Below are just a few pictures of Kim’s belly at 39 weeks and then 1 week post baby, as well as some pictures of our new little boy.

Happy Labor Day to us!  The day is finally here, and a picture of ”the” tough woman is to serve as some sort of inspiration, taking into consideration what Kim will be experiencing today.  Kim’s water broke early this morning which was confirmed at the hospital an hour ago.  We will be heading back to the hospital this afternoon/early evening so Caleb will be here within the next 24 hours! 

Dave is taking his husband/father duty seriously, rushing around like a mad-man, making certain that nothing is left out of the birth-bag and that Scout’s essentials are in order.  The next update we post will involve adorable pictures introducing our little Caleb.  Stay tuned and send positive thoughts our way!!!

What you’re seeing is NOT an illusion.  Or is it?  We decided to go against tradition and do a non-Thursday post.  As you can see, we want to show all of you, our devoted readers, what a monumentous growth curve both Mom and Son have experienced during the last 2.5 weeks.  We really didn’t think Kim had grown too much, so when Dave showed Kim the image on the digital camera, Kim let out a  genuine scream…of shock, terror, surprise & of course happiness knowing that Caleb is growing so big and strong.

That’s it for our update — we just wanted to show the great growth that has occurred.  And to think, we still could have 3 1/2 weeks to go…

Love,

Kim, Dave, Caleb & Scoutie

P.S.  Just to be clear, we’re not having twins.  However, we may have a future sumo super-star!

We post only every four weeks, so it occurred to us that this 36-week update could be our last post before Caleb’s arrival!  It’s hard to believe that in only one short week, Caleb will be considered “full-term”.  Caleb now weighs about six pounds and is over 18 1/2 inches long.  He’ll continue to pack on the baby fat that is sure to give him kissable, squeezable, pink cheeks when he makes his grand entrance.  We are ready and waiting — as you can see, his finished nursery is ready and waiting as well. On a side-note we apologize for the scattered placement of the pictures — the program was not cooperating with us : )

We had our midwife appointment this morning and learned that Caleb is now measuring three weeks ahead at 39 weeks.  Kim is dilated to 1cm, which doesn’t mean much, but it’s a start!  We’re not allowing ourselves to get too anxious, as our midwife told us that they typically see first-time moms giving birth around 41 weeks and 3 days…according to that calculation, we still have a ways to go.

Much to Kim’s relief, Caleb has been ready for take-off in the head-down  position since about week 30.  If his behavior in the womb is any indication as to the type of baby he will be, he is sure to be a perfect angel.  Kim has read about numerous moms-to-be on the baby blogs who complain of their little one constantly kicking in the middle of the night leaving them sleepless and jabbing their ribs leaving them bruised.  Caleb gently stirs and shifts, enough of a constant reminder to both Mom and Dad that all is well.  Even though Kim cannot wait to meet her little boy, it brings bitter-sweet tears to her eyes thinking that soon those intimate moments between her and Caleb will only be a memory.  It seems Kim has already made the transition into being a stereotypical sentimental weepy mom.

A special “thanks” goes out to all who made it to Kim’s shower (see picture above) as well as all who have sent gifts throughout the past months.  Everyone’s generosity is appreciated more than we can say.  Thank you, thank you, thank you ALL!!!

Finally, below we have listed the hospital where Caleb will be born with a link to the directions.

North Memorial Medical Center – Main Campus

3300 Oakdale Avenue North , Robbinsdale, MN, 55422 (763) 520-5200

For directions visit: http://www.northmemorial.com/maps/directions.cfm

Kim and Caleb are now at 32 weeks, and to commemorate their most recent accomplishment, we’ve posted the latest and greatest pic of Mom and Son.  Dave thinks this is the biggest growth spurt yet.   What do you think?  We’ve also included our 24 and 28 week pictures to help you decide.  

We’ve also added two new fun and exciting polls for you to take part in.  We want to know: When do you think Caleb will be born and how much do you think our little guy will weigh when he’s born?

Speaking of weight, Caleb now weighs about 3.75-4 pounds and is about 17-19 inches long.  As far as he’s come these past few months, he still has plenty of growing to do.  In fact, during the next 7 weeks, Caleb will continue to gain a third to half of his birth weight! 

Lastly, Kim and Dave are one class away from completing their 6 week birthing class.  We’ve already learned about the stages of pregnancy, took a hospital tour, and have personally swaddled and changed a diaper.  And thanks to the “5 S Technique” we now know how to calm any crying baby within 45 seconds.  After taking these classes, we don’t know what all the fuss is about  

Stay tuned for further updates.  And don’t be shy…we want to know what you, our devoted reader(s)? think, so vote away! 

Love,

Kim, Caleb, Scout and Dave

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At 28 weeks, Caleb weighs in around 2 1/4 pounds, and measures about 14.8 inches long.   This must be the reason for the rapidly bulging belly you see above, ballooning from week 20…to 24…to 28.  Also at 28 weeks, Caleb can not only hear his Mommy and Daddy’s voices, he can distinguish between the two.  And what’s more, Caleb now has eyelashes.  And to think that those same eyelashes will be manipulating his mommy in a few months.  Caleb will continue to gain about a quarter of a pound each week for the next couple weeks.

We’re also excited about our soon-to-be more frequent visits to our midwife clinic.  Starting at week 30, we’ll see our midwife every two weeks, then after week 36, we’ll see her every week until Caleb’s arrival!

Finally, last Monday we started our 6-week child birth preparation course.  During this course we’ll learn about the stages of labor, breathing and relaxation techniques, infant care, etc.  We’ll also be taking a tour of the pre-natal unit at North Memorial, where little Caleb will be born.

