Evan Charles Hrach

With love, we introduce the world to our son, Evan Charles Hrach. Evan was born on Thanksgiving Day (November 26th) at 1:52 pm at Citizen's Hospital in Victoria, Texas. He weighed 8 lbs, 1 oz and was 19.5 inches long! We were discharged from the hospital last night and everyone is doing great. Here are some pictures...more to come later today from some of the things Evan has done since he got home!

No more progress to report

We had our appointment this morning and there is no more progress to report. Like I said, I'm not sure Baby B understands that it is time to come meet everyone yet. All in good time I'm sure.

Our next appointment is Monday morning. Maybe Baby B will surprise us and arrive before then!

1 cm!

I'm officially 1 cm dialated. But...it could stay like this for a long time. I'm not sure Baby B understands quite yet that it is time to come out. All in good time I'm sure!

Everything was normal at the doctor's appointment today. My next appointment is Tuesday morning (my doctor is gone from Tuesday afternoon until the following Monday).

38 Week Belly Pic

37.5 Week Appointment

We had our 37 week appointment today. Everything is still normal. Baby B's heart rate was 134 bpm today...must have been sleeping. Last week it was 145 bpm. My blood pressure is still normal and my weight gain is headed towards the higher side of normal.

Other than that, we talked about induction dates. Dr Seiler doesn't recommend inducing until Week 41. She says that there is a really high chance that an induction during Week 40 turns into a C-Section based on studies. So, if Baby B doesn't arrive before, I'll probably be induced Monday December 7th. Geez...let's hope this kid gets here before then or it might be a 12 pounder. And my dad and Brian both made very costly jewelry mistakes (buying November birthstones for my mom and myself)! More to come next week...we have another appointment on Wednesday.

The day care issue has been resolved. We found a great place for Baby B starting in March. A lot of folks that I work with have used or use the same lady for their babies, so I'm completely comfortable with the change.

Head's down, chubby cheeks and 6 lbs 11 oz (YIKES!)

Baby B is NOT breech. His/her head is down. Baby B's spine runs along my left side with the butt on the left side as well. His/her legs, feet and hands are all on the upper right side, which would explain why I feel ALL the movement there.

Baby B also has chubby cheeks (I'll have Brian scan in the picture tomorrow and post it) and a little hair on his/her head. Unfortunately for me, Baby B is already weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz. They say that only within 2 lbs of accuracy, but we're guessing it is pretty accurate. And you can expect that to increase by at least a pound (lbs Dad lbs!) and a half before birth. That means we'll likely be looking at a 8 lb baby...which is good for Baby B but maybe not so good for me! Brian was a 10 lb baby and I was just over 9 lbs so we weren't too surprised. As I said...YIKES! Oh yeah and the head is already measuring at 39 weeks...again not surprising considering the size of this poor baby's parents' heads!

Dr. Seiler checked to see if I was dilated at all and I'm not at all. She commented that the baby is still extremely high.

In other not fun news, it appears that we've drawn the short straw and our original day care plans are not going to work out as we had planned. Long, very upsetting story so I'll save you the drama that we've both gone through over the past 24 hours. Luckily we think we've already identified another option. We'll know more after we visit on Friday.

Books for Baby B???

So about a month ago, we got a random package in the mail from Target. It had the Spanish version of "Where the Wild Things Are" in it. We had no idea who it was from, but didn't really think much about it. Well today, Baby B got two more books in the mail from Target as you can see in the picture above. Again, no note to indicate who they are from. So I'm thinking Baby B has a secret admirer...anyone want to claim this title???

Our Baby Shower

This past Saturday night, our dear friends Steve and Judie hosted a baby shower for us. So many of our family and friends were able to make it in from out of town and we were also surrounded by our good friends from Victoria. We had a blast!

Here are our hosts, Judie and Steve.
Guests mingling at the shower. It was such a nice night out.

Emma, Kim, Caren and Brian's mom Peggy

Joanna, Beth, me, Benjamin and Kristi

Eli, Eddie, Erich and Brian (geez, that is is a lot of E's!)

Jennifer, Vanessa, Ann (baby due on Christmas!) and Tanya

Shower Pics

This was a game where everyone had to make Baby B out of playdough. Brian's mom got our vote for the best!
Benjamin fell asleep on his Grandma's lap. His grandma is Bev, my second mother growing up (Kristi's mom).

Nick sent these awesome Mizzou onesies. Grandpa Thomson will be proud of Baby B.

These awesome Penn State and Pitt quilts were given to us by Brian's law partner, Brian and his family. His mother hand quilted them.

This is the quilt that Kristi made. So soft and cute! And by Brian's feet, you can see the Tummy Tub from our friends Rachel and Spencer. They say it is a life saver with their newborn Eliza.

