Alyssa's first Christmas

What a whirlwind this Christmas season has been and oh how different. Before Alyssa was born, I was apprehensive about how life would change, but Aaron always reminded me that it would change for the better. I can definitely say we enjoyed Christmas in a much different way this year.

Instead of doing holiday shopping on my own, I had a constant companion this year. Together, Alyssa and I did most of the Christmas shopping. While getting her in and out of the car was cumbersome at times, I've begun asking myself how I ever shopped without a stroller. Shopping gave us an excuse to get out of the house and move a little since it's been too cold to go out for walks as of late. Alyssa also observed me as I baked several different kinds of cookies. We even tried out a few new recipes, a couple of which are definite keepers! I look forward to the day when she can help mix up the ingredients and decorate the cookies herself.

We spent Christmas Eve and day with the Menkes. Alyssa finally got to meet her Aunt Sarah and got lots of love from all of her family. We went to Christmas mass at Jordan late Christmas eve afternoon, and thank goodness it was a family mass. Alyssa needed two diaper changes and to be fed all in slightly over an hour! I felt like I needed to go to another service as I was so focused on taking care of her :)

We exchanged names within Aaron's family, and I think almost everyone knew who had each name, even though it was supposed to be a secret. I think everyone was just so excited to find the perfect gifts for one another, one of the true delights of Christmas. Alyssa was really at the center of the celebration though. Reflecting on the day I realized that our yearly individual photos were not individual this year, each of us took turns getting our picture with Alyssa, and at the beginning of the Christmas video, someone exclaimed "Look what we got this year!" and held Alyssa up for the camera.

Aaron and I had to wait to exchange gifts until later Christmas night when we made it home. Alyssa got us both a few gifts - Aaron was excited to have a mug with photos of Alyssa to drink his coffee out of and I was excited to receive a jogger stroller. I think Aaron will get to use his gift before me though!

My parents and Wally and Dena all arrived on the 27th. I picked the four of them up at the airport and then the race was on to see who would hold Alyssa first - Wally won, waking her up from her mid-morning nap. After we all tore through our presents, we were able to just enjoy our four days together as a family.

While everyone was in town we had Alyssa baptized at St. Bonaventure Catholic Church, which is the church at which Aaron and I worship. Baptism was held after mass, but it was a really special ceremony, I didn't realized how much it meant to me to be baptized. Alyssa was pretty fussy during the baptism because she was hungry (she made it through mass, but another 45 minutes was pushing it!). She didn't cry at all when the priest poured the water over her head, but during most of the rest of the baptism ceremony we had a pacifier in her. The funniest part is that she spit it out during the last prayer/blessings and the priest made a joke about making sure we got her candle and her pacifier from the altar! Afterward, we enjoyed having both families eat and spend the afternoon together.

During the whole Christmas season, I've been able to do a lot of reflecting and many different questions have resonated with me. At Christmas eve mass, the priest asked why did God send Jesus as a baby and one of the reasons he gave was because everyone loves a baby, and it's so true. Babies are such a blessing and so innocent, free of all the influences of the world. One of the things I was struck by during the past week or so was how much Alyssa is loved by all of her family. She was just showered with affection all week, and even though she is so young yet, I can tell the she loves all of her family. The smiles and giggles she gives to everyone tells us how happy she is.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking about Baby Jesus and Mary. I now understand how hard it must have been for God to send Jesus to us, and how much he must love us to do so. I also have been thinking about how we should prepare for Jesus' birth/arrival; if only we spent as much time preparing for his arrival as we do preparing for the birth of our own children. For he truly is the gift and what we should be most excited about receiving. Finally, I've been thinking about how Mary must have felt; she must have had such a different experience than most mothers for some of my biggest questions are about Alyssa's future (What will she be like? What will she be? etc.), she already had answered. She knew that her son would save us all and that he would be King. I can't imagine knowing that from the very beginning...

Alyssa is now almost two months old and she's changed so much. Aaron thinks she's changing her looks to look more like me (I still have trouble identifying either of us in her!), and she's also becoming much more alert. She is now giggling, smiling and cooing with some frequency. When I'm feeling a little grumpy, one of her smiles can lift my spirits. She is such a happy baby and loves interacting with people. She's squirming around in a more controlled way and is generally just getting bigger. I got on the scale with her the other day, and if our scale is right, she's about 13 pounds! We go to the doctor on January 8, so we'll see then just how much she has grown, but the fact that she's outgrowing some of her outfits leaves no doubt in our mind that she's growing by leaps and bounds. We'll give you an update after that next doctor's visit, but in the meantime the three of us wish you all a very happy 2009. May it be filled with love, laughter, and many blessings -

We give thanks

Thanksgiving was a time for us to reflect on how truly blessed we are. Aaron and I are both very thankful for the joy that Alyssa has brought to our lives and the fact that she's a healthy baby. We were so fortunate to have had a healthy pregnancy, safe labor and delivery, and now a beautiful little girl. We are also thankful for the continual love, support, and prayers of all our family and friends.

