38 Weeks and a Question for the Reader

Today's update: 1.5 cm dilated (a little progress)! Heartrate: 150 bpm

Readers with 2 children at home,

When you delivered your 2nd child, when did you have big bro/sis come to the hospital to meet the little one? What did you do with Big bro/sis when it was time to go to the hospital? Did they come often or just one time?

Okay, so that was 3 questions, but I will quit while I'm ahead. Any advice on how to make this transition as seamless as possible on my Harrison would be welcome. I know his little only-child world is about to be rocked.

Rock on! Come on, Baby!

A Guessing Game

My cyber-friend, Betsy, has a great blog, that you would love to read. She is funny, kind, and real. I knew her a long time ago and certainly wish we could be friends now! While she was pregnant, she did a fun guessing game for folks to take a gander at when her little bambino would come. I thought it would be fun to follow suit! So, please join in the fun and guess when little Bunny Dooley will make his/her appearance into our world!

Click here to make a guess! Thanks for playing!

PS: Game name is DooleyBabeBday

Another long post is below!

Almost 38 weeks and sideways pictures...

Should I even call myself a blogger?? You decide! Well, I must say that our time in the States has brought a busy-ness that I have not seen since August. I really do love it, although it was pretty overwhelming the first couple of weeks. Currently we have been on American soil for just over a month. Right now we are staying with my Dad, which has been great since he works half the week in South Carolina, so we have lots of space to ourselves. He set up 3 rooms for us....he even borrowed a crib from a client for the baby's room. What a sweet surprise, and all the rooms look perfect. It is right in the area I grew up so I am loving eating at all of my favorite hot spots, and being convenient to friends and my sister and mom, whom we have seen bunches. We have also been able to go to Dooleytown in Lawrenceville each week to spend a day with the in-laws. In the midst of running around town, we are spending time raising support for the new baby and life has just been crazy. But, even though it has been ca-razy, I don't want to forget some details of the end of this pregnancy since I actually documented it this time around. Sooooo, here goes....

Dear Baby,

Let me back up to around 32 weeks. I am pictured below during that week. During that appointment I mainly got a permission note to fly back to America. It stated that I was 'fit for flight', which gave me a giggle as did so many other times seeing dear old Dr. Yang.
We flew home just shy of 33 weeks and the flight was great. Your big brother slept 8.5 hours during the 12.5 hour flight from the capital city to Chicago. However, all 3 of our flights were delayed resulting in all of our bags getting lost. We got them the next day as we were happily resting at your Nana's house. At 33 weeks, I went to meet my doctor here in Atlanta. Her name is Dr. Dozier and I am so thankful for the rec from my sweet friend Amanda. Daddy and I were so impressed with how smoothly the office was run and how quickly we got through all the preliminary stuff, including bloodwork, ultrasound, etc. At that time you weighed 5 pounds and she bumped up my due date to July 7, and your heartbeat was 138.

Okay, I tried and tried to figure out how to rotate these pictures, but I am a hopeless case....they are rotated correctly on my computer, and I just cannot do it...I don't have the power! Above is a picture of you when I am 34 weeks and some change. I saw the doc again at 35 weeks, where I had gained 6 pounds in 2 weeks. Yes, you and I had been enjoying the yumminess of Chick-Fil-A (which your brother calls the 'Moo Moo Cow'), Jalisco's, Souper Jenny, Figo, Houston's, your Gran's cooking and the list goes on...At that appointment I was 1 cm dilated.
Above was Mommy at 36 weeks (still going by the original due date on July 12 in my head so that the 7th does not come and go and seriously disappoint me). That day I met with a different doctor who was just as great and your heartbeat was 155 bpm. That night our friends Mellie and Bethany came to visit and Mel spent the night with her daughter Annie. She is having a baby boy in August, and I think y'all will be great friends. Pictures to come.
And last but not least, this last picture was last Tuesday at 37 weeks. At my weekly appointment, I was still 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced, and you have started to drop. I never even dilated with your brother, I just got effaced (is that the right term?) and then my water broke, so pitocin had to be administered. I am encouraged that I am at least 1 cm, so hopefully it will cut off some labor time (H's was 25 hours from the time I woke up with broken water to the time he came out....so typical....he is slow as Christmas with everything he does...that cautious little monkey!)

