Hospital Pictures

Pictures of the newest Kranz....I know I'm biased, being mom and all, but she is absolutely beautiful, and the spitting image of her proud Papa.

Mom, Dad, and baby Natalie

Minutes after birth, trying to figure out the light and sounds

Meeting Grandma Powell for the first time

Natalie and Aunt Beth

Newborn smile

Three Generations

Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Jessica with Nattie

Worn out from a hard day

Attempt at video upload.....if it works, it's pretty cute.  

Welcome, Natalie!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

At the Kranz household, I woke up at about 1:00 in the morning, feeling just awful.  I had been feeling pretty lousy since Christmas Eve, to be truthful, and put everyone on notice that I felt like labor was pretty imminent.  But after several days of feeling like something was happening, and not, I was none-too-hopeful on this occasion either.  So, back to bed I went.

Around 3:30, I woke up to my first contraction.  Again, trying to be calm and not read too much into it, I went back to bed, but continued to feel terrible.  Contractions were 15 minutes apart and lasting about 40-45 seconds  immediately.  I stayed in bed, trying to get some sleep.  Around 5:00, I woke Eric up to let him know what was going on and that I planned to stay in bed until 6:00.  I couldn't take anymore at 5:45, and got up, showered, and started packing for the hospital.  My plan, per our birthing class, was to call the doctor when contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour.  At 7:45, I placed the call to the on-call doc who advised me that since this was my first baby, I should hang tough awhile and call the office when it opened at 9:00.  Contractions continued to intensify, accompanied by some pretty righteous back labor, and at 9:00 I was having contractions about 4-5 minutes apart and lasting between 60 and 90 seconds.  I was told to come into the office for evaluation and they would decide if I needed to go to the hospital yet.  Again, and this time by the nurse, I was told that since this is my first baby, I was still a long way from delivery.

We left for the hospital sometime between 9:15 and 9:30, and arrived at the office, bags in tow for the hospital, around 10:00.  The nurse practitioner examined me to announce that I was 100% effaced and 5-6cm dilated, and that we should proceed to the hospital and she would call ahead to let them know we were on our way.

At 11:00, we arrived at the hospital.  I was now 8cm dilated and in so much pain I could barely stand up straight.  By 12:15 I finally caved and asked for an epidural, and while they were ready to give it to me, let me know that it probably would not kick in before the baby was born.  I was allowed to start pushing, and decided to go without.  Pushing brought the relief I needed, and at 1:16pm, Natalie Beth Kranz was born.

Stats:

Name: Natalie Beth Kranz

Date: 12/28/10

Time: 1:16pm

Weight: 7 pounds 13.5 ounces

Length: 20 inches

More pics and video will be posted shortly!

39 weeks

Christmas has come and gone, and despite the big progress in the past week, and generally feeling pretty rotten the past 2 days, no baby yet.  

39 weeks

Ash & Bernie on Christmas Eve 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with the Clark side of my family, complete with Yankee swap in which Adam's velour Christmas sweater made a triumphant return, and Eric took home the same old t-shirt he submitted as his own gift.  

This morning we celebrated Christmas with immediate family, and brought home a beautiful wooden rocking chair.  Not a fancy glider, but a good, old-fashioned rocker.  I LOVE it, and cannot wait to sit and just rock with the baby.  Hopefully we won't have much more than a few days to wait.

Merry Christmas, all.  We hope you got to celebrate in your own wonderful way with your own families.

Progress is Progress

Well, I didn't say a prayer, and I most certainly did not light a candle.  Instead, I used the power of positive reasoning and decided that instead of being a grouch about last week's lack of progress, I would try to find something good in the whole thing.  And I came up with this: the longer it takes for the baby to come, the more paid time off I'm accruing at work.  Voila, my motivation to hang on until the baby is ready.

And today, progress!  50% effaced and 2 cm dilated!  Holy moly.  The doctor said she thought the baby would be delivered within a week to 10 days!  Holy moly.

Now, reason tells me not to get too hung up on this.  After all, women walk around 2 cm dilated for weeks before delivering.  But, as they say, progress is progress, and I'll take it.  And just in case it's still nothin' doin' at least I'm still accruing PTO.

