36 Week Appointment

I am so happy with how our appointment went today. It was so wonderful and I love our doctor. Nothing that special happened but I was reassured that she is great and that we are in good hands. I was also relieved that she didn't make us do all of the typical tests. Usually, at your last 4 appointments they want you to do a stress test and an ultrasound. They are both pretty expensive tests. I told the nurse that we are students and we're paying for this with cash and asked her to skip any tests that we could. I told her that if it was important for the baby we would do them but if the doctor said it was ok to not have them, we would appreciate that. Dr. Xu (pronounced "Shoe", by the way) said that it was totally fine to not do the ultrasound or stress test and that we won't have to do them until/unless I go over my due date. Yay! It saved us hundreds of dollars. So today I just did the group strep B test and she listened to the babies heart beat. The strep B test was quicker than when I had it done in the states but the funny thing was that the nurse just stood right there as I took my pants off. Usually when I had to undress from the waist down they would leave the sheet for me and step out of the room. This time the nurse stood there while I undressed and then when I got dressed again. Funny little differences in culture. The baby's heart beat was good, 140, and the doctor said his head was well engaged. I asked her what she thought about inducing and she said that if I start to go over the due date and if I'm not opposed to induction then she would do it. I think it's mostly because he's not a super small baby. The other bit of good news is that I only gained 1 kilo, or 2.2 lbs, instead of the 5+ lbs that I had thought.

Since Jimmy has time off of school for Christmas (YAY!!!!!!), he and Ali came with me to the appointment. Afterward, we walked down to the hospital to take a little tour and figure out where we'll go for delivery. I'm so glad we did it because there are more than 6 different buildings as part of this hospital. We are delivering on the 14th floor of our building. We figured it will take about 10 minutes to get to the hospital by taxi and then 10 minutes to get up to the 14th floor!! It took forever! They definitely need more elevators in that building! I just hope I don't have to deliver in one of them! So on to the 14th floor- I will deliver in the same room that we will be in for the rest of the stay. The room was ok, not as clean as our room in Houston. I'm not surprised since nothing here has been close to clean, but everyone had told me that the room is really clean. Is it that they've just been here too long and have forgotten what clean really looks like? Not sure. But it will be clean enough for a 2 or 3 days stay. Good features about the room are that there is a couch that pulls out into a bed for Jimmy, Ali can also come stay if she/we want, there is a refrigerator and microwave so that Jimmy and Ali can keep food there. I asked the nurse about breastfeeding/formula and binkies and she said it's not a problem to request that your baby not receive formula and that they don't even have binkies to give to the babies. So interesting! I remember how annoyed I was when one morning, a nurse brought Ali back to us after a check-up and she had a binky in her mouth! We had already been there a day or two and none of the other nurses had done that. Anyway, I find it so interesting that they don't even have them at the hospital. Once I stopped to think about it I realized that I have never seen a baby with a binky here. Overall, the hospital looks fine. Not exactly as clean as I would like, but I feel confident about our doctor and that's the most important thing.

36 Weeks!

We have entered the LAST MONTH!!! Yay! I'm so excited and a little nervous. The things I'm nervous about are these:

Having a baby in a Chinese hospital with a Chinese doctor. Although, everyone that I have talked to has said it was a great experience.

Putting two little ones to bed at night. This one might be my biggest. Ali is still so young and while she loves going to sleep, she also loves to be held for 15-30 minutes before I put her in her crib. I am nervous that I'm not doing a good job coming up with, and teaching a sleepy-time routine that is going to work well with two babies.

Sleep deprivation. I have gotten so used to sleeping 8 hours or more, depending on how early I go to bed. My friends who have recently had babies are posting ditties about how tired they are and I'm kind of remembering how exhausting it is to have a new baby. But I'm sure I don't remember the full extent of the exhaustion.

But the things I'm excited about are these:

Seeing two little sweeties running around together and giggling. Ali is getting SO funny and tonight I just pictured her running around with her little brother at this time next year; getting all giddy for Santa to come and eating cookies before dinner.

