4 month check-up

Today I took Eli for his 4 month checkup. He is now 15.4 lbs, (only 50th percentile) and 26 inches long. (90th percentile!) Everything looks good! Except he has thrush. But then again I had just fed him a bottle in the waiting room so hopefully that wasn't the white the dr. was seeing! It's always something new!

I started Eli on rice cereal a couple of days ago. I just had a gut feeling that he was ready for it, so we bought it at Walmart. I was going to wait until the dr. gave us the okay, but I was too impatient! Anyway he does REALLY good with it, but I didn't expect any different. He always adapts to new things so well! He even started whining tonight when I didn't get the food to his mouth fast enough! The dr. said to up the rice cereal by 1 tablespoon a day until 4 tablespoons, so tonight I did 2 tablespoons! Then Grandpa fed him a bit of a bottle to fill him up the rest of the way, walked around with him, and burped him for a long time after! I can't believe how good he is with Eli! It also gives me a very appreciated break.

I had mentioned something to mom last week about how we still didn't have a highchair for Eli. She called me the next day and said that she talked it over with "dad" and they were going to buy one for us. We decided to get a beautiful wooden highchair, but it's still Graco brand! (Very highly rated.) She did the whole "ship-to-store" thing through walmart, and the estimated delivery date was sometime in the middle of march, but today I got a surprise email saying it was ready to be picked up! So after Eli's appointment I ventured to Walmart with a super-tired-just-got-his-shots-baby, and picked it up, once again illustrating how truly impatient I have become. Of course, who greater to put together a wooden highchair then a man who was a carpenter his whole life!! Grandpa did a great job, and as you can see, Eli loves his new chair.

Relaunch

I decided one of the most important things I could do was restart the ever-so-often postings on our family blog--I deeply regret that I did not continue the regular posting, but here is my new beginning!! So, a little catch up, I was overdue with Eli, then had the most perfect labor and delivery anyone could ever have, and now we have the most perfect baby anyone could ever have. I don't know what I did to deserve this wonderful baby--but I don't waste my time questioning it!!

Eli is currently teething, and we know this because his gums have turned white and hard, he is constantly chewing on his hands and teething rings, and he is downright grumpy sometimes, which is very un-Eli-like. This is a fun process that is relieved by baby oragel, some natural teething tablets that lots of friends have told us about, and the ever-popular baby tylenol. He also likes teething rings and frozen wet-washcloths.

I am currently reading the book called Baby Wise and I have tried to start some of it's practices. I have started Eli on a PDF schedule--Parent Directed Feeding. I have never seen him so happy and relaxed! He eats ever 3 hours, about 6 oz, with play time and sleep time in between. Let me tell you, it's the first time he's ever slept through the night! He sleeps in his crib, too, which is wonderful :)

Grandpa and Grandma Jongsma are here this weekend. (MY Grandpa and Grandma) My grandma had a great idea to call themselves GG, and I love it! They are so good with Eli, he seems to respond to them soooo well. They have also been a great help to me, because they love to hold him, feed him, and walk around with him. We are thinking about taking Eli to the zoo on Saturday and I'm so excited about that!

My final story to launch the blog back into regularity!! On Friday night, I put Eli down on the floor in the living room while I ran around putting a load of laundry in. I came back no more than 2 minutes later and Eli was nowhere to be found. My first thought was that I was so tired that I forgot that I picked him up from the ground and put him somewhere else, like his swing or under one of his hanging toys, but I looked around in all the usual places and realized that I wasn't THAT tired. Then I thought someone came in the house and kidnapped him in that short period of time I was gone switching out the laundry, but realized that wasn't likely. Finally I got on the ground and looked under the coffee table and THERE HE WAS! Way far under the coffee table, just laying there being his normal cheerful self! I could not believe he rolled over that many times that quickly and quietly. I can't wait to tell him that story when he gets old enough to understand.

34 weeks

So tomorrow marks the start of my 34th week!! WOOHOOO!!!

I had my most recent Doctors appointment on Thursday! Everything looks good, my belly measured 32 cm, and the baby boy heartbeat was upper 120's lower 130's! I have gained 1 lb in the past 2 weeks, not bad!!

I've been craving a couple of things lately, chomping ice cubes, and wendys frostys with m&ms. Or any ice cream with m&ms in it!! mmm yummy I want one right now! Physically I'm still feeling pretty good. Get a sore back if I sit too long, but that's okay!!

