We had our 37 week appointment today. Lost 2 pounds since last week - which is normal. And baby is measuring 36 weeks....which is the same as last week. So if that continues next week, we'll have to have an ultrasound. I have a feeling he/she is growing as I type this because my stomach is super tight...the little one is just squishing all my organs! Heart rate was good - 130s to 145.
So as you can imagine, we're starting to get very anxious. Ready for baby to arrive at any time!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
37 Weeks
Only 3 weeks left! This past week, I've been feeling not that great. Making me ready to have the baby! Christmas afternoon, I really wasn't feeling great. All the things I was feeling are listed under the "pre-labor" symptoms in a book I'm reading, which can occur anywhere from days to hours before birth. I must be in the days catagory because no baby yet! And I'm feeling better today - so far.
Poor Noah, with all the snow lately (he does snow removal in the winter) he's been very sleep deprived as he usually has to start the snow removal process around 2 a.m. in order to have some of it done before businesses open. Which has now led him to having a cold. So he's also feeling crummy. Makes us just want to be home, relaxing and resting.
Christmas 2008
Hard to believe how quickly Christmas came and went this year. Seems like we were behind in everything we did due to the late harvest...which only made x-mas sneak up on us. And the weather has been complicating things even more.
Our tree at our house, which will be coming down ASAP and replaced with a pack 'n play!
The Van Maanen's. Russ looking overly joyed - he LOVES family photos!
Grandma and Grandpa with M&M. Grandpa doing his best not to smile. He also loves having his photo taken.
Mollie - the human present.
Max - another human present!
Max doing what he loves most - building! G&G got him an erector set...similar to what Grandpa had when he was young.
We love Uno...so we have every Uno game out there - regular Uno, Uno Spin, Uno Attack and now the latest Uno (not sure what it's called, though).
But we enjoyed a nice Christmas! X-mas Eve Noah and I spent the evening together. We ate dinner, opened presents and of course, watched Christmas Vacation. It just isn't Christmas without watching that movie at least once! Christmas morning we headed to Pella to see Noah's family - at his sister's house. We enjoyed spending time with them. Then late that afternoon we headed to my family's. We got there just as Dad was getting done with chores so we decided to open presents then eat later. It was a nice night. Noah and I were gifted with $ so we could purchase a video camera to capture all the baby's moments! So we'll be heading out in the next few days to purchase that! Thank you to everyone for our gifts!
The big present of the year was at the Van Maanen's house - they are now the proud owners of everything Nintendo Wii. That will make for some fun nights at the VM's...especially during winter season when the VM Aquatics Center is closed for the season.
Enjoy the photos below!
Our tree at our house, which will be coming down ASAP and replaced with a pack 'n play!
An awful attempt at taking our photo in front of our tree.
Noah with his niece Myka.
Noah's niece Bryn, drawing Earth on a magnidoodle. She's very creative!
The Van Maanen's. Russ looking overly joyed - he LOVES family photos!
Grandma and Grandpa with M&M. Grandpa doing his best not to smile. He also loves having his photo taken.
Mollie - the human present.
Max - another human present!
Max doing what he loves most - building! G&G got him an erector set...similar to what Grandpa had when he was young.
We love Uno...so we have every Uno game out there - regular Uno, Uno Spin, Uno Attack and now the latest Uno (not sure what it's called, though).Monday, December 15, 2008
Busy Weekend
Friday night, some friends hosted a couples baby shower/game night for us. We played a variety of board games and laughed a lot. Our friends also surprised us with a John Deere tricycle - see below. It is sooo cute! 
Saturday was our Child Birth Education class. We spent the day learning all about child birth and a variety of other things. Following class, we finally went to purchase the stroller and car seat. It was a beautiful day on Saturday - nearly 50 degrees. So everyone and their brother was out x-mas shopping. Noah and I are not big fans of crowds...so we just had to remind ourselves we weren't in a hurry and that it would be ok! We got the stroller at Babies 'R Us and then headed across the parking lot to Toys 'R Us to buy his nieces their x-mas presents. After a few other errands we got some take out for dinner and headed home. After eating, Noah very successfully put the stroller together! I don't think I heard one swear word come out of his mouth in the process! The picture below shows he's already trying out the cup holder! 
