7 week check-up

Luke is seven weeks old today. Time flies!!! He has changed so much already and it's really bitter-sweet for me. I sometimes stare at him for long periods of time just to "take it all in." I want to be able to remember every detail of these early weeks. But then, I get so excited when I see him change, smile and giggle at/with me, etc.

We went to see Dr. Tran today for his two-month check-up (a little early) and everything is going well. Luke is 10lbs 15oz and measures 22 inches. We always think that he is so tiny and I was surprised at his weight gain. He is now in the 51st percentile. The news made Cody very happy! He got four shots but barely cried!

Luke a déjà 7 semaines aujourd'hui et il change beaucoup. Il n'est plus le tout petit bébé à qui j'ai donné naissance. Nous sommes allés chez le pédiatre aujourd'hui. Il pèse 5kgs et mesure 56cm. Il a reçu 4 vaccins et a à peine pleuré.

Je suis si contente de le voir changer, grandir, sourire mais parfois je trouve que le temps passe trop vite. J'essaye de savourer chaque moment et je veux vraiment graver dans ma mémoire tous les détails de ces premières semaines. Je suis vraiment contente de pouvoir rester à la maison au moins cette année-ci pour être la première à observer ses progrès!

Just a pic...

Holiday Party at the Wessels

We were invited to a fun holiday party at Debbie and Rick's house in Westlake. The neighborhood was beautifully decorated and it was fun to drive around. The party was great of course...Debbie and Rick are wonderful hosts!

I can't believe what I did today!!!

I stood in line with Luke and Auntie Lléna for two hours to get Luke's picture taken with Santa Claus! They turned out great and I'm so glad we did it but next year I will pick a better day to get it done! Here are the pics Lléna took with my camera.





And here's another picture of my sweet Luke...the best gift ever!

A baby boy brings Christmas joy!

Christmas is almost here. I love to celebrate Christmas. I think I will take Luke to meet Santa on Monday. I hear that Northeast Mall has a good looking Santa so we might go there! I just hope the lines won't be too long. I wasn't sure I wanted to do that this year since Luke is still so young, but this is his first Christmas and I think I'll regret it if I don't get his picture taken.

Just click play!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Texas is just too far from Belgium...

My parents left this morning. It was harder to say goodbye this time. We won't get to go to Belgium with Luke until May. I was hoping to go sooner but Dr. Tran doesn't think it'd be a good idea to go until he's 5 or 6 months old. Six months old.... he will be sooo different! I so wish we lived closer.

We had a great time with my parents though. We don't see each other very often but the time we spend together is always just perfect. We have so much fun and never waste a minute!

I am so thankful for the internet. What would we do without it?! I need to go buy a new webcam and that way we'll get to see each other live and my parents will get to see Luke's progress. And of course, I'll have to take tons of pictures and send them at least weekly!

Oh so cute!

Look at that smile! Luke-Four weeks old.

4 Week check-up

All is well with baby Luke. He is such a sweetie!!! He weighs 8lbs 10oz and is 21 inches long. He got his second Hepatitis B shot and barely cried at all. We still very much like Dr. Tran and would recommend him to anyone. I'm so glad I chose him.

My parents are here and it's so fun to see them with Luke. They are both so in love with him. My dad is so funny and worries about everything regarding Luke: Is it warm enough in here?, Is the carseat attached correctly?, and so on... We are constantly fighting to hold him now and we joke that we should set a timer to make it fair for everyone!

I have some new pictures that I'll try to post tonight.

Tout va bien pour Luke. Il pèse 3,9kg et mesure 53cm. Il a reçu son 2ème vaccin contre l'hépatite B et il a à peine pleuré.

On doit quasi se battre pour l'avoir dans les bras maintenant que papa et maman sont ici. Grand papou dit qu'on devrait mettre un timer pour que tout le monde ait son tour à temps! On a déjà fait plein de choses avec Luke...shopping, resto, balades, etc. Il est très facile et j'espère que ça va continuer!!!

Just pictures...

2 week check-up

Luke is doing great. At his one-week check-up he was two ounces shy of his birth weight. Yesterday, at his two-week check-up he weighed 7lbs 5oz. I was so happy! He also gained one inch and is now measuring 20.5 inches. Everything is looking really good. He's a little confused between day and night and I haven't slept much in the last two nights but my mom is here so I can nap during the day!

Luke a bien grossi. A son rendez-vous chez le pédiatre hier, il pesait 3,3kg et tout était parfait! Il confond le jour et la nuit et je n'ai guère dormi les deux nuits passées mais maman est là donc je peux faire la sieste pendant la journée. Maman est fière de son petit-fils!

