Conversation Between Mom and Dad -To Be

Me: I can't believe we are going to be parents in a week.
Hubby: Yeah.
Me: Are you nervous?
Hubby:  No.
Me: Why NOT? I have no idea what to do.
Hubby: We will take care of her. Trial and error!
Me: Trial and ERROR! What ERROR?!! We can't have any error with baby!
Hubby: Nah. That's how it goes. No parents are perfect...
Me: But I am perfect.
Hubby: No you are NOT.

Grandma's coming!

Mom's plane arrived an hour ago. I am anxiously waiting at home. The snow is coming down fast outside with sleet hitting all the windows, loud and furious. I am grateful that the timing is just right. If she were to fly in tomorrow, she might not be able to land since we are predicted to have 5 to 10 inches of snow.

We have scheduled the induction on Feb. 8. We will go in on Feb. 7 and stay overnight at the hospital. Few more days, baby girl! She's been wiggling and stretching rather than kicking. I guess her room is getting smaller each day. We had our last sonogram yesterday. Everything was normal. Dr. said she was proportionally big, not just in the head or stomach as we were told earlier. I also got a chance to talk to my coworker Sue, who had an 11 lb 3 ounce baby girl naturally 23 years ago. Sue is Korean and tiny. She did it, I can do it too. She told me after the baby came, she was heavier than the twins added up together delivered next door. Sue's mother said to her:"You did not give birth to a baby, you gave birth to a monster!!" I hope my mom won't say that to me if the same situation happens.

My Mommy Principles – Pre-Motherhood

I have been thinking about things I want to do when I become a mom and a few principles I must uphold to maintain my own identity rather than purely being somebody’s mom. These may all become invalid once I stare into my baby’s eyes. I may become one of THOSE moms. It’s all possible but it would be interesting to see the pre- and post pictures of my mindset.

• Buy a baby sling and wear the baby out even when she’s fairly young
• Sleep train the baby
• Breast feed her but also bottle train her
• Continue to practice yoga
• Still have dates with hubby (with and sometimes without the baby)
• Travel abroad with her (first target date/destination: May 2012/China & Japan)
• Travel abroad without her (train hubby to take care of her independently)
• Still have girls’ night out once in a while and enjoy my friends and allow hubby to do the same
• Don’t hover over when she becomes a teenager; don’t be overly protective; don’t be overly conservative (think about what I wanted to do that my mom did not want me to do…)
• Teach her to have faith

Home Stretch

Yesterday we had our last sonogram. Baby's measured at 7 lbs and 13 ounces at two days short of 36 weeks. She had her face hidden from us so I was a little disappointed not to see her chubby cheeks for one last time through 4D images. But we will see her in real person soon. I got dizzy and nauseous again in the exam room, probably because the room was small, dark and hot and I was lying down for too long. At this point, the doctor said she was over 90 percentile in terms of weight. However the sonogram might be one pound off either up or down. I am of course hoping for down. I told my OB in the afternoon appointment that I was NOT going for elective C-section. She was fine with it. In fact she said "maybe you have one of those amazing Asian pelvises!" Lately she encountered multiple tiny Asian women giving birth to 10 pound plus babies and she was convinced that it had to be an admirable trait of my entire race. Well, we will see how it goes.

Mike disassembled and re-assembled the car seat today, basically to figure out a way to put the protective padding on the straps. It's great to have someone handy in the house since I hate reading manuals and putting anything together. After battling with it for half an hour, we managed it. Then we added a JJ Cole car seat cover and put a snuzzler inside as well. Looks like baby will be comfy and warm enough, shielded from the harsh February weather. Next step is to figure out how to secure the car seat and base in his car so our baby girl can have her welcome ride home.

Happy New Year Chubby Chubs

It's a beautiful day. Sunny and nearly 50 degrees. I laze around and want to finish packing the hospital bag later today. I am still having these hunger pangs. Time to snack again.