We spent Thanksgiving with Aaron's immediate family, the Krautkremer family, and Uncle Bob. It was a fun day spent eating, laughing and playing games. Alyssa was the center of attention during much of the day, making her entrance in her "little turkey" Thanksgiving outfit. Many thanks to Brian and Renee for hosting the gathering and for all the yummy food! We left a few pounds heavier than we arrived.

Alyssa had a check-up last Wednesday, almost 3 weeks after her birth. The doctor said she looked great, and he commented on how strong she is. In his words, she has good tone. She's able to pick her head up and turn it, and push herself up or forward if something solid is available to push off of. She's gaining weight - she was at 9 lbs, 15 oz at the appointment and she's also grown 1/4 inch. For both height and weight, she's in the 88th percentile. Her head has also grown, now over 15 inches, in the 97th percentile. We keep thinking that this means she'll be really smart :)

Alyssa and I are slowly getting into a routine during the day by ourselves. I find it hard to get too much done between all the feedings and diaper changes, but we're working on it. The objective for this week is to decorate for Christmas and call day care centers during the day. We'll see if I'm able to get these two tasks accomplished. She's generally sleeping pretty well at night, eating every four hours or so, which means we get to sleep for about 3 hour chunks of time. We're so thankful for every hour of sleep that we get.

Alyssa is generally a happy baby. She cries when she's wet or when she's hungry. We continue to supplement with formula as I still don't have enough milk to satiate her ever growing hunger, but Aaron continues to support me through the frustrating moments and we're hopeful that with continued pumping and some herbal supplements (More Milk Plus) my milk may fully come in. We'll stick with this another few weeks and see what happens. In the meantime, Aaron & I will continue to work together to care for and love our little angel, and we will all enjoy the excitement of the season.

Coming home

Home sweet home. It was exciting to bring Alyssa home a week ago today and have her begin to adjust to the place she'll be calling home. In the past week, it's be fun to see how much the house has been taken over be her - from the bassinet that moves from our bedroom to the living room and the swing and rocker recliner that required rearranging the living room slightly to the bottles and formula that are now sitting in our cupboards. And we know this is just the beginning.

Alyssa has done a great job of adjusting to life at home. We had a few trying days at first when it seemed that all she did was cry, but by Wednesday after an in-home visit from a nurse, we figured out why. It turns out that she wasn't getting enough to eat. So the nurse recommended that we give her 2 oz of formula after each feeding from me; since doing that, she's back to the happy baby we first met in the hospital. She weighed 9 lbs, 3 oz at birth, but by the time we left the hospital four days later, she was down to 8 lbs, 4 oz and 2 days after that, she was down to 8 lbs, 2 oz. Because of this, the pediatrician wanted to see her the next day; we were happy to see the scales tip 8 lbs, 8 oz at the pediatrician appointment, so the supplementing is working. She's happier, she's started peeing more and is now having one or two poopy diapers a day too. While she's still not pooping as much as she should be, she's moving in the right direction!

We've discovered in this first week at home just how tricky it can be to get much done. Alyssa is quite the hungry little baby (guess that's why she weighed 9 lbs - whose family does the appetite come from?!) and eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours; since it takes anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes to feed her, it doesn't leave too much time for getting things done in between, especially after washing the bottles for the next feeding and cuddling with her! We certainly can't pass that up. Having Nana and Grandpap Fleming stay with us that first week was such a blessing; they helped keep the house in shape, everyone fed and provided a lot of love and moral support for all of us, especially during those few crying-filled days. Visits from Grandma and Grandpa Menke, Auntie Stacy, and friends also have been a lot of fun and provided us with some adult conversation. Aaron worked full days Wed-Fri last week, and will work half days this week while Alyssa and I try to establish our own daily routine.

We managed to make two family outings this weekend - one to the grocery store and Target and one to church. Much to our delight Alyssa didn't make a peep during church; we could sit in our normal spot and not have to go to the family room (AKA crying baby room). This was also our first chance to show Alyssa off. While we didn't take her out of the car seat at all - several people around us peeked in at her face and congratulated us. I think we're both proud parents.

