A New Calling for Me

Recently, I jokingly mentioned to Yusaku that we should buy some electric hair clippers and we could save some money if I cut his hair for him. Much to my surprise, he was all for it. So, we went out and bought some clippers. Today, I decided to try my hand at being a hair stylist. My parents came over for a quick little visit this morning and when I told them I was going to cut Yusaku's hair today, my dad asked if I would shave his neck for him. I asked if he was really sure and he was. (I can't believe how much they trust me). I took my dad into the kitchen, got out the clippers, and turned them on. As soon as I did this, we both jumped about a mile, but after we recovered, I got to work. It turned out just fine. Here's a picture of me in my new line of work. :)

After I had practiced on my dad, Yusaku bravely sat in the bathtub and allowed me to take an electric clipper to his head.  It started out well. Yusaku instructed me on what size clipper to start with and I started around the base of his head and above his ears. I moved to a slightly bigger clipper and moved up his head. It was going smoothly. Then Yusaku took matters into his own hands - literally! He decided to try doing the top of his head himself. From here, things went down hill. There were a few places that needed to be evened out. Yusaku told me to put a size 2 on. I thought I did and took the clipper to his sideburn area. It turns out I had grabbed a 1 instead, which means that side got a lot shorter. Yusaku looked in the mirror and said "Lauren, that was a 1!" I proceeded to laugh so hard that I nearly peed in my pants. Yusaku wasn't mad. He was kind of laughing himself. After a little more shaving, he got things pretty evened out and now it looks fine.  Here are some pictures to prove it. Who wants a haircut next?

Growing Up

The title refers to Olivia, of course, but me as well (I will explain this in a little bit). Olivia will be 8 weeks old tomorrow, which is hard to believe! She seems to get bigger and cuter every day.  She's awake more these days and thankfully, is starting to enjoy sitting in her swing more. As much as I love holding her, not being able to put her down makes getting things done difficult. She will nap in the swing, but sometimes she will just lay there and stare up at the little mirror and look at herself contentedly. She also likes sitting in her bouncy seat for at least brief periods of time or laying on her new activity mat that arrived in the mail last week (see picture below). We even had a night recently where she slept four hours in a row, followed by four and half more, which, if you read my last post, you know is pretty exciting for me.

She's been smiling and cooing a lot lately too, which is so much fun. When she's cooing at me, I feel like we're having a conversation. I almost expect words to come out of her mouth. It's hard for me to imagine her really talking though. What will her first words be? What will her voice sound like? I've also been trying to imagine her with hair longer than what she currently has and I just can't picture it. Her hair seems like it's barely grown since she's been born and sometimes it looks like there's actually less hair than there was to begin with. I kind of like her hair just the way it is now though. It can stay like that forever for all I care! :)

Now for my "grown-up moment." My friend Katlyn, who I met a few years ago in grad school, has two kids of her own. Charlotte is four and Oliver just turned one about a week before Olivia was born. She had been talking to me for awhile (at least since I was pregnant) about joining the Mom's Group of Oakwood even though I don't technically live there anymore. I kept saying I would think about, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking to myself "I'm too young to be in a mom's group!" I'm not sure why I felt like this because I don't feel to young to be a mom. I guess I just still don't think of myself as a "grown up," despite the fact that there are plenty of reasons why I should. I've been married for four and a half years, have had my own house for the past four years, have been working in the "real world" (up until now), and gotten my Master's degree, so when am I going to really consider myself a "grown up?" (Perhaps when the receptionist at the dentist's office no longer asks whether my parents or I are going to take care of my bill, which just happened about 2 weeks ago...ha ha!)

Well, I finally decided to take the plunge and join the group. I figured it would be nice to meet other moms and make some new friends and eventually, it would be a way for Olivia to make some friends. Every Thursday of each month there is some sort of special event. One week, they have book club; another week, they have Mom's Night Out where you go to a restaurant; another week is cooking club, where everyone brings food or wine and you just hang out at someone's house and another week, there is a meeting. This past Thursday was cooking club so I decided to go along with Katlyn. Each month there is a different "theme." This month the theme was cheese, so I decided to make broccoli cheese casserole - one of my Thanksgiving favorites. The event was very nice, everyone was very friendly, and there was lots of good food.  At the end of the night, everyone votes - just for fun - on their two favorite dishes and whoever takes first place gets their picture and recipe in the monthly newsletter. Well, call it beginner's luck, but guess who took second place???? Yours truly! Ha ha! I was pretty surprised and found it kind of funny - I guess I'm just a little Suzy Homemaker, who knew? I'm looking forward to going to book club next month for the first time and the cookie exchange before Christmas.

