Welcome to Our Everything-baby Site
Musings, pics, and miscellany from the Vreemans
39 Weeks
Here we are, one week from the due date. It seems like we've been in the highly expectant phase for quite a while now. We are just continuing to be thankful that everything seems to be going fine and that Lorrie is feeling as good as she is. We're sure some of you who haven't seen her in a while are wondering what she looks like this far along, so we decided to post a few pics here on the website. Cute as ever...
Crib
After quite a bit of investigation, we've added one more piece to
the nursery - the all-important crib. We decided to go with a
Childcraft Legacy crib after reading many good reviews online and
visiting a local store (several times). We're happy that Childcraft is
based here in Indiana. Assembly wasn't too bad...and we were very
pleased with how it came together. You can see photos of it here and here. Just for fun I added a short video
shot with our new camera. For the first few months we're going to use
the bassinet that my siblings and I used when we were infants. Thanks
to my Mom's sewing prowess, it received a fresh makeover with new skirting and we've moved it into our master bedroom for the first little while. We'll keep you all posted whenever the big day arrives.
Full Term
Despite all the little one's attempts at getting out, Lorrie is still pregnant. We had our 37 week checkup today, which means we've officially made it 'full term'. Definitely a blessing and answer to prayers. Lorrie is still about 90% effaced and dilated the same, which means that things seem ready. Guess we'll just keep waiting! In other news...this website is now powered by a new server running Ubuntu LInux (for the geek crowd). Things are definitely faster. The new server is part of the grand computer migration going at the Vreeman household to get some more storage space for deluge of digital media we'll create once the baby arrives. We got our new high def digital video camera last week and are very excited about capturing all the '1sts' as they come.
Breast feeding and contractions
After little sleep on Friday night we managed to get ourselves to the scheduled breastfeeding class on Saturday morning. The class was very informative and helpful to ease some of my questions. But again, all through the class I had contractions 5 minutes apart. On the break the nurse providing the class actually told us to go get a huge glass of water to stay hydrated and to call our OB if things continued. Needless to say, we called the on-call line after the class and fortunately, our regular OB was on call and at the hospital just upstairs from where we were! He told us to come up to triage and that he would take a look. After being hooked up to several monitors we found out that indeed I was having contractions every five minutes! And after the OB exam we learned that I was still one fingertip dilated, the baby was at the -1 station (dropped some), and that I was now 70-80% effaced! After much contemplation, our OB decided to give me a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions. Immediately, the contractions stopped. Our OB sent us home telling us that there is a good possibility that I will not go full term and not to be surprised if the contractions return. So, Dan and I canceled a party that we were supposed to have that night and instead got ourselves more ready (if possible) to have a baby in the near future! We’ve finished the baby’s room, bought a little girl and little boy outfit, and packed our bags! Who knows when the big day will be!?
Sleep, what sleep?
After working on the baby’s room and cleaning out the closet (which had become more of a storage closet since we moved in to the house), I noticed that my contractions had become more frequent. Dan and I decided to go to bed and if they did not change in frequency through the night, we would begin to time them. Well, after still being wide awake several hours after going to bed with these contractions Dan woke up and we timed them. From about 2:00AM until 5:00AM I had contractions that ranged anywhere from 4 minutes apart to 10 minutes apart. We thought about calling the on-call line to speak to our OB, but decided that we would wait until the next morning to see if they were still going strong as we had a breastfeeding class scheduled at the hospital that next morning.
Contractions and more contractions!
So I have been having what I assumed to be Braxton-Hicks contractions since 29 weeks of pregnancy. Just in the last couple of weeks I had noticed that these contractions had become more frequent and more intense (not painful, just uncomfortable). At my 35 week appointment I mentioned this to the OB who decided that it was worth looking into a bit more as I had one of these contractions while listening to the baby’s heartbeat. Come to find out that these contractions were not only practice contractions, but that they were actually doing something to progress me closer to labor. At that appointment I was found to be one fingertip dilated, 40% effaced, and that the baby had dropped some. My blood pressure at 106/62 and the baby’s heartbeat at 145 bpm continued to be great! I also inquired about traveling to Quincy to visit with my family and have another baby shower in the upcoming weeks, which was quickly shot down by the OB who saw me. Although disappointed, I continued to think that we might still try to make the trip as long as my 36 week appointment went okay.
Baby shower fun
My Indy baby shower was held at Robyn Fuchs’ house where I was greeted with artistic flower-shaped balloon arrangements (thanks Stuart!), lots of baby shower paraphernalia, a light-up Mom-to-be button, a yummy assortment of food and beverages, and warm hugs and smiles from great friends and family! It was perfect! Robyn had gone all out with creative favors for everyone including baby bottles filled with candy in cute little bags and fun baby shower games to play consisting of who could put the diaper on the stuffed animal the fastest while blindfolded and baby Pictionary that she designed herself! After lots of laughs and taste-testing all of the great food, I was showered with many wonderful gifts that will be sure to come in handy in the near future! Thanks to everyone for making this baby shower one I will never forget!
