Some Interesting Statistics

Now that everyone is planning their dates for visiting, and it's technically only two days away from little Eva's due date, we are getting anxious! So of course it is at this time that I am confronted by these statistics:

Did you know?

• Only 5% of babies are actually born on their due date
• 80% of babies are born within 10 days of their due date (either before or after)
• 70% of babies are born after their due date
• Only 8-10% of women give birth earlier than 10 days before the due date
• About 8% give birth beyond 10 days after their due date! Whew!

Unfortunately, it is in fact extremely common for first time moms to go several days past their due date. We are really hoping little Eva gets here on time. We are ready and the room is ready and we are waiting! I really hope she comes on time so Aimee and I can spend two weeks (while I'm off work) mostly uninterrupted with her before our families come to visit.

Here are some other interesting birth-related statistics:

• 80% of women receive an epidural (at our hospital at least)
• 80% of women in Denmark have their babies at home, they don't go to the hospital!
• Almost 1 in 3 women (about 30%, as of 2005) in America end up having a C-section
• The number of C-sections have increased 46% from 1996 - 2005!
• 10.3 hours is the average length of labor

We'd appreciate your prayers for an all-natural, on-time baby!

And the Doctor Says....

No news! But of course, as he left the room he said, I'm on call this weekend.. maybe I'll see you! Because that's how pregnancy is folks, random and unpredictable. And of course it would be more convenient if it happened on the weekend.

Aimee has officially gained 35 lbs. I have gained about 7 sympathy pounds (so please have sympathy for me, they aren't going away!)

We'll keep you posted and let everyone know as soon as the baby arrives.

Maternity Leave

Today is Aimee's first day of her maternity leave. No baby yet, but she had to pick a day to stop working and now is as good as any we suppose. Too bad FMLA isn't paid. I'm so used to working with her sitting next to me, it will be a bit of an adjustment. How many couples can eat lunch together every day (in addition to breakfast and dinner too?) Of course, some of you
would kill each other. Not us, we have always been together almost 24/7. It will actually be difficult being apart.

It looks like our hopes for a 2007 baby are rapidly dwindling, but we will certainly be happy whenever the baby gets here. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, so far so good!

Doctor Visit Update

Aimee had another Doctor visit today. She isn't dilated any more yet... however she is 50% effaced! That means the cervix is thinned out halfway. Also, the doctor said our little Eva is about 7 lbs! I think Aimee was hoping for a little less =)

She's definitely been having Braxton Hicks contractions, as I can feel her sides and stomach tigthen up and loosen. Thankfully those aren't painful, but they are working the muscles of the uterus to be able to push the baby out. Exciting stuff!

And the baby is squirming - she wants to get out of there and meet us face to face!

The Big Question

The question we've no doubt heard the most in recent weeks is "Are you ready?" Sounds like a loaded question.

Diapers? check. Lots of cloth diapers and all the accessories so they don't stink up the house.

Nursery? Ready.

Car? Mostly ready... car seat and baby bag are packed.

Food? We prepared and froze some meals for quick fixing once we are back home.

Oh - you are asking if we are ready - ready to be parents. I see. Can I say "I think so"? We've read lots of books, taken lots of classes, and in general I think we know what to expect. We know we'll lose some sleep. We know our regularly scheduled lives might spin into disarray within a day of bringing the baby home. So we are somewhat ready for those things.

I saw a cartoon that made me laugh the other day. The father and mother of a baby are getting ready to leave the hospital, and the father says to the doctor "So what time should we wake the baby up in the morning?" Hah! At least we're not that naive.

What we are definitely ready for however is to be surprised and overjoyed as we welcome this little girl into the world and into our family. Yes, that is something we're definitely ready for. And a few weeks off work never hurt either :)

Merry Christmas

We hope you had a Merry Christmas. I know we did. Aimee got me a video series I wanted, and I got her a cappucino machine. One of the reasons she wishes the baby was here already - caffeine!!!

