Heirloom Tomato

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 19 Info:

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

We had a doctor's appointment today with one of the other OBs at the clinic. He was really nice. There are 3 OBs that we'll see sometime throughout the pregnancy so that it won't matter which doctor is on call when we deliver because we'll know them all. He discussed our ultrasound with us a little bit. Everything looks good. It was just too early for a couple of the brain and spine pictures so we'll be going to Abbott (the hospital we're having the baby at, also the hospital I was born at!) to get another ultrasound done in the next couple of weeks. I haven't scanned in the pics from the week's ultrasound yet, but I'll try to this weekend. We also heard the baby's heart beat again and it was great!

My hair is now pretty much officially straight with some weird waves here and there. It is really strange since my weird crazy curly hair was so much apart of my identity. Or I feel like it was now that it isn't that way anymore. But it definitely makes my morning routine easier not having to deal with a straightener or tame it down with a curing iron! ha ha.

I just keep getting more and more excited for a little baby girl! My sister Mari told me that she refuses to get the baby anything pink...hee hee...but I'm excited about pink and girly things. :)

Now the name search can really begin...it took us forever to decide on Kona's name, I don't know how we'll possibly decided on a name for our daughter!

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend!

And the baby is...

Blog Post by Kati:

A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daddy is going to be outnumbered! Chris predicted a girl, and I had a dream last night that we were having a girl...so we were right! WHEW!!!!!!!

The ultrasound was great- we got some fun pictures of the baby and various body parts (I'll post them later once they are scanned). Everything looks good according to the ultrasound tech. The due date is still right on as well!

We have a doctor's appointment on Friday and I assume we'll hear more from the doctor.

Now the real planning can begin!!! :) Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!!!

Blog Post By Chris:

So this will be a quick post since it will only be a prediction. I do not have a date or time to guess, I'll leave that up to everyone else. Just for the cliche, I do not care what the sex of our kid is I just hope that they and Kati will be healthy. So, my guess is a girl. No reason behind it, that is just what I think. Alright we'll keep the blog updated when we find out any new news.

Predictions

Blog Post by Kati:

Thank you to everybody who sent us their baby predictions. We have over 50 guesses! The dates range from December 15th all the way through January 6th. Funnily enough, nobody guessed the actual due date. As for gender, the guesses started out being boy dominated, but the girl guesses caught up and now it is pretty even.

I will not be predicting, as I am the one carrying the child...and don't want to be wrong!

Chris isn't telling me his prediction. He is going to make me read it on the blog with everyone else.

But now I'm going to bed. Our ultrasound is at 8:30am and I have to get up early to drink 40 oz of water before we go.

We'll post tomorrow with the news!

Blog Post By Chris:

It has been awhile since I posted. We are very close to potentially learning the sex of our kid. If everything goes well on Wednesday we should find out that morning. Thanks to everyone for all their predictions, except people who put their guess in Jan (we could use the tax break). If you still have not guessed and want to get in on it you have a couple days left. I will give my prediction tomorrow night so all of you will have to wait until then. We are close to being at the half way point and each day gets more exciting. I think it will feel more real once we find out the sex too, and once kati's belly gets bigger. Well since I will be posting tomorrow night that is it for now.

Lesson Learned

Blog Post by Kati:

Once upon a time there was a 27-year-old who was 18 weeks pregnant. She didn't have much food in her house so she ate a bowl of dry Rice Krispies and headed out to the grocery store an hour later for a quick trip...looking like a slob unshowered in a t-shirt and jeans. After a successful jaunt up and down the aisles and a cart full of good, healthy snacks she was waiting in line to check out. She started to feel a little weird- sort of dizzy- and decided to open one of the Powerades she was planning on purchasing to get a little sugar in her system. This girl knew what this feeling was (potentially), as she had fainted at least a dozen times in her life.

The very friendly check-out lady started ringing up her groceries and all of a sudden the girl knew it was going to happen- and passed out onto the floor. She woke up a few seconds later and the man in line behind her helped her get up. The check-out lady asked her if she was okay and the 27-year-old told her she just felt a little dizzy and proceeded to swipe her credit card. Uh oh...then passed out again. The same man helped her up, she signed her name on the credit card machine and...bam. Passed out again! By this time the paramedics had been called, and the store was in a tizzy. Managers were everywhere helping the girl move to a bench to sit and wait to get checked out. How embarrassing!

The paramedics arrived (four large, burly, hunky men) and all of the girl's vitals were normal and blood pressure was fine. Her mom and husband both showed up to rescue her, though her pride was wounded more than anything else.

After a quick trip to the doctor to make sure everything was okay (and she was, as was the baby!), the girl went home and took a long nap. But not before eating 2 different lunches and drinking more Powerade and water.

The girl's husband now has a new loving nickname for her now. Instead of "Fatty" he calls her "Fainty."

So the moral of the story is to not eat only dry Rice Krispies while growing another human. As the girl's mother said: "Your body is not your own anymore!"

The End.

Bell Pepper

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 18 Info:

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

We are in fact having our ultrasound this Wednesday and we are going to find out the sex of the baby! Hopefully he or she will cooperate. :) So, we'd like to start a list of everybody's predictions: Gender, Birth Date, and Birth Time. If you'd like to make a prediction and be included on our list, either comment on this post, email me (kati@twincitizen.net), or respond to the status I'll be posting on Facebook. Remember our official due date is December 25th. So choose your prediction carefully- the closest person will be named in our baby scrap book! :)

One of the biggest changes I have noticed this week is that my hair has started to go straight! But of course not all of it, so it is half curly and half straight. So it just looks weird. Oh well!

Have a great weekend, and remember to let me know your baby prediction!

Wedding Weekend!

