Look who's lauging now....

Here is fun video of christian laughing and giggling with Stephanie and Cahlin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEUslTgOe2w

Life and Times of Christian

Hello Dear Friends,

Sorry it has been a while since I have posted anything on this site. It is safe to say that parenthood is keeping both Phillip and I very busy.

I wanted to give a quick update on Christian. He is great! He is growing up so fast and is always all smiles.

I wanted to include a link for you to see pictures of him on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59887124@N02/

Enjoy and I promise to post again soon.

Beth

Christian's Newborn Pictures

Christian Francois Gagnon

I would like to introduce you to Christian Francois Gagnon. He was born on Feb 17th at 12:43a. He was 8.13 lbs and 21 in long.

His birth was absolutely perfect. We went to the hospital at 7:30a on Feb 16th and we were granted the approval to birth him naturally, as his doctor felt that his vital stats were strong enough to move forward with our birth plan. We labored for a total of 16 hours (surrounded by Barton and Gagnon family members) and he came into the world healthy and perfect.

Having spent the last few days with this precious little man, I can honestly say that he is a calm and relaxed little soul. He is very easy going and a big fan of a

good nap.

I promise to post more pictures and update with status updates. For now, I would just like to introduce you to the newest addition to the Gagnon family.

Thanks,

Beth and Phill

Baby time

We are at the hospital and they confirmed beth is in labor. Check out twitter for more updates

Baby Christian

With our due date having come and gone, Phillip and I now get to attend regular ultrasound appointments. The video above is compliments of todays visit. Christian came back with all A+ scores for his fluid, heart rate, practice breathing, size and placement. He seems to be doing just fine and will be joining us here soon.

The current plan is to induce on Friday at 3a (41 weeks) if he does not join us on his own. This will have given him an extra week but will keep him from growing too big to be able to birth naturally (as he is already measuring at 8 to 9 pounds). With the being said, Phillip and I will be proud parents by end of day Friday. My doctor today seems to think that he will join us on his own, as his words were "I am not really sure what is holding this kid in there". I am currently 3 cm dilated and he is placed very low.

With the respect to the video, you are looking at his head and the movement that you see later in the video is his arm/hand moving by his mouth. Pretty good looking kid... if I do say so myself.

Real-Time Updates!

Hello Everyone-

As we are getting closer to Christian's arrival, more and more people are asking us to keep them up to date on the actual birth. In order to make sure that we don't forget anyone (and that we don't end up with a $1,000 text bill at the end of the month) we are inviting our friends and family to join me on Twitter! I will be posting as many updates (text, pictures, video) as possible once starts going into Beth goes into labor. You can download Twitter for your smart phone, or just follow me on the Twitter website.

My Twitter profile name is @phillipgagnon. You can also have a look at the page directly by going to http://www.twitter.com/phillipgagnon

-Phillip

P.S. I have also posted a link to a video of Beth and Christian on Twitter. Check it out!

Here is my 38 week picture update. My sister and I went to a Farmers Market on Saturday to keep me walking around and on my feet. Phill and I are both ready to meet Christian, so I am going to be walking a few miles everyday to try to help him transition into labor.

With all of that being said, I should share that at my last doctors appointment that my doctor informed me that we were still at the exact same place that we had been the week prior - 1 cm dilated and he was still positioned high in my belly. The words that I did not want to hear were finally mentioned... if Christian does not join us by his due date (2.11), we will induce on 2.12. I asked that we hold off on that conversation until next week to see if I had progressed at all before booking plans.

Finally, I wanted to see if anyone wanted to be on our text list for when we go to the hospital. Phill plans to Twitter and also Facebook an update but we are also happy to include you in our text update if you would prefer that method of communication. Just send me an update or post a comment on this update and we will add you on.

Hope everyone is doing well and I hope the next update I share is a picture of baby Christian.