That new baby in my arms, so sleepy and cuddly. I love how they are so sleepy when they are first born and will just sink into you with their heavy little head.

A whole new round of "firsts". I can't wait to see his first smile, hear his first laugh, watch him roll over for the first time.

His baby blessing. I have always loved baby blessings. I don't know what it is exactly. Of course it is a special thing. I have always felt so happy for the family blessing their new baby. It's such a sweet moment. They are beginning their journey back to their Heavenly Father.

The list could go on and on but the point is that we are so happy that our little sweetie is coming so soon.

I am going to the doctor tomorrow and we'll see what she has to say. I'm sure I have gained a billion pounds. My sciatic nerve has been in permanent pinch mode for several weeks and it has me housebound. Add that to the fact that we got an oven and I've been baking and I would guess I've gained more weight since my last appointment than I have since I moved to China. Oh well. There are worse things than gaining 5 pounds. Luckily there's no chocolate here, or we could have probably doubled that!

33 Weeks

I got home from my appointment with Dr. Xu a couple hours ago. We relaxed a little bit over dinner, put Ali to bed and now here I am. The appointment went really well. Dr. Xu is so normal! She did an ultra sound to make sure the baby was head down, which he is, and also measured his size. He is measuring exactly on target- 33 weeks 0 days. We chatted about the chances of me needing a c-section based on his size and she said there is no reason I would need a c-section. I told her what the other doctor had said and she just laughed and couldn't believe she had said that. She hoped that I had just misunderstood her. There's little chance of that since she just kept repeating the instructions to stop eating and to exercise more. Dr. Xu said that since I had a baby that was over 8 pounds without any complications and no vacuum or forceps, that I could even have up to a 9 pound baby without any problem. Not that I'm planning on that, but it was just so nice to hear that the doctor had a little confidence in me and in herself as a doctor. I feel so comfortable with her as my doctor. I'm now actually looking forward to giving birth again and am excited for my next appointment with Dr. Xu.

I'm still feeling great but there are some times that my back kills from all the stroller/child lifting. Luckily after I'm home and relax for a bit I feel totally fine.

I can't wait to meet this little boy and to introduce him to his big sister! I'm also so happy that Jimmy and I will be together for his birth.

32 Weeks and a few Miracles

It's been a rough two weeks. Very rough. We have been on such a roller coaster about this whole delivery thing. Ever since the appointment with Dr. Jia we have gone back and forth on whether or not I should go back to the states. Everything would be so easy at home but we would be away from Jimmy, which is no small thing. Even though I really wanted to go home I just couldn't bring myself to click the "purchase" button for the airline ticket. I attributed it to my being a procrastinator and just figured that I would put it off until the last minute and end up being so stressed.

On Sunday I got set apart for my calling. I've had the calling for almost two months but for some reason the setting apart didn't work out until this last Sunday.... and I can see exactly why now. The blessing (can I call it that?) was so amazing. The first bit was about my calling and then he went into what we were going through in our life and family at this point in time. As soon as he began to talk about my pregnancy and our lives here I felt an amazing warmth all over my whole body. It just washed over me and was the best feeling. I didn't want it to end. It was so comforting and peaceful. I never doubted that the Lord was aware of what we are going through, but I didn't expect to have such an amazing experience during this time. I am so grateful for it and have thought about it so many times since Sunday. I am so grateful for the priesthood and that Heavenly Father poured out so much love to me in this time of need. I felt then that everything was going to be ok. I still didn't know what that was an still struggled with the decision of whether to go home or not.

I was supposed to make phone calls to a different hospital on Monday but after visiting teaching and a little Ali break down in the afternoon, I didn't end up having time to do it. I'm sure I could have made it happen, but I just didn't feel motivated and again, just chalked it up to being a procrastinator.

