Baby Hertlein is estimated to arrive somewhere around July 17, 2007. Since that will be the 40-week mark and most first-time mothers go until about 41 weeks and 3 days, I expect he will be a little later than that.
Here are some photos of Baby Hertlein. The first photo is (left) is from the eight-week ultrasound. You can see that one of his legs is not visible in the photo, so I spent a good deal of effort trying to "grow" an extra leg over the last few weeks, just in case.
The next three photos show Baby Hertlein throwing his head back, sucking his thumb (my personal favorite), and just hanging out. These photos are from his 19 week ultrasound.
We know that Baby Hertlein is a BOUNCING BABY BOY! Since I have three sisters and four cousins who are girls, I know nothing about boys! It looks like I will be learning a lot. This is the first baby on both Eric's and my side of the family.
What's In A Name?
We have also just started looking at baby names and are taking requests! Please complete the fields below to submit your idea.
Registry and Shower Information
The baby shower was held Saturday, April 21, 2007 in the Chicago suburbs at Village Greens in Woodridge, IL. We had a really good time. My sister Denise did a great job organizing the event, right down to the table decorations! My sister Lynn made some awesome center pieces, and my sister Anne made me this beautiful baby memory book. Here are some pics from the shower in Chicago. The one of the left is the grandmothers-to-be; the one in the middle features the aunts-to-be; the one on the right is a shot of the cousins who were able to attend.
We had an AWESOME shower here in Las Vegas thrown by Eric's work friends on Friday, May 18. It was a great time. Thank you to Leslie, Klaudia, and Linh for the superb party. We are so thankful to have such great friends. The first picture on the left is that gang who threw the shower: Klaudia, Greg, Linh, Eric and myself, and Leslie and Lloyd. The picture on the right is Eric's parents, who were in town helping to get the baby's room ready.
We had an AWESOME shower here in Las Vegas thrown by Eric's work friends on Friday, May 18. It was a great time. Thank you to Leslie, Klaudia, and Linh for the superb party. We are so thankful to have such great friends. The first picture on the left is that gang who threw the shower: Klaudia, Greg, Linh, Eric and myself, and Leslie and Lloyd. The picture on the right is Eric's parents, who were in town helping to get the baby's room ready.
We are currently registered at Target and at Babies R' Us.
What's With the Quilt?
In the invitation to the shower, you probably noticed that we wanted you to collaborate on creating a quilt!
Please decorate these small squares of material in any manner you choose. A couple of points:
(1) They do not have to be extravagant or take a great deal of time; just something to be put together with the other pieces to make a quilt for the baby!
(2) While there is no limit or size requirement, a 7 X 7 square might work out just fine.
(2) Some of you may not have had the opportunity to complete your squares before the shower. If this happened, please complete the square after the shower and send it to Denise. She will be sure and get the quilt ready in time for Baby Hertlein's arrival. Thank you already to the many people who submitted the squares.
(1) They do not have to be extravagant or take a great deal of time; just something to be put together with the other pieces to make a quilt for the baby!
(2) While there is no limit or size requirement, a 7 X 7 square might work out just fine.
(2) Some of you may not have had the opportunity to complete your squares before the shower. If this happened, please complete the square after the shower and send it to Denise. She will be sure and get the quilt ready in time for Baby Hertlein's arrival. Thank you already to the many people who submitted the squares.
Arrival Time Guessing Contest
We held a contest for people to guess Baby Hertlein's arrival date and time. The contest closed on July 7, 2007. The person who guessed closest to Baby Hertlein's arrival date/time won a $15 gift card from Amazon.com. Congratulations to Aunt Loretta, who guessed Adam would arrive on July 14th.
If you didn't participate in the contest, but still want to have a guess, complete the fields below to submit your entry!
Belly Shots
Many of you have been interested in how "pregnant" I am looking these days. Below you will find a series of photos as my belly starts to expand.
