39 Weeks

If you look at the little ticker on the right of this blog post, it will tell you that I'm 39 weeks pregnant and that I have 7 days to go. I have to be honest- I didn't think I'd be here. My water broke with Kiran 13 days before my due date so I just assumed that this one would come early too. (Technically she has 6 more days to be early.) I spent two weeks in major pain from the nerve and anxiously wanting her to come. Now I told her she missed her chance and she has to hold out until at least Thursday so we can get through all the visitation/funeral happenings. And I'm totally ok. In fact, I think I'll be ok even if I go overdue. I feel pretty good- a little swelling but that's about it. And its so nice to not be thinking about going into labor all the time. I'm pretty convinced that this baby isn't showing up anytime soon. Maybe I'll actually finish her room before she gets here.....eh doubtful.

Mom Fitz

Mom Fitz passed away yesterday late afternoon. Uncle Tim was with her. Visitation is going to be Tuesday night and services Wednesday afternoon.

Kiran meeting Mom Fitz for the first time last June

My Stressful Hour

I had my 38.5 week dr appt yesterday. The first thing the nurse does is weigh you and check your blood pressure. I had a nurse I had never seen before and she had a weird look on her face when she took my blood pressure. I asked her what it was this time and she said 158/80something. I said really? Because its always been around 110/70. I sat and breathed slowly and she took it again: 110/72. Much better.

Then the same nurse couldn't find the heartbeat. Now baby girl had been moving just minutes before but its still unnerving when they can't find the heartbeat. My dr came in and felt my belly for the positioning of the baby and had the girl put the doppler in a certain spot. No heartbeat. Finally they found it way up high on my belly.

Then well I carry my babies high. So high that the dr can't really tell anything- including if the baby was head down. So he sent me for an ultrasound right away b/c if she had flipped breech we would have had to "make plans" immediately (meaning schedule a c section most likely).

While waiting for the ultrasound, I talked to my sister who told me Hospice had called my parents to tell them my grandmother (Mom Fitz) had taken a turn for the worse and they needed to come immedaitely. Whew. I was starting to get emotionally overwhemed at this point.

Thankfully the ultrasound showed baby girl head down and ready just really high up. And the heart was hiding behind my belly button so it was hard to catch. Actually everything looks great and healthy and it looks like I may be pregnant for a few more months because there are no signs that this baby is coming any time soon. Actually, I didn't have any signs that labor was coming with Kiran either so who knows?

As of today, Mom Fitz has stabilized again (amazingly) but it won't be long now. I have felt better today than I have in a few weeks. It seems that Baby Girl had managed to squeeze a nerve that made the inside of my legs feel like they were on fire for about two weeks. I literally couldn't sit or stand still. I could walk or lay down. But she's moved off it and now I'm just uncomfortable due to swelling. But I will absolutely take that compared to the nerve pain.

Oh the irony

Today I used a gift certificate for a pedicure that I had been saving for the "right" time. I figure if I've lost my ankles and my toes look like little sausages then at least my toenails can look good. The Vietnamese (yes I asked) owned place was really busy and all the chairs were full for the spa pedicures. The TV was set on Rachel Ray and about 15 minutes into the program, she launches into a 20 minute segment on the dangers of nail salons and how they don't sterilize equipment properly, etc. All of us sitting in the chairs start snickering at the irony of watching this segment while in the Asian nail salon. Then the man who runs the shop throws his hands up in the air and says "What is she doing? This is Rachel Ray. She is supposed to talk about food- not nail salons!" I don't think it hurt his business today.

Airplane Tips Part 2

Lauren asked for some tips for flying with babies. I pretty much gave all my advice the first time around and have only flown once since then and that was with a toddler not a baby. I think flying with a baby is so much easier than flying by myself 6 months pregnant with an 18 month old. Anyhow, I know that since then many of you have flown or have flown more with your babies. I want you to share your best flying with babies advice with Lauren. I think her son is 6-7-8 months old. Thanks!

India

This video was taken over two months ago. Every time J & I would talk about India- this is what Kiran would say. I put up three other videos that were outtakes from trying to get India. If you just want to hear her say India, watch the first one. None of them are more than 7 seconds. The last one is my favorite because you get to hear her constipated pig noise as well.

Whale

For all of you that don't speak Southern, that's W-H-A-L-E. Way-ool.

Did I ever post the video of her talking about India?

For Emily and Andrea

I can't believe I'm doing this. Here are two belly pics- one from last pregnancy and one from this week. So if you don't want to see any huge bare belly pictures then don't look any further.

