Am I going into labor? Yes, I am.

1:30am - woke up to pee, couldn't fall back asleep. This is normal, but it doesn't always happen.
2:30am - decided to get out of bed for midnight snack; accompanied by spider solitaire
3:30am - mummy woke up and said hi. She went back to bed and I followed suit
4:30am - lying in bed, still couldn't sleep, but I know I need to get my rest
5:30am - Caleb's alarm rang and it's time to get up, but now I'm sleepy
8:00am - woke up from my sleep, but was feeling tired from restless night so I stayed on bed
10:00am - finally started work (thank god for remote work and flexibility!) but I couldn't sit still for over 30minute at a time because I either experienced some back pressure or groin pressure. Sitting on the yoga ball didn't help much either
12:00pm - decided that I must not be in labor, so we bought tickets to the king tut exhibit
3:00pm - left home for our fun evening out (king tut, followed by some shopping for mummy at hard rock cafe, and ended the evening with dinner by the bay at red robins)
8:30pm - showered and got ready or bed. Right as I was about to partake of my evening primrose oil, I experienced what felt like my water breaking (constant trickle, not a big gush)
9:00pm - water still trickling, so we left a voicemail with the midwife, Charlotte. Told mummy about the incident and wore adult diapers so I can try to sleep
9:29pm - I think this feels like a contraction (?)
9:36pm - this also feels like a contraction (but let's have Caleb sleep because if it is 1st stage labor, everyone needs to rest
9:44pm - I wonder if this potential contraction is creating a trend?
9:51pm - I think this is a contraction.. Seems like there is a pattern in the frequency.. Should I wake Caleb up or wait till it gets more intense?
9:58pm - Caleb can't sleep, but he's trying to get some rest. Told the family and Joanna called
10:05pm - the trickling doesn't stop.. The Bradley class says I need to replenish the water loss by drinking water, but I think I should try to sleep..
10:11pm - man, I can't believe I'm timing this early on.. If I am in labor for 20hrs, this is not very fun
10:16pm - is it picking up speed? Caleb is awake and starting to time my contractions
10:24pm - midwife said to take temperature n drink water, contractions lasting 40seconds, 36.5 Celsius
10:30pm - 1min contraction
10:35pm - 30seconds, I think we should try to go to bed and stop timing the contractions for a whole.. This is going to be a long night...
10:46pm - I didn't time the last contraction, instead I went to the bathroom n saw blood in my diaper. So I decided to give up the sleeping idea n watch Survivor. For some reason I feel very cold
11:47pm - contractions have been consistent, but it does help to be distracted by watching tv. I hope mummy n Caleb r getting enough rest to help me through 2nd stage later. Getting slight headache n still somewhat sleepy but can't really do anything but go with the flow (37celsius)

Oct 19
12:23am - temperature creeping up (37.6celsius)
12:57am - apparently the temperature I am in is normal, but it seems like my contractions are not as regular? I don't know, because I haven't been timing. Was able to update STD benefits and work in regards to time off and handing off project

I stopped timing after that last post as I decided that it is time to get some rest (I guess I am going into labor) but it wasn't very comfortable nor easy to nap. I didn't eat much but I kept stayin hydrated. Caleb called the midwife several times and updated them on our status, but we didn't head over to the birth center until 2:30pm. The contractions wasn't necessarily stronger, but I was just feelin very miserable and uncomfortable to move or stay still. I wanted to be in the bath tub as the warm water would've soothed me, but the midwife said it could slow down my contractions.

The car ride wasn't as bad as I had thought, all thanks to my wonderful husband who planned it ahead so we had a full tank of gas and traveled during light traffic time. When we arrived, I was still just as miserable but this time, I can't pee. The full bladder was in competition with my uterus, and since baby is moving down the birth canal, the urethra squished shut. We tried multiple natural ways to help me pee (hand in warm water, warm shower, manually squeeze bladder) but ended up needing to catheterize me, twice. I had several wasted 'push' prior to emptying the bladder, since the full bladder only acted as a cushion to bounce the baby back in. On top of getting catheterized, I got an IV drip with antibiotics at 20hr after water break because there's odor in my discharge.