I guess that's the latest from here. I heard that some of you wanted to hear my version of the birth, but really Aaron really hit it right on. Great anticipation and anxiousness kept me up most of the night before, so I went into the whole process pretty tired. The early stage of labor wasn't too bad in fact Aaron couldn't even tell when I was having a contraction; the nurse was impressed as apparently my contractions were pretty strong and I wasn't complaining of pain. She thought I must have a high tolerance for pain - fooled her! The epidural was amazing for the first several hours until it caused my legs to swell and become unbearably heavy and they turned it off. I remember being thankful for the visitors as they kept us distracted and made the time pass quicker. When it finally became time to push, I was ready but I was also very uncomfortable and a little scared. Pushing was definitely hard work but Aaron was right by my side and kept encouraging me. He was so calm but yet so excited to finally get to that stage. The nurses who helped us through all of this were amazing; they did a great job of explaining everything and encouraging both of us. I don't remember at what point I shut down during pushing - I think the alternating between sweating and freezing, the uncontrollable shaking, the pain in my back, and my physical exhaustion all just got the better of me. When our doctor came in and made the decision to move to plan B, I was ok with that, a little disappointed but thankful that I could leave that stage behind. I remember trying to sign different consent forms while shaking and being amazed by how quickly everything took place once the decision was made. I was alert when I first got into the OR - talking to the doctor and other staff, but that's really about all I remember until Aaron had Alyssa right next to me; even then, I think he had to tell me a few times she was a girl before I caught onto what he was saying. I don't know whether fatigue got the better of me, whether I passed out from pain (I could feel the beginning of the surgery), or whether they drugged me to keep me quiet (apparently I was screaming). All this makes for our very own birth story and has given us the most perfect little girl. We are so thankful for her and amazed by her...

Here are a few things you may not know about Alyssa:

• She has very long fingers and toes (from me!).
• She sneezes a good bit and sometimes in twos and three (from Aaron!).
• She hasn't yet learned to burp like a lady; you can hear them in the next room.
• She has so many different expressions that make us laugh - from her furrowed brow look, to her raised brow that crinkles her forehead; to the pouty bottom lip; to the subtle smile and the "I'm about ready to let loose a cry" look!
• She's quite squirmy. She's really quite strong and can flail her arms and legs with a good bit of force. Her neck is also pretty strong for as young as she is.

Thanks for indulging me and letting me ramble about our little angel. And thanks to all of you for your prayers, thoughts, well wishes, visits, congratulatory notes, and overall love and support. It makes us so happy to know that Alyssa is already so well loved! We love you all and look forward to keeping the blog updated with milestones and photos-

And then the family was three.....

Allow me to introduce you to our new baby girl. Alyssa Nicole Menke was born at 12:33 am on Friday 11/7. She weighed 9 lbs 3 oz and was 21 and 1/2 inches long. It was a long day. Mandy had trouble sleeping the night before and was awake at 1am on Thrusday morning. We arrived at the hospital at 7am and they started the petocin around 8:45 (Mandy will correct any time errors I have in the next update). Our doctor broke her water around 11 and she hung in through the contractions through 2:30. She had an epidural and that really calmed her down and relieved most of her pains. She was dialated 2 cm most of the morning and they said is she didn't progress then we would go to plan b (c-section), but she moved to 3 cm at 3pm, so they we stuck with the plan to have her naturally. She then went to 7 cm at 5:30 and was moving right along. They turned her epidural off since her legs were getting really swollen and she couldn't move them. She gradually progressed to 9 then 10 cm around 9:45 when she started to push (13 hours into the process). They had turned her epidural back on to relieve some pain, but it wasn't even close to being as effective as it was before. Mandy was in some pain because the baby was face up (instead of down) making labor more difficult. Also, the baby was pushing on Mandy's back causing extreme pain whenever she was on her back pushing; so we did most of the pushing on her side. After about 2 hours of intense pushing the baby wasn't moving down, so we decided to have the c-section. I was able to be by Mandy's side during her surgery,but she really doesn't remember me being there much. She was exhausted and was actually napping in between contractions when she was pushing. In the operating room I heard that the baby was alomost out, so I stood up so I could see the birth. The doctor held the baby up to me and I told Mandy it was a GIRL!!

I couldn't be more proud of Mandy! She exceeded all my expectations and I couldn't believe she hung in there all day and night. We didn't get back to the room until 4am and she got about 1 hour of sleep after that since Alyssa wanted to feed.

Mom and Alyssa are doing great, and they are a pretty good team when it comes to feeding. I am pretty good at changing diapers and swaddling. It is just amazing that we have a little girl, and it is hard to explain the feeling I get when I am holding her and she just stares at me. We should be coming home Monday or Tuesday and will send out more updates then.

I wanted to give a big thanks to our friend Naomi for being with us all day, and our parents for all their love and support thoughout the day too.

Aaron

D-Day

Today is D-day, not doomsday but due day! Aaron swore that this baby would be born over the weekend or at the latest today because this baby has some of him and he's never late for anything, but I reminded him that this baby also has some of me and I can be late at times :)

We were both a little anxious going into the appointment, wanting to know if anything had happened since the last appointment and to see what the doctor would say. I think my anticipation kept me awake through part of the night, so I might have to take a nap this afternoon :) After we sat through our normal Biophysical Test (ultrasound) and Non-stress test, which baby passed with flying colors of course!, we finally met with the doctor. Things had progressed since last week (thank goodness!) and my cervix is now (finally) favorable for them to induce. So we scheduled the D-day (delivery day) for Thursday. We're scheduled to arrive at the hospital on Thursday morning at 6 am at which point they'll do a little bit of blood work, break my water and then get the pitosin going. So it sounds like the baby's B-day will be November 6...