Home stretch
We had our 33 week check-up today. Everything looked good and we had a chance to go over our first set of questions about our birth plan. After the next appointment we'll be going in every week. Here we go!
30 Weeks
We're into the stretch now with OB check-ups every 2 weeks. This appointment went fine...everything continues to look good. Lorrie was accompanied by Allie (5) and Nicholas (3) - our niece and nephew who we're watching for a few days. Kind of preview of things to come.
Nursery
With a lot of help from my brother Phil, the baby nursery is starting to come together. With his painting prowess, Phil helped touch up spots around the whole upstairs and paint the nursery. Lorrie got into the action with the second painting in the series of animal pieces that she's working on. After another pass through Babys R Us and reading a bunch of online reviews, we've also (almost) decided on the crib!
Glucose and monkeys
After a few weeks of joking around about how hard it would be for Lorrie to give up ice cream and other desserts if her glucose tolerance test came back positive for gestational diabetes, we finally got the results: Normal! Celebration with 2 pieces of pie was definitely in order. (It was fruit pie). The rest of the check-up went fine too...baby's heart beat was nice and strong. In other news, we had a nice visit from the Ippensen grandparents-to-be this weekend as well. We showed them some of the baby-related goods we're looking at and they helped add a few monkey-related items to the nursery setup (jungle/animal theme). Very cute. It all started with Curious George. We're also very excited for our friends Tracy and Tricia Dierks who are also expecting (November). They've set up a baby website too - check it out for more ultrasound fun and excitement.
Registries and other fun
We took a weekend trip in my new ride up to Michigan to visit with the Vreeman grandparents-to-be. We took a trip over to Babies R Us to setup the first few items on our baby registry. We're very excited about being able to use the bassinet that us Vreeman kids slept in as infants; Grandma Vreeman (to be) and Lorrie picked out some new fabric for skirting, so with a little bit of my mom's sewing magic, the bassinet will get a fresh look.
Strollers and car seats
Lorrie and I spent some quality time yesterday at Babies R Us looking at strollers, car seats ("travel systems" when purchased together), high chairs, and other baby-related items. The baby industry is kind of like the wedding industry...a bit ridiculous in some ways. We had done our homework of reading Consumer Reports, asking friends, and reading consumer reviews online, but in all honesty, we weren't really blown away by the products - especially considering how much they cost. And everything seems so big. We at least narrowed down our choices quite a bit, but no final decisions yet. If/when we decide to set up a registry, we will post a link to it here.
First looks
A moment we've been looking forward to and will definitely cherish...the first ultrasound. We were amazed, thankful, excited, and surprised. Amazed at how God has already begun crafting such a marvelous, beautiful baby. Thankful for all the signs that our baby is healthy and growing. Excited about starting a family and all the changes this little one will bring about in our lives. And surprised at how much this little one is already moving! You can view all the ultrasound photos here. And no, we didn't find out whether we're having a boy or a girl...we're going to save that surprise for the big day.
UPDATE: The ultrasound video is now available here.
Dinner with friends
We shared a nice dinner tonight with friends John and Sue McIlvried and Lynne Sturm and Greg Zimet. While sharing in our excitement, they gave us some great new books for our expected little one. These join our growing collection of baby gifts.
Lorrie's first Mothers Day
Although unexpected family events and travel plans kept us apart most of the day, we did get a chance to celebrate with some flowers.
18 Week Checkup
We went in for the 18 week check-up this week. Alas, still 4 weeks to
go until the ultrasound :-(. Nevertheless, both Mom and baby are doing
fine; baby's heart rate was strong and came in at 140 bpm. (Slowed down
a bit from last time, but that is expected).
First parenting class
Mom and Dad (to be) attend their first parenting class -- Early Pregnancy: Getting off to the Right Start -- over at St. Vincent Women's Hospital. The class covered most of the basics about nutrition, physical changes, etc (some review, some new). As physical therapists, we were pleased that they talked about basic body mechanics and posture, and even showed some exercises like wall squats and the posterior pelvic tilt. The class wrapped up with a tour of the hospital - an exciting glimpse at what's to come.
Heartbeat
Well, we just had our 14 week check-up with the OB. Both Mom and baby are doing great. Have a listen to the heartbeat:
Baby heartbeat (mp3)
10 Weeks
10 weeks - first appointment with the OB. Everything is looking good and we were able to hear the heartbeat for the first time!
