Happy Tummy = Happy Baby

I'm sitting on my bed watching Aaron paint the master bathroom while my baby girl has the hiccups. There's so much going on at the same time! The baby's body burps with each passing second as if in a full-body hiccup episode. The thumping of her body doesn't hurt her or myself but it's entertaining to feel the rhythmic movement in the same spot for a few minutes. She gets the hiccups often, usually after consuming a really tall glass of water (with my vitamins).

I've been lazy to blog food adventures because they have been lacking. Instead of making food, I bought a prepackaged whole chicken, some chicken tenders and chicken wings at Fred Meyer's at 8 p.m. Friday night. Every night at 8 p.m. Fred Meyer sells their "hot foods" at half the price and what pregnant lady can resist that?

12 chicken wings for $2

2 pounds of chicken tenders $2

one whole roasted bbq chicken $3

Saturday I tried to liven up the whole roasted bbq chicken by making chunky mashed potatoes from scratched along with steamed broccoli. The mashed potatoes turned out delicious when accompanied with its friends. As Aaron tiled the master bathroom, I'd feed him forkfuls of this deliciousness while keeping him company. Tiling can be very mundane work.

Sunday I reheated the chicken wings and chicken tenders for a late lunch. While they were edible, dipping it in the chunky mashed potatoes made it ever more delicious. We ate quickly while discussing our baby's educational future. We're thinking of starting an educational fund for her so college payments won't be her burden when the time comes.

Alas, our good friends S and K received orders to New York and are ready, if only mentally, for their cross-country departure. S has been a great sailor friend to Aaron on deployments and it was nice to hear their fond memories of one another at dinner tonight. 20 people gathered in the restaurant's private dining room for good eats, reminiscent times and lots of laughter. You also couldn't beat the 1/2 off appetizers! Aaron and I ordered a heaping plate of cod tacos, bacon-wrapped scallops (baby's favorite) and a mound full of deluxe nachos.

Nothing beats good food but the company that comes with it. We shall miss S and K but know that distance can not break the ties we've built. Like our relationships when our sailors go out to sea, nothing can sever or destroy the meaningful times we've experienced.

Bon voyage S and K. Safe journeys eastward!

It's becoming a reality!

While sitting home alone on a Friday night, my thoughts of this impending labor and delivery of MY, wow, MY daughter was so pleasant in my heart. I talked to her by providing insight on what's happening at this moment. "Hi baby girl, are you ready to come out? Grandma is coming in a few days and she'll be so excited to see how you've grown in my belly. She'll be even more excited to see you when you come out!" I'd provide her knowledge of those who have been supportive and love her already. "Baby girl, so many people are waiting for you to come out. They want to hold you and love you and just take care of you like mommy and daddy want to." I'd rub my belly and she'd kick in response or squirm around as to acknowledge her presence. She has been a delight to share intimate mommy and daughter time.

Around 9 p.m. last night, my back started hurting and the pain spread towards my stomach. You know the area just below your belly button? Well first I thought maybe I ate too much for dinner but when the backache persisted while in a cushioned sitting position and the stomach pains did not let up, I texted a friend whose husband is a doctor at the Naval Hospital. She happened to be among 3 Naval Hospital doctors at the time and provided me some practical steps to alleviate what might be a slew of scenarios.

1) rest and relax

2) hydrate

3) rest and relax

4) time your pain and see how long it persists

And just in case if ever happened, her husband has a delivery kit and can be at the house in a few minutes if nature took a fast track to delivery. I knew with her assurances, I was in good hands. God always provides and looking back at how I met this wonderful couple, I can only thank God for his perfect timing and wonderful provisions. They have been such godly support to Aaron and I in more ways than one. They are like identical versions of Aaron and I just five years ahead of us so much of their insight is warmly received and cautiously delivered. Such a god-send is all I can say.

After an hour, the pain in my back began to fade along with my stomach pain. Maybe baby girl just need to move downward in preparation or it was nothing but SOMETHING happened and it was too cool to experience it.

At this point, I realize every pain, ache and sleepless night has a point, a purpose. Those pains are signs that baby girl is progressing downward and her movements cause aches in my joints. Those sleepless nights are preparation for hungry feedings and early morning diaper changes. It is all within God's plan. There is a reason.

My mother arrives in 4 days and it couldn't have been better timing. When she arrives, my doctors and I plan to begin steps towards labor through a series of natural medical procedures. I'm so glad my mom will be there to witness these steps and hear baby girl's heartbeat. She's never heard it yet. I forsee lots of mom tears. If she cries, I'm sure to cry with her. Such a blessing to experience one generation to another.