More Shower Pics

The cake...it was yummy and it matched the plates and napkins!
Joanna (my sister) and Beth (my co-op roomie and bridesmaid from Atlanta)

Kristi (my best friend since 1st grade who now lives in New Mexico) and Benjamin (her little one - 18 months old) The boys playing a game. The goal was to get as much silly string as possible in the potty seat.

Eddie won and got to wear this lovely outfit!

34 Week Appointment (Breech?)

Today we had our 34 week appointment. Dr. Seiler delivered 6 babies today and we still got in there within an hour! Overall, things are going well. We did ask her to feel around and tell us where the various body parts were. By feeling, she thinks the head is on my upper right side, meaning Baby B is breech. So...we have an ultrasound next appointment (November 4th) to see what's going on. No big deal to us either way.

This past Saturday, Brian and I attend "Prepared Childbirth" class at the hospital. We got to see the labor and delivery rooms, nursery, etc. Some of the videos they showed were pretty graphic and I think Brian is scarred for life. (He actually will probably admit to most people that he is an advocate of the C-section and almost hopes that the baby is breech.) They also cover basic newborn care stuff, which we've read, but it was good to have repeated. On Sunday, we quizzed each other on how to bathe a newborn and how to take care of the umbilical cord. We also diapered our stuffed monkey and then strapped him in the car seat. After sharing this with my mom, she decided that we're either really strange or really excited. I'd say probably a little of both of those but we're also really nervous.

Maybe Baby B wasn't a good nickname...but now we have a tongue twister. Baby B is Breech...say that 5 times fast! More news on the "breechness" in a couple of weeks.

The One Person Who Ages Me...

I've come to realize that until you have kids, there is really no person in your life who ages you. Your parents seem to stay the same in relation to you, your siblings and your friends as well. You all go through the same experiences around the same time such as college, getting married and having babies.

Anyway, there is one person in my life who really ages me and makes me feel old. Eric is the little boy that I would baby sit every evening from the time he was 9 months old until he started kindergarten. Well, he's not so little any more. He's 6 foot tall (at least!), 18 years old and a senior in high school. I remember walking around that first summer, him holding on to my fingers while he was learning to walk. Check out this recent picture that my dad sent to me today...Warning: Greentree Girls - this will make you feel old too!:
http://www.ncnewsmedia.com/archive/2009/Homecoming_Galleries/Neshannock/image8.htm

Baby Shower at Work

I've had the privilege to work in three great plants during my 8 years at Dow. Today, the two plants that I've worked in at Seadrift had a baby shower for me! It was a lot of fun. Thanks to all the Catalyst gals for their work today to put it together and a special thanks to my friend Melissa for organizing and planning the shower! Here are some pictures from the festivities. As you can see, we got lots of things that will help us tremendously once Baby B is born. Thanks to everyone for their generous gifts. I seriously don't think we'll have to buy baby soap or lotion for a year or more!


Diaper Genie - this generated a lot of conversation amongst the males in the room...
Playing the toilet paper game. You wouldn't believe it but two guys got it almost exactly - Steph and Mike!
Tom, Heather & Nelda

Christi, Kendra, Retha & Maria

Troy, Ismael, Russ & Christian

More Pictures from Shower at Work

Tommy, John, Heather & Steve
Joni, Steph, Kendra & Retha

Tommy, Russ & Steve (In case you didn't realize it and couldn't tell from the pictures...I work in a very male dominated environment!)

Here is the amazing diaper cake that the Catalyst plant gave to me...Melissa made it! Check out all the goodies on it!

Here's the yummy cake!

Chili Cook Off

The Chili Cook Off, which is an annual event at the Seadrift site to kick off the United Way campaign, was last Thursday. It was hot, hot, hot but luckily there was quite a breeze. The Chili Cook Off is a huge deal at work - there were over 30 teams from different organizations and plants at the site participating. It is always a lot of fun - dunking booths, pie throwing, auctions, good food and great friends.

Here is a picture that the people at work think is hilarious since it is just my belly. We're hanging up the sign for our plant's team. The other body in the picture is Lane, one of the Emergency Directors on site. He was one of the cooks for my plant's team. (By the way, I don't think I have any tan at all!)

32 Week Appointment

Gosh hard to believe Baby B will be here in about 7 weeks give or take! We had our 32 week appointment today. We had to wait over an hour to see the doctor, but we won't complain since this was really the first time we had to wait for a long time the last 7 months. The doctor took all of 3 minutes. Baby B's heart rate was 129 bpm and my measurement was normal. My blood pressure is still really low and weight gain is at 26 lbs. Kinda nice to be boring after the first 18 weeks!