This is 38 weeks with Kiran- just one day before I went into labor!

This is 37 weeks with #2. I think its the lighting but I actually look kinda tan. Or maybe its because Kiran & I go to the pool every day. But we always put lots of sunscreen on.

Em & Andrea- you best appreciate this.

The Most Memorable Ring Bearer Ever

We went to a beautiful, traditional wedding at Furman's chapel on Saturday evening. Furman's chapel was constructed pretty much for this organ (I don't really remember the story) so it has awesome acoustics. About halfway through the service, we hear this amazingly loud wretching coming from the front. The ringbearer was standing on the front steps and wholeheartedly puked twice all over the place. The bride's mother as well as a few other family members jumped up and ran to usher him out of the chapel. The minister never skipped a beat and thankfully we were headed into a prayer- the singing of the Lord's Prayer. During the prayer (I heard- my eyes were closed so I don't know), the groomsmen hunted down a rug and threw it over the spillage. Best wedding moment ever.

June 15

Not only was today Father's Day (Happy Father's Day Dad), but it also marked one year since we arrived back in America after living overseas for almost 2 years.


Its strange to think its been a year since we were last in India. Sometimes it seems like a dream, something that happened to someone else in a different lifetime. Other times I can hear music or taste food and I'm drawn right back to that culture. Sometimes I just really miss my helper and the pakora curry she made. The past year has been full of ups and downs but we've enjoyed living close to our families. We have no idea what the future holds for us but we know now that we'd rather go with God than stay where we are comfortable.

36 Weeks Nesting

I had an ultrasound yesterday and got to see our (estimated) 6lb 4oz baby girl. She is measuring in the 50th percentile which is just awesome. The ultrasound technician put it into 3D for a little while and we got to see her little hand waving up by her face. We also saw hair on the ultrasound! My blood pressure is good and I'm measuring right on so as my doctor said yesterday- now we just wait for me to go into labor. I have starting swelling some in my legs (not preeclampsia or anything just normal preg swelling) but my right leg is really bothering me. I'm trying to drink lots of water and limit my sodium intake but it would be nice if the pressure wouldn't make me feel like my leg is trying to explode.

I think I've finally starting nesting. Which is good because my mom told me yesterday that I pretty much had been running from nesting. Yesterday my MIL and I took down the boy border in baby girl's room. Today I washed all her little clothes. Tomorrow my parents and Jonathan are painting the room and then 72 hours later I can put up the pink and green border. Saturday Will & Jonathan are doing a big switcheroo with furniture (dresser and day bed coming, office chair and full bed leaving). Things are coming along.

Jonathan just decided we needed to get serious about naming this baby so he's making a spreadsheet!

New Nephew

We have a new nephew!
Jason Andrew "Jay" was born this morning just before ten.

7lbs 6 oz
21 in

Target and Peaches

I was holding the bag from Target as I read the instructions on the new Doodle Pro that Brenna had gotten Kiran that other day. Kiran starts yelling "Target! Target!" You think she knows the red bullseye thing means Target??? Either that or she can read. Except there weren't any words. Oh well.

Jonathan got some peaches from the farm near our house and the lady told him that these peaches would be best for cooking. The peaches that come around the 4th of July would be best for eating as is. But....I've never made anything with peaches before. What would be good to make with the peaches? You can just give me an idea or you can share your secret family recipe if you want.

June 7

Today is one month from my due date!!! It also means Kiran is 21 months old. I have been working on my blog book from my old blog and I've enjoyed the rereading the posts I wrote when she was a newborn and the months beyond. I haven't done this in a while but I'm going to try to list 21 facts about Kiran that are true today.

