Week 40 Day 268 T+2 Days

This is my wife. Doesn't she look great? 10 months pregnant and still sassin' it up for the camera. Rowr.


This is my wife on her walk today. We walked all the way up to school and back without stopping. Carrying all her extra weight, we even ran into one of her colleagues on the way down and chatted the whole way. She didn't even break a sweat. Double Rowr.


Even with all her extra tummy, she's still able to touch her toes when she stretches. I can't even do this now. Triple Rowr.


This one is just gratuitous. Quadruple Rowr.

Anyways, still no signs but we're enjoying life. Had delicious hotel buffet brunch this morning with omelettes, toast, fruit and everything else. We left the house too late for it yesterday so made up for it today.

Tomorrow, Sam may try and make an appointment with an accupuncturist that our midwife recommended. We'll keep you posted on any developments.

I love my wife. Today more than ever, on the fifth anniversary of our first kiss.

Rowr, Rowr, Rowr, Rowr, Rowr.

Week 40 / T-Minus 0 days

Taken today on Braemer Hill at Week 40 / Day 266 / Projected Due Date

And we have... no blastoff.

Well, here we are at day 266, week 40, the day our little baby daughter is supposed to be born and we have nothing. No Braxton-Hicks practice contractions, no discomfort (aside from the normal stuff due to all the extra weight), no show, nothing. While we understand that only 20% of babies are born on their due dates, it would have been nice to have had a baby today - if not before. We know from speaking to many of you on the phone that you are as excited as we are for the big day so sitting around and waiting hasn't been easy. As SAM said the other day, "I'm wasting all my maternity leave!"

As we wait, though, we've been taking the opportunity to make the very final preparations for the baby to arrive. Last night, we set up the co-sleeper so that Petunia would be sure to have a spot in the house to sleep once she comes home. It was fun laying in the bed pretending there was a baby next to me last night and patting the imaginary baby on her imaginary tummy.


Our new sleeping set up for life with baby. As of now, she's on my side!

SAM might be getting slightly impatient, but she's holding up awfully well and has been in good spirits. It's hard to make solid plans now since anything might happen at any time, so we're taking it easy and trusting that the baby will make the decision to start the process when she's ready. But at times, we're not above whispering to the little one, "It's time..."

Today was our 40th week doctor's appointment. After confirming to the doctor that she was experiencing no signs of labor, Sarah was handed a surprisingly intricate chart to record our baby's movements through the day. Since we want the baby to be born naturally (without induction) if possible, the doctor agreed not to induce labor until two weeks from the due date (as opposed to the suggested one week) as long as we kept careful watch over the baby's movements and recorded how many she had every hour. She suggested that at least 10 movements a day was necessary. We figure that'll be easy as pie since she seems to move 10 times an hour! Also, I've discovered that I can hear the baby's heartbeat by putting my ear up to SAM's tummy so that's a fun way to make sure she's doing ok.

In order to improve our odds that we don't spend another two weeks waiting for Petunia to arrive, as of today we have been pursuing a schedule of labor inducing activities. Before our doctor's visit, we went for a two hour walk up to school and back which left me with tired legs for the rest of the day (go sam!). Then, after the doctor's appointment, SAM had a nice, long foot massage during which the masseuses informed SAM that she was in excellent health as diagnosed from the condition of her feet. After that, we had a dinner of very spicy chicken curry which, we have been told, is good for getting the baby out. And the best part is that the day's not over yet!


At the halfway point of our walk today

Tomorrow, Sarah has already requested a large hotel buffet breakfast which we'll probably satisfy at the Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay before (probably) having another walk and perhaps other activities prone to help the baby be born.

During dinner at the Koos last night, George predicted that Sarah would go into labor tomorrow (tuesday) afternoon and that the baby would be born on Wednesday morning. If he's right, he's definitely getting a free drink!

In other baby news, George's brother, Tommy and his wife Valerie gave birth to a baby boy Sunday around 7:15 PM at NYU Medical Center. They were due 2 weeks after us but Valerie started having contractions during the day, checked into the hospital at 6:00 PM and had a baby in their arms by quarter after seven. Congratulations, Tommy and Valerie, and we can only hope that our delivery is as smooth as yours.

The Hong Kong Wetland Park

Well, Sarah got to post the pregnancy related blog entry of the week, but don't you guys think that I'm sidelined that easily! I wanted to write a post about how Sam and I went to the Hong Kong Wetland Park last Sunday.

As polluted as Hong Kong is, they do a good job of preserving land for parks. Something like 40% of Hong Kong is actually protected! Who knew?!? Some of that protected land is wetlands that have been preserved and they've built a great park with a visitors center that's kind of like a museum. I've been wanting to go for awhile and since Sarah wanted to get some more activity in (in order to get the baby out) we got together with Sarah's co-worker, Cathy and her family and we made an outing of it. (you can see Cathy's daughter in the above photo with us)

We had loads of fun and saw lots of animals including these guys.


