5 month update - Everett's first Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope everyone had a good holiday, we certainly did! We spent our Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day with our friends and family, eating well and watching holiday movies. Christmas morning, our little family started our first traditions - present opening and a fancy homemade breakfast (ie, not cold cereal for a change). Thanks to our very generous loved ones, Everett had many gifts to open. While he was too young to understand what was going on, we were able to get him to rip away at the wrapping paper - though he spent more time trying to eat the packages than open them. :)


Everett then celebrated his 5-month birthday the day after Christmas. Everett started rolling over from back to stomach about 2 weeks ago, and for a while forgot how to go from stomach to back - but now he can roll freely in every direction. Along with being able to roll onto his stomach, we felt safe letting Everett sleep on his stomach - which coincided with him sleeping much better. With very little training (crying), on a good night, the little boy is now sleeping 11-12 hours a night with usually only one wake up at 3 or 4am to eat, with a final wake up time from 6 or 7am. Naps took a little more patience, but now EJ is usually able to soothe himself to sleep in 5-10 minutes, and then stay asleep for 1 to 1.5 hours, 3 times a day. It's amazing how much more we were able to get done during the day when you don't have to carry him for all his naps. I feel much more relieved that Everett can nap by himself now since he's going to daycare.


It's amazing to watch and see how much he changes every day. Everett has taken a lot more interest in his toys, especially things that rattle and spin. He is able to entertain himself for longer periods of time, and even enjoys tummy time now (finally!). He's constantly grabbing at things and turning things over in his hands, followed by chewing on stuff. It's usually not too much trouble, except for when Everett tries to grab and suck on his toes while we're giving him a bath! EJ's not ready to sit up by himself, but he is preparing to crawl. He can push up onto his hands and knees and will push himself backwards. If he wants to get to a toy, he'll roll or pull himself sideways. Looks like we're going to have to baby-proof the house soon!


We're looking forward to 2011 with our little boy, the new year is sure to bring a lot more exciting changes as Everett gets older!

12/27/10 update

19 week (belated 4 month) update

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the delay in updating... I've been back to work for a month now and the catching-up never seems to end! While I'm sitting here at my desk, I'm constantly reminded throughout the day of how I am super jealous of Eric who is on leave and gets to spend his mornings like this:


and spending his days with our cute, giggly little boy. (It's cute how often I find them doing striking similar poses, even in their sleep - Everett really is Eric's "mini-me") . Eric's been super-dad to Everett. He's so patient with Everett, and he finds new ways to make him giggle and laugh every day. Eric's staying home with Everett until the week after Christmas, at which point I'll be home for the week and Everett will then start daycare on January 3rd. It's coming up so fast!

Everett had his 4 month check-up last week and he's weighing in at 15.2 lbs and measuring 25 inches tall. EJ got his 4mo booster shots and Eric said he handled them like a champ and only cried a little bit. He's back to the 50th percentile for both height and weight. They say on average that babies double their birth weight by 6 months and triple it by one year. Everett is ahead of schedule, but not gaining weight as fast as he did the first 2 months. Lengthwise, I knew my little baby was getting bigger, but it's getting really obvious now that he's grown 6 inches since birth. His feet almost hang over the side of the rocking chair while I feed him, and his 3 month pants fit more like capri pants now. Everett is just starting to wear his 6 month clothes now, although the tops are a bit baggy and the pants are a little bit long - he just looks a little bit asian ghetto stylin' :)

Everett still hasn't learned to enjoy tummy time, and is lazy about flipping over although he can do so more easily when he puts his mind to it. He's starting to prepare himself for flipping over from back-to-front, he gets about half-way there and would be almost over with a kick of the legs. Now that his upper body is getting a lot stronger, we have him doing more activities sitting up, like in his Bumbo:


The first time we put him in this chair, I just laughed and laughed he looked so funny. He's not comfortable sitting in there for long since it's more of a padded bucket than a seat. After a couple minutes he'll start arching to push himself out.