I will keep you posted on my future "grown up moments."  In the meantime, however, here are some cute pictures of my parents and Olivia from last weekend when were celebrating my Dad's birthday.

Sleep

Sleep is something I have a whole new appreciation of.  The definition of a "good night of sleep" has taken on a whole new meaning for me. The one question everyone who knows that I have a new baby asks me is "How is she sleeping?" or "Are you getting much sleep?" or my favorite "Is she sleeping through the night yet?" I would like to respond by simply laughing in their face, but that would be rude, so I don't. The answer is she usually sleeps about three hours at a time in between feedings and I consider that good (for now).

Sometimes, I will get lucky like last night and actually get about four hours of rest before she needs to eat again (which I hope will start happening more frequently) or sometimes, it's only an hour and a half in between. It's hard to imagine a time when I will actually sleep for five, six, seven, or even, God-forbid, EIGHT hours at a time. I'm not sure I would know what to do with myself. 

All this lack of sleep is well worth it though because Olivia won't be this small forever and our middle-of-the-night feedings, despite how exhausted I feel, are special because it's a quiet, peaceful bonding time for us. I love the look on her face in that moment when she goes from crying to realizing that she's about to get some delicious milk! Her eyes get really wide and her lips curl into a little smile and she makes a noise almost like laughing and then, it's quiet except for the sound of her gulping and her eyelids get heavy and close and I feel like sleeping isn't that important after all.

Here are some pictures of our little cutie from yesterday:

caterpillars, spit up, and Japan

In my last post, I mentioned that Olivia likes to look at things dangling in front of her and is now smiling, although capturing the smile on camera is nearly impossible. By the time I get the camera out, she is making some other weird face. Well, here is a picture that shows her doing both (kind of). We got the stuffed "hungry little caterpillar" as a gift and once we discovered how much she liked looking at it, we attached to the mobile on her swing.

In other news, Olivia is getting heavier by the day. I weighed her myself the other day (you know - hopped on the scale, weighed myself, hopped back on with her) and according to that, she weighs 10.4 lbs. By now, she probably weighs even more. And, despite the fact that she likely has reflux according to her doctor (her fussiness, gassiness, little cough, hoarse cry, etc. is what led to that conclusion), she really hasn't been a very "spitty-uppy" baby...until now that is. I just experienced projectile spit up for the first time...gross!  All over my arm. I'm hoping this doesn't become a habit.

She has been doing pretty well at night now for a few weeks. Even though she wakes up to eat about every 2.5 to 3 hours, she goes back down pretty easily afterward. The daytime, however, is a different story. It seemed like she hardly napped at all yesterday, maybe half an hour here or there at the most. Even then, she only wanted to nap while one of us held her. She alternated between being happy and crying about every 10 minutes. It was an exhausting day. Today is going better so far. There seems to be a pattern of good day, bad day, good day, bad day.

Now, for the biggest news...we are going to Japan in January!  As exciting as that it is, I am a nervous wreck - thinking about every little thing that worries me from the flight there to the logistics of trying to feed her, change her, and get around with her in a country half-way across the world where I don't speak the language! I am still trying to come to terms with this news and tell myself it will be okay. We haven't been to Japan since 2003. We haven't seen Yusaku's grandmothers, aunts, uncles, or cousins since our wedding and not all of them could make it to that. It will be good for them to meet Olivia, especially Yusaku's aging grandmothers, because who knows the next time we'll make it back? So, it's a good thing, right? That's what I'm trying to tell myself.

I've decided that I'll need to get back to using the Rosetta Stone program I started over the Summer to try to learn Japanese. Since I'm not going back to work, I guess it will be good to have something intellectual to do..some goal to work on. It will be tricky finding the time to work on it in between feeding and holding Olivia and doing chores around here, but I'll make do. I'm not going to hold my breath, but I'd really like to be able to communicate with Yusaku's family, even if it's just a few words, when we go.We shall see! :)

Since Japan is on my mind, I thought I'd look back at some pictures from our last trip. Since it was seven years ago and back in the dark ages before I had a digital camera, I only have a few pictures to choose from that I had scanned from my hard copies to show my students.  Here are two. The first is Yusaku and I with our artwork, the old couple who owned the place, and Yusaku's family friend, Mrs. Araki. The other is us in a rickshaw with Yusaku's aunt and his great uncle (both from his mom's side). We should hopefully be seeing all of them when we go back.

