32 weeks

Hello!  Today school was cancelled for a typhoon that didn't really affect us (though I'm not sure about other parts of Taiwan) so we had an unexpected 3 day weekend - love it!  We had our normal checkup this weekend and all is well.  We will now go every 2 weeks instead of once a month.  This morning I made a list of things to pack for the hospital for show time, but have yet to gather everything together.  Since we've known a few folks who have had their babies early we are trying to be prepared earlier rather than later.

The doctor estimated baby weighs about 4lbs now, and boy can I tell she's taking up more room.  Breathing has become harder; on the plus side it's making me sit up straight.  My fingers are swollen most of the time and my knuckles are sore.  Getting up off the floor is a challenge as is rolling over in bed.  We've got a couple of 4 day work weeks coming up so that should help with my energy level.

Hope everyone has a great week.  If anyone has advice on what to bring to the hospital I'm all ears!

Nursery

We are up against a few obstacles with this room: it's very small (hard to even get pictures of it!), since we rent we didn't want to paint the room, and our walls are made out of concrete so we can't use nails.  And, Taiwan seems to focus more on function rather than aesthetics, so it's hard to find things that are really cute.  For now the crib is in the nursery, but we'll move it to our room before she's born and she'll stay with us for awhile.  Cribs here seem really small compared to home, so it won't be a problem moving it around.  Also, the mattress size seems to be just a little smaller so our sheets from home are a tad big.

Cute star wars!

Hung very carefully, I'm hoping they stay up!

Quilt made for us, the backing matches the crib perfectly.  Can't wait to lay it out and put her on it!

Haven't been able to find a changing pad yet, might have to get creative

Jeremiah's idea - we used some extra pennants on the door so when it's open it looks continuous

A dress from when I was a baby

There you have it.  Still a few things here and there to get, but for the most part we're ready!

31 weeks

This weekend was the much anticipated IKEA delivery.  We spent a lot of Saturday waiting for the delivery guy (of course he was hours late) then the rest of it putting furniture together.  I even stayed up to a record-setting 12:30am.

And here's the weekly bump photo, with a sneak peek of the crib in the background.  More nursery pictures to come.

30 weeks

30 weeks feels like a milestone.  10 more.  Eek!

As promised, a comparison of weeks 20 and 30 in the same shirt:

And I thought I was getting big then, ha!  I'm sure I'll say the same thing in another month though.  Still feeling pretty good, I'm noticing I get out of breath a lot faster and by the end of the day it's impossible to get comfortable until I lay down (and then by morning I can hardly stand to lay down anymore because every position is uncomfortable again).  I'm continually amazed by how much my stomach moves when she moves, I had no idea it would be so visible!

This weekend we went to Ikea and bought our baby furniture, it should be delivered on Saturday so we'll be busy getting the nursery set up in the next few weeks.  Pictures to come!

29 weeks

We have been busy getting ready for students to arrive at school.  And ready or not they come tomorrow.  I have made a few adjustments to my normal work attire, namely I'm wearing my flip flops.  My first day back at work I wore my normal work shoes and found with the heat and humidity by the end of the day I couldn't wear them any more.

I just downloaded the picture I took of our luggage coming home so I thought I'd include it to give everyone a visual of what we were dealing with.  Jeremiah piled the stroller box onto the top of a suitcase and pulled two bigger suitcases while I handled the smaller two.  A nice kid helped us get on our train and the taxi drivers helped us load and unload all our stuff.

This weekend we have a trip to Ikea planned for baby furniture so soon we will have a place to put all the things we brought back.  And after I wore the same shirt I wore in my week 20 photo today I've decided next week I need to wear the same shirt for a side by side comparison of what 10 weeks can do - stay tuned!

Doctor visit

This morning we had a doctor appointment, and since I have gotten many questions about what our health care is like I thought I'd share today's experience.  A few weeks ago I emailed the international coordinator and asked her to make an appointment for me, I received an email back the next day telling me I was #9 for August 2nd and could show up any time after 9:30am.  We got to the office a little after 9:30 and the nurse checked me in - weight, blood pressure, etc.  She then took my file, baby book that tracks my development and health card to the doctor and we went in a few minutes later.

In the doctor's office I had an ultrasound (I have one every visit).  He measured Baby O's head size, femur bone and abdomen to help determine due date (still around October 22nd).  He measured the heart rate (normal) and checked for any problems (none).  Finally, we discussed that she is breech and what that may mean down the road.  For now, however, she has plenty of room to turn around.

After the ultrasound we went to the computer where he noted information in my file.  He explained the blood test that I was to get next, and we talked about the fact that I am Rh (-).  Before he could tell me if I needed to get a preventative shot because I am (-) we needed to know if Jeremiah was Rh (-) or (+).  He sent us on our way to get my blood test, and for Jeremiah to get his blood type determined since we didn't know it.

A nurse took us to the blood drawing area and we took a number.  After about 10 people it was our turn and the nurse translated for us when needed.  The nurse took us back to the obstetrics waiting area while they processed Jeremiah's blood type.  30 minutes later they called us in and told us Jeremiah is Rh + so I would need to get a shot today and one after I give birth.  The nurse walked us to the pharmacy to pick up the injection (she waited in line for me to get it) and then took us to the injection room.  We took a number and waited our turn.  This was the craziest part of the day - I was called into a good sized room that was filled with people.  One man was sitting in a chair getting bandages on what looked like road burn on his back and arms.  There were 5 beds with people in them getting various treatments - a young boy getting an IV, someone getting a burn bandaged, an old man getting blood and a few others.  Everyone out in the open.  I was showed to a bed and while everyone else was out in the open getting more intense procedures than I was, the nurse closed the curtain around us, then gave me the shot in my arm and we were sent on our way home.

We paid about $3 and it included the visit, shot and blood work for both of us.  The interactions with the doctor were all in english and the nurse who took us around translated for us when the other nurses didn't speak english.  A productive and satisfactory visit.