practiced.  The whole thing is so amazing.

We have been doing little hikes on the weekend.  I think Ian will need a little hiking journal.  I hope he cooperates and allows us to continue hiking with him after he is born.

Here we are on Great Pond Mountain at almost 32 weeks.

And at the Mount Waldo Quarry at almost 33 weeks.

Snowstorms with Names?

Apparently, they are now naming snowstorms.  I don't ever remember any snowstorms having names and we have had some pretty big storms in the past.  The weather people have not offered up any explanations as to why this storm has a name.

Anyway, Nemo hit Newburgh last night and carried on through much of today, dumping a TON of snow.  So far, this winter has been kind of a drag as we have had more rain than snow.  Last winter we really didn't have any snow, so we were super excited about the forecast.  I was very skeptical that we would actually get the amounts that they were forecasting.  As you can see, the weathermen were right this time!

 

 



Moose is loving all the snow!

The goats, chickens and ducks are not so sure about it.

Greg has a love/hate relationship with the snow.  He complains that we don't get any snow and says we should move somewhere that gets more snow, then he complains when he has to deal with the snow when we get it.  It doesn't help that the belt wouldn't stay on the snowblower.

 

 

I love the snow!  I shoveled all of the pathways so that we could get in and out of the house and the animals could get to their water.  It was so light and fluffy!  Still, I thought it would be best to call it quits.  I wouldn't mind if Ian comes a little early, but he can wait for a while.  Here is a picture of me at 26 weeks (last Sunday....we didn't have any snow!)

 

 

 



Decided on a Name

We have decided on a name for our little man.

He will have two middle names after Greg's father and my father.  We debated using just the two family names, but decided that we wanted him to have his own name as well as the names of our fathers.

We can't wait to meet you Ian William Roy Kolvoord!

Vintage Nursery

It has been busy around our house as usual. Greg has been doing some bookwork for a company for some extra money and I am trying to get my supervised hours in so that I can sit for my BCBA exam and eventually be a consultant.

In our spare time, we have been working on getting the nursery ready for our little man.  Luckily, it has been REALLY cold, so we are not overly motivated to do anything outside.  The nursery has been a bit of a project since we are moving and replacing a door.  That is Greg's part of the work.

I have been crafting quite a bit.  My goal was to create a mostly gender neutral nursery that has a vintage sort of feel.  Nothing too commercialized.  I hope to use the same nursery for two kiddos fairly close together.  I would hate to have to buy anything twice.

I started with this fabric.

Made this quilt.  I will make another in the same fabric, but with triangles for the second baby if we have one.

I made a crib skirt in matching flannel because I couldn't find one in a neutral color that was not all ruffley.  No picture of the crib skirt yet, but here is a picture of Moose helping me make the quilt.

Then I made an ABC banner that will circle the entire room.  The idea was stolen from my sister's blog, lifeafterstaff.blogspot.com. 

I am now working on a farm animal mobile.  I made some felted animals and a friend felted some balls that will go on the strings.  I am looking for a top for the mobile.  Here are my silly farm animals.

Lastly, I need to repaint the room and get some black and white farm animal pictures to go in my frames.  I have some that I have taken myself and a few that I am ordering.  They will each have a nursery rhyme under them.  More pictures to follow when the room is finished!

Uncooperative

I might have the most uncooperative child already.  I am hoping that changes before he arrives.  Either that, or we know he takes after me personality wise.  Yipee!

We went for our follow up ultrasound today to get better measurements of his head and his heart.  The tech was able to get great pictures of his heart and said that everything looks good.  But, this little boy is still upside down and crammed in the back and bottom of my uterus making it difficult to measure his head and nearly impossible to get a look at his face.

 

See, backwards and curled up.  Anytime she got any view of his face, his right hand was across it.  Greg said maybe he is like his dad and doesn't want to have his picture taken.

 Here are his long legs again.

 

So curled up!

 

 

He is pretty crammed in there.  I think he will be happy to get out when May rolls around.

 

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I am so bad about updating this blog, but since I am down and out with the flu and therefore at home by myself and bored out of my mind, it seemed like a good time to post an update.

This is my fourth day of being sick and I am actually feeling quite a lot better.  I no longer have a fever, but I can't be at work until I have been fever free for a full 24 hours.  So, tomorrow it is.

Our biggest news came right after Christmas.  We had a major snowstorm on the 27th, but braved the weather for my 20 week ultrasound.  It is pretty amazing to see our little one looking so much like a human now. 

 

Those legs are definitely not my legs.  They have to be Greg's long legs.

It is a good thing that we wanted to know the gender because that was the one thing that was easy to see.  We will be welcoming a little boy into our home in May!  We couldn't be more excited.

It was fun breaking the news to my family at our Christmas celebration!

The ultrasound technician could not get a good look at his head or his heart because of his positioning, so we will actually be going back this afternoon for a recheck, assuming my fever stays away.

The Real Reason I Didn't do a Fall Triathlon

I have been waiting for a while to share some exciting news. 

We will be adding to our family in May!

I found out in August, just days before the Pumpkinman and Maniac Triathlons.  I was hoping to do the Maniac Tri this year, but because it is my first pregnancy and I was so early in it, I decided it would be best to skip it this year.  I have been keeping up with workouts for the most part, still running, biking and swimming, just not all on the same day.  In fact, Moose and I ran in a 5K this morning.

I have been incredibly lucky and have not really been sick at all.  I have been a little tired and once in a while feel generally kind of blah, but overall, it has been smooth sailing.  I am really hoping that it continues this way. 

Here are some pictures of the little alien baby.  If you are not into these kind of pictures (I'm not), I apologize.  They are mostly for family and so that Ella can see a picture of her cousin.

Here is a 2D frontal picture.  I think it is cool that you can see 2 arms/hands and 2 legs/feet when the baby only measures 5cm.