Getting ready for Alaina

Last weekend we went out and bought Alaina's Pack N Play. This is where she'll be sleeping temporarily until we move into our house. I love this Pack N Play. It's the Graco Deco. Looks a lot better at home than it did at the store. And, it fits perfectly in the corner of our bedroom. It's also very convenient to have the changing area in the same place. I can't help walking over to it and looking inside it every so often. I've also caught Shawn doing the same thing, too. Cute! We can't wait for Alain'a arrival!



Just thought I'd also post a pic of Alaina's Car Seat and SnugRider Frame. It looks so cool, I love the way it looks! Can't help dreaming about our little Alaina and our future as first time parents :-)

Still have lots to unpack and put together so I'll post more pics soon!

Follow-Up Sonogram Appointment

During my 20th week sonogram appointment, the radiologist found that my placenta was low-lying, covering my cervix. They said this is pretty common and as my belly grows the placenta also should move away from the cervix. There is a small percentage of people that still have it at the end of the pregnancy, which then means that the baby will have to be born via a c-section. Today was my follow-up sonogram appointment at the radiology office to check on the location of the placenta. The good news is that the placenta has moved away from the cervix, no longer covering it....but, the placenta is still low so the radiologist says it will depend on how my doctor will want to proceed. I will be able to have a vaginal labor since the placenta is no longer covering the cervix, but the doctor might still want to be extra careful and suggest a c-section. I have my 32nd week appointment on Monday so I will be discussing this with my doctor. Of course, my first choice is to have the baby vaginally, but if my doctor suggests a c-section to be extra careful, then I am for it. I'll just have to wait to find out on Monday!

[UPDATE: Doc says I don't have the low-lying placenta anymore so I am good to go for a vaginal delivery)

The rest of the appointment went very well. The radiologist checked all the baby's organs again to make sure everything is good and healthy, and she is. During the sonogram, we could see her moving around and playing with her foot. She was trying to grab her foot with her hands, it was so cute. We got to see all her organs, heart, face, etc...The radiologist was like "this baby has some cute lips"....hahaa. Her heartbeat was strong at 150 bpm. Baby is pointing downward with her head very very low near my cervix. No wonder I have to go pee so often! Her head is pressed right up against my bladder! Her feet are pressed against the uterine wall and that's why I feel the kicks so hard. She's kicking right up against the wall from inside of my belly.

Interesting but confusing - I was told I am measuring at 32 weeks and 6 days, which sets my due date at 9/17/09. That's 8 days earlier than what I thought I was suppose to be. I doubt my doctor will change my due date, as I was told this could mean anything, but I am definitely measuring ahead. The baby weighs 4 lbs and 7 oz right now, which is in the 59% percentile. Shawn and I always felt this baby was going to come early, so we'll see what happens. She's lying so low right now, I feel like she just wants to push herself out....hahaa. Shawn once said "if she's anything like her mommy, she'll always be early to everything, including coming out to this world".

31 Week Belly Pics

I'm not going to gross anyone out by posting bare belly pics since I've become HUGE lately, so I thought I'd post some belly pics clothed. Here are a couple of pics of my belly at 31 weeks. Less than 9 weeks to go 'till Alaina Paige arrives!

Glucose Screening Test - PASSED!

Just a quick update on my Glucose Screening - I just confirmed with my doctor's office that I PASSED the screening! I do not have gestational diabetes and I am so relieved! Whew! I don't have to drink that sugar drink again, yuck. My blood sugar level was in the normal range at 83 mg/dl. Thank goodness this part is over!

Alaina's Temporary Closet

As you all know, we bought a house and are planning on moving 3 months after Alaina arrives. Because of the short time we'll be in this condo, we decided not to set up the nursery until we move into our new house. Alaina will be bunking with us in our room on a PackNPlay in the meantime. After my baby shower, I realized I had no where to put all her clothes! She's got so many! Our second room is packed with Alaina's stuff and both closets in that room are filled with storage stuff. I was planning on just putting all her clothes in our bedroom but she just has way too many clothes for that small available space. So, Shawn and I made a stop at Bed Bath and Beyond the past weekend and I spent almost a whole day setting up a "temporary" closet for her. We bought a temporary garment rack on wheels and also a cheap 4-drawer cart to temporarily store all her clothes and onsies. Alaina has so much clothes already, we really shouldn't need to buy any for awhile. She's so lucky to have such great eemos who bought her so many cute clothes, and she also received some really nice hand-me-downs.






Above are pictures of her "temporary" closet and drawer set. As you can see, she has tons of clothes already on hangers, and the black 4-drawer set to the right stores all her onsies. The top two drawers are literally full of onsies, labeled as 0-3 months for the top drawer and 3-6 months for the 2nd drawer. The 3rd drawer has all her misc clothes, like jeans, some pants, and other clothes that couldn't be on hangers or catergorized as "onsies". I used all the pretty storage boxes we have and put them in good use. I stored all her receiving blankets, burp clothes, bibs, hats, mittens, socks, swaddles, towels and washcloth sets in those pretty storage boxes. Wow, can't believe this is all for one baby!! I tried to be as organized as possible but I'm sure once she arrives, it won't look the same! Poor Alaina has to wait to get her full nursery, but I will make a promise that she'll get the beautiful nursery she deserves once we move.