I was reflecting on last Christmas... I think that was the first time Aimee and I felt like somebody was missing. I even had bought a train for under the tree - a tradition from my grandfather - in hopes that sometime soon a little one would be laughing and watching it go around and around. I bought it for me too of course, but still, last year it felt like someone was missing, and now we know who it is, and she'll be here very soon.

We admit it, we tried the spicy food, I tried rubbing Aimee's ankles, and she even went for a jog, but still no baby. I really didn't want her to drink castor oil (sounds all too similar to Castrol Oil). But we didn't want to induce little Eva. We want her to come out when she's ready, in God's timing. And this way she won't have that Christmas/Birthday/I got ripped off stigma.


Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

The Waiting Game

It's December 23 and there are no imminent signs of a baby yet. Aimee is really hoping for a 'Christmas Eva'. The actual due date is in 17 days, but we all know of course it could happen any time now. It just doesn't seem to be, so Aimee is a little bummed out. She was at the Doctor again this past Friday and there was no change, she is still only dilated a centimeter (as opposed to one of her friends, which, according to her husband was dilated a METER, but we'll laugh about that and move on, and maybe buy him a yard stick for Christmas.)

Other than that, we are trying to take it slow and enjoy being off work for the holidays. Our company was gracrious enough to give us Christmas Eve off which made for a nice 4-day weekend. Tomorrow's plan: Sleep in.

The Most Exciting Time of Our Lives

This is probably the most exciting time in our lives, and I'm desperately trying to make sure we can slow down and enjoy it. The holidays are already a wonderful time of year, and to add our first baby makes it truly special.

Even though I've worked as a project manager for a few years now and planned out complicated settlements sometimes years in advance, I feel that nothing can really completely prepare me for this baby. This is, I suppose, because it is a new thing entirely. A first child only happens once in your lifetime, if at all. So just when we think we're 'ready', we realize there's more happening.

At the moment, this means that Aimee is trying to segue into her maternity leave soon, which has its own set of implications at work. Also we're starting to make plans for family to visit from out of state, which means trying to make sure we have a place for people to sleep. For now the nursery temporarily has a futon in it... since the baby won't be needing the entire room anytime soon and will be sleeping in a bassinett in our room anyway. But if we have overlapping visits we'll need to get an air mattress or something. No one has really solidified any dates yet which makes planning a bit more difficult. But at some point you just throw your hands up, right?

It's funny actually, because as I read what I just wrote, I probably sound like a control freak. But really that must not be the case, beacuse the one thing we are not 'planning' is the baby's due date, as we've decided not to be induced unless necessary. So amidst all this 'control' we will leave little Eva's birthday a mystery to be sprung on us when she is ready. And we'll sing 'happy birthday' to her and have a "0" year old candle. I suppose we'll have to blow it out ourselves of course :)

Quick Update

Aimee had a Dr. visit today and everything is looking good. She cut some hours back at work so thankfully she doesn't need to stress over making up that time and she can relax a little bit on Fridays.

So - her weight is good and the baby's head is down, which is of course good too. We were a little concerned because we were pretty sure the head was down, but then the other day the baby seemed to change position.

We have an Infant CPR class to take and then we are finally done with classes. They were very informative but they take lots of time (12 hours total over 6 weekdays).

Aimee has been having some very mild Braxton Hicks contractions, and she's dilated 1 cm - which means only 9 to go! Of course, that can happen within an hour, but let's hope not.

We'll keep you posted on any progress! We're still hoping for a Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve baby.

A Lot Going On

Christmas Time + Baby Almost Here = Really Busy.

If it isn't evident by my lack of postings, things are quite busy around the Honse household. One moment we feel prepared, then another moment we have dozens of things to do, before Christmas and before the Baby gets here. Getting Christmas gifts in the mail, I suppose, is higher priority right now. Thankfully, we are almost done with shopping for this year, and almost all the cards are in the mail. If anyone gets anything late, we apologize.

And classes. We are taking lots of classes. Birthing, newborn care, breastfeeding and infant CPR. I think we have two more to go then we can scratch those off the list of preparations.

