39 week update

Nothin...nada...no change since last week's visit to the doc. For all of you ladies that have been pregnant and had a "due date", you'll know what I mean when I vent to you about this. It is exhausting to keep telling people the same thing, that nothing has happened yet and yes, I'm still pregnant! I'm 3 days away from my estimated due date and no matter what I say to people, reassuring them that they'll be informed once I know what's happening, I still get checked in by well wishers that want to know if anything has started yet. I by no means am mad at any of these people for asking me how things are going because I know they care about me and Rory and are just excited about the next chapter in our lives. I guess I'm just more DONE with being pregnant at this point and would like to know when this little one will decide to join us. (Plus, it doesn't help when I know of two women who were due after me that are happily holding their babies in their arms right now.) Just like my niece, I have a feeling Rory is going to be happy in my tummy for a long as I let her stay there. Honestly, I do not want to be induced for various reasons but I am aware that in some cases, it's medically necessary. Right now, there is no medical necessity for Rory to be induced. However, my dilemma is that I don't want her to be 3 weeks late like my niece was (yes, I'm for real when I say Lily was 3 weeks late!) If that were the case, both my mom and my mother-in-law will already be on their way home from Japan and they won't even get to see their grandbaby. Realistically, because I'm having her in a military hospital, they won't let me go past 42 weeks. If, at that point, I'm still showing little progress, they'll definitely induce labor and get her out. So really, there's no need to fuss but here is an example what life is like these days: I do pliés just to pick stuff off the ground, I throw my leg up on high things so that I can shave, put on lotion, fix my toesies etc., I can no longer climb on cabinets to get things that are beyond my reach (I have done this religiously being vertically challenged and all) so I now must actually get a step stool or wait on my husband to get it, I forget how BIG my stomach is and find myself bumping into things a lot these days, I shift from side to side (to side...) every night and get up to pee probably 10 times, and the list can go on! Up until week 37, I was feeling pretty good, but like I said, I'm done at this point so any prayers sent our way to get this little one out are much appreciated! Although, I must say Rory can wait until Friday if she wants because I plan on seeing the movie Bridesmaids with my friends on Thursday night and if she comes before then, who knows when I'll see it! So basically, come out on your "due date" Rory and we'll all get along ; )

38 week update

Alright, so I've hit another milestone...38 weeks! Can the weeks go by any slower? I mean come on, really? I have been a lazy blob as of late and the most exciting things I do during the day are go to the post office and um...go to the post office. The other morning, Mike had to go into work late because he was flying that night. When we got up in the morning, I asked, "Do you want to see what I do when you're at work?" So Mike watched me as I slowly leaned out of bed and desperately tried to find footing on the floor, waddle down the stairs, open the door, let Huey out and then, I sat on the couch. He replied, "Really? That's what you do?" I retorted that I had not made plans yet so that's all I had at that point. I feel guilty being such a bum, really I do, but seriously, when will I ever get to be this lazy in my life again? The next time I'm 38 weeks pregnant, I'll have Rory with me so she'll probably keep me busy enough where laying on the couch will not be a luxury and a precious moment (or in my case, hours) of silence.

To be accurate, I'm 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant according to my doc visit this morning. Turns out I tested positive for Group B Strep (funny because that's what Molly had as well...I swear we're twins). I am not happy about this but I'm not overly concerned about it either. Basically I'm a carrier of this bacteria which can potentially be passed to Rory through the birth canal. About 25% of all pregnant women are carriers of GBS. I wonder if it's because Molly and I took the same prenatal vitamins...I really don't know. But anyway, when I go into labor, I need to be hooked up to an IV right away so that I can be given antibiotics that will prevent the bacteria from being passed to Rory in the birth canal. In almost all cases, it's totally fine but if a mom is not treated during her labor, the baby will have a higher risk of contracting pneumonia. I had actually hoped to not have a IV hooked up right away when I got to the hospital just because I wanted to be able to move around the room and drink my own fluids but testing positive for GBS has pretty much wiped out that option. You just gotta roll with the punches and in the end, all I want is a healthy baby.

I was lucky enough to have the doc "check" me (always pleasant yes) and she said I'm 1 cm dialated, 50% effaced and -3 station. All a bunch of gibberish really but at least there's SOME progress that shows Rory is getting ready to join us. The goal is to be 10 cm (as in baby is crowning), 100% effaced and at +3 station. I've still got a ways to go but it's better than nothin right??? Next week we'll probably get my membranes stripped if nothing new is happening and hopefully we'll see Rory by the end of the month! Sorry to all you male readers who have no idea what I'm talking about, don't read too much into this. This is more so for the fellow mamas who understand this kind of talk.