Happy New Year to the little one that's wiggling in my belly! No champagne tonight and very likely I may not even keep awake till the clock strikes to turn into the next decade, but all's ok.

Mantra

Last Sunday, I went to the prenatal yoga class for the second time during pregnancy. This was a different teacher and I enjoyed her class much better. I've been going to the standard class for the past eight months and just did my own adjustment as needed. Last night in the Hatha Flow class, I realized that it was becoming quite difficult for me to do a chaturanga as my belly was touching the floor no matter what at this point. I changed the pose into a cat-cow stretch.

As it is getting closer to the big date, with the prediction of baby being over 9 pounds, I am starting to panic a little because I really don't want to go through a C-section. This morning we had another OB visit when the doctor announced that I might only have an option for a "trial of labor". There was talk on inducing the baby at 39 weeks and a future discussion on elective C-section. I felt dizzy right then (partly because I rose up from the examination table too quickly, partly because of hearing the "C" word. ) I had to lie down, rest and try to calm my nerves. The unforeseen future was a blow to my head. I threw up my breakfast afterwards.

Sunday's teacher in closing the class asked us to repeat the following:" I trust in the wisdom of my body; I trust in the wisdom of my baby; I trust in the devine light." I've been thinking about this. No matter what, baby is going to come. All kinds of women did this before me and they made it! I should trust that the best will come out this experience and my baby is going to be safe and sound.

X'mas Gift for Daddy and Baby

Liz got the "most creative gift" prize for this Christmas. For my Star Wars geeky hubby, here is a T-shirt for daddy and a onesie for baby.

Christmas without Tree

Last year I had a tree with only blue and white ornaments and I had a great time decorating indoors and outdoors. This year we do not have a tree. I cannot bend down much to drag out all the lights in the basement and it gives me a headache just thinking about having to untangle all the wires. So my executive decision is to simplify everything and the house ends up looking so "festive" this Christmas.

However I have been listening to 97.1 on the way to and from work everyday. I realize that baby likes some of the Christmas songs. She would not stop kicking when she hears them. She and I share our own Christmas spirit in a different way this year.

Nesting Frenzy

Friday morning's OB visit confirmed that baby girl was in the 75 percentile and plus zone . She's officially borderline big, a whopping 5 lb 2 ounce at 31 weeks 5 days! Doctor predicted that she might be a 9 and half pounder upon arrival. As for mama, despite having a terrible cold and sinus infection for over a week, I could not stop cleaning and organizing the house, getting ready for our new addition. I was in a nesting mode convinced that she would come soon with her growth rate.

Saturday we went to BabiesRUs and did our biggest shopping. Mike carried home the mattress which now fits snugly in the new crib that was wiped up and down by me last night. I was practically on my knees scraping the bathroom floor and cleaning up all the drawers I emptied up for baby storage. Belly in the way or not, I was determined to have a spotless and sterile environment.

Today is a cleaning day for crib sheets, bumper, mattress pads, pack-n-go pad and everything else that has not been washed yet. I chased Mike out of the house earlier, howling like a mad woman because we forgot one entire bag of purchase at the store yesterday. He gladly drove off to get away from my rage.

After clearing out some more space from the closet, I finally settled down. Time for a little break. Whew!

Baby On Board

First post at gestational age 31st week. Baby girl's moving like mad. Between 28 weeks and now, I feel constant jabbing, rolling, and kicking. Sometimes her movement takes my breath away. I sit and watch my belly pulsate and move from side to side in amazement. She will for sure be active!

Nurse also told us she was "borderline heavy" during the last checkup. Our chubby cheeks is growing almost a pound heavier than babies of the same age. On the way to check out a day care last Friday, we passed the "Chubb Institute". Hubby said "we are going to send our baby to the Chub Institute!"

I have continued to practise yoga. It helps to maintain my balance mentally and physically, assuring me that pregnancy does not disable me. Little one seems to enjoy it too. I am already so curious to meet her but I have to keep her in my belly for at least another 6 weeks.