Let the adventure begin!

Asian Sensation Part Two

My cooking skills have become more elaborate as the list of things I can make expands. I'm very pleased with the range of foods made and attribute it to the Food Network. When infamous cooks/chefs share their favorite meals, I become intrigued on how it's made. Take for instance the "best foods with envy" episode. The cooks/chefs go into great depth on how said food was exquisite, awesome, unimaginable, etc.

This makes me want to cook even more! I want my food to not just be fuel for my body but I want to enjoy it too! Sadly, and not to brag, but with these new cooking ambitions, I find going out to eat less enjoyable as I overcriticize my food and think of how "I could have made this at home for wayyyyy cheaper."

Nevertheless, tonight's menu consisted of sweet and sour chicken and vegetable tempura. You've got chicken cubes, green peppers, onions and crushed pineapples. You've got mushrooms, green beans and sweet potatoes dipped in a light batter of goodness.

I have to say tonight's dinner was a success and well under $10 to make. Excellent!

Disclaimer: I didn't set Aaron up for a good picture but he turned just in time. That's why he looks surprised. :)

Yellow blanket where are you?

Aaron was on duty today so after waking up at 11:30 a.m., I made a list of things to do to keep my occupied. When my to-do list is empty, I become bored very easily. Boredom is not healthy for me because it makes me very antsy, anxious or irritated for no reason. Low productivity makes me so bummy.

So into the shower I jump so the warm water can loosen my stiff hands from a night of achiness. Then there was making my to-do list. I smiled with satisfaction at the decent tasks to accomplish. One of them included going to a friend's house to check on his cats. First, Aaron volunteered to check on the cats but is stuck at work. Second, I'm allergic to those furry critters. Third, pregnant women should not be touching/breathing cat litter. So I said hello to the kitties, cleaned their water bowls and scooped all the crap from the litter boxes with a hoodie pulled over my face. must. not. breath. cat. litter. must. not. breath. cat. litter. Scooping poop is like searching for seashells on a beach. Scoop. sift. scoop. sift. scoop. sift. I knew there was a reason I don't like kitties.

One by one, I crossed each task from my to-do list. It felt so rewarding. On top of that, my sister and I researched yellow baby blankets for my baby girl. You see, I have this baby blanket my mom passed down from my older brother. It's a yellow and white checkered, quilted baby blanket that I have had in my bed forever. I mean, I'm a married woman but blankie stays with me each night. So my sister is looking for a replica or something similar for baby girl. "If she's anything like her mommy, she'll keep it forever."

When I was in high school, my mom used to give me a hard time for my undying affection for blankie. I would take her on trips away from home, to college, practically everywhere I went. I couldn't sleep well without her! One day she asked me if I'd get rid of her when I got married. "No, why should I?" How about when you start having children? "Maybe I'll give my baby my blankie." Ultimately, I promised I'd get rid of her whenever I started having kids.

Well....it's about 20 days until baby girl is due to arrive and I am not ready to part with her! Bring on the labor, bring on the pain, bring on the parenting but please don't take my blankie away! Those major experiences are the reason I need her!

So I'm backing out of my promise to give her up. Besides, who could love her as much as I do?! I'm 27, about to be a mom, and have decided it's my choice on the appropriate time to give her up. Maybe NEVER!

Asian Occasion

It's been an emotional few days for me. The littlest things seem to bother me while the larger things in life seem out of reach. Perhaps it's the lack of restful sleep I crave each night but maybe it's the rollercoaster of feelings that has me so unwound. There's so many things I desire to do and so many questions left unanswered.

I miss my Sunday afternoon "gym time" with Aaron where we'd pack our gym bags and play 3 games of racquetball. Then we'd do 30 minutes of cardio and take the longest showers ever (why not if you're not paying for the water) and do our weekly grocery shopping together.

I miss my spunky body that could jump out of bed and be ready for the day.

I miss feeling like I made a difference today by being uber productive around the house, off my to-do list and go to bed with a sense of accomplishment.

Oh how I want to blame this belly of mine for withholding me from the "old" Glo of energy but I can't. I can't blame this belly because inside holds a very valuable child of mine, child of God, whom was blessed to Aaron and I for full guardianship. We will be her parents, her supporters, her loves and her encouragers through life.

Despite the moodiness, Aaron has been a big trooper through my ups and downs, backwards and craziness! He spends quality time with the baby talking to her, rubbing my belly, feeling her kicks and squirms and loving on it.

