40 weeks, 5 days

On Thursday, February 13th, I went into labor! 

It started with mild contractions at 4am and then slowly they got more intense throughout the day. At around 8:00pm, we headed over to the hospital, as they were 3 minutes apart. 

After getting to the hospital, we were put in this awful triage room for three hours and laboring there was the worst. Eventually, we were moved to a beautiful birthing suite where I was able to relax in a hot tub. 

The next morning, around 9am, I was fully dilated and ready to push. We started in the birthing suite and moved to an OR once I got closer. After two hours of pushing,  at 11:34am, our little Mars came into this world weighing at 7 pounds and 6 ounces, measuring at 20 inches long!

I cannot even begin to describe how it felt and how it feels now. I am in absolute LOVE with this little baby and no words or photos I can possibly post here will do it justice. We are just so in love! :)

40 weeks, 1 day

Baby was due yesterday!

Right now, we're just waiting... This morning I had some contractions about 20 minutes apart, but they went away. In between contractions, I told J to go to work, but during, I told him to stay home. So he's home now and we just got back from a walk to the store. 

39 weeks, 2 days

Five more days until our estimated due date!

These past couple of weeks have been slow and filled with ups and downs. I keep going back and forth between being ok with having a natural breech birth and freaking out about whether or not he'll come before they want to schedule a c-section. Feeling ok, freaking out, feeling ok, freaking out. And by the end, I just wish for him to turn so that all of this can be avoided. 

More things I'm doing to help turn the baby:

1. Listening to a "how to turn a breech baby" hypnosis track daily.

2. Going to a chiropractor for the Webster method.

3. Going to a different (and more intense) acupuncturist for more moxa treatments.

4. Sitting in more upside-down positions while watching TV.

5. Acupressure on certain points.

Some things I'm doing to help induce labor so that if he doesn't turn, he will at least come in time to avoid a c-section:

1. Eating supposed labor-inducing foods: lots of hot sauce, eggplant, pineapples...

2. Drinking raspberry leaf tea.

3. Bouncing on a yoga ball.

4. Taking evening primrose.

5. And I think my acupuncturist is doing stuff to help induce, but the language barrier makes me not so sure...

I feel kind of bad because I just don't think the baby is ready to come out :( and I don't really want to induce if he's not ready, but I also don't want a c-section. See what I mean about the ups and downs? 

In terms of how I'm feeling, everything feels great! I still have a lot of energy and I don't feel much discomfort. Everyone asks me if I'm "ready". Strangers at the check-out line ask if I'm "ready". I think I am! Look, our bags are packed!

 And the nursery is half decorated...half because I just got kind of lazy and the baby won't be sleeping there for a while anyway...

Clothes are washed, diapers are ready: 

And here I am with my 39 week belly:

37 weeks

Last Wednesday, I had my first appointment with UCSF (we switched over from Kaiser). Turns out, baby is breech just like J was when he was a little fetus. 

By 37 weeks, babies are usually head down and ready to go, but not ours! We've been trying all kinds of things to turn the baby, but so far, he won't move. I can feel the back of his little head at the top of my belly, he's just sitting cross-legged in there.

So far, I've been spending some time upside-down. Half on the couch, half on the floor.

I've tried putting a bag of frozen berries at the top of my belly to try to get him to move down. 

I've played music on my iPhone and put it in between my legs.

I've shined a flashlight down there to try to get his attention.

As you can see, I'm getting pretty desperate.

After our second appointment on Friday, I went to an acupuncturist and had moxibustion done. It's also supposed to be really effective in turning breech babies. They even sent me home with a moxa stick for me to continue the practice until he turns.

You're supposed to light it up like an incense and put it close to the corner of your pinky toe. Once it gets hot, you move it away, and go to the other foot. 

The radiant heat produced stimulates the acupuncture point that activates the uterus.

 Moxa is said to have a warming effect which promotes movement and activity. Hopefully, this will help turn baby head-down!

If not, we have another appointment on Tuesday to "turn" the baby with an external cephalic version. There's a very, very small chance that I might go into labor because of this procedure so we're going to bring our hospital bags and we've installed the carseat. 

I hope all goes well!

In other news, the weather has been really nice lately. It makes our neighborhood feel extra cheery and happy with all its brightly painted houses.

Here I am with my 37 week belly:

Oh yeah! Aside from finding out that baby is breech, we also found out that he has hair! We saw it on the ultrasound. It was very cute hair.

35 weeks, 5 days

I don't feel big, but when I see myself in pictures, I realize that I have a giant pregnant belly! In restaurants, I still try to squeeze in-between chairs, but then realize that I don't fit and do the awkward, "oops! excuse me, excuse me" thing. 

I still wear non-maternity dresses because they fit, but then I'll look in the mirror and realize that the belly is lifting the skirt up wayyyy too high, and that the dress is now inappropriate for a pregnant lady.

It's so weird how much my body has changed, but I don't realize it. The other night, I ran into the kitchen because I forgot to turn off the stove, and our doula was shocked at how fast I was moving for a person who is 8 months pregnant. 

Because of this, I feel like I need to document these last remaining weeks of the pregnancy. If I can't realize it now, I'm sure I won't remember it later.

35 weeks

My birth plan.

I know things don't always go according to plan, but ideally, these are our preferences.

I wonder how things will eventually turn out.

