Last update of 2010!

The past few weeks of December have been very hectic and we are definitely enjoying our time off of school.  Santa was very good to us this year, and to the baby as well!  He received plenty of gifts to get his room started, so Chris and I have our work cut out for us this week.  We're hoping to make a pretty big dent on his room before I go back to work next week.  The baby also hit a major milestone in December--he now has less than halfway to go before he makes his big debut!

 

 August 29, 5 weeks

December 29, 5 months

(22 weeks)

Chris and I went for another doctor's appointment this morning and everything checked out just fine.  All of the baby's genetic screening tests came back negative, so that's a relief.  His heartbeat sounded good and he's kicking (and punching, and rolling over) away.

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You may have noticed a difference in the length of my hair from August to December.  It was actually quite a bit longer until just a few days ago.  I've been growing it out for a while with the intent of donating it at Christmas.  I chose an organization called Pantene Beautiful Lengths.  They distribute wigs for free through select American Cancer Society wig banks to women across the country who are battling cancer.  As far as I could tell from my research, it is the only organization that provides wigs to adults facing the many challenges of cancer.

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My parents took us to a Blackhawks game while we were home for Christmas.  We had a great time and will definitely be cheering on the Hawks this season.  Our little rookie enjoyed the game, too!  Thanks Mom and Dad!!

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Chris couldn't pass up the opportunity to try out one of his new gifts while making dinner for us a couple nights before we left for Chicago.  Frankie did a great job picking out some quality grilling gloves to protect Chris's hands for tuba playing.  Unfortunately, we were out of gas for the grill and I wouldn't let Chris stand out in the cold over the charcoal grill.  So, he compromised and gave them a test run on pizza night.

Chris and I feel truly blessed and we hope all of our loved ones, family and friends, had as wonderful of Christmas as we did.  We can't wait to see what 2011 holds for our family.  Happy New Year!!

Baby update.

I had an appointment with my OB doctor today (my ultrasound yesterday was at a different office) and he said I'm "disgustingly healthy" and that I'm "going to put doctors out of business."  I took that as a good thing.  He also moved my due date back to May 1st.  He said the lab technician wasn't really allowed to change the date.  The earlier you do an ultrasound and take measurements, the more accurate the estimated due date, since babies grow at different rates.  He said my May 1st due date estimated from my sixth week is accurate +/- 2 days.  Yesterday's measurement from my eighteenth week is accurate +/- 10 days.  That being said, there's no guarantee the baby will decide to arrive sometime between April 28th and May 3rd, but one can always hope.


From everything I've read, the baby should be 5.5 to 6 oz. this week and he measured in yesterday at 9 oz.  I guess that means he's going to be a chunky monkey.  All I really care about is that he's healthy.  I had blood drawn today for a bunch of tests that will detect if there are any problems with his development.  They should have the results back by Friday.  He's been wiggling all over the place the past couple days, so I hope that's a good sign.  He especially liked guitar class today.  We'll see how long that lasts, or more likely, how long until I can't hold my guitar anymore.

Baby's first photo shoot!

Baby boy did a great job today!  He tried to stay still while getting his pictures taken, but got pretty wiggly towards the end.  He's weighing in at 9 oz.  My due date has also been moved up a few days to April 27th.