Gender Reveal from Abroad

We kind of tricked our families because we wanted a way to surprise them with the sex of the baby since we couldn't do it in person. We told them that we were finding out on Friday when we actually found out on Thursday. Let me tell you, a 7 hour time difference can be torturous when you're wanting to share good news!!:) We decided that we would send a bouquet of pink flowers to both of our moms with a card saying, " It's a girl!!! Love, Dan, Sam, and Eleanor Anne". So after we found out and went to a baby store to buy a few cute girl things :) Dan headed back to work and I headed home to wait until florists would open to be able to order the flowers. 

I placed the orders and now all I had to do was wait. I had tricked my mom into being home in the morning by telling her that I had her birthday present being delivered and UPS said they would be delivering it  between 10 and 1 (she had to leave for work at 1:20). Dan's mom was going to be taking a half day so we really needed both of those flowers to be delivered in the morning because there was no way I could wait until nighttime to spill the beans! Well, for Cheyrl, the flowers arrived quicker than I thought and Dan wasn't home yet! I kept debating whether to answer the phone or not but decided too late and she had already hung up and in the time it took me to call her back, she had already ran out of her office and was showing the flowers around!:)

My mom called a bit later and was still crying and nearly hysterical on the phone. Apparently she had given my brother the scare of his life when she got the flowers. After it sunk in what she was reading, she started screaming and crying for my brother in such a way that he thought she was being attacked. I seriously wish we had a video camera sometimes. . .

19wk ultrasound

On February 23, Dan's birthday, we had our second ultrasound. This was "The Big One". The one where they check to make sure baby is healthy, meeting growth milestones, developing normally, and where they can determine the sex. I have been looking forward to this day since we found out I was pregnant! I have also been so excited to see how baby has grown since our 11 week ultrasound.

The tech found baby right away and we were able to hear her heart beat, nice and strong as usual. It was beating 170 bpm. Keep in mind that we had just biked there and I'm pretty sure my heart was racing at the thought of seeing our baby again. She began taking all the measurements, making sure the head was fused together, that the spine was closed, that baby didn't have a cleft lip, etc. She measured and measured and measured. Baby was moving all about, waving hands, kicking legs, rolling around until baby finally got tired of putting on a show(hard to believe considering who baby's parent's are). The tech still needed to see her heart but baby was not cooperating. We got up and walked around for a bit, drinking some juice, and trying to give baby a pep-talk. When we came back, baby reluctantly turned over so we were able to see the heart, all 4 chambers and all the valves pumping. It was so amazing. We saw the kidneys , bladder, and stomach. Baby is all healthy! Finally it came time to check to see if baby was a boy or a girl. After much prodding, a not 100% sure guess, the tech was able to say with certainty that baby Caputo was a GIRL!!! We are so thrilled and excited to meet her! We've decided to name her Eleanor Anne, after our grandparents. Here are some Ellie's first pics!:)


This pic shows she's a girl...I have to take their word for it.

Her little spine, which we saw a lot of the second half of the appointment

 Profile pic!

 Tiny little foot! The tech forgot to take off the measurement lines

  Another profile pic, mostly of her upper-half. You can see her little nose and also her whole nasal cavity (that's the bright white line running through her mouth up into her head)

We're so excited and can't wait to meet her in person!!!

Stroller Mania

So lately Dan and I both have been the creepy people on the street stalking people with baby strollers. Any time someone walks by with a stroller, we try to check out the brand, see if we like it, and note any glaring deficiencies. We are not very good at being discreet. People give us a weird look that says, "quit creepily staring at my child or I will hurt you". We quickly explain to them that we are having a baby and trying to decide on a stroller. Then they become very helpful and tell us what they like or don't like about their stroller.

For us, the stroller is going to be one of our bigger investments. If we were back in the States, it wouldn't be that big of a deal because we would only use it for walking around Wal-Mart or the park. Here, it will be our baby's only means of transportation for the first 6 months, until it can get on one of these...

and even after we are able to tote it around on our bike, I will still use the stroller for everyday activities like going to the grocery store. So it's important that our stroller is made well (we want it to last for more than one kid), that it can handle all sorts of different terrain, can stand up to the elements, and that it looks cute:)  Dan and I have differing opinions on which ones we like, mostly for aesthetic reasons I think and I think that since I will be the one pushing it on a daily basis, I should win this but we'll see. Here is the adorable one I like (I included 2 pics so you could see one in color). It's called Bugaboo Chamelon

And here is the one Dan likes; It's called Joolz.

They both come in different colors and we would probably get a more neutral one(although you guys know I'm totally digging the pink if it's a girl!) so we could use it for more than one baby. To be honest, they are both nice strollers and don't really look that different now that I have them posted together. We haven't seen the Joolz in person, only the bugaboo. Hopefully we will check them both out in person this weekend. They both have adorable rain covers (which is much needed in this country), footmuffs (which is basically a warm pouch to put the baby in) and under carriage storage, although bugaboo seems to have more-which is another reason I like it better. Storage is necessary unless baby wants to share their carriage with groceries. Luckily we still have time to decide but I am super excited about the stroller situation.

