Happy Baby

I hope you won't mind another video post :) Robin is just growing and changing so fast that I have to capture it and share it with you. The little boy has been smiling and *laughing* at us lately. Ah, what a sight - it melts my heart!

1 month

Robin Everett turned 1 month old yesterday. I am amazed at how much he has changed already. He is getting heavier every day and has grown out of all his newborn clothes. He is starting to make happy sounds and has little conversations with us. And he loves to exercise his arms and legs as you will see in this video :)



By the way, April 14th, 2010 was a busy day. A baby was born, a baby turned 1 year old, 2 babies turned 1 month and Steve and Anna celebrated their 3rd wedding anniversary! Whew!

Easy to Follow Instructions

Making Weight

We found out at Robin's 2 week well child check that he has gained a pound over his birth weight - coming in at 7lbs 15oz. Nice work my son! I suppose the nearly non-stop nursing the past few days has accomplished something :) We joke that Robin is trying to make fightin' weight, so I thought you might enjoy this little video clip of him wearing his mittens a.k.a. boxing gloves.

2 weeks old

Robin is 2 weeks old today. The time has passed both slowly and much too fast. We are starting to settle into a bit of a routine around here - although I think I might be crazy thinking that I'll get any work on my thesis done in the next few weeks. Robin is a cuddly baby and doesn't like to nap unless someone is holding him. We'll indulge him for awhile :)







His 2 week check up is this coming Wednesday. We're hoping he will weigh in well over 7lbs since he was back at birth weight last Tuesday. We'll keep you updated!

Welcome to the World

Robin Everett Raines
Born Sunday March 14 at 7:17pm
Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz
Length: 19.5 in





Mom, Dad and baby are doing well. More updates and pictures to come!

9 months in pictures

Take it easy

Well, the past couple weeks have been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. My blood pressure is still high and creeping up. The doc is having me do twice weekly non-stress tests and once weekly ultrasounds to make sure that baby is happy and still growing well (high BP can compromise blood flow to the placenta). To our relief, little Chickie is doing really well. I feel so happy each time we get good results from these tests. Other than the high BP I haven't presented with any symptoms of preeclampsia, but they are keeping a very close eye on me since it can show up really fast. I started working half days last week to get more rest and I think I'll be working from home from now until the baby arrives to keep myself as healthy as possible.

Chickie is getting nice and cozy in my belly and I hope I can continue to be a good home until it's ready to come out and play :)

Smilin'

We are officially 4 weeks away from d-date today! Time is flying. Things have been going well, we are feeling like we've pretty much got everything set for the arrival of this munchkin. We talked over our birth plan with our doctor at the last visit and it is so great to know that all of us are on the same page. Barring any serious medical issues, we want to do this thing as naturally as possible. Because we are seeing family practice doctors instead of an OB, I feel like we are getting an experience closer to a midwife. We're alternating between 2 doctors, with a 95% chance of having one or the other at delivery and they are both totally on board with the way we want this birth to go. Yay!

A minor blip in this otherwise healthy pregnancy is that my blood pressure has been a bit elevated when I see the doc. It's been high-ish since early in pregnancy and I suspect has more to do with being at the doctor's office than anything malicious. But, because high blood pressure can be associated with some really dangerous conditions for mom and baby, the docs are having me do a few extra tests to make sure that our babe is growing and responding well. I had an ultrasound done yesterday to estimate baby's weight and how much amniotic fluid it's floating around in. We haven't received the final report, but baby was measuring 36 weeks + 2 or 3 days, so if anything it's a little ahead on the growth curve - yay! And as a bonus, we got another sneak peek of our little chickie with a smile on its face :)



I'll keep you updated on any more developments in the BP department, but at this point it looks like everything is a-ok.

Baby knits

I do apologize for being MIA this month. My energies for the past few weeks have been focused on preparing my exit seminar - a department wide talk that graduate students give toward the end of their degree - which was this past Thursday. I'm happy to report that seminar went well and gave me confidence that I will be able to graduate this spring :)

So for your viewing pleasure today, I thought I might share some of the knitted bits that I've been working on the past few weeks. I found that I can get quite a bit of knitting done on bus rides to and from campus. And of course, baby knits are the best because they are finished so quickly ;)

Tiny slippers to match the mittens at the top (or as Steve calls them - baby hand bags).



And a spring green leaf hat with stripy pants knit in a yarn called 'Apple Orchard' - how great is that! I thought this onesie looked too cute so I had to make an outfit of it.



If you are interested, the patterns I used are mostly found for FREE on a great knit & crochet site called Ravelry. I'm contemplating what project to start next, diaper cover or tiny sweater? Ah, this is too much fun!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Friends and Family! We have been having a peaceful, relaxing holiday. Christmas was spent in Florida with Anna's family, soaking in the sun and enjoying being outside without a coat and gloves (well at least for the northerners - Jess has been in Florida for too long and gets cold in 60 degree temps :)



It was nice to see so many colors in December when we're used to seeing only white and gray.



The sunset of the Solstice was blocked by clouds, but we were treated with a gorgeous sunset the following night on Casey Key.



Jessica decorated my belly with henna - including symbols for fertility and unity of mind, body and spirit.



A little ficus tree served as our Christmas tree and Steve and I received a special little ornament from my parents.





It's going to be a wonderful year!