5.5 weeks! It's a long post...you've been warned!

It's only been a little over two weeks since my last post so I'm not too far off my goal! :)  Life with a baby is just so busy and napping when she naps (or attempting some sort of productivity around here) takes priority over blogging. Yesterday, I felt like I hardly accomplished anything more than feeding and snuggling with Olivia, but that's all that's really important anyway, right? 

I seem to be compensating for that today. After a long night of frequent feedings, Yusaku took Olivia from 8-10 this morning so that I could get in a little sleep. Yusaku working from home has been wonderful. I can't imagine trying to get through all day every day by myself, although I know most new moms have to. I'm sure I could manage if I had to, but it would be so  much harder.

Thanks to that extra sleep, I have a lot more energy today. I've done laundry and dishes, gone grocery shopping, and pumped so far. I also managed a walk with my friend Katlyn and still have enough energy left to update the blog. It might not sound like a lot, but this is a productive day for me.

This will probably be a lengthy post as there is a lot to talk about since the last time I wrote anything. The question is - where to start? Well, Olivia is a very popular lady and has had many visitors since she was born, most recently her Aunt Sarah, but I will get to that in a minute. Here are some pictures of her other visitors, starting with Kelly and Ella in the hospital (sorry, not the best picture), followed by Erin, my friend Katlyn, and my friend Tiffany whose husband Travis also came but who I apparently forgot to take a picture of (sorry!). 

 

Leslee and Jon were actually our first visitors at the hospital, but being a little out of it still, I also forgot to get a picture of them. Luckily, they just came over to our house on Saturday and I got some pictures this time (no Jon though, sorry!). I can't wait until Olivia is a little older and she and Quinn can actually play with each other. I know they're going to be great friends! :)

  

 

Now for some pictures from Aunt Sarah's visit, although she took about a hundred more pictures than I did. She just couldn't get enough of her new niece! She was only home for a long weekend, but we squeezed in a lot of visiting. On her last day, we had a picnic lunch at Hills and Dales park and took a nice walk in the woods on a beautiful fall day.

 

On a separate topic, Olivia's favorite things lately seem to be taking baths, snuggling with us, smiling, and looking at little stuffed toys dangling in front of her face (she can track things with her eyes now!). Here are some pictures of her doing at least two of those things.  Notice my snuggling with her led to me sleeping (I'm a little deprived, what can I say?).  Also funny is the fact that she's wearing the same outfit in both pictures but they were taken on different days.

I could keep going, but I'm about of time for today, so I will leave you with these pictures from last weekend's trip to the pumpkin farm to celebrate Olivia's first Halloween. Hopefully, it won't be so long until I post again.

So...about the daily dose....

Okay, so while the daily dose of Olivia was a good idea in theory, it turns out it wasn't such a practical idea. As it's now been about 2 weeks since the last post, you've probably guessed the daily dose idea went by the wayside pretty quickly. I've been just a little busy trying to take care of Olivia and myself. The days go by so quickly. When I wake up (or I should say am woken up by a crying baby), I change her, feed her, hop in the shower, get dressed, come downstairs, eat breakfast, and pretty soon it's time to feed her again. The rest of the day in between feedings and while she's napping I try to either be productive (i.e. go to the grocery store or do laundry) or I try to rest. Before I know it, it's time for dinner and getting ready for bed, and starting the process all over again. My new goal for blogging will be to post at least once every 2 weeks, maybe once a week if I'm really on top of things! :)

Daily Dose of Olivia

Since we've taken so many pictures, I am going to try to post a picture (or a few) each day.

Here's Olivia with Daddy:

 

and Olivia with Mommy:

She's here!!!

Well, after many painful hours of labor and an hour and a half of pushing, Olivia was born on September 26, 2010 at 5:24 a.m. She weighed 8.0 lbs and measured 20 inches. I should know that nothing goes as planned but the entire birth experience was far from what I imagined. The end result was, of course, wonderful and well worth it.

Here is her birth story. You've been forewarned. It's long and shares all the gory, not-so-fun details, but I wanted to document it for myself.

