Baby's First Trip

Baby Madson made her first trip this weekend. She went to visit Uncle Chris and Aunt Gina in Indianapolis! It was a 7.5 hour trip there and 7.5 hour trip back. It was definitely worth it, though! It was nice to get out of town (ok, the state) for a weekend and just relax. We got our hotel room two hours before arriving in Indy and got the last room at the Crowne Plaza. The Crowne Plaza is RIGHT in front of Lucas Oil Stadium (home to the Colts) so I was pleased!! When we got to our room (at around 1145p) we found two full sized beds. Kory barely fits in a full size bed himself, so we had to sleep in seperate beds. The next day we asked to switch rooms and the Front Desk Rep said all they had was a king facing the railroad tracks. We didn't care where it faced as long as we could share a bed! We walked over to Lucas Oil Stadium so I could show Kory around. He was more than thrilled to see the home of his rivals (he's confused and is a Vikings fan). We went into the pro shop to get Baby Madson her first Colts jersey. She now has a pink Peyton Manning jersey (that's her favorite player). She also picked out a blue Colts onesie.

Our tour of Lucas Oil Stadium was AMAZING!! We went on a tour of the regular seating, Press Box, Quarterback Suite, the Visiting Locker Room, and then the field. I'm not sure why we weren't allowed in the Colts Locker Room...I think they know I would hide in Peyton's locker!! Being on the field was wonderful! Kory and I got a great photos of the end zone. Kory even took a tiny chunk of the end zone! He's a keeper. Baby Madson had a great time on her tour of Lucas Oil Stadium.

We spent the rest of the day walking around and then we out for a nice dinner. After dinner, we met up with Chris and Gina and their friends on a pub crawl. I thought being the only sober one wouldn't be fun but it turned out be a lot of fun. We left at 8a and got home around 3p. It was a long drive, but we had a lot of fun on our "babycation". It was nice to get away for a weekend and just relax. We probably won't be able to do that much after Baby Madson comes!

*please notice the first baby bump pic...this should make those wanting me to post a bump pic happy!! :-)

22 Week Update

I am 22 and a half weeks today. According to thebump.com: Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop. Baby is the size of a papya. Baby will stay around this size for the next couple of weeks.

Baby Madson is going to make her first road trip this weekend! We are heading to Indianapolis to see my friend, Chris, and then heading to Starlight, IN, for Ryan and Stephanie's wedding. It is roughly a 7 and half hour trip to Indy and 9 hours from Starlight back to Urbandale. I need to get out and walk around every two hours (helps prevent blood clots) so this trip make take a little longer than we'd like, but what can you do?! Kory and I are very excited for this road trip. He has never been to Indy and I'm excited to show him around. Well mainly where Lucas Oil Stadium is because he needs to see where the greatest team every plays (in case you're lost...that would be the Colts). We haven't been on a long road trip before, so this could be interesting!! This will be our last road trip before Baby Madson graces us with her presence. We will have updates on Sunday or Monday on all the fun details of our trips and some photos.

Have a great weekend! Hopefully you are able to enjoy the Arts Festival or the Hy-Vee Triathlon.

It's a ....

GIRL! We had the ultrasound this morning. I let Kory know that it was 100% his decision whether we found out the gender or not. He surprised me and said we could find out. I was very happy! The ultrasound went really well and Baby Madson looked healthy. We were very relieved. She doesn't appreciate us spying on her so she stayed curled up in a ball until the ultrasound tech got her to move. We got a clear shot that she is indeed a she. She also flipped us off, which was pretty funny. The due date was moved to November 3rd. This is the day before Kory's mother's birthday so she was happy about that. We were able to get the pictures of the ultrasound put on a CD so they would last longer than the printed out ones. The rest of the day Baby Madson kicked and punched me. I don't think she was pleased we found out.

Baby Madson's first concert!

Baby Madson went to it's first concert last night compliments of free tickets from my work! Baby Madson was very excited that Aunt Allyson was able to come with. We had good seats which then turned into EXCELLENT seats (see the photo Allyson was able to take above) of how close we got to Coldplay when they did a set in the audience. It was an amazing concert! On the way out, we even got free CDs.