Sunday, we put the car seat bases in our vehicles so we can officially bring home a baby! And we also did some cleaning around the house. I told Noah that I was not nesting...but just that the house needed cleaning. Sunday evening, we went to my parents to have an early b-day dinner for me. Below is my ice cream cake that my sister picked out. Notice the princesses on the cake - Mollie thought it was pretty neat! 
And this week will also be a busy week...so it should go by very quickly! To complicate it even more, there's supposed to be two very snowy days! Tuesday night is another baby class, Wednesday night a holiday party with Noah's broker, Thursday night is my b-day so I assume we'll do something and Friday night is Amy/Russ' holiday party. Friday is also our next midwife appointment...so I'll update after that appointment.
Saturday was our Child Birth Education class. We spent the day learning all about child birth and a variety of other things. Following class, we finally went to purchase the stroller and car seat. It was a beautiful day on Saturday - nearly 50 degrees. So everyone and their brother was out x-mas shopping. Noah and I are not big fans of crowds...so we just had to remind ourselves we weren't in a hurry and that it would be ok! We got the stroller at Babies 'R Us and then headed across the parking lot to Toys 'R Us to buy his nieces their x-mas presents. After a few other errands we got some take out for dinner and headed home. After eating, Noah very successfully put the stroller together! I don't think I heard one swear word come out of his mouth in the process! The picture below shows he's already trying out the cup holder! Sunday, we put the car seat bases in our vehicles so we can officially bring home a baby! And we also did some cleaning around the house. I told Noah that I was not nesting...but just that the house needed cleaning. Sunday evening, we went to my parents to have an early b-day dinner for me. Below is my ice cream cake that my sister picked out. Notice the princesses on the cake - Mollie thought it was pretty neat! 
And this week will also be a busy week...so it should go by very quickly! To complicate it even more, there's supposed to be two very snowy days! Tuesday night is another baby class, Wednesday night a holiday party with Noah's broker, Thursday night is my b-day so I assume we'll do something and Friday night is Amy/Russ' holiday party. Friday is also our next midwife appointment...so I'll update after that appointment.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Baby Shower #2
On Saturday, two long-time family friends (Margaret Cleverley & Pat Black) threw a shower for me. I was able to invite friends and family, so it was a great time. If I was at all feeling unprepared before the shower, the generosity of all in attendance has made us entirely more prepared. We received wonderful gifts...and all things we were needing! A big thank you to Margaret and Pat for wanting to host the shower and making all the arrangements!
Some photos from the shower follow:
Noah's sister Sarah, his niece Bryn and his mom Karen.
Some friends from high school - Stacie, Tara and Molly.
Friends from when I worked at GuideOne - Steph, Melany, Shawn and her son Quinn.
My dad's aunts, my great-aunts, Betty and Bonnie.
I couldn't have a baby shower and not invite Caleb (and Steve). To my surprise he came WITH a gift! He got the baby a nice model red tractor, which says on the box suitable for ages 14 and up. And if anyone ever wondered just how tall Caleb is - this is a good illustration! He's as tall as the door way...towering over me!
Steve arrived with TWO bags of diapers for us. I think he just came for the free food. He's convinced that we should name the baby Stevie - after him.
From left, Noah's mom Karen, me, my mom Callie, Margaret and Pat. Margaret is the mom of my good friend Lori and Pat is Steve's mom.
These are friends from Wartburg. Left is Steph and Xavier Boeding. Steph is married to my good friend Jay, who was also invited to the shower - he's normally the token male at these types of things - but he had to work that day. At right is Melissa and Max Wardell. Melissa and I worked at Blank together as well.
Then of course, Amy, Mollie and Max!