Although Glo feels like she's lost much of her old spirit, her new spirit seems to have a knack for cooking. My cooking skills have improved....maybe because my palette for tasty cravings has inspired something in the kitchen. Recent cooking ideas include: stuffed green peppers, chunky spaghetti, zucchini primavera, szechuan eggplant and more!

Last night's newest adventure included pot stickers! I grew up making pot stickers with the family. Mom would mix the ingredients and plop a large bowl of it in the center of the table while the kids wrapped them in varying styles.

I didn't have any ground pork so I hand-diced a pork loin into small pieces. It was a tedious task but turned out fairly well. Aaron wrapped and I pan fried them into golden deliciousness. 31 little nuggets of yumminess. Aaron loved them. I'm just glad I still have one good skill in me.

Success in the kitchen!

I had a crummy evening last night. There wasn't a sleeping position that catered to my needs. If I slept on the left side, my left lung would feel the pressure of my excess weight and seize in pain until I could no longer breath. Same would happen on my right side. Sleeping on my back is the worst, and strongly forbade by the doctors, as the baby's weight would place an unbearable amount of pressure on your organs, making it feel like an elephant is sitting on you, just waiting to crush those very organs that keep you functioning. If I slept in the fetal position, my hands would inevitably go numb, sending pin-prick feelings all over my digits as if spiders were biting every inch of them. If I slept on my back, it would alleviate the back muscles from being stretched but place killer pain along my spine. No sleeping position seems to let me have a restful night's sleep!

It isn't until about 6 a.m. when Aaron has left for work and the sun peeps through my window does my body become too tired to annoy me. It's that very moment my mind say "body, listen here. We both need sleep so let's work together." Eventually the pain either stops or I sleep right through it. Of course, by 11:30 a.m., I woke up in excruciating pain in my lungs, back and hands. I can't breath very well, my back is aching and my hands are so stiff there's no way I can clench them into fists.

That's my cue to get out of bed, droopy-eyed and all. Maybe the couch will provide some solace for the day. Cat naps come occasionally but are very cherished!

Needless to say, I'm hanging in there. There's just a little over 3 weeks to go and boy am I ready! Despite the pain, I know each moment of annoyance or aggravation is preparing me for the biggest training of all: parenthood. I anticipate the frequent potty breaks at night will turn into evening feedings or the aches and pains will turn into excessive tiredness from tending to the baby. However, I also know the endurance I build up incremently will only help with the labor, delivery and recovery. "This is all worth it to bring our child into the world."

"Thank you for being brave," Aaron said to me one evening. "Thank you for giving up your body so we can start a family."

I love this man. I love when he massages my stiff hands or rubs my shoulders. I love when he rubs cocoa butter on my belly when I'm depressed about my ever-growing stretch marks. I love when he drags me out of the house to do my daily walking when I just want to sit on the couch for another 4 hours. I love when he transfers clothes from the washer to the dryer because my socks are always just too far from reach. I love every time he's surprised when the baby moves her knee across my belly.

Although I feel limited in showing my appreciation and love for the patience Aaron emits, I know one thing to his heart: food. Tonight's homemade meal consisted of ground beef, green peppers, onions, roma tomatoes, canned tomato sauce, provolone cheese and rice. What does it make? Stuffed green peppers. Success in the kitchen.

He loves me, I love him

It was the day after duty and usually Aaron would be too tired to do anything fun. So when he called me in lively spirits, I was elated! He was the first to wish me "Happy Valentine's Day" and thought we should get some chinese take-out from a local favorite restaurant and watch the beautiful sunset nearby.

As soon as he arrived home, a STRONG, STRONG wind storm hit, knocking evergreen trees down and taking power lines with it. ZOOOooooom! Out the electricity went so quickly! No heat, no light, no power!

So we put on warm clothes and braved the traffic towards a nearby town for an impromptu Valentine's night. We had to treat each traffic light as a four-way stop so it took us 45 minutes to get 15 minutes down the road.

Eventually, we made it to our favorite Pho restaurant. Bundled warm, sitting side by side, Aaron and I devoured our meals with silly smiles and awesome conversations. Midway through the meal, we switched plates, like we always do, because we like trying each other's food.

Full bellies and happy hearts later, we walked around a local Vietnamese grocery store for some local goodies like fresh eggplant and asian chives to make dumplings! We even stopped by my two favorite stores: Target and TJMaxx to do my "walking" for the day. Aaron was so patient, walking hand in hand with me as I perused the aisles. Even though he might have wanted to do something else, he patiently shopped with me...even if I didn't buy anything!