Here's a little birdy that we were able to snap from inside one of the several blinds that the park service has built around the grounds. I wish I could tell you what this guy was. Maybe he's a Whiteas Birdus withus Yellowus Beakus?


Here's a little crab we were able to get close enough to from the little boardwalk path.

There were tons of other animals too including mudskippers, snakes and lots of fish and lilies and stuff. We had a great time looking around and even saw an example of otter poop! Yay for otter poop! You think I'm kidding, but they have it specially cordoned off and even had a little scope pointing at it so you could make sure to see it. Alas, no photo, so only those who were there could truly appreciate the grandness that is otter poop.

This was probably our last real "outing" to a far away place before Petunia deigns to greet us (and get assigned her real name) so we were glad to take advantage of it. SAM was a real trooper, walking around outside for hours carrying her extra cargo, but luckily, the weather was relatively cool, there were plenty of benches to rest on and transportation to and from the park was convenient. Hooray for Hong Kong!

Week 39 / Day 259 - Sam's on Maternity Leave!

Taken today, October 22 - Week 39 / Day 259 - 7 days left until she's due!

Today's posting represents a cameo appearance by the pregnant lady herself! Finding myself with not enough to do, I have started making John's life more difficult by trying to help with all the things that he is usually in charge of. He has graciously relinquished authorship of this posting and I promise to let him back into the author's seat next time.

We're at 39 weeks as of today and the doctor says Petunia could come "any time." The head is "2/5 engaged", which we understand to mean that 2/5 of the head is outside of my pelvic bone, and 3/5 is in. That's more than half way there! As soon as I heard that I started wondering if I was feeling contractions. In fact, I have felt the baby pushing down with more and more pressure, but still nothing that feels like what I think a contraction is supposed to be. I did wake up with a back ache this morning! But it went away.


Taken last week on October 14 - Week 38 / Day 251

The highlight of today, in addition to the doctor's appointment, was discovering that Hong Kong 7-11 has Slurpies! Who knew? Apparently John did, actually, but he had never let on. We shared a Coke Slurpie with dinner and the baby went bezerk from the caffeine and sugar. It was worth it, though. Yum!


Also taken last week on October 14 - Week 38 / Day 251

I realized early last week that waiting around was going to drive me crazy, so I've decided to try to make "plans." This to me means getting out of the house every day with a purpose, however trivial. Tomorrow's plans include a prenatal pilates class and lunch with a friend. We have dinner plans on Thursday, but so far Wednesday and Friday are still open. Anyone free for coffee? In between "plans" I am getting lots of sleep and trying to find a balance between enjoying quality time with my husband and staying out of his hair so he can work.

Day 248 / Week 37 and Presents!

Well, we're at week 37 - full term and counting and as you can see from this photo of SAM taken yesterday (Wednesday) evening, much of the time, you'd never know that she was pregnant! SAM is both looking and feeling good, it seems. With the exception of the baby continuing to grow ever larger and an acidy stomach, things seem not to have changed much from last time.

We had a doctor's visit this past week on Monday that went quite well. The doctor actually asked us for our birth plan and seemed fine with almost every item on it. The two exceptions were over breast feeding and showering. SAM had wanted to shower during labor and she told us that there wasn't a shower in the delivery room where she would be after being 6 or 7 cm dilated. The good news is that our plan isn't to head to the hospital until being about 6 cm dilated anyways, so we can probably get the showering out of the way at home. And anyways, at 7 cm dilated, the baby's probably coming soon and she wouldn't have time to shower anyways!

The other issue is that SAM had requested that the baby be fed only breast milk. However, the hospital said that they reserved the right to bottlefeed formula if the mother wasn't producing enough milk. Fair enough, I thought, but the definition of 'enough' is such a judgement call that we'll have to monitor that one closely.

Those were the only exceptions, really. The rest of the list was fine, from immediate skin to skin contact to rooming in with the baby to being able to move around during labor to everything. Very nice.

Also very nice is that today we received a wonderfully large package from Maine! Woohoo! As we opened it this evening, we by turns discovered not only our mail, and a wonderful card but other great items as well.



Here you see SAM flashing an enthusiastic thumbs up at this great looking diaper bag. Very nice! And something I would be happy to tote along.



As if one diaper bag wasn't enough, we found another quilted one right underneath it. Here you see SAM exploring all of its features including its built in changing pad.



Then, there was even more. What's this wrapped so nicely in paper with baby egrets on it? Something from Caroline, you say?



Perfect little baby shoes! Here you see SAM modeling the shoes and holding them approximately where we think the baby's feet currently are in her body.



And of course, the requisite belly shot! Getting bigger!



Little Petunia is staying active and taking up more space. There is most definitely a baby in there! She responds well and quickly now to changes in orientation and pressure and it is even easier to see little parts moving and sticking out of SAM. There's something incredibly grin inducing to put a hand on a stick-outy bit and feel it push back or move. Very fun.

SAM is on maternity leave officially starting tomorrow and so we're looking to at least make it through tomorrow before going into labor. Keep your fingers crossed for us!