Back to the doctor yesterday for another check-up/immunization. Benjamin now weighs 15 pounds, 12 ounces! Yep, we have ourselves one healthy, happy and growing little boy!

On Monday I had one of my old classes over to make some Christmas cookies. (We inherited a microwave-sized oven from our friends Jeff and Munju who just got married.) The students brought gifts for Benjamin and one of the gifts was the hat that he is wearing in this picture. I think it's supposed to be a puppy, but the ears kind of look like horns!
Colin's giving exams this week. Friday is graduation and his marks have to be in that day as we are leaving on Saturday! We are so eager to show off our son and see our families again! I almost feel more excited than when Benjamin was born. There were so many things tempering that excitement: exhaustion, worry etc. This time it's all joy! We can't wait to see you all!

If You're Happy and You Know It Say "Agoo!"

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Okay, in this video he doesn't really say "Agoo," but it's still cute.

Who does he look like?

Top left: paternal grandfather
Top right: maternal grandfather
Bottom left: mother

Bottom right: father

My two new favorite pictures: Ben with an adorable smile, and happily falling asleep in Daddy's arms.

Ben in his moccasins

Here's a picture of Ben in his mocassins - a gift from a family from church. (They also just had a baby in Korea - a little girl named Esther!) Thank you Enlows!

12 weeks

One and a half days old... twelve weeks old!

Video testing

Here's a little clip of Benjamin "talking." If this works I hope to add some more videos in the future.

First Tear

Fact: The average panicked cry of a newborn is 84 decibels - about the same volume as a passing freight train.

Fact: A baby's eyes do not produce tears until the baby is approximately 6-8 weeks old.

Yesterday after church Benjamin was peacefully sleeping in his sling - despite the efforts of churchgoers who think he's especially cute to rowse him so they can see his blue eyes! We put him in the car seat to drive home and he began to cry. He often fusses a bit when first put in his seat but we thought he would calm down and go to sleep like he usually does. We were obviously wrong because he proceeded to cry/scream the entire way home. (This was our cue that he was in fact hungry, not just fussy.) The drive was nightmarishly reminiscent of our first drive with him - the drive home from the hospital after he was born - only now he can cry louder! At that time I thought that I might never get in a car with him again if this was the scenario that would ensue. As we parked in the underground parking lot and made our way up the stairs to the elevator (with Ben still in his car seat), the gentle rocking of being carried lulled him into silence. Once in the elevator I set him down so that my arms could recuperate, and the crying began again. But this time was a little different. I bent down to look into the car seat, mesmerized as Ben's big blue eyes welled up with tears. "Look, a tear!" I exclaimed to Colin as a single droplet spilled over and left a wet trail down our son's left cheek. My husband's response was more practical than mine - he picked up the car seat and the crying stopped!

Can you see the resemblance?

Pepero Day

November 11th is Remembrance Day or Veterans Day to North Americans, but here in South Korea November 11th is a special day for an entirely different reason: it's Pepero Day!

According to the JoongAng Daily:

The Pepero snack is a replica of Pocky, the Japanese treat of chocolate-dipped cookie sticks. The 11th of November is known as Pepero Day, because "11/11" looks like four sticks. Pepero Day supposedly started in 1994 at a girls' middle school in Busan, where students exchanged Pepero sticks, wishing each other to become as tall and slender as a Pepero. But some suspect that Pepero Day was actually dreamed up by Lotte's marketing team.

(Lotte is the 8th largest "chaebol" (conglomerate corporation) in South Korea. It employs more than 38,000 people and is into everything from candy to hotels to fast food. )

The typical box of Pepero sells for 500 to 700 won, but these days one need not be limited to the original Pepero. (In my opinion the most inferior Pepero!) In the weeks preceding November 11th the downtown stores attempt to attract customers with their elaborate displays of chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks. Mountains of Pepero boxes appear both inside and outside stores. I even saw a 5 foot tall Pepero, though I don't think it was edible!

In the above picture the standard Pepero is on the left, almond Pepero is in the centre and nude Pepero is on the right.

Perhaps it was just a marketing ploy, but I definitely think each country should have at least one candy-based holiday! After all, we not only have candy canes at Christmas, chocolate on Valentine's Day and cream-filled eggs at Easter, but let's not forget the grand-daddy of all candy holidays: Halloween! Then again, who needs a special day to eat candy?