I'll try to post more pictures soon. Je vais essayer de mettre de nouvelles photos sur le blog dès que possible!

Meet Luke!

Quick update: Luke Prosper Carlisle was born on November 11th, 2008 at 7:14 a.m. He weighed 6lbs 14oz and was 19.5 inches long. He is healthy and we could not have asked for a sweeter baby. (Prosper was Adeline's great grand-father on her dad's side.)

I am recovering really well from the c-section and probably doing too much already!

Cody has been extremely busy with work and already had to leave for a business trip but I received a lot of help from his mom Patty, as well as Becky and my sister Lléna. Lléna is the best auntie. She loves him as much as I do and has done so much already to help out! So many people have brought us food, showered us with gifts, and it is overwhelming to see the love this little guy is receiving from everyone.

I am looking forward to spending this weekend with Cody and Luke and just being lazy and enjoying our son. (And I should mention that Duke has been such a good dog so far with Luke! and yes, go ahead and laugh...we now have Duke and Luke!)

Tomorrow... Demain...

...we will be parents. Please pray for a healthy baby.

...nous serons parents. Priez pour un bébé en bonne santé.

We'll try to update the blog with pictures as soon as we can.
Nous essayerons de mettre des photos sur ce blog dès que possible. A bientôt!

Little Aggie!

Lindsey created the cutest wreath of diapers and Aggie gear for Baby Carlisle. She made it especially for Cody and he was so excited. Our friends Nicole and LD also gave us some super cute Aggie gear. Thank you!

Surprise baby shower!

Cody's office surprised him with a baby shower last week. They spoiled us with the Maclaren stroller and other goodies. The best gift of all though is this onesie that JoAnn and JJ created. Cody thought it was too cool!

The nursery

Things I still want to do/add:

Drapes for window

Mobile

Toy basket where the big swing is now (the swing will be in the living room)

Letters to spell name of baby above the crib

A few cute frames for family photos
Get the quilt and sham monogrammed

38 Weeks

I had my 38 week appt. yesterday. We had an ultrasound and the baby's weight was approx. 6lbs 15oz. We talked about the c-section in details. It will be next Tues. November 11th at 6:45 a.m. Cody and I have to be there at 5 a.m. but since we won't be sleeping that night it doesn't matter!

I'm so ready now to meet our baby. Boy or girl? What will he/she look like? How big?

This week, I am getting my hair done, my nails done and I'll be grocery shopping to stock up the pantry. This weekend, we will be attending Brooke's birthday party, Owen's shower and I hope that Cody and I will get to spend some time alone too.

The nursery is "done." I need to post pictures. I am missing drapes but Kathy is helping me with that and we will add the baby's name above the crib later.

Plus que six jours, et on saura si c'est une fille ou un garçon! La césarienne est prévue pour le 11 novembre à 6h45 du matin. On doit être à l'hôpital à 5h mais comme on ne dormira pas cette nuit-là ça n'a pas d'importance!!!

A l'échographie hier, le poids du bébé était estimé à 3kg. Je suis anxieuse maintenant et j'ai hate de savoir si c'est une fille ou un garçon, etc.

Demain, je vais chez le coiffeur et je vais aller me faire faire les ongles! Je vais aussi faire les grosses courses!

La chambre du bébé est "prête." Il me manque les tentures mais ma belle-mère s'en occupe et on rajoutera quelques détails après la naissance. Je vais faire des photos et les mettre sur le blog.

Tout le monde va monter en grade mardi prochain! Grand papou, grande moumoune, tata Lléna, tonton Ben, etc.!

Let's play a game!

Name our baby!

If it's a girl, we have a name. We like it a lot even though so far we've received mostly negative comments about it. But we still love it so it must be a sign that it's THE name.

But if it's a boy, the poor little guy might have to wait a couple of days at the hospital before being named! And that's not how I want to welcome my newborn to the world!

We have a couple of ideas, mostly family names which at least would be meaningful. But Cody and I can't find one name that we like just because. What's wrong with us?! (I guess it could be a sign that we're having a girl and therefore there's no need to worry about a boy name????)

Do you have suggestions? Remember that the name must work in English and French! I know, one more thing to think about...

37 Weeks

37 weeks = full term! Can you believe it? I feel a little bit relieved that I've made it this far and I think I am ready to have the baby now.

I got so sick over the weekend with a terrible indigestion. I wasn't surprised when I stepped on the scale at the doctor's office today and saw that I had lost two pounds. Dr. Wai wasn't too worried but asked me to avoid all restaurants and unusual foods until the baby arrives. No need to get sick now when I'm so close to the end.