Last Christmas as Children

In all the Christmases that Eric and I have spent together, we have never exchanged Christmas gifts on Christmas day.  In fact, I can remember exchanging gifts with each other as early as Thanksgiving!  And this year, Eric got his gift from me even earlier than that.  As I opened my gift from him today, we decided that this would be the last year that we can get away with this.  We need to grow up and set a good example for our baby that gifts must wait until Christmas to be opened!

Which brings me to the real reason for this post....

Ladies, prepare to be jealous!

I opened a beautiful card (that actually did make me cry) and a gift card for a full day of spa treatments!  That's right, 5 full hours of pampering.  And, I get to choose all the services!  What a great and thoughtful gift.  I cannot wait to use it, and know I am going to have a hard time waiting until several weeks post-baby when I can stand to be away for a whole day of quiet, relaxing, Ashley-time.

What a great husband I have.

A Whole Lotta Nothin'

I had an impromptu check up yesterday.  Not because anything awesome was going on, but because they (correctly) were calling for a lot of snow over night and into today, and I didn't want my appointment, originally scheduled for today, to be canceled.  I think it's safe to say that anyone who has a guess in the baby pool for the next week is probably going to lose.  Sorry, I wish there was more I could do about it.

The word is there is absolutely no dilation and no effacement happening.  I was bummed.  I was hoping for a centimeter, at least!  I know people walk around 1 cm dilated for weeks, but at least it's a start.  Instead, nothing.  Mom was so kind to tell me that just because nothing was happening at 2:30 doesn't mean that I couldn't be in full on labor later that night.  True.  And I learned that in our birthing class, but still.  Nothing.

The doctor told me that I should start praying to St. Gerard.  And, for extra good measure, I should also light a candle.  Dang.  It was really bleak.

I also lobbied hard, in a final last-ditch effort, to have her consider the original due date of Dec 27th as medical fact instead of what is looking increasingly like hopeful Ashley fantasy.  I even went so far as to offer to name the baby Carol (girl or boy) if she could promise it would be born in December.  Clearly her name is Carol.  And, while she was very excited at that prospect, no dice.  Dang again.  I held it together though, and left there thinking that maybe I could try mind over matter for another week to see if the power of mental motivation can actually get the body into gear.  I didn't tell her that the thought of being pregnant until Jan 13th (worst case scenario) is something that puts me on the verge of tears.

And let me be clear...

I'm not on the verge of tears because (1) I am anxious to meet our baby, or (2) because 9 months is a trick and really you're pregnant for 10, or (3) because the baby is making me so uncomfortable that I want to scream, or (4) because I hate not being able to shave my legs or polish my toes, or even put my shoes on without a heaving effort, or (5) because I'm tired of being winded walking up the stairs, or (6) because I just want one glass of wine, or (7) because rolling out of bed like a beached whale 3 times a night to pee is getting a tad bit old, or (8) because wearing the same 4 shirts and same 2 pairs of pants every day is getting redundant, or (9) because it's time already, or (10) because I think my belly button could actually shoot right off the front of my body at any given second if I stretch any farther.  No, not because of any one of those reasons alone.  Rather, a combination of all the reasons, and then some.  And because for the love of everything chocolate, I'm getting cranky, and that is atypical, and I. don't. like. it!

Split Decision

I had another baby dream last night.  This time it was a girl.  I remember saying very clearly her name (the one we have picked out) to the hospital staff, who I did not like. Hmm....

In case you're keeping track, this is now 2 baby dreams in recent weeks.  The first was a boy though.  I thought these pre-baby dreams were supposed to be a clue?!  Conclusion: I have absolutely NO idea what we are having, and the suspense is really starting to get to me.

You may wonder why I'm posting at 7am.  I thought I'd have a quiet morning to sleep in a little, watch the local news, have breakfast in my jammies.  Eric had to leave early for work, and I am working at home as much as possible, including today.  Not a chance, as soon as Eric was up, so was Bernie.  Dang.  So, I figured I might as well start work early, get everything done and maybe knock off a few minutes early this afternoon.....

