Three Cheers for the Third Trimester!

Today marks the first day of my third trimester of pregnancy - meaning just 12 weeks to go to our due date. With the busy ski season kickoff and holiday season ahead of us, it already feels like this final trimester will go so fast. Our childbirth class comes to an end next Monday, and while we realize we don't really know what to expect when labor day comes we do feel better prepared and educated about our options (epidural, anyone?). The baby's movements are very regular now, with my bedtime being her favorite time to wake up and get moving. (As people say, she's preparing me for her inevitable nighttime feeding schedule.) Sometimes I feel her rolling around and maybe flipping over, while other times I feel some big punches & kicks! It's so reassuring to me to feel her moving in there, and Jan says he likes seeing me hold my stomach when she is moving around.

Thanksgiving in the Roaring Fork Valley looks like it's going to be a white one, with a winter storm warning, blizzard warning, an avalanche watch and high wind warnings for the Aspen area in effect for the next few days. We are grateful that we'll both be able to stay home on Thursday and enjoy a traditional turkey dinner at home with friends, and of course we're also thankful that I'm enjoying a mellow pregnancy and looking forward to the next chapter of our lives with our baby girl. What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Do you have any special plans with friends or family? Add a comment, as always we'd love to hear from all of you.

A quick recap of how the baby has developed in the second trimester:
Your baby is very, very busy in the second trimester. For one thing, she's sprouting hair, her ears and eyes are moving into their correct positions, and she's starting to suck and swallow. By week 18 of pregnancy, she weighs about as much as a chicken breast, she can yawn and hiccup (so cute!), and she's got fingerprints on those tiny digits. By week 21 of pregnancy you should be able to feel her newly coordinated arms and legs give you little jabs and kicks and in week 22 of pregnancy, her developing senses start to smell, taste, see, and hear. By six months, your baby takes a cue from you and starts to pack on the pounds; in fact, she'll likely double her weight in the next four weeks. Capillaries are forming to carry blood through her body and those little eyes are starting to open. By the end of your second trimester, you'll have a two-pound human in your belly!

And what's happening in week 28:
By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures nearly 16 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world. She's busy adding new skills such as blinking to an already impressive repertoire of tricks like coughing, sucking, hiccuping, and taking practice breaths. Your baby's sleep now includes the REM (rapid eye movement) phase — and that means she could be dreaming already (what do you suppose she's dreaming about?). Click here if you'd like to see what an in utero baby looks like at 28 weeks.

Baby on Board

Husband and father to be here - Almost done with the second trimester which, if I remember my grade school math, means there is only one trimester to go. The baby is really moving around with good consistency and today Kelly and I were even able to see (not just feel) the kicks and movements. It's pretty amazing. We also received our first major baby gift, a stroller! (Thanks Mom & Dad!) As you can see from the picture the stroller is fun looking and should be great for the neighborhood and walking around town.

Knowing that I'll have a daughter I have been looking for female role models that I can teach her about - athletes, business women, etc... So, I'd like to ask who you all, our friends and relatives, who are your favorite female role models? Please post in the comments below.

Week 26: Childbirth Class!

Above are a couple of pictures from our trip to Indiana last week. My dad showed Jan how to drive the John Deere, then Jan took some of us girls out for a hay ride. Yeehaw!

We attended our first childbirth class last night, just another step on our way to parenthood! There is only one other couple in the class, so we were able to get very helpful information from the instructor and lots of attention. I don't want to name names or embarrass anyone JAN PIETER KOORN - but someone asked a lot of great questions according to the teacher! We have three more Monday night sessions, covering everything from natural childbirth to epidurals, breastfeeding to diaper changing and more. In case you are wondering, yes, we watched "the video" and we both survived.

One thing we learned last night is that Aspen Valley Hospital delivers on average less than one baby per day. We feel very fortunate that we'll give birth there, knowing we'll get lots of attention from the staff due to such a low patient/staff ratio. The maternity wing was remodeled within the last few years, and we know from visiting friends who have had babies since the remodel just how nice the rooms are and how special all that attention makes you feel.

Primo continues her gymnastics routine both day & night, and some days I feel like she & I are both doubling in size on a daily basis! She seems to wake up & get moving right around my bedtime, making sleep a little tough for me, but worth it in that I find all of her punches & kicks reassuring. I feel so lucky carrying this little girl around with me every day, and if losing some sleep is the worst part of pregnancy I can handle it!

And now your weekly baby update:
Your baby weighs about 1 1/2 pounds and has undergone a growth spurt in the past few weeks. From weeks twenty to twenty-eight, she almost doubles in height and now would be about a foot tall if she could stand. This week marks a major milestone in your baby's hearing and sight. Your baby's hearing system (cochlea and peripheral sensory end organs), which began fine development during week eighteen, is now completely formed, and over the next few weeks, she'll become increasingly sensitive to sound. In about a month, you'll feel her jump if she hears a sudden loud noise. Sound passes easily into your uterus, which helps her ears develop. Her eyes are almost fully formed and are now beginning to open. Did you know that all babies have blue eyes in the womb, no matter what their genetic inheritance is? A baby's eyes don't get their final color until a few months after they are born. The air sacs of the lungs, called alveoli, will be developed by the end of this week and will begin to secrete a substance called surfactant that keeps the lung tissue from sticking together.

