Fetal Kick Count - Record Breaker!

Part of my prenatal care advice has been to keep record of how the baby moves each day.  I did this for Daniel's pregnancy, too.  The idea is that the baby should be moving at least four times per hour, and that I keep track of two times per day of these movements.  I am supposed to try to observe morning and evening and if I don't notice movements, I need to go to a quiet place, relax, and lie down to observe more closely.

This baby has been a record breaker for movements this weekend.  At times I have felt four movements in two seconds.  Other times, the movements are a few seconds apart, but they last for several minutes.

This baby is so active that I wonder if she has a hard time being settled and getting comfortable, much like I do when I go to sleep every night.  It takes me a long time to get comfortable, too, whereas Dan can basically fall asleep in the same spot he sat down to read in and barely move a muscle.

I also notice all movements below my belly button, and thus I know the baby is still in a breech position.  On very rare occasions, I can tell the baby is moving more vertically, but it doesn't last long!  I am a little relieved that I won't have trouble with bruised ribs or ribs out of place as I did with Daniel starting at about this time, but I think I'll have more stretch marks this time.  I also notice I have to use the bathroom with much more frequency, even if it is just an ounce or so because she's karate chopping my urinary bladder!

Things That Belong To You Three Months Before Your Expected Arrival.

I have not collected as many things as I had hoped so far, but do know that I am mentally planning crib bedding, a detailed shopping list for yard sales, and a few more other special purchases for you.

You have a drawer in the nursery dedicated to you and all the things I have for you are stored there.  I spread them out to look at them this week, and I got even more excited about you.

There are six diapers for you in pink and purple.  You will wear several of the ones your brother wore, but these are special for you.  I was excited to get them for you and actually, I am excited to do diapering for you because these are two of my favorite colors. I much prefer them to the bright blues we've used for Daniel.

I bought the little striped shirt a few years ago.  Its so sweet.  It reminds me of sherbet flavors and My Little Pony.  

These shirts are three month size and are from your Aunt Rachie. I love them.  You will not often wear words because these days, babies wear really obnoxious sayings, but these two sayings are appropriate and very sweet.  Sorry, you can't wear shirts that say Lil Diva or Drama Queen.  

I won these leggings in an online drawing, and they are so sweet.  If you have chubby legs, they will be precious.  Your brother did not have chubby legs, and they looked precious anyway with body suits.  I think you will be wearing a lot of leggings.  They are awesome.

This is the dress I have from my birth.  You might not wear it right away, or it might be a keepsake.  Either way, I think it is lovely.

The quilt in the backdrop is made by a friend named Emily.  I bought it in the summer of 2009, even though then I was pregnant with a boy.  I thought it was so beautiful.  It is my gift to you before I even knew about you.

Christmas Gift from Aunt Rachie

Here are two of your presents from Christmas.  My youngest sister Rachel bought them for you.  I opened them, thinking the label "For a Sweet Little Girl" referred to me.  Oops.  I guess I am a Sweet Lady, not girl!

A Sweet Gift for You

My father, your Grandpa Douglas, gave this to me to give to you this Christmas season.  He addressed it jokingly to Martha Rose, which is sort of a joke name for you at my parents' home. 

The story is that my parents did not know which gender of baby they were having when I was born.  Ultrasounds were very poor in those days, and my mom did not have very many at all.  They had a girls' name selected (Bethany Lynn) and a boys name chosen (Elijah Robert), and while my mother really hoped for a girl since she did not care for the boy name, she did not pack any pink clothes for me to wear.  My father went to a local shop and bought this dress for me while I was still in the hospital.  Therefore, it is my first piece of real clothing!  And you can wear it, too.

 My mom told me that she has kept it safe and secure for 28 years now... safe from her daughters using it as a dress for baby dolls and safe from garage sales and aging.  It has been moved from at least four houses and is now in the drawer I have designated for your things.

Don't worry, it is not "so out of fashion" even though it is now 2011, not 1982.  It is still very classy looking, and the while with smocking is adorable.  If you are dressed it in, people will not notice that you are wearing an antique.  I may tell them because I think it is special, but really, it looks like a gown from a modern boutique.

Over the Half Way Mark!