Hurry Up and Wait

This past week we had to take a personality test at work.  No one will be surprised to learn that my overall personality style is "Perfectionist" with strong tendencies towards organization, order, and rules.  Sounds pretty accurate to me, right?  Well, it should surprise you less then that at exactly 2 weeks until D-day (if you're observing the 12/27 due date) or 3.5 weeks (if you're leaning towards the modern medicine theory of due dates), that everything is caught up and in place for the baby's arrival.  And, wouldn't you know it, I'm officially bored.

It started out as anxious.  You know...when will the baby be here?  Will I really know when labor starts?  I hope I don't go into labor at work, what are the odds it will start at night or on a weekend?  And now, I'm over all that and ready to just get the show on the road.  2 weeks seems appropriately early, especially if the baby takes after me.  Best to arrive a few minutes early than trying to time things on the nose, or heaven forbid arrive 10 minutes late!  3.5 weeks does still seem a tad on the too early side, though.

I'm caught up at work, and will have officially transferred all my cases this week.  The house is cleaned and the nursery is ready to go.  All the baby laundry is washed, folded, and put away.  Our laundry is caught up.  Christmas shopping is completed and gifts are ready to roll.  I just checked a major project off my list for Dad.  So, now what?  Eric suggested I enjoy the quiet time to just relax.  WHAT?!  I don't even know what that means, really.  I can stand all that sitting around for about 26 seconds before I feel like I'm going to implode.  And besides, sitting isn't really all that comfortable these days anyway.  As a matter of fact, neither is standing.  Or laying down.

What's a girl to do?  Thursday is our next doctors appointment where I fully intend to plead my case on observing the 12/27 due date.  She will do an internal exam and with any luck, mother nature will be cooperative and I'll feel a little less like a crazy person....

O, Christmas Tree

It's officially Christmas season.  I have a hard and fast rule not to decorate the house for Christmas before December 1.  This year, as you'll read below, our house almost didn't get decorated at all!

St. Nick

 You'll have to use your imagination on the lights...they're up, but at night when you can see them, the pictures turned out too dark.

Stockings hung by the chimney with care.  5 stockings this year: Eric, Ashley, Cici, Bernie, and baby

I love Christmas.  Ever since I was little, and even now that I'm nearly 30, I have led the charge on Christmas morning, well before the sun comes up, to rouse the troops and spend all day in our jammies by the Christmas tree, opening gifts.  When else is it acceptable for a responsible adult to act purely like a wide-eyed child?  

With the looming due date so near Christmas, and our holiday plans altered slightly, I have been prepping for Christmas at break-neck speed.  We had to have nearly all the shopping, baking, and wrapping done before Thanksgiving this year in order to celebrate in Wisconsin.  Mission 1: accomplished.

Mission 2: decorate the house.  Last year I put up two trees.  Our beautiful, but gigantic, tree in the living room, and a smaller tree above the front door to be seen from the road.  Since the latter involved me hoisting a tree, lights, ornaments up a 15 foot ladder and decorating on a very narrow platform, I voted to forgo that this year.  It remained safely boxed up in the basement.

Tree 2, however, nearly killed me.  I put it up in record time, despite having to carry up the branches a few at a time from the basement (you know, since I can't carry anything heavier than a loaf of bread, and my stamina is about that of an infant snail).  Once up, it was time for the lights.  Unpacked, I carefully tested each strand.  What were the odds?  They all worked!  After 2 hours on and off 4 strategically placed chairs (did I mention the tree is 9 feet tall?), the lights were strung up.  Drum roll......I plugged them in, so excited at my progress.  [Cymbal crash]  They didn't work!  Or, I should say, about 1/3 of them worked.  How could this be?!  Eric came to the rescue as we tried to figure out the problem.  Eventually, the lights had to be taken down.  My method for this was violent ripping in an attempt to cool my frustration.  If I could have picked that tree up, I would have javelined it off the back porch!  Are you kidding, 4 hours and nothing to show....