Today, I ended up skying with a few family members and while I was skyping with my parents, telling them that chances were good we would be back in the states next week, my phone rang 5 different times. We finished our skype-call and I saw that it was a sister in our ward who had been calling me. She is actually the wife of the counselor who gave me the blessing on Sunday. Anyway, I called her back and received miracle #2. She knew about all the issues I was having finding a doctor and she has had Dr. Xu for her last two babies so she knows how good it would be if we could have her as our doctor. Well, she told me that she was driving past the hospital today and the thought came to her that she needed to call them to see what she could do about helping me find a doctor. She got in contact with Dr. Xu and explained that we wanted to come see her but the front desk told us we couldn't. Dr. Xu said that she never told them that she didn't have room in her schedule and made an appointment for us to come in this Friday at 4:30! What?! I didn't even know what to say. What a blessing and a miracle.

So as much as I would like to be in an environment that I am comfortable with (America), there are so many big things happening to keep us here. It's not necessarily what I would choose, but I'm happy to do what the Lord has planned for us and excited to see what the future holds as we try to follow that plan.

We will go to the appointment on Friday and if everything goes well, we get to have Dr. Xu and we will be having a Chinese baby. Hope he doesn't want to run for President some day.

30 Weeks!

With only 10 weeks till the baby comes I figured it would be a good idea to meet the doctor. I posted last time that Dr. Xu was seeing too many patients in January and so we needed to find a new doctor. There are about 4 or 5 other doctors at this office so I just read through their profiles and picked a woman named Dr. Jia. I called and made an appointment last week for today at 11 am. On Saturday I received a text message from the doctor's office that said I had an appointment on Monday at 10:30 with Dr. Xu! I was beyond excited! I didn't know how this was possible but felt so happy that we were able to get in with her. A few hours later, I got another text message from the office saying that I had an appointment at 10:30 with Dr. Jia. Oh Geez. So I called and asked to confirm my appointment. The girl took my info then told me I had an appointment at 11 am with Dr. Jia. I told her I had received a text earlier and told her what it said. She just replied by telling me to come at 11 and see Dr. Jia. So I asked her who sent me the text messages. "My colleague," she said. So I said, "Why did they send me those text messages? I just got one that said I have an appointment at 10:30." She told me the same thing again, to come at 11 am. Luckily, I had told Jimmy about the text messages and he reminded me that we were in China and not to get my hopes up because something weird was probably going to happen, so I had kind of mentally prepared myself. It was still a tad disappointing though.
So Monday rolls around and I go to my appointment... at 11.... with Dr. Jia. I was happy to finally meet my doctor and was trying to keep optimistic all morning.

The first thing the doctor asked me when we got in the room was how big Ali weighed at birth. When I told her she weighed 8 lbs 3 oz she informed me that if I wanted to have a natural birth this baby couldn't be more than 8 pounds. I'm not sure exactly how she meant for it to sound but it felt like a threat. I'm sure my eyes got big and I think the blood drained out of my face. She then explained to me that I needed to not eat and to exercise more. I really didn't know what to say.... all I could think of was to tell her that I walk everywhere and never take taxis. She told me I need to exercise more. Then I got up on the table so she could measure him. She measured his belly then put this stat on a chart. She showed me where he was measuring now and that in 10 weeks he would be 4 kilos. "At 4 kilos, you cannot have a natural birth," she said. She went on to state that he needed to be 3.5 kilos. Does this lady realize that, and correct me if I'm wrong, if I were to have a baby that was only 3.5 kilos (7.7 lbs) it would be the lightest baby that any of the women in my family have delivered so far?
The appointment only lasted about 2 more minutes and it involved her guiding me down the hall while repeating the same advice she had already given me.

The thing is, I have not gained any weight since my last appointment. I am the exact same weight that I was 10 weeks ago in Texas. I am trying to keep the weight down but she's telling me that unless I produce a miracle baby at 7 lbs, I will not have a natural birth. So the little one is coming in 10 weeks and I find myself questioning who will be there when it's time to deliver. Is it going to be this lady? I allowed myself to cry on my walk home, not even caring who saw me.
Once I got home, I told Jimmy about what had happened and we talked about whether we just stay with this doctor and plan on not letting her jump to a c-section just because the baby weighs more than 8 lbs, or whether we should go to another hospital. I plan on spending this week looking for another doctor.... and not eating and exercising more. Just kidding.

