Blog Post by Chris:

Welcome new bloggers! Thanks to all of you who joined our blog, it is fun reading peoples comments about our baby and what is going on. This past weekend was really fun and at times exhausting. Having a baby drains you pretty quick, especially if you bring them with you out and about. Nobody likes a crying baby at a restaurant :) But all in all the experience was fun, and the fact that Reese is a perfect baby makes it more exciting for Christmas to roll around.
Today we had another Doctor's appt. It was just a check up to review all lab work from the last visit and for us to ask any questions. We got to hear the heart beat again and it is down to around 140 BPM. We have a really nice doctor who has a good sense of humor, or at least will laugh at what I have to say. Our next appt is not for another month, but is a big one as we get to do another ultrasound and probably find out the sex of the baby. I never though this past month would end, so it was great to see time fly by. Hopefully time will fly by again and we will be at week 20 (half way there). That's all for now.

Baby Weekend!

Blog Post by Kati:

Here are some pictures from our weekend with the Montgomery family! Baby Reese was sooooooooo good!

Here he is with his Mommy, Daddy and me:


And here is Kona trying to figure out who the heck this little thing is:



She was curious and jealous at the same time:

Fun weekend!

We each took on different roles this weekend. Chris was the "Sleep Machine." He was able to put the baby to sleep every time he tried (I believe he was 4 for 4?). I fed him his breakfast each morning which was an adventure because he liked to be messy! :)

The weekend made me really excited to have a baby around for good...but I was tired on Sunday night! I will definitely cherish the next six months of non-parenthood while at the same time excitedly anticipating parenthood.

Our next doctor's appointment is tomorrow...so that's all for now!

Lemon

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 14 Info:

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Well, we finally put the news on Facebook...so no more secrets!!!! We have gotten a great response from people- it has been so fun to read all of the comments. I'm relieved and impressed that we made it 10 weeks without a peep from anyone. So for those of you who knew before we made it public- thanks for keeping quiet! It was special for us (and our parents) to be able to tell everyone in our own way and at the right time. :)

We're having a blast with Angie, Jason and Baby Reese. It is really fun to have a baby around. Kona is absolutely hilarious with the baby. She gets JEALOUS and just isn't too sure what to think. But Reese is warming up to her and by the end of the weekend they'll be great friends. :)

Photos from CO

Here are some pics from the weekend!

First night- cheers to the baby! With Margie and Grammy:

The next morning after Grammy broke her hip- she's still in good spirits! With John and Jenny:

At the fabric store picking out baby quilt fabric!!!

So many choices...

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day, etc.

Blog Post by Kati:

Almost done spreading the news. Just a few more relatives to go and then we can seriously put it on Facebook and not worry about it being a secret anymore. I can't wait!

Cathleen headed out to Europe last week for the summer...here is a picture of the Gosselins before her departure:

Best in-laws EVER! Between our two families, this baby is going to be SPOILED!!!!! We're so lucky!

Had a fun weekend in Colorado (despite Grammy falling and breaking a hip!). It is alway great to hang out with family we don't get to see very often. I will put up some pictures of the trip later on when I get them from my parents. My aunt Jenny is going to make a baby quilt so we went to a couple fabric stores and had a blast picking out all kinds of fabric for what will be a totally awesome quilt. :) It also started giving me some ideas for the baby's room...it is going to be very cool. More details later.

I got home from our trip on Sunday night, Father's Day. Chris, Kona and I were able to hang out and relax, and I of course had to get a picture of Kona and her daddy.

Best husband and dog EVER! :)

This weekend our college friends Angie and Jason are coming up with their 6-month-old Reese. He was born on Christmas Eve this past year, so we are about exactly a year behind them! It will be fun to have a baby around and see how our little house handles all kinds of baby gear. And how Kona handles a baby! Though she has met a couple other ones and been just fine. Very curious and sniffy of course...

Ok. More pictures to come later.

Medium Shrimp?

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 13:
Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

I'm not sure how I feel about going from fruit analogies to seafood...I'm not a big sea creature fan. :) I'm in Colorado for the weekend visiting my mom's side of the family...continuing the quest to share our secret. Last week I called my Grandma and told her she was going to be a Great-Grandma which was fun (as was telling Chris' grandparents!) and so Grammy was the last Great-Grandparent to tell. The great-aunts and uncles have been excited as well...and we still have more of those to tell!

I've been feeling good lately...I think I'm out of the Nausea Woods for now. No more gagging when I brush my teeth!

We went to the Carter's Outlet Store at a mall here in Loveland, and it was so fun to see all the tiny little clothes and things. That is a world I know nothing about- in terms of sizing and what we'll need, etc. But I know I'll be learning fast...and am lucky to have friends who have gone through it recently to help out!

Okay, all for now...have a great weekend everybody!

Blog Post By Chris:
Our followers seem to be multiplying. It is nice to see so many people who care about what is going on in our lives. Most of our friends know about the baby now, just a few more to tell (so no Nik you can't tell everyone). Nik will be the first babysitter because he has been the most annoying. Lets see how you like poopy diapers and baby throw up. I have noticed kati getting bigger, but have no idea where the "fatty" thing is coming from. We need to start making some changes around the house. If anyone wants to participate in summer projects this year let me know. I pay in beer and BBQ, and hugs. We have some friends coming up to the cities next weekend, and we get to see 6 month old Reese Montgomery. It will be interesting to see the work that goes into having a baby around for 3 days. The one thing I know I will miss is the sleep. Above all things I love my sleep the most. Going golfing will be a thing of the past, but for the love of God I will miss my sleep. Just to let everyone know, because it seems to be the first question asked, we will not be able to find out about the sex of the baby until week 20. That will be sometime around the first week of August. Alright followers be sure to post comments. Bye.

