Well, little one, I was going to post something about our 37 week visit, but a miracle happened–you came along 🙂 According to Dr. Samples, the OB, your mama was showing signs of physical trouble late in the pregnancy known as pre-eclampsia. It was because of this that two days later you came into this world!

It was quite a whirlwind of a night, since we went to the hospital in the evening. I was up and down all night, and your mama was up pretty much all of it. They began the induction process that evening, but didn’t start the medicine to dilate until 6am the next morning. Four hours after that, at 10:13am on January 17, 2014, you were born!

You came out of your mother, and I cut the umbilical cord. That, in itself, was quite the heavy event. After that, they had to finish up with your mama. While that was going on, I helped to give you your first bath. It was indescribably awesome. You seemed as though you were quite cold, after having been cooped up in that warm womb for nearly nine months! After they weighed you in at 7lbs 1oz and gave you a vaccination, you finally got to see mama for your first meal. You were quite hungry!

We spent the entire day starting to get to know you in the hospital. We had your umbilical cord blood sent off to a bank. We pray we never have to use it, but it may be of medical assistance if you ever need it. Your grandma and grandpa in Madison came to visit, as did seemingly every nurse in the hospital. It was quite a wonderful day. Best ever! We can’t wait to get you up to Louisville to show you to your other set of grandparents. Hopefully, you’ll get to meet your uncle from Chicago, as well!

Welcome to the world, little one!

Well, we’re more like on week 30 and going into 31 now. But, the 28th week was epic. We got to see a few better pictures of you! It was totally unreal, seeing details of your face. You seem to have a nose that looks like your grandma’s (my mom’s). It may very well be, though, that you look drastically different when you’re finished baking. The picture below is from what they call a “4D ultrasound”. They’re really quite fascinating. Basically, they are able to create 3D pictures in real-time, like this:

I really don’t know how you got your foot way up there. Maybe you will be an acrobat or contortionist when you grow up. Anyway, it’s a lot cooler picture than a regular 2D ultrasound. Your heartbeat was around where it has been for this whole pregnancy, thus far, around 150bpm.

Your mom is still doing relatively well. More back pain, more sleep interruptions to go to the bathroom. But, she is in wonderful spirits and we are becoming more and more antsy to finally meet you! I look at it this way: the current night time interruptions are merely training for late night feeding and diaper changes later 🙂

We have set up a crib in what will be your room, though most of the room is still in shambles from everything we’ve gotten by ourselves and stuff you have received from family and friends at a baby shower we had a couple of weeks ago. Next week we plan on getting a dresser and changing platform to put on top of the dresser. Other than some decoration, that’ll finish up your room!

We had a big gender reveal at that baby shower. The cake was the appropriate color (pink or blue) inside with chocolate frosting outside. The wider world still doesn’t know yet. Everyone else will discover that and your name the day you make your grand appearance.

We completed parenting and child birthing classes about three weeks ago. I actually learned quite a lot, and hopefully it has prepared us for what we can expect–though, I’m sure actually going through the process will be far different. The only thing I’m not really looking forward to, besides your mom being in pain from labor, is lack of sleep. But, I have a feeling it won’t be that bad–we’ll just be taking a lot more naps!

So, we are progressing along quite nicely. Right now we’re beginning week 22, but just last week we had the 20 week visit. It can’t be understated how the pictures don’t do the actual experience justice–you were dancing and moving around like nobody’s business 🙂 We also found out your gender, as your mom said. Hush-hush until the big day!

Your mom seems to be doing quite well. We are starting to feel your motions. You’re quite the acrobat in there!

So, we’ve finally gotten to the end of the first trimester! You’re still not quite visible yet on your mom’s tummy, though she swears she is seeing a bit of you. We got to see another ultrasound today, and you now have very distinct arms and legs! Your head is also very prominent, and you were dancing around in the womb as the tech was trying to take the perfect picture of you! We also heard your heartbeat at a very lively 148bpm. That was pretty awesome.

We’re going to tell family very soon, probably after we take a nice and relaxing trip down to the Gulf of Mexico to chill on the beach for a few days.

You’ve certainly grown a good bit over even the last two weeks! You’ve gone from a blob on an ultrasound, to something resembling a silhouette of a person! Little arm and leg buds are sprouting forth from our little Sprout, and there’re even the beginnings of a head.

It’s so very fascinating, how life develops in the womb!

Your mom is doing pretty well, all things considered. She hasn’t really had morning sickness, but has been very tired and has been taking a bunch more naps than she usually does. You wear her out!

Hi there! My name is Kevin and I’m gonna be your dad! It’s indescribable, how one event can be exhilarating, terrifying, and downright awesome at the same time. I know it’s dark and warm where you are, but there’s a bunch more wonder out here in the world that I can’t wait to show you!

Nothing more than a smudge on an ultrasound. But, around February 3, 2014, this little blob will be a newborn human being: You!

We are not telling family until just after the first trimester, and the suspense is killing us! Chances of miscarriage are greatest up until that point, so we really don’t want to get everyone’s hopes up; our own hopes are pretty high, as it is.

You will be so very welcome into our family, and we can’t wait to show you to everyone!