Vaccinations

Benjamin has already had his fair share of being poked and prodded. Shortly after his birth he had blood drawn and got his first Hepatitis B shot. (Although Colin and I can't figure out why he needed a Hep B shot when contracting Hep A seems much more likely.) Then at one week he got a vaccination against TB. This was delivered using a metal device with a 3 x 3 grid of prongs that they pressed into Benjamin's shoulder twice. Apparently TB is more common in Asia than in North America. The head nurse explained that after a month, pus will form at the injection site which will then develop into a scar. This scar will disappear by the time Ben is 6 years old. Here's a picture of what the site looks like now. (7 weeks after the injection.)

At his one month check-up he received his second Hepatitis B shot. And this past weekend at his two month check-up he received one shot for diptheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus in one thigh, and a shot for polio in the other. Then we were instructed to come back in one week for another shot - Hib. Hib stands for haemophilus influenzae type B - a disease that can lead to meningitis, pneumonia, or a severe throat infection. Unfortunately for Benjamin, the immunizations don't seem to decrease until after he's two.

2 Month Check-up

Benjamin went for his two month check-up today. We found out he now weighs 5.76kg. That's about 12 pounds, 11 ounces. It's amazing how much bigger he looks when we put him in the car seat. I remember when we put him in it for the first time to take him home from the hospital. He looked so small and scrunched up - we thought he was way too small for it. Now he is close to outgrowing it. He got another vaccination today: DTP. Poor guy, he had to have a needle in each of his chubby little thighs. He cried, but stopped as soon as the nurse removed the needles. The nurses all know Benjamin and tried to get him to smile. I think they were jealous that he wouldn't take his eyes off Colin. They kept saying enviously, "He only likes his Daddy!" They gave us a calendar with a family picture that a photographer took at the hospital when Benjamin was a day old. This same picture has also been added to the gallery of family pictures gracing the hallway of the hospital. We perused all the pictures while I was in labour - comparing expressions on the babies' faces, head size, amount of hair etc. All the Korean babies have much more hair than Ben! It was a good appointment - Benjamin is happy and healthy and growing.

Time flies...

Benjamin is quickly coming up on two months! He has already changed so much - he is much more alert and interactive than before and looking less and less like a newborn. These days he smiles and makes sounds when we talk to him. We have "conversations" with each other and while I wouldn't say he is laughing yet, he does make little giggling sounds and give me big toothless grins when I do "Head and Shoulders" with him. I try to do it in English and Korean and last night I had a dream that his first word was the Korean word for nose!

The cloth diapering is going well, but we have decided to use disposables at night and when travelling for convenience and leak protection. (After going through 2 outfits one night I decided life would be simpler if we just had to change the diaper and not the outfits too. There's only so much you feel like doing at 2:00 am.)

The breastfeeding has all of a sudden resolved itself. I have no idea what actually made it get better, but I'm glad it did. Thank you to all those who were praying about it. I think my appetite is now larger than any time when I was pregnant. It takes a lot of energy to feed him, but it's amazing to think that even outside the womb his growth is intricately linked to my body. Sometimes it's hard to find time to eat all that I should. Colin tells me I need to "make eating a priority." He's right, of course. He's been wonderful. He'll prepare food and bring it to me - even cut it up if it needs to be cut, so that I can eat it one-handed while Ben is nursing. He also patiently comes to the rescue when I realize the glass of water, TV remote, book, tissue or whatever other item I want is on the other side of the room.

I have to admit I gave him a dirty look one day when he commented on how tired he was. 'Yes,' I thought (in my irrational sleep-deprived state of mind as if I were the only one suffering), 'but you can at least go back to sleep right after the baby wakes up. I'm the one who has to sit here with him sucking the life out of me!' But the truth of the matter is that I'm the lucky one because I can nap through the day when the baby naps, whereas he would get fired for napping at work.

Of course who has time for napping when you have to make eating a priority?

The sounds of our baby

Benjamin is starting to make more and more noises. He has little conversations with us now by sighing, smiling and cooing. But on the whole, most of his noises wouldn't be acceptable in mixed company. He can fart and burp to rival a frat boy. It's quite hard to take his crying seriously when it is punctuated by a symphony of gas! I can just picture the moment in church when he decides to let loose a series of diaper-rumbling flatulations! After we finish laughing at him we conscientiously wonder if it's bothering his not-so-little tummy. We have gas medicine, but as Colin reasonably pointed out, letting out the gas is not the problem.

