Baby Bump Update

It has taken me longer than I thought to get this update up, but the wait is over.  Here was my big ole belly on December 1, 2009 (35 weeks, 4 days).

The next set of pictures were taken tonight, December 14, 2009 (37 weeks, 3 days).  Jeremy noted that my belly was very shiny.  I agree.  I assume that is because the skin is streeeeetched out so far.  There has been some growth in the last two weeks.  I find my shirts are tighter.  Some of my t-shirts that I bought about halfway through are almost too little.  I keep tugging at the bottom while teaching, so I don't flash my very sexy midriff :)  So, I had a weekly appointment this week.  It was exciting or lengthier than normal.  I talked to the doctor about our birth plan - which is just a list of things that I would like to happen, but understand that it is not always possible for things to go exactly as planned.  It was good to just have some talking points for once.  The doctor did an internal exam for the second week in a row.  I learned that I am still not dilated - good news for us.  I am hoping to make it through the Christmas weekend.  He checked to see if the head is down.  Because he couldn't tell, I went to the ultrasound room.  I reminded him that I didn't know the sex of the baby, so if he sees something to keep it quiet :)  Well, nothing was revealed anyway.  I did learn that my baby is NOT head down, but is breech right now.  So, it needs to work on turning itself around in the next few weeks.  For all those praying for baby Yoh, that can be in your prayers.  The baby is fine, but if it stays breech, I will for sure have to have a c-section, and I would like to have an experience of the other (or at least a chance).  Either way, I am still hoping for healthy :)  Okay, that was a long update, but since I actually learned something, I thought I would share.  Oh, and it was too rainy for the car seat install on Sunday; so, we'll do it later this week.  I was supposed to pack my bag tonight, but between taking cookies to neighbors, finishing laundry, and relaxing briefly on the couch, it just didn't happen.  Maybe by Wednesday.  Have a great week!

Progress and Updates

Today, we are official graduates of all of our child education classes - labor and delivery, breastfeeding, and taking baby home.  I think these classes have been helpful, but it has made for busy times.  Today we learned how to give a baby a sponge bath, diaper, swaddle, signs of sickness, and a variety of other things that we hope to remember.  Our baby job tomorrow is to install our car seat.  My job by Monday is to pack my overnight bag.  Jeremy says is stressed out because that is not done yet.  (I am hoping that the longer I put it off, the longer it will be until delivery day!)  Jeremy did some running around today - errands that needed to be done.  I balanced the checkbook and looked at how to include baby in our budget for 2010.  I also made supper; some may think this is no big deal - but if you ask my husband, you will realize this is a novelty nowadays!  I also worked on making some of the toffee bars that I will need for the cookie exchange with my co-workers on Monday - I need 99 toffee bars to pass out!!!  (That also means that I'll get 99 cookies from others... these will be given as gifts to those in my neighborhood; no need to eat them all myself!)


A few updates... our little Christmas tree and our nativity set are up and ready for the season. Our church had a live nativity on Friday night.  Jeremy was a shepherd with a little 6 year old (I think?) apprentice shepherd.  The church gym area was set up like a Bethlehem marketplace where people could draw water from a well, create clay pots, buy candy, weave headbands, and visit live animals (goats, miniature horses).  The shepherds were supposed to guide the people to the Christ child in another room of the church.  It was really neat, and the church was bustling.  It made me think about Mary traveling on a donkey when 40 weeks (more or less) pregnant.  I feel for her.  Although I am not extremely uncomfortable yet, I would not want to walk or ride a donkey for miles and miles and miles.  Just a new dimension to Christmas this year.


Jeremy put up the pack n play without any complications earlier this week.  It is in the living room ready to be used.  You can see the blanket hanging over the edge.  One of the women in the special ed department knit it for me.  It matches the colors of the nursery perfectly, and is a great larger size for laying out on the floor. 

Surviving

I will get a baby bump posted soon, but just thought I would send a general update.  Jeremy and I have been busy!  We managed to get some Christmas shopping done on Saturday - yeah!  It is crazy out there... especially the parking lots.  On Sunday, we got together with some of our good friends we hadn't seen for awhile.  They live "out in the country" and it felt good to get out of the city and with friends for an afternoon.  They have a little girl who is two and another little girl who is about 6 months.  The 2 year old, Olivia, is so talkative and fun to interact with!  I wonder what our little one will be like :)  We were able to put up Christmas decorations on Sunday night.  It is nothing elaborate, but at least we have our (tiny) tree up with lights.  We also put up the nativity set Jeremy's Grandma made for my Christmas gift last year - well, we put up part of it.. it is HUGE.  It is on our mantle and looks good.  i will try to post a picture of this as well.  Tonight I had Parent Teacher Conferences.  I only had a few, and they went well.  But the day is utterly exhausting!  I got there at 6:45am and left at 7:30pm.  I was thankful that my assistant principal gave me permission to leave a little early.  I am tired and fighting a cold; she was incredibly understanding.  Let's see... Thursday we meet my older brother for supper and Friday, Jeremy is a shepherd in the live nativity at our church.  We have our last baby class on Saturday; then, Sunday, we get a visit from Jeremy's Florida cousin.  I do believe that we have only one event on the calendar for next week though, and my plan is to keep it that way.  My doctor says - REST, and I am trying to get that accomplished.  I hope everyone has a great week.  Until my next post...

Baby Bump Update

So, here is the newest baby bump picture.  As always, last picture is compared with current picture..

The first pics were from  November 7, 2009 which was 32 weeks, 1 day.

