Biggest Misnomer Ever... (alternate title: "Come on Baby, kick your mom!")

Well, this has been a pretty eventful short week. On Tuesday afternoon, we were scheduled for an ultrasound to see how Baby's been growing - the docs have been concerned for a couple of weeks that the baby's on the smaller side. The ultrasound showed a couple of things that are not the greatest at this stage - baby's currently breech, and measuring pretty small for its age - a bit over four pounds. At this point in the Tuesday evening, my doc sent us for a biophysical profile (a second ultrasound looking for practice breathing movements and other kicks and moves) - baby did breathing movements right away, then we were waiting for a few minutes for one more kick. This produced probably the most amusing moment of the evening - the ultrasound tech practically pounding my belly in an effort to get the baby to move, and Nick talking to my stomach saying, "Come on, baby, kick your mom!". We got what we needed, but the doc wanted a non-stress test before we left the hospital.

So, up we went to L&D triage, and that test went fine as well (although we were both fairly stressed by this point, so calling it a non-stress test just didn't seem right...).

Yesterday, the docs were discussing inducing labor (of course, on the night of a Wings' playoff game, which is the one thing I've specifically asked this baby to avoid!), but after further discussion, we agreed to push the induction to next week and repeat the NST and BPP today. We went back to the hospital this morning and repeated those - again, everything looks good, other than the baby's size. On our way out, we were asked if we'd like to be part of a study that's using 3D ultrasound to examine fetal growth. So, we stuck around for another 15 minutes to do that, and got a neat picture of Baby's fist (no face shots - Baby's hand was blocking the face just like a practiced celebrity avoiding paparazzi). Our kid's not even born, and we already have him/her doing research. Are we nerds or what?

Time flies...

Sorry for the complete lack of updating. As spring has rolled around, things are busier at school, and we're doing lots to get ready for baby's arrival in just a few weeks. Some of the major highlights:

We got a dishwasher!! This was one thing on our dream list of things to do when we bought our house a few years ago, but one thing we've been living without. We finally caved a few weeks ago. We knew putting it in would mean losing a cabinet in our already small kitchen, but we've bought some racks and other storage in the past few months to help with that. Turns out that the smaller size dishwasher was a lot more expensive, which means we went with a standard size. Fine and good, just required a little more demolition work of a half-wall that had been at the end of the cabinets. I spent one Saturday in April down at the Village working at Day out with Thomas, and when I got home, Nick and his dad had the dishwasher in and working - yay!

Baby's room is moving right along. We got furniture arranged and the crib set up (the same crib that I and my siblings used as babies), and I completed a little art project with farm animals that's ready to hang. We also moved Grandma Kline's glider chair into the nursery - I'm excited about this one. When I would go to her house to visit, I'd sit in that chair as she sat on the couch and we'd chat. I love the idea of rocking our baby in the same chair and connecting with Grandma, even in a small way. There's also lots to be sorted in the baby's room after our shower last weekend. I'm posting just one of many pics from that. And trust the Kators to receive not one, but two rocking cows. Do our families know us well or what?

Baby's due date is about 5 weeks away, and we're busy checking out pediatricians, day care options and attending our childbirth classes. We've had time to sneak in some fun for baby, though - we went to baby's first Tigers' game last week also - 80s night at Comerica. The TMNT gave the baby a thumbs up. Enjoy the pics...