The beauty of the whole situation was the the lights still all worked when I took them back off!  I was having visions of me, Beth, and Ronnie sitting Indian-style on the living room floor as kids, anxiously waiting for mom and dad to string the lights so we could start putting on the ornaments.  Mom would always tell us a quick story about the ornament we got to put on.  Usually this happy memory of ornament story telling was preceded by strings of profanity, hours of painful frustration as the lights went up, came off, went back on, and were finally just left.  

The next day I went in search of Christmas lights.  Who knew that in mid-December, lights are hard to find?!  I suppose when stores start selling lights after the 4th of July, that's what I should have expected.  In any case, lights were purchased, restrung.  And finally, after 2 full days, ornaments were on and the tree was decorated.  I like the tree a little less this year...

Childbirth Class

At 36 weeks pregnant, having had two amazing showers, done countless loads of laundry, and spending hours of time organizing and getting the nursery ready, I still felt like there was one more thing to accomplish before baby. And today we checked that off our list!  We attended childbirth class.  All day.

As you can imagine, Eric was none too excited about spending 8.5 hours learning more than he ever wanted to know about pregnancy, labor, delivery, and post-partum care, but he hung in there like a champ, and I have the utmost confidence that he will get me through the hardest parts of labor.

I learned two very important facts today:

1. My belief that I want no part of an epidural if I can at all help it was reaffirmed.  I know women get them every day and everyone walks away just fine.  There is something about a needle going blindly at my spine that I just cannot get past.  Also, I really, really hate not being in control of my body.

We learned breathing techniques and when to do which techniques throughout labor.  Many of the techniques I have already employed in running.  I have said that I really want to try for a natural delivery since I found out I was pregnant, and I still intend to do just that.  Today the instructor told us that most of getting through labor drug-free is mental.  Running long-distance is the same.  In order for one's body to tolerate 20+ mile runs, you have to decide to do it.  You have to make your mind take you to a place that convinces your body it can do it.  The pain remains, but it becomes tolerable and an accepted part of the whole experience.  While I have absolutely no idea what to expect from labor pain, I feel like I am as prepared as I will ever be to hang in as long as I can.

2. This leads me to lesson number two.  I have decided that I was probably dropped on my head at some point in my early development.  Most of the breathing techniques I got and feel really comfortable with.  One of them had me so confused.  I could not figure out how to do it at all!  I was only breathing out, and could not get the rhythm and was doing all kinds of gasping breaths in.  Wow, it was bizarre!

I did practice again when we got home, and figured it out.  Now I'll just have to practice until the baby actually arrives...

With all that said, I feel like the baby can be born anytime now and I will be ready.  Or, should I say, I cannot do anything else to feel more ready at this point.

Also going on in the Kranz household this weekend: Christmas decorating.  Check back soon for pictures of our beautiful fireplace and Christmas tree, decorated with my brand new ornaments!  We have a stocking hung for the baby, just in case he or she arrives prior to Christmas...

Thanksgiving Weekend Musings

Here's to long weekends!  Especially long weekends full of family and good food.  Because of the baby timetable, we got to spend this Thanksgiving in Wisconsin.  It was the first time in 12 years that Eric's family has all been together for Thanksgiving, and needless to say, we had a great time!

Over the past 5 years, I've seen many Wisconsin women's hockey games, but this weekend I got to experience my first men's game!  Although it was not the same frenzied excitement as Assembly Hall on a Hoosier basketball game day, it was still pretty crazy.  I'll cut the Bucky fans a little slack since it was a holiday weekend.

And, finally, and maybe most fun was the baby shower on Saturday with all my favorite Brigowatz ladies!  Thanks to Beth, Jen, and Emily for throwing such a great shower.  We now have almost everything from our registry!  I loved hearing all the baby advice (there is a lot of it to pass around on that side of the family).  So, now it's a race to the finish with Dee!

Coming up at our household this week:

Back to a full work-week

Finishing up 2 more Christmas gifts and decorating the house on Sunday

Birthing class all day Saturday!