What he does love is to be in his jumperoo. He'll jump and squeal with happiness, spin around and play with all the toys... it's a good babysitter:


Except he's not quite tall and heavy enough to touch the ground... so we had to modify the set-up a little by putting a box under his feet like this:


Yes... that's a box of kitty litter. I did find another box that was better suited later on :)

The days have gone by fast the last month. We've all taken turns being sick a couple times this past month. First we all had a stomach bug, which thankfully Everett only seemed to get a mild version which resulted in him refusing to eat as often as he should for about 5 days - but he never got dehydrated, thank goodness. And just this past week, we've all had a bit of a cold. Everett's nose went from being runny to being very stuffed up - so much so that we had to aspirate his nose every time he needed to eat, but luckily his appetite wasn't affected. Sleep-wise, Everett went from sleeping 7-8 hrs continuously to going to bed at 9pm-ish, waking up at 3am, and then again at 6am... it's been rough with me being back at work full time and having to wake up twice early morning to feed him. The doctor said we could try and wean him off the 3am feeding when Everett gets closer to 6 months of age.

It's also been a busy month at the house. Eric has been working on the weekends to wrap up our new wood floors, they're almost done! We spent Thanksgiving at my grandmother's care home in Escondido to celebrate with my aunts and uncles on my Dad's side. We also put up our Christmas decorations this weekend, went and bought a tree and strung up some lights and garlands. We're sad that this will be our first Christmas away from our family in Illinois, but also excited to be starting a new tradition with our new little family. Christmas pictures will be the next update! Until then, enjoy these photos:

update 12-06-2010

Happy Halloween!

My Uncle Mark says I looked like a carrot instead of a pumpkin :)

3 month update - rolling over!

Everett turned 3 months today! And he started rolling over! Today was Eric's first day watching him solo (I'm out of town for a whirlwind business trip) and Everett rewarded him with hitting a big milestone today. Eric said he placed him on his back and he kicked and flipped himself over. Thinking it was a mistake, Eric put him back on his back and saw a repeat performance! The little boy never did like tummy time, and now he'll never have to spend any time on his stomach unless he wants to. Video to follow soon...

In the picture link, you'll see that Everett likes doing his ab exercises, getting ready to flip from stomach to back. If you put him sitting in his boppy pillow, he spends the whole time trying to sit up and eventually doing one long stomach crunch just frustrates him and he'll cry to be put flat on his back. If you use the boppy to do tummy time, he'll launch himself over the top with his constantly kicking legs and face plant himself into the ground... so I think we're going to have to call it quits doing activities with the boppy!

Everett still isn't grabbing onto things by himself yet. He'll hold onto toys if you put them in his hands and bring them to his mouth to try and eat them. He'll swing at his toys on his playmat, and he really wants to hold onto them but hasn't quite got the coordination down. So far the only things he's good at grabbing are his hair (leading to bald spots!) and clasping his hands together like a little opera singer.

Our little boy is also a giggle machine. He loves sitting on his dad's stomach, and thinks it's hilarious when you clap his hands together. Also, saying "Yay, Everett!" is a pretty sure fire way to get a laugh or smile out of him if he's well rested - which is great for getting some good pictures.

Everett's happy, so we're happy.

And here are the pictures to prove it :)

10/26/10 update

11 week update

Hi Everyone!

Everett had his 2 month appointment on October 6th. His measurements confirmed that the little babe is growing up a LOT. At birth, he was in the 25th percentile for height and weight and now at his 2 month appointment he's jumped over the 75th percentile. He's 23.5 inches long and 12 lbs 13 oz. Since his last doctor appointment at 1 month, Everett gained 3 lbs again - so the little boy is definitely eating really well. Everett's thighs look enormous (like white turkey drumsticks!) and he's got multiple chins :-). He's fitting well into his 3 month clothes with a little bit more room to grow into, but his legs are so fat that I'm having trouble finding socks that will stay on his feet but not cut off circulation.

At his doctor's appointment, the doctor checked his head shape and Everett's not in any danger of getting a flat head - which I knew since he tosses and turns throughout the night and is constantly moving his head. Everett's also got a strong neck, the doctor pulled him up from lying down to a sitting position and he held his head steady and didn't let it flop back - which she said was a milestone that usually isn't achieved until around 4 months. Also, although his appointment was at naptime, Everett was very attentive and cooing at his pediatrician the entire time - proving that he's hitting all his important milestones on time.