I'm done organizing her clothes, but I still have a lot more to do. I have tons of things to still unpack and store to get ready for her arrival. I still have 2 more months to go but I just want to make sure it's all done in advance so I don't have to worry about it so close to the delivery, just in case she decides to come early. I want to make sure I have everything set at least a month before my due date. I'll be big, fat, swollen and heavy on the last month so I want to make sure I do everything ahead of time. I want to concentrate the next month on taking classes, taking the hospital tours and registering for the hospitals, packing my hospital bag and of course catching up and finish reading all my books. I feel overwhelmed with so much still left to do and some more things that need to be bought before Alaina's arrival. Time is flying by! As I get more things set up for Alaina, I will post pictures of my progress.

4D Ultrasound Appointment!! :-)

We had our 4D Ultrasound Appointment today. When someone told me about this technology, I wanted to do it so badly, but because it's very expensive Shawn and I decided not to do it. Then at my baby shower, I received a gift certificate from Chung, Cindy and Lory (thanks guys!!) and was completely surprised and excited. I am very thankful for this thoughtful gift. I called the 4D facility right away and made an appointment for today. It was perfect timing because they told me the best time to come for the 4D ultrasound is between 28-30 weeks. I am currently in my 30th week.

I woke up super early this morning, very excited for my appointment today. I was hoping Alaina wouldn't be asleep during this appointment and she sure wasn't! She was active as ever. She had so much energy. She moved around the whole time! The 4D package included a 15 minute DVD video of what the baby is doing plus tons of 4D pictures. I also asked to confirm the gender again and yes, she's definitely a girl! Whew!

For the first few minutes, Alaina was covering her face with her hands and arms. She also kept putting her face really close to the uterine wall. It was hard for the technician to get a good face shot. The technician made me turn to my side and after much poking and tapping on my belly, she turned her face and we got some really good face shots! Alaina looks just like Shawn. She's got a rounder face, Shawn's nose and definitely his lips. She's got my forehead. We can't tell with the eyes cause they were closed the whole time. The whole appointment went by so fast, but we got a very nice video and some great pics. Yes, I cried and I still want to cry looking at the pics and watching the video again. How amazing is the 4D technology! I'm so happy that I was able to experience this and I'm so glad I get to share this with Alaina one day.

Below are some pics I want to share from the appointment. You can all see what a cutie she is!! She is beautiful and I can't wait to meet her! She even waved good-bye and she looked like she was mouthing the word "bye" toward the end. SO CUTE!! We also have the 15 minute video but the file is too large to upload to this blog.

My Baby Shower - July 11, 2009

I feel so blessed to have such amazing people around me. I feel so grateful for everything my friends and sister did for my baby shower. They went above and beyond and I just want them to know how thankful I am. It’s hard to express the gratitude I feel with words, but I genuinely and sincerely feel so appreciative of everything they did for me, and to everyone that attended. It was great seeing all my friends there, congratulating me, showing me so much love, and showering me with tons of wonderful gifts. The amount of gifts I received was more than I could’ve ever imagined. It is a day I will never forget. It is a day that I can’t wait to share one day with Alaina. And I can’t thank you all enough for being there for us.

I walked into the golf center and was amazed with the decorations. The place looked beautiful! The colors were perfect and the decorations were done spectacular. I was all smiles looking around, amazed at how much time each person put toward it. I know the girls met up bright and early to decorate and I was just in awe when I walked in. The food was delicious and the cup cake stand my sister made was so pretty!! The baby cart watermelon was something I’d never seen before. Everything from the cute little pink favor boxes, the baby and kids favor bags, the beautiful pink roses everywhere, the yellow flower plant centerpieces and the APK letter stand was just PERFECT. I couldn’t have asked for a better baby shower.






I got so emotional during the shower, I cried so much! I cried when the girls surprised me with a video message from Sandra all the way from New Zealand. It was something I did not expect and as soon as I realized what was happening, the tears exploded. The tears were never-ending and I couldn’t stop myself from crying for the longest time! Sandra is one of my best and dearest friends and I’ve been missing her so much since she’s been in New Zealand, and just seeing that she took time out of her busy schedule to make a video tape message for me was something that I will truly treasure forever. Watching the video made me miss her even more, and I just wanted to give her the biggest hug and kiss ever. I know she also contributed with planning the baby shower and I will forever be grateful toward her.



I want to thank everyone that attended and an extra thanks to the hosts – Cathy, Megan, Sandra, and Hyun-So. Also to Chung for letting us use her golf center. You guys are truly amazing people and I can’t stop thinking about the shower without getting teary-eyed each time. Thank you for everything and I will never forget this baby shower!



Pics are up on my facebook page and I’ve also sent out an album via Kodakgallery. Please let me know if you did not receive it, I’ll forward them to you!