Everything is OK

Just a quick update to let all of you worried people out there that we had another OB appointment yesterday to check on the status of these contractions. The great news is that even though Kristi is still having sporadic contractions nothing has changed cervix-wise. (translation: there is no risk of baby falling out any time soon!) Our doctor was very relieved (apparently she was more worried than she let on, which is always disturbing in hindsight!). We got to listen to Little Foot's heartbeat again, always a wonderful sound. The un-official verdict on the contractions: either Kristi has an "irritable uterus" which might continue contracting sporadically throughout the rest of the pregnancy OR Little Foot was going through a big growth spurt (along with the uterus) causing some stretching and contractions. We may never know. But now we are going to see the doctor every two weeks instead of every 4 weeks just to make sure everything is on track. Hang in there Little Foot!

Matt got to practice his skills as an ultrasound technician on Little Foot last night. We had a short class on ultrasounds where we worked in small groups with a doctor. We looked at all kinds of normal stuff in the abdomen and chest (aorta, heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, etc) and then we took a peek in at Little Foot. He/she was swimming around, doing some ninja kicks and punches. Matt poked a bit, causing Little Foot to fight back. Everyone at the ultrasound class was pretty amazed (as we always are too!). Seeing that tiny little heart beating so perfectly is really neat!

We don't have any pictures to post this week, but we'll probably post again this weekend after we take another side profile or something else fun. We're forecasted to get approximately 2 feet of snow this week/weekend! Watch for Duluth on the news!

Halfway there!

20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go! Up until now we keep telling people this has been a very easy pregnancy, but this last weekend has put a small kink in that claim. On Thursday night Kristi started having some cramps/contractions that were pretty frequent. After some hemming and hawing, Matt convinced Kristi to call Dr. Kruger at home, even though Kristi was worried about interrupting Dr. Kruger's home life in the evening. Dr. Kruger of course was not mad, and has since convinced us that we should never hesitate to call if we have a concern. Anyway, we talked through some causes of pre-term contractions and luckily, we already had an appointment scheduled for Friday afternoon. So since there was no bleeding and the contractions seemed to be calming down at that point, we agreed to wait it out and talk Friday afternoon. To make a long story short, there is no consensus as to why Kristi's uterus is contracting. It is pretty early for "false labor" (Braxton Hicks contractions), and we have explored (and eliminated) the common causes of contractions... So we are just supposed to wait it out and hope that nothing bad happens. The tricky part is that if this turns into labor, there is nothing that can be done to stop it this early in pregnancy. In a few weeks, Baby will potentially be able to survive outside the uterus, so we are praying and hoping that things settle down. They already have calmed down considerably...on Saturday night we had several of our friends pray for us at church and from then until mid-Sunday we were contraction free! And then the rest of Sunday the uterus was pretty quiet. Thanks God! We have been praying a lot for this little Baby, so we would appreciate anyone else joining in that too.

On a happier note:
Little Foot is a very active little baby. He/she likes to punch, kick, roll over, swim, do handstands, stretch, and body slam. This is fun to feel and watch! We keep trying to videotape Kristi's tummy, but Little Foot seems to be a little camera shy and stops moving every time we bring out the camera.
Kristi's belly is growing...as if you can't tell from the pictures! As of Friday's doctor appointment, the weight gain tally is a little over 7 pounds. Kristi's wardrobe is making a transition from normal clothes to "pregnant lady" clothes (as her sisters like to call them). Matt's belly is not growing. He has not gained any weight, but he is trying to keep up by snacking while studying! He still fits in all of his clothes. :)
Little Foot is approximately 10 inches long and maybe around 12 ounces. Nothing much is happening in development, but he/she is getting bigger and bigger! Grow Baby grow!

Week 18

Baby's grandparents came for the ultrasound last week, and afterwards the grandma's wanted to go to Target and buy Little Foot some blankets. Look how excited they are! Grandma Cindy (Kristi's mom) is in the blue jacket, and Grandma CarolAnn (Matt's mom) is holding the giraffe blanket. Grandpa Randy (Matt's dad) found an appropriate onesie to commemorate his days as an accountant. It says "Tax Deduction!" Grandpa Mark (Kristi's dad) couldn't make it up to Duluth so he sent Little Foot a special song on a CD. Little did Grandpa Mark know that his gift is currently the most useful to Little Foot, because he/she can hear now! This week Baby's bones are starting to harden (ossify) and the bones in the ear are the first to do so. With that accomplishment, Baby's ears are now fully formed and functioning! Maybe we'll have to start playing Mozart for him/her to help those brain cells get smart!

Mom & Dad have a fun new hobby. Baby is big enough to kick hard now and you can actually see it from the outside! It's pretty entertaining to watch it kick and move across Kristi's belly. Matt likes to put his face on the belly and let Little Foot kick him in the face. Grandpa Mark has nicknamed Baby "Kicking Foot."

What's in a name?

Now for some audience participation. All those who are reading this blog every day but too shy to post a comment, now is your time to shine.

We are looking for names! We already have some favorite names picked out, but would appreciate some ideas from the world-wide peanut gallery. Some examples we thought of: Sebastian, Rudiger, Ethel, and the very appropriate "Awesome."

We look forward to hearing from all of you. Points and world-wide recognition for most creative entries!