Firsts

At just a week and a half old, Maks and I experienced our very first series of nights alone, as Bryon was flying to Colorado Springs regarding teaching Philosophy at the United States Air Force Academy.  I was nervous to be the only one around to tend to Maks, especially with the minimal amount of sleep that I'd been getting between round-the-clock feedings.  However, Maks did wonderfully and we made it through with flying colors! 

Before Bryon made it back, Maks had his very first visitors.  Grandma Judy and Grandpa Tom made the trek from Iowa to see us down in Louisiana.  The extra bodies (and sets of carrying arms) were a welcome addition to our household.  As a newborn, Maks napped a great deal.  However, this was great as it meant loads of snuggle time for his proud grandparents! 

Cuddling with Grandma Judy.

Grandpa Tom makes fun noises!

Maksim's first visitors.

Hangin' with Dr. Jason

I started seeing Dr. Jason Maggio just 1 month before discovering that we were expecting.  I'd never in my life visited a chiropractor and hadn't been experiencing any "problems" with my back, but instead just concluded that seeing a chiropractor was a good idea to maintain overall health and wellness.  I was very happy to find Dr. Maggio in a city like Shreveport - where natural/homeopathic health options are scarce.  It was refreshing to meet a professional who practiced what he preached and believed in the power of whole foods and a healthy lifestyle.

Throughout my pregnancy, I saw Dr. Maggio on a bi-weekly basis.  He continued to see me all of the way up until Maks' birth.  I have no doubt that Dr. Maggio's assistance in keeping my body in proper alignment contributed greatly to the ease of my pregnancy and the speed of delivery (even with an 11lb baby)!

As a service to his clients, Dr. Jason will adjust babies free of charge during their parents' chiropractic appointments.  I knew I wanted an adjustment as soon after Maks' birth as possible in order to position my body back into alignment before everything tightened up again due to decreased production of relaxin.  Thus, on May 2nd, Bryon and I headed over to his office - baby Maks in tow!  

At just 2 days old, Maksim experienced his very first chiropractic adjustment!  Dr. Maggio held Maks upside down to see which direction his neck turned, indicating which direction he needed to focus on while realigning Maks' atlas/axis.  That journey down the birth canal isn't always an easy one!  Following Maks' adjustment, we noticed a whole lot more yawning and ease of moving his head in all directions.  Both Maksim and I will continue to see Dr. Jason on a monthly basis.  Check out the video of Maks' very first adjustment below!  

Happy Birthday, Maksim!

We welcomed our BIG boy, Maksim Alexander Kroger, into the world on April 30th at 4:29am!  Although he weighed a record breaking (for our birth center) 11lb-2 ounces, we managed to still have the hospital/drug/intervention free, natural birth that we'd hoped for!


Here's how Maks measured up:
11lb 2oz
15" head
18 1/2" shoulders (which decided to come out simultaneously, instead of one at a time!)
21.5" long

Just a few hours old, and already practicing flexing his muscles for body-builder Grandpa Ralph.

He was perfectly healthy and we were all on the road back from TX within four hours!  

Daddy is a master swaddler.

Kira saying "hi" to her little brother.

We're so glad to have him here with us and cannot wait to introduce him to everyone!

Due Date

40 weeks

My ever-expanding belly coupled with unseasonably high temperatures in Louisiana is making the baby wait almost unbearable.  Sometime in the next two weeks our little bundle will be in our arms!

Third Trimester

Final stretch!

As the weeks continue to pass, I get more and more kicks that are becoming stronger and stronger!  It's hard to believe that just a couple of months ago I wasn't experiencing any detectable movement at all!  I"m growing each and every single day - which hopefully means a properly developing little one on the inside!

30.5 weeks

Valentine's Day is usually just another day in our house.  However, the weekend before, both Bryon and I happened to be off of work.  Bryon got up early and said he needed to run some errands and would pick up some breakfast to bring home for us, too.  Once 10am rolled around, I was extremely hungry and wondering what was taking him so long/when he'd be back.  At about 10:30 he finally made if back home with some food - and our infant car seat...complete with a V-day stuffed animal monkey strapped in!  Of course, he'd thought that the baby store opened at 9am, but it actually didn't open until 10.  He knew which brand infant seat we'd decided to purchase, but he was able to also pick out his favorite fabric/color (which I happen to love!).  A car seat has been the one thing I've been adamant about needing to purchase sometime soon to be sure that we have one once it's needed.  I'm so glad we've got that item crossed off the list!  Now I just need to convince Bryon that it would be fun to drive around with the car seat installed...and the stuffed animal monkey strapped in!  He's hesitant, so for now we're slowly exposing Kira to the monkey and teaching her that not all toys/stuffed animals in our house are fair game for her to chew on anymore.  Wish us luck!

