oops we did it again....

We'll be one Chan-Vellinga richer by end of May next year!

Kaemon is here!!

5 feb our son was born!
3230g, 49 cm, brown hair, bluish alert eyes, pink skin, perfect 10 apgar, drinks like a fish, first 24 hrs a sweet and easily-pleased superstar!
fotos to come, we're enjoying a hospital stay til at least the 8th (poo in amnio fluid and me temp increase during labour) but all's well so it feels like a hotel. could get really used to it...

38 weeks

Reaching critical mass...

The calm before the storm?

Maybe I'm getting a bit impatient waiting waiting waiting

The progress of the belly: growing, kicking and hiccupping.


These are Days of my life: like an paris hilton-type heiress, without the money and clothes and body. What's left? Tea dates, dinner soirees, shopping, napping, time for hobbies.

My antenatal class

I appear to be trying to push out my belly, yes I have belly envy. One of the smallest in the class. I'm a bit of a study nerd, not learning nothin' new at these classes, read it all in books at home. And when douwe came along for the partner puffing/panting class, I had to restrain his under-the-breath remarks (mainly "that's ridiculous"), the teacher being a little hippy-ish. At least I didn't hear what a friend heard at these classes; that

you must feel the pain to be able to bond with the baby

...I might just get violent with comments like that.

It's a planetoid, doesn't fit on the screen anymore!

We (I) couldn't resist the temptation to take another look at douwe's work. Just trying to get insight into the thing that has been kicking me awake early every morning, kicking Douwe in the guts when we hug (it's still nearly possible).

It's getting too big for the screen, that's why the videos will be a little myterious (vague) and you need lots of imagination! Here, you can catch a glimpse of the facial profile (near top right) after 10 secs or so.

Here, a nice view of baby back ribs and spine.

That's a noggin! It's a virtual planetoid. If you squint, there's eye sockets (left) in the very begnning and the 2 brain halves at the very end.

Weekend in Guildford with Reuben

We had a fabulous long weekend in the UK staying with Lisa, Matt and Rueben. It was heaps of fun, meeting up with old rellies (Ann, Vanessa + Chris, Jamie + Ying-ley) in London and Oxford, meeting new rellies Reuben en John, eating duck duck and more duck, doing a bit of baby practise, shopping and just hanging out.

Vanessa, Lisa & Me @ YUMMMMMMMM-cha
With Ann and Vanessa, weapons ready

Practising, practising...

...and more practising. Reuben was so good, he let us try out our baby names on him (when his parents weren't looking).

The Cottage @ Guilford (Lisa and Matt confusing explaining to Reuben, "the sound is there but the plane is there because....")

Reuben's first birthday

Jamie and Ying-ley's John skillfully eating one noodle at a time.

definitely no camera or posing tricks- this is real!

How I look today

How big is my belly? This is the view from my vantage point.

Just kidding! This (below) is more realistic. I can barely see my toes.

Yesterday had the monthly check-up: baby heart beat, my blood pressure everything is fine, growing at a normal pace and so am I. I'm not camera shy, I'm just too vain to show my face without good lighting! Just enjoy my colour coordination: it's coming up to my 4th winter in the Netherlands and I'm just starting to get the hang of layering and coordinating one's wardrobe but throw in pregnancy clothing and all the extra layers it entails, makes for long toilet visits with all that rearranging of the multiple layers.

Beating heart

Secret life of baby- sometimes sleeping peacefully like this, sometimes doing Tae-bo

Happy 20th Week Birthday Baby!!

We had the top to toe check up: Brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, bladder, stomach, spine, umbilical cord, all present and accounted for! Only thing we didn't see was the pp or vv.......but that was intentional. In this picture, our baby is THUMB SUCKING!!! Is that super-advanced development or what??! The feeling that everything is ok (and that it is terribly cute already) is wonderful :D Two of us with Big smiles all day :D

Pret echo/Superfluous just-for-fun ultrasound

We dropped into Douwe's work out of hours to check on the baby...
It's gotten so big!!!

Tempting to just roll the machine out of there and have one at home, be like Tom and Katie (whom conspiracy theorists believe their baby is alien-seeded)

The Rise of Pregzilla (short story)
I always could sing along to Kenny Rogers (thanks pa for that) and one day driving to work I was singing along to "You don't have to fight to be a man". The father in jail teaches his son, Tommy, "Promise me son not to do the things I've done, walk away from trouble if you can...it don't mean it's weak to turn the other cheek, " and as a consequence the son grows up to be the coward of the county. But the Gatlin boys did terrible things to his girl Becky, "...there were three of 'em!". When Tommy left the barroom, not a single Gatlin boy was left standing and Tommy sings "I promised you, Dad, not to do the things you done.I walk away from trouble when I can. Now please don't think I'm weak, I didn't turn the other cheek,and Papa, I sure hope you understand:Sometimes you gotta fight to be a man."
I always liked Kenny Rogers (thanks pa for that) but never realised he was such a lyrical genius. I shed tears, and realised, I am pregzilla.

Turn on sound for video below!

15 weeks

The Dialogue





Douwe: You don't see it good on a photo

Kelly: A video, that's why it's video!

*cough* (the midman [we had a man midwife] told me to do that to encourage the baby to move at the first ultrasound)

Douwe: It kicks like a boy (!)

Kelly *High pitched girly giggle, thinking:* I thought I saw Jazz Hands

*cough*

*cough*

*cough-cough*

Douwe: [in stern voice] Kelly...

Kelly: Yeah...? I just want him to wake up...

Details

We saw hand(s), foot, stomach, heart, spine and that's about it... S/he turned circles and kicked after some prodding (coughing) from Kelly but otherwise slept peacefully throughout the scan (I know I don't like to be woken up!!). Now it's 12 weeks, due to arrive around 12 Feb, thank goodness there's something to distract from the long winter this year!

*Advertising Feature*
Moeders voor moeders is a great program that uses the hormones from pregnant women to help others get pregnant. Since the 6th week I've been collecting my pee which is picked up by an anonymous red van and taken for processing to extract the Human chorionic gonadotrophin that is used for both men and women to aid fertility. And those who have used the hormone preparation can in return, donate their pee when they've been successful- that's great karma!! So remember if you're in the situation:
mothers for mothers
*end Advertising Feature*

Very exciting video

This video might put you to sleep, we found it very exciting! It kicks like daddy (probably a boy then) and sleeps like mummy.