The newest pictures are from yesterday - December 1, 2009.  That is 35 weeks, 4 days.  I am feeling lots of movement all the time.  Luckily, at night, the baby still continues to fall asleep with me instead of kicking me as I fall asleep.... will this be true when it comes out?  My doctor says all looks good.  My measurements still show that I am right on target.  I am feeling good overall, but can definitely tell which days I am on my feet a lot at school - tired back and sore feet.... and a huge desire to just lay on the couch when I get home!  We went tonight to take a tour of Grant Hospital.  It is a nice place, but I think our preference would be St. Ann's.   Why?  Well, it is closer (10 minutes compared to 20 minutes), it feels a bit smaller (don't know if it really is), and parking is free for all at St. Ann's.  Otherwise, they both seem like great places to have a baby.

I told Jeremy that I was driving home from school the other day and realized that if I go into labor before January 1st, I will be taken off guard.  Yeah, I know, that is just an estimated due date, but we continue to plan life as though nothing will happen til then.  And you know, maybe it won't.  But if it happens sooner, we should have the car seat in the car, a bag packed, and a peditrician picked... and be more serious with baby names than our latest favorite - Edgar Allen Yoh!  (Yes, we are totally kidding, and would never seriously saddle our child with such a ridiculous name, but why not have a little fun!)  We have a breastfeeding class tomorrow night, and I have a shower with my co-workers on Friday.  Then, the weekend is suddenly here, and we really need to get some Christmas shopping done.  I hope everyone is having a great start to December.  Until next time.

Saturday... Work Day

Saturday was another home improvement day for us.  My brother (Nate) came up and offered more of his day than we had predicted.  He brought up the oldest two kids, so Jen wouldn't have all four by herself.  Nate and Jeremy started pulling off the bathroom countertop around 10:30 in the morning.  They had the new one installed by 1:00.  They next duty was installing the new faucets.  Then, they began tearing up the flooring and removing the toliet.  This is where they ran into trouble.  The metal ring was rusted straight through and seemed to be unrepairable.  They tried what they thought would be a quick fix from Home Depot to no avail.  Nate left around 7pm, hoping for the best.  We were both thankful for all his help.

In the meantime, I took the two girls to Highbanks Metro Park to go to the nature center and run on the trails.  It was a lot of fun.  They ran and ran and ran on the trail.  I walked - no running for pregnant aunt!  We came home, and they started Barbie and the Diamond Castle movie while I picked up pizza for lunch.  We colored for awhile, watched Finding Nemo, and then they played hide-and-seek while I laid on the couch.  It was fun, but I was totally exhausted!!! 

It was a good, productive day.  An update on the bathroom... Jeremy found the perfect solution at Lowe's, fixed the toliet, installed the flooring, and reset the toliet. Yeah, my bathroom is back for my late night trips to the potty :) 

So much going on!

I'll start with Thanksgiving... We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day.  We went to Salem Mennonite's Thanksgiving day sale.  It is one of my favorite things of the year.  We bought some tasty treats and enjoyed the time to catch up with people.  We moved to my parents' house next for Thanksgiving feasting.  It was quieter than normal - not from lack of kids though.  We got the little boys fed quickly and coralled them upstairs for nap time.  The girls play so well together - no supervision necessary.  We actually had some adult talk time during/after the meal!  We laid around - stuffed to the brim - for a bit before needing to head on to the next party.  We went to Jeremy's grandpa's home next for an extended family gathering.  There were lots of ooohhhs over my ever increasing belly.  We were too full to keep eating, but it was good to reconnect with family.  We returned to Columbus by 8ish than night.  It was a good, tiring day.  (I went to bed by 9, I think.)

In other busy news.... we were able to get new carpet installed from our main floor up into the baby's room on Wednesday.  So, Tuesday night we had a friend volunteer his services to move furniture into the kitchen (which is tile) and our room (which we didn't recarpet).  On Wednesday, the carpet was installed.  It looks good - clean!!!  It is still light colored, but it just feels good.  We rearranged the furniture to have a more spacious set up to eventually accommodate baby stuff (pack n play, floor mat, etc).  I am still getting used to it, but I think I like it.  Our friend returned on Wednesday night to move all the furniture back - fantastic!  We also met with a window guy on Tuesday.  He kept it short, sweet, and to the point.  The price was better than the last place, so I think we are going to go for it and get new windows too.  (The tax credit - 30% - is a great incentive as well.) 

We finished up our labor and delivery classes on Monday.... I am sure we will be pros at it when the time arrives - no problems, no questions, no worries (you can always dream!)  It did help us get on the same page, and we did learn a lot!  This coming week we have a tour of the maternity ward at Grant Hospital and a breastfeeding class to go to.  Having a first baby is a lot of work/education!  I have another doctor's appointment on Monday, and then every week after that until the big day - only 5 more weeks til the estimated date of arrival :) 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  There are only 4 more weeks til Christmas.  Remember in the midst of all the busy goings to take time for each other and to praise our God for the gift of His Son. 

Recovering

Thank you for prayers after yesterday's blog.  Today was a little better.  I had a chance to talk to some of the problems from yesterday when we weren't both frustrated with each other.  It went well.  Plus in my last period class, a student said, "Mrs. Yoh, why are you always so happy?"  At least I can recover with God's help from a lousy day.

I am excited for the weekend.  I am headed home to hang out with some college friends and celebrate upcoming baby at a shower with folks from back home.  I am looking forward to the adult interaction.  I have no idea what Jeremy is going to do - watch the game on Saturday, I am sure!, paint trim? paint cabinets? relax? clean? Who knows, it will be a few days of bachelorhood re-lived :)  I hope everyone has a great weekend.