Super Ben!

We didn't get a Hallowe'en costume for Ben, but it looks like he had Superman in mind! (This shot was not posed, he just happened to thrash that way.)

Can you read this?

A few yeras ago a mesgase mdae its rdunos of the ineerntt sanyig taht "Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

While this is not always true, it is amazing how many times it is. If you want to try jumbling a message and reading it go here: http://www.stevesachs.com/jumbler.cgi

Ben's Funny Faces

Breastfeeding

I had just assumed this would come naturally, but it sure hasn't. I read that there is a "breastfeeding high" that nursing mothers get because their bodies release oxytocin when their babies are feeding . So far I've mostly experienced pain. It seems Benjamin is crying to be fed, or I'm crying because he's feeding. I'm not sure what I'm doing that's causing all the pain - if he's still not taking in enough of the breast, if he's just positioned wrong, or if he's just a little barracuda with jaws of steel! Perhaps it's a combination of all three. I'm sure we'll get it worked out eventually. In the meantime here's something funny that I identified with - particularly number 7! (I did not write this and I have no idea who the original author is.)

How to prepare for nursing:

If you really want to feel ready to breastfeed, here’s what to do.

Day 1: Gently rub your nipples with sandpaper.

Day 2: At bedtime, set your alarm clock to go off every two hours. Each time it rings, spend 20 minutes sitting in a rocking chair with your nipples clamped in a pair of chip clips.

Day 3: Draw branching lines all over your chest with a blue-green marker, then stand in front of your bathroom mirror and sing “I Feel Pretty.”

Day 4: Open your already-crowded freezer and make room for five dozen plastic milk bags.

Day 5: Fit the hose of a vacuum cleaner over one breast and set on “medium pile.” Turn off vacuum when nipple is three inches long. Switch breasts.

Day 6: Obtain “DO NOT CROSS” tape from your local police station, then wrap firmly around your chest. When your spouse asks about it, say, “Get used to it.”

Day 7: Tape a water balloon to each breast and squeeze into a nursing bra. Repeatedly hook and unhook the flap with one hand while using the other to balance a sack of squirming puppies.

Day 8: Dine in the fanciest, snootiest restaurant you can afford, making sure to arrive with a big wet spot directly over each nipple.

Day 9: Record your mother proclaiming, “Just give the baby some cereal like God intended, and she’ll sleep right through the night.” Play in an endless loop at 1 A.M., 3 A.M., and 5 A.M.

Day 10: Slather your breasts with peanut butter, top with birdseed, and stand very still in your backyard.

Day 11: Go someplace public-a museum, a courthouse, the steps of your office building- and stuff a lifelike baby doll under your shirt. Use the doll’s arm to suddenly hike the shirt up past your collar bone. Lower shirt. Feign nonchalant smile.

After bath

Benjamin is one month old today!

This is Benjamin at 3 weeks (picture taken last week). He can hold his head up pretty well, but doesn't have much control over it. If you hold him in front of you he often tries to look at you, but ends up head butting your chest. He's been able to turn his head from side to side when lying on his stomach since he was a week old.

One month ago...

It's hard to think that just one month ago Karen and I were traipsing through the rice fields and mountain trails trying to get labour going before I had to be induced. Our walk became somewhat longer than expected when we couldn't figure out how to get from the rice back onto the trail, but a little bushwhacking solved that problem. Although labour didn't start, Karen did get this lovely picture of a dragonfly on some rice.

Happy Baby

After he's finished eating and just as he's drifting off to sleep Benjamin often gets a blissful look on his face...

Well, we're slowly getting the hang of this parenting thing. Every day teaches us a little more about our baby. He's already made himself clear about some of his likes and dislikes. He dislikes the carseat and being naked - including getting his clothes or diaper changed and having a bath. He likes being bounced or rocked, being sung or talked to, and being carried in the sling. Other than feeding him, the sling has been most useful in calming him when he gets crying. I guess being in a warm dark place must remind him of the womb. In any case it's an easy way to carry him, (though it does start to hurt the back after a while) calm him, and keep him away from all the people who are curious about him if we are out and about. Sometimes we manage to position him in the sling better than others. Occasionally his head is scrunched up -although this seems to bother us more than him- or he keeps kicking his feet out. He also likes to get his feet free when we wrap him in the "swaddling blanket" which has thus far failed to keep him swaddled for more than about 10 seconds.

