A Diary of Katie and Shane's love child coming to a living room near you ~December 7, 1999

5:59pm - Kyle Dowling is born at 8 lbs and 11 oz and is 21 inches long. Katie was able to deliver Kyle without the aid of any drugs or intervention. She did a great job and was even able to smile between contractions. Kyle seems to be a tough little guy too. He had a knot in his umbilical cord! (see picture below)

~ 4.5.99 - We discover that when your not careful, big changes are ahead.  Its not that this is unplanned, just that it is not planned.  We are very excited.

~ 4.6.99 - We named it Little Monkey.  This is of course a temporary name, when born it will get a proper name.  We decided on Little Monkey because that's what it is.  I (Shane) am Papa Monkey.

~ 4.7.99 - We have already made some changes.  Katie has started watching what she eats and of course no booze [To be fair, none for me either, unless Katie isn't around ;-)].  We have also bought some books on what to expect.

4.15.99 - Katie has not experience too much morning sickness yet.  We think because Katie has changed her diet and we keep saltines and juice next to bed for when she gets up in the morning.

4.21.99 - So far this is consuming all our free thinking time.  We read books and magazines, and search the web to learn more and for answers to our questions.  Papa's big one: How long in diapers?  We read that if you use cloth diapers you not only help the environment, but babies are in them 6 months to a year shorter then with disposable diapers.  Great news!  Something we wanted to do anyway.

4.27.99 - Katie's first Doctor's appointment.  We are actually seeing a Midwife.  We hope that a Midwife will provide a more natural birth without a lot of intervention.  We also believe that doctors are too willing to do cesarean births.  The Midwife is exactly what we wanted.  She is friendly and down to earth.

4.29.99 - The first ultrasound.  We had thought that Little Monkey was about 10 weeks along, making it due on Nov. 23.  But the ultrasound reveals that we are 8.3 weeks along, determined by the size.  Here it is:

The peanut shaped blob is our Little Monkey at 8.3 weeks. The black area is the gestational sack.

5.1.99 - Thinking about having a baby is really changing our lives.  Before we knew, we were reading about buying a boat, since then, not a peep about boats.  Today I plan on a trip to the Yacht harbor to walk around, then maybe a walk in the forest up around Hwy. 9.  We need to get more exercise.

5.10.99 - Not much to add these days, but that should change soon. Little Monkey is growing pretty slow, but Katie does say she can feel a difference in her belly. Katie also hasn't been feeling as well lately. We had been hoping we could get through this without her getting too sick. We still can't believe all the changes that are going to happen. Like, we should wait on getting a dog, vacation plans etc. Exciting stuff though.

6.7.99 - Sorry I have not updated the site lately. We have been a little busy. We saw the Midwife again. I was hoping for another picture, but that won't happen untill Mid July, or at about 20 weeks. But we should get some good pictures. We should also be able to get a video. If I can, I will post the video here too.
We did get to listen to the heart beat. It was kinda fast, and if you beleive old wives tales, this could mean its a girl...But time will tell...
We are officially in the second trimester. The hard part is behind us (well Katie still has to shoot it out). Most of the development of parts is all done. Now they just mature and grow.

6.18.99 - Again not much to update. Katie is doing fine, and getting bigger. She is starting to get a lot of stretch marks too. I keep trying to listen to Katie's belly, but I can't hear anything. Our next appointment with the Midwife is next week. I will bring a tape recorder and tape the heart beat. Then post it here.

7.5.99 - Sorry I forgot to bring a tape recorder (I don't even know if I have a portable one) so no sounds..yet. We went on vacation to the Phillipines. We were worried about Katie, so we made sure she had bottled water, and was careful about what else she ate and drank. She did better than me. I got a cold, and had trouble with some of the food (or water). Katie is starting to wear maternity clothes. They fit better than most of her old clothes, except the baggy stuff. The next appointment with the Midwife is on the 27th. This is when we get a second ultrasound. It will give us a better picture of Little Monkey. Should look more like a monkey, and less like a lima bean too! :-)

7.14.99 - Well Katie keeps expanding, but she can't feel the little monkey yet. I've talked to othere pregnant types, and they said they started to feel it at about 18 weeks. Katie is at 19 weeks. Personally I'm a little dissapointed that we can't feel it. I want to see how good of a kicker it is. I can't wait either, movement will add another demension. So far we have Katies expanding belly, seen the lima bean above, and have heard the heart beat. :-)

7.23.99 - Katie can now feel Little Monkey! Yeah! Next week is our next appointment with the midwife, and when we get the next ultrasound.
From Katie:
I'm 20 weeks now, halfway, so little monkey is half-baked. I felt it move for the first time yesterday. People say at first it feels like gas, or butterflies in your stomach, and now I know why. It was like the baby was doing underwater somersaults, and I could feel the amniotic fluid sloshing around against the inside of my uterus - very strange. Shane's very excited. If he didn't have other things to do, like go to work, I think he'd spend the whole day with his hand glued to my belly.