In total, I have gained about 29-30 pounds, which is way less than I gained with your brother. 8 of those lbs have been this past month in the ATL....ha! Thankfully, I have had minimal swelling and have been really very comfortable. I think it's because I can handle the heat here since there is AC everywhere, and I am not walking as my mode of transport. Since last Sunday I have been in pain every couple of days, and last night I barely slept, so I am definitely slipping into the uncomfortable bitter end. Your brother came 11 days early, and I so would not mind if you did the same thing, but I am sure you like to march to the beat of your own drum, just please don't make me wait until mid-July! I am predicting you arrive over the holiday weekend, but I guess we will see. I'm on the edge of my seat and cannot wait to hold you! Until then I am trying to enjoy your big brother in spite of my fatigue and enjoy this sweet time in my hometown with family and friends.

Love you, Baby! Soon we will find out who you are and how you perfectly fit into our family! I cannot wait to know you.

LOVE,

Mommy

Hello America!

We have been on the Motherland's soil for 2.5 weeks now....it has been such a whirlwind of a million doctor's appointments, the worst jet lag I have ever experienced, being out of town for a week and attempting to get settled....Life is so much busier here than in Asia. I welcome it, but am overwhelmed by it at the same time.

There is so much to catch up on, and I will try in the coming weeks....but for now, we are home for close to 3 months, and I am thrilled. I am already 1 cm dilated (yikes) and due in about a month.

America, it turns out you are more delicious than I remembered. I have gained 6 pounds since our return. Please take it easy on me, and do not give me a 10 pound baby!

Friends, I hope to see you soon. You will find me at a local eatery 8 out of 7 days a week....I am hopeful to be in touch with all you sweet Atlantans soon, in between meals of course.

Until then, we are so grateful, grateful, grateful to see blue skies and have our hearts filled by sweet fellowship with our family and friends.

Conversations with Harrison

H has become quite the chatterbox over the past several months. He wakes up in the morning (and thankfully calls to us from his room until we go get him), saying, "Good Mooooorning!" He really only needs about 2 minutes before he is awake and chipper. I often hear Brett go get him (most mornings), and it is quiet for a couple moments before I hear that sweet voice filling up our tiny apartment! Anyhow, he has said some adorable things to me lately that I wanted to document....

Last Thursday:

We had just gotten home from a friend's house and he asked if he could watch a video on the compeer (computer), so I said yes and was loading up Netflix to find him a quick show to watch....as I was doing so, here's what happened.

H: Mom, you ARE my best friend

Me: Didn't quite hear, fumbling with computer

H: Mommy, you ARRRRRE my best friend!

Me: Gasp! Really buddy??

H: Yes, really. You ARE!

Me: What about Daddy?

H: He IS my best friend too. But, he's seeping now....SHHHHH!

(Brett was actually at work, but for some reason Harrison thought he was at home sleeping all day that day....we often ask him who his best friend is, but this was no prompting, just completely out of the blue....melted my heart!)

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Last week I had a case of pink eye...and let me just say, pink eye is not for the faint of heart. I thought it was only reserved for 8 year olds, but no, I got it for the first time ever and it wasn't pretty. Thankfully it went away super fast. Thanks to my Dr...who prescribed eyedrops, BUT, warned me to cover my tear ducts so that the drops would not go through my eyes through to my nasal capacity, down my lungs, and into the placenta. I am not quite sure if I just talked too much during Health class (which I did), but I never knew my tear ducts were connected to my placenta...and I'm still not quite sure I believe him! Anyhow, I digress....here is another conversation from yesterday.

H: Mommy, did Ms. Dr. Yang take away your pink eyes?

Me: He sure did...He didn't take it away, but he gave me some eye drops that did.

H: Mom, your eyes were PINK, but now dey are bown again.

Me: They sure are.

H: Mom, I need to check on da baby.

Me: Okay, buddy

H: Lift up your shirt (lifts my shirt to above my belly button and goes to get the thermometer and takes my belly's temperature).

Me: Am I sick?

H: YES!

Me: What should I do?

H: REST

Me: What about the baby?

H: The baby IS fine, Mommy. I want to see dat baby SOON!

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Me: Harrison, would you like to be a doctor when you grow up? (he had said this one random time)

H: Yes, no, actually, I want to be a really big man.

I love these days!!!