Most photographed baby!

Benjamin had his American passport pictures taken when he was 8 days old. He had his Canadian passport pictures, Canadian citizenship pictures and Korean immigration registration pictures taken when he was 12 days old. All counted we needed 4 sets of pictures - all different sizes! He went to sleep both times just before we arrived at the store and we had to wake him up which he wasn't too pleased about. This resulted in a red-faced crying baby. Not quite the neutral expression, close-mouthed, open-eyed picture they were looking for. It took us a lot of tries, but we finally got the pictures taken. I think his face adequately expresses how he feels about the whole situation. (This is his American passport picture.)

Labour and Delivery (Devilry?)

Sorry it's taken so long to post the details of the birth. Those babies have a way of sucking up your time! The birth happened something like this...

Thursday, Sept. 15th 9:30 am: Karen and I arrive at the hospital and the doctor inserts Cervidil. After 12 hours there is no progress. He inserts a new Cervidil, and an IV (different locations!) because of dehydration. Next 12 hours - still no progress.

Friday, Sept. 16th: They start an Oxytocin drip on low dosage to see if the baby can handle the contractions. If not...C-section. Contractions start immediately and the baby's heart rate goes up as it is supposed to. Praise God!

At 1:00 I am 3-4cm dilated and the contractions were very manageable.

At 3:10 the doctor says he is going to break my water. If there is meconium in the water it means the baby is in distress and we have to do a C-section. (At this point we are all physically exhausted after getting very little sleep the night before, and mentally exhausted thinking about whether or not we were going to be able to avoid a C-section. The word has been mentioned several times, and it is the one thing I really want to avoid. I know Colin doesn't want to be in the room during an operation, and I don't want to be asleep when our baby is born. I could get a spinal block but it's hard to imagine being conscious of what is happening on the other side of the curtain - even if you can't feel it. My imagination is just too vivid!) Thankfully, there isn't any meconium.


The contractions immediately became more intense and within an hour they are about 2.5 minutes apart. At this point I start feeling like I might get sick. Colin helps by putting pressure on my lower back during each contraction.

Just before six the doctor tells us we won't be able to give birth in the water as we planned because the baby's condition is too unstable. That is disappointing, but I am still so relieved that there won't be a C-section that I don't think about it much. Also, I am too busy throwing up and running to the bathroom. (Those IVs really do hydrate well!)

At 6:40 the head nurse says I am 7-8cm dilated. The doctor tells me if I have the urge to push, to go ahead and push. I am supposed to be walking so I try, but it's a very small hospital and I'm really pacing not walking. I have only enough room to take about 10 steps before I have to turn around. Plus, I have to drag the blasted IV stand with me and it's not the easiest thing to steer. I start to feel cranky. The "peaceful meditation music" playing for the 400th time is anything but peaceful, and when Karen says something funny I feel annoyed that she and Colin are not in as much pain as I am in.


At 7:20 I get back in the bed and start to push. The doctor says to push three times during each contraction. At first I push and let out my breath at the same time, but then am told or figure out that I need to hold it during the pushes. They hook me up to some oxygen and the pushing continues. I use the "pantyhose rope" to pull while I am trying to push and it is quite helpful. The pantyhose rope is a rope of material (not really pantyhose) tied in knots and hanging from the ceiling. While they prepare the delivery room I am asked to go to the bathroom and push a few times while I'm there. (Pushing in a different position can help things progress.


8:25 We go into the delivery room. Colin is given a robe to put on and he stands behind my head wiping the sweat from my face. (It's like a furnace in there!) The baby's heart rate has dropped into the 70's (usually 120-160 in utero) and the doctors are shouting, "Push hard! Push hard!" Dr. Kim gets up on the steps next to the delivery table and during contractions pushes with all his weight on my belly to help move the baby down. He does this during each contraction. They up the oxygen and the baby's heart rate is in the 80's or 90's. I'm pushing as hard as I can but I really have no idea if I'm making any progress. Finally I hear the doctor say about 5cm of the baby's head is out. By this time I've given up labouring quietly. I have a full grown man pushing on my stomach with all his weight at the same time that I am pushing as hard as I can. During the contractions I grunt as I push and then end up gasping for air. I listen to Colin and Karen's voices encouraging me and try to concentrate on pushing and breathing. Those 11 minutes feel like an eternity, but at 8:36 Benjamin James Creech is born and they lay him on my stomach! He looks bluish-grey at first, but soon turns pink and starts to cry.