There's still a chance that I could go into labor before then, but from the sounds of it, baby will be born on Thursday. So between now and then we'll try to enjoy our last few days of just us, the gorgeous fall weather we're having (72 is the forecasted high today), and continue to prepare ourselves for baby's arrival. Our next post on the blog will probably be sometime Thursday or Friday; we will finally reveal all the secrets - boy or girl, name, size, etc. We look forward to meeting this little one and for all of you to meet him/her as well!

Change of plans

As we said a few weeks ago, the birth of our baby is out of our hands and it appears to a certain extent out of our doctor's hands too. Despite our thoughts that we'd get to meet baby by the weekend, it seems it won't happen.

We had our appointment this afternoon; they estimate baby's current weight at 9 lbs, 9 oz. This was good news to the doctor as then we could try for a vaginal delivery as opposed to the c-section, so she checked me out and apparently my body isn't ready to give birth just yet - I'm still only dilated to a little over 1 cm, and I'm not "soft" enough or "thinned out" enough yet either, and to top it all off, baby hasn't engaged (dropped) just yet. So all that means they can't induce me yet, which was a disappointment to the doctor and myself. We have an appointment scheduled for Monday morning, so they'll re-evaluate then, and she's hoping to be able to send me to the hospital Monday afternoon or Tuesday at the latest to induce. So we'll see what happens.

After all the debating over the past week and thinking that we'd be parents this week, it was a litttle hard to find out that things weren't going to happen as we had thought. I think I'm being taught a lesson in letting things go; someone at my RCIA class mentioned the phrase "Let go and let God" - I think although I know that, I was trying to control this as much as I could (you know my love of planning!), so here it goes - letting go!

I know many of you were just as anxious as we were to meet this baby, but I think we're all going to have to wait just a little longer. Aaron and I are now trying to figure out what to do this weekend, maybe we'll come up with a fun costume for Halloween to make an appearance at a few parties. If you have any suggestions for costumes, let us know.

We'll keep you updated. Plan on checking back Monday afternoon as that's when we'll update the blog again unless there's a change betwen now & then. Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, and e-mails; we really appreciate them!

Decisions, decisions, decisions

For all of you who know me well, you know how decisive I am, and lately I've had to tackle some big and not so big decisions.

Last night's big decision was what face to put on my Halloween jack-o-lantern. Aaron, Naomi and I each carved out a BIG pumpkin to get in the Halloween spirit. Since the pumpkins were all the same price, no matter what the size, Naomi and I picked the biggest ones we could find. They're sitting on our front steps now, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that no youngsters will smash them. Hope they bring you some Halloween spirit too -

I also made the decision that next Tuesday, October 28 would be my last day teaching. My students take their mid-term exam that day, so that will allow me to end at a natural ending point and let the sub start a new unit. My students seemed surprised that we were already to that point, and I think they were a little disappointed that I would be leaving them, but they were excited for us nonetheless. It feels good to know what the plan is & I'm sure my sub feels the same, so she won't get a frantic call one night or morning and have to throw something together super fast.

But the big decision is with the baby. If I don't go into labor by next Wednesday, they'll be doing more measurements and assuming the baby is around 10 lbs (as the doctor is anticipating), we'll make the decision as to whether induce or do a c-section. The doctor talked to me (and my friend Naomi who went with me since Aaron couldn't) and said she would probably leave it up to me, but I got the impression that she was encouraging me to consider the c-section. She commented that she'd hate to ruin a positive pregnancy experience in the last few hours if this baby was too big for me to deliver. She's also concerned about shoulder displasia (sp?), which is when the shoulders get caught up in the pelvis; if this were to happen it could cause pelvic damage to me and potentially break the baby's shoulder or cause nerve damage in one of us. So we're weighing our options and trying to decide what to do. While earlier, I'd have probably said cut me, open me up & take the baby out, lately I've been wondering if giving birth is all part of the experience. I'm afraid I'll be missing something if I don't do it, but we'll see what we decide. Part of me wishes they didn't give us an option and just told us what we should do.

We don't know yet when it will be scheduled for. It could be as early as the next day (next Thursday) or into the next week sometime. It all depends on what the hospital's schedule looks like, and since I'm not high-risk in the hospital's mind (in the doctor's yes, because of the size of the baby but the hospital's no, because I'm not diabetic, don't have high blood pressure, etc.), I won't have first priority, but we'll see what happens.