We went to the hospital at 5:30 on Saturday night. I was having contractions around every 6 min. but was in a lot of pain from all the pressure. When we got there, they told me I was only 1 cm. dilated. They gave me morphine and said they'd check me again in an hour. An hour later, the pain was worse but I still hadn't progressed. The triage nurse kept trying to send me back home since according to her I wasn't progressing and therefore, wasn't considered to be in active labor, but kept letting me stay one more hour.

Finally at close to midnight, after six hours of excruciating pain, they were going to send me home but I pretty much begged to stay. The nurse talked to Margie (my midwife) who said that I could be admitted but they would have to put me on pitocin to move things along. I would have to be four cm. before I could get an epidural. I was told this would make my contractions worse, but decided I would rather be in pain at the hopsital than go home and sit there and wonder when I could go back.

As soon as they admitted me and wheeled me to my own private room, my contractions were two minutes apart. The new nurse, Betsy, who I liked much better, told me that my contractions were too close together for pitocin anyway. She called Dr. Guy (who, by the way, delivered Sarah 23 years ago) in to check me because apparently I have a weird cervix and she couldn't tell how far dilated she thought I was.

Thank goodness she did because he said I was 6-7 cm!!! I still can't believe how this is possible. Less than hour before, the triage nurse had told me I was only 1 cm and was wanting to send me back home. Either I really progressed that quickly or she wasn't doing a very good job of checking me. I guess there's no point in trying to figure it out now. It's a good thing I insisted on staying because Dr. Guy told me that if I hadn't wanted an epidural that I likely would have had her within the hour. CRAZY!

I should mention that once we got admitted, Yusaku called both sets of our parents to let them know what was going on. We hadn't wanted to let anyone know we were at the hospital until we were sure they were going to let us stay. Our parents came right away and got in a little visit before heading to the waiting room, where Yusaku's parents and my dad managed to get a little sleep. My mom, not surprisingly, was too excited to sleep.  See proud grandparents below. :)

I did get an epidural right after Dr. Guy checked me and it was wonderful. I only wish I had had it sooner, but better late than never.  There's no way I could have continued going without one so it was worth it to me to prolong the labor a little in order to enjoy a few hours of peace. It at least made the last few hours of labor peaceful and almost enjoyable. Up until that, I couldn't think past the pain to the fact that I would get to meet Olivia soon. I had never had a break from the pain in between contractions because the pressure was so bad I thought I was going to explode or die. Even Yusaku said that he couldn't imagine trying to make it out to the car with the amount of pain I was in in order to go home.

The other surprising thing Dr. Guy told me was that my water had broken, yet I have no idea when that could have happened. This explains why I had so much pressure as there was no barrier between her head and my cervix.  I never had any big gush of fluid or even noticed any leaking. I had started to go into early labor on Tuesday and by the time I saw one of my midwives on Friday, she told me she thought I would have my baby that weekend. She was right! Interestingly, even though she checked me, she said nothing about my water having broken. The fact that it had broken and I didn't know when was bit of a concern because they usually want to deliver the baby within 24 hours of that happening and it could have been a couple days since it had happened.

I started pushing around 3 o'clock in the morning and pushed for an hour and a half. When Dr. Guy came in and saw me pushing, he immediately decided he needed to vacuum her out because she couldn't fit under my pelvic bone. Apparently, he rarely resorts to doing this but felt there was no choice. I also had to have an episiotomy, which is something else he rarely does.

Once she was born, the NICU nurses had to check on her. This is routine protocol anytime a baby is delivered by vacuum or forceps. She was having some trouble breathing and they had to take her to the transitional nursery (a step below the NICU) so I didn't get to do skin to skin or breastfeed right away like I had wanted to. While that was disappointing, I was more worried because I just wanted everything to be okay. I had Yusaku go with the nurses to the nursery and then called my mom to let her know that Olivia had born and what was going on. She came back to the room to stay with me while Yusaku was gone.

Thankfully, she came back from the nursery about half an hour later. They said she was stable now and I was finally able to hold her and breastfeed. We moved to a new, smaller room. I tried to balance resting, eating, drinking, and feeding her, which I think is something I will be battling with for a long time to come. We had a little scare when Olivia started spitting up and choking on mucous. Apparently this is normal within the first twenty four hours, but because it had happened a couple of times that day, our nurse recommended that we keep her in the nursery overnight so that someone could keep their eyes on her throughout the night and we could try to get a little rest. They brought her back every few hours so I could feed her. I am so glad we did this because I know I wouldn't have slept at all if she had been in the room because I would have been worrying too much.