Ultra Photos!

Here are a couple of new photos from our trip to the doctor today. Everything is still healthy with her. Weight is just above average and as you can see from the photos she's quite a looker (I'm a biased of course being the proud dad!) Enjoy!

Week 25: Colts Superfans!

Thanks Mom for all the Colts gear!

We had a great time catching up with everyone in Indiana, got to see the Colts win Monday night football, and I think my baby bump went through a major growth spurt in the last week! The baby is moving so much these days, she keeps me up at night but is on the move during the day as well. Jan likes feeling those kicks & punches as much as I do, and we both feel like time is flying by and she will be here so soon. Yay!

I have an ultrasound tomorrow morning so hopefully will get some new pictures up on the blog over the weekend - so please check back!

And now your week 25 baby update:
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture. Small blood vessels, called capillaries, are forming under the skin and filling with blood. Later this week, blood vessels will also develop in your baby's lungs, bringing them one step closer to full maturity — and one step closer to taking that first breath of fresh air. The lungs aren't the only system that's gearing up for air intake. Your baby's nostrils, which have been plugged up until now, are starting to open this week. This actually allows your little one to begin taking practice breaths.

Milestone! Week 23

For the past six weeks or so I have been hogging feeling the baby move all to myself. That all changed this morning when Jan finally got to feel her move! (Up to this point he just hasn't been able to feel all that rolling and flipping.) I really should have him writing this week's blog post to give you his POV. All I can tell you is Primo acted up right on cue, doing a few big rolls, twists & turns just for him, then calling it a day. She is on the move lately, still no big kicks or punches, but definitely doing somersaults (and using my bladder as a trampoline) at all hours, day & night. Her ears must be burning because she is in fact rolling around as I type!

Work continues around the house as we're making room for her and getting ready to move our home office down to the guest room so that what is now our office can become the baby's room. Jan has been very busy going through stuff in the garage, and I have been very busy procrastinating about going through much of anything else. I keep thinking I have all kinds of time before the baby comes - but it really does feel like time is flying by. The next 17 weeks (or less, or more - it's not really up to us) will go quickly and she will be here before we know it! We can't wait.

For week 23 - How your baby's growing:
With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound, you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking cat meowing or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb. This week marks the beginning of some serious weight gain. Your baby's weight in the next four weeks alone should double. You have probably heard your developing baby's heartbeat through a Doppler a number of times already (though you never get tired of hearing it), but by now you can also hear it through a standard stethoscope. What a heart throb!

Week 22 - Notes From an Old Mom

Being pregnant is really a fun time and so entertaining. I get a kick out of everyone's interest and occasional expertise in this subject.

The most common questions people ask when they realize I'm pregnant: How far along are you? How are you feeling? Are you going to find out if it's a boy or a girl? I realize people are just making small talk and the answers to these questions don't matter to them nearly as much as they matter to me! And I realize now that if you've never been pregnant before those are the first things that come to mind when you find out someone is pregnant. "How are you feeling?" is well-intentioned no doubt, but after answering it so frequently I feel like saying that I'm pregnant - not sick - and feeling pretty good thank you! The two don't necessarily go hand in hand.

There are other funny things people say to you when you're pregnant. Like the midwife who told me at my first prenatal appointment not to be too worried about how short I am, there's still a good chance I can have a natural delivery (huh?!). Or my friend who told me the reason I didn't have any morning sickness is because I'm an old mom (for the record, the books & websites all refer to it as "advanced maternal age" - and I'm not sure which of those labels I prefer!). Everyone has a theory about why you should or shouldn't find out the sex of the baby. People you barely know want to know what baby names you're considering - as if we'd give up our favorite name ideas to coworkers or casual acquaintances. When people ask what our due date is, and I say February 15, everyone - and I mean EVERYONE - says "Ooooh you might have a Valentine's baby!" Is that a thing? I mean would we be excited if it was on Valentine's Day? I guess these people would be, but personally I think it could really jinx our poor girl to saddle her with a Valentine's birthday.

As grandparents-to-be, aunts/uncles/cousins-to-be, whatever your relationship to Primo, Jan & I wonder what kind of conversations you are having about the baby? Have you gotten any strange/funny/unusual advice or anecdotes? Reply in the comments or if it's easier send us an email! We'd love to hear how you are anticipating her arrival and what you're hearing or saying about Baby Koorn!

And now your week 22 baby update:
At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily. Blood is traveling through the umbilical cord at four miles an hour, fueling her growth with oxygen and nutrients.