So that's where we are with things right now, not really knowing much more but having more to think about. I'm sure this will be just the first of many decisions that we'll be making together as we start our new family, and it's so great to know that we can be open & honest with each other and have others that we can talk to as well.

If we have any more info, we'll be sure to let you know, but in the meantime we'd appreciate your prayers as we finish out the last part of this time of preparation. We leave you with Aaron's new favorite picture; he thinks it just cute how kitty and I were curled up together on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Hope you're all well & we look forward to hearing from you -

Moving right along

I never thought I'd be happy to see the end of a weekend, but I'm glad that this weekend is over. For one, it means that I made it through the immersion conference and it also means that we're only 2 weeks away from the big due date. And it seems that everything is moving along as it should be...

At my appointment last week, after waiting for baby to wake up to pass all his/her tests, the doctor examined me and determined that I was dilated to 1 cm and 50% effaced, which means that I'm 50% thinned out, so things are progressing as they should be and there's hope that by next week (the big week 39), my body might be ready to induce labor.

Aaron finished his first week of work and it went pretty smoothly. They kept him busy and he seemed to enjoy the work he was doing. He even got paid - can't beat that!

And I made it through the conference. I presented a 3-hour workshop on Thursday afternoon on struggling immersion learners, a project I'd been working on with a professor since my first fall here, and then Saturday I participated/presented in a 2-hour symposium on the language use patterns of immersion learners. I had served on the organizing committee for the conference, so it was exciting to see 600+ teachers from around the country and the world (Hong Kong, Greenland, Brazil, New Zealand, Finland, Canada, etc.) come together. The days were long though - I was there for about 12 hours on Thursday, 15 on Friday and 8 on Saturday. Saturday was pretty rough - my body wasn't too happy with me, but I made it through. I made a lot of great connections with some well-known researchers, which I'm sure will serve me well as I start my professional career here in another year or two - And I decided that if this weekend didn't push me into labor, then nothing I can do will make this baby want to come out.

He/she hasn't dropped yet, currently baby is kicking me in the ribs, and I'm starting to wonder if he/she'll ever want to come out, seems pretty happy with where he/she is. I keep trying to tell baby that the outside is more fun and that it is possible to grow outside too - we'll see if it reaches the baby or not!

A few more days until the next appointment, at which point I'll update you all again. Until then, we'll keep plugging away, waiting anxiously for any signs that "birth time" is just around the corner-

These are a few of our favorite things...

Well, we thought we'd share some of our favorite (and not so favorite) things to hear these days; we'll leave it up to you to decide which are our favorite and which are not...

1. "We currently estimate your baby's weight to be 8 pounds, 4 ounces. At birth, baby will probably weigh a little over 10 pounds."

We had our weekly appointment this past Wednesday with the doctor. The ultrasound technician did the measurements and estimated that baby weighs 8 lbs, 4 oz at this point. I was 36 weeks, 3 days pregnant when did the ultrasound, and baby's head was measuring 41 weeks, 5 days! And the abdomen measured 40 weeks. She also measured the legs, which of course were right on target - 36 weeks, 5 days. So much for the long legs from the 20 week ultrasound - All these measurements put together, places the baby in the 98th percentile. Aaron keeps telling them that we're going to hit the 100th percentile yet -

They also did a 3D ultrasound again, but baby was napping, so it wasn't quite as exciting. We still think that baby looked pretty cute though - you can judge for yourself!

When we talked with the doctor; she shared with us what the "plan" would be. If at 39 weeks, I'm "ready" to deliver (in other words, if I've started to dilate), they'll induce me so I can try a natural birth. If I'm not ready at that point, however, they'll wait until 40 weeks and reevaluate; at that point, we'd probably have to do a C-section as there's a chance that even if I can get the head out that I wouldn't be able to get the shoulders of this little butterball out. So that's what they're thinking.

We'll continue to visit the doctor weekly (the secretary now says hi Mandy when I go in!) and they'll do the same two tests - biophysical test (with the ultrasound) and the non-stress test - in addition to an internal exam. They won't actually do new measurements, however, for another 3 weeks.

2. "You're hired!"

Aaron was recently offered a job by Wachovia in their Retirement Services division. This part of the company actually goes by another name - WyStar - but it's part of Wachovia. After a few unsure days on our part with all the talk about Citigroup and Wells Fargo buying them out and how this would impact the job, we were reassured that the job was his. He starts on Tuesday, October 14. His title is Senior Compliance officer, what that means exactly, he'll have to tell you...I think it's kind of like what he did at Ameriprise though. Aaron is quite excited about the new job; he's glad to hear that he'll be busy, but I think what's most exciting to him is that he'll be less than 4 miles from home. He thinks he'll come home and have lunch with baby and I when we're here.

3. "You don't look pregnant from the back." "You look great!" "You're getting so big!"