It's amazing to see the huge difference in my last doctor and this one. Dr. Hulme never made any comments like this to me. I remember how funny it was when he would refer to her as hefty (I think that's the word he used) and that her head size was generous but he never threatened to not let me have her natural. And maybe he knew that if she got much bigger I really couldn't have a natural birth but he still never stressed me out by telling me to stop eating. I realize even more how blessed we were to have had him as our doctor. Maybe he would like to come on a little China vacation around January 14th. Hehehe.
Something will work out. We'll just have to see what that something is in the coming weeks and try not to break out in hives in the meantime.

24, 25 and 26 weeks!!

How has time gone by so fast again?!
If I would have written last week I would have said that I found a Doctor. Her name is Dr. Xu and she has delivered almost every baby in our branch. The only babies she has not delivered are those who were not born at the one hospital. Needless to say I was feeling pretty relieved. Her office is about a 15 minute walk from our apartment and then the hospital is about two blocks from there. Ali and I walked to the office last week and spoke with the lady at the desk about becoming a new patient of Dr. Xu's. She said that would be no problem. She then got a nurse for us to talk to about which appointments and tests we would still need. This nurse also said it would be fine to see Dr. Xu.
Since the women here only have 1 baby it's a really big deal! The offices sell different packages and they get VERY pricey! Most of the packages include 4-D ultrasounds, pictures, DVDs, etc. The check-ups end up being more than the actual delivery but the people seem to love it! In a way it's nice that they are enjoying the process as much as they can since they know it won't happen again. For me, I can enjoy the process just fine on my couch or walking to the subway. Luckily, they allow you to pick and choose what you want. If you don't want the tests or ultrasounds, you don't have to get them. You do have to be pretty firm about it since they are trying to sell you on large packages. For example, the nurse said that I was too far along to purchase a package but she tried to sell me a 60,000 RMB prepaid card that would go towards the rest of my appointments and then could roll over to help pay for the delivery. That's about $10,000 just for the last 15 weeks of checkups! Not going to happen! Especially since our student insurance doesn't cover maternity and we are paying out of pocket. Anyway, I told the nurse that I would talk to my husband and call back to make an appointment.
Half a week passed and we found out that Jimmy was going to have some free time on Wednesday so I could go do my glucose test while he stayed with Ali. So I called on Monday to make the appointment and the lady at the office told me that I wouldn't be able to see Dr. Xu because she had too many patients in December and January but that I could se Dr. So-And-So. No, I don't want to see Dr. So-And-So. I don't know that doctor and I don't know how Chinese they are when delivering babies.
So, the update this week is that I don't have a doctor yet. I'm trying not to freak out. This hospital would have been perfect for us. The price is a lot cheaper than other hospitals and they had that good doctor that a lot of Americans trust. However, trials come and we just roll with it. We'll see what happens. I need to find a doctor by next week so I can get the glucose test done.
As far as how things are going health-wise, things are GREAT. I feel fabulous and the belly is BIG! It's amazing how much bigger you get with the second baby. I know I wasn't this size at 26 weeks with Ali. I don't remember feeling really big until I was in the 30's. It will be fun to see how much bigger I get. People are already staring and some people even look disgusted that I would have two children. I really wonder what is going through their heads since they only have 1 and here I am walking around with 1 and pregnant with another. They must think I'm a reckless, crazy person. That's probably true!
I'm getting nervous to leave Ali for the birth of Baby Boy. I'm going to miss her so much. We've never been away from each other and it's going to be hard!