There was no clock in the room, which bugged me but now I am thankful for that since it would've only made more paranoid about the time. It seemed like I had the urge to push later that evening, and those were painful. In fact, it made me forget what my normal contractions felt like in comparison to second stage contractions + pushing. They said you would get adrenaline to keep you going thru the labor, but I'm guessing my lack of food intake impacted that adrenaline factor because I was super exhausted. I tried to rest/nap in between my contractions, which was only successful half the time since nothing I did enabled comfort. The only thing I was able to eat was yogurt and a few bites of chicken herbal soup.

I moved into multiple positions to help the birth process, all of which were not comfortable either. I was stuck in between a rock and a hard place: If I don't finish what was started aka push baby out, I may just stay pregnant forever... Tough choice! Laying on my back hurts my butt, sitting on the birth stool cuts off circulation to my legs, kneeling on hands and knees takes too much energy but I kept alternating through the different positions as they helped position the baby into the right angle when she passes thru different parts of the birth canal (this is when education helps big time! I understand what is happening and can imagine what my body is doing, so I can logically talk myself into assisting the process despite the pain) the position I was in most was laying on my side because it enabled me to rest between contractions/pushes.

It is a HUGE blessing to have my wonderful birth coach aka my one and only spouse, my loving and ever ready mom, and a team of supportive, experienced midwives to help me through this challenging time. I can't imagine how anyone could've done this with lesser assistance. One person is fanning me, while wiping sweat off my brow, another person intermittently checking my vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, temperature), another person feeding me and verbally comforting me, and two others helped me stretch open my legs as I push. Such a big job to deliver a baby!!

Caleb nor I can identify when was the transition period; it seems like I went straight from 1st to 2nd stage without passing transition, unless we did go through it and it wasnt that bad? I had no idea what my progress was like the entire time. Since my water broke, doing too many vaginal inspections could increase the risk of infection so by the time we checked my dilation for the first time, I was already at 9cm. This was close to midnight (the silly thing was that I had a slight twinge of excitement from knowing that the baby will be born on October 20th!) so that was when the hardest part began - pushing! All in all I had about 5hours of hard labor.

It really does feel like you are passing a big hard stool, because you are to focus the pushing on the butt. I knew it felt odd but they kept telling me I'm doing a good job after each push, so I must be doing it right. I would rest for a minute or two, and then when I feel a contraction coming, I warn the team, and they get my legs into position - spread eagle. I was frustrated when I know the baby was rocking back and forth under the pelvic bone (which is normal to go thru the 2step forward 1 step back motion) but there's no other way out. I did think of asking for medication, but I knew it was pointless because they had none. Which was why it was great that I didn't choose to birth in a hospital where drugs were a lot more accessible. The tiring part of pushing was feeling the baby passing through the birth canal, putting pressure at different parts of my body. At times my butt really hurts, then there's times my rib cage really hurts, but none of those pain amounts to the pressure on the groin when she is getting closer.

Caleb reminded me to take deep breaths, I think that really helped to get oxygen to the baby and maintained her heart rate, he told me to also relax other parts of my body during the push so I am concentrating all efforts on the part that counts, and he kept me hydrated so I can keep my strength up. The last wave came and I knew it was all about to come to an end when they showed me her head in the mirror..A few more pushes and I am done!! My legs were so tired from the spread, my butt was so sore from the pressure, and I was ready to be done! When she started crowning, I really felt the ring of fire people mentioned! The stupid thing was that I'm too tired to give any more pushes, so she had to stay crowned in between my contractions. I rested for a minute to two, then I pushed 3 times at about 10seconds stretch each. I tried to do low grunts but most of the time I just shut my eyes, squeezed my face and held my breath as I pushed. When her head finally passed through I gave a sigh of relief but the midwife quickly told me to keep pushing (even though I had already given my usual 3 pushes) baby was stuck by the shoulders/waist!!! So I just pushed with whatever might I had left in me just to get her out. I felt success as the baby finally slid out of me like a big blob of warm goo. Without hesitation they placed her on my bare chest (well, they placed baby on my tummy since the umbilical cord was abnormally short and can't reach any further) Caleb and I both teared up as we watch our beautiful baby girl being rubbed down on my tummy and she gave a few adorable coos which almost instantly makes you forget what you went through..all 27hour worth of laboring!



Violet Kaili (凯丽) Martin
October 20,2012
2:04am, 8.1lbs

The World's Greatest!