A Snow Day

Last Wednesday old man Winter dropped 17 inches of snow on Madison. The university cancelled classes, the city buses weren't running and the news people told us to stay home. We happily complied and used the day to make tasty treats, work on Christmas cards and shovel a bit of snow (don't worry - we just scooped the little bit that fell after our neighbor used the snowblower :)

Ice Cream in November

The weather in Wisconsin this weekend was lovely. What a treat to have an almost-60-degree day so close to Thanksgiving! We took advantage of it by getting outside to throw the frisbee and football around yesterday, and today we rode our bikes to the Memorial Union for Babcock ice cream. Mmm, that ice cream is oh-so-good and it tasted even better given that we were eating it outside by the lake on a calm and mild November day.

A poll!

People have begun to make their guesses about the gender of our little babe, so I thought I'd make an experiment of it with a poll. You'll find it in the sidebar and you can only vote once. Will the odds be better than 50:50? Will your collective guessing powers be accurate? Can't wait to find out!

Happy Tidbits

Two unrelated but happy bits to share with you all today. First, Steve and I were so fortunate last week to be on the receiving end of the kindness of a stranger. A sweet woman (found on craigslist!) who is done having kids gave us no less than a co-sleeper bassinet, two sling carriers, and a mobile! We figured we could have spent upwards of $300 if we had bought this stuff new and quite a bit even for the used items as they were all in great condition. What a sweet gift for us. Kindness that makes the world seem right.

The second bit of news is less swarmy, but equally good. I was able to get an H1N1 shot at my regular Dr. appointment yesterday. From what I have read about this particular flu and the vaccine, I believe the benefits of immunity to this bug far outweigh any potential risks involved. I feel good knowing that I should be well protected when I enter the third trimester in 5 weeks, and that I should be able to pass on this protection to our little one when they arrive.

Baby is definitely making its presence known lately; kicking, rolling and twitching up a storm this week!

Peek-a-boo

We got a sneak peak of infant-to-be on Friday :) The ultrasound was truly amazing. You can see so much with this technology these days! Our tech found and measured the head, abdomen, spine, long bones in the arms and legs, kidneys, bladder, stomach, and the heart with all 4 chambers. Everything was measuring right on - its heart was beating 156 bpm and babe is weighing in at about 367 grams (about 13 oz). We had to wait a few minutes for the baby to flip so we could take a look at its face, but it was very cooperative and gave us these great profile shots:
It's looking so much like a full size infant, that we can hardly wait to hold him/her (yep, we kept the gender a surprise) in our arms. Here we are on Halloween - the proud parents-to-be :)

Kickin' it

I am very excited to report that I have been feeling definite movement from the babe lately! The first day I knew without a doubt that I was feeling baby was last Monday. That put me at almost 18 weeks, which is just about the time most women report feeling movement in a first pregnancy. So far it seems like this little one likes to be very average - which the doctor tells us is exactly where you want it to be :)

Since then I've been feeling little flutters here and there, and once in awhile something stronger that must be a good kick. I figure this kid probably has long legs, so I should probably get used to the kicking!

Looking for a little clip-art to go along with this post, I found this cute/scary (you decide) Baby Kick Maternity T-shirt. Very ninja-like.

Hobbies

Weekends have been dedicated to our hobbies lately. We are both so busy during the week - with work, volleyball games and other commitments - that it is a real treat to relax a bit and do the things we really want to do when the weekend rolls around. Steve brewed a few batches of beer in the last few weekends, including one that will age for several months. It's a low alcohol porter-style beer that he's dubbing 'Big Baby Porter' - as it will be done cooking just about the same time as the baby. Which, of course, I'm pretty happy about since that means I'll be able to partake :)
Much of my free weekend time has been spent getting back into knitting after a summer sabbatical. I've been especially fond of knitting hats, because their round, compact shape makes for such a nice and neat little project. And because everyone likes a good hat, right? My first project was a hat for Steve. I had to make sure I did this one first before I get enveloped in the wonderful world of baby knits. (More on that later, to be sure). It's called a Watchcap and has been quite nice for these brisk fall days we've been having lately. I smile every time I see him wear it :)
Hope you all are finding little bits of time to pursue your hobbies as the weather gets cooler!

The belly

Well, I suppose it's about time to post a belly pic here. Over the past few weeks my pants have gotten pretty tight. I think it's safe to say I've got a little belly going. It's exciting to experience this change - a true outward sign that our little bean is growing :)

Here is a 15 week picture:
And for comparison, a picture at 5 weeks, just after we found out:

Travels & Treasures

We had such a nice time on our *little* road trip last week. Perfect weather for camping and hiking near the shore of Lake Superior. While in the UP, we stayed at Porcupine Mountains State Park in a secluded campground, on a cliff overlooking Lake Superior. We walked along the shore and found several chairs made from the large flat stones that littered the beach. The pic below is Steve relaxing on one of the stone chairs at sunset. So peaceful.

The next night we stayed at the cutest B&B in Au Train, MI. What a treat to sleep in a soft bed and be waited on by a gracious host. It was a quick drive from the B&B to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, where we hiked down to a beautiful, secluded beach. The water was cold and refreshing and the smooth rocks in the shallows were a rainbow of colors.

The trip culminated last weekend with the wedding of one of my very best friends. It was so nice to spend the day with friends and celebrating love. Fun, silliness, and shutter shades - what more can you ask for? Love you Melis.