The Date has been set!

It has been awhile since I posted something on here. If you're close with our family, you will know it has been a very trying year so far, yet God remains faithful to us in our suffering and trials.  We are excited to welcome our baby into the world, in just a few short days. I'll try to catch you up on "baby news" since we've missed about 2-3 months of updates.

Katie was put on a strict diet for protein intake (to help the baby gain weight) since both she and the baby were more "fit" than the doctor was used to. Perhaps our baby girl will be a runner some day?  This quickly went from being a problem to a resolved issue, as Katie set her mind on making sure that little girl gets all that she needs.

However, then Katie and I were told that she has gestational diabetes, which if you're not familiar with it, is something that usually only affects the baby during pregnancy and does not necessarily mean that the baby (or Katie) will have diabetes after birth.  What it does mean, is that Katie has spent the last several months sticking very closely to a precise diet of certain minerals and sugar/caloric intake, involving lengthy notes and record keeping, as well as several blood tests a day for her blood sugar count.

Katie has kept up with this like a champ, and to spare you the details, our baby is now a healthy little girl that the doctor thinks will be between 7lbs - 8.5lbs.  What this also meant is that the doctor decided to bump up our delivery date by scheduling induction for 8/10/2010.  Our due date was 8/19/2010, but they'll be taking the baby this week!

We're very excited and know that sometimes with great sorrow, there is also great joy. We are thankful for what we have and the blessings God has given us, but do mourn the fact that my father will not be able to hold our little girl when she joins our family this week.  God continues to be faithful to our family and we ask that you join us in praying for a safe and healthy delivery.

Next post... will include photos of Baby Natalie!

Pregnancy Photo Shoot!

Here's some samples of our photo shoot with Krista Roose, a budding talent, who offered to take some photos of us for her portfolio. We highly recommend her if you're looking for somebody who is talented, creative, affordable, and has a great way with people!

Practice with Baby Niece Melody!

We've had alot of fun spending time with Katie's sister, Hilary, and her daughter who is almost 1 year older than our daughter-to-be.  Melody is quite the smart and charming little girl, but she also loves to pose for the camera! Here's a photo of her and Katie when she wasn't so keen on sitting on her baby cousin in Katie's belly.

1st Anniversary!

June 6th, our first anniversary, we were able to enjoy a nice weekend away and stay in the same suite at the Fairmont Olympic Four Seasons in downtown Seattle. They even had some fresh strawberries delivered to us to help us celebrate our 1st!  Here's a few photos of Katie at 7+ months!

More setbacks, but baby continues to be healthy...

Next "true" update coming sometime after June 10th, our next full ultrasound...

For now... please continue to keep Katie in your prayers, as we've had a few setbacks and minor health issues/concerns that are not serious, but do cause Katie to be uncomfortable.  At the same time, her doctors have insisted that she adheres to a strict diet and protein intake, basically taking away all of the great things she loves to eat!  (Fruit, Brownies, and morning Mochas... no more!)

The protein grams she is supposed to have on a daily basis is staggering!  The doctors require her to have 125-150 grams of protein a day. This means that she must eat 2-3 protein bars and have several protein shakes a day.  Now that Katie's not able to get her former intensive workouts in (being 7 months pregnant and all), she finds it difficult to have that much protein a day.  I tried it and could only muster up about 70 per day myself!

I'm not even sure how she could even have that much protein, and still be hungry for ANY meals throughout the day?  So far we've found it impossible to get that requirement met.  But we are continuing to trust God that the baby gets the nutrients and fat stores she needs to be of optimal weight at birth.

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers, words of encouragement, and support as we move towards the exciting day when our little girl is born!

Ultrasound #4... first glimpses of baby's face!

Today marks 22 weeks to the day. We're well over the halfway point now and Katie is feeling better now that she's well into the second trimester, if not for being fatigued and tired most of the time.  It was a fun day because we got to visit the specialist's office again for an ultrasound with the special machine that can take 4D (four-dimensional) pictures of our little girl!   Technology is so amazing and we're completely impressed by the professionalism and knowledge that both our doctor and our specialist have!  Thank you to Melissa for making such a great recommendation on this team of doctors!

Our little girl put on a pretty good show too, because we got a wide range emotions from our little 1lb, 1oz baby. Here's some of our little lady's personality, already in development...

First glimpse of her face... between the legs.  Katie says, "She's bendy!"  She even had her foot in her mouth for a few seconds.

Such a sweet face!