Blog Post by Kati:

We are home from a whirlwind weekend in Rochester, NY. It was a really fun time, and so great for me to spend time with my college roomie, Melissa, who I don't see very often. Here are a selection of pictures from the weekend:

Here's me in my first maternity dress at the rehearsal:

Me and Chris at the rehearsal dinner:

Here I am with the lovely bride:

Walking down the aisle in my black dress:

And last but not least, a preggo bridesmaid belly shot:

Another exciting part about the trip was on our way home. As we were landing in Minneapolis, I think I felt the baby "flutter" a couple of times! It felt kind of bubbly...sort of strange. So I think that was what it was. I'm on tummy alert today to see if I can feel anything again! I thought it was pretty cool that the baby knew we were heading into our home town and was excited about it. :0)

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 17!

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

The baby is a turnip? Don't think I've ever had one of those. :)

We're having a blast in NY! Great hotel, comfy bed, leaving soon to get our hair done. :)

NY bound!

Blog Post by Kati:

Chris and I are heading out early tomorrow morning for Rochester, NY. I am going to be a bridesmaid in my dear friend/college roommate Melissa's wedding on Friday! I'm very excited to travel to a new place and take part in the fun wedding craziness! I was very lucky in that she wanted her bridesmaids to just find a black dress to wear (and yellow strappy sandals- love them!), so I didn't have to worry about fitting into a specific dress. I went shopping for a dress last Wednesday and found one I liked and bought it. It wasn't empire waist or flowy like I was expecting to find...it was more form fitting! I decided to flaunt the baby bump a little. But...on Sunday I tried the dress on again and it had gotten tighter in the 5 days, enough so that I knew I would be uncomfortable. So I went back to the store and THANKFULLY was able to find the same dress in the next size up. Whew! I didn't want to have to start a dress search all over again. I suppose I learned my lesson to not shop too early when I'm clearly growing bigger every day. :)

We'll be in NY until Sunday evening, and I'll be sure to post pictures next week!

Have a great weekend! Thanks for reading!

Belly Pic

Blog Post by Kati:

Baby bump at 16 weeks...it is there!

And here is June's picture again for comparison:

I was asked yesterday by a stranger if I was pregnant (lucky for that person I was able to say yes!) so I guess I really am "showing"... :) Still just feels like some extra pounds. Can't wait to feel the baby move!

Avocado!

Blog Post by Kati:

4 months in...hard to believe!

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Things are going well and I'm feeling really good. Such a difference from the first trimester! I made my first stop into the Motherhood Maternity store in Southdale just for fun. I bought a few tank tops and got a little "present" for the baby- a little bottle! So that was fun.

I've been taking group fitness classes at a great studio on Lydale (Thanks Bethany!) that have been awesome. Some of them involve dancing, others are step aerobics, some are all about strength and flexibility. All of them can be done at various levels, so I just do everything at the lowest level to keep my heart rate under where it is supposed to be. I'm also doing some pilates classes there that focus on pregnancy and will help me develop the muscles that I'll need to utilize for the birth, as well as help me get back in shape after the baby!

I've been told by a few people to post more belly pictures...and I will sometime soon. My camera battery is dead and I have dig out the charger. :)

Enjoy your weekend!

Holiday Festivities

Blog post by Kati:

We had a really fun 4th of July hanging out with my family. My sister Laura and her boyfriend Drew were in from Chicago, and my other sister Mari is home for the summer so it was great to be all together. Here are a few pictures:

Here's Chris doing a little light reading (If you can't tell, he's reading What to Expect When You're Expecting):



This one probably takes some explanation. The Henderson girls have always been able to stick out our stomachs to look pregnant- especially after large amounts of food. So now it is pretty funny that I actually am pregnant...but Laura can still look more pregnant than me!



And since I have the natural talent of making myself look pregnant after food, that combined with actually BEING pregnant, makes for a really big belly when I'm stuffed! :)

The fam at dinner...after spending an hour thinking of crazy Christmas baby names. Such as: Holly Polly, Joseph Jesus (JJ for short!), and many more I can't think of now.

All in all, it was a great weekend!

Apple

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 15 Info:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds.

Hard to believe it is week 15...these summer weeks are flying by! Had a busy day baking cookies, eating a delicious lunch at my parents' house and getting a pedicure with my mom and sisters...haha :) I think it is time for a nap!

Baby Clothes

Blog Post by Kati:

Well, I broke down and bought my first baby outfit over the weekend. It is fairly unisex newborn pajamas with little cartoon dogs all over it and it says "Doggone Cute" on a little patch on one side of the chest. And it has little doggies for the feet. So cute. It was like $5.00 so I couldn't resist. :)

Looks something like this:


I suppose I could have taken an actual picture of the outfit, but that would have required going upstairs, getting the camera out, taking the picture and transferring the picture on to the computer...somehow looking it up online seemed way easier. It is amazing how simple tasks can seem so arduous these days. I had about 5 baskets full of clean laundry sitting up outside our bedroom for like 5 days before I got the energy up to actually do something about it today.

As Chris said our doctor's appointment went well. We have our next ultrasound scheduled for July 29th, and our next visit on July 31st (Cathleen's birthday!). We are going to find out the gender, so hopefully the baby will cooperate and be in the right position that day.

Have I said yet how much I love maternity jeans? I have a couple of pairs now, and I love them. Not having to zip or button is great! The thought of restrictive clothing on my stomach is not nice, so I am all about the comfort clothes. Good thing I have the month off so I can get away with looking like a bum 85% of the time.

My sister Laura and her boyfriend Drew are coming to town this weekend! It will be the first time we've seen them since telling them our exciting news. I'm really looking forward to a weekend hanging out with the family!

Ok, it is 9:49pm and WAY past my bedtime. Gotta go...thanks for reading!