Another week down . . .______ to go?

Another appointment with the doctor telling us how wonderful Katharine is. I think her quote was, "Why aren't all our patients as relaxed as you are." Nothing new or too exciting to report. Liane, the midwife, was able to do some of the video shooting so Jared (The Dad) makes an appearance. Katharine has a question at the end of the video which we turn the video off for. It had something to do with payment, but neither Katharine or I can remember today, 24 hours later.



For those of you who are long distance relatives, Jason has been slowly trying to get everyone into webcamera usage. We did a test run the other day on Skype and it worked very well. Katharine and I will try to do a few "live" video visits with Q. for eager relatives who are unable to visit immediately. If you have an account with skype e-mail me your user name. If you do not, go to www.skype.com and click on download, and follow the directions to set up and account, and then e-mail your user name. Gotta love the technology that keeps us all connected.

Head down and ready

At our most recent appointment we were able to confirm that Q is hanging out with his head down. Kathy, one of our midwives, did an ultrasound to make sure that everything was okay and ready. The video of the ultrasound is 4:00 and you can clearly make out his beating heart, his head and brain as well as the chest, spine and various other bones.
He is visibly much larger than the original ultrasound, which makes sense, that was 17 weeks ago, almost half his development.



We have been working on preparing Q's room, but since we are planning on keeping him in our room for a few weeks we are not really that pressed to be completely finished. We did receive a present from Fossil and Mossil's recent trip to Las Vegas for Q's room. I have two photos - one of the present, and one of the crib and mobile.



The regular doctor video with the beating heart is here. Katharine is perfect and doing great. We are both enjoying the unusually warm Austin weather and walking as often as we can, as well as preparing the final things and finishing packing the hospital bags so we are ready. Getting ready to be out of school is another matter entirely. . . .

The Final Month Begins!

Today, Katharine and I visited with Kathy, one of the midwives with the doctor's practice. She reported that Katharine and Q are growing and doing perfectly, with a strong healthy heartbeat. We are preparing at home: over-cooking and freezing some things to help out after Q's arrival, working on plans for school and substitutes, and packing for the hospital.




We enjoyed a walk in the warm, sunny afternoon weather after returning home. As we finished, we were delighted to meet neighbors a few houses away down the adjacent road to ours. Sherry brought over their 3 week old baby boy to introduce herself and offer to let Katharine hold him, since she had noticed the obvious belly. We enjoyed visiting with her husband and her for a few minutes and we were excited to know that there will be a little boy growing up with Q who is the same age.

Week 34 - (T-minus 6 or 7 weeks, depending on who is in charge)

We both know that Q will come whenever he is ready, but Katharine is hoping for week 41, so as of our 34 week appointment today, we are looking at only another 6 or 7 weeks.

Q is continuing to grow, and we are continuing to prepare for his arrival, thanks to the generous support from family and friends who are passing tidbits of knowledge, books to read and shower presents. Who knew a baby wore so many clothes? We started pre-washing some of them to get ready to pack a bag for the hospital, I think I folded more clothes for Q then I have have worn in the past month. I guess we'll be ready with clean clothes for the moment he spits up a snack. One of the many things I am learning.

Katharine is doing great and also dealing with the changes that are going on, both inside of her and around her as we prepare. She has been so fabulous for the first 8 months and I am sure she will finish it out just as beautifully.

Happy New Year

Undoubtably, the one thing Katharine and I are looking forward to in the New Year is meeting little Q. Who, as of Dec. 31st, is doing quite well. He did attend his first show today after the appointment. Katharine and I attended the 2009 Christmas Spectacular performance by the Rockettes (The Rockettes - our own little piece of NYC right here in Austin). To see the show was pretty cool, but Katharine said that Q definitely dug the loud music and the deep reverberating base.

We did come home after the appointment before the show - it was a bit of a task getting up for a very early doctor appointment (though I am told this not sleeping thing is to be expected) and Katharine was able to change into a new maternity dress (thank you MJ, she looked great) that she got for Christmas. The picture is not of the pretty dress but in the next outfit which I felt obliged to take and post after I saw the first shot of the video. I guess I need to add editing the videos to the list of things I need to learn how to do.

Doctor visit - week 30

Katharine and I went to visit the doctor today. It was an exciting trip for us, mostly because we had a half day of school today, the last day before break. So, we came home and then went to an afternoon appointment. Not that we aren't always excited to check up on our little baby, but the thought of not having school for two weeks is almost over-whelming.

Nothing different seems to be going on. We are now in the phase where we need to visit the doctor every two weeks. Inside there are a lot of changes happening, but not too much is visible. At the appointment, Little Q was moving quite a bit so his heart rate was up, just like anyone else who starts moving around too much. Maybe that athletic gene is in there somewhere.

In the next few weeks I hope to have some time to work on things here at the house to be ready for Q's arrival. At the least, that should include crib construction. There is an outside chance I may attempt to tackle the tiling project I have been putting off. We see the doctor again on the 31st, so if anything exciting happens we will be sure to let you know.

I started the video with a shot of the mobile. Each room at our doctor's office has a mobile and a quilt. The mobiles are pretty cool and when my Mom was down recently, we visited Salado and saw little people like they have in the mobile. I am still working on my eye for art and thought they were priced way more than they were worth, but I guess if people are buying them at that price....anyway, here it is.

Week 28 appointment

We went to see the doctor (midwife) on Wed. the 3rd of December.  It has been a hectic few weeks and I finally have the video, such as it is, ready to post. 

The appointment went really well. Little Q is growing and his heart is beating. Our midwife had me use the little Doppler instrument to find his heartbeat, and since I was finding the heartbeat she held the video camera and pretended to film. Katharine and I rehashed the appointment afterwards in the car, so the video is not quite as baby-exciting as normal. 

The good news is we have another appointment this Friday, for week 30.  Mom and Q are doing well - hopefully we will get the new post up this weekend.