I cannot imagine how single parents can get through pregnancy/parenting if they don't get support. I am typically strong but I much prefer being dependent on a wonderful spouse that is helpful. I want to dedicate this blog to my sweet hubby that is doing his best to assume his role as a new daddy and my coach birth. Last week, he put a log in the fireplace and gave me a a calming and relaxing evening with a full body massage. He wasn't only loving me with his acts of service, but also with his words by affirming me that his standard of beauty is how I am exactly right now. He said how he chose not to have an active personal life outside of work because he wants to be there for me as much as he can and spend the most time with me, because this is the last of "us two alone" that we will have. (Everyone knows family dynamics changes when children enters the picture). I am very grateful that God has provided me with a wonderful husband that is so loving, supportive, helpful (especially around the home!!) and strong.

Not the typical pregnancy

From the beginning of this blog I have been mentioning that I have an easy pregnancy, yet when I share it to people, they always tell me "oh just you wait..it will come"...IT referring to all the discomforts of pregnancy. Yet now at Week 35, I am still standing strong on my blessing from God, being able to proclaim having an easy pregnancy...below is a list of common experiences that most mothers-to-be go through. The ones highlighted are the ones I had a taste of:

Heart burn

Gas

Bleeding Gums

Varicose veins

Leg Cramps

Hemorrhoids

Fatigue

Constipation

Backache

Weight Gain

Sore Breasts

Sleeping Problems

Vaginitis

Water Retention

Sharp Pain in Groin

Moodiness

Headaches

Braxton-hicks Contractions

Morning Sickness

That puts me at 4/19 = about 20% -praise God for a smooth pregnancy!

Baby Shower

It is difficult to abandon my Chinese roots when it comes to adapting to a different culture. For example, ang pow is how people typically provide blessings to others (Chinese New Year, Birthdays, Weddings, etc) and having a new born in the family is no exception - money is accepted universally regardless what culture. The challenge then is to put aside this expectation when it comes to the Western culture since it is not the norm. Instead, typically, a baby shower is thrown by a close relative or a friend/co-worker to help the new mother-to-be with the overwhelming cost of baby items...I think most everyone know that anything for sale that has the word "baby" on it is already marked up 10times what it should really sell for. Example, a normal wash rag could cost you $0.50 each, but because its a baby wash rag suddenly its $10 for two. The problem with a shower is that most people tend to get you whatever they like (cute baby outfits, etc) as oppose to the unattractive practical items (diapers!) Regardless, I am thankful for Holly for going through the effort of throwing me a wonderful shower.

The wonderful hosts

A lot of effort went into the "pretend" nursery (which we will be borrowing for a while!!)

Winter helped with opening presents

Hand made gifts

Some cute outfits for Violet

Family came to support

Seems like a storm, rather than a shower!

Birthing Coach in our New Apartment

Caleb and I are finally reunited! It feels good to be sleeping in the same bed again, having our daily meals together, and working towards unity in our baby goals. Due to limited time, we didn't waste much time as soon as we moved back in together that we started getting busy...put the home together (out of boxes) and attended our first birthing class; the Bradley Birth. 

It was great to have family help us get settled in by moving all our junk, and then we took the next few weeks to slowly organize the home. Getting a 3bedroom apartment, even though costing more than a 2bedroom, was a great decision because I feel the freedom to roam in a spacious environment while I am working from home. Right now, the baby room is storing all our undealt-with-boxes but the rest of the home is functional (kitchen, living room, office and master bedroom) We bought me a computer desk from Craigslist so I have a workstation that is spacious and comfy. I am really liking the setup and enjoying the freedom of working from home. During work breaks, I can thaw/marinade meats for dinner-preparation, I can do some chores (laundry, dishes, etc) and personal care (facials!!) I wonder how my "schedule" will change when the baby comes. The best thing about working from home is the flexibility, yet currently I am working about 7am-4pm

The living room (waiting the arrival for our tv mount)..Caleb did a splendid job arranging the picture frames!