I've been hearing a combination of all these and slight variations on them over the past few weeks. It makes me feel good that people think I look healthy, and it makes me hopeful that the pregnancy weight will magically disappear since it's all out in front (I'm sure this is wishful thinking though!). But I'll be ready for people to stop telling me how big I am - I've been hearing it for a few months now, but I just smile and say that's because I'm carrying a big baby!

4. "You're invited to a baby shower!"

Over the past few weeks, we've had two baby showers with our friends. My friend Naomi threw us a shower, complete with Brazilian food, so we could celebrate with friends from the Spanish department. The shower was to start at noon, and we laughed because at noon, only 4 of us were there - the four Americans. By around 12:45 or so, the rest of the guests showed up, right on time for the Hispanic culture. It was definitely a cultural experience and Aaron may have even learned a few more Spanish words from hanging out with all of us!

And then our friends, the Olberdings, threw us a shower for our other friends. Everyone had a great time catching up and playing baby games. The consensus seems to be that the we're going to have a Halloween baby (to share a birthday with Naomi!) and that it's a boy. I do have to say that we (or at least I) wasn't so excited when someone predicted an 11 lb, 5 oz baby!

And after all the showers and because of the generosity of our friends and family, I think we've got everything we need for baby. Although I don't know that we'll ever by ready, I think the house is, and I know we're excited to meet our little one. We're even thinking Roni is excited for baby. He has been following me around a good bit lately and is quite affectionate and cuddly. He sometimes even curls up and throws one of his paws over my tummy; baby kicking my stomach doesn't seem to phase him either. I think as long as we still play with him and he has his favorite window perch, he'll be fine...

So, that's the latest from here in Bloomington, MN. As we continue to know more, we'll keep you updated. I'm sure as we meet with the doctor and they continue to monitor baby, we'll have some updates. But really no matter what the doctors think, we know that it's out of their hands and ours; we trust that God will let the baby know when it's his/her time to be born and know that He'll continue to watch over the three of us as our due date approaches. In the meantime, we're learning patience and enjoying all the sleep and quiet that we can -

Dust off your 3-D glasses

Well, Mandy is finally letting me write to all of you. Just kidding, Mandy has been asking me to write to everyone the past couple of times and I finally caved in. On Wednesday we had our weekly doctor visit, but this time it was a little different. Mandy still had her normal activities, pee in a cup, get weighed, get her blood pressure taken; but we had a new experience in our ultrasound. We were in the ultrasound room looking at our baby when the technician asked if we ever had a 3-D ultrasound done. We both said no, so with a click of a couple switches and a new wand there our baby was – in 3-D!!! As you can see from the pictures, it looks like a baby not just some shadow outline. We sat for about 10 minutes just watching the baby move its arms, yawn, and just overall being active. We were all laughing at one point when it looked like Baby was dancing. I’m not bragging, but the technician and our doctor both said the baby looked like me! I said Baby still had Mandy’s chubby cheeks though. It was a good visit with the doctor and we will continue going to the clinic weekly to see how Baby is progressing and to see how Mandy is doing.



Back at home we are slowly but surely getting the house prepared, and are now just tying up some loose ends. I painted our bedroom last weekend and spent some time doing some long-needed filing. We’ve decorated our livingroom by finally hanging some of our wedding pictures. We’ve also finished the baby’s room. We hung some pictures and put our rocker/recliner in there. We think the room looks pretty good and Baby should really be happy in there. The house’s makeover is almost done, we just need gutters. The cat was really happy that the work was done; it got pretty noisy in the house with all the pounding. The street construction is still going on, but we did get a curb poured today.

Mandy and I have been having some fun too, in between all the work. We spent a Saturday afternoon at our church festival. I worked in the bingo tent and Mandy and our friend Erin Olberding (and baby Camryn) played bingo. Well it was Erin’s lucky day because she won the $50 coverall. With all the nice weather Mandy and I have been going for some walks around the neighborhood too. We went to the MN Twins game last night and watched a good game with the Twins winning 3-2. We also went to the MN Vikings home opener against Indianapolis. Even though we lost a heartbreaker, it was fun and I was able to wear my horns I received last Christmas from Uncle Jim (Mandy wasn’t embarrassed at all sitting next to me!)

Well, I think I did a pretty good job with my first ever blog. Maybe Mandy will let me write another one soon – November 3 will be here before we know it!

Whose baby is it?

Well, if you take a look at the latest ultrasound pictures from this morning, there's no doubt that this baby is mine - all you have to do is take one look at the cheeks. I was all cheeks as a baby as you can tell from my baby picture that we included with these. We included Aaron's just for reference, but he definitely doesn't have the same cheeks. So to all of you in Pennsylvania, have no fear - this baby seems to have the Fleming cheeks! It was kind of cool to see the change in the face from a month ago - baby actually looks more like a human rather than a ghost! In fact, the technician said she could see a full set of hair - we couldn't quite see that though. Aaron asked if the baby had a full set of teeth too, and she laughed.