Trip to Hill Country

This weekend, Brian and I took one last weekend trip before Baby B's arrival. We decided to to go Horseshoe Bay which is north of Austin in an area of Texas called Hill Country. We seem to pick really bad weekends to go to Horseshoe Bay...when we went a few years ago for Easter, it rained all weekend. Same experience this time. We still had a good time. Lots of good food including 2 breakfasts at Blue Bonnet Cafe, home of the best breakfast in Texas, and a nice dinner last night at Lantana Grill, the restaurant at the resort (Brian took the picture of me with my belly in my dress after dinner last night). We spent the day yesterday in Fredricksburg exploring the shops and taking in Octoberfest.


32 weeks! Only 8 more to go!!!

Auntie Brooke & Uncle Brian Again!

We have a new nephew! Jayden Christopher was born yesterday October 3rd and 3:33 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 20 inches long. Congrats Jenn, Chris and Cole! We can't wait to Skype to see the little dude!

31 Weeks!

30 Week Appointment

We went to the doctor again today for our 30 week appointment. Nothing exciting to report, which is a good thing. I passed the gestational diabetes test last time with flying colors. Baby B's heart rate was 133 bpm. Everything is normal and normal is good! I've gained 24 lbs so far which is within the normal range.

For the first time on Monday, I felt Baby B's hiccups. Strangest thing for sure!

We'll take a 31 week picture of my belly this weekend (I think it has been 5 weeks now since I posted one!).

Go State!

My Grandpa and Grandma Thomson bought these cool PSU socks for me shortly after they found out about me. I'm going to be styling when Penn State plays for the National Championship this year. This week my Grandma also sent me this blanket that she knitted for me. It is so soft and so pretty! Thanks Grandma!

My Room

After saying she was going to for a month or more now (and after being reminded by my "Aunt" Kristi), my mom finally took some pictures of my room to post on the blog!

Chair, Table and My Friends

Here are some pictures of the chair and table in my room. The chair is filled with my rain forest friends for now. My mom and dad have been searching for stuffed animals that match all of the animals on the decorations in my room. They've been successful in finding all but the toucan and the dragonfly. And my dad bought me a giraffe and a lion even though my mom said that those didn't belong in the rain forest! Dad also bought an i-pod speaker for my table so I can jam.

Realistic View of My Room

My mom figured that she'd also post a relalistic picture of my room. My parents just keep shoving stuff in there while they wait for me to arrive. My stroller. My swing from my Auntie Jenn, Uncle Chris, Cousin Cole and Cousin "Leo/a". My bathtub. My clothes are on the floor and my blankets are in the bed waiting to be washed. Mom's finished Thank Yous and Birth Annoucements are also being stashed in here.

28 Week Appointment

Today we had our 28 week appointment. It was an active one for sure. First I had to drink the gross sugary orange drink for the gestational diabetes test. Then we got to see the doctor. We asked about the flu vaccine...apparently we both need to be vaccinated as soon as possible for both regular and swine flu since we'll have an infant around during flu season...so once the vaccines are available, we'll be getting shots. Baby B got another good review.

Next, we had to go back to the lab and wait until an hour had passed since I drank the gross drink. After an hour, they took 3 vials of blood (so I think I'm up to 20+ total for the pregnancy between all the different tests). Then I had a date with the doctor's nurse, Debbie, for my RHOGAM shot (because I have a negative blood type). This shot was the part that I have been dreading since I found out I had to get it. Debbie is awesome...she gave me the shot in the hip (actually more like my left butt cheek) and it hurt less than getting blood drawn!

Now we are on a two week frequency for doctor's appointments. Our next appointment is September 24th. I can't believe Baby B will be here in 10-12 weeks! Time has definitely flown! Well, maybe I should qualify that by saying time has flown since the morning sickness ended and I got over the ear infection!

On a different note, we're very excited that our friends Rachel and Spencer will be welcoming little Eliza tomorrow. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers!

Baby Announcement Madness

When we were visiting family in Ohio about a month ago, my sister-in-law asked if I was making my baby announcements (since I'm WAY into cards and making cards). At that point, I hadn't even thought of it. Well...at Jenn's suggestion...the madness has begun... This picture is from weekend #1. We're currently on weekend #2 and weekend #3 will be a requirement to finish the number that I need. The cool thing is that they are all just a little different from each other.

Rose Garden Pictures

This is one of our favorite places in Houston. Brian lived about 5 miles from Herman Park during his first year of law school. The roses actually bloom in January which definitely took us northerners by surprise the first time we saw them!

Houston Weekend

We spent a couple of days in Houston over the long Labor Day weekend. We went to the Astros game (they won...Roy Oswalt pitched) and also to the Museum of Natural Science to see the Terra Cotta Warriors Exhibit. We also stopped by the Rose Garden in Herman Park. Here are some pictures that Brian took with our new camera...he's getting good. The skyline pictures are taken from our hotel room.