July 30th
Thanks to all the family (and visit with my dad) who came in to see Bode so early in his first couple of days of life. We are grateful that they are able to part of his life and see him so small. Now we try to get sleep, feed him and enjoy all the new experiences that he brings us.
I know all of you are waiting for pictures - well they will be coming
July 28th
Gwen’s family (mother, father, one brother, sister in-law, & nephew’s) all met the little one in person. Giving Bode a chance to meet all of his grandparents and one great grandmother all within 4 days after his birth.
July 27th
All of my (Keith) immediate family (mother, father, grandmother, sister, and brother in-law) got to see by now the new baby addition in to the family.
July 24th
Well I left work Thursday and made a quick stop at our place before heading straight over to the hospital. It was a busy day for them there, nursery full of babies – almost no place in the inn.
Let us now introduce the birthday of Bode Wayne Hand. He came into this world as a wonderful joy. We are blessed to have him and hold him in our hands. Thanks to the helpful hands of the medical staff for a quick and natural birth.
July 14th
People say I look pregnant now. Well, it is the 38 week mark after all. I will be glad when my belly is done stretching and my ribs do not have baby-butt pushing against them all of the time.
July 10th
I've had tired days, but not quite like this one. The late nights, early mornings, and extra work have taken their toll and I had to rest for the whole morning. Thankfully, the afternoon was alright and I still got a lot done.
July 4th
Big time home improvement project weekend! We had painting and carpet cleaning on our project list and it needed to get done without delay. The apartment was pretty chaotic with everything out of place, paint to dry, dust to clean up, and carpet to dry. Nerve-wracking situation, but Keith did a lot of work and made things look nice!
July 2
Toured the Womens Hospital at NorthShore - Evanston. We have a visual now of where we will be and familiarity that will hopefully help on that day.
June 27 - 29
A special weekend because I was able to spend time playing flute at Concordia for an Ensemble Reunion! Little Hand had his/her first experience with Wind Symphony sounds :) Great church service on Sunday and a good experience all around.
June 18th
We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary! The weekend that followed, we took a final quick road trip to Indianapolis to see David, Paula, Garrett, and Damon, as well as visit friends, Ed & Blanche from FL. Baby is getting noticeably longer because his/her butt is stuffed under my ribs rather tight when sitting now. Who knew feet could push out my side by my shirt sideseam??
What has the past month been like?
For starters, a constant has been the studying, reading, learning, and consulting I've been doing to learn and prepare for Delivery Day. Quite fascinating, and I love the stories. May 31st Keith and I met with our birth instructor, who was awesome. She, of course taught us new things, but also reinforced what I've studied and also helped give Keith a clearer look at the process. Preparations also continue in the apartment, bringing in new baby items and setting up for future family operations.
I had my week "vacation" to MN in May. Keith had his week away to Austin TX the first week of June. Now, it's time to spend the rest of our summer together before life changes for the crazier.
We had our second baby shower June 7th, hosted by some awesome & amazing friends of ours from church. It's probably just me, but socializing is the best part of any gathering. That's the real celebration! We absolutely loved having out-of-town family with us for the weekend! Aunt Paula, Great Aunt Vicki, and Cousin Cali were great company.
Little Hand, in the meantime, continues to be an interesting and active baby. Who knew movement would be so entertaining - especially when it is only seen some of the time? Mommy's right side of ribs has been the "kicking wall" and those heels are getting a workout. The check up this week showed he/she is 4.12 lbs, sitting low, and lookin' good. Now's the time to put in your guess for Birth Date, Weight, and Gender! (You know as much as we do! So go ahead and guess.)
Welcome to the Third Trimester!
After a quiet, calm second trimester, Little Hand decided to become very active this week. I like it better that way. My belly visibly moves quite often.
I'm feeling good. Work is now starting it's slow down, as it was planned, but I'm still able to do a lot.
At the appointment on Thursday (May 8th), the midwife said baby's head is down and back is along my left side. I later found out that this is perfect. :) Now, how to make sure it is there in 10 or so weeks?! Heartbeat was 140 - which doesn't help clue me in to whether it's a boy or girl at all!
The best part of the weekend is that the weather is glorious. Being a comfortable temp, seeing a greening world, and lovely smelling trees and bushes, all make me very happy. Plus, it's Mother's Day :) Much love to my mom who is truly amazing, my grandma's who have shown me how to keep livin' the life no matter your age, to my mother-in-law who raised my hubby, and my friends who are moms and have taught me so much through their examples and in sharing their experiences. Blessings to all the women God has called to be moms!
May 7th
Keith here: So the cats out of the bag... we've told people in person, by phone, email, website, and yes even Facebook - and I finally did even at work to all. Kind of surprising the people on Facebook that didn’t know yet ... well sorry we just couldn’t see everyone.
People say we should get sleep now, since it won't happen for a bit... so why am I still up now? It's just 1:30am :)
We attended a Baby event at the Skokie Library - got some goodies and even won something. Yay, for free stuff! I was talking to one person at work, and he was telling me about this baby bed that goes next to your bed that he received from family/friend. Said that it has travelled around and is now coming back to them since they are also expecting another kid (8 different babies have slept in it). Now that bed has definitely gotten some use out it.
April 27th
So, it is getting closer to the date and you can tell that she is pregnant. Even though people say otherwise - she's definitly showing. As I can attest, when we hug each other the space between is increasing. Sometimes I can even feel a kick (new soccer player coming along) - guess s/he just wants to get involved in the action also.
Just about Week 26 - Happy Easter!
Finally - it is warm enough to wear a dress! (At least for Easter Sunday.)
A dress is the easiest thing to wear. My spandex has become my best friend and only work option.
Many people say, "oh, you're just starting to show." It's there more than you think.
Did you see the countdown?!? Less than 100 days! Granted, the time will come in whatever days ordained.
6th Month Update
Hello Friends & Family!
It's about time we let you know how our latest life-change is going. We can't believe it is already the 6 month point!
Most of you found out that we are expecting when we were at about 10-12 weeks. The first trimester was a "lovely" mix of nausea, headaches, exhaustion (therefore early bedtimes), a pretty active gag-reflex, motion-sickness, and other things that are not enjoyable, nor will they be conversation for a large group. I'm certainly open to talking and sharing in individual conversations; so much help comes from sharing the truth about the experience. Though the hormones are not fun, it was not the worst women go through, by any means. I have a new-found superhero strength - an incredible sense of smell! Surprisingly, one miserable weekend at the end of January led to a sudden switch.
Week 15 began without any nausea and more energy. Hurray for the second trimester upswing!!! I could finally drink water, eat a diet healthier than toast, and eat peanut butter. All of these were impossible the week before. February and so far March has been filled with my continued 48 hr/wk work schedule, church responsibilities (Sunday School directorship), and meetings/appointments. Definitely needing and using the evening hours my energy level brought back to life.
I started feeling movement the last week of February. At this time, we have one very active kid! We had our 20 wk ultrasound on Wed, March 12th. Keith was able to be there. Everything is developing exactly as it should be. Praise God! Boy or girl? No one knows. We will be just as surprised as you are.