For you, Mom...

It is Mother's Day Eve here in the land of tea and rice, but I am not sure I will get to post tomorrow....This weekend I am overwhelmed with thanks for my mother. I cannot put into words how much I love her and how much she means to me, or how much I admire her. Her story is her own, so I can not post it on this blog, but believe me when I say how raw it is, and how if her story would have been mine, I'm not sure I would have survived. She is truly one of the strongest people I know, having overcome so much in life. Sweet Mom did what she could as a single mama for us little ones at home, and she is the best Nana that I could have dreamed of for Harrison and little baby Bunny on the way! About 8 years ago, I saw my Mom's heart change overnight, and it has been so sweet to watch her life be molded into what God wants her to be. She is truly a gift...I only get one mother in life, and I'm so thankful she's mine!

Mom, I love you dearly, and I can't wait to hug you in just 15 days! Happy Mother's Day!

Love, Lauren

30 weeks-ish, and a couple other pictures

Hey folks,

Well, Harrison has been a bit silent on the blog lately, so I thought I would put a few pictures of him on here to start us off...Off the blog, he gets all the attention for sure! I think little Baby Bunny only gets a voice these days on the blog and FB...But, we are all still so excited for the little one!

So sad that this first picture is sideways, but here are my 2 guys on Easter Sunday! We had a sweet Easter here with an egg hunt on Friday, a local housewarming party on Saturday and Fellowship on Sunday. We have had the privilege of going to an International Fellowship since we moved back here, BUT we got kicked out of our meeting place over 2 months ago and have not met since. So, it was a real treat to have a place to go to on Easter Sunday to fellowship with other believers in the city. I miss corporate worship so much, but love the intimacy of meeting with just a few other folks! We then had a fabulous potluck with about 6 other families. It was a wonderful day celebrating our risen Savior!

Side note: I don't have any dress-up shoes for Harrison, so he wears either his New Balance or his Converse with his nice clothes! Can someone direct me where to find some nicer ones??

And Side note #2: Moms of boys, how long can I justify putting my child in these adorable, cutesy outfits?? He is ALMOST potty-trained (more on that later), so the one-pieces are a pain, and he will be 3 very soon. How old is too old for these clothes? I think girls can wear these sweet outfits a lot longer, but I think they can wear out their welcome on the little men...Thoughts???
Here is H with his beloved Abigail. She is about 10 months younger than him and an absolute doll! She is for sure the girl that everyone likes in the neighborhood, because she is so easy to be around! Her Mom (MySan) and I have recently started a baby-sitting swap and keep each other's kids for about 2-3 hours a week. MySan has a new baby who is around 8 weeks old, so she gets a much needed nap, and I get some much needed downtime when H is at their house.
And here is the belly as of Wednesday which marked 30 weeks+1 day. I went to the dear old doctor yesterday, and he shared with me that the Babe is now head down in an L-shape. The heartbeat was around 140 bpm and everything looked good. We had a brief ultrasound and the baby weighs 1637 grams, which is about 3.6 pounds. Oh my, this could be one big bundle! However, he did warn me that the baby does not have much fat under his/her skin....well, what baby does at 30 weeks? Hilarious. He told me the baby is going to be very tall and large because we both are very tall and large (again, this is not an insult, just very common for him to be so blunt about our sizes). We asked him how many babies he has delivered, and he says about 1000 over the past 10 years. In China, C-sections are VERY common, almost routine, and he is trying to steer away from that, so he has done even thousands more C-sections. He is so kind and in a way, I'm almost sad that he won't get to deliver our little baby, but then I think of the ease and comfort of delivering in America and I am so thankful to be able to do that!
And as an addendum, here is a picture of me at 28 weeks (for my records). I was definitely not that small then, somehow the shirt or the way I'm standing is hiding it. I'm starting to get shortness of breath and shorter nights of sleep for sure. But, other than that, I'm doing great, and am so thankful for a healthy baby. We are both thinking more and more that it's another boy.
We fly to the States in 2 weeks! I could not be more thrilled! It will be a welcomed pause in our time here for sure. I will try to be back with more picture updates, and some little tyke I know turns 3 in a couple of weeks, so I will try to update more on him soon as well. Overall, we are just so thankful right now and look forward to spending the entire summer with our families and friends.

More soon!!