Bundled in warm clothes under bed covers, we lit some candles and watched a movie off my laptop, hoping the electricity would kick in any minute. By 11 p.m. a surge of electricity kicked in!! We have power!!

Needless to say, last night was a nice, impromptu Valentine's Day of love. He's amazing, so amazing!

Happy Valentine's Day

Friday was an exciting day as I attended Aaron's work picnic at Bremerton Naval Base. It was chilly outside so the captain moved the festivities indoors, where one by one, men in uniform carried trays of food towards the Rec Center. I followed suit only after filling my plate with 3 pieces of steak, tons of grilled asparagus, a corn dog, an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and my very own bottle of A1 sauce (I claimed it, it was mine!).

I waddled up the hilly slopes towards the Rec Center, anxiously awaiting the divine meal I've craved for weeks. Whether it's the iron taste or the fact it's beef, I'm not sure, but I've had steak on the brain and couldn't wait to devour it.

Waddling in my pregnant outfit per Aaron's request definitely got the point across to Aaron's bosses. The captain, XO (commanding officer) and fellow sailors gently asked the due date of the baby. You should have seen the look on the captain's face when I flat out believed the baby would be born early and any day now. Nothing makes a captain more uneasy than to know one of his finest sailors may go on "baby leave" at no moment's warning to not return for 2 weeks. Excellent, excellent. At least Aaron's absence won't be a surprise although he'll be greatly missed.

Saturday was mentally rewarding as my good friend C, who is one month behind me, came over to make valentine's cards for our "hunnies" while the "hunnies" hung drywall and spackeled C's house from major flooding. We gabbed, we laughed, we gossiped and decorated while our Santa bellies jiggled with glee.

She empathized with my aches and pains while celebrating in its progress.

Aaron mentioned he's never received flowers from anyone and that it's not just a girl thing. So for Valentine's Day, I made him a heart bouquet of candied flowers that will never wilt or fade.

He's on duty this evening, after working long hours, completing school work and helping a friend remodel a flooded basement. Even after all his diligence, he still has patience and love to share with me by remodeling our master bathroom. That's my Valentine's gift from him. A NEW SOAKING BATH TUB. Yes, acts of service is his love language. Gotta love it!

Give me my chicken tenders, please!

I woke up rather nauseous and light-headed after sleeping for 12 hours. Perhaps it was because I slept TOO long or because I hadn't eaten in a long period of time. Either way, I rolled out of bed and started my day with a little cleaning.

There was making the bed, which has become such a breathless chore. There was sweeping the kitchen and putting away any items Aaron left on the countertop. There was taking a shower, which is a daunting task when you can't reach your legs or stand for very long.

Eventually, a glass of water and lunch later, I felt mentally and physically better. I jotted more onto my to-do list and allocated the tasks throughout this week so not to overwhelm myself.

- Install car seat base in my car

- Sanitize breast pump parts

- Return any baby shower items

- Return Car Seat from Target

- Move furniture in bedroom to make room for pack 'n play crib

- Clean out the guest bedroom for mom's arrival

- Donate nonessentials to Goodwill

- Make shelves for baby's room

Obviously there are some things I can not physically tackle myself. I don't know how to make shelves nor how to move a queen-sized bed with my depleted muscles.

So I:

- sanitized breast pump parts

- installed car seat base in my car

So after much moving, cleaning, doing, I treated myself to such a productive day (productive in pregnant Glo standards, not pre-pregnant Glo standards) with a trip to the grocery store. There was hamburger meat to buy for tonight's stuffed green peppers dinner so why not buy some yummy chicken tenders?

Here I stood at the deli, belly protruding, shifting my weight from one hip to the other in patient waiting for CHICKEN TENDERS! After waiting 5 minutes, I requested a fresh batch made and wandered for 6 minutes for the golden nuggets to cook. Waddle, waddle, waddle down each aisle until an employee says, "I'm sorry ma'am but they have not been placed in the cooker yet. Can you wait another 6 minutes? I promise to put them in at this minute." No problem, I'll waddle some more. Within 3 minutes, he came up to me saying, "I'm sorry ma'am but it looks like we don't have any chicken tenders in this front fridge and I don't have access to the back fridge to get more. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Yes, you can get me some warm chicken tenders or hand me a rain check please?!

I left Safeway without chicken tenders and a small heart of longing.

I WANT CHICKEN TENDERS! Poo.

Hug your belly...