New Belly Pic

Blog Post by Kati:

Since Chris has started (lovingly, I'm sure) calling me "Fatty" I thought I'd post another belly pic and compare it to the first one. :) I have been getting some comments that I'm showing, or as my mom said "Looking preggers!" So here is the before pic, and one from today.

Email Subscription

Blog Post by Kati:

Alright faithful blog followers, I asked the Google search bar how to get email notifications sent to our blog friends, and think I figured out the answer (Dad you'd be proud, I persevered over confusing technology...haha).


I'm testing it out right now to see, but I think if you put your email in the link on the left side of the blog, it should work.

Sounds like it doesn't send an immediate notification, but will send one sometime during the day if we post something new. Hope it works! Thanks for reading! :)

Lime

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 12!!!!

How your baby's growing:The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

I can't believe this is the last week of the first trimester! It is crazy to think how fast it has gone already...though my birthday (the day we found out) does seem like a long time ago. We have been able to tell almost everyone here in the cities now! The excitement and support we are getting from everyone is absolutely amazing. This kid is going to have a lot of great babysitters! :)

I got a call from a nurse yesterday telling me that they saw from my ultrasound I have "low lying placenta." It isn't too big of a deal at this point, but they wanted us to be aware of it. For most women who have it, as the baby and uterus grows, the placenta shifts to where it is supposed to be. We'll talk with the doctor about it more at our next appointment and then they'll be able to monitor it at the next ultrasound at 20 weeks.

Other than that, I have continued to be somewhat nauseous and hungry most of the time. My favorite thing to eat these days is from Bruegger's: an everything bagel with Muenster cheese, sprouts, lettuce and mayo. It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. It reminds me of the bagel sandwiches at Marty's at Luther. :)

Sleep is good

Blog Post by Kati:

Now that we have actually started telling people, and sharing our blog site, I feel some pressure to make sure we update the blog and write good stuff! :) It has been a really fun few days as we have made the rounds to different friends and family members. Everyone is just so excited for us, which makes us even more excited. As long as everyone can keep it quiet for another week and a half, we'll be ok! :)

I had a great sisters-in-law date with Cathleen tonight and she took me to The Good Earth restaurant, which was AWESOME. There was such fresh, healthy, organic food prepared deliciously. I will definitely go back! Yum!

It is after 10pm now, which is WAY past my bedtime! I think on Friday I was asleep by 9pm... everyone tells me I need to get all the sleep I can now before the baby comes, and I have no problem doing that!

Stevie Wonder

Blog Post by Kati:

So I have heard "Isn't She Lovely" on the radio or my ipod like 5 times in the past month...is it a sign? :) How great is that song???? I love it, and now it definitely makes me tear up! And I have a special place in my heart for Stevie Wonder since he was my first record (given to me by my Uncle John I believe!).

Blog Post By Chris:
On Saturday night we went over to my grandparents house to share the baby news with them. We told them that we were running errands in their area and wanted to stop by and say hi. They were quickly on to us as there are no good places to shop in W. St Paul. They were both very excited for us. This will be their second great grandchild. We have started to slowly tell people when we see them. After Kati tells her family in CO, then it is fair game for everyone to release the secret.

Fig

Blog Post by Kati:

I'm skipping right over week 10 and on to week 11 since the due date was moved up a week! Here's the info for week 11:



Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden. She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.



Can't wait to start feeling the baby moving...instead of feeling like I'm going to throw up! :)

Ultrasound

Blog Post by Kati:

We had the ultrasound today and got great news...instead of a potential New Years Eve baby, we may be having a Christmas Day baby! Our official due date is now:

DECEMBER 25, 2009!!!!!

Here are a couple pics from the ultrasound:

It was pretty awesome. The baby was moving around a lot at first...and the ultrasound tech did a whole bunch of measurements of the baby and other parts of me to get the correct due date. It was funny because I had to drink 40 oz. of water an hour before going in, so I seriously had to go to the bathroom while she was pushing down on my bladder, but apparently that makes things more clear, so whatever works! :)

It was amazing to see that something is actually growing inside me. I've been feeling it since I've been so nauseous all the time, but to actually SEE something happening is so unbelievable!!!! We are so thankful!

We also decided to start slowly telling our friends, as long as they keep it quiet until we can see all our family and tell them as well. We're going to be busy people the next few weeks as we try and get together with everyone who we want to tell!!!

Doctor's Appointment

Blog Post by Kati:

We had our first doctor's appointment today and it was great! They asked us a bunch of family history/medical questions...gave us a little diaper bag full of samples and a Gerber bib and a big bound book full of things about what to expect throughout the pregnancy and after with the baby. It looks like it will be really helpful.

The most exciting part about the visit was we got to hear the heart beat!!! My doctor, Dr. Krahl, had to feel around on my belly for awhile, but was very persistent and eventually found it. It was amazing to hear that...and reassuring that everything is going well. She thought my uterus was a little bit big for 9-10 weeks...so she wanted me to schedule an ultrasound which will be happening in 2 days. Either the due date is off, or...there could be more than 1 baby in there. We'll find out on Thursday.

After that she sent me to the lab for blood work. I had to fill 6 vials of blood for various tests. The lab technician who took my blood was really nice...and was surprised to have to do so many different vials. I don't mind the needles too much, which is a good thing because she couldn't fill all of them with my right arm. So she had to take the last one from my left arm. So I got poked twice. The men in my family wouldn't have survived... :)

So next step is the ultrasound on Thursday where we'll be able to see the baby (I assume!) and get an accurate due date! Then we have the next doctor's appointment set up for June 30th at 2:15.

In the meantime I need to be checking with my insurance about different things they cover, we need to be researching hospitals (either Fairview Southdale or Abbot Northwestern) and figuring out prenatal classes, etc...exciting stuff!