Week 23

A mover and a shaker! That's what this little boy is! I love feeling him move all over the place and last night Jimmy got to feel him for the first time. For weeks we have been playing that little game where the mom tells the dad to hurry over because the baby is moving and as soon as the dad puts his hand on the belly, the baby stops! It was fun to have Jimmy feel his little son moving around and feel how real he is. One of my favorite things is feeling Baby Boy move while I'm holding my baby Ali. I love knowing that I have both of my babies right there. It will be fun to have her understand what's going on... maybe with the next one. For now she doesn't even seem to react when he "kicks her".
I can't wait to see how he and Ali will get along. I'm sure it will be hard for her to adjust. She is so attached to me and doesn't like anyone else getting attention from me, but that's just one of those things we will work through. She is growing up and learning so much. I want to start dong more learning activities with her as she seems to be getting to that age. I have found SO many awesome sites while looking around Pinterst. I love that thing! So I've decided to add those sites to the side of this blog so I can have a quick reference of activities for Ali. I can't wait to collect materials and start this new phase with her!
So back to Baby Boy- I already have heartburn. If the rumors are true, and they're usually not, he is going to have a lot of hair. I think he'll have hair anyway, but that is probably not causing my heartburn. I had it a little with Ali right at the end but it's already starting. It's mostly at night and probably because I drink water before I go to bed. It's no big deal though. And sleeping on these Chinese beds does a number on my poor pregnant hips. But Jimmy requested some extra blankets for me to lay on to try to soften up the wood, I mean matress. =)

Weeks 19, 20, 21 and 22!

We've been so busy, but I haven't stopped thinking about this little sweety in my belly! Before we left for China I had a doctor's appointment. My doctor hadn't planned on doing an ultra sound, even though she knew we were leaving a week later, so Jimmy didn't come to the appointment. However, as soon as she walked into the room she asked where he was and then expressed how sad it was that he would miss the ultra sound! Yes! It is sad, and I wish he would have been there! But I am very grateful that we got one before we left just to check in on the baby to make sure things were looking ok before we crossed the ocean to a new place. The baby was crossing it's legs at first but later the doctor was able to get a very clear shot to tell us that we are having a BOY! I was so happy and so excited to get home and tell Jimmy! I stopped by the store and got a little sleeper that said, "Little Brother" on it and had Ali pull it out of the bag when I got home. Everything else in the ultra sound looked good too, so that's great. I have been so much more relaxed about this pregnancy than lthe ast one. It helps to have a successful pregnancy. I have been back to read some posts from when I was pregnant with Ali and I just do not feel the same way as I did then. (maybe I've already mentioned this, but it amazes me ever time I read old posts.) I'm still so excited to hold our little baby boy and to cuddle him and love him, but I feel very calm about it too. I don't wait around all day, counting the number of times he has moved, or worry that he's not alive in there. It's been great walking around so much! I was afraid I would be so tired, and I was the first few days we got to Shanghai, but now I feel fantastic! Even with carrying Ali around so much, I still feel great. I know it will be quite an adjustment but I'm getting way excited to be a mother of two!(These face shots are freaky... unless it's your own baby, then it's just so cute!)

18 weeks!

We are 18 weeks and 2 days! Baby is already half a foot and half a pound! Wow! Time flies when you're having fun and really busy! I like pregnancy #2! If I feel this great in my future pregnancies I wouldn't mind having 5 more! I'm so excited to get to China and find a doctor. By that time we'll only have a little over 4 months till the baby comes.
Every day I wonder how Ali is going to handle another baby coming into the family. She is the center of our universe and we like it that way. But I plan on having the two kids be our universe in a few months... I'm just not sure Ali will know what to think about having to share the center of the universe! Luckily she LOVES kids and I'm hoping she'll enjoy having a little playmate. Plus I really hope we meet some fun people in China that she can play with.
I'm so happy that we're having another baby in January! I get so excited thinking about all my children and about them growing up together and the fun things we can do! I'm working on a quiet book right now and I love thinking back on the quiet book that my mom made for us and how much we loved it. It's been fun looking through her quiet book patterns and remembering all those Sundays sitting at church and enjoying all the different pages! I also love dreaming about the holidays and birthdays with my children! I can't wait to see their little faces when they wake up and come down to the Christmas tree to see if Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk! I love the "magical ages"- the ages when children still believe in magic! So cute! Then of course there is the first day of school- and just as fun, the last day of school... soccer practice, piano recitals, etc. (There aren't any whiny or fighting kids when I'm dreaming...that's what dreams are for!)