The next "surprise" came on Monday, when we learned that she had jaundice and was above the 95% level, which was above high risk. She had to be put on a bili bed and the pediatrician told me it was medically necessary to supplement with formula, which I didn't want to do. I was afraid that by doing so she would no longer want to breastfeed. I obviously did what they told me because I wanted to do whatever was needed so she would get better. I was told  she needed the formula because she needed to get enough to eat so she could poop and get rid of the extra red blood cells that were causing the jaundice. It seems that the reason she had jaundice had to with the fact that she had been vacuumed out, which had caused bruising on her head and the bruising caused the jaundice.

After seeing the lactation consultant the next day and having her watch me feed Olivia, she said as long as she was feeding well, which she thought she was, that we could skip the formula and just breastfeed, which made me happy. Between the nurses, doctors, lactation consultants, etc. I had so many different pieces of advice/opinions that it was very confusing and frustrating to know what I should do.

Her jaundice levels actually went up the first night so they had to bring in more lights to put above her (see picture below; don't forget to check out the cool goggles).  When they tested her again the following afternoon she had improved enough that we got to take her home (alleluia!). They had been thinking that they would need to keep her under the lights another day, and because I would be discharged we would have had to move to a parenting room. luckily, we didn't have to do that. 

We took her to the pediatrician for her first appointment on Wednesday. The doctor thought everything looked great. They tested her levels of bilirubin again and said that they were now in the low-risk range. :) Breastfeeding, while much more painful than I expected and frustrating at times, is going well overall. While we had crazy beginning, we are overjoyed to be home with Olivia and are getting to know her and love her more each day.


I can't conclude this birth story without mentioning what an important role Yusaku has played. I couldn't have gotten through all of this without him. I don't know how anyone could do this alone. From the moment we got to the hospital to this very minute, he has been the most supportive partner I could ask for. He helped me breathe through the pain of labor.  He encouraged me through the actual delivery, offering me encouragement and telling me what a great job I was doing. Through all the little bumps in the road, he has remained calm and assured me everything would be okay. Since we've been home, he has been up with me at every feeding, recording how long she feeds and on which side. He has also recorded every wet and dirty diaper, not to mention that he's changed pretty much all of them. When I've had trouble breastfeeding, he has encouraged me and reminded of things the lactation consultant told us to do. Since the very first diaper at the hospital, he has changed all of them (with the exception of two I think), never having to be asked, but wanting to do it - to help, to participate. He is a wonderful father and I feel so lucky to have him.

39 weeks

As of today, I have only 6 days until my due date. I had my weekly doctor's appointment yesterday and there's really not much to report. Everything is fine. It's just a waiting game. I go back next week, at which point, I will be 40 weeks. If nothing has happened by then, I will go twice a week to be monitored to make sure everything is okay. If things don't happen on their own, they will induce me by October 8. That seems like a REALLY long time from now so I'm hoping I don't have to wait that long. 

If anything exciting happens, I will be sure to update. Heading off to get my hair done! I figured I should use this last bit of time to treat and take care of myself because once Olivia gets here, it may be a while! :)

38 weeks

So, Olivia could make her appearance anytime now - tomorrow or in three weeks (I hope not!). Not knowing when she is going to get here is hard. I'm trying to keep myself busy to make the time go by faster.

Other than the fact that I have had a bad cold since this weekend, I can't really complain about anything pregnancy-related. Sleeping is difficult as I am up about every hour to pee, but, oh well.  I'm pretty sure the extra peeing is due to the fact that she has dropped and is now pressing on my bladder even more than before.

My midwife told me they would let me go a week and a half past my due date before inducing me which could put her arrival around October 8. I'm hoping for a September baby though. I'm partial to that month! :) I will go for an appointment next week at 39 weeks and again the week after that for 40 weeks. If there's still no baby at that point, then I will come in twice a week and have a non-stress test and they will see how she is doing. They want things to happen as naturally as possible before they intervene.

I'm a little worried about showing up to the hospital when I actually do go into labor and getting sent back home. They tell you to wait until your contractions are five minutes apart, lasting a minute each for at least an hour. However, I've heard from a few friend of mine that even if that's the case and you show up and you're only dilated 3 or 4 centimeters, they might send you back home. That would stink!

