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.