4 Generations

A few late arrivals from Matt's camera:
Four generations of Kirkham men together!


Christmas afternoon at the Kirkham's house.


One of Ben's favorite things lately is to put things around his neck...really safe, I know...only I don't think he'll hurt himself too much with one of my sports bras! And yes, that's a big scrape on his forehead. That would be the result of jetlag, clumsiness, and a concrete step outside, and it's taking forever to heal.


We've been trying to teach Ben baby sign language since he was about 10 months old and he picked up a few things along the way like "milk" and "more", but now it's really taking off. He knows "eat", "all done" (which I pretend not to notice if it's the first bite of a meal he doesn't like), "airplane", "book", and several others. He's also learning things like eyes, ears, and mouth, though he won't always identify them correctly. In this video he does airplane (the finger flying around) and half of book (both palms opening like a book, easier to do without a computer cable in your hand).


The jetlag was definitely easier to recover from on this end of the trip, probably due in part to the fact that we're in our own home this time. Ben adjusted pretty quickly but he's still not sleeping particularly well at night or in the morning so I'm hoping he'll get well-rested and back to his normal schedule so I can sleep past 6 or 6:30am!

Update on baby #2 - I'm 12 weeks already! I had my first visit with my OB here in Singapore since becoming pregnant and I really like her. Unfortunately, so do a lot of other women so her office is always really busy but she did not seem rushed at all once I was in the office talking to her. My visit lasted 3 hours, but mostly because the baby was uncooperative and we had to try 3 separate times to get it to sit still for measurements during an ultrasound. I was completely blown away that a baby this size (about 5cm) would already be so active, but he/she was waving and kicking like crazy in there. I really look forward to being able to feel those little kicks in the coming months.

We scheduled the cerclage procedure two weeks from now and the doctor is hoping I'll stay in the hospital 3-4 days to fully recover and go home stable. I was surprised because I thought it would only be an overnight thing but she wants to monitor me for contractions or any complications for several days and then send me home on strict bedrest for 2 weeks. I'm not exactly looking forward to this but if it will help me carry this baby full-term then I'll do whatever it takes.

(Be warned - I might tell you a little more than you want to know here) My doctor did answer the burning question "Why was Ben born so early" in less than a minute. With a quick look at my cervical length through ultrasound, she immediately found that mine is about 30-50% shorter than average. That means that it's structurally not as sound to support the weight of a growing baby and when enough pressure is applied (usually in the second trimester) it will give, typically without pain or contractions so the mother has no idea. Sound familiar? It's very reassuring to know that there was a physical problem that hastened Ben's birth and not something I did wrong, and now to know what we have to work with for this pregnancy. Please, please keeps us in your prayers. Specifically, for me to relax and leave this baby in God's hands, and for this baby to grow healthy and strong and enjoy a full 9 months in the protection of the womb. Or maybe even go a week overdue - then it would get that great 08/08/08 birthday!