Dear Baby Girl:

Just a quick note to you.  We are about four months from meeting you.  This is great news to me!  You are so kick-y.  You wiggle all day long.  I think about you a lot, especially in terms of the question: "What will your name be?" So far, that is a question without an answer.  Stay tuned though.  I think we have at least ten names that we kind of like.

Your brother can answer the question, "Where is mommy's baby?".  He points to my abdomen and more often than not, he kisses  my stomach.  He also lifts my shirt to poke my belly button.  Both things really tickle me.

I think I selected the hospital you will arrive in, which is different than the one I used before.  I had a dream though that I was delivering you and the hospital had really, really bad food. I wanted to go back to the other one across town because they had Pepsi and really good fruit salad.  I think I need to find out if the newer hospital has good food, too, so I can rest easy!

Love
Mama

PS - I didn't get you any Christmas gifts yet.  Sorry!  That means Christmas 2011 will be a great year for presents for you (from me).

Letter to My Daughter, Middle of Pregnancy

Dear Sweetheart,

I think about you often, but I confess that I do not have the same thoughts for you right now as I did for your brother when I was pregnant with him.  I was constantly praying for his health, wondering about his birthday, and feeling confused about how I would be a good mother to him.  I worried all the time, but while I was worrying about him and our relationship, I was really soaking him in.

I am not as worried during this pregnancy with you. I am not worried about what will happen in the next few weeks to your body or mine - I can kind of predict it. I am not as focused on your next OB appointment because I know what to expect from the doctors and when to call if there is a problem.  I am not very worried about the day you will be born because I know it will happen when we are both ready (or the labor enhancing drugs we might have to take start working!).  You will probably be born in April and that will be so nice to have some flowers blooming to show you when we take you home.  I also feel very less worried about caring for a newborn as I did before. I feel confident about holding you, wearing you in a sling, washing you in a tub, changing your clothes, diapering, you, and I even know nursery rhymes and lullabies for you.  I feel confident to be your mother.

I also have not written about the details of this pregnancy in as much depth as I did for your brother's blog site.  Part of this is lack of technology this time - that stinker broke our scanner!  So your lovely ultrasound images are simply in a book instead of online (for now).  We also had trouble with our home computer this fall before buying a new one.  Besides technology, I have to divide my time differently than I did two years ago.  Though I worked full time (and had a side job tutoring) I felt as if I had much more free time to do things like writing and researching for your arrival. 

I will tell you that you remind me of your presence hourly.  You kick and twirl so often.  I have felt you since 12 weeks, which is a month earlier than I was "supposed to have", but I think its because of your positioning and my keen mindfulness.  I feel lucky to have just ONE day pass with out throwing up, and this at 20 weeks, 2 days.  Its so difficult to be pregnant and to feel sickly.  But I have just accepted it as the norm for me, and it makes me even more excited to be UN-pregnant. I will be able to enjoy you AND enjoy food and life again!  What a triple whammy!

For the last month I have been seriously considering your name.  And reconsidering.  The short of it:  you are still nameless.  I know what your name will NOT be, but not what we will name you.  I very much want you to have a name you are proud of, as well as a name that is age appropriate for most stages of your life.  Therefore, I want you to have a very sweet, small nickname that is absolutely precious and playful.  I also want your name to be mature and stately so your professional life will command respect from the time they see your name on your resume.  This is a tall order!  I will try my best in this mission, and I accept that one day you may dislike your name.  You might want to change it.  You might want me to have named you like your favorite cartoon character, but I hope one day you will respect the name we chose because it was not a matter I flippantly decided upon.

I hope the next three and a half months pass quickly enough to satisfy my urge to meet you, but slowly enough that you have adequate time to prepare for life outside of your cozy little nest.

Love
Your Mama.

Gender Day!

In twelve hours, we have the chance to know our child's gender.  I am excited for another peek at the baby, as it has been an entire month since I went to the doctor last.  I am so surprised that I lasted so long!

Ideally, we would have patience and enjoy whatever gender of baby we get when I finish the delivery process.

But really, I can't keep secrets and I don't like waiting for secrets.  So I bet we'll know tomorrow.

Oh, I learned that finding out the baby's sex is illegal in Korea since there is a strong male preference and abortion is illegal.  Sometimes the doctors will give hints (paint the room blue, bring a pink blanket, handsome like father, etc) and sometimes they hint WRONG on purpose!  Isn't that something?