The doctor finishes up his business - removing blood clots and putting in stitches. The placenta is a piece of cake after the baby!

They take the Benjamin to the nursery to check various things and slowly let his body temperature adjust to the cooler temperature outside the womb.

We are stunned and amazed at our son.

"For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139: 13-16


We pray that God will guide us in our new job as parents, and that he will bless our son. We pray that our son will grow to be a man of integrity who loves the Lord with all his heart.

Happy Birthday!

September 16th, 2005
8:36pm
Benjamin James Creech
8 pounds, 4 ounces
22 inches

more details to come...

Tomorrow I go in first thing after breakfast to check how the baby is doing. My official due date is today but at last Saturday's appointment I was having regular contractions for a while and the amniotic fluid was a little low. The doctor said they might have to admit me so Colin made a trip home for the car seat and hospital bag. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the contractions had stopped by the time he returned so the trip was for naught. The doctor said that if I didn't go into labor on my own by my due date that I should come in after breakfast on Thursday and they would start things, the reason being that low amniotic fluid can be a sign that the baby is under stress.

This all sounded rational at the doctor's office on Saturday. Then suddenly this afternoon I started to panic and get nervous. What was I doing? What was really going to happen tomorrow? What drugs were they going to use? Was I going to be able to give birth in the water like I wanted to? Was the doctor just trying to get my delivery out of the way so he could enjoy his holiday this weekend? (This weekend is one of the 2 major Korean holidays - similar to Thanksgiving.) What about all the negative things I had read on the internet about people being induced and having terrible experiences: extremely painful contractions, long labours that stalled leading to C-sections... I know, the people on these bulletin boards are hardly authorities. One movie we saw recently described the Internet as the "sacred sanctuary of nutters and psychos" - probably a fairly accurate description, but still, some of those stories were probably true!

My sister (who arrived very early last Saturday) calmed me down some and we tried to call the hospital. Unfortunately all I got was detailed menu of options to choose from and I didn't know what any of them were. Then I tried the doctor's cell phone but didn't get an answer. That was to be expected, but I thought I would try anyway. My third option was to call Grace, have her talk to the nurses at the hospital and ask them to get the doctor to call me. She gracefully helped me out as she has done so many times before. The doctor called back and after talking to him I felt much better. He answered all my questions and reassured me that we don't have to do anything I am not comfortable with.

So, tomorrow is going to involve a check of the baby, then probably a hormone inserted to get things underway. I'll have to stay at the hospital for 12 hours during which time they will monitor contractions. If regular labour is established they'll remove the hormone and let things progress on their own. I'll still be able to labour in the water. If nothing happens I have the option of trying once more or being discharged to see if nature runs its course in the next few days.

Work's finished... bring on the labour!

Well, it's now September and time seems to be flying by. Colin is back to work and I am finally finished! My sister arrives this Friday and the baby arrives...? At our appointment on Saturday the doctor said any time now. That's exciting! The baby now weighs about 3.5kg. We had to laugh when the doctor told us his head and abdominal circumference were the same - we're having an alien baby! I don't feel nervous about the delivery yet, I'm much too excited about meeting this little guy. I can't wait to kiss his little baby toes instead of feeling his feet jammed under my rib cage. (Although the rib prodding is not much to put up with in return for getting a baby.) We're still undecided on a name, although we have a couple of favourites we keep throwing around.

Our Apartment

Behold... our new apartment! Samdo Mirae Town - mirae meaning future- is somewhere between Pohang and Heunghae. It's not quite as convenient as living right in the city, but it is certainly more peaceful. Ah, the blissful absence of barking dogs, stray cats mating in the abandoned house next door, and buzzing mosquitoes. It's a little strange being this high up - neither of us has ever lived higher than the 4th floor and we're currently on the 15th - but if the height is what accounts for the lack of mosquitoes then we're all for it! I plan on taking the stairs up all 15 flights at least once while we live here (Colin has already done it) but that moment will have to wait until the baby lets me breathe normally again.