Stay tuned for further updates…

We just couldn’t wait another 14 weeks to see Caleb, so we broke down and took a trip to Bella Angel Imaging in Maple Grove.  Bella Angel offers a 4-D glimpse via ultrasound into the world only Caleb sees, and what a wonderful world it is!  After 1 1/2 hours of seeing our little boy twist and turn, we walked out the door with 16 printed images, 95 images on a CD and a 50 minute real-time DVD video of the ultrasound.  To boot, we also purchased a very unique teddy bear.  With a little recording magic, they were able to duplicate Caleb’s heartbeat in our teddy bear.  Now we can hear that wonderful sound of life any time we wish.

Another interesting anticdote, Brenda, the owner of Bella Angel, informed us that in almost all cases, she can determine whom the baby will look like, mom or dad, or at the very least, decipher which features belong to whom.   In Caleb’s case, she was inconclusive.   Kim, however, believes that the fifth image down looks just like Dave when he scowls — look at that furrowed brow!  We’re curious…what do you guys think?

We’ve hit the 24 week mark and things couldn’t be going more smoothly.  Although we have MUCH ahead of us, we say that we’re “heading downhill” because we’ve passed the halfway marker – but as of now it feels as if we’re coasting and things have only gotten easier (knock on wood).

Kim feels great and continues to keep active, in fact, she has so much energy that she has trouble falling asleep at night.  She is enjoying every moment of her liveliness and realizes she may just wake up any day now feeling tired and uncomfortable.  Dave is relishing the more frequent sensation of Caleb’s kicks on his hand and was excited to see Kim’s belly shake and bulge with Caleb’s stronger movements.  Dave is also enjoying reading bedtime stories to Caleb already – you can’t start exposing little ones to books too soon!

The nursery-to-be looks, feels, and smells like a brand new room, many thanks to Kim’s mom who installed extra shelving and painted a beautiful green color, ”Restful”, on the walls.  Caleb’s closet is ridiculously full thanks to our family’s generosity (Grandma & Grandpa Jatko, Grandma G, & aunts & uncles).   Caleb would like to give a special Hapa shout out to his cousin Bennett, who passed on his extensive ”like-new” baby wardrobe that Sarah and Jeff graciously mailed to us.  The most recent addition to Caleb’s vast fortune of babe clothes is an authentic Adrian Peterson jersey, which was a gift from his Grandpa Jatko.  Caleb has been talking non-stop about sporting his new jersey come football season.   We don’t have the heart to tell him that he won’t be here yet, but we’ll keep his jersey on deck for the Vikings Super Bowl run come January!

It’s surreal to think that we’re nearing the end of the second trimester already, with the third trimester a mere four weeks away!  Crisp autumn leaves crunching under our feet will be a welcome sound this year — the changing seasons and cool air bring Caleb’s arrival that much closer.

Love,

Kim, Dave, Caleb, & Scout

Although there have been times when it seems that the days just d-r-a-g by, overall, the first twenty weeks of pregnancy have come and gone in a flash.  Kim is rapidly expanding by the second (refer to images above) and feels little Caleb kicking and moving about every day.  Dave felt evidence of Caleb’s life for the very first time two nights ago when Caleb gave a gentle kick to Dave’s patiently waiting hand.  It was yet another exciting moment for us to share!

We had our twenty-week check-up today during which we heard Caleb’s heartbeat and were told that Kim “has baby all over,” meaning Caleb was sprawled about in the womb; our little sweetheart has definitely made himself at home.  We had many questions for the midwife concerning Caleb’s ultrasound results, which were perfectly normal, receiving (or not to receive) the H1N1 and flu vaccinations, and the natural birthing process.  Kim has been diligently researching the benefits of having a natural childbirth and whether it is the right choice for her, and we are both impressed with the all of the wonderful support & tools that the midwives provide while in a hospital setting.

Now that our nerves have finally settled down a bit, we’ve come to realize that life is good, as expecting parents.  We are doing our best to follow everyone’s advice and simply take this experience day-by-day while enjoying all of the little things that go into being pregnant, rather than solely focusing on the future.  With that said, is it New Year’s Eve yet?

Love,
Dave, Kim, Caleb, & Scoutie

Kim is 18 weeks and 4 days today and we had the big ultrasound this morning at 11:30…yes, 11:30. If you were paying very close attention, you may have realized that the original appointment was scheduled for 4:00 today, but Kim, in all of her anxiousness, couldn’t wait that long and rescheduled for an earlier time slot.  Our hearts melted when we saw his little arms, legs, fingers, toes and sweet face.  Our little guy has stolen our hearts already and we’ve had perma-smiles on our faces today to prove it.

More importantly than learning the gender of the baby, we learned that our baby is kicking, strong, healthy and BIG. Although Caleb’s fellow baby friends weigh in around 7 ounces in the 18th week, Caleb is tipping the scale at a whopping 11 ounces already, which puts him in the 97th percentile for size!  That doesn’t officially change the due date, but the ultrasound technician said that puts us a week ahead of schedule, therefore, our temporarily altered due date is Christmas Eve instead of New Year’s Eve.

We feel so fortunate that everything has gone so well up to this point, and very excited to tackle the next few months of our pregnancy adventure. We can’t believe we’re only about a week away from the half-way point. Baby Caleb will be in our arms before we know it!  That’s all the excitement we have for now, but next week we will post the 20 week belly picture.

Love,
Kim, Dave, Caleb, & Scout