Nesting

I have always liked a clean house, and generally like to live by the rule that "everything has a place."  I strongly dislike clutter, and like order, maybe to a fault.  But lately I've been more driven than usual to keep the laundry caught up, the carpets swept, floors cleaned, bathrooms bleached, and furniture dusted.  Lots of hours have been spent getting the nursery in order, and although it isn't quite done yet, I think we've got a pretty good start.  In short, I believe what I've been doing is nesting.  See for yourself...

Neutral wall color, neutral theme.  

Love the hand-painted toy chest from Aunt Beth and the knitted blanket from Grandma P. 

 This wall needs some work.  Still to come a lamp and changing station for baby.

 Diaper stacker, already full to the top with cloth diapers!  Eventually it will have a home near the changing station on the dresser.

 Beautiful closet organizers!

Farm-themed bedding, what else?

New in baby development this week: lots and lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions.  Actually, I've been having these for a few weeks, but finally figured out what they were (duh), and have been having them more frequently.  Definitely new THIS week: hiccups.  After a very delicious Thanksgiving dinner last night, the baby must have been working overtime trying to digest, and developed quite the case of hiccups!  Pretty funny.

Growing

33 weeks

Not the most flattering of photos, but I think you can see the growing belly from the 28 weeks pictures.  The baby is in the 49th percentile for weight at this stage.  So, while we won't be having a linebacker, we also are fairly certain we won't be having the next champion featherweight either!

Do I Really....?

I've said it once, and I'll say it again.  It takes a lot of stuff to raise a baby!  I don't want to take away from the message by posting all of my thoughts about the endless plastic paraphernalia inside various baby stores.  Instead, I'll just simply say, "Thank You!"

We had a beautiful, wonderful, generous baby shower on Sunday.  And boy did we come home with more than we ever expected!  I've spent more time in the nursery in recent weeks than most any other room in the house.  It looks almost ready to house junior!  Pictures are coming soon, I promise.

Until then, I'll be snipping off tags, washing, folding, organizing, re-organizing, and just generally gushing with an excitement that I cannot ever recall feeling before.

Stay tuned for nursery pics by the weekend.  I swear.  It's on my mile long to-do list!

Darn you, Heartburn

Only because I find this particularly amusing...

Below, a list of foods that are consistently giving me heartburn.  I bet you'll find some surprises (hint, nothing spicy is listed!).

1. Chocolate

In any form and under all circumstances, chocolate has been consistently causing raging heartburn.  I came across an article that said 3-4 servings of chocolate per week was really good for a developing baby.  Good enough for me!  I'll suffer for the sake of healthy development....if I HAVE to.

2. Bananas

I don't get it, but it's entirely true.  I'm suffering through though, because A) I like bananas, and B) potassium is good for fighting off the evil leg cramps that have been tormenting my less-than-restful sleep.

3. Pop-tarts

I guess this isn't too surprising since there is absolutely zero nutritional value in pop-tarts.  It's probably my body's way of saying, "hey, knock if off!"  So, I have actually given these up.

4. Tortilla Chips

Weird, huh?  Is it the wholesome corn goodness?  I'm not really sure, again.  At first I thought it might be the salsa causing heartburn, so I gave that up, but the heartburn kept coming with just plain tortillas.  Could it be that my body had conditioned itself to expect salsa with tortillas Pavlov-style?  Possible.  Or, more likely, it wasn't the salsa at all, but rather the tortillas, that were the culprit.

And that, my friends, is the list.  Short and sweet!

Practice Makes Perfect

With just about 8 weeks to go, we are in full-on baby prep mode at the Kranz Household.  Everyone is lending a hand.  The baby is doing his (or her) part to keep me full sleep deprived.  I think this is some sort of initiation ritual so that the post-delivery experience is not quite so traumatic.  He (or she) has been increasingly active, and is now doing all sorts of acrobatics in utero that I find incredibly amusing to watch.  At any given moment you can see the baby doing somersaults across my belly, and then a foot will kick out to the left, then hands out to the right!  It is very entertaining, albeit a little uncomfortable now that there is some weight behind those kicks and punches.  In fact, a few days ago I got what I'm fairly sure was a hand lodged between two ribs!  I won't even get into how pleasant that was.