The Dining Room and Kitchen (the bar stools is too low for the breakfast bar :-/ )

Pantry (spacey!!) and Kitchen

Cozy master bedroom

Master bathroom (not attached to the master bedroom)

Laundry room, with space for kitchen appliances

Office/Guest room

We enrolled in a birthing class rather late in our pregnancy because it was hard to find weekend classes that would work for us while we were 5hours apart. Regardless, by God's grace, we landed with a very good birth class that is 12session long, supports natural birth, is physically located within 15min of our apartment, and we got a $200 discount!! (Classes typically range from $175-$300). We are learning lots and the best part is, the instructor is aware that we will have to miss the 2nd half of the lessons since Violet is due mid October, thus she is scheduling make-up private sessions...God is so good! The biggest thing I plan on getting out of the birthing class is preparing Caleb to be my birth coach (instead of hiring a doula, since the cost is not covered by insurance) Caleb has been wonderful - being supportive, very involved, catching up on reading (we bought the Husband-Coached Childbirth book) and encouraging me on my relaxation techniques, exercises and nutrition.

Maternity Photoshoot

I have seen some beautiful maternity pictures online and was inspired to get one done for our first pregnancy. I've been told that children are the best form of birth control - so in the event that this is my only child, I would've at least captured the memory in forms of still images. The initial challenge was to identify this photoshoot as a "need" or a "want"...do I "need" to have belly pictures, or do I "want" to have maternity pictures? The answer is very obvious, thus to justify the shoot, I needed to find a very good deal! I was hunting Groupon for a long time, however, most of the deals did not give me digital copyrights, so I switched over to Craigslist. I found a GREAT deal for under $30 (isn't it great to experience Gods' favor??) and we are rather pleased with the outcome. Of course, Caleb and I are not professional models by any means, but it sure is fun to experience being in a studio.

Weight Gain

Since I failed the first glucose test (to check if I have gestational diabetes, GD) I got concerned about delivering a big baby...after all, this is my first birth and doing it all natural seems scary if the baby is bigger than my opening...concerns of tearing or a head stuck in the path, is not a pleasing thought! I tried accomodating a diet that cuts out sugar (even though I wasn't big on sugar to begin with) but I'm suspecting that my German husband may have passed on some genes that enables a bigger baby than a typical Asian-sized baby (I may be completely wrong, but who knows).

Most resources provided the following information regarding healthy weight gain. Women are expected to gain typically between 25-35lbs (11kg - 15kg). If you look at the chart I built below, I am not within the estimated range that I am suppose to fall into. As it is, I am presently 31weeks pregnant and have gained a whopping 32lbs, but I still have at least 8weeks more to go! Most people look at me and will agree that majority of my weight gain is shown on my belly, but personally, I do feel some chubsters hanging onto my thigh & butt.

• Baby: 8 pounds
• Placenta: 2-3 pounds
• Amniotic fluid: 2-3 pounds
• Breast tissue: 2-3 pounds
• Blood supply: 4 pounds
• Stored fat for delivery and breastfeeding: 5-9 pounds
• Larger uterus: 2-5 pounds
• Total: 25-35 pounds

I don't think I am eating more than I am supposed to - I snack healthily (except on weekends when I see Caleb) with baby carrots, string cheese, yogurt, fruit and hard boiled eggs, and I break up my meals into smaller portion so I don't eat three big meals. I just got done with my 2nd GD test (which was super no fun - 12hours of fasting before the first blood draw, and then a continued 3hour fasting for the next 3blood draw) and am anxiously awaiting the results. If all goes well, I probably will opt out of the test for the next pregnancy; I figured I should at least take the test once since all 4 of my grandparents have diabetes!

After all that is said and done, it is in God's hands and I pray for a healthy & safe delivery. Of course I have to still do my part of eating healthily. A recent article I read said that doing perineal massage helps prevent tearing, so I think I will consider doing that (and probably increase my kegel exercises!) 

Hot Summer for Big Mama

We are coming to the tail end of our long-distance relationship and I can’t wait to move back with my hubby. It went from sadness to numbness to madness and now I’m glad I don’t have to wait and see what’s the next phase of separation will I get into because (hopefully) be the end of the month we will be reunited!

If I actually give birth on the baby due date, I am currently 70 days away from meeting the precious little one. It is fun having a 9-month roomie that always accompany you in everything you do…especially one that is so considerate like my little princess. Praise God that I do not have the typical pregnancy with the Braxton Hicks, heartburn, back pain, sleepless night, insufficient room for meals, throwups, etc…because I am having a great time with the pregnancy! When I sing, baby sometimes squirm, when I rub my belly, baby occasionally surface to the top of my belly to get some lovin, and when I eat, baby jumps around! Very exciting to feel baby inside me :-)

Yesterday I went for my first foot reflexology...people say to pamper yourself before the baby comes, and I am glad I did because it was a relaxing time to release some tension from my feet after carrying so much weight around. I love groupon and all them great deals! We will probably get another groupon deal for a couples massage. 

