Baby Newt's First Few Months

Sunday, January 13, 2008

What an exciting and possibly overwhelming day! Today we found out we are expecting our first child. Before church I took a pregnancy test with the two blue lines. Needless to say, and as I told Geoff in the store, these tests aren't always the best because you can't really tell if there is a second blue line or not, but he insisted on buying the cheap kind! So after taking this test, I thought there were two blue lines, but wasn't sure. After wondering about this during the entire mass, I decided I really should take another test. After all, I was going to Susan's wedding shower that afternoon and was pretty certain I would be offered some type of alcohol. What Geoff didn't know was I purchased my own more expensive pregnancy test a few days earlier. This one was a digital read-out with the words Pregnant or Not Pregnant. Upon taking this test the result was clear! We were expecting our first child! I called Geoff upstairs to tell him! He was shocked, but excited as well. After a few deep breaths, he calmed down and gave me a big hug. Then we both relized that Susan G. was coming over to pick me up for the shower, so we hid all of the pregnancy tests and boxes in another trash can just in case she asked to use the bathroom. Upon her arrival she did ask to use the bathroom, so good thing we hid those!


The Weekend of Feburary 15, 2008

Many of our friends recently had babies, so we went back to Grand Rapids to meet these new additions. We also decided this would be the weekend we share our exciting news with our parents, Steph, Jon, and Rockford friends. Friday night we arrived at the Spindlers after a crazy drive back from Chicago (it seems like more and more of these drives are becoming crazy!). After Mom, Dad, Steph and Jon finished their card game, we brought out a few little gifts for them to open. We disguised them as Valentine's Day gifts. Then Steph opened her book, Stephanie's Ponytail and Mom and Dad opened their book, Fun with Grandma and Grandpa. Both parties were speechless for a few seconds until they figured it out. Then Dad practically jumped out of his slippers to come give us a hug and Mom, Steph, and Jon followed. Steph said she thought so for awhile and then gave us all of her puzzle pieces she put together. She had even bet Jon that we were expecting, so she won $20. She was right! The rest of the night was spent talking about new Baby Hanson.

On Saturday, we had lunch with Clara, Aaron, Lisa and Brian and shared the news with them as well. Geoff started by asking Clara when her due date was and then asked me when our due date is. I answered and then, again, a brief sound of silence and then everyone figured it out. Because Sara just had Alyse a week prior she did not come to lunch. So Geoff and I stopped by her house afterwards. As Geoff was looking at Alyse, Sara said you could have one of these in 9 months if you wanted and he responded with, "or 7 months!" Sara was shocked and so excited. Another exciting afternoon!

Saturday evening we went over to Geoff's parents to tell them the exciting news. Dad Hanson was in Florida and didn't get home until that afternoon, so we had to hold off until then. They made us a wonderful dinner and as the finishing touches were being prepared, Geoff brought out the present of a book to share with them. Upon opening their grandma and grandpa book, Mom was so excited she screamed and gave me a huge hug! We enjoyed a delicious dinner, while talking all about the new baby. Mom and Dad even gave us some gifts for the baby. A Michigan board book, mobile, and a cute little sweater. All of these are in the office right now. That room will soon be turned into the nursery.

On Sunday, when reading my pregnancy books, I discovered the baby is about the size of an olive, so for a few weeks we were calling the baby Olive. A few weeks later, I was doing my weekly Sunday night reading only to discover that the baby was the size of a fig. Geoff suggested we start calling the baby Newt, like Fig Newtons. Needless to say, the name stuck and that's what we have been calling the baby ever since.

My after school snacks have been interesting as well. I usually come home and eat a variety of pickles, along with a hot, banana pepper, and some Kraft sharp cheddar cracker cuts and Triscuits. Probably not the healthiest snack, but it tastes good after working with 11 and 12 year olds all day.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Today I had my 12 week appointment. Geoff was able to come with me, so Dr. Forbes gave me an ultrasound. Baby Newt was bouncing all over the place. I told Geoff this baby must be a boy, because Geoff is more active than I am! Regardless, this baby is going to take after his/her father for sure. Dr. Forbes printed some pictures for us. I have posted them to the left and we have them hanging on our fridge as well. After the appointment we went to Once Upon a Bagel for breakfast. It was really nice to see what the rest of the world does while we are at work. Upon arriving home we knew today was going to be the day we started telling our extended families. I spent most of that afternoon and evening on the phone sharing the exciting news. It's so nice to share information with others and have them be as excited about it as we are. Thanks everyone!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Today was another big day for Newt and myself. I brought Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts to work in order to assist in sharing the exciting news with my teaching staff. Bringing these little donut snacks in are a tradition when announcing pregnancy at OOJH. The amount of e-mails and well wishes we received that day were crazy! After work I went to have the BUN test done. This is a test where blood is taken and another ultrasound is preformed in order to determine the likihood of the baby having Down's Syndrome or other genetic deseases. It was amazing how much little Newt has grown in one week. His arms and legs are really pronounced now and again he was moving all around. The technician even printed one picture of just his footprints. These pictures are posted below.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

We arrived back from our trip to Europe a few days ago and what a GREAT trip it was. I was worried because I had not been feeling well for a few months before we left. However, all that worrying was for nothing. I felt great the entire time we were traveling around Vienna, Prague, and Budapest, with the exception of the airplane landing in Vienna. There were so many times when we were walking around for hours in the beautiful cities and I was just amazed that I was carrying a little baby along with us. Newt did a great job and I can't wait to tell him/her about his/her first travels abroad. As we were exploring these cities, we purchased a few books, a puzzle, and a puppet for baby Newt. It will be wonderful remembering all of our travel memories as Newt plays with these toys. One of the most special moments for me was when Geoff was reading a German picture book titled, Henri der Hund (Henri the dog) to Newt at Gail's apartment.

Kate and the European Prego Pack. My snack diet consisted of chocolate, usually in the form of a Twix or Snickers, cheese flavored potato chips, and Iced Tea flavored with lemon. The picture on the right shows me showing a tiny bit while in Budapest.

I had my 15 week appointment Monday, March 31. Everything went well. I was able to hear the heartbeat again Doctor Forbes said everything looks great. She went over the BUN test results with me and Baby Newt looks very healthy. My next appointment is May 3 for the 20 week ultrasound.