Tonight, Leslee, Erin, my mom, and I are headed to Mama DiSalvo's for dinner. You might remember that about 6 months ago the four of us were going to do the same thing, but Leslee went into labor that day and we never got around to having that dinner. The funny thing is that the reason we were going to go there in the first place is that my parents and Leslee's parents had dinner there the night Leslee's mom (Erin) went into labor. Since the mere suggestion of going there was enough for Leslee, I'm hoping that it has some magical powers. We shall see!  I will be sure to keep you posted if anything exciting happens!

Chugging right along!

As of today I am 36 weeks and 5 days...so, almost 37 weeks. I can't believe that on Tuesday when I am 37 weeks, Olivia will be considered full term and could come (safely) at any time. I am so curious about what she is going to look like, how big she will, how much she will weigh, etc., etc. It's hard to believe that in a mere 23days (or so) I will get to find out.

At my doctor's appointment last week, my midwife was listening to her heartbeat and she kept wiggling around, which she usually does. I guess because of her high heart-rate and the fact that she's such a wiggle-worm, my midwife commented that she was "hyper" and that I will "have my hands full." That's fine with me. I'd rather have a hyper, active baby than a quiet one, especially while she's inside me.

This weekend we have had amazing fall-like weather and I couldn't be more excited! I have been so hot all summer long so these cooler temperatures feel heavenly. The only problem now is that for the next 3 weeks or so I don't have any pants that are comfortable/fit. It looks like I'm going to have to invest in at least one pair of maternity jeans to tide me over. With shirts I can probably make do.

Time is going by a little faster these days. While my parents were out of town for Labor Day weekend, Yusaku put in all new Ikea cabinets in their kitchen. I "supervised," offered moral support, cleaned up the leftover debris, and tried to help in some small ways. Yusaku did all the hard work, of course, and it looks great! I can't wait to see my parents' reaction when they come back home.

The plans for the rest of the weekend entail buying myself a new pair of jeans, hopefully getting a new/fixed phone, watching the Holiday at Home parade tomorrow, and just enjoying the beautiful weather. Tuesday I will be heading out to Precious Blood (now Mother Maria Anna Brunner, although I can't get used to calling it that) to volunteer in the morning and to my doctor's appointment in the afternoon.

Yusaku will be traveling this coming week Tuesday to Thursday but should be home after that for good, which makes me happy considering Olivia could show up any time in the next few weeks and I'd really like him to be here for that.  I'm really looking forward to the Greek festival next weekend, mostly just because I love the food! :)

I think that's the end of my rambling! Will update soon!

35 weeks and 35 days to go!

Not much to update since last week. Things are moving right along. The newest thing is that I'm pretty sure I felt an actual foot when I was feeling her move on my right side. It was so strange...it was small and just the right size for a foot poking out of my side.

I am starting to go crazy sitting around the house. Yusaku left for Texas Sunday for work and won't come back until September 1st, which is making time pass even slower. I sent an email to all my former co-workers at school asking if I could please come out and help them over the next month. I am dying to see everyone, be productive, and leave my house.

It looks like it's going to work out and I plan to head out Friday for the first time. This only the first week of school, so I'm sure things are crazy for them, but hopefully by next week, I can work out some sort of volunteering schedule. The only strange thing is there is a new principal and I haven't contacted her yet about my plan. I am hoping she will be okay with it, otherwise I don't know what I will do.

I'm tired of sitting around and relaxing and I know someday soon, I will wish I could do that, but right now it is so boring. I just want to make the next 5 weeks go by quickly and for Olivia to get here! I have my next doctor's appointment on Monday of next week and then every week after from there on out. Will update after my appointment!

34 weeks (and 1 day)

All is going well. Only 6 weeks to go! I had my doctor's appointment on Monday. Her heartbeat was high as usual (high 150's to 160) and the midwife said she was "a hyper little girl." Some days she is more "hyper" than others. I think it was Sunday that she was jumping around all day.

I asked the midwife if she could tell from measuring me (which she does at every appointment) and pushing around on my stomach, about how big she is. She says she's normal/on-track and probably weighs around 4 lbs. or so.  Each week that goes by I worry less about her coming early because, at this point, even if she came right now, she would be okay. Her lungs are developed and she would just be a little small if she came now. I am also getting more anxious/excited with each passing week to meet her. I can't wait to see what she looks like and get to know her.