1. She eats pretty much anything. She is not a picky eater.
2. She loves strawberries and would eat the whole quart if we would let her.
3. She talks up a storm and is learning new words every day. This week she's added lake, almost, mom, pickle, table, ocean, pool, elevator.
4. Our neighbor across the street is named Mike. Every time she sees him outside, she stands at our front windows and yells "Mike! Mike!"
5. She loves her babies- taking them for rides in the stroller, putting them down for night-night, giving them baths in our baby bathtub.
6. She knows the colors purple, blue, pink, green, orange, yellow, black, brown, red and white.
7. On our rides to and from the beach, she would announce when we passed a truck and tell us what color it was.
8. She's starting to talk in sentences- I got it! I did it! Open the box!
9. Every time I say something about baby sister kicking, Kiran runs over to my belly and puts her hands on my belly. And every time, the baby stops kicking. Every time. Kiran has never felt the baby kick.
10. She loves puzzles especially her ABC puzzle.
11. She can correctly identify most of her letters.
12. The only number she knows is 8. And every number is 8.
13. Her favorite thing to do is drive her car around the house. Except she just sits on it and moves back and forth without actually moving the car. And she's perfectly content doing this.
14. Every night after we brush her teeth, she runs into her room yelling "Bible!!!!!!!!!!" We get down her Bible (we have to keep one up because she destroyed her other one) and she reads it. She picks out two different books for me and J to read at the same time. She doesn't actually want to read her Bible; she just wants to find Jesus.
15. She says "I-meem" at the end of the prayers.
16. She's had 12 teeth now for about 8 months. Just this week one of her eye teeth poked through! The other top one is right there and I think the bottom ones are coming soon.
17. She *usually* loves to go night-night and will sleep 11-12 hours at night and 1.5 hours in the day.
18. She knows how to go get her basket of dirty clothes and bring it to the washing machine. I'll put down the stool and she'll load her dirty clothes into the washer.
19. She loves water. She LOVES her baths. She loved the ocean, the pool and the lake.
20. She loves to color and just started making Os with the crayons. And telling us about the Os. I think O is her favorite letter.
21. She is fun and spunky and she keeps us on our toes. She is a ball of energy and we love it.

I can't believe how quickly the first 21 months have gone. I'm so glad we get to do this all over again.

Rush's

We met Jonathan tonight at Rush's (a fast food restaurant) in Columbia so we could get home. I walked into the restaurant to use the restroom and was eagerly anticipating the chocolate milkshake that would waiting for me when I finished. As I walked past the counter, the cashier said, "Are you going to have it in here?" I stared at him strangely thinking does it matter if I have my milkshake in here (we hadn't ordered yet)? Am I not allowed to have my milkshake here? I stood staring at him till he repeated the question and very pointedly stared at my belly.

Oh the baby.

"I better not have it in here," I finally replied and rushed into the bathroom.

And afterwards, I had my milkshake in there.

Photo Shoot on Beach

We had a photo shoot out on the beach after dinner tonight.



And here's one more just for fun...

Catching Up

Thursday J & I had some free time so we hit #25 of our 1000 Places to See Before You Die- Savannah's historic district. We took a trolley tour and I'm grateful I didn't have to walk that much :)

J & I returned from Hilton Head on Friday and got to have dinner with my parents and the newlyweds. They are just too cute.

Saturday we spent hanging out with Erin L & her fiancee. They are getting married July 26 and she's asked me to be her matron of honor. So she is praying hard this baby will come early and we'll be able to make the festivities. If you know where I can get a marine David's Bridal bridesmaid dress at the last minute- let me know.

Sunday we went to my aunt & uncle's on Lake Norman to meet my cousin's new baby, Kayleb. He's precious. Kiran loved loved loved playing in the water.

Monday I had my 35 week appt. My blood pressure was 112/70 and the baby's heart rate was good. My belly is measuring 34/35 weeks so everything was fine. I have another ultrasound scheduled for next Wednesday.

I know some of you questioned my doctors letting me travel this late in pregnancy. I talked to them a few weeks ago, and they just wanted me to know that if I went into labor, I'd have to stay until the baby was released from the NICU. Of course, they said, at this point in the pregnancy, it probably wouldn't be very long that the baby would have to stay. I've been careful to drink lots of water while traveling and stop every 1 to 1 1/2 hours to walk around.

After my appt, Kiran and I rode to the beach with Mimi. Last night, Kiran & I walked out to the ocean and I had to carry her kicking and screaming away. Today she played in the ocean (the bath!) and the sand all morning. After a long nap, she played in the pool till we made her come out. I think she might be related to the fish- she loves the water so much.

Bargains

We have a consignment shop that is just minutes from our house but when I visited I found the prices a bit high for resale. However, yesterday we ate at the Mexican restaurant (with Erin L & Jonathan!) next door and saw that yesterday was reopening day for the shop. New owners bought it so we checked it out.

I was very pleased. They don't have a tremendous selection of clothes yet but their prices were much better. They had quite a lot of equipment. We got Kiran a stroller that she can push her baby dolls around in for 99 cents! And a baby bathtub for $2. The bathtub was marked $4 and she offered it to me for $2 before I could even open my mouth. I didn't even get to use my bargaining skills. Anyhow, I'm thrilled I don't have to drive to Mauldin any more for good deals although I'll still hit that one up every once in a while.