The doctor's appointment was pretty eventful today. We started with an ultrasound during which baby continued to measure big - he/she is now in the 91st percentile, meaning that he/she is bigger than 91% of babies. They showed us some charts of baby's growth, and what we were able to tell is that baby's head and abdomen are just about off the charts as far as size is concerned, but baby's legs are just a little longer than average - so Aaron knows he had a part. After all, the Menkes tend to be short-legged. The head measures bigger than the abdomen, which is good apparently because if the head can get through the birth channel, then the abdomen can too. Now if only I can get the head out :) They estimate baby's weight at about 5 lbs, 11 oz right now, but really it's plus or minus a pound of that estimate, so baby is somewhere between 4 lbs, 11 oz and 6 lbs, 11 oz - let's hope for the former! The doctor estimates that at birth the baby will be in the upper 9 lb to 10 lb range.

Because the baby is above the 90th percentile, they did what is known as a biophysical exam on the baby with the ultrasound. With this exam they check baby's breathing (although it's really only practice breathing at this point) and also movements, to make sure it's moving around. They then did a non-stress test on me. Basically I had to sit/lie for about 20-30 minutes with two monitors around my middle - one that monitors my uterine movements to see if there are any contractions and one that monitors baby's heartbeat. They also gave me a button that I had to push when baby moved. This was to see if spikes in the heartrate coincided with movements. Everything looked good once we got the monitors and me in a position that would work for 20 minutes, but they'll continue to do these two tests weekly now. So every Wednesday we'll be headed to the doctor's office - I told them we'd be good friends before too long.

Because big babies and gestational diabetes go hand-in-hand, they also wanted to test my blood sugar levels again today. They couldn't do the regular test because I hadn't fasted, but they checked my blood sugar & it seemed ok, but because of some other things (don't ask me what) they want me to do a modified diabetic diet, really I'm just to watch the amount of starches I consume. So no more cereal for breakfast - here we come eggs! This will probably be the hardest part for me because I love my starches, especially since I've been pregnant - the more breads, pastas, rice, potatos I can eat the better, but I guess I'm going to have to eat more meats - ick! I have to fast before the appointment next week as they want to do another test - fun!

I think that's everything from today. We hope you enjoy the cheeky pictures and we'll give you an update after next week's appointment. In the meantime, we'll continue to prepare the house and hope that they're done banging on the roof and walls soon. The house should hopefully be done by tomorrow - it's looking good :) Hugs to all of you -

Under construction

As you can see in the photos, things around here are changing in lots of different ways. The city of Bloomington decided to put in curbs and refinish our road this summer; they began the project a few weeks ago, but in the past week - we had new lawn "ornaments" delivered and the street dug up. Last night as I walked home from the bus stop, I wasn't sure how I was going to reach the house as the pile of dirt they had dug up was so high. But I made it home and by the time I got home tonight, all of our lawn "ornaments" had been buried in the dirt street. I think Roni will be happy as this as the house has been vibrating a lot as they dig and return the dirt.

While the construction has been going on outside, we've also been redoing the inside of the house. We moved my office downstairs to make the other upstairs bedroom the baby's room. This reorganization was pretty big as we then had to move the TV upstairs which required reorganizing both the upstairs and downstairs living rooms. The house was in a bit of chaos for a while, and we continue to have lots of the decorative stuff still lying around without a new home, but overall we like the new arrangement. The baby's room remains a little empty at this point; the crib is put together and we moved the dresser upstairs, but that's it for now. We've ordered a rocker recliner that will go in there and Nana's bookshelf will serve to hold all the books that everyone has given to baby. I'm sure once we get the rocker and the crib bedding, it will look a little more finished.

And finally, we're expecting to have a new outside to the house within the next week as well. We had some hail damage to the house from a storm that came through at the end of May and thanks to our insurance company and Jeff, we're getting all new siding, roofing, and a lot of the trim. So, we've picked out a new color and we're anxious to see what it's going to look like when it's finished. The "team" is to begin this weekend, so we'll maybe have photos of the finished product next week for you.

And finally, baby continues to be "under construction" as well. I think I grow a little more each and every day. When I saw the pictures we took to post, I was startled to see just how far I was sticking out, and here I thought black was supposed to be slimming! It's hard to imagine how much more my stomach can possibly stretch, but I know it must have some stretch left as baby has about another 8 weeks until the due date. At our last doctor's appointment (about a week ago), the doctor said my stomach is measuring big, not because I've gained too much weight but because I'm just all baby. And I think she's right, from what we can tell, baby hasn't yet taken a toll on the rest of my body. We have another ultrasound scheduled for this coming Monday, September 8, so we'll see how much baby has grown in the past month. Baby continues to move around, but I think the space is limiting the movements a little, I feel a little more rolling and stretching than kicks per se, but I'm never really sure what I'm feeling when I feel baby move.