Everett then got his vaccinations, 1 orally and 3 shots. The nurse was great and moved very quickly so by the time Everett screamed from the first injection (and man, did he turn super red!) the nurse got the other shots done before he even took a breath to scream again. He whimpered a little bit while I got him dressed, but by the time we walked out to the elevators he was fast asleep. Everett took a couple longer naps during the afternoon but had no other ill effects from the vaccinations (ie, no fever, fussiness, etc) except leg soreness at the injection sites that bothered him during diaper changes. What a champ, he's a tough little boy!

Here's a G-rated photo from his appointment, unhappy that he's naked and not being carried:



For other updates, Everett's started to get very particular about getting put down. He likes to be on his back to play on his playmat, where he could spend hours. He has, however, decided that he doesn't like to do tummy time on his playmat - he'll fuss after 5 minutes and want to be turned over to play on his back. He'll only agree to do tummy time for longer if he's laying on mommy or daddy's stomach - which is fine by us since he's so darn cute when he plays with us :-).

Everett also does not like to be put down for naps - it's very rare that we can get him to sleep unless he's being carried. All the books says it's impossible to spoil a baby under 4 months, but that's what all the signs are pointing to! Everett will nap in his baby carrier and in our arms most of the time. I mentioned this to his pediatrician, and she said it might just be easier to let him nap and get his much needed sleep while carried instead of wasting time fighting with him and letting him cry trying to put him down in his crib. He's napping in my arms right now as I type this! I'm just thankful Everett doesn't need to be carried to sleep at night.

At nighttime, Everett is now sleeping in 6.5 - 7 hour stretches. Every once in a while he will get up at 4am and fuss a little bit, but will usually go back to sleep quickly. Now, just because Everett is sleeping 6.5 - 7 hours straight, that doesn't mean that I am. Everett is a really NOISY sleeper. From 3am to 6am, Everett will grunt and sigh very loudly and toss and turn, even though he's pretty soundly asleep. I'll wake up when I hear him on the monitor and watch to make sure I don't need to go and soothe him back to sleep, and this happens every 30 minutes or so - ensuring that I'm still pretty tired when his day starts at 6am.

Overall, Everett is very happy baby. He loves to coo and chat with people, which makes him a big hit with the relatives at parties. He smiles and laughs a lot. He's especially happy now that he's learned how to get his fists to his mouth to suck on, and he's starting to reach out and either bat or grab onto his favorite toys on his playmat - which gets him really excited.

I go back to work in 3 weeks - too soon! I'm jealous that Eric will get to be home with the Everett for 7 weeks, especially since he's so much more interactive now. Sigh.

Here are some more pictures of Everett to tide everyone over until the next post. Take care until then!

10/11/10 update

8 Week Update!

Just as I was starting to worry that Everett wasn't meeting his milestones, I went to go get him from the crib yesterday morning and the little guy waited until exactly on his 8 week birthday to start smiling at us. He normally doesn't like waking up to find himself swaddled tightly, but this morning was different - he was cooing, laughing and smiling like crazy. Up until now, his smiles have been random (and probably gas related) but for sure this was the real deal. See exhibit A below:


Everett's neck is definitely getting strong so his head isn't flopping all over the place anymore, and he's been holding his head up for longer periods of time when you put him on his tummy. He'll reach out occasionally to grab at the toys on his mat when you put him on his back, but still would rather stare and talk to them.

Some more pictures and a couple short videos (I don't have any really good videos yet of him "talking" with us, so I'll just have to keep trying and remember to keep the recorder handy!)

update 09/18/10

Everett's 2-month appointment is a little late, Oct 6th - that'll be our next update. Not looking forward to his first big round of vaccinations...

