week13 day6

So this is our first post in the second trimester we guess. It seems we are a week later than planned :) Veronika missed her end of 12 week appointment last week so got rescheduled for today. This has been the first confirmed sighting of 'baby-brain'; with many more occurrences to come.

This one was the last early term visit, and will be the last visit and last sonogram pics for at least a month or so. The primary purpose was an update on all of the early term mom tests. Results are mostly all in (except for one that'll take another week to come back), and everything is good and on track.
So get your fill of grainy blank and white alien shots now while we can...

Smallczech2.0 is getting bigger (actually the original smallczech is too. Becky just measured over 92cm/3ft for the first time in the last week.) Smallczech2.0 is now up to about 10.4cm/4in tall (8.12cm head-to-butt), which is good and still a good 3 or so days ahead of the official schedule, which is nice to see.

Mom is doing well. 
She had a pretty nasty stomach bug for a day or so a week-end ago, so she lost some of her early earned weight bump, but she is gaining back up some weight at a good pace.
And is really trying to eat like a champ to get back on track :)

In reality though the belly baby bump is pretty prominent, and has been for the last few weeks. If you've seen her in the last 3 weeks you pretty much knew she was expecting, even before the typical 2nd trimester announcement. A good friend even has a new girlfriend who stopped by a month ago, and later asked said friend when Verča was due. As is expected, said friend, who sees Verča almost every week, said he had no idea what she was talking about...  at least until he saw Mom-to-be-again a week later.

Anyway, we're more than a third of the way along. 
Two thirds of expanding bellydom to go!

Week 14 and Mom is back only to about 53 and a 1/2 kg.
But she is healthy and just a bit more sleepy than normal.
More info as it develops.

week11 day1 at zlute lazne

So a quick tiny update.
It is sunny in Prague.
It's summer for crying out loud.

So the Prague Bensons headed out to the riverside Prague resort of Žluté Lázně to enjoy the sun and get in the river.

It was a quick bike ride down to chill out and soak some late afternoon rays.
And Verča has started to show smallczech2.0. The original smallczech Becky was loving it and rocking her swim belt to play in the river, and climb up and down the lovely muddy riverbanks!

Goodtimes!

week10 day6

OK, so the next prenatal visit rolled around just before week 11, as the second trimester looms.

The visit was a brief prelude to a bunch of blood tests, but we did get a few more pictures of the smallczech2.0, who is now 5 centimeters (2 inches) long.

 

The examining doctor was a bit surprised that smallczech2.0 is apparently growing quickly, and looked to be almost the size of a week older fetus. So according to size only smallczech2.0 would be about 11 weeks and 6 days.

Verča and I could have told that before the appointment. She's had a bit of a bigger appetite this go around, and has been kinda showing a bit for the past few weeks. To the point that with lighter and smaller summer clothes, the cat has gotten out of the bag on more than a few occasions around here.

Anyway, the doc was happy that all is still going well. She scheduled the thorough round of end-of-first-trimester tests, and a next appointment for just 2 more weeks.

After that, we be going public :)  

As before, mother-to-be-again is doing very well. She was a bit sick a week or two ago, but attributes that more to something bad she ate, than morning sickness. She's still eating a bit more than normal (pickles have no chance of survival in our home.) She's clearly still doing well on the bike, as dad had to struggle to keep up with her this week-end (while pulling Becky in the Chariot trailer, who also seems to be putting on a few pounds.) We guess that is all for this update.

More in a couple of weeks.

Week 10 weight 54.2kg

week6 day2

This time, the first prenatal visit was just over week 6.

We got a couple of blurry pics of the tiny new smallczech2.0, who is now like just a few millimeters long. 

But Verča got to see its tiny beating heart! (a bright white, pulsing dot  1mm across)

The doc says all is well and the next appointment wont be for another 5 weeks.  

Mother-to-be-again is doing very well. She is a bit more tired than usual and seems to be eating more constantly than last time (which is good; we're gonna try and fatten her up a bit more this go around.) But her doctor gave her the OK to keep riding her bike as much and as hard as she can, just told her again to limit the crashing. :)

Week 6 weight 52.3kg

well looks like we're at it again...