We're half way through our birthing and parenting classes, so far we've been pretty much focused on the birthing part. I often leave feeling a little apprehensive about labor, but Aaron continually reassures me that I'm stronger than I think, and I remind myself that millions of women have done this before me, so we'll see. We had a pediatrician come visit the class this past week, gave us some other things to discuss and think about. Our goal for next week is to choose a pediatrician; after all, these next two months are sure to fly by-

This week also brought about the first week of classes. I'm teaching a new course this semester - Intro to Hispanic Linguistics - I'm pretty excited about it, but it's very different than what I've taught before and at a much higher level. I'm working on finding a sub to take over for me when I go on maternity leave, but it's a little trickier than I had anticipated because there are so few in the department with the qualifications to teach the course. Aaron continues with the job process but not much new to report. We'll keep you posted -

We hope this finds you all well and we promise to not let as much time pass before we update you on all the construction going on around us. In fact, we'll probably have an update after the doctor's appointment next week, may even have new photos, so check back again soon. Less than 2 months to go -

Oh so much to tell...

It's been some time since we updated you last on what's going on, and a lot has happened since then. Aaron had his last day of work at Ameriprise last week and enjoyed "celebrating" at a Happy Hour with many of his co-workers. He's had two interviews for a Human Resources position at Ameriprise and has also applied for one of the new positions that they've created in the reorganization. So we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Last week also brought about a change in my appearance - and I'm not referring to the size of my ever-growing "belly bump." As some of you know, I've been letting my hair grow so I could donate it, well it was finally long enough & I finally grew tired of it, so I got it cut last week. The ponytails that will be donated were about 11 inches in length. It definitely changed my looks, Aaron kept staring at me for for the first few days - I think he felt like I was a different person! It was kind of weird to lose something that's been apart of me for a while now, but it's kind of cool to think that it's going to help someone else. What I think struck me the most was that I feel like I lost all my blond. Everyone tells me that I'm definitely not a brunette now, but that my light blond hair is probably gone for good.

We went home this past week to Pennsylvania. It was great to see all of my family - my grandma, all of my aunts and many cousins - as well as good friends. While we were there mom & Dena organized a baby shower for us - they did such an amazing job. Mom prepared some awesome dishes and Dena's attention to detail in the decorations were pretty cool - rubber ducks were the theme. And everyone was so generous - we couldn't believe how much we received - everything from diapers and wipes to a jumper, swing, and travel system (stroller), with everything in between. We were able to bring a lot of it back with us on the plane, but mom & dad will still have a full car I'm sure when they come out after the baby is born. I really liked all the books we received, especially all the notes. Even though Baby Menke may not be able to grow up with all of you as I did, it's kind of cool to think that baby will still have some familiarity with you through your notes and books!

Last night we started our birth and parenting classes. The class meets once a week for two and a half hours for 8 weeks. There are twelve expecting families that are in the class, all of whom are due between the end of September and early December. Last night we learned about the different phases of labor, how the baby moves through the birth canal and began to learn some relaxation techniques. It's great to have so much information, but I've been trying to avoid thinking about labor, and this class is forcing me to deal with my fears related to the actual birth. I just keep trying to tell myself that millions of women have done this before me and that I can do it too, but it still freaks me out.

And then today we had another doctor's appointment. Aaron's parents accompanied us as we wanted them to be able to see the ultrasound and their grandchild. I think they were struck by what you could see, but the ultrasound was definitely quicker than the last and the technician didn't take as much time showing us everything and telling us what everything was. The purpose was really to check on the baby's growth. The baby is now in the 86th percentile, meaning that it's bigger than 86% of other babies of the same age. The legs were measuring normal, but the abdomen was measuring at about 31 or 32 weeks (and I'm not quite 29 weeks) and the head was a little over 33 weeks! They estimate the baby's weight to be 3 pounds, 11 ounces right now as well. They're going to continue to monitor the baby's growth with another ultrasound in a month and then if it continues to hover around the 90th percentile, I think the doctor will want to discuss delivery options. We're to start doing kick counts, which is to make sure that the baby moves at least 10 times in an hour during an active hour. They also did some blood work as I've been experiencing some nausea/queasiness to test my electrolytes and a few other things, but hopefully that will all be normal.

I think that's all there is to tell at this point. Sorry to have so much to tell all at one time. I've added the latest ultrasound pictures to the bottom of the blog, they're not as clear or exciting as the last ones, but we thought we'd share them nonetheless. I've also included a few photos from our trip to Pennsylvania and the big hair cut. Hope you enjoy them!

As always we look forward to hearing from you and we'll keep you posted as there's more to tell.