Waving hello!  "Hiya Doc!"

"Quit pressing on me, Doc! I'm getting cranky!"

It's a GIRL!

We are very excited to announce that sometime between now and August 19th, we are having a little girl! We're having fun talking about names and figuring out what we need, and Katie is having a fun time picking out colors and designs for what the baby nursery might look like.  Katie's sister Hilary and her husband Tony had a little girl named Melody last fall, so we're excited that the little cousins will be less than a year apart.

My only rule for Katie:  The baby nursery will NOT be painted "pepto-bismol" pink.   Katie agreed.  :)

Ultrasound #3... Lights out!

Some of you might have wondered why it has been over a month since we have posted an update on our blog!?  Perhaps we've been busy, or perhaps technology issues? Nope.

Unfortunately for me, this blog entry is a bit embarrassing to recall. However, in the interest of having a sense of humor and being humble,  I'll share it with you.

On March 14th we were scheduled for an appointment with a specialist in Bellevue to discuss some results of a blood test Katie had.  We were a little bit nervous about hearing bad news so we had mixed feelings of excitement but also fear going into this appointment.  We arrived about an hour and fifteen minutes early, during which time I had planned for Katie and I to eat lunch. However, due to the situation, Katie wasn't hungry and wanted to be there early so that the doctors might be able to see us early.

We first had an appointment with a counselor, who began the meeting by taking details from us about our family health histories, our eating and health habits, blah blah blah.  She then went on to describe some of the potential reasons why Katie's blood tests were showing a potential problem, and how to test for them.  At this point we had been in her office for about an hour, and her descriptions of the tests and the emotions on high did not mix well with an empty stomach for me.  Katie was intently focused in on what the counselor was saying, while I grew more and more uncomfortable.

As she was describing an optional procedure with a large needle, I started feeling very warm, and began to take off my jacket, but felt light headed so I sat back in my chair. Not wanting to interrupt the counselor mid-sentence, I put my head against the wall behind me, and that is the last thing I remember.

Next thing I know, I'm swimming towards the surface of a large pool, as I'm hearing Katie's voice calling my name, "Tim, Tim!"  You guessed it folks, the combination of no food or calories to burn with a highly emotional appointment resulted in "lights out" for Tim!  I had a small rug-burn on my forehead and concussion to prove it. Now that it is a bit more healed, I can laugh it off as one of those things that happens so rarely, but happens to everyone sooner or later.

The good news is that our appointment with the counselor and then the specialist doctor resulted in what they believe to be a very healthy little child.  We would ask our friends and family to continue praying for the healthy growth of our little one, as that is our only prayer as well.

Here's a picture of my little boo-boo... no teasing me, now!

Ultrasound #2

Katie and I went to our second ultrasound and checkup for "baby boldt" yesterday (February 8th).  We are now about 12.5 - 13 weeks along, so we still don't know the gender of our little tangerine.  We were told there is a slight potential for finding out this early, but evidently not yet.

We both got a little nervous when the nurse first tried to operate the doppler so we could hear the baby's heartbeat. After 4-5 minutes of searching, she couldn't find it, and asked Katie, "are you still having pregnancy symptoms?"  I dreaded what we might find out, but turns out all it took was the doctor to come in and discover that the baby was completely blocked by the placenta and so we couldn't hear it.

He tried for a bit and finally we heard the room fill with the sound of a tiny fluttering heartbeat, at 163 beats per minute.  It is amazing how quickly the baby is growing.

We continue to pray our only prayer for babyboldt, and ask you to join us in that prayer. That prayer is for a healthy growing baby, covered by God's protection as well as for Katie's body as she carries him/her.

Next update will be at 16 to 17 weeks (around March 10th)... In the meantime, I'll try to figure out how to post the recording I took on my phone of that heartbeat!

Until next time, K + T = bb.

Ultrasound #1

Katie and I wanted to share with you the ultrasound image of little "baby boldt", as we've been calling him/her.  We are only about 8 weeks along, so we don't have much information yet... but we do know our due date!  At this point, it is looking like:

August 19th, 2010.

Katie and I have been having fun referring to the baby as whatever size it is for that week... such as "poppyseed", then "blueberry"... more recently "peanut"... and now "babyboldt".

Next ultrasound, February 8th!  We'll get to hear the heartbeat, so I'll try to take a sound clip and post it here if the blog site lets me, or if I'm 'technologically capable'! Ha!

Until next time, K + T = bb.