So last night was really funny and I just have to give a shout out to my sweet husband and pup for being such good sports. You see, I signed up to take a birthing class that was offered by a fellow military wife here on base called Hypnobirthing. There are no other birthing classes offered here and I figured that any class would be better than none so we were open minded to seeing what this was all about. It really is a great philosophy and teaches lots of breathing techniques, prompts and laboring positions to help you relax and "breathe your baby down". Hypnobirthing is not against medical interventions, however it is set up so that you are physically relaxed and able to decide if you would like to deliver naturally or would prefer an epidural.

Anyway, now that you have the backstory...We had our last class last night at our house and basically practiced laboring positions and the birth companion's (i.e. Mike's) role throughout labor and delivery. It really was a sight to see as I'm practicing different squats on the floor while Huey decides to run up and sniff my crotch, or when our teacher is reading prompts to help us relax while Huey is running around with a squeaking rubber chicken in his mouth. At one point, Huey decided to drag out his smurf stuffed animal that is literally his size and hump it ferociously in front of our teacher. Considering his balls are snipped, you gotta give the dog some credit, but come on Huey, that was quite embarrassing! Mike quickly picked him up in between bits of laughter and put him in the bathroom for the remainder of the class. But, I can't forget to mention my sweet, dear husband for participating in this class as well. At one point, I had to lean over a birthing ball and "pretend" that I was having a surge (i.e. contraction) while our teacher leaned over with a stop watch to time them. I had to practice my specific breathing techniques to help me get through this surge and Mike had a very important job to do as well. He had to read specific birth companion prompts to me so that it will help me "relax". But he didn't just read them to me, he leaned down low and whispered in a Darth Vadar type voice in my ear the following prompts: "Breathe love down to your baby....Mother and baby working together to bring this miracle...Clear the path...make it smooth and easy...See the petals of the blossom opening gently..." Oh.MY.Gosh! I could NOT handle it. I burst out laughing. In NO WAY was his reading of these prompts helping me relax, sure it made me laugh out loud hysterically, but if you guys know Mike, you know he is a total goof and took every opportunity to make it as extremely uncomfortable and unrelaxed as possible. The teacher preceded to tell Mike to stop reading the prompts and that we would start over with Mike just doing a light touch massage. I am still laughing about this because Mike is just horrible. At least I'll have some fun in the delivery room ; )

So that's it as far as updates. I got the car seat set up yesterday, Rory's bag is packed, and the pack and play is set up in our room. Things that still need to be done...clean the bathrooms, vacuum downstairs and upstairs, mop the kitchen floor, put away the laundry and pack my bag for the hospital. Then I will officially feel ready for her arrival.

And just for fun, here are some pictures of our family outing to Tama River last Saturday. It's right outside of the gate and with how hot it has been, it was really a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. The water was super cold and clear (fresh from the mountains) and we just had a good time having a picnic lunch and playing fetch with Huey in the water.

Before we left, we had a lazy morning and watched a movie. Huey thought the best spot to sit on such a large couch was Mike's chest.

Do you think he senses that he's going to be replaced by a little baby soon? At least he's helping Mike practice!

Huey testing out the water.

Huey observing a little Japanese boy who was collecting fish and crabs from the river.

He was a wimp at times and found rocks to stand on so that he didn't have to get completely in the water!

Finally he got brave and swam after his ball!

And here's a view of my stomach when I'm in the driver's seat. I'll admit I have short legs so my seat is pushed all the forward but still, I had a least a foot between my stomach and the steering wheel in my pre-pregnancy days...

Rory's Room

Here are some pictures of Rory's room as promised. Considering that we live in ugly military housing and I'm not technically allowed to paint (well, long story, I can but the paint selection sucks here and it's expensive anyway PLUS I'd have to paint it back before we move), I'm proud of what I was able to do.

Here's what it looks like when you first walk in. I was lucky to be able to use a lot of my classroom decorations for Rory's room since the theme was butterflies. I had no idea that I would be going with that theme, nor would the main colors be pink and green, but overall I think it turned out pretty cute ; )

Huey was literally running around the room throwing his soccer ball while I was taking pictures. For those of you that have had the pleasure of meeting Huey, you can picture this taking place. He also raids through Rory's toy selection and has claimed a few stuffed animals and a pricey Sophie the Giraffe squeaky toy. It's a lost cause if I bought another one because he'd just think that one was for him too!

I'm proud of this crib considering we "settled" with what was offered at our BXtra. Cribs are not able to be shipped overseas and the Japanese style cribs do not have the same mattress sizes as American ones so we were really limited on what we could do. I knew I wanted a white one since our furniture in this room was white whicker beforehand. I'm actually not a fan of white whicker anymore but this crib tied in with the rest of the furniture really well because it had the baskets on the bottom. This crib was the floor model so it was scratched up a bit but we were able to get a significant discount and we paid for it with gift cards we received so we really got the crib without paying anything ourselves.