Love,
Kristine

1 month update

Everett had his 1-month birthday on Thursday. Looking back through pictures, I can't believe how different he already looks! He had a doctor's visit and is weighing in now at 9 lbs 12 oz... we knew he was gaining a lot of weight since his newborn clothes no longer fit him and we had to bump him up to the next size and diapers, but I was not expecting to hear that he had gained almost 3 lbs from his last doctor visit (he started at 7 lbs 1 oz and then lost some weight to 6 lbs 14 oz, as expected, the next couple days after leaving the hospital). Then again, I guess I shouldn't have been that surprised, the little guy sure does like his milk, and he likes to drink it often!

Milestone-wise, his neck is getting stronger - he can carry his head a little better and if he lays on our chests, he likes to push himself up and look around. He's just started to focus on things, and likes to look in mirrors. Every once in a while, he will coo at you when you talk to him... all little things, but all really exciting to us!

Everett feeds about every 1.5-2 hrs during the daytime, and every 3-4 hours at night. I've been pumping once daily so that Eric can help out with one nighttime feeding. It took a couple trial runs with different bottles, but we finally found one that works (ie, the nipple flow isn't too fast, so the baby isn't sputtering or dribbling when too much milk comes out). From the bottle, Everett drinks about 3 oz in 25 minutes. Eric's glad he gets to share in the feeding-bonding time, and I'm thankful that I can get a little extra rest at night.

My mom was here for 12 days, she just went back to Chicago this morning. Boy, was it awesome having her here! Everett loved being carried around by Grandma Elsie, she learned the secret of soothing him to sleep by stroking the hair by his ear, and calming a fussy baby by carrying him while doing her physical therapy leg strengthening exercises :). And, in addition to being super-grandma, she helped replant our garden and also made all my favorite Filipino foods - my freezer is nicely stocked in case I crave some more homemade cooking in the months to come. I'm a little afraid of how I'm going to take care of everything now that she's not here to help me out... we'll have to find a way to manage. We all miss her already, especially Everett.

Uncle Mark is also here. Little Everett amuses him with his funny faces and noises, and will only let his Uncle carry him when he's sleeping :). Don't worry Mark, the next time you visit us, your nephew will be a whole lot more fun!

While my mom was here, we also went to go visit Great-grandma Prisca a couple times. My grandma is having a hard time remembering our names these days, but she seemed to remember me and was very excited by the baby. All the ladies in the care home were happy when Everett came by to visit and eat lunch with them. By the last day, Great-grandma felt strong enough to carry Everett for a short while and she kept commenting "nadagsén!" or "he's heavy!" while she cuddled with him and kissed his head.

Next week, Grandma Heesook, Grandpa Sungbae, and Gomo Anne (I can't remember the long Korean names for Grandma/Grandpa!) will be here to visit us - Everett is excited to finally meet all of you :)

Here is a picture of Everett sleeping peacefully with Daddy from the beginning of August, it's amazing how much he's grown up already!


And here's a link to a couple more photos:

update 8/27/10

38 Weeks and Nursery

Hi Everyone!

I know I've been lazy at updating the blog. Aside from wishing I had taken weekly, or at least monthly, pictures to keep track of how huge I'm getting - there really hasn't been much to update.

The pregnancy has been going smoothly, the little baby boy regularly kicks like a soccer champ, I've been gaining weight and measuring at the doctor specified rates, and we've been trying to get the house cleaned and reorganized for the arrival of the little one and all the family to follow. Baby-wise,

I don't get anymore full ultrasounds for the remainder of the pregnancy. They check the baby's heartbeat every week, and then I did get scanned very quickly the past couple visits to make sure the levels of amniotic fluid are where they should be, and also to confirm that the baby is head down - which he is, and happily reminds me whenever I get punched in the bladder! I get kicked in the ribs a lot... actually the baby makes me have better posture since I have to sit up straight to avoid getting kicked hard.