34 weeks, 1 day

Recent news

1. I'm finally on winter break, which means I've pretty much started my maternity leave, which means I'm not going to be working for a verrryyyyy long time! Yay! I think I got lucky with the timing cause my leave begins in January, and goes until mid-June. Then we have summer break, and I don't have to be back at work until August...if I decide to return to work.

2. My sister and niece were visiting for the weekend! It's always so much fun having them around.

3. Like I mentioned in the previous post, my brother and sister-in-law had their baby earlier this month. Welcome to the world, Baby Lily!

4. My hands and feet are getting really swollen and I did not take my wedding rings off in time. I really didn't want to get them cut off so we tried every trick in the book... Soap and water did not help, Windex just made my fingers sticky, and "the dental floss trick" left my finger even more swollen and very irritated. Finally, I rubbed Preparation H on my ring finger and left it on for 30 minutes. It still looked really swollen, but I thought I'd try twisting it off anyway... Lo and behold! It worked! It kind of hurt, but miraculously, it twisted off! I was very proud of myself.

5. I should've followed my gut instinct and not tell the in-laws our baby's name until after he was born. However, we thought it'd be nice to just let them know. Turns out, they hate it and want us to change it. Their arguments are 1. "He'll get made fun of" and 2. "The meaning is too negative". My arguments are 1. I am a school teacher and kids just don't make fun of names anymore if they have the right upbringing and teaching, plus there is a whole new generation of crazy names out there that nobody even knows what to make fun of anymore. 2. Do you really think we'd pick a name without considering the meaning? We have done thorough research and know exactly what the name means, and guess what? We are ok with it. Plus, their idea of what the name means is not even true. I have no idea where they're getting their information from. This is a major source of stress for me, and I'm having trouble sleeping because of it. I hate having so much negativity while pregnant. Why can't they just be respectful? We've already named our baby and it's not their choice! So rude.

31 weeks, 6 days

Our second baby shower!

We had our Christmas co-ed baby shower today!

We were really nervous at first because we weren't sure if 45 people would fit in our little house, but it turned out ok. We had lots of fun and I was super happy to see friends. J might have had too much fun (aka drinks), but I'm glad he did since he never gets to party like a 21 year old anymore, and probably won't get to for a long time. By 6pm, he was passed out and snoring on the couch. Good for him!

Having this second shower just reminded me of how much closer we are to greeting the baby that's been hanging out in my belly. In a little less than two months, we're gonna see if he has hair on his head and hear what he sounds like. It has all been so surreal but now it's hitting me: a small baby is going to come out of me at a hospital, we are going to take him home, and he is going to be around us forever. That's so crazy! 

30 weeks, 6 days

My first baby shower!

My awesome and super thoughtful coworkers threw me a baby shower today! A very kind parent offered for us to have it at her amazing restaurant, and provided all kinds of delicious food. 

The theme was "Around the World" or "Welcome to the World" or "Boy Meets World" or anything you could say about maps at a baby shower. 

I made the favors from brown paper bags and filled them with snacks and candies from around the world…although I only had time to stop by a Chinese grocery store, so it was pretty much just snacks and candies from around Asia.

Prizes for the winners of the games:

All the different games and activities:

And all the yummy food:

22 weeks, 2 days

We're making room for baby!

I've been busy ebaying my old cameras in an attempt to make room for the baby. I don't think it'll free up that much more space, but having a baby is a good excuse to get rid of clutter.

In other news...

Today is the first day I felt the discomfort of a growing baby in my belly. After dinner, I just found it so challenging to sit comfortably. It was kind of my first, "uh oh" moment, realizing how I'm only half-way through this pregnancy, and how much more uncomfortable it will be getting.

This Thursday will be our last hypnobirthing class! I can't believe five weeks have already gone by! We've really enjoyed the experience so far, and because of this class, I'm feeling more confident about labor and birthing. I'm actually really excited for the day I go into labor and can't wait!

Through our hypnobirthing class, we met our doulas! They're actually the teachers of our class, and not only do they co-teach hypnobirthing, but they also co-doula for pregnant couples. They're both really nice and knowledgable about everything related to birthing in San Francisco, and we're so excited to be working with them! Having this extra support is just another reason why I'm super excited to give birth!

We are slowly building our collection of baby stuff! The laundry room that we just cleared out is now filling up with baby supplies, and best of all, they're all hand-me-downs! I can't wait to move into our new house so I can start setting up the nursery.

After I spoke my first words this morning, the baby started kicking really hard. I wonder if I woke him up, or if he was just excited to hear that I was awake. 

19 weeks, 6 days

On Wednesday, we had our ultrasound appointment and found out that the baby is healthy and likes to roll around in my belly. It was face-down at first, then on its side, then on its back. There's so much room in there! 

Also, we found out the sex of our baby! 

We had our ultrasound tech, Susan, write it on a card and put it in an envelope. 

Then, we drove down to the Musee Mecanique, which is pretty much a warehouse filled with penny-arcade machines and games from the early 1900's, in Fisherman's Wharf. 

We got into a film-processing photo booth (not one of the digital ones that you see today, and yes, I had to be snobby about what kind of photo booth we got into), and then, we opened the envelope! 

This is what it said:

The photo strip on the left shows our reactions from when we found out. I love J's face in the second and third frames. I'm really glad we got to capture the moment on film.

It's a boy!