Yusaku and I have picked up the rest of the baby gear we "need," including a bassinet, swing, bouncy seat, breast bump, and stroller. This is great, because I feel more prepared knowing we have everything.  However, we have quickly realized that we are running out of space. We have switched the couches that were in the sun room with the ones that were in the front room and have decided to get rid of our big red chair to give us a little more space. I know this is just a sign of things to come. We will just continue to accumulate more stuff, which means either our house will begin to overflow or we'll need to find other things to get rid of to make room.  Eventually, we're going to need to move into a bigger house...especially when we're ready for Baby #2 someday. In the meantime, we can deal with the clutter because once Olivia arrives I'm sure we won't really care.

33 Week Update and Baby Shower Pics

As of today, I am 33 weeks along. That means only 7 more weeks (49 days) to go! Woo hoo! My babycenter.com update says that Olivia should be weighing just over 4 lbs. and should be at least 17 in. long by now. The bigger I get, the more eager I am to no longer be pregnant. I also feel like I will just be relieved (and, of course, excited too) once she's outside of me because then I can see her and know what's going on. Right now, I just wish I could see here and know everything is okay.

I'm getting a little more uncomfortable these days thanks in part to the unbearable heat and the fact that I am getting bigger by the day. My latest pregnancy symptoms are achy, numb, tingly hands, fingers, and wrists and sore, swollen ankles. Apparently, the hand/wrist issue is due to carpal tunnel syndrome and is normal at this point in pregnancy. The swollen ankles are to be expected with the heat and extra weight I guess.

Kelly, Me, and Tiffany

On to a happier topic...my baby shower was last weekend! It was great to see all my family and friends who came. The food was great, the games were fun, and I got a lot of great presents! My family and Kelly worked hard to put it altogether and did a great job! Enjoy the pics!

My mom and I

A namesake book for Olivia

Sarah and I

Me with Katlyn and Charlotte

Sarah, Me, Grandma, Mom, and Aunt Patty

Finished Nursery and Prenatal Yoga

As you can see from the picture, our glider came in and we picked it up on Saturday. The nursery is now pretty much finished, which I am happy about. I know I still have enough time left, but I am anxious for everything to be ready to go.

Since we drove down to Northern Cincinnati to pick up the glider, we decided to stop by Ikea on the way back home. That's where Yusaku found the little stuffed soccer ball I am holding. This is for Olivia as it has been decided that she WILL play soccer! :) We even let Lucy upstairs to check out the room - a special treat for her since she's not usually allowed upstairs.

I am 31 weeks today and getting more and more anxious to meet Olivia. I can't wait to see what she looks like (among other things)! I hope the next two months go by quickly!

Last Wednesday I went to a prenatal yoga class. It's the first yoga class of any sort that I've ever taken. I was a little nervous that it would be hard or I would look stupid doing it, but it went pretty well. It's pretty low intensity. There were a lot of pregnant women there. Apparently, there were about twice as many people there as normal. (I swear that everywhere I go I see pregnant women. I think there's a little baby boom going on or something!) I am planning to go every week from now at least through the end of August. I think it's good for practicing relaxation (lots of breathing), not to mention that it will help me to be more flexible and is supposed to help with some of the discomfort I've been experiencing (i.e. low back pain).

I'll update the blog after my shower this weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing all my friends and family!

The Big Reveal!!!

Things are chugging along. It's hard to believe I'm 29 weeks along and there are only 77 days to go!  Now to get the exciting part...we've decided on a name. We really haven't told many people outside of our parents and our siblings yet. Seeing as how my baby shower is coming up at the end of the month, I figure now would be a good time to share the news. 

Drumroll please......her name will be OLIVIA!!! It's a name we both like and I think it sounds good with Kawai. I think we're set on the middle name too. It will be Japanese, but I think I'll wait to share that til later!

Overall, I feel pretty good except that I can no longer sleep well. It seems like every night I look at the clock every hour. I can't get comfortable...I'm hot, I roll from one side to the other, and I hate sleeping on my sides. I've also been having achy legs lately...kind of a new symptom. I looked it up online. I guess it's normal...something about a hormone that makes your muscle fiber relax and leads to poor circulation, which leads to the achiness.  I go for my next doctor's appointment on Monday so I'll see if my midwife has any advice on how to be more comfortable. After this upcoming appointment, I'll go every two weeks instead of every month.