In addition to baby's efforts, Bernie has also been lending a hand.  I've been convinced for a few weeks that he knows something is up.  Our usually clingy dog has been glued to my side.  Instead of laying next to me, he now lays across my belly.  He has been frantic with worry if I leave the room without him.  None of this is too much of a stretch for him, but he has really amped up his need to be near me.  Hopefully this is a sign of future positive behavior from him once the baby is born.  (Or, as it was theorized last night, that the baby is a boy because, you know, the classic tale of a boy and his dog.)

So, anyway, Bernie is getting in on the practice action, too.  All day Thursday I could tell he just was not feeling well (I later learned he ate some trash Thursday morning).  He moped around, didn't eat much, and finally went to sleep in our bed at whatever time I went to sleep.  He was restless all night, and finally at about 2:30 he was sitting next to me, staring directly at me, whining.  We (me and Bernie) got up, and I thought he needed to go out, but instead he wanted a drink.  After putting down nearly an entire bowl of water, we went back to bed.  All was well until about 6:30 when he was up again, this time to throw up, all over the floor.  I rushed him outside, and spent the next 15 minutes scrubbing dog vomit up.  He was fine after that, just still not himself until last night.  As any good Dad would do, Eric got up to let him out this morning when he woke up. And now the two of them around sound asleep together.

As you can see, we'll be well-versed in the world of parenthood sleeplessness well before the babe shows.  Although, at this point, I can safely say that I have had enough practice, and would like a few consecutive nights of restful sleep.  I'm thinking they could be my last few for, oh, the next 22 years....

Old Wives Tales

As you know from the previous post, we made the decision not to find out the baby's sex.  This has created all sorts of buzz and speculation about whether we will be having a boy or girl.  I don't have an overwhelming feeling one way or the other, and so far guesses seem to be split pretty evenly.  I did find a pretty humorous online quiz consisting of about 20 Old Wives Tales that calculated the odds of having a boy versus girl.  In case you're interested, the quiz indicated that there is a 67% chance we're having a boy!  For whatever that's worth.

Part of my job is to visit my clients in their homes every 3 months.  As you might imagine, I look pretty different now than I did 3 months ago when I last saw the group I'm visiting this month.  Most of them didn't even know I was pregnant 3 months ago, and generally I try to keep the amount of personal information I share with them to a minimum.  But old ladies just gush over the thought of a baby, and most of them are not shy about sharing advice and experiences of their own.

Today, I walked in to see a lady that I rather like and she wanted to inspect me from the front and from the side and then boldly declared, "You're having a girl."  She went on to say that she has "never been wrong" when making such a statement, and felt confident that her record would not be blemished with this declaration.  I asked her how she was so certain.  She said, "Well, it's easy.  When you're having a boy, you carry him way up high, like this (and she demonstrated).  When you have a girl, you get real wide.  Just look at yourself, it's obvious you're having a girl."  Wide?!  Real wide?!  Uh, I'm not sure what planet she's been living on, but calling a pregnant woman real wide is not advisable.

I spent the rest of my visit with her mildly upset by her comments.  She then asked if I would bring the baby with me on my next visit.  Definitely, definitely not.  Under no circumstances would that ever happen.  But, I didn't tell her that, instead I made an excuse about it being February and flu season, but promised pictures.  She said, "It's ok, I already know the baby is going to have blonde hair and blue eyes, just like you."  Instantly I felt relieved.  Clearly she has a visual impairment since I have neither blonde hair, nor blue eyes.  Maybe she is mistaken about my width too.

On a lighter note, tomorrow officially marks 31 weeks.  I have a check up and am now to be seen by the doctor every 2 weeks until, at some point, I think they want me to come weekly.  I'm not really sure, to be honest.  What I am sure about is that we have a full November, with 2 showers in our honor, as well as a tour of the hospital maternity unit, and in a mere month we are scheduled to attend birthing class.  I also plan to write a heated letter to those Old Wives; they really know how to make a girl feel good...