Here's a tribute to my twin sister who absolutely loves baby D even before she's born. Ever since I visited Florida during Christmas, my sister has been sending me letters to baby D. These letters are addressed to the size of vegetable/fruit baby D may be at any given week. For instance, this week she's the size of a medium size honeydew so she wrote a letter to H-U-N-E-D-O.

She's so cute and I love to tell her about how baby girl is progressing. Her response: hug your belly and tell her I love her.

So here it is: me hugging my belly.

Sleepy Time

Hello readers! I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday. It was one of those days when everything happens quickly without a minute to rest. From washing baby clothes with free and clear laundry detergent, organizing the guest room for my mom's visit, washing my own laundry and cleaning the house, my energy was zapped!

My dear friend F brought over tons and tons of baby items when I was about 4 months pregnant. She brought over a baby swing, baby playmat for tummy time, 4 trash bags full of baby clothes, a boppy pillow, a complete electric breast pump and one manual pump, and so much more. She dropped it all over as her baby outgrew each item! What a God send.

So I sifted through her bags and bags of baby clothes to pick the special ones for me. Then I passed the bag onto another friend, C, who is due a month behind me. Aaron and I went over to their house last night to devour homemade chicken pot pies and ghiradelli chocolate brownies and play bananagrams.

Since she's just a month behind me, we spent hours swapping pregnancy stories: nausea, aches and pains, birth plans, weird things doctors shouldn't say to pregnant women and more! It was nice to feel like someone understand just what I am going through and without any airs of being polite. We got candid, honest and laughed way too much. Our baby bellies jiggling like Santa Claus with each funny story.

C is working on her medical schooling while working full time but doesn't plan to change that when her baby is born. So she's asked if I'd watch her baby when her husband can't watch her. I'm going to be a baby nanny!!

Today I found the best deal ever! It is a Chicco KeyFit30 with the stroller, base and carseat off Craigslist! Such a sweet deal and cute colors. Can you imagine my daughter sitting in there?!

Case of the Mondays

I awoke to Aaron's return from the doctor's appointment. Turns out his right hand pinky finger broke when playing wallyball with his sailor friends during PT. What does the Navy do when you break a finger? Buddy tape it to the ring finger and tell you to watch out. Gotta love the Navy!

So Aaron took the day off to work on home projects that have been nagging at him for months! You start out by measuring out the tiles, cutting them, placing them in an order (alphabetical) and then laying them down. Aaron worked diligently by scraping (sounds like fingers on a chalkboard, shudders) each tile, buttering it until the puddy was smooth and gently placed it on the ground where two lines did not intersect.

What am I to do when his attention is preoccupied? I think of something crafty. Hm, making homemade granola sounds like a fun baking adventure. Thus, I gather my old-fashioned oats, sliced almonds, shaved coconut, honey, brown sugar, oil and cinnamon and go to town.

Not only is granola good for you but it tastes good too!

Let the productivity continue...

So I can't stand myself when I'm mopey, cranky or down right irritable. I wouldn't want to be with myself so after writing the previous post, I took a shower, got dressed and left the house.

Driving around running errands really soothed any unsettling or annoyed feelings. There were the returning some baby shower gifts, looking for a few kitchen appliances and depositing my very last check for a looooooooooong time.

So what do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Tackle one task at a time. I took ALL of the baby things out of each drawer, box and compartment and reorganized EVERYTHING. I FEEL so much better after de-cluttering it. This baby room passes Gloria's cleanliness test.

Next was putting the pack and play together. Who knew there were steps to follow? Eventually it all seemed to click together. Haha, no pun intended. We bought this off craigslist from a family of 3 girls who didn't need it anymore. Pink and gray, so cute.

The best thing was a phone call from Aaron on duty. He's having a crappy day (join the club) but sounded better after our conversation. 'Tis the life of the Navy. I give him props for dealing with people and protocol as rationally and fairly as possible. He even posted "Hey my little ladies...daddy is here at work, wishing he were at home with my favorite girls..." on my facebook. It's the little things that make me smile.

Freak show

Yesterday, after much pleading, Aaron accompanied me to Target so we could purchase a car seat. I say pleading because he and I have different nesting habits. I'm focused on prewashing all the baby clothes and organizing everything so it's easy to grab/see while he's focused on finishing up the master bathroom so I can soak in the bath tub. He's thinking of cutting tiles, laying tiles, painting walls, and such.