At the latest doctor visit, I was measuring at 3 cm dilated, and supposedly my belly has dropped. I was excited and thought that I'd be going into labor early, but then when I went to read up on the subject, being dilated early doesn't always equal early delivery or faster labor (which I was . I still think I'm carrying high, but Eric and others have commented that my belly definitely looks different. Supposedly I look tiny for 38 weeks... but I think that's just a polite thing to say to pregnant woman, because I definitely don't feel tiny! I've gained about 33 lbs and haven't had any weight gain the past couple weeks (and I've been going to the doctor weekly now for the past 3 weeks) I'll let you judge for yourselves: I'm still pretty mobile, haven't had too many issues with swelling or any other pregnant discomforts. I think it helps out a lot that I'm still exercising, though really low intensity. My back gets sore occasionally, and I can't stay away from salt for too long - so when I indulge (yum, pizza!) I pay for it in the evenings, but is solved easily enough with propping my feet up and drinking tons of water.

It's hard to believe my last day at work is going to be tomorrow. I almost feel a little guilty taking off before my due date since I've been able to manage pretty well at my desk all day, just feel a little bit tired towards the end of the day - but who doesn't feel like that? For the most part I'll be spending my last couple free days straightening up around the house and relaxing, although work has already asked if I could call in for a couple meetings over the next week.

We've pretty much finished working on the nursery and we wanted to show you the final product - even though you'll see the room for yourselves in the next month or so. So I'll stop blabbering for now, enjoy the rest of the pictures.

We're getting close, take care for now!

Love, Kristine

3-D Ultrasound

I had my follow-up ultrasound scan on Monday. The EIF (echogenic intracardiac focus) was still visible, but the referral doctor that we saw assured us that this finding was nothing to be concerned about - especially given the stellar numbers that I had gotten for my first and second trimester screen. It's hard sometimes not to worry, especially because I'm a constant worrier, but since there's nothing that we can do at this point - just have to hope for the best!

The ultrasound tech was using a new instrument when we went in. Downside, I had to lay there for almost an hour while the tech played with her new toy, figuring out contrast, etc. Upside , we got some 3-D shots of our baby - most of them are strange looking because the baby wouldn't stop moving or hiding his face. I'm jealous of all those people who have pristine ultrasound pictures, our baby is just plain uncooperative when you try and take pictures... he's going to have to get used to the attention because I'm already snap-happy with my camera as it is! Okay, here are the pictures:

Here's our boy already showing off his biceps. You can see his arm flexed in the center of the picture, and it looks like he's resting his forehead on his fist. You can also make out a little pout on his face if you look close enough.


And here's a picture of his legs crossed, you can see the outline of one leg and one foot pretty clearly. There's also an arm reaching down and it looks like his hand is resting on his knee:


Put the two pictures together, and it our baby probably resembles Rodan's Thinking Man in the womb. Haha (again, we can see that the Munar humor gene skipped me somehow).



The baby was sitting breach during the ultrasound, which I could have told everyone that before they even looked for the baby. I get some really strong kicks regularly through the day about 4 inches below my belly button. The tech was trying to get the baby to move to a more favorable position by jiggling my tummy with the wand, and instead of moving, the baby would just kick me in retaliation. Eric likes this trick, and has now taken to shaking my tummy and then quickly putting his hand on my tummy to see if he can get rewarded with a kick. Our baby's definitely inherited soccer genes from his dad.



I think this will probably be the last of the ultrasounds that I will have pictures to post from. The rest of the posts will probably be related to boring stuff like getting the nursery ready and of my growing tummy - until our baby makes his grand appearance.



Until next time, take care!

20 weeks!

Today was the 20-week ultrasound, the big anatomy scan... and the big news that everyone has been waiting for: it's a BOY! :-) Our little boy was shy about showing his face, but definitely not shy in letting us know that we are definitely carrying a male!

Here are some of the ultrasound pics, not the best quality since ultrasound tech was having a hard time trying to catch pictures in between the baby moving his hands to hide his face and stretching out to grab his toes.