Baby update

I am now 18 weeks and Baby C seems to be getting bigger and bigger! I think I am beginning to get a baby bump (I will try and have Dan take a picture tonight), so now hopefully people will not think I've just been gaining weight:).  We had our checkup with the midwife yesterday and this was our favorite midwife yet. In the practice we go to, there are 5 and you meet with each of them because you don't know who will actually deliver you when it's time for baby. She was very nice, seemed to know what she was talking about, and seemed genuinely excited. Our appointments pretty much consist of taking my blood pressure (which was low 110/60 and may account for why I've had some dizzy spells) and then her feeling around on my stomach for the height of my uterus and then listening for the heartbeat. 

Yesterday she said my uterus felt great, whatever that means. She also said that based on the height of it, I was measuring about 19 weeks. I know the baby can have growth spurts and whatnot so I'm not too worried about it changing my due date. We also heard the baby's heartbeat, which is always so amazing! She found it right away and it was so loud and strong. It's amazing what a difference of 5 weeks can make. The first time we heard it, I could barely make it out but this time there was no doubt about it!! Dan timed it and the midwife also said it was about 150 beats per minute. I'm not sure what that means in terms of gender possibilities:) The baby also did not like being disturbed because after a few seconds  of the doppler being on it, baby C decided it had had enough of that and moved away. It was so neat to hear it move around in there! Baby did it a few more times while we continued to listen to the heartbeat. 

Next week we go for our ultrasound to make sure the baby is developing properly and to hopefully find out if Baby C is a boy or a girl! I'm so excited!!

Just some basic stats:
Me-I've lost about 12lbs  or 6kg since my pre-pregnancy weight. No weight gain yet.
      -18 weeks, 1 day
      -blood pressure has always been good
      -No morning sickness for about 2 weeks, a few days of dizzy spells,  but now mostly feeling normal again, except for this weird growth in my stomach:)
     -I think I have started to feel the baby move. No kicking or punching yet but just weird little flutters that happen for a few minutes at a time.

Baby-About 5 inches from crown to rump.
         -weighs about 7oz
         - doesn't like the doppler
         -is practicing it's gymnastics on a daily basis.


OH! In the last piece of exciting news, I am coming home in April for a few weeks to visit!! Dan, sadly, will not be coming with me. We decided to send me home after feeling sad about all my family and friends missing out on this whole pregnancy. I'm so excited to get to come home, do some baby shopping and get to hang out with everyone!!

Winter in the Netherlands

You might have seen on the news about the big  "Deep Freeze" that has hit Europe. Well, I'm not sure us from the Midwest would consider it a "deep freeze" but the temperatures have been consistently in the mid 20's for a few weeks now. Trust me, it does feel significantly colder when you are riding your bike several kilometers in it everyday. 
About a week ago, we had a "winter storm" which resulted in about 2 inches of snow. For a country not prepared to deal with this kind of weather, even this small amount brings the country to a screeching halt. The trains stopped running, bikes were sliding every which way, buses were on limited schedules, it was a nightmare. But it sure makes the city awfully pretty when it's covered in snow:)
With all these below freezing temperatures, we experienced something that the Dutch haven't gotten to experience in several years. All the canals froze over! This meant that people were coming out of the woodwork to ice skate. Apparently this used to happen all the time in the early 90's so the Dutch are avid skaters. And they all seem to have the long skates that look like this

 I guess they are speed skates? Anyways, we went out with some friends on Saturday evening to do a little skating. I did not get on skates because I figured that I am not that graceful  off skates and with carrying a baby, I probably shouldn't take the risk. So I just walked around and took pictures.

It was so much fun but my feet were frozen. The next day, Dan and I decided to take a walk around the city...on the canals. We walked for about 45 minutes up canals that are usually only accessible by boat. It was such a neat experience! People were speed skating up and down the canal, pushing children in strollers, and playing hockey. Skating on the canals has been the talk of the country for the last week. Unfortunately, the temperatures have been above 0 the past few days so I think our fun with walking on water has come to an end. However, I'm so glad we got to experience this while we were here!!


 

Friends

On January 25, 2 of our close friend and their boys headed off for a new adventure in Australia. It was so very hard to see them go. We have all grown close over the last year and though it's only been a  year, it seems that when you live in an international community, you grow closer, faster. One of the disadvantages to having friends who are all expats is this very thing. You know that everyone's time here is temporary and even if it isn't, you know that yours is. We all relate to the struggles that come along with moving abroad, the difficulty in finding jobs, raising families, etc. This draws us all closer. So it's hard to say goodbye when someone's time is up here. These dear friends are Americans and will be eventually making their way back to the States but for now it appears they will be hanging out with the kangaroos and koala's in the land down under. We miss you guys! Throw another shrimp on the barbi for us!!!

The boys, enjoying a final Belgium abbey beer together

 We miss you guys already!!!