Smitkababy

Our sweet baby boy Colin Alexander Smitka was born on January 30, 2009 at 1:02 AM weighing in at a whopping 10.1 pds and 21.5 inches long. He has changed our lives forever and in the best way possible. It's hard to believe that today he is already one month old! Where does the time go when you are having fun??

I haven't really had much time to update the blog because we have been busy adjusting to our new lifestyle and taking care of Colin. This week I am taking him to the pediatrician for his one month check up and I'm curious to see how much he weighs now....he's already wearing size 3 month clothes because he is so long/tall just like his Daddy! So far things are going great and we are leaning more and more about him each day. He has started to develop some of his little personality too, for example he makes a lot of the same faces that I have been known to make and he also fights going to sleep just like his Mommy. He can go from happy and content to a total melt down within 60 seconds because he's tired and won't let himself fall asleep.

Here is the link to a lot of his pictures taken within the last month, there are just way too many to post.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Smitka313/BabyColin#

Below are some of our favorite pictures from Colin's newborn photo shoot that was done right at Beaumont Hospital by Bella Baby, it was super convienent for us and we are in love with the way that they turned out. I love his chubby cheeks!!!

Nothing too exciting going on over here lately, we are just trying to patiently await the arrivial of Colin! This week I hit the Full Term mark which means that if he was to be born sometime this week or later, he should be totally healthly. I had my weekly doctor appointment and everything was normal, they are not going to check me until next week to see if anything is going on. There have been a few nights of some uncomfortable Braxton Hicks contractions where my stomach gets really hard and it makes it difficult for me to breathe but they have always gone away within a few hours so nothing to worry about. I was really hoping that he would come next week for Bob's birthday on January 20th, Bob says that it could be an official Smitka holiday. But I'm not really showing any serious signs of labor so I think he's going to hang out for a while still.

I have been working a ton trying to get things prepped for when I go on Maternity Leave which has made the days go by super fast but my poor feet..... Unfortunately, with the way my desk is set up at home there in no room for me to prop my feet up and I now look like a combination of Shrek/Fred Flintstone. Bob has been a great sport about rubbing them for me because it seems to be the only thing that helps. They are so swollen that when he touches them they feel squishy and it leaves a finger print marks on my skin, gross!

Here's a belly pic from 37 weeks/full term. You can tell I look really tired at the end of the day and my feet are no where to be seen!

My friend Kendra sent this email to me and I thought it was really cute for all you Moms out there. I have seen it before, but its about to have a whole new meaning to me soon.

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
Or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
My plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
And my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
So doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
Watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
When I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
Could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
Having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel
To feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
Between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
Every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
The joy,
The love,
The heartache,
The wonderment
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom..
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much...
Before I Was a Mom

Warning...this is a long update, sorry!

Today marks the 35 weeks/35 days till my due date of Feb 1st. We have been busy bee's lately trying to get ready for Colin's arrival. Last week Bob spent time putting together all of the fun baby items, I have to say that a lot of that stuff is pretty complicated and it's not an easy task but he was a good sport :) I washed all of Colin's clothes/baby items etc. and have most of it organized by size and put away thankfully. The kid received so many adorable clothes that we have a ton of it put away in a storage bin till he will be able to wear it just so we have room in his drawers/closet. Most of his room is finished, we just have to take care of a few last minute things. His room is the smallest in the house so its hard to get good pictures, but here is what we have done so far-

The Changing Table all organized....

His crib all set up & ready to go, can you see the baby spycam in the corner??

His closet organized and ready to go....guess I need to take the stickers off those bins!

When I can't sleep at 4AM, this is what I have been working on lately.

The Glider......

My new diaper bags, there are 2 more in the closet :) Bob says that I have started a collection of them but I figure they are my new "purses" and you can never have too many!

I really enjoyed being off work last week and was able to get in some relax time finally. I can't believe how fast the time went and I am looking forward to this being a short week as well. We celebrated with the Smitka's on Christmas night and then with my family yesterday, because Brian and Ashley were on their delayed honeymoon in Jamaica (I'm jealous!). We had a great xmas and were totally spoiled by both families as always. Colin also received a few of his first Christmas presents too.

Colin's first teddy bear from Grandma & Grandpa Smitka-

Here is Bob with his first Teddy Bear-

Colin also received a Shar Pei puppy from their dog Yum Yum-

Grandma Alexander bought him an antique style horse-

Today I had my 35 week appt. and Colin is measuring at about 6 pds (plus or minus 1/2 pd) which is right on track and everything is looking good. I was worried he was going to be a HUGE baby like Bob, but by the way things are looking he should be average size at about 8-8.5 pds if he continues to gain the normal 1/2 a pound a week till the due date.