We still need a pediatrician. We are pretty sure who we are going to go with but we are waiting for their open house next week. Someone should really develop a checklist for parents-to-be, as it seems like there are a million things to do!

Also - today is 36 weeks! This is good because Jupiter hospital won't let you deliver there if you are less than 36 weeks (since they are a level-1 facility without all the long-term emergency stuff for premature babies, etc.) So this is good news as we've taken the tour at Jupiter and met some of the nurses and we really like our Doctors too.

My workload at the office is one area where I don't feel prepared. Due to the nature of my duties and responsibilities, it's very difficult to walk away for any length of time, let alone two weeks at a moments notice! So I'm doing my best to summarize my work and get some other people in my department familiar with my cases. It's a big undertaking though.

As time is ticking down we are getting very excited! I talk to little Eva every day in Mommy's tummy and I hope she knows my voice when she comes out. We hope to have our little one here within a month. The first few months went slow but then it went fast for a while. We made lots of preparations - the nursery is almost done (just some finishing touches, stuff to hang on the wall), the car seat and stroller are even in the car and the diaper bag is packed. Yeah, we're kind of type-A, which is good but now at home its just a waiting game, so it's going slow again. We are trying to remember to take it easy and enjoy some of this 'free time' that we know will quickly disappear when little Eva gets here.

Thanks for your continued prayers and gifts, everything has been wonderful and so far there are no problems in sight.

Belly Update for Week 33

Aimee's belly keeps growing, and despite people telling her "you're all baby" she's pretty big in person! Our little girl is moving and kicking a lot, and she can't wait to get out of there and meet us, and we can't wait to hold her! Here is a montage of pictures so you can see how she's grown:










Week 14























Week 21





















Week 30























Week 33 - Almost ready to pop!

Thanksgiving Surprise

Our tradition in recent years has been to spend Thanksgiving with local family - namely Aimee's Uncle and Grandparents. This year when we showed up at her Uncle's house, Aimee was met with a big hug from her Dad, who came down from Atlanta to surprise her.



We ate lots of good food of course and played some board games and had a great time. Her Dad stayed until Sunday so they got a lot of time to hang out and catch up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Long Overdue Update

My apologies for the lack of postings lately. We've been busy of course, but some postings were being held back for specific reasons. I'm happy to say that now we can get caught up - so browse around back to 10/13/07 as I am back dating the postings according to their actual dates to keep things chronological. Here are the dates and events:

• October 13 - 4-D Ultrasound
• November 10 - 2nd 4-D Ultrasound
• November 16 - Baby Showers Update

So many great things and blessings to write about!

Showers of Blessings!

I am truly in awe at how much we are loved. Any time I consider what the future may hold and where we might be living, I get sad because of how much we would miss the people we know here in South Florida. Our co-workers, bosses and friends from church are the most amazing, giving people I have ever met.

Aimee's boss threw her a surprise baby shower on Nov 6 and it was amazing. There were probably 30 people or more, and we had dinner at a nice Italian place called Brio. It was such a great time. It probably took Aimee 45 minutes just to open all the gifts for our little girl! She has no idea that a leopord-print outfit and a snazzy bath robe await her when she is born! I wish we had pictures of this event, but seeing as it was a surprise, I didn't have the camera with me. Here is a sample of Eva's wardrobe:

If that wasn't enough, our friends from church also threw Aimee and Eva another shower on Nov 16! Here are some pictures of that wonderful event:





We are just so incredibly blessed that we are speechless. God is so good and takes care of his children so far beyond what is needed sometimes.

We want to thank everyone who took part in the showers, and those who couldn't be there to celebrate. Thank you all so much, it really touched our hearts.

2nd 4-D Ultrasound

As I mentioned before, since Little Eva wasn't completely cooperative during the first utlrasound we were able to come back and get another at no charge. This time her cheek's were a bit chubbier, and we got to see her get a little fussy in the womb. We also saw her suck her thumb and try to put her foot in her mouth! During both ultrasounds we got to see her open her eyes too.

Look at that pouty face! We are getting so excited for our baby to arrive. We are still hoping for a Christmas baby, but she'll come in God's time.