Some photos from the shower follow:
Noah's sister Sarah, his niece Bryn and his mom Karen.
Some friends from high school - Stacie, Tara and Molly.
Friends from when I worked at GuideOne - Steph, Melany, Shawn and her son Quinn.My dad's aunts, my great-aunts, Betty and Bonnie.
I couldn't have a baby shower and not invite Caleb (and Steve). To my surprise he came WITH a gift! He got the baby a nice model red tractor, which says on the box suitable for ages 14 and up. And if anyone ever wondered just how tall Caleb is - this is a good illustration! He's as tall as the door way...towering over me!
Steve arrived with TWO bags of diapers for us. I think he just came for the free food. He's convinced that we should name the baby Stevie - after him.
From left, Noah's mom Karen, me, my mom Callie, Margaret and Pat. Margaret is the mom of my good friend Lori and Pat is Steve's mom.
These are friends from Wartburg. Left is Steph and Xavier Boeding. Steph is married to my good friend Jay, who was also invited to the shower - he's normally the token male at these types of things - but he had to work that day. At right is Melissa and Max Wardell. Melissa and I worked at Blank together as well.
Then of course, Amy, Mollie and Max!Lori was missing - due to bad weather in Milwaukee and the threat of bad weather in Iowa. The weekend before she had to drive home from Iowa in the snow and it took her a good 2 hours longer than normal! Yuck.
Thanks to everyone for coming and for the wonderful gifts! We have such great friends and family.
Baby Shower #1
At work, I have two wonderful "families" of co-workers - my Blank Children's family and my Corporate Communications family. On Friday, my Coporate Communications family threw me a baby shower over lunch. They brought in food so we ate and played a game. One co-worker in particular was especially entertaining (Mr. Caleb Hegna)...so he kept us laughing. My co-workers went in on a gift for us - and purchased us the pack 'n play we registered for...in addition to a gift card to Target. It was a very nice surprise!
More attendees. Notice the girl in brown on the left - she's the othe pregnant one in the department. I'll be back from maternity leave just as she's going on. How did we ever plan this so well!?!?
Green and yellow cupcakes in the spirit of John Deere Tractors! Ha!
The pack 'n play - yeah! 
Some attendees - notice Corey on the right holding baby Logan! She'll be back from maternity leave just as I'm gearing up for maternity leave!
More attendees. Notice the girl in brown on the left - she's the othe pregnant one in the department. I'll be back from maternity leave just as she's going on. How did we ever plan this so well!?!?34 Weeks
Friday was our 34 week appointment and all is well. Only gained 1/2 pound over the past 2 weeks. I was quite pleased considering that covered the Thanksgiving holiday and all the yummy food. The midwife is estimating the baby currently at 5 to 5.5 pounds...with a 1/2 pound gain each week now. That should put the little one at 8 pounds - should he/she come on time.People ask me a lot lately how I'm feeling. The best way I can describe how I'm feeling is "crowded". The baby is pushing on lots of organs...and the one I feel the most is the stomach. I'll be starving and will eat a normal size meal...and 20 minutes later I'm wishing I had just had jello. Today, the pressure on the stomach was making me feel like I did in the 1st trimester - just kind of crummy.
Saturday is our child birth education class. I'm anxious to learn more about what to expect so I can feel even more prepared. It's an all-day class and afterwards Noah and I are going to treat ourselves to a trip to Babies 'R Us to buy the stroller/car seat and also do a little x-mas shopping.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is normally a big holiday on the farm. But this year with harvest happening so late, Thanksgiving became a low-key event. It was just our immediate family plus Caleb at Mom/Dad's. Noah, Dad, Russ and Caleb worked all morning and then came in for the main event - lunch! We ate lots of good stuff.
So what to do after eating? How about a mean game of Twister (as requested by Max and Mollie). Caleb and Noah - being kids at heart - decided they too would play. This made for several photo opps...as you can see below!