We had the NST today. Everything was ok but we did have to wake up the baby. Dr. Wai had this little device that makes noise and vibrates that he pressed again my belly several times. Baby Carlisle woke up right away and started moving a lot!

The date for the c-section is now November 11th, Veterans Day, at noon. Dr. Wai is hoping to change the time to early in the morning because the later it is in the day, the more likely it is that we will get pushed back due to other emergencies at the hospital.

I'm nervous about the surgery and especially the recovery. Everyone I've talked to who has been through a c-section tells me the same thing: Get lots of help! I will be at the hospital until at least Friday, Cody will be with me over the weekend but can you believe that he has an "important" (he says!) business trip planned for Monday the 17th and Tuesday the 18th! I think Grandma Patty will be able to come help me out on those days and Becky has offered to help too and then my mom will be here on Nov. 24th. I will have the cleaning lady set up to come clean once a week for the first few weeks and I'm counting on my sister to cook us some yummy meals! Am I asking too much? :-)

Je suis allée chez le médecin aujourd'hui. Le bébé dormait pendant le test pour le coeur et on a du le réveiller en poussant sur mon ventre avec un petit appareil qui vibre et qui fait du bruit. Ca a marché du premier coup et le bébé a beaucoup bougé après ça. Le résultat du test était normal.

La césarienne est prévue pour le mardi 11 novembre à midi (l'heure peut encore changer!). Je suis un peu nerveuse vu que c'est quand même une opération importante et j'ai peur que ça soit douloureux par la suite. Mais du moment que j'ai de l'aide à la maison, tout ira bien.

Cody prétend déjà devoir partir en voyage d'affaire le lundi 17 et le mardi 18! Sympa, hein?! Mais je pense que sa mère pourra venir m'aider. Ma mère d'accueil veut bien m'aider aussi et puis maman sera là le 24 novembre. Et n'oublions pas Lléna qui cuisine très bien...n'est-ce pas copine... elle pourra me faire de bons plats la première semaine!

Allez, je vais continuer à tout ranger dans la chambre du bébé. A+

36 Weeks

You guessed it! Today is Tuesday and I went to the doctor. We had a sonogram and the baby is measuring right on track. The baby is of average size, 50th percentile. But average is ok, isn't it?! He/She weighs approx. 6lbs 2oz now. The heart rate was 131 bpm. And I've gained a pound or two. Dr. Wai thinks the baby will be barely 7lbs when he/she is born.

We have kinda set a date for the c-section. And yes, it looks like it will really be a c-section. Dr. Wai has multiple reasons. We had a long chat. I can't argue with the doctor I've trusted for many years, who has diagnosed the cause of my miscarriages, and who has helped me stay pregnant this time. I will let you know the date when we get confirmation from the hospital.

If I were to go into labor on my own before the date, we will let things happen. It could still end up with a c-section but we would give it a few hours as long as everything is going smoothly. So I told him I'd walk a lot. Gravity is your friend, they say! But Dr. Wai laughed and told me to take it easy!

Je suis allée chez le médecin aujourd'hui. Le bébé pèse environ 2,8 kg. Le coeur battait à 131 bpm. Tout est parfait mais les risques sont toujours là. Donc on a choisi une date pour la césarienne. Dès que j'ai confirmation de l'hôpital, je vous dirai quand j'accoucherai!

J'ai pris un kilo mais mon ventre est toujours petit. Les gens pensent que je suis enceinte de 5 mois et sont toujours étonnés quand je leur dis que je suis enceinte de 8 mois!

Allez, je suis presque au bout, et je dois dire que je serai bien soulagée quand j'aurai un beau bébé en bonne santé dans mes bras! (Et ce sont d'autres soucis qui commenceront à ce moment là!!!)

Baby shower at Hurst Jr. High!

My friends at school hosted a wonderful shower for me on Tuesday. I really miss seeing them every day! So many of them were there to celebrate with me and they were so generous with their gifts. This baby is already loved by so many.
Thank you Cathy, Billie, Lucy, Louise, Kathleen and Lesa for hosting such a fun and beautiful shower for baby Carlisle.

Here are some pictures.

35 Weeks

All is well with baby Carlisle. We had the non-stress test today and everything was normal. My belly grew! I am now measuring 31 cm. We always laugh about that and my weight gain because I am always so excited when the numbers go up and Dr. Wai kinda giggles at me!

Je suis allée chez le médecin et le bébé se porte bien! Encore quelques petites semaines et il/elle sera là.