Some Exciting News

Christian and I had our 37 week checkup today. All of Christian's current vital stats have come back as perfect and he is growing right on target. While meeting with the doctor, he mentioned that my stomach was measuring at 34 weeks. When I inquired why I was measuring so small, the doctor reassured me that I was a tall woman and that Christian is currently getting himself in position for delivery. He then did a test to do a measurement of my dilation and I am currently dilated at 1 cm. I asked my doctor when he felt that Christian might join us. He told me that he thought I could go into labor later next week or early the following week.

As I posted in my last update, Christian is going to come when he is ready. It is exciting to think that he might be here in early February.

Thank you for reading. Baby bump and nursery pictures to come shortly.

35 Weeks

I wanted to share an interesting update with everyone. I went to the OB last week for my 34 week check up and after a very nice visit, the doctor informed me that I was measuring a little small. He then proceeded to say that he thought that I was actually at 33 weeks and not 34. That would make Christian's due date now Feb 16th or 17th... not the 11th. Side note, this is not a doctor that I have seen often and I am not yet sure I trust the fact that we need to change his due date but Christian is going to come when he decides that he is good and ready.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts. Please submit your guess on the due date in the comment area below.

27 Weeks

We are 27 weeks and growing (both of us)! Below are a few interesting updates that we thought you might enjoy:

Battle of the belly: the other night I was on the sofa resting after work. I had put a blanket over my belly and within moments my cat was on my lap making "kitty muffins" (kitty muffins is defined as the action of when a cat rhythmically moves both front paws in a trance like fashion). Well, Dexter was making his kitty muffins and it was directly on my belly. Within a few seconds of the making of the muffins, Christian started fighting for his territory. As Dexter would push his paw into my stomach, Christian would kick him from inside. Needless to say, Christian won this battle. The cat was totally freaked out by the whole event and quickly lost interest. This was the first time that I have felt Christian be responsive to something happening outside of my stomach.

Recent Doctors Appointment: We were informed during our last OB appointment that our little Christian was already measuring to be a very long baby. I guess it should be no surprise that two very tall parents should have a tall baby.

We currently have 12 weeks left until we meet our little buddy. We plan to keep you posted with any updates or good pictures.

Recent Picture of Christian

As you can see from the picture above, Christian has recently been growing a lot (and I have as well). At this point in time, he measures at 1.5 pounds and 7 inches long. He is already a very active little boy. I find that he is most active when I am relaxing or about to fall asleep. I can honestly say that I am really enjoying my time while pregnant. Those are the updates for now. I promise to post more very soon.

Baby Gagnon

After much thought and consideration, Phill and I have decided on a name for our son. Our little man will no longer be referred to as Baby Gagnon but instead will hold the name: Christian Francois Gagnon.

And it's a.....

Phill and I had an interesting experience yesterday while at our gender scan appointment. We arrived early at the appointment to make sure that we were able to spend ample amount of time with Baby Gagnon and the ultrasound tech. Going into the appointment I guess I thought that we would find out the gender first and then we would move on to the health status report. I was wrong! We were taken back to the ultrasound room at 10:00a and we spent the first 35 minutes scanning everything from the top of Baby Gagnons head... down to it's little feet. She showed us a very healthy baby with a strong backbone, a properly working heart and all of the major components to make up a perfect baby. After a while it almost felt as though she was going to let us go without any update on the gender. Then finally the words came out "Would you like to know the gender of your baby?" Without skipping a beat, we both said yes. So she woke the baby up from a short nap it was taking and attempted to shake it's legs from the crossed position they were in. Within a few second we could very clearly see that we were having...

...A little baby boy!

Both Phill and I are very excited for the arrival of Baby Boy Gagnon. Please enjoy the recent pictures.

All Kinds of Movement

Phill thought that it would be a good idea if I posted an update about the recent movement of Baby Gagnon. So here are the two recent updates that I have to share:

1. A bowl of popcorn: I have learned how to wake up the little one. If I sneeze while I am in a seated position, I will wake the little monkey up and it will start kicking up a storm. Movement at this time still feels like popcorn going off in my belly but when I sneeze it feels like I am making a full bowl of popcorn. Baby just goes crazy.
2. The barrel roll: Last Friday morning I was woken up at 3a in the morning by Baby Gagnon. I woke to the feeling of the baby doing a full 360 in my belly. I get the feeling this little one is getting it's practice at cartwheels at a very young age.