31 weeks

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate our growing family by attending our baby shower!  It was so nice to have the friends we've made in Louisiana come over and spend the afternoon with us!  We can't wait to introduce everyone to our new addition in just a few short weeks!

Approximately 2 weeks to go until my EDD and I'm starting to feel like I can't possibly expand any farther!  We're happy to have found a midwife and birthing center that we'll be utilizing in East Texas (assuming all goes as planned) and couldn't be happier with this opportunity given our current residence in non-midwife-friendly Louisiana.  As for now, we're counting down the days until our little Texas-born baby makes his/her debut!

35 weeks

37.5 weeks

Second Trimester

Spreading the news!

My second trimester flew by just as quickly as the first!  The weeks consisted on monthly prenatal visits which remained relatively boring.  We passed up our opportunity to discover the sex of the child (we are opting against ultrasounds), so the exciting 18 or 20 week checkup was nothing more than a visit consisting of  our Dr. asking "How are you feeling?" to which I generally replied, "Just fine, and yourself?"

Both Bryon and myself had been anxiously anticipating our trip to visit family over Thanksgiving.  That is when we'd hoped to finally share the news that we were expecting a child with our extended family.  Since we live so far away from friends and family, it seems like all of our "big life events" are shared via phone/email/Facebook.  I wanted to be able to experience first-hand the reactions of others as I told them that I was pregnant!  However, the military had different plans for us.  A last minute change of schedule meant that we wouldn't travel back to the Midwest for Thanksgiving.

I convinced myself that I'd already kept our secret for this long - what was another 3.5 weeks?  We decided to wait it out to tell our relatives about our pregnancy in person when we traveled home over the Holidays.  Whether the Air Force suddenly decided to keep Bryon back in Louisiana over Christmas/New Years or not - I was going to take some vacation and make the trek back to Iowa and Minnesota to spend time with loved ones and share our exciting news!

As the end of the year approached, my co-workers continually joked that I'd need a shirt with writing explaining that we were expecting since I was still barely showing.  Luckily, I "popped" just before the end of December!  There would be no second guessing what was going on when people saw me!

Bryon and I both were able to travel over the Holidays.  We were so glad to share the news of our pregnancy in person.  I know it was a difficult secret for our immediate family members to keep - so thanks to all of you who celebrated silently with us for so many weeks!  We were extremely happy that everyone (or as many people as possible) were able to hear our news simultaneously and first-hand from the two of us!

Once my belly started to grow, it really grew!  Sometimes I wish it'd just take a minute or two and slow down already!  At our last visit, Dr. Bellmann jokingly made the comment that we might even have twins...but she'll find out for sure when we do - near the end of April in the delivery room!  We've been planning on a singleton, but so long as our child(ren) is/are healthy, we'll be happy!

19 weeks

27.5 weeks

Pregnancy Milestones

On Thanksgiving night (18 weeks pregnant), I felt the baby kick for the first time!  I never experienced any flutters or butterflies, so the first time I felt anything - it was a kick that couldn't have been mistaken for anything else!  Finally, I had some reassurance that I was really pregnant!  I quickly told Bryon to feel my stomach right where I'd felt the kick, and sure enough our little one gave one more kick so that Bryon could experience it as well.  It was so fun for both Bryon and myself feel the kicks for the first time on the same night!

2 weeks later (20 weeks pregnant), I witnessed my stomach move while our little one wiggled about on the inside!

Since we decided to not use a Doppler, we hadn't experienced hearing our baby's heart beat.  The anticipation for a heart beat wasn't as strong anymore since we'd both felt the baby move.  However, Bryon had been testing using a stethoscope at night every now and then to see if he could hear anything at all.  At 21.5 weeks pregnant, Bryon heard the baby's heartbeat using a regular stethoscope!  I was unable to hear anything due to the baby moving, but I could tell by the look on Bryon's face that he didn't second guess what he'd heard!

Over Christmas, Andrea brought home a fetoscope (stethoscope specifically designed for listening to the heartbeat of a fetus) for us to use.  One week after Bryon heard the heartbeat (22.5 weeks pregnant), Mama was able to hear her little one's heart pumping away, too!  In fact, it was fun to have everybody present (Bryon, myself, Andrea, Matt, my Mom and my Dad) successfully hear the heart beat.  Andrea even received a special gift - a swift kick to the forehead (you rest your forehead on the fetoscope while listing) from little Baby K.  Talk about a memorable way to celebrate Christmas Eve!

21 weeks