You can tell this is a painted by a beginner (ahem, me) but I was lucky enough to paint this when I was home during the whole earthquake fiasco and I utilized all the materials in Ben's art studio.

I made Rory's framed name thingy above her bed with some Japanese wiener dog fabric that I found at a specialty store in New York AND I've got a beautiful blanket (along with other very cute baby items) made by Hattie Designs draped across her crib. Check out her etsy site, she's great! The butterfly fabric decals are from Pottery Barn Kids.

Here's a close-up of her name.

Those that knew me in college remember that this was my old bedroom set. At least I'm having a girl...well gosh, I hope I am because this room would NOT work for a boy!

To the right is a toy container that I found in our neighborhood two days ago. We really didn't need anymore furniture but it matched her room perfectly and was in great condition so I couldn't resist. I put a lot of toys in the bins (all given to me by other mamas) so this kid is set! Oh and see the rumpled carpet, that's what Huey likes to do when he runs around in circles.

Ok and I don't know if this is normal for a baby but do you think this kid has enough clothes??? I really don't know what to do because she has SO MUCH STUFF! All very cute by the way but most of them were gifts or handed down from other mamas (I admit, I did by some favorite baby clothes when I was back in the U.S. this past spring.) I had to decline an offer from a mom the other day because I just have WAY too much stuff now and really, I don't think Rory can go through THAT many clothes. I mean, she'll outgrow them before she can wear them all I swear!

Well, that's that. I've packed her bag for the hospital but I still need to pack mine. Considering the hospital is a 1/2 mile down the road, I'm sure I'll have time to get something together in case (I hope) Rory decides to make an early appearance.

37 Weeks and still pluggin along!

Rory is now "officially" cooked so she is welcome to come out at anytime! It's ok that Mama has not yet installed the car seat or packed our bags for the hospital, (not to mention that her room still isn't ready and her bed isn't set up...) but I'm just so anxious for Rory to get here that anytime is good for me! Mike says he still needs a couple weeks...

I am currently knocking on wood about how smooth everything has been so far throughout this pregnancy. No swollen feet, no water retention, no stretch marks, seldom do I feel Braxton Hicks contractions--of course, after I post this, I will have wished I hadn't said anything because then all of those symptoms will miraculously appear! I'm feeling good but I do feel tired, out of breath, fat and lazy most days.

During the day on Friday, I got maternity photos taken by a wonderful photographer named Princess Grace. She just moved here and I was her first client that she snapped photos of at Showa Park. I already booked her to do newborn pictures of Rory and I'm just so excited! Here's a couple pics that she took that day (please excuse the frizzy hair...I had to waddle around the park and by the end of the photo session, I was beat!) To be honest, I was kind of on the fence about taking maternity photos but I really haven't taken any (partly because I'm self conscious about how much my body has changed) but I knew I would like to remember this time in my life so here are some good ones for you to view!

Who knows what this sign says...probably, "Eat s%$t!" or "No pregnant ladies allowed beyond this point" but it looked Japanesey ; )

After that, I quickly had to get ready for our weekend plans. Friday night, Mike and I went to The New Sanno with our best friends and neighbors the Hedbergs and the Cochrans.

We had a fabulous dinner at Wellington's and then walked all around Tokyo in the blazing heat on Saturday and even squeezed in a Japanese Baseball game to see the Giants vs. the Carp (yes, carp). Even after all of that walking around and baking in the sun, you would think I would have swollen up but nothing really happened (I prefer not to wear my wedding rings anymore though, that has become quite a challenge so for those that don't know me, I am probably judged as an unmarried, pregnant teenager!) Then, when we got back at 9 p.m. Saturday night, Mike and I went to the movies to see Transformers 3. I beyond tired at this point (and even fell asleep in the theater right at the end of the movie) but we feel like we need to squeeze in as many dates as we can before Rory gets here, no matter how late (and when I say late, I mean late...we didn't get home until after 1 in the morning!)

That's it for now! Time to go brave the heat to get a much needed, probably last time in who knows when pedicure (don't judge, I got it as a gift from one of my students!)

I'm an Auntie

I'm SO excited that Lily is finally here and that she's healthy and Molly's healthy. She is just SO cute! She weighed in at 8 lbs 8 oz. I actually haven't even spoken to Molly on the phone yet because conveniently Lily decided she wanted to be born on the one night that I was staying in Tokyo with my ladies. She takes after her mama I guess and is set her ways! Anyway, I'm totally showboating these pics because I'm just so excited ; )