The summer has been great because its mostly been around the 80s (high 20s for those who do Celsius!!) so its not too hot..but when it did get hot, we were able to splash around in the lake to cool off. I was expecting to be a lot more buoyant especially with all the excess water that I am carrying, but I needed the Styrofoam noodle to help me stay afloat (since treading water knocks the wind out of me!)

Safe Travels

I always enjoyed traveling; be it backpacking alone through Europe or going on a scuba-trip with the hubby, I enjoy seeing different parts of the world, taste the culture, bask in the new environment and experience the change in atmosphere. However, like most travelers, one thing that affects most of my journey is cost. Due to the 5hour distance that my husband and I have to endure through our pregnancy, we had to be proactive with keeping the relationship strong. After all, this is our first baby and it would be unfair to Caleb if I did it all by myself (not that I could've anyways!) 

We started off the commuting with the conventional driving - Caleb came south on one weekend, I went north on the alternate weekend. This only went on for about a month because my work schedule changed and my days off were no longer during the weekends. At that point, I have to be the one going north all the time because I worked a 4-ten schedule and had three days off. The challenge with going north all the time was driving long distance while pregnant is not very safe. With that, we started looking into public transportation. Even though we lost the flexibility of being able to commute on our own schedule, the big benefit of public transportation is fuel-efficiency. Caleb's truck only gets 18+mpg and my car does 30mpg, and with wear and tear to the vehicle after commuting so much, it is more beneficial to commute via public transportation.

The Amtrak train is a very comfortable way to commute. And since Caleb had a 10% Boeing discount, it made it all the more enjoyable, knowing that I got a deal with each ride. It was a 3.5hour ride each way and the cabs are usually half filled, which means I get both seats to myself to spread-out to nap. I will also bring along my laptop for a movie or this is one of the opportunities I have to catch up on my baby-book readings. Below is a picture of the train in the Seattle King St. Station, promoting the King Tut exhibit, which I am very excited to bring my mother to experience when she comes to assist with the delivery.

I also get to enjoy some beautiful scenery along the way, since the train track runs along the Columbia river as it heads north.

Of course, I am only sharing with you the pretty pictures of the commute, but those of us that have used public transportation knows that there is more to it that the well-engineered vehicle and the pretty scenery. What goes on behind the scene is the in-between busing I had to take to make it to the transit centers.

These are the buses I took while benefiting from the "pregnancy priority seating"

The bolt bus was an alternate way I used in replace of the Amtrak train that was a lot more economical. It was a one-way express from Seattle from Portland. I rarely used this option because it doesn't stop at Vancouver and I had difficulty getting home from their Portland pit stop.

I took the Sounder Transit frequently from Lynnwood to Seattle in the mornings as Caleb drops me off on his way to work. This bus is usually filled with white collar workers that are commuting into Seattle for work. I was blessed to have always made it to my train on time since this is bus travels directly into Seattle.

This third bus I took (also a direct express bus) is the C-Tran that brings me from Portland into Vancouver directly. Similar to the Sounder transit, it helps commuters to avoid the heavy traffic that builds up around business hours.

After all that's said and done, I think I can say that not too many pregnant mothers have to "travel" as much as I did, but I am thankful for having a way to stay in touch with the hubby. Thank you Jesus for public transportation! Violet's gonna be a world traveler some day!

On going to do list

I enjoy ticking that "check box" when you get a task complete...just like crossing off an item from the grocery list when you've placed it in your cart. Getting the task done is the goal, but ticking that check box gives me a sense of accomplishment...it is finished! Otherwise, how else do you know if the task is completely done? Some people are more organized than I am, so they may have their to-do list in their head, but I tend to forget (especially with the pregnant brain, or with a husband who says "I will take care of it" and then forgets as well).