Finally, my very first and only belly shot that I have taken, he has grown a ton lately!

This past week and a half have been very busy for us. We had our 2nd baby shower last Sunday, baby class on Monday, Xmas shopping to get done, lots and lots of baby washing and today Bob graduated from Wayne State with his Master's in Education degree. Congrats hunny, I am so proud of all of your hard work and know what a wonderful teacher you stive to be for your students each and every day! Last night we went out for a nice dinner to celebrate his graduation at Andiamo's in downtown Rochester and then to check out the cool xmas lights display. I can't believe Christmas will be here in less than two weeks already!! This coming week we have our last baby class, a doctors appointment on Wednesday and a cookie exchange on Sunday at Courtney's house this year, yay!

How Far Along: 33 weeks tomorrow, hopefully 7 weeks to go only!! I found out that my brother is traveling for work at the end of Janurary, I just hope he's not gone when Colin decides to make his appearance!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I don't even look anymore when I get on the scale!

Belly Button: I woke up the other night freaking out because my belly button was totally stretched and I really don't want it to pop out. It's totally stretched but hasn't done anything else since then so that's good. I think our little guy has done a lot of growing since my last update.

Sleep: What sleep? I think this weekend I got maybe three hours of sleep each night, if that.......although I did take a nice nap today after Bob's graduation and I am actually feeling somewhat tired again. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good night's sleep! We went to my parent's house tonight to pick up a recliner chair that my brother wasn't using so hopefully that will help me to get more comfortable if I can't sleep in our bed.

Movement: He's been movin and shakin but its fun to actually see him roll around in there and my belly almost make a wave motion.

Best Moment of the Week: Our shower last Sunday, it was amazing all of the wonderful gifts that we received from everyone from both of our showers. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends and we are so thankful for everything that we received. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

What I Miss: Sleeping a full night, alcoholic beverages (never thought I would say this one but 9 months seems like a really long time around all these big events), being able to easily put my shoes and pants on, I actually had to go out and buy slip on shoes this week cause my feet are swelling it was getting too hard to tie them all the time. I also had to take my wedding band off today :( my hands are starting to swell too much and I don't want them to get stuck.

Food Cravings: Anything :)

Labor Signs: None, thank goodness

What I Am Looking Forward To: The baby's room being organized and put back together with all our new fun stuff and having a great Xmas vacation next week with hopefully very little work!

Milestones: Nothing exciting happening this week, I am happy that I was able to get every single baby item washed this weekend....now just putting it all away is another story. But if you know me, this is a MUST before it gets closer to his due date. I would be freaking out if I went into labor early and his stuff wasn't washed and put away and he was actually on his way.

Here's a few pictures of our shower last Sunday thrown by my parents at Papa Vino's in Troy-

The Future Parents:

Bob and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year with both of our families and it was nice to not have to cram two huge meals into one day. We celebrated on Wednesday with my family and then later in the day on Thursday with the Smitka's.

Since we didn't have much to do on actual Thanksgiving day this year we decided to tackle a project that I have been scheming since we picked the baby bedding months ago. Well I did a lot of supervision and Bob did all the hard work ;) I did help with a few of the diamonds but really only the ones at eye level. It's just too hard to bend or get up off the floor lately!! A special thank you to Steve (Bob's brother) for using his awesome Autocad skills and making us a template to trace, this was a lifesaver! We traced the diamond template and then thought we would just tape them off and start painting the inside, WRONG! The tape was becoming a pain so Bob just decided it was best to free hand it. Poor Bob ended up having to paint over them several times because we traced the stencil in pencil too dark and thought it would wash off, wrong again. He had to use a little paint by number brush to cover up the pencil lines too. I don't think he ever wants to hear the word argle again, but I think he did a fabulous job and love the way it turned out. I did at one point admit that I was slightly nuts for having us attempt this by hand but he's a good sport and humors my craziness ;)

Here's a good picture of the finished project (don't worry its just one wall)-

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Bob and I have so much to be thankful for this year. We have been blessed with amazing friends and family that love us, a little boy on the way, our jobs, our health and so much more. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

So much has happened in the past week which is baby related. Last Saturday, the baby activities started off by with me attending my friend Kim's baby shower which was really nice. She's due three weeks before me and it's been a lot of fun going through this experience with her :) It was also very exciting to see all of the great stuff that she got for baby Tyler. I can't wait for our boys to grow up so close in age!