Make a Wager

Now that the rest of the world can actually tell I'm pregnant, I feel like a broken record...

Yes, I am pregnant.

I'm due at the end of December (I know the doctor says Jan. 5th or 6th, I can't even remember now, but she said Dec. 27th first, so I'm sticking with that!)

No, we don't know what we're having.

No, we aren't going to find out.

No, I don't care if it's a boy or girl, I just want a healthy baby.

Yes, we have names picked out.

No, we aren't sharing what the names are.

And so it goes at least a half dozen times a day.  Every day.  My clients are proud that we didn't find out the baby's sex, because "when I was having kids, they couldn't even tell that sort of thing."  My co-workers are appalled, "but how are you going to plan?!"  I figure, what difference does it REALLY make in the grand scheme of planning?  I suppose I could have painted the nursery pink or blue instead of green, but honestly, I don't care much for either of those colors, and probably would have chosen green anyway.

But what this really all boils down to is a great opportunity to participate in a friendly betting game.  And, so, thanks to the brilliance of my sister, the Baby Kranz Pool was born.

Here are her rules:

What to Guess: example: girl, Dec. 27th, 6:15 am ·         Gender ·         Birthdate ·         Time of day- down to 15 minute increments Scoring: ·         Each item of the guess (gender, date, time) has a scoring weight attached to it which will be calculated after the birth ·         Due to the scoring equation, anyone who guesses the gender wrong is pretty much out of the running to win- SO, multiple guesses are allowed and encouraged! $2.00 per guess--- guess all three things! Date, time, sex of the baby

You can guess and not contribute, but if you win… the cash goes to the next winner!


If you want in, post your guess in comments and I'll email you separately with my sister's info so you can get your money to her!  The pot is up to almost $50 already for a single winner!


Yes, I did make two guesses, and no, I'm not telling you what they are!

I Should Write a Book

Not that I am an expert on being pregnant, by any means, but if I were to write a book about pregnancy it would be entitled: All the Things No One Ever Tells You About Being Pregnant

Let's face it, pretty much everyone has heard about morning sickness and stretch marks.  Most people know about vericose veins.  But who on earth ever heard of stuffy noses as a pregnancy side effect?  And what about the overwhelming itching as your skin stretches and holds on for dear life?  By far the most obnoxious pregnancy side effect is the enormous pressure a 3 pound (yes, I have considered that this will only get worse) baby puts on one's bladder.  Wow.

On that note, I will share that a few weeks ago Eric came down with a pretty nasty cold.  I fought it and fought it, and survived nearly 10 days before I, too, came down with the same cold.  Thankfully, by the time I got it, it seemed a bit milder than Eric had gotten.  Sore throat, no problem.  Runny nose, piece of cake.  Sneezing!  Sneezing, are you kidding me.  It is unreasonable to expect a 7 months pregnant woman to survive a sneeze with a 3 pound baby sitting on her bladder.

It's traumatic.  Think about it.

Expanding Waist Lines

28 weeks

Yes, I did say waist lines.  As in plural.  Bernie has been gaining sympathy weight.  Not much, but he has become my nightly walking companion.  We decided it was appropriate that we both show off our 28 weeks profile.

We had good intentions of taking a profile shot every 4 weeks, but got off track and with the ever-changing due date, got confused about how many weeks along, exactly, I actually was.  I looked back at the 16 week photos, which we did take, but are far too unflattering to post, and can remember thinking then how pregnant I felt.  My what 12 weeks does to change that feeling!  I'm sure in another month, I'll be thinking, "Gosh, I remember feeling so huge at 28 weeks..."

Until the baby comes, you'll get photos of me, probably a shot or two of Bernie, and some experimentation with uploading video so I'll be old hat by the time Baby K makes his/her debut.

Welcome

Hi family and friends!

In the spirit of full participation in modern technology, and in order to keep everyone up to date on our growing family, this blog has been created!  The idea is that those near and far will be able to monitor the latest developments when our little bundle of joy makes his or her appearance in a mere 9.5 weeks!

Stay tuned for plenty of photos and video from SE Indiana!