Freja: One Month Old Already!

It's hard for us to believe that Freja is just over a month old already! On the one hand it feels like she's always been in our lives, but on the other hand it seems like we just brought her home from the hospital yesterday.

Jan & I love getting to know Freja and figuring out her cries & noises and what they mean. In addition to her hungry cry, change my diaper cry and the general newborn inconsolable cry, she's just on the brink of starting to make some coos, oohs and aahhs, and we're sure there's also a genuine smile around the corner. Freja had a one-month checkup at the doctor on Friday who confirmed for us that she'll be smiling and cooing at us in no time. We also were happy to hear that she is growing and gaining weight at a good pace, and that she is very strong for her age. She even rolled over twice just to show off for the doctor (Jan's chest puffed up just a little bit when the doctor praised her for this accomplishment!).

We start phase two of meeting the grandparents tomorrow with the arrival of Jan's parents tomorrow afternoon. We just know that Jeanne is probably not sleeping a wink tonight she's so excited to meet her first grandchild! She & Dirk will be here for a week, and Jan & I look forward to having some help around the house (and by help I mean we'll let them hold Freja so we can rest, do laundry, make dinner etc). Check the blog later this week for a guest post from one or both of the new grandparents!

Picture on the right - we got to enjoy grilling this afternoon to celebrate the first day of spring. Sort of hard to tell but Jan has Freja in the Ergo pack WHILE he's grilling burgers. This is definitely him in his happy place!! She's already a daddy's girl, but there's also no doubt about it, she's got him wrapped around her tiny little finger. Love!

Guest Blogger: Grandma!

Grandma Cecilia here...I came earlier this week to visit and help, and thought I'd share with you from a different perspective. Well, not too different. Like her parents, I think Freja is a wonderful little baby! She and Kelly came to the airport to pick me up Monday afternoon - her first trip to the airport, not that she will ever remember! The biggest surprise about this little package is that she is not like any baby I remember in our family - she has a LONG torso, LONG legs and LONG arms! Longer than it seems in her pictures. She is certain to be quite an athlete!

So far, we have been keeping busy. Yesterday Kelly called me "The Grandma Whisperer" as when Freja is fussy, I have been able to calm her by whispering a "shush" noise to her. My body clock is still on FL time, so I get up early (4 or 5 here) and have encouraged Kelly to go back to bed after the morning feeding to get some rest and I am up with Freja. The weather has been nice and in the high 40s, so we have been on a few walks and this afternoon, I got to help give her a bath. We may make a trip to Target tomorrow - a major outing! Overall, I'm just here to help when I can and try not to get in the way, and of course, get my hands on that precious little baby every chance I get!

Two Weeks & Two Days!

Freja is just over two weeks old now and growing and changing so much every single day. We had a two-week check at the doctor on Friday and she's doing great, just about back up to her birth weight and getting longer/taller too (looks like she's getting height from her dad - thank goodness!). As newborn parents Jan & I are learning and growing every single day as well, which at this point means letting Freja take the lead. She eats when she's hungry, sleeps when she's tired, we just follow suit and do our best to accommodate her whims. She loves to be carried around & held all the time, and Jan and I are more than happy to oblige.

My mom Cecilia Wilhelm arrives tomorrow for a week. I look forward to having some help & company during the days since Jan is back at work full time, and I know my mom is dying to help out by holding and loving the baby full time! I'm hoping we have some warm springy days while she is here this week so we can get outside and go for long walks (it didn't take me long to realize baby + stroller = nap time. LOVE the stroller!). We'll post pictures of Grandma & baby Freja this week, and will try to get some of Jan & I too. Thanks as always for checking in on us and sweet little Freja Maxine!

What's in a name?

We've had a little confusion about the name of our little one so I thought I'd step in and help out a bit. Freja is pronounced "Fray-ya." Two syllables. The second syllable is pronounced like the first part of my name. So Freja = Fray-ya.

Where did we come up this name? First off, we knew that there aren't many names that go with Koorn and those that do are typically from Northern European areas like Holland, Germany or the Scandinavian countries. As most of you know, I lived in Sweden for a year and have an affinity toward Scandinavian culture and I suggested Freja. In Norse and Viking culture Freja was the goddess of love and beauty. She was also the leader of the Valkyries, the female warriors of the vikings. Additionally, it is largely believed that Freja is the origin of the word "Friday" (which is a day that all of us can agree is pretty cool :o) and our little Freja was coincidentally born on a Friday.

Maxine fit nicely between Freja and Koorn. Maxine is the feminine form of Maximilian which means "the greatest." After seeing her born I can assure you that Freja Maxine is the greatest!

Anyway, that is the background on our sweet little girl. Love you all!

-Jan

Freja Maxine Koorn!

Freja is here, she's finally here! Freja Maxine Koorn arrived on Friday, February 18 at 2:27 a.m. weighing in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces and 19.8 inches long. Jan & I are so thrilled to have her here, after all those months of wondering what will she look like and who will she be. Now we are getting to know her more and more every single day, and we honestly can't remember life before Freja.

We're taking approximately 1,000 photos of Freja every single day, and instead of uploading all of the individual pics on a how-cute-is-this basis, we decided to create an online photostream to share photos. Please check the Flickr Photostream link to the right to keep up with our latest favorites. As always comments on the blog or to the Flickr photostream are welcome!

Lots of love to all of you, thanks for checking in on the Koorn family!

And Waiting...

Today marks three days to our due date of February 15. Jan has decided this baby likes to sleep in and/or be fashionably late, just like her mom. He just might be right on both counts! Yesterday and today I went on a long walk to see if that might get things moving (the attached picture was taken today on the bike path in Emma, near our house), to no avail. Tonight we're planning to have extra spicy food for dinner. If nothing's happening by tomorrow we'll resort to a horseback ride and/or long Sunday drive on a bumpy road. Let us know if you know of any other old wives' tales to speed this thing along!

Still Waiting!

We had a checkup & ultrasound for week 39 today. Happy to report everything is just fine with mom & baby! The pic at left shows one of her chubby little feet. They tried to get a good picture of the baby's face but she had both hands up in front of her face (and one arm in her mouth for most of the time). Best guess for the baby's weight is about 7 1/2 pounds right now, give or take. Yet another reason I hope she decides to come soon - I don't want her getting much bigger than this for delivery! For now we'll just see if she does come this week, and if not we have another appointment scheduled at week 40 which is the baby's due date.

Clearly my prediction that the baby would arrive on Super Bowl Sunday was off! We've got a few hours left to meet Julie's prediction of today, otherwise our next guess is Jan & Arie's vote for Wednesday, Arie's birthday. Stay tuned.....!

Weekly baby update for week 39:
You're in the home stretch! After nine months of growth and development, your baby is ready to be born, or nearly so. At week 39, your baby is fully developed and anywhere from 17-23 inches long and weighs 6-10 pounds. Don't be frightened if your OB-GYN says your baby is large: It's extremely difficult to judge a baby's weight accurately from the outside. Your baby is adding neural connections and growing hair and still gaining weight. Researchers have theorized that when babies are ready to be born, they send a chemical signal of androgens to the placenta, which increases the production of estrogen and leads to labor. If so, it's proof of the old saying that "only a baby knows when it's ready to be born."