We get our gender ultrasound on Monday(9.20). We will post as soon as we have news to share.

Boy or Girl

I find it interesting that over the last few weeks I've had a handful of friends email or call me to let me know that they have had a dream (or multiple dreams) about the sex of Baby Gagnon. Today, a dear friend of mine sent me a message to let me know that she had a dream about my daughter. About three weeks ago, I had another friend tell me that he had a dream that he was at a concert and bumped into me and my little boy.

I think it is safe to say that we have a 50 / 50 shot at what this little one is going to be. We would love to hear what you think about the gender. We should be getting our next ultrasound at 20 weeks - that's one month to you and me folks.

Other updates about the pregnancy: I have recently started to feel little itty bitty kicks every now and again. I have to be sitting in a certain position on the sofa - but I know it is not just food moving around. Also, no baby bump yet, it just looks like I had a 25 oz porterhouse steak for lunch.

12 Week Appointment

Phill and I attended our 12 week ultrasound today. It was a great appointment as we were able to spend about 35 minutes with the ultrasound tech who showed us our little Baby Gagnon. I came away with these three descriptions of our baby: very active, very healthy and very stubborn.

• Very Active: With the exception of the short nap that Baby Gagnon had to take during the 35 minutes we were there, it was kicking it's little legs and moving it's arms all about pretty much the whole time.

• Very Healthy: there were a few tests that the tech and the doctor preformed to check for proper growth. Everything came back as an A+.

• Very Stubborn: We were hoping to get a face shot of the baby. The tech did everything that she knew how to do but we could not get it to turn over. It would show it's back side, it would kick it's legs and it would stand on it's little head but no front face shot.
  

We will go back to the doctor again in about 4 weeks for some more blood work. We will get another ultrasound at 18 or 20 weeks to find out the gender. I will keep you posted.

I can eat again!

I wanted to share with everyone that I am able to eat again. On day one of week 11, I found that my morning sickness had totally disappeared. It is great as I am now able to eat normal meals with my wonderful husband without feeling sick. I am not having any crazy cravings but I have heard that they are right around the corner. I will keep you posted with updates of other changes.

Baby Gagnon Has Arms

Phill and I attended our 2nd sonogram this last Tuesday. During this appointment we saw the growth that we were praying for: the baby had doubled in size, it's little heart is beating stronger (166 beats a minute) and it now has a set of arms. Due to the wonderful results that we saw during the second sonogram, my fertility doctor has released me to my regular OB for the rest of this journey. With that being said, I anticipate that we will not have as many pictures of Baby Gagnon to share with everyone. It was bitter-sweet change, I am thrilled that I am no longer considered a high rise pregnancy but I am a little sad that my next sonogram will not be until 14 weeks. It was nice getting to see Baby Gagnon every few weeks.

I will keep everyone posted with any other updates. For now, I am just thrilled that the baby has a set of arms.
-

Sea Band

Earlier this week, I was having a hard time with my nausea. Couldn’t sit at my desk cause it made me sick. Couldn’t drive my car cause it made me sick. Couldn’t walk around cause it would make me sick. I could do nothing to keep my stomach at peace with the world. Well, I was asked to run to Publix to pick up a birthday card for a co worker. While I was there, I almost got sick on their beautifully polished floors. I was over this morning sickness and I was going to use this as my chance to correct it. I went to the pharmacist and asked what I could do. She was a small Asian woman and she said "I have got just the solution. You must wear Sea Band". She walked me to the counter where they held the product and helped me put it on. Within 3 minutes, I was feeling better. Within 5 minutes, I felt like a million dollars. I have been wearing my band now for the last 5 days and have had normal meals. Phill actually took me out to Sushi last night where I ate vegetarian sushi. It was amazing! This pregnancy gig might not be that bad after all.

Other than that, keep an eye out, we will post again after the doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. Hopefully with more baby pictures.