On Thursday night, I went out and bought a Heart to Heart Prenatal Listening System. It is similar to the Doppler used at the dr's office to hear the heartbeat, but not as high tech. According to the package, you can hear the heartbeat between 21 to 28 weeks. Since I am at 21 weeks, I thought I would give it a try. I could very faintly hear Baby Madson's heartbeat, but I did hear plenty of kicks and punches. I agree with Kory....Baby Madson does not like to be spied on! At one point, Baby Madson kicked so hard that it moved the monitor. It was amazing to hear Baby moving. Now Kory and I can hear Baby whenever we want or at least when Baby Madson wants to cooperate!

Half way there already

I am officially half way there! The weeks are going by so quickly. According to thebump.com, Baby Madson is the size of a cantaloupe (that seems pretty big to me). What's Baby Madson up to this week you ask? Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed! Doesn't that sound exciting? :-)

I have been feeling Baby Madson moving more and more each day. Kory isn't able to feel the baby from the outside but should be able to in the coming weeks. It always catches me guard, but it's the greatest feeling! This weekend the dogs gave me a sneak peek of what no sleeping through the night is going to be like. Kory was out of town with this friends for Boys' Weekend so he was lucky enough to miss out on this sneak peek! Buddy does not appreciate thunderstorms and informed me of this every 5 or so minutes during the night on Friday and Saturday. Baby Madson, on the other hand, moves like crazy when its storming.

Kory surprised me yesterday with the baby's furniture! He went and picked it up and put it all together for me. I was running late and walked into the spare bedroom and there it was! It was the greatest surprise! It definitely made my day...ok month! He definitely got brownie points for this one!!!

Yup...this is definitely our baby!!

Today, I had another monthly check-up. Baby Madson thought it would be fun to kick the doppler and then hide so the nurse couldn't find the heartbeat. This game went on for about a minute, but then s/he chose to play nice and let us listen. This baby is already acting like Kory and I!! Baby Madson's heartbeat was nice and strong at 148. The monthly check-ups are pretty low key. The nurse listens for the heartbeat and the dr asks if Kory or I have any questions. This time I had to write down my questions so I remembered what I wanted to ask. With Kory not being there, I knew I would forget what I wanted to ask. Kory and I wanted to know when we should be taking the Childbirth and Breastfeeding classes offered at the hospital. Dr Shaw (the best dr in the world!!) said waiting until the third trimester was perfectly fine. We were nervous and thought we were behind. Dr Shaw said that would be a good time to take the hospital tour as well. I did forget to ask when we should start looking into finding a pediatrician. Pregnancy brain is in full swing, that's for sure! We have the ultrasound on June 19th and will see the dr again on July 6th. Four weeks in between appts is a long time, thankfully this time we can see/hear the baby in two weeks!

Welcome!!

Welcome to our baby's blog. We will keep you updated on the happenings of this little guy or girl. Kelli is currently 19.5 weeks along or almost 5 months. It's so exciting to be half way through! Time is definitely going by fast. Kory has made the decision to not find out the sex of Baby Madson. We have our ultrasound on June 19th and we'll see what Kory tells the ultrasound tech when they ask.

This week baby is the size of a mango. According to thebump.com update for this week: Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil and dead skin cells (yum) now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine-month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.) You might actually get to see the vernix at birth, especially if baby is premature. Baby is causing Kelli to not enjoy many of her favorite foods pre-pregnancy such as broccoli, green beans, NY strip, and Cherry Pop-Tarts. Baby is enjoying oranges, chocolate (this is a new one for Kelli), soft pretzels, and applesauce. The weird/random cravings are starting already!!

We are still working on putting baby bump pictures up. By working on it, we mean Kory has to convince Kelli to take them. Todd is patiently await these photos to add to his website for the Kelli Belli Watch. (here's our plug to check out http://www.shortarmguy.com/)

Stay tuned for all the fascinating baby updates!! We know you can hardly wait! :-)