How long will we stay in Korea?

Some of you back home in Canada and the US may be wondering when we plan to return to North America. Our original plan after getting married in 2003, was to be here just a year while doing the visa paperwork for the US. However, some aspects took such a long time (fingerprints from the RCMP - 5 months!) that we knew we'd end up staying a little longer. So we extended our contracts an additional 7 months until January.

Sometime during those next 7 months life took another turn and we decided if we were going to start a family, now was the best time. As far as the best place... things were too complicated with regards to visas and health insurance in the US and Canada so this became the best place too.

We've now been here 2 years and we still aren't positive when we're leaving. Right now the issue hinges on whether we can get an extension on our visa application. If so, we may be return around July of 2006. If not, we may have to start everything over again...

The tables are now turned. Whereas previously we were waiting for them to examine our paperwork, they are now waiting for us to submit the next step of the paperwork. But the timing is tricky. Our medical check has to be delayed until after the birth of the baby because it requires a chest x-ray. And by that time our RCMP fingerprint check will be due to expire - which could mean another 5 months of waiting to get that again. 5 months is no problem for us since Colin is contracted until July of 2006, but if there are no extensions, then our visa application will be cancelled.

Oh, the complexities of life!

Latest doctor's visit

Well, one more visit to the doctor. Seems like we're there all the time now that it's every 2 weeks! Our little guy had the hiccups during the ultrasound today and we could see his whole body moving with each hiccup! He also had his eyes open. His present estimated weight is 2300g - just over 5 pounds. And I've now gained about 20 pounds! He still didn't want to give us a really clear look at his face, but the doctor printed the best one he could get.

We've both been very pleased with our doctor so far. That was one of our biggest concerns - would we be able to find a doctor that spoke enough English and had a view of birth and labor that was compatible with ours? Fortunately our friends Grace and Bryce came to our aid and incorporated our situation into some English classes they were teaching to two doctors. The doctors each interviewed an OB/GYN they knew using some questions I had written out and brought the answers to class. Based on that information we contacted Dr. Bae, and he's been wonderful. Not only has he been professional and knowledgeable (as one would expect) but he's exceptionally kind - we have had 3 3-D ultrasounds but he only charged us for one, since our little boy was being so shy the first 2 times. He also gave us information on how to contact him directly so we wouldn't have to go through the hospital and try to communicate in broken Korean and English.

The ultrasound is not that easy to tell what you're looking at. So, in case you can't tell, it's a side profile with the baby facing right. The right side of the picture is the placenta.

Baby Shower

Yesterday our friends threw us a baby shower. Grace masterminded the operation, closely assisted by Charity and Mun-Ju. These girls hand-made invitations - including the envelopes- planned the games, food and prizes... everything was wonderfully orchestrated down to the last balloon lovingly blown up by Bryce. Elizabeth put together a baby book with special decorations on each page for the guests to sign. We left the men on their own while the girls played games. Despite our friend John's parting comment that he hoped never to participate in such an event again, I believe everyone had a wonderful time!

What do you mean I'm not cute?

Today was a "fun" Dr.'s appointment. I had to drink a bottle of glucose and get blood drawn for a gestational diabetes test. (All clear! Woohoo! Sorry Karen and John A. - I wasn't particularly eager to join the diabetes club going on in our family.) I also got the shot of partobulin as a protective measure since I am RH- and the baby might be Rh+. The part of the visit I was really looking forward to was the 3D ultrasound because the doctor was going to try and get a good picture of our baby's face. Unfortunately he didn't co-operate. (The baby, not the doctor.) He's already head down and facing my spine, so it was difficult to get a good shot. But, we now have a picture of a puffy eye and cheek. Also something else which we think is either part of me, some strange growth, or the baby's nose... The doctor said that even though the picture was (definitely) not cute, it doesn't mean our baby will not be cute.

Cute or not, I think he's going to be stong, as he seems to be doing quite a bit of Tae Kwon Do already. The ultrasound estimated his current weight at 1520g (about 3.3 pounds). I keep visualising his size and weight by comparing it to pounds of butter. More than three pounds of butter in my gut, and there could be another five or more by the time he's born! Yikes!