Last Ultrasound

OK So no picture compared to fruit today! I'm not impressed, the next one says he's the weight of 4 oranges. FASCINATING!

Last week I had an ultrasound to make sure that baby Belanger is growing like he is supposed to. So we went to a local place instead of Orlando, well basically because it was cheaper and we knew we didn't anything fancy. Anyway the Ultrasound tech said everything looked good so we were on our way. Then Monday I got a call from one of my OB's, and they NEVER call me so I got nervous. She said that while the rest of his body measurements were in the 50th percentile, his abdomen was measuring in the 10th and that can't be good. Something called Asymmetric Growth Restriction. So she called us into the office so we could ask her all our questions, etc. Then she sent us into the hospital to get a non-stress test. Basically I had to lay in a bed with straps around me for an hour to see if he was under any stress. It was kinda cool to hear him moving around, and see his heartrate. I was even having little contractions, but not enough to worry about! We also scheduled an ultrasound in Orlando the following day.

I took the afternoon off from school and drove to Orlando. The first thing the tech did was take my blood pressure, and it was way too high, she said it was probably because I was so nervous :) the next thing she did was measure the abdomen, and it measured exactly as it should!! While she did the rest of her measurements I was asking her about 3D ultrasounds and she said she was just trained on the 4D and she needed someone to practice on!! How lucky am I?! Anyway, when the Dr himself came in, he said something like "I don't know what abdomen the tech in Sebring was measuring but your baby is measuring just fine." What a relief!! He's 3lbs 7 oz too!! Here are the treats--

So I just want to thank everyone who was thinking about us, and who prayed for us in the past couple of days. I could feel your prayers, seriously!! I remained calm most of the day.

SQUASH!

Baby Belanger is now about the weight of a butternut squash...and about 14 inches according to websites i've been reading!! Amazing!!

I had a checkup last week. I have gained 3 lbs since last month, and I forgot to ask the doctor how many cm large my belly is! The heartbeat was 140's again, very good! My glucose test came back just fine so that's good, I won't have to take the longer one! WHEWW.

I've still been feeling really, really well. I had a little bit of pain last week when I was standing up but thank goodness it went away! Dr said it was normal. The baby is kicking more than ever, I love it so much! When I was at my appt they gave me a sheet to help me start counting kicks. They said I need to find a time every day to lay and feel for 10 kicks and see how long it takes.

Today I signed up for Childbirth classes....they will start in less than a month. I can't wait for Ian to learn more about all this stuff :) He is going to faint.

We also bought the crib this week, thanks to Auntie Dooey and ChiChi for helping with that. Mom just bought AWESOME fabrics for the quilt and then we will start painting. It's all approaching very fast!! No name yet, though, it's okay to wait til the last minute for that, isn't it???

Quick note from Laura!

Hey, Laura here!! Just had another monthly appointment on Friday! Everything is still looking good. I have gained 11 lbs so far!! That's about 4 more than my last appointment, whooops!! I've noticed some of my maternity pants are getting tighter, and it's getting a bit harder to stand up :) But I just keep reminding myself how much bigger I will get!! My belly measured 23 cm. Heartbeat was 140. Tomorrow I'm going to go in for my routine glucose-screening test.

Ian and I sat down and looked at our list of names.....surprise, Ian's favorite and my favorites were totally different!! We will find one, we will.

I can't believe how much chocolate and sweets i've been craving.......REALLLLLLY craving. If it's chocolate, cookies, pudding, cake, ice cream, I have to have it!!

Kicking up a storm!

Sorry I haven't written in a long time, but I guess no news is good news :) I have been feeling SPECTACULAR! Probably a combination of being out of the morning sickness but still not too big to maneuver myself around. And sleeping a lot. Most of the time I don't even feel like i'm pregnant!! But then baby Belanger kicks me and I remember again. Particularly when he kicks me in the bladder. That is a very interesting feeling!! Basically I feel like I have to pee really bad whenever he does it :)

I had the most wonderful time in Michigan! I got to see a lot of family and friends. I am very homesick...eventually we'll be back...I hope!! Thanks to my mom and dad and sisters for putting up with me for 10 days, haha!!

Below is a video I found on one of my baby websites that I thought was pretty awesome! I wanted to share it with everyone. Just for reference, i'm about 23-24 weeks.