On Sunday, we had our first baby shower thrown by Sue & Angie Smitka at Sajo's in Roseville which was great. It was nice to see a lot of people we don't see on an everyday basis and I couldn't believe all of the wonderful gifts we received at the shower. It was so fun to come home and play with all the new "toys". Thank you to everyone for such a great shower and for all our wonderful gifts, we really appreciate it! Here are a few pictures from the shower-

On Monday, we had our 30 week appointment and an extra ultrasound because the little guy was facing the other way and they wanted to check on a few things just to be sure. They said he is about 3 pds 11 ounces already....so hard to believe that I weighed that much when I was born!! I was also able to get a new 3D picture and you can tell that he has grown quite a bit since our last appt. at 26 weeks.

I feel like within the last week or week and a half that I have gotten huge. I'm sure that all of this eating over Thanksgiving isn't helping either. Hopefully that will all slow down a little. I am still feeling really good other than some discomfort when standing or walking too much. I was supposed to have the whole week off to get stuff done around the house and relax but we have so much work that I was barely able to take just Wednesday off. I was assigned to manage a huge hiring project for Kellogg's and it all just hit last week which meant a lot of things needed to be done. I only checked my work email once on Wednesday and don't even plan on thinking about work again till Sunday sometime.

Steve, my brother in law created a template for us to draw out the argyle pattern on one of the walls in the baby's room and we actually started painting half of the diamonds green which looks great. We may just paint the remaining diamonds white and forget the stitching because I'm worried we will mess up our hard work. Seriously, where do I come up with these ideas?? I was asking Bob that earlier today as we were free-hand painting and I actually admitted to being crazy......hopefully it looks awesome when its all done. I should have pictures posted of the finished product by end of this weekend. It's all starting to come together :)

Oh the other big news is that we finally agreed on a name for the little guy......Colin Alexander Smitka.

Check out this baby countdown....it's kind of scary that we are basically in the home stretch!!! Holy crap this is really happening is what I keep thinking to myself!

This weekly email that I receive from 3D Pregnancy always makes me laugh, here's what our little man looks like at 29 weeks.

"This week your baby is a little over 15 inches long—about the length of a loaf of bread—and weighs about 3 pounds, as much as a Macbook Air laptop."

Check out these adorable booties that Bob picked out last week....I love them!

For some reason I seem to wake up more nights than not between 3-5AM just to hang out apparently. Not sure why I am getting up but I have a feeling that there's a reason for this......maybe he's going to be a night owl?? I know this is so dorky but I like to go in the baby's room and just rock in the glider to chill out and hopefully fall back asleep. Besides, what else am I going to do at this time of the night?

I can't believe that this Sunday we are having our first baby shower being thrown by Sue & Angie Smitka, it all seems to be happening so fast and I'm sooooo excited!! This next week is going to be a busy but fun week for us!! I will post pics of the shower and next week's ultrasound soon. I am hoping that they will measure him and they will be able to tell me how much he really weighs. It seems like within the last week that I am really starting to "pop" and I am showing much higher now.

I just got back from a two day work trip to Kellogg's for onsite client meetings and I came home tonight to Bob who had beautiful flowers waiting for me. He's so sweet and it totally made me smile. The trip was good but it always feels so good to come home....

How Far Along: 28 weeks

We have been pretty busy as of lately. Last Saturday, we went on a Labor & Delivery tour of Royal Oak Beaumont. The plus side of it is that we are maybe 2 mins away or less so we can get there quickly if we need to. My coworker was telling me that her hospital was 45 mins away and she pratically had her baby in the car...so I will not wait, but I prefer to spend as little time at the actual hospital as possible. I'm not a fan nor have I ever been a fan of hospitals. The Post Partum rooms where I assume you spend most of your time in are newly updated but seeing that C-Section Recovery room freaked me out, I'm not gonna like I'm scared shitless. So far in the pregnancy I have done great with needles and I'm proud of myself but last Monday I passed out for the first time during my 3 hour Gestational Diabetes test because they wouldn't let me lay down. I warned them that I needed to lay down and I feel bad that I passed out from the finger prick but for some reason sitting up and giving blood gives me serious anxiety. I did fine for the following three blood draws once they moved me to the "special chair" which was a recliner. I also went last Saturday with my parents and waited in the longest line I have ever seen at Freedom Hill for the H1N1 vaccine. The wait took us about 1.5 hrs but it looked like all of the lines at Cedar Point connected. Lucky for us the line moved quickly and we were in and out of there in no time. Hopefully I am done with shots & bloodwork for at least a few weeks.