Similar to planning a wedding or a vacation to a new place, there's a laundry list of things to do prior to baby's arrival. I've been blessed to have a husband who is helpful (after I nag and nag and nag haha!!) his excuse is "I want to be a kid for as long as I can before the kid comes!" that leaves me as the only "adult" trying to shrink the to-do list. What makes it more difficult is that we are in the midst of moving, therefore, a lot of things are changing simultaneously. Here's what we have on-going now...

• Get life insurance quote
• Caleb get T-Dap vaccine (need to look for primary care provider)
• Interview pediatrician (need to research local pediatricians)
• Fill in Cord-Blood donation paper work
• Sign up for birthing classes (need to find one first!)
• Finalize baby-item list (loan from Holly and purchase the rest)
• Acquire hospital bag (since I am delivering at a birthing center)
• Purchase more pre-natal vitamins
• Find Chinese middle name for baby Violet/Annabel/Hailey...
• Submit maternity leave for work
• Figure out tax paper work changes from new addition to the family
• Move into new apartment (get nursery ready)
• Pregnancy photoshoot
• Discuss expectations with confinement lady (aka Mummy!)

This list is baby-specific...we have another personal to-do list that I don't know how to get them all done by October 16! Breathe, mama, breathe!!!

The lady who lived in her shoe

I've always wondered about the ol' nursery rhyme of the old grandma who lived her shoe. I don't really know what that is about, but if I had to make a guess, she probably spent so much money on shoes that the cost of all her shoes combined would equate to the cost of a house! This has never been and probably will never be my case; as much as I like to own pretty stuffs, I'm too practical. The shoes must serve a greater purpose than just being a fashion statement.

For the past two weeks, my weight gain has been rather tremendous. I started this pregnancy journey at about 106lbs and now at week 25, I am at a whopping 130+lbs! And I still have 15more weeks to go! I am definitely maintaining a healthy diet (except for the occasional craving for Shin Ramen!) so I know my weight gain is not in vain. However, I have never been this heavy in my life, so my poor feet is struggling to hold up such a big body! Therefore, I have been experiencing rather unpleasant soreness around my ankle and the sole of my feet. Since walking is the only form of "exercise" that I do while I'm pregnant, I can't let my aching feet be a hindrance from my one and only physical activity!

I spent several days visiting multiple stores to try to find the right shoes...this time, cost wasn't an issue! I am willing to invest in some good walking shoes, but alas, it is not easy to find the right pair~! I visited Payless Shoe store, Target, Ross, Sports Authority, REI and even Whole Foods (they carry Toms...). I was told how comfortable Toms are, but upon trying them on, I was not impressed. 

These were some candidates that I was considering... 

I ended up purchasing this instead...

Unfortunately, I did not like them because they rubbed against my toes and heel...I will be returning them soon...I begrudgingly bought these and will probably be using them as my walking shoes. I dislike the lack of appeal to the eyes, but I really appreciate the comfort it provides...

To help ease the sight for sore eyes, I rewarded myself with these....

(no they do not contain any raw fish in them!)

The Baby Gender Announcement!

Ladies and Gentlemen may we introduce to you our wonderful, beautiful, amazing, the very first 

Baby Girl Martin!!

We've known for a little over a month now, but have waited to announce it on the web because we needed to wait till after July 1st, when we announced it to the Webbs and Martin (that's the earliest date everyone was available to get together). We have announced to Malaysia via postcard ahead of time and everyone was thrilled to receive the surprise in the mail (thank God everyone received their mail!) 

We've been trying to find a good way to announce the gender of the baby, so after some research, we decided to play pinata as oppose to simply verbalizing the gender. Caleb and I enjoyed a sunny afternoon making the paper-mache in the sun as we got ourselves sticky with paste!

We made two balloons - one for the small group and another for the family. Each event was unique in its own way. With the small group, the news came out a little bit faster than expected when Andreea decided to rip open the pinata instead of hitting it. With the family, the pinata did not want to break so it took almost 10minutes until the confetti came out! Hopefully that does not symbolize how the baby will actually be born!

Here's the vote of the gender...I guess we know now who is right...

Yesterday was a really fun event - thanks to everyone for helping making it such a memorable day! 

Caleb, Heidi and Grandma Joan helping make the shish-kebabs

Holly made the beautiful watermelon basket

Dereck was grilling all the yummy food

Heidi taking the picture of everyone on the dinner table

After dinner, Caleb took hung the pinata and explained the rules. Everyone randomly drew a number and went in order from smallest to biggest number of who gets to hit the pinata. Each person gets 30seconds to find the pinata and make a hit - you can make multiple swings but you only get one go at the pinata. Since the pinata was so resilient, majority of the family had an opportunity to go at the pinata! 