He wanted to stay home and work on the house while I really wanted him to accompany me to Target to get a car seat. I was feeling anxious that less than 5 weeks from now, our lives are about to change and support would be awesome. In a moment of weakness, I just cried like a baby. I needed support and he wanted to work on the house. Call it hormones or stress but I NEEDED him.

So I packed tuna fish sandwiches to eat on the road, excited to have the hubs was by my side. He looked at every car seat, touching the padding, comparing the safety qualities and pretending to put a baby in each seat to see how easy it could be. Eventually, we agreed on the one I wanted.

Walking towards the check out aisle, another very pregnant woman walked beside me. I could secretly empathized with her aches and pains as we struggled to put one foot in front of the other. Her friend turns to us both and laughed, pointing she stated, "haha, look at you two. you guys are both waddling. haha."

1) I don't know you

2) You basically just called us a freak show

3) You found humor in our misery

4) You don't know me yet you had to point the obvious

I was so embarrassed and quite annoyed by her response. Most strangers will make light comments such as "excuse me, future mommy" or "you look like you're ready to pop!" Both responses are a little more polite than pointing and laughing like a 5-year old. I'm not a freak show.

You know you're in your third trimester when:

- You get up to pee only to feel like you have to go again immediately afterwards

- Your center of gravity is in your hips, so you waddle

- You feel like someone saran-wrapped your chest, making it hard to breath

- Your feet and hands swell up so bad you feel like you've got arthritis

- There is no such thing as a restful night's sleep

- Stretch marks are inevitable, no amount of cocoa butter will change that

- Your toes are out of sight so forget painting them

- Aches and pains are normal so just breath through them

- Braxton Hicks aren't painful but the pressure is just as bad

- Consider how important whatever just fell on the floor was and then walk past it

- Not even your hubby will truly empathize with the aches, pains and changes with your body - just get through it yourself

As you can tell, I'm in one of those abandoned moods. I need support and am panicking at the amount of work that still needs to be done before the baby is here. I can't lift move our bed so I can see up the pack and play. I can't lift the crib mattress to put the crib dust ruffle on the crib set. I have to rewash all the baby clothes in dreft/dreft imitation so not to agitate baby's sensitive skin but can't reach the bottom of the washer.

My lungs hurt like pens stabbing me. My back hurts like carrying an oversized backpack. No position alleviates these pains. I've got razor-sharp cramps and I'm cranky.

Cranky, cranky, cranky.

Good News is Always Welcomed

Today was one of my bi-weekly doctor's appointment and I was looking forward to it. It has been a month since I've seen all the lovely ladies in my centering group and couldn't wait to compare the size of our bellies. 4 of us gals are due on the same day: March 13.

So Aaron and I make conversation with all the ladies about various baby things such as cloth diaper choices, baby names, and the usual aches and pains. The doctors checked us out: BP is normal, weight gain is not too outrageous.

Finally, we venture towards the Labor and Delivery ward where they showed us the possible medical aids they might use during delivery. Some were pokey, others looked intrusive, many looked painful. IVs, catheters, hospital undies and GIGANTIC PADS for post-delivery. All those things made my eyes wide with apprehension but the midwives and nurses were very awesome to make this experience realistic. There was the double-sized bath tub, personal bathroom, spacious room with a long couch and full recliner for visitors and a window view! It's very clean, spacious and orderly.

Aaron was a trooper as the discussion focused on pain management and recovery. The poor guy listened about epidurals, squat bars, cervix consistency, pictocin, sweeping of membranes and episiotomies. On and on we gabbed for 2.5 hours on the step-by-step process from checking in to leaving. Boy was it helpful to me.

Call me an overachiever but I've written three different versions of my birth plan. It consists of my birth wishes for this child, which includes no episiotomy, a herparin lock instead of isolation in my bed, alternative pain management so no epidural or pictocin and allowance of just my mother and Aaron in my room at all times. Basically, I want to go as natural as possible, given the baby is healthy and I can tolerate the progress.

Now all I need to do is get a car seat. :)

Update: Baby girl is 5-5.5 lbs and has a healthy heartbeat. She's also pointing downward as she anticipates labor. My body is accommodating labor with the usual aches and pains. My back aches, my lungs feel like someone is stabbing me with pens and my hips are adjusting.

My mother mentioned both of my brothers were born 2 weeks early so let's see if heredity will follow suit.

Running bets thus far:

Sister Grace: February 28

Dad: March 1

Mom: March 2

Brother Nick: March 5

Brother David: March 8

Husband Aaron: March 10

Winner gets bragging rights and I must declare he/she is the best relative over and over again to baby girl.