7.30.99 - Well we went to the midwife and had another utlra sound. We got a video of this and I will be posting a mpeg video and some pictures soon. First I have to get my new video capture board to work (new toy!) There should be some good pictures. Hands, feet, heart beat, look for the video soon! The lady working the ultrasound was very nice in respecting our wish that we not know the sex yet. You can't see it on the video, and she didn't tell us, or our midwife. Also we meet the other midwife. She is also a very nice person.

8.3.99 - I forgot to mention that the baby is big. Our appointment last week was at 21 weeks, but Little Monkey measured 22 weeks. I joke that its going to be 10 pounder! Katie just tells me to shut up. I still can't feel it, but after drinking a Rootbeer, Katie says it really moves around. Katie keeps getting bigger and bigger.

8.9.99 - Not much to say this week. I have been very busy at work, and have not had a chance to work on this much. I still have a lot of plans. Poor Katie has more beauty marks (stretch marks:-).

8.16.99 - Katie has a new wardrobe now. She has grown out of most of her old clothes. Our next appointment is the 18th, but I don't think anything exciting will happen. Maybe we will get to listen to the heartbeat again. Have you been to the message board yet?

8.23.99 - I can now feel Little Monkey kick. Katie was showing me where the baby was. It seemed to be laying accross Katie, with the head to the left, the butt to the right, and feet down. It is about to keep Katie up at night, but not strong enough yet. Little Monkey does do a good job of kicking Katie in the bladder though. Pee pee pee...

9.21.99 - Besides Katie getting bigger, not much is happening right now. I have spent some time tring to see it move, but have been unsuccessful. But it should happen soon.

9.26.99 - We have seen Little Monkey move in Katie's belly! We also did an experiment with a pen flash light. We draged the light accross Katie's belly, and Little Monkey seemed to react to the light. Katie said it felt like it was rotating.

9.30.99 - We are on a biweekly visit to the midwife now. Little monkey is already in a head down position, getting ready for the big day. Katies belly button looks like its about to start sticking out. She says it feels weird when I push on it.

10.18.99 - We can now hear the heartbeat with a stethoscope if Little Monkey is positioned correctly. His/Her back needs to be against Katies belly so we can feel it. Easy to find if it is, just feel for a hard spot.

10.25.99 - Boy getting closer. It still amazes me that there is a little upside down human in there. We can see Little Monkey move now. Little bumps and wiggles against Katies belly. Fun to watch when its moving, but waiting for it to move is frustrating. "A watched Belly doesn't bubble."

11.01.99 - I really want to think everybody that attended our baby shower, and those that could not, but sent their best wishes. We had a great time and received some great gifts. We spent half of Sunday setting up things, like the play-pen, and the "car simulator", and going through and playing with everything, like the books, and the Monkey (still wearing the bib and socks). We both think its going to be a lot of fun, playing with the toys and Little Monkey. Although I took a look at the cloth diapers Grandpa gave us. I have no idea how they work. This is definitely going to be a trial and error thing. I just hope the carpet doesn't get to wet!

11.09.99 - Little Monkey is really starting to move around. We where at our friends Mimi and Walter, and they could see Little Monkey move from 10 feet away.

Big news to anounce from Mimi and Walter and from Natalie and Thrio. They are pregnant too! Mimi is due in April, and Natalie is due in July. Looks like Little Monkey will have some friends!

11.22.99 - Boy are we close or what! Were not worried though. We are still planing to visit Katie's parents in Carson City for Thanksgiving. We will just make sure to bring water and blankets and to read the chapter on home births in the book "What to Expect when your Expecting" (recommendation from a beautiful pregnant coworker - Hang in there Julie - only 4 more weeks!).

12.07.99 - Well today is supposed to be the big day, but I doubt Little Monkey makes his/her appearance this week. We had a visit today with our midwife, and Katie's cervix is still closed and long. Our next appointment is Monday, where they will do an ultra sound to make sure there is enough fluid etc. Our midwife said that Little Monkey is approaching 9 pounds. I think he/she has been on a growth spurt the past 3 weeks, Katie is getting huge! Wobble wobble...
If there are any changes, I will post them here so keep an eye out.

12.13.99 - We had a visit with the midwife today. The fluid level is OK, and baby is still kicking. We have another appointment on Thursday, then if it hasn't come out by Saturday, we will think about inducing. No hurry though.
 
 

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