Oh Man!

Baby and I went to see Dr. Hill for a checkup today. I was hoping she'd say that I've at least dilated 1cm but she said I dilated 1/2cm. What is that? Not even a whole centimeter! I know that how much I dilate has nothing to do with when I'll go into labor but I was hoping for some progress... BUT! I continue to check out well and baby's heartbeat was stronger than ever! She kept kicking the heartbeat monitor which made Dr. Hill laugh a lot. She's a fiesty one!

Ouch ouch ouch!

This blog post will just be me venting and complaining -

My back's been hurting a lot these past couple days.. It hurts more to lie down than sit. But then sitting makes my stomach uncomfortable and puts a lot of pressure on my pelvic bone.. I just can't win! The back pain feels a lot like much more painful menstrual cramps..... Is this normal? May be my body is getting ready for contractions and labor??? No idea. The back and pelvic pain is making sleeping difficult and getting out of bed to go bathroom even harder. I'd ask my husband to push me off of the bed but he's always so sound asleep just snoring away! No need for both of us to suffer... This weekend is our baby class where we'll cover labor, delivery and postpartum. It's supposed to be an 8-hour class, ouch!!!

Be Amazed - Week 37

Be amazed as you scroll down and see my belly pic from week 37! My belly is gigantic! I feel as though the baby is dropping but I can't be 100% sure since I don't exactly know what it feels like... I've read that I should be able to breathe easier and have less heartburns but I didn't really feel all that short of breath or had many heartburns in this pregnancy so I'm not sure if the baby has dropped..

When we went to our dr. appointment a week ago, the doctor said that the baby was dropping but hasn't dropped.. And I did not dilate at that point. Baby's size was perfect according to Dr. Bochner, approximately 6.5 pounds last Tuesday and he estimated that baby would be around 7.75 pounds at birth if I carried her to week 40. We'll see how accurate he is! That sounds like a huge baby to me!!

Thursday was my 3-hour breastfeeding class at the hospital. I thought it would be a very long 3-hour session but it went by so quickly since there was so much to learn! I'm most nervous and worried about the breastfeeding part since I hear some pleasant and some not-s0-pleasant horror stories about the breastfeeding process. I hope our baby will be easy and have no problem with feeding!!! As my last day of work approaches (1 week and 2 days to go!), I'm getting excited! I can't wait to relax and just wait for her to come and not worry about work or waking up in the morning or putting on my make up or drying my hair or picking out clothes to wear, etc.... :-)

36 weeks!

We have surpassed our 36 weeks! Wow, less than 4 weeks and hopefully we'll have our little girl at home with us! I can't believe it. I dream about bringing our baby home almost every night. Brackston Hicks contractions are coming more frequently and much stronger. It gets tight and uncomfortable but I'll be happy if the real contractions are like the Brackston Hicks (which I know will be 100 times more painful!). I am sleeping much less at night. I wake up every hour or two to go to the restroom and I've given up on the sleeping only on the left side thing and sleep a little on my right side. I always thought I need like 8-9 hours of sleep every night but I'm beginning to realize that when you enter motherhood, sleep is a luxury not necessity. So many people have expressed their surprise at my cankles and unfortunately, they have not gotten any better....

Tuesday is our appointment with Dr. Bochner for an ultrasound to check if the baby is in head-down position, if she's moved down and how big she is so far. I am so excited about this appointment that this week has gone sooo slow!!! Besides, it's been almost 2 months since we've seen our baby on an ultrasound!

On Saturday, Paul and I attended our first baby class at Good Samaritan Hospital. We thought we knew pretty much everything about bringing a newborn home with the practice we had with our niece Minji, the DVDs we've been watching and the books we've been reading but we actually learned some new things and stayed for the entire 5 hours! And we found out that the burger at the hospital cafeteria is AWESOME! I think we'll be eating that after I deliver our baby.

Below is my belly pic at 36 weeks.. YIKES!

All Good to Go!

Yesterday was our 35 week check-up appointment with Dr. Hill. Dr. Bohn just gave birth to a baby girl! The check-up was quick but we scheduled an ultrasound appointment for week 37 at which we'll make sure the baby's head is down in the right position and measure her to see how big she is.

Dr. Hill measured my tummy yesterday and said that the baby will be just the right size, not too big or small. She predicted what the weight of the baby will be but I won't post it here since Paul says his friends will be making bets on our baby's weight and he doesnt' want anyone to have inside information. To date, I've gained 25 pounds... Is that a lot? Is that little? I just hope our baby is healthy and getting enough nutrients that she needs!

Welcome to the World, Elizabeth Eunbee!

We got the most wonderful new this morning! Paul's brother Dave became a daddy today! Judy, Dave's wife, was due to deliver 2 weeks before our due date but the baby girl decided to come out a bit earlier. Since today is Paul's grandma's memorial, we think that God sent us little Elizabeth in memory of Paul's grandmother. She was born in Seoul, Korea around 4pm at 5.5 pounds. Her name is Elizabeth Eunbee Hwang. Eunbee is a Korean name with the meaning "daughter prepared/given by God through His grace." We can't wait to see some pictures of the first Hwang granddaughter!

Thank you so much!

This past Saturday was my babyshower at my parents' house organized by San and Gina. I had the best time with my closest friends. I just wished that my bridesmaids who all live out of state could have been there.... To the right is the cute invitation sent out to the guests and the diaper cake that San brought. So cute! It has so many diapers for our baby to use!

Saturday was beautiful. It was around 80 degrees and very sunny. We had to take advantage of the weather and have the shower in the backyard.

We ate kalbi, chinese chicken salad, my mom's special salad, seafood pasta, little appetizer quiches, etc for lunch and played a few games. San did a great job of coming up with some fun and original games. The first game was unscrambling baby related words. The second game was fill-in-the-blank nursery rhymes. The third game was guessing the celebrities' babies. The third game was a lot of fun but harder than I thought.

After the games and desserts, we opened the many gifts that I got. Our baby girl got tons of cute outfits (I mean TONS), baby monitor, car seat base for daddy's car, blankets, etc. It took almost an hour for me to open all the gifts. Thank you everyone for your generous gifts! We (Paul, baby girl, and I) appreciate it very very much!!!

It was a perfect shower full of laughter, close friends, wonderful weather and yummy food. THANK YOU!