The only thing constant is change

I try to make the pictures be consistent so we can track the actual growth of the belly over time, however, since we are in a transition period, our location is not constant. As you can see from Week 1- Week 15, the location is the same (our first home in Vancouver, the master bathroom). After that, we moved and lived separately :-( In Week 20 & 21 the picture was taken in my room at the Lim's and in Week 22 the picture was taken in Caleb's room at Mike's place where he is renting. I think it is interesting to see the comparison between week 1 and week 22 where change is so drastic! I didn't even realize that my tummy is now pointy! Not only that, my hair is growing along with the belly! Hehe :-) I'm glad that my hair is long enough to put in a pony tail so its disable baby to pull my hair haha!!

Belly is a hand magnet

On June 11 Caleb and I felt the baby kick for the first time. I was told that the baby was probably moving heavily in me, but since it is a new experience for me, I probably couldn't recognize them as baby movements. But I was 100% confirm that baby was squirming and kicking on that Sunday evening when Caleb and I were snuggling watching a movie. I told Caleb to put his hand on my tummy and shortly after that we felt a very distinct kick! It was super exciting! Ever since then, little baby has been kicking up a storm everyday; not too strong but little bumps here and there randomly throughout the day. Brings me so much joy to feel baby's movement :-)

At Week 22, baby should have developed more features like eyelids and ears, so I try to hum or sing more. Since baby is kicking, that means baby feels me as much as I feel baby, so I would frequently rub my tummy or simply place my hand on my belly...makes me feel like I am holding baby. I heard about having random hands rubbing pregnant bellies, but since I work in a male-dominant environment, it would be super awkward to have men touch my belly. So the only hands that has been touching baby are mine or the dad's :-) So my belly is only a hand magnet to us, not strangers!

Since my belly is rather big now, it is challenging to cook..I made dinner last night and since the kitchen counter is waist height, I am constantly using my upper back muscles to reach out and that causes a sore back!! I thought having backache would be from carrying the belly, not from bending over...sigh, I am just glad that so far, I don't have to be cooking so much.

Our midwife called us with some bad news a few days ago. One of my tube test came back positive for BV which is bacterial vaginosis...this is supposedly common for a lot of pregnancies, but may be dangerous for the baby if not treated well - we could face a premature birth. To treat it, we need to kill those bad bacteria by flushing out all bacteria with antibiotics, and then build up the good bacteria with probiotics...I was given metronidazole prescription which is basically antibiotics in gel form applied vaginally. It was a difficult process to go through to get those medication and here's why. With Caleb and I being in transition between jobs and housing, our insurance information, medical history and mailing address are all over the place, and to add to complication, the medical clerical staff were not very efficient in their work ...the different clinic/test lab/hospital that we had to go through did not know how to handle paperwork transmission well...thus lots of time was wasted just waiting. I suppose that's why the people waiting to see the doctors are called PATIENTS!

After our ultrasound from two weeks ago, I mailed postcards home to the other side of the world for the gender announcement and my family knows what we are having, so they are already giving input on the baby names. We narrowed down to top 10, but with family assistance, I think it got slashed in half haha! The announcement in USA will happen on July 1st which the soonest when the Webbs and Martins can get together. I am biting nails to not leak!! But thankfully I am able to discuss it with my family in Malaysia, since they are also giving ideas for the baby's middle name.

Baby's First Video

We were at the ultrasound yesterday to find out the gender of the baby. Before they called our name to the service room, I told Caleb to take a video of the session. What I forgot to tell him was to not ask for permission because I was previously informed of the dumb rule that any photography or video footage was not allowed during the ultrasound. When we went in and I was prepped up for the scan, Caleb asked," Babe, do you want me to video the whole thing or just the gender discovery section?" This blows our cover and the technician proceeded with telling us what I already knew. Feeling sorry for exposing our cover, Caleb decided to take the following action...

I don't know if the technician knew Caleb was trying his best to bluff, but we sure had a good laugh from his attempt to redeem himself. Even though we weren't able to have a video session of the entire experience, the service center was nice to give us a CD of some pictures and short clips of the ultrasound. Here are some cooler footage of the session that we can share :-)

This is baby's kicking activity...