I also attended a breastfeeding class with my friend Kim on Tuesday night. I learned a lot but didn't realize that breastfeeding was so demanding. They were saying that you have to feed the baby every 1.5-3 hrs and if they are sleeping to even wake them up. I thought that Bob was going to be able to help out with the night feedings in the beginning but they didn't make it sound that way. I will give it a good honest effort, but I will do what feels right for me and the little guy.

We still can't agree on a Boy's name for Baby Smitka so we may be one of those parents that finally decide once we get to meet the little guy. We have a few that we like and then I change my mind a few days later.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 20 lbs at my last doctors appt.

Sleep: I have actually been sleeping really good lately. There are a few nights that I wake up at 3AM for no reason at all but other than that and getting up a few times to use the bathroom its not too bad.

Movement: Baby is still moving and shakin, sometimes it feels like he's doing Tae Bo in there.

Belly Button: Still the same but I can tell its stretching.

Best Moment of the Week: Coming home on Sunday after spending time with my Mom and Bob had finished the baby's closet and laid our new rug down. I'm such a nerd but lately I have just been sitting in there rocking and enjoying his room.

Maternity Clothes: I can still wear some normal shirts but 100% in maternity pants. I need to get some bigger PJs this weekend.

Food Cravings: Sweet & Salty

Labor Signs: None! It's so hard for me to imagine that I was born at 28 weeks, my poor parents for having to go through that!!

What I Am Looking Forward To: The weekend, my first baby shower thrown by the Smitka's on the 22nd and a week of vacation over Thanksgiving week.

Milestones: I'm offically in the third trimester, passing my 3 hr glucose test & getting the H1N1 shot. My next doctor's appt. is at 30 weeks for another ultrasound. They did not see enough of the heartbeat because he was being stubborn and turning away so we get to see him again very soon.

This week marks 25 weeks of being pregnant! This is somewhat significant as I am officially moving into the 6th month of pregnancy. It also means that we have crossed that imaginary line that says if something disastrous were to happen and I gave birth pre-maturely the baby would have a chance of survival.
That does not give me too much comfort though, because we all know that baby needs to cook longer! 15 more weeks to be exact! Here is the survey for this week:

How far along: 25 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: I don't even want to know, I haven't gotten on the scale since my last doctors appt.

Maternity Clothes: I am pretty much in all maternity clothes except for a few tops.

Stretch Marks: Started to notice a few extra on my stomach that have recently appeared.

Sleep: Ah, I think work stress has been more of an issue than the baby. However, the baby has given me some crazy nightmares at times.

Best Moment of This Week: We received the baby shower invites in the mail to start working on them and get them in the mail.

Movement: He's really active late and night and in the mornings when I'm laying in bed. I love feeling him kick & punch me!

Food Cravings: Nothing major this week, I think that most of the actual cravings have gone for now.

Gender: We are having a boy!

Labor Signs: None...thank goodness!

Belly Button: In still :)

What I Miss: A good night's sleep........and I could really go for a drink with the crazy amount of work I have been putting in lately.

What I Am Looking Forward To: Relaxing this weekend and having Tuesday off for our 4D Ultrasound.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately.....I'm not really sure blogging is my thing, but since Bob started this I will try to keep it updated more often. It's hard to believe that tomorrow I will already be 25 weeks. Seriously where has the time gone? As of this coming week, baby is already about 1.5 pounds and the length of a recorder that you can play "Hot Cross Buns" on. Its hard for me to believe that I am creeping up on the Third Trimester soon and the baby bump is starting to show finally. I am also starting to get to that uncomfortable sleeping stage that most pregnant women experience. Unfortunately, before being pregnant I was definitely a stomach sleeper and that has been the hardest thing for me to break. Last night after tossing and turning much of the night, I remember turning to Bob and asking him if we could cut a hole into the mattress for my stomach so I could get a good nights sleep finally.

We started to work on the baby's room about two weeks ago and got a lot of the major painting done and the crib set up, but we still have a ton of finishing touches to do. We need to paint the floor boards white, touch up a few spots on the walls, paint the window trim, install the new blinds, and start on my special project--the argyle wall (where do I come up with these crazy projects??)! We also need to patch up and paint the closet and install the organizers so we have a place to hang all the little guy's clothes. Don't worry, I have been good lately and haven't bought a stitch of clothing for at least a month. Although, I did send Bob into Target on Friday night to get his flu shot and he came out with a new toy for the baby. Our kid is going to be spoiled rotten for sure! I told Bob to leave the toy in the box for a while, and he's looking at me with his lip pouting out and he's pratically ready to kick and scream like a kid on Christmas who's just been told he can't open his presents right away. So needless to say, the toy is out of the box, programmed and is ready for use when the kid is six months or older haha.