| Week 6 |  |
| Week 7 (Poor Chloe -- she has NO idea what is about to come her way.) |  |
| Week 8 |  |
| Week 9 |  |
| Week 10 |  |
| Week 12 (my poor red nose -- Being ill when you are pregnant stinks.) |  |
| Week 14 (ligaments are getting stretched and my side hurts!) |  |
| Week 15 (starting to have to wear my big pants....) |  |
| Week 16 (started to feel him move this week!) |  |
| Week 17 |  |
| Week 18 (We didn't take a formal picture this week with so many visitors in town, but here is one we took during this week while visiting Mount Charleston, NV, a relatively short drive outside of the Las Vegas city limits. Look at that belly!) |  |
| Week 19 (kicks are getting stronger and stronger! He is approximately 6 inches from crown to rump.) |  |
| Week 20 (and I have a cold again!) |  |
| Week 21 (Little Kicker was pretty quiet during the week but really active this weekend. I am finding he kicks around the same times every day: 4:30AM, 9:30-10AM, 2:30PM, 6PM, and then 9:30-10PM. My guess is it corresponds with my eating schedule. He is about 10.5 inches big now.) |  |
| Week 22 |  |
| Week 23 (I am running out of real estate lately. My sides always feel like they are being stretched to the max. Little Hertlein is still moving around a lot -- I can now feel him poking around at multiple places across my belly at once). |  |
| Week 24 (Baby Hertlein and I went for our glucose test. I guess everything was OK, since I have not heard and its one of those "No news is good news" things. The doctors make you drink a sugary drink really fast, and then you have to wait an hour to have your blood drawn. Once that sugar hit, WHOO HOO, was Baby Hertlein having a dance party! That was some sugar rush. I thought he was going to kick through my stomach right there in the waiting room. I ended up feeling really tired and dizzy for hours after that. I also have noticed that it is taking me a little while longer to get in and out of cars and I am getting more and more tired.) |  |
| Week 25 (Baby Hertlein's movements are getting more interesting. I woke up this morning and thought that Chloe was laying on my stomach and pushing my belly with her paws, first one and then the other. Imagine my surprise when Chloe was at my side and the BABY was the one making waves!) |  |
| Week 26 (Baby Hertlein kept me up all last night. I think he's trying to escape. I keep trying to tell him there's no where to go, but he keeps trying to push his way out anyway.) |  |
| Week 29 (We skipped a weekend because of the shower and then this weekend we forgot! So last night I took a picture. Today [Tuesday, May 1] begins week 29. Baby Hertlein is getting QUITE active. He kicked me so hard the other day he woke me up in my sleep. Youch. He and Eric were playing a game yesterday -- Eric would poke me, the baby would kick him, and they would take turns. That wasn't the funnest time, either.) |  |
| Week 30 (Oh my gosh! Tomorrow starts week 30. Is there anything I wanted to do before I had a baby? -- because I've only got about 10 weeks left...) |  |
| Week 31 (Now we are down to the single digit weekly countdown...9 weeks to go...He'll be here before we know it. Eric's parents are coming this week to help us paint and set up the room, and we are saying "good bye" to the guest bedroom.) |  |
| Week 32 (Baby still is in the same place....The doctor had me feel the difference between his head, his bottom, and his heel today. It was strange to feel his head! Eric's parents were also here this past weekend to help us with the nursery. Eric and his dad did a GREAT job painting, putting together the furniture, and getting it ready for the newest member of the family.) |  |
| Week 33 (My older sister mentioned that she was glad to see Chloe in last week's shot, as she was starting to wonder, with the size of my belly, if I had eaten her. Chloe decided to be in this one, too. It's hard to find a comfortable position these days. Eric and I went to a baseball game yesterday, and it was difficult to sit there all afternoon because the baby kept moving, so what was comfortable kept changing. Everytime I lay down I am getting poked. I can't believe there are only 7 weeks left (supposedly) and there is still so much to do. I also haven't been able to eat well lately -- I fill up so fast, because there just isn't any ROOM for food in me anymore.) |  |
| Week 34 (Here is Chloe, making yet another appearance in the photo! I guess she's been feeling left out. Things are moving along just fine -- we basically finished the nursery this weekend with the exception of a few odds and ends, so I guess when he shows up, we will be as ready as we can be. Our new couches with a comfy sofa bed are arriving this week, so if anyone wants to travel to Vegas to meet Baby Hertlein, there will be a place for you to sleep!) |  |
| Week 35 (Ah yes, Chloe making sure she is in the shot, once again. She has recently discovered a new place to sleep when we aren't around -- the baby's changing table. Good thing we have a pad covering it and have not put on the covers we are using for the baby. In the meantime, we also tried to experiment with playing baby cries that we found on the Internet in order to get Chloe used to the sound. For the most part, she whines and tries to bite at your hand to get you to stop playing the sound. Egads, her adjustment to the new infant should be interesting....Baby Hertlein is doing just fine, though -- moving around all over and getting quite big!) |  |
| Week 36 (Baby is still moving quite a bit. We went to a concert this week and he was dancing the whole time. We spent some time washing baby clothes and getting last minute details in place for his arrival, including purchasing a refrigerator that works. Baby Hertlein also had the hiccups for a little bit tonight. And yes, hello AGAIN Chloe...) |  |
| Week 37 (Not much to report....he's still in there, moving a little bit less as he runs out of room.) |  |
| Week 38 (Doctor said last week that I was 2-3 cm dilated and 50% effaced, so the process of him moving out has started.) |  |
| Week 39 (This was a fairly exciting week. I am about 4 cm dilated and the doctor's office believed that the baby would be here by the end of the week. But, alas, no baby! Too bad, because we were getting excited. So we've just been bidin' our time, eating lots of ice cream and trying to stay cool. My current plan is to freeze Baby Hertlein out. We ended up getting the car windows tinted so that the poor little baby won't bake in the desert heat as soon as you plop him in the car seat. The only other eventful thing that happened this week was the enormous back pain I had on Tuesday for most of the day and well into the night. While my students were excited that it might be back labor and hoping such an event would necessitate the canceling of class, it seems as if it, along with a few other things, were merely signs indicating "labor is approaching," which is a no-brainer given that I am 39 weeks along already. We'll see what happens this week...) |  |
| Adam is Here! (Here is the last baby belly shot....) |  |
Nursery Photos
The nursery is ready to go! As you will see, we have a safari theme. Below are a few photos of the room. The first is a view of the room from the door. The second is a photo of the room from the corner by the crib. The third is a photo of the room from the window, looking at the crib.
Mom's Corner
I also have been doing a great deal or reading and research related to being a new mom. There is so much out there it can be confusing! My "Mom's Corner" page contains links and articles of things that I have found interesting and valuable (i.e., new safety information, funny articles, etc.).Questions? Comments? Please email me at kat.hertlein@gmail.com.