This is baby playing peekaboo and opening/closing mouth...

Daddy and Mommy loves baby

Since Daddy and Mommy have to live separately for a short time in order to setup a better career arrangement that enables Mommy to take care of baby from home, we still love each other very much and we talk every evening through FaceTime on our iPhones :-)  Yesterday night we spent some quality time together praying for baby, reading some scriptures over baby for God's favor, grace and wisdom. Today is the revealing of the gender and Daddy woke up very nervous and excited to find out what baby is!

Daddy was playing with his iPhone and making fun of Mommy's belly since it is growing so big now, it really feels like the belly cannot be any bigger!! As you can see, baby is taking up so much space inside Mommy that the belly button is being pushed out..when Mommy sits straight, the belly button is still an Inny but when Mommy bends back, belly button is almost and Outty! It is a very silly picture, but I thought it would be fun to show Daddy and Mommy's silly side :-)

Baby-Mooning

No, this does not mean the baby showed us his/her butt in the ultrasound! This means we have a "honeymoon" before the baby comes..aka baby-moon! If we don't do this now, who knows when we will have alone time just as husband and wife together! This trip was very much needed, but the details of the trip was not planned well. Typically when I go on vacation, I like to pack it full with activities but seeing that I am pregnant and we have a limited budget, it is harder to find motivation to plan a vacation that is slower pace. Nonetheless, we had a wonderful time together at San Juan islands!

Although it was not a fun-packed adventure, it was definitely not a boring one. The best way to spice up a slow vacation is not to plan it! LOL! We knew the approximate time of the events we had going on, but we weren't exactly sure...we arrived at Anacortes harbor 15minutes before the ferry was going to depart, so we had to rush to look for parking and then run half a mile to get tickets and board the ferry! Great work out for the prego lady! Thank God the path from the parking lot to the dock was downhill! The same thing happened when we were supposed to board the boat to our Whale Watching tour...the boat was to leave at noon, but we had a lazy morning and got up at 11:30am!! Again, more running for the big mama! To add to the suspension, we arrived at the San Juan Excursions company and they said they cancelled their trip but we weren't informed! But luckily, we were able to get on board with San Juan Safaris that was just boarding their ship. The last running scene of the trip involves off boarding the ferry from Anacortes racing against time to get me on the Amtrak train from Seattle to Vancouver...The train was at 5:30pm and we docked at 3pm...that means the hill that I ran down is now an uphill battle to get to our parking spot!! Definitely too much stress for one pregnant lady to handle!!! However, we still praise God at the end of the day because we made it just in the nick of time for all the 3 running fiasco!

We saw some fun animals along the way as we were enjoying our breezy vacation...a deer was barely 2feet away from us as we were leaving Anacortes Harbor, so we had to take a moment to capture this kodak moment! The same thing happened when we were waiting for the ferry at Friday Harbor..we accidentally strolled into the pier where a semi-blind seal calls home! We were also about 2feet away from this seemingly peaceful creature! So much for paying for a tour to see the sea creatures! Although, it was definitely amazing to see the Dall Porpoises swimming along the bough of the boat...all 10 of them! 

It was relaxing to laze in our quaint little bed and breakfast at the Hillside Hotel; it was only a stroll away to the heart of town where we enjoyed the best fish and chips and calamari ever tasted. The hubby didn't hesitate to enjoy some beer as the sun shone so brightly on that first day of arrival, as if to welcome us to the start of our great vacation! The local organic lavender farm, Pelindabra produced some of the best products as well, along with a bottle of lavender oil which now we call our own :-) Rubbing lavender oil on pregnant bellies is suppose to help reduce stretch marks, not to mention leaving a wonderful scent!

Some progress of the baby growth, we are about a week away from discovering the gender...Linea Nigra has formed the second day of our baby-moon-vacation...its only a faint line that forms from my belly button heading down under!! And finally, my belly button is slowly turning into an outie!! Its actually kinda cute :-) I have increased my appetite and meal portion consumption...but sadly the bowel movements remain the same. Hopefully that means baby is growing bigger :-) The baby app on my phone says that at week 19-20 is when baby starts to listen and taste, so I am humming songs and the daddy is praying to the belly so baby can hear our voices :-)