!!!embargoed press release until week 12/13, ~22/29 August 2013!!!
note: don't forget to read the more recent posts to keep up to date :)

...it must be breeding season again.

I guess we hadn't been on a good biking vacation alone in quite a while (since Paris-Roubaix in 2009.)
So this time was our trip was to Zell am See and the climb up Grossglockner to race the Glocknerkoenig 2013. It looks like Veronika was a few seconds slower going up the hill as, she was carrying a tiny couple day old hitch-hiker.
(I can only imagine what crazy names those Austrians have for places!)

I was a little suspicious since she had been handily beating me for the last month on mountain climbing practice rides, leading up to this big one.

So it was confirmed by an at home test today and with a little math she has been established as 5 weeks pregnant.

Once again, for those obsessed with data, the official pregnancy timing can be kept up to date as things progress. The basis first day is 22 May 2013, giving us an initial prospective date of 26 February 2014.

Off to the doc next week then.
Here we go again :) 

Week 5 weight 52.3kg

quick update - 2 days old

So both girls are doing well.

Veronika left ICU and got her own above-standard private room yesterday morning. It even has a bed for me to stay in for the night if and when I want to (for example tomorrow night, Christmas Eve!) She is still a little slow moving (much better even since the morning), but fully mobile. Just no jumping up and down on the bed or running down the halls.

We went up to visit Rebecca in the NICU early this morning, and she had been taken out of the incubator overnight and was just in a warm bed, with blankets. We spoke to the doc and he wanted to send her down by Veronika, since she wasn't at any risk, just needed to gain some weight. He said that from today he expects that Becky will need to stay at the hospital about 7 more days. The idea being that as is typical, she has dropped a little initial weight and they want to make sure she is steadily gaining weight before she is discharged.

But just a little while after our visit she came down to the nurses station across the hall from Verča. Then from there we can roll her bed into the room to try and establish breastfeeding and for bonding and such. :) But the nurses will roll her back across the hall and let Verča get some rest at night. Maybe another day of this, and then she'll be non-stop in the room with Verča, whether she likes it or not! :)

So I think that's it for now.

The girls are doing quite well today.

The little one is slow to feed from the big one, but even that has improved dramatically in the last several hours.

More pics are up on the flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/corybenson

Rebecca Roubaix Benson

So a bit of a crazy evening.

We went to the maternity hospital today after Veronika had some small problem/sign that she should get a check on how the kid was doing.

Everyone there was super laid back and didn't seem too excited, but then ultimately said that Veronika need to to have a c-section immediately. So within 15mins of walking in the door, I had signed a form naming the child (for both a boy or girl), and another authorizing anesthesia and a c-section, all in czech of course.

I'm pretty sure the last thing I heard out of Veronika before they took her into the operating room was her calling the kid 'Potvora,' which is pretty much a familiar/friendly way to say monster, beast, or some other less savory names you might call someone who causes trouble all the time :) As I've said many times before, 'czech women are trouble.' :) This one wanted to show who was in charge right from the beginning.

So at around 17:15 local time our first daughter Rebecca Roubaix Benson was born in Prague after 38weeks 3days. She was 2.15kg and 46cm at birth. (4lbs 11oz. and 18")

Being quite small (skinny actually) but not premature, they took her to the intensive care unit for close observation. I got to play with her for a while, and she is pretty cute. Strangely less alien looking than all of the other newborns I've seen. :) In the local method, I even got to sign her as my own, writing my name on her to avoid any mix ups. But after a while they had to take her off, to keep an eye on her more closely.

Unfortunately Veronika having needed an unplanned c-section was in a good bit of pain and was on some hearty painkillers. This also put her in the ICU for mom's for the night too. And of course here that means I got shooed away as an unnecessary bystander, banished until the morning. :(

Anyway in the end the attending Doc was a nice woman who spoke some English with me, reassuring me that everything was in their hands til the morning, and that both girls would be recovering well overnight! :)

So that's it for now. I'll leave you with these: