34 weeks!

Today marks the middle of 8 months! I'm a little late in getting this picture up, but this is where we're at - a honeydew! Only one more month to go and we all know what that fruit is... a watermelon!!!! Yikes! The baby's senses are continuing to improve and when light peeks in through my belly, the baby's tiny eyelids and irises blink and dilate. Shmu can now recognize simple songs and lullabies... time to really start singing.

Lately, Ru and I have tried to film Shmu's acrobatics and because we know that an active baby is a healthy baby, we are thankful for all the movements! The latest "movement" towards our future labor and deliver started two days ago. I've noticed consistent off and on again cramping, like menstrual cramps. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was due to start my period any second during one of those episodes. We're a ways off, but it's nice to know that my body is starting to get ready for its big task. A doula friend of mine just told me that I could be a few weeks late as most first timers tend to be late. While I know that could be true, I kind of have a hard time believing Shmu will be content to sit and bake for longer than necessary. I'm thinking this kid is going to quickly tire of its restrictive space, and that would be just fine with momma!

Here's a 8 month (34 week) belly shot. Holy cow, she's big!! :)

Trip to Minnesota

I just got back from visiting my best friend from college and her new identical twin daughters. It was really fun to see her again (they moved from California a year ago), see a piece of her life, and of course, the miraculous addition to her family! :) It was really something to see her as a mother and to see and hold those girls. They are beautiful, so tiny and easy to soothe. What is there not to love? :) I was so glad for even just the small chance to get to know them and feel more connected to them in person rather than through a photograph. Speaking of pictures, in everything I've seen they look so much bigger than they really are. They were born in the 2lb. range and after 7 weeks they are now approaching 5lbs. Tiny little peanuts! Holding them felt like holding a feather and it's unbelievable to think that a fully functioning human can be so small. Here are a few pictures of the girls.

Liana Sophia and Amaya Noel

Amaya

Liana

We're getting new carpet!!

A random post, I know, but noteworthy in my opinion! :) We've been in our apartment for 5.5 years and the carpet has seen better days. Sure, it's held up fine enough for us, but with the thought of our little Shmu crawling around on it, we decided it was worth asking for. I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised we got the green light from our apartment owner. We were told we'd just need to say when and the installers would come. Great news!! We also found out that we'd need to move all our furniture out of the apartment for the installment. Not so great news!!! I've just loaded my entire classroom into our one car garage and there just isn't any space for our furniture! We have no idea how we're going to make this all work, but we'll find a way and I'm excited to see it done!

So while we thought we'd spend Father's Day moving some furniture around and putting up the crib, I guess we'll have to wait until our carpet is done. Hopefully we'll get that done sometime after next week. Although it will be a pain at first, I'm so thankful for yet another small provision from God!

Another good check-up!

We had another great doctor's appointment today. It was great because there was nothing to talk about! :) Shmu is positioned head down, facing me with its back sticking out on the right and was acting up for the midwife quite a bit. Lot's of twists and jabs for her. We did manage to get a solid reading on his/her heartbeat in the 140 bpm range. It was fun to hear such a strong heartbeat again!

We had a couple of calm, dare I say quiet days and then, BAM!! The baby didn't stop moving for more than a few minutes for what has been about 40 hours now. I wake up all night to the movements and am constantly feeling my tummy where Shmu says hi throughout the day, ALL DAY LONG. It's been fun but a little overactive, wouldn't you say? Besides moving, baby's having hiccups 3 to 4 times a day pretty much every single day. Those are fun for about a few seconds and then get kind of annoying! :) Silly kid!

Baby's 2nd Shower!

During the second to last week of school my colleagues threw a surprise shower for me and another colleague who is pregnant just 5 days ahead of me. It was a lot of fun being pregnant with someone at work. We often had things to talk about and enjoyed swapping stories.

I just got these pictures sent to me, so thought I'd post a few. We were blessed with some great items both on and off our registry. One of my favorites was a gift certificate to Barnes N' Nobles from the kindergarten team. I love working with teachers who know just how much other teachers appreciate such a gift! :) Between my mother and I, and the local library, I don't think Shmu will be deprived of books!

Just like in the first shower, getting gifts for my baby is just a whole new and exciting experience. I can't count the number of baby showers I've attended and I've cared very much for the babies being born, but this is just completely different and a bit surreal. Each new item we get only increases our excitement and the reality of it all! :)

Shmu's first doctor's appointment!

Ru and I got to take a trip to the pediatrics department today!! We were looking forward to it, but it wasn't a huge deal to me until I saw the sign that read, "Pediatrics" and then I was hit with the wonder of it all! We're having a baby, folks!! :) We have a little "pediatric" inside! 

Another new experience for me was feeling ultra protective of who this doctor would be. (If we didn't feel comfortable with this one, we could always opt to see another pediatrician.) It's funny because I'm a Kaiser baby and have been raised my whole life with Kaiser. I've never once thought about who my doctor was (I've seen a different one almost every visit of my life) or cared if I liked him or her. Why? Because I never saw him/her again! Today, however, was a different story. Mother instinct kicked in big time and I was surprised how much this visit meant to me. This doctor had better be good and if not, we were going to keep looking until we found one more than acceptable enough for our precious baby.  Ha! I was beginning to wonder if I'd think any doctor was good enough to be treating our child. 

Good news is, we LOVED her! She was just perfect and I'd feel comfortable calling her any time and for any reason. She'll be Shmu's doctor for as long as she works there and as long as Shmu is a child, so I'm glad the baby will get consistency with his/her doctor. After she answered all our questions and left, Ru and I just smiled at each other. We both knew how much we liked her just by the looks on our faces. You know its right when dad and mom both have zero doubts! Yeah, that was easy! Thanks God! Speaking of dad and mom, Rudy noticed she talked about what the "parents" decide, or how the "parents" feel about something or other. He was blown away by that word, now associated with us. It is so awesome and yet such a responsibility. Wow! That's us... parents!!! We can't wait! 

Yesterday was hard.

Last days are supposed to be fun. This one wasn't quite as fun as I remember them being.  It was a good day with the kids. We had a lot of fun and they always LOVE when Rudy comes! Actually saying good-bye to them was another story. I spent a full hour hugging and taking pictures with students and their parents and former students as well. It was really nice to have visitors from last year and to feel appreciated. Parents were still just as shocked that this was really happening, that I was losing my job. After all the good-byes, Ru, my mom and I went to lunch and got some yummy frozen yogurt. Later in the day we got back to work, packing up the last of my things and going through all the final check out procedures. There were a lot of loose ends to tie up and it was no surprise that after a week of hard, 12 hour workdays and little sleep at night, I was exhausted and getting pretty sick! I held it together pretty well until I locked and closed my classroom door. That room had been where I spent my own 5th grade year and it held a ton of great memories from the past two years. I left knowing that there is going to be a whole new chapter for us, but totally oblivious as to what that will look like yet. 

After the long drive home, we finished piling all the boxes (from a total of 4 truck loads) into our tiny, one-car garage. After that, we opened presents from students with a little more enthusiasm and were pleasantly surprised and appreciative of their generosity. Shmu got many things, including a good amount of onsies and pj's for 0-3 months! Yeah, for clothes to wear! We also got many gift cards that we will definitely need and use! Date nights here we come! 

We've been amazed by this year's students and their gifts. I'm thinking all the efforts I've made to establish good relationships with my students' parents and keep in constant communication (phone calls, weekly progress reports, monthly newsletters, notes home) have really paid off. Many said they felt we were family to them and that made me happy to hear. I mention all this because were were so blessed by not only their gifts, but by their appreciation and love. Several parents said their families were going to be anxiously waiting for Shmu's arrival and want to see him/her asap. There was talk of reunions and babysitting, etc. Too bad, the school and neighborhood are a little far away for babysitting! :) 

Today is recovery day and from the looks of it, I'm going to need the weekend. I've got a terrible head cold, cough and head ache and have zero energy for anything. Fun way to spend my first day of vacation! :) I think Shmu could sense how stressful things were this past week and enjoyed having mom rest most of the morning. During the week, I was rocking the baby to sleep most of the day with all the moving I was doing. Now, laying down, Shmu has taken up his/her regular play routine. I feel a strange sense of comfort from the constant movements though, like I'm not alone. Thanks, Shmu.