And then there were three...

Where in the world are James and Maija?  We are at home with a new baby which has put any travel plans on hold for just a while.

This is the story of our baby "journey".  It started in November when we found out we were pregnant.

At 12 weeks we had an ultrasound and could see the baby for the first time.   It really looks more like a bean than a baby at this point, but we were able to see that something was really in there.....

and it confirmed for us that this really was real.   16 weeks of stomach sickness for me also confirmed it.

Ultrasound at 4 months (16 weeks)

At 5 months (20 weeks) we were able to find out the sex of the baby.  

It's a GIRL!!!

We went on a 2 week trip to Italy in the 2nd trimester (5.5 months pregnant) which is where the baby bump finally started to show...just a little....

Then she just started to grow and grow (both baby and mama)

 6 months (26 weeks)

 Ultrasound at 7 months (28 weeks)
Estimated baby weight - 3.2 pounds

6.5 months (30 weeks)

We had an ultrasound at 32 weeks (8 months) and they did a 3D image of the baby. It was so exciting to see a glimpse of her cute face. Her estimated weight at 32 weeks was 4 lbs 13 ounces.

Meanwhile, Mama continued to grow...

8 1/2 months (33 weeks)

At 37 weeks, they did another ultrasound to measure the growth of the baby (she was trending big due to gestational diabetes).  We were told that she was 9 pounds!!!! and would likely need to be delivered by C-Section due to a condition caused by the gestational diabetes called macrosomia which leads to shoulder dystocia (the shoulders are too big to fit through the birth canal).  We were scheduled for a tentative C-Section on July 29th depending on the growth of the baby in the next two weeks.

9 months (37 weeks)

Mama also grew alot.....

9+ months, 37 weeks (3 weeks to go)

This is what I look like with an estimated 9 pound baby

On July 29th the ultrasound showed an estimated weigh of 10 lbs and the doctor decided that we would go ahead with the C-Section that afternoon.

9.75 months (39 weeks)

Elin Sofia Scoffield arrived on July 29, 2010 at 4:50 pm. She was 8 lbs 13 oz and 20.25 inches long. She had a great set of lungs and a full head of hair.

2 days old

3 days old, leaving the hospital

4 days old

9 days old

12 days old

It has been a remarkable, amazing and humbling experience to have Elin finally here. We love her so much and we are so happy to have her as a part of our family.

As soon as we have her passport we will resume our travels....at least we hope.

Maija

Pisa and the Cinque Terre

For our last few days in Italy we decided to go to the Cinque Terre which is a region of five small towns on the west coast of Italy. 

We took the train from Florence and on our way we stopped in Pisa for a few hours to see the Leaning tower…

and to have pizza in Pisa.

We continued on the train through La Spezia to the Cinque Terre. We did not have any room reservations for this part of our trip. We had heard (from our best friend Rick Steves) that in the off season you could arrive in this area and bargain for a room.  We decided to risk it and arrived in Vernazza with no place to stay.  No worries…as soon as we got off the train a man named Egi approached James, showed us the apartment he had available and after a bit of haggling he and James settled on a price which was about 2/3 of the going rate!

Vernazza

This is the view of the harbor in Vernazza where we stayed for 3 nights.  It is a little town built into the hillside with about 500 residents.  They make wine and olive oil in this region. 

We took the train from Vernazza to Monterosso where we looked around the town and had lunch then took a boat ride/water taxi from Monterosso (the northern most town in the Cinque Terre) and stopped at each little towns harbor. We had a nice view of each of the towns from the water. 

 Vernazza

 Corniglia

Manarola

 Riomaggiore

 We got off at the southern most town called Riomaggiore and had some gelato then hiked a small section of the Cinque Terre Trail called Via dell'Amore that goes from Riomaggiore to Manarola.

 The trail goes along the cliff side and is dedicated to lovers.

We also did another section of the trail inVernazza to get some nice views of the town.

We did a lot of relaxing in the couple of days that we were in Vernazza. It was nice to have a few days of relaxation at the end of our trip.  

Today we took the train back to Rome and will fly out in the morning.

We have loved Italy and have had a great time here. 

Ciao!

James and Maija

Florence

We spent 5 nights in Florence and have taken a couple of side trips from here (Tuscany and Venice).

We stayed at a B&B called Le Tre Stanze. It was initially a very difficult place to find.  As is usually the case in Europe it had a very small sign and it was hard to see the first night that we were here. (the sign for the B&B is the little gray sign hanging below #43).  In this picture James is opening the very heavy door (and big) to our building.

This is the hallway that goes down to our room.  The door to get in looked more like a closet.  

It was one of the most unique places we have stayed. It had a bed in the exact middle of the room under a canopy and really cool ceilings.  We had a garden entrance and a kitchenette.

 

We arrived in Florence on Sunday late afternoon in a horrible rainstorm. We walked from the train to station to our apartment and got completely soaked.  It was Easter Sunday that day so we quickly put our stuff away and went to Easter Mass at the Duomo (Santa Maria del Flore) which was only half a block from our apartment.   This is a view of the Duomo from our street.

The Duoma is a huge church that was built in the 1400's.  It's facade is covered in green, pink and white Tuscan marble that was not put on until the 1800's.  It has the third longest nave in the Christendom. It is a massive building and almost impossible to describe.  We walked by it every time we left the house.

This is the view of the Duomo from across the river at Piazzale Michaelangelo.

We spent a couple of days wandering around Florence and doing some shopping.

Piazzo Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio

Santa Croce Church 

We went to the Uffizi Gallery today and the Accadamia earlier this week to see Michaelangelo's David.

James climbed the 436 stairs to the top of the Duomo's cuppola and took this beautiful picture of the city.





Florence has a nice, easy going flow to it.  The "feel" of this city is a lot different from Rome and much more quiet.

We are leaving in the morning for a quick stop in Pisa and then on to the Cinque Terre for our last couple of days in Italy.

Maija & James