Welcome to the NEW Ballyhoo!

I'm 17 weeks and 1 day and the news is finally out.... it's a good thing because it's becoming impossible to deny.... most of the "baby belly" is really "cookie belly" for now, but it is beginning to pop! Oh fun!! Can't wait till January!

16 weeks....

I'm 16 weeks already?!! Amazing to think that I'm almost halfway there. The update is that I feel GREAT! I haven't been sick at all which is such a blessing! There was one week when I was really tired and if I didn't get to sleep I felt sick, but that happens even when I'm not pregnant so it's no big deal. I missed the opportunity to do a DNA test during the 1st trimester to find out the gender so we'll have to wait and see. We are moving to China before my doctor plans on doing the 20 week ultrasound so we might not get to know the gender until January 14th-ish when this little sweetie is born. It's illegal in China to find out the gender of your baby. I'm hoping that our doctor will be nice and do the ultrasound early. I'm guessing it's a boy, and I'm basing this guess entirely on the fact that I wasn't nauseous this time.
We broke the news to the Newton grandparents a couple weeks ago when we were in Utah and this week to the Hrncirik grandparents; my mom came into town and then we skyped my dad with the news.
Today I had my first stanger ask if I was pregnant. It was gutsy of her but I liked it! It's good to know that I'm starting to look pregnant, it means that we're progressing! I can't wait to see this little one and squeeze its little baby goodness!

6 weeks!

Sweet Little Baby,
You are still so small but so much is happening and you are already growing so quickly! Your little nose and eyes are forming! And so are your limbs! It's amazing to think that you are becoming the little person we will see in 34 weeks! We hope you are comfy and happy in my belly! We love you and can't wait to see you!
Love,
Mommy + Daddy

I'm still feeling really good this week. I am really tired but I can't tell if I'm more tired than normal or not. Ali is finally getting back to sleeping better after she got sick last month. She only wakes up once from 8 pm to 6 am. So whether I'm more tired or not, it's hard to gauge, but I do know that I am sleeping more soundly. Sometimes Jimmy will hear her before she wakes me up. That has never happened before. It feels nice to be sleeping soundly again... it's been a while. Ali is napping now and Jimmy and I were just talking over breakfast about how it doesn't seem real yet. I think until you hear that little heartbeat you just have to imagine that the baby is growing in you. Either that or the morning sickness hits! We'll see- but I am very happy about it. Could this be a little easier if Ali were almost 2 instead of not quite 1?...maybe. But I wouldn't have it any other way. This is when this little spirit is meant to come into this world and we are so happy to be its parents!

A NEW Ballyhoo!

That's right... we have a NEW reason to celebrate! What a surprise we had this past weekend when we learned that Ali is going to be a big sister! We had decided a few months ago that even though she is still young, we didn't want to waste any time bringing another sweet baby into our family, especially since we didn't know if we would be able to have another baby or not. So each month we waited to see if we would be pregnant and sure enough, on Friday I took a pregnancy test and saw those two little lines! Pregnant! Jimmy was out of town and so I had to wait till Saturday when he got back to tell him the news. Friday night I made a little flip book that said we were having a baby and when I had the chance, I gave him the flip book and watched his face as he read the message. He was so excited; he hugged and kissed me. We are so relieved and happy that we are expecting a new baby! I'm having a hard time not calling "it" a "he". I don't know why, I just keep saying "he"... maybe it's because we already have a girl or maybe it's because it really is a "he"! We'll see! The baby is due in January and we will have to wait till I go to the doctor to find out the exact due date. This is going to be an exciting ride! We'll see how it goes being pregnant with a 7 month old. I'm really hoping I don't get as sick as I did last time. But if I do, it will be a learning and growing experience for me! I can't wait to find out what we're having and especially to see this new little baby!!