When summer first started, I was worried I wouldn't have enough to do to keep myself busy and make the time pass. Now it seems like that's not so hard. I've been reading a lot, trying to get in as much as I can because I know once the baby arrives I'm not going to be able to read like this for a while. I just finished The Help, which was wonderful. I've been trying to study my Japanese too thanks to the Rosetta Stone program Yusaku got me for my anniversary present.  I've also been working on cleaning/organizing the basement...something I've put off since bringing everything home for school a month ago.  I've got a little more to do, but it's coming along.  Sarah will be coming home this week and after a little traveling to Chicago and Indy, will be around next week and the week after, which will be nice. She has yet to see me in all my pregnant glory..ha ha! I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of my friends and family at my shower coming up in a few weeks.  I'm off to eat some lunch and maybe be productive! :)

What do you do?

I find myself having a hard time answering this question lately and it's something that seems to come up a lot, most recently when Yusaku and I met with pediatricians. This question is in reference to my job, something which I don't currently have. It's strange though, because as a teacher, I would normally be on summer vacation right now, so it hasn't really kicked in yet that I am no longer working. My automatic response is usually, of course, that I am a teacher. Even though I won't be going back in the fall and haven't yet decided when I will go back, I still feel that being a teacher is so much a part of who I am that it's hard for me to not give that answer. I am choosing to stay home and am looking forward to doing so, but I think it will be hard for me in the fall when school starts back up and I am not there.

Today, for a few hours at least, I had enough energy and motivation to go through/organize some of the teaching "stuff" that I brought home from my classroom and is now living in our basement. Doing this made me eager to be back in a classroom with kids. Maybe I can do some tutoring in the second half of next school year or sub part time. We shall see! :)  The organization process ended, however, when I ate lunch, which was then followed by my now daily nap, after which I decided I will continue organizing tomorrow.

26 weeks (and 1 day) : 97 days til baby!

Here's the 25.5 week baby bump picture, which was taken at the beach. There's a lot of skin...you've been forewarned! I did bring two other bathing suits - a tankini and a maternity one piece, but honestly, it was most comfortable wearing this one and letting it all hang out! :)

This Monday I had to do the glucose screening, which meant I had to drink 10 oz. of nasty orange sugar water stuff and then go have my blood drawn. I was worried beforehand about drinking the "glucola" and how it would make me feel, but it all turned out okay. 

On Tuesday, I went for my regular check up and found out the results of glucose test. I was nervous because I knew if I didn't pass, I would have to take a three-hour-long test which would entail drinking even more gross stuff and having my blood drawn once every hour. Thankfully, I passed, although not with flying colors. As the midwife told me, I just barely passed. She told me that I needed to cut back on carbs (my favorite food group) and eat a lot more protein. She also said I needed to be drinking A GALLON OF WATER a day, which I know I have not been doing - not even close. So, I am trying to be good and follow doctor's orders. My next appointment is in a month, at which point I will be 30 weeks. From then on, I will start going every two weeks, instead of every four, and then then last month or so, I will go every week.

This weekend Yusaku and I have a weekend full of childbirth preparation classes at the hospital (10-4 on both Saturday and Sunday). I have also scheduled two prenatal consultations for us in the next few weeks with two different pediatricians so we can try to pick one. Just trying to get everything I can think of taken care of and out of the way. I know I still have three months left but I don't want to wait until the last minute.

One last hurrah!

We just got back from the beach late Saturday night. It was a wonderful vacation - full of sitting on the beach, reading books, and just relaxing. The condo was beachfront, which was awesome.  In the past the condo we've stayed at is just a row or two back, which was still not bad, but our beach access at this condo was pretty much right outside our door.

We saw more wildlife on this trip than we have ever seen before. We saw dolphins every day - one day we probably saw 15 or 20. We also saw a group (school?) of stingrays, as well as a shark - a nice big five foot long shark that was a couple feet away from shore. Kind of cool, kind of scary.

We got to visit with Pop Pop and Florence - having dinner at their house one night and then crabs at our condo another night. It was great seeing them and the crabs, which are an annual tradition, were great as usual!

I managed to finish a 560 something page book, which I had gotten less than halfway through before vacation and then read two more books (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and Little Bee) and start another during the course of our vacation. It felt great! I can't remember the last time I got to read that much in such a short amount of time. I'm hoping to do a lot of reading this summer before the baby arrives. (Yusaku was having fun playing with his camera and taking picture of me reading on our balcony.)

 

Enjoy this last picture of the beautiful intracoastal waterway at sunset!