The first one is a profile shot, top of the head to the left, the nose and chin juts out a little, and you can see a tiny clenched fist floating in the middle:

The second scan shows the baby's face straight on, though there isn't much too see... just the roundness of the top of the skull off to the right, the baby's chin and some shadows where the facial features are. You can also see the round spot near the top is another clenched fist:


For the most part, everything in the scan read normally. The baby weighs approximately 12 ounces, and according to Babycenter.com. measures the length of a banana. The doctor did point out a echogenic focus in the heart, which showed up as a tiny white spot in one of the scans. She referred to the spot as a "soft" marker which may indicate a potential for an chromosomal abnormality, but she stressed very strongly that it was likely nothing - especially in the absence of any other "hard" or "soft" markers, and also this marker looks to be the most frequently spotted - and usually non-indicative of any further issues. Since she's a conservative doctor, I am going in for another comprehensive ultrasound in 2 weeks at another facility, and I'll provide an update then.

Other baby news, we finally felt our first kicks yesterday. Supposedly women are able to feel their baby around 18 weeks, so I've been waiting and waiting and mistaking gas (haha) and stomach rumbling as a kick. Yesterday though, I was getting some strong, solid jabs from the baby in my lower abdomen that Eric could feel as well. I'm looking forward to being able to feel the baby more as the weeks go by.

We're starting now to plan out the nursery and other home improvement jobs that we'll need to do before the baby comes. Also looming on our "to do" list includes figuring out what to do about daycare... I'm definitely starting to feel time go by faster, though only panicking slightly - I promise!

There's not much to update on my front, I feel great aside from the occasionally bouts of heart burn. I'll leave you with a picture of my 5-month belly, taken this morning. I'm in full on maternity pants now, but am still in denial about wearing my "tent"-like maternity tops...


Take care everyone! I'll update again in a couple weeks after my follow-up ultrasound.

Kristine

16 Weeks!

Hi Everyone!

We've hit the 16 week mark :-). I had another appointment this morning and thought that we had an ultrasound planned today, so I made Eric take the morning off of work to accompany me... turns out that we were just doing another cervical measurement and a regular, boring exam. BUT the tech was kind enough to do a scan of the baby for us (probably also because she felt bad that Eric got dragged along).

The baby was being shy, and the only really good view we got was of the baby's back/spine. A little maneuvering and we got part of the baby's head (off to the left below), an arm (white line in the center), and an upper thigh. The white band at the bottom is the baby's spine.


We have the big 20 week anatomy scan at our next visit, and we're definitely going to find out the sex of the baby. Based on old wives' tales, all signs point to a girl. These are sayings like "if you're craving sugar instead of salt, you're having a girl." There are a whole bunch of them, and majority favor a girl (soft hands vs. dry, favoring your right side to sleep vs. left side, extreme nausea vs. morning sickness free, heart rate > 150 bpm, etc). Guess we'll just have to wait and find out for sure in a month! In the meantime, we're busy thinking up names - but nothing for sure yet, obviously.

I haven't noticed the baby kicking yet, I've been told it might be a little too early. Every once in a while I think I feel something, but it's probably just gas. :-O

We went around last weekend to start looking at baby furniture. We're probably going to get a majority of it from Ikea. The nursery will be in what's currently the office, so the plan is to move the computer to our bedroom and bookshelves and television into the guest room. The work that needs to be done to the room is fairly minimal, probably just an accent wall of paint, some new wall shelves, and a ceiling fan (calling an electrician for that one!).

Updates for me: the fatigue and nausea have definitely tapered off - hooray! I'm still not feeling as energetic as I was pre-pregnancy, but at least I can make it through the work day without nodding off at my desk and can exercise fairly regularly. The doctor looked at the cervical measurements and said we probably won't have to worry about any cervical shortening for the rest of the pregnancy, another hooray! I'm having some issues getting a good night's sleep due to aching shoulders and hips from having to sleep on my side - I'm used to sleeping on my stomach or back. Oh well, at least I'm finally able to sleep on the bed again... I had resorted to sleeping on the sofa because the bed was so uncomfortable to me (i.e. felt like I was sleeping on a slag of rock). We ended up having to buy a memory foam pad which definitely improved things, but Eric is now suspecting that it may be causing him to wake up with a stiff neck - which I hope is not the case. We're a definite candidate for a Sleep Number bed in the future, haha.