Here's a few pictures of the little guy's room so far:

Here's a good close up of the baby's bedding. We got such a great deal on the whole set, it was on clearance for $64 and the Smitka's bought it for us :) and my parents also recently purchased the crib mattress for us so now he has a place to sleep!

Next Tuesday I head to the doctors for my Gestational Diabetes test again and I'm so nervous! Please keep your fingers crossed that I pass with flying colors! We also decided to do the 4D Ultrasound (optional) to check in our little guy and see how much he has grown. Hopefully I will have some good close up pics of our little guy to post for you next week.

Sorry for the long post....apparently I had more to update than I thought! Wishing you all a quick & great week ahead! Is it sad that I'm already counting down till next weekend?

Nothing too exciting here to report lately. I was having killer headaches and had to make a trip to the doctors office to check on the bean and get some Tylenol Three which seems to have finally kicked the nasty headache for me. I feel like a new person again and its great. This Friday, I have my 16 week appt. which is pretty routine which includes more bloodwork and they are giving me an early gestational diabetes test. Please keep your fingers crossed that I pass the one hour test, other wise its going to be a really long 20+ weeks for me till baby Smitka arrives. We decided to order our crib this past weekend and it should get here when I am still feeling good and wanting to decorate a nursery. Here's a picture of the crib that we purchased in Espresso. I can't wait to paint and put the baby's room together!!

Today marks my 13th week of pregnancy and I am hoping that I gradually start to feel better! I have signed up for weekly emails of the baby's progress and they told me that the baby is now the size of a medium shrimp. Last week the baby was the size of a lime and I'm not quite sure how a shrimp is bigger than a lime, but I won't ask questions! It's really exciting to see those emails come each week and watch the baby growing.

Not too much has been going on with us lately. Bob and I are super anxious to find out the baby's sex and it feels like the 20 week appt. cannot get here soon enough. I swear that I am having a boy and I think that if its actually a girl I may fall off the ultrasound table in utter shock. We are so excited and just ready to start planning things, besides the fact that we are both so bad at keeping secrets. You will all know what we are having the minute we find out. Who knows, maybe we will keep the name a secret until the little one arrives.

I have been having some major food adversions lately which is really strange for me. Typically I am not really a picky eater and tend to eat or order the same things all the time. Tonight, I ended up having tatortots with ketchup and let my chicken just sit on my plate. It's like I have to force any sort of protein down and all I want are carbs, salts and veggies. I was super tempted to call in an order of aspargus sushi at 8:45 PM, because it sounded sooooo good. Thank goodness it was close to their closing time so I kept my insane cravings a bay for at least another day.

Who do you think baby Smitka will look like? This thought crosses my mind a lot lately. With Bob and I both having light colored hair and blue/green eyes, I always tease him and tell him that if our child comes out with brown hair brown eyes we might have a problem!! My Dad keeps telling me that the baby will have red hair and gigantic feet like Bob (he wears a size 15!!)....oh boy for my sake lets hope not!

Alright folks, and off we go…Jenny’s officially pregnant and this is Smitkababy, an attempt to follow the long, strange journey that will be Jenny’s pregnancy and life surrounding it. I’ve even set up the twitter feed to the right so I can send little messages over to the box if I see anything that inspires me along the way. As of today, we’re 12 weeks in and things haven’t been that bad. Yes, there has been a tired Jenny. Yes, there has been odd cravings at all times of the day (and night). Yes, there have been some moments where I have momentarily feared for my life, but it’s all gonna be worth it when the baby is born.

One big doctor’s appointment down at the 8 weeks check mark (See the last post for the ultrasound pics from 8 weeks), and today Jenny went in for her 12 week ultrasound and genetic blood screen. Somehow, Jenny was randomly selected as the guinea pig for the Phillips Medical Machines guy in the office today, showing off (and trying to get the doctor to buy) the new fancy ultrasound machine. For letting half the office, three police officers, the paper boy and some random guy off the street (well maybe just a bunch of nurses) watch the procedure, they printed off a few more ultrasound pics and added in a few “free” 3D images as well. As of today, our little sea monkey has two working arms and legs; kicking and wobbling around in the womb, it’s little heartbeat is pumping nice and healthy and according to the doctor, everything seems on track for the February 1st due date. It was very cool to see the little guy moving around and day by day this is getting more and more real. I’m excited for whats next.

Ultrasound Pictures - Week 8 & Week 12