And since it was just our immediate family, Amy asked if she could wear sweats. (This is one of my sister's vices - sweat pants. At least she no longer wears the sweat pants with elastic around the ankle!) Of course, I told her no...but she decided to wear sweats anyway. Russ also partook in the casual nature of the day and wore his long underwear. See the casual couple below.
To all our family we didn't get to see this year, hope you had a great Thanksgiving....we missed having you at the farm!
So what to do after eating? How about a mean game of Twister (as requested by Max and Mollie). Caleb and Noah - being kids at heart - decided they too would play. This made for several photo opps...as you can see below!
And since it was just our immediate family, Amy asked if she could wear sweats. (This is one of my sister's vices - sweat pants. At least she no longer wears the sweat pants with elastic around the ankle!) Of course, I told her no...but she decided to wear sweats anyway. Russ also partook in the casual nature of the day and wore his long underwear. See the casual couple below.
To all our family we didn't get to see this year, hope you had a great Thanksgiving....we missed having you at the farm!
Festival of Trees
At Blank Children's Hospital, our largest fundraiser each year is the Festival of Trees and Lights. It raises money for our Child Life and Outreach departments. This year was the 25th anniversary of the event. While I do not necessarily plan the event, my job is to promote the event...and one way we do that is thru media partnerships.
So the CBS affiliate in town supports us and broadcasts live their 5 p.m. new program from Festival on opening day. For one of the segments, the producer wanted to do a "demonstration" of some sort...so I decided we should promote the children's activities at the event. That required some children to do the demonstration. So what does a PR girl do when she does not have children of her own to do the segment? She recruits her niece and nephew...who coincidentally have been attending Festival for a number of years and love the children's activities. Unfortunately, Max was not feeling well that day so I recruited a co-worker's son to fill in. Below is Mollie and Griffin getting pumped up to be on TV.
And below is Mollie and Griffin starting the demonstration just before the segment went live on TV. I also recruited my co-worker Julie to do the interview since I was feeling quite round and didn't exactly want to be 8 months pregnant and on the highest rated TV station's news in the market. Thanks Julie!
Another funny from that night...our first segment was an interview with our main fundraiser and the VP of marketing from our presenting sponsor. Well, their interview was at 5:03 p.m. At 5 p.m., our sponsor was no where to be seen. We had just talked to him the night before confirming he'd be there. At 5:01, still no sign. At 5:02, I see him walk in - across the convention complex. So I literally run over to him and tell him he needs to run with me in order to make the interview. Together we run back to the broadcast site...and within 10 seconds he was on air. Ah, the joys of live TV! He did his best to not sound out of breath during his interview. And after the interview, we all had a good laugh.
So the CBS affiliate in town supports us and broadcasts live their 5 p.m. new program from Festival on opening day. For one of the segments, the producer wanted to do a "demonstration" of some sort...so I decided we should promote the children's activities at the event. That required some children to do the demonstration. So what does a PR girl do when she does not have children of her own to do the segment? She recruits her niece and nephew...who coincidentally have been attending Festival for a number of years and love the children's activities. Unfortunately, Max was not feeling well that day so I recruited a co-worker's son to fill in. Below is Mollie and Griffin getting pumped up to be on TV.
And below is Mollie and Griffin starting the demonstration just before the segment went live on TV. I also recruited my co-worker Julie to do the interview since I was feeling quite round and didn't exactly want to be 8 months pregnant and on the highest rated TV station's news in the market. Thanks Julie!
Another funny from that night...our first segment was an interview with our main fundraiser and the VP of marketing from our presenting sponsor. Well, their interview was at 5:03 p.m. At 5 p.m., our sponsor was no where to be seen. We had just talked to him the night before confirming he'd be there. At 5:01, still no sign. At 5:02, I see him walk in - across the convention complex. So I literally run over to him and tell him he needs to run with me in order to make the interview. Together we run back to the broadcast site...and within 10 seconds he was on air. Ah, the joys of live TV! He did his best to not sound out of breath during his interview. And after the interview, we all had a good laugh.
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