Week Six

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Baby

  • is the size of a grain of rice at around 0.5 cm.

  • looks like a tiny tadpole, complete with a teeny "tail".

  • already has a beating heart (110 times a minute).

  • has formed eyes with an already determined color.

  • has an extra big head as the brain develops.

  • has a face taking shape with his/her cheeks, chin, and jaw forming.

Mom

  • had her first midwife appointment.

  • is taking prenatals regularly, including extra omega 3’s because she cannot be anywhere near the smell of salmon, temporarily (barf).

  • is developing a new and very common nap habit. Sleepy, sleepy!

  • is already having such a hard time keeping the secret so the first person to know besides dad was a hairdresser (who she had never met before!)

  • in love with dad and his goofy excitement.

Dad

  • is giddy, talking to pregnant ladies in the elevator and watching lots of baby reveals on YouTube.

  • taking good care of mom with yummy meals and going on nice walks with her in Vondelpark.

  • is at every appointment with mom.

  • is just as anxious as mom to tell people; so much so that the very first person he told was the KLM captain on his flight to Ecuador.

life

  • Mom and dad are just home from a wonderful trip hiking, camping, and spending time with family in Oregon.

  • Auby and Zack are engaged and wedding planning!

  • Grandma is newly retired and enjoying time for herself (though she still dedicates all her time helping everyone else, as expected!) and grandpa was elected to be on his executive board (everyone loves him).

  • Mom and dad are getting ready for Sar, grandma, and grandpa to visit Amsterdam and planning a way to tell them the news.

  • Oma and opa have been busy sailing.

  • Maaike and Just just bought a new car.

  • Bauke, Anne and Jord’s dog has a new form of transportation to get to the park. He’s hopping on his own special platform on a bike!

  • Amsterdam is sunny, beautiful, and warm! You’ll arrive just in time for the nice weather, again!

Lessons Learned

  • After excitedly running to the huisarts/doctor immediately after finding out we were pregnant, the doctor simply said congratulations and asked, “what would you like from me?” We quickly learned that unlike all of the advice on the internet, the Dutch advise that you need no further testing than the little plastic stick; you just need to listen to and trust your body. She also told me to try not to get advice from the internet, otherwise I’ll be terrified and restricted of everything through the process.

After picking a midwife (pictured above) and running to the first appointment with a handful of questions, including if they would do a blood test to make sure it was true, I was reminded of the same thing. Lesson learned: bring on the most natural journey we’ll ever go on!