Weight-wise, I've put on about 8-10 lbs. They say a woman should gain 5 lbs in the first 12 weeks, and then a pound every week until the end of pregnancy, so I'm pretty much right on target. When I hit 15 weeks, it was instantaneous that I was no longer able to fit into any of my pants - I had officially "popped". We did a quick run to Old Navy and got some jeans for me a size up from what I normally wear, and this last weekend we did some shopping at Target to expand my maternity wardrobe. Shopping for maternity clothes is not fun, especially when you have to evaluate every piece of clothing and think "is this going to fit me in a couple months when I'm the size of a house?" Anyways, here's a belly shot of me from this morning. I've got a little pot belly and people can tell now that I'm pregnant when I wear form fitting clothing.


Those are all my updates for now. The next post at 20 weeks will definitely be much more exciting. Until then, everyone take care!

First post... we've arrived at 12 weeks!

Hi Everyone!

I hope y'all don't find the feel of this blog to be too impersonal - I just figured it would be the best way to share as much baby progress information with all our family and friends. I've noticed as I tell a story over and over again, I begin to forget bits and pieces - which I've been told will get worse (dreaded pregnancy brain!) so to get all the details down in one go seemed like a good idea. I hope to update once a week and I'll send an e-mail reminder to family to check the blog after each update - let me know if you'd like to be added onto the list.

Anyways - onto the good stuff! Here's a close up of the baby's face profile:

And here's a zoomed out head to toe picture of the baby:

Baby Kimbap was moving around and waving at us all throughout the ultrasound. The baby's heartbeat was nice and strong (156 beats/min) and is right on target for growth rate. According to www.babycenter.com, the baby is about the size of a lime, 2 inches long and weighing about 1/2 oz. :-)

The doctor visit went pretty well... it looks like I've gained about 3 lbs so far, and while my waist is getting a little thicker - I'm not really showing yet and all my clothes still fit okay. We went over family medical histories, and then both Eric and I had our blood drawn - me for some additional screening and Eric to make sure he's not a carrier for thalassemia (which I've already tested negative for), a blood disorder that is prevalent in the Asian population. At my first visit at 8 weeks, there had been some earlier concern about cervical shortening for me - which if it does occur throughout a pregnancy can lead to 2nd trimester miscarriage and a doctor will try to circumvent the complication by putting in a safety stitch to close the cervix (cerclage). I had some measurements taken during the ultrasound, and everything came back A-OK! No need for safety stitches - big sigh of relief!

The doctor also reminded us that Eric is responsible for cleaning up after Sydney cat since cat litter is hands off for pregnant ladies. Side note: Sydney will give the most affection to whoever feeds her, and she has already learned to follow Eric around and yell at him if her meals are ever delayed. haha.

Other Kristine updates outside the doctor's visit... I am feeling a lot less fatigue and nausea these past couple weeks. I still go to bed a lot earlier than I used to (usually pretty tired by 9pm) but at least I'm not falling asleep as soon as I get in from work anymore. The nausea still cycles between light and intense, but it's no longer happening every single night. Thankfully my aversion to chicken has ended, but my craving for really sweet food hasn't stopped yet. Hopefully these baby cravings don't lead to any new cavities. Eric had been doing most of the cooking (and cleaning) these past couple weeks - and I'm sure he's excited that I'm getting some energy back to be able to start helping with meal preparation. He was shocked the other day when I actually made him lunch. Granted, because I'm usually starving, I end up eating as I'm cooking and then he ends up having to eat by himself. More energy also means that I'm also finally going to be able to start exercising regularly again. The doc cautioned that I need to keep my heart rate under 140 beats/min, which is a little tough since it doesn't take too much exertion to get my heart rate up, and it doesn't really feel like I'm doing any exercising at that point - but at least it's something, right?

Aside from those of you reading this post, we haven't told any other family or friends that we're expecting yet. We will probably wait another week before we make the big announcement to everyone.

Alright, that's all for now. I bet all this information was all you ever wanted to know, and probably a little too much more on top of that - I told you I was wordy!

Take care all you future grandparents, aunts and uncles [and "fake" aunts and uncles:-)]!