37 weeks and 5 days

We have experienced a lot of "false alarm" lately. Contractions come and go, sometimes it feels ok, sometimes it gets really bad.

It's our weekly prenatal care visit today. Mackoff said the blood works, ultrasound scan, ECG (Don't know why I need an ECG, but no harm to do more tests), Group B strep test all come back good. Baby growth is ok and is still very active. Mackoff said although everything seems to be fine for now, he doesn't want to wait until problems pop up, and he will not let me past my due date. He said he is going to give it one more week, if nothing happens by next week, he may induce my labour. So either this week or next. I'm VERY EXCITED! 

And for little alien arriving soon, the first thing came into my mind was ..... OMG... I gotta go to Pearl Castle and have milk seafood Udon before he comes. I don't know how long I have to stay home coz it's going to be winter time a month later, it may snow. It's very heartbreaking to see snow this year coz for sure I won't be going snowboarding  . God knows when I can go snowboarding again.

37 weeks

Yesterday we walked to the village. It was not bad, it took us almost 45 minutes to the village. When we were there, we browsed around and found this little meat shop, Heringers Meats, on No.1 Road. We got into the shop and we just don't want to leave. OMG the aroma of the salamis, cold cuts, and marinated meats are just killing. The meat shop was very small, but sure they got everything from fresh baked bread to marinated-ready-to-cook meats, fresh pastas, all kinds of cold cuts, sauces, cheeses, even their own in-house spices. It's definitely a shop to check out next time when you go to the village.  

Herginers Meats

#190 - 12251 No. 1 Road, Richmond.   

We also checked out the deck area and you know what we found? FRESH UNI!!!!! They have two kinds: the big dark red ones (3 for $10) and the small green ones (2 for $5). OH was lucky and he got free samples of both kinds. He said the green one tastes a little sweeter than the red one. I so want to try too, but I don't dare to eat raw uni now. Anyhow, we bought some uni home and steamed it with eggs. It's definitely worth to spend almost an hour to open and clean the uni. It was so tasty and creamy.... hmmm.....

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Four of my friends, both are new parents, told me I should pack my bag and perhaps leave it in the car so I don't need to rush when I need to head to the hospital. When the contractions come every 5 mins, it will be really hard to pack..esp (Kenny is right) I will definitely get really frustrated if OH ask me where the hell the diapers or baby's sweatshirts are. So I took my friends advice and started to pack my labour bag this morning. I thought it would be an easy job, but then when I start, I don't even know what to pack even I have a list on hand. Well.. I was looking at those teeny weeny clothing, I didn't know which ones I should pack. We did ask the doctor the approximate weight of the baby, she just said he's a normal size baby which is about 5-6 lbs. oooook... so how big is a 5 -6 lbs baby? so I ended up packing a newborn shirt and pants, a 3 months, and a 6 months, a pair of socks, a hat, a pair of mittens, a bundle-me cover, and a thick jacket for the baby (God knows what the weather like when we leave the hospital) And when I put everything on the bed, I found that none of the clothes colours match.. I got light blue, dark blue, light green, yellow, light brown... all over the places...  But I guess the baby won't know if the colours don't coordinate perfectly.

I think everything is ready to go.... now just wait...

36 weeks and5 days

I am feeling so miserable today. I didn't sleep at all last night. I don't even know what bothers me. I just didn't feel comfortable sleeping on my back or my left side or my right side... just don't feel right at all. And seeing OH started his Harley's engine only seconds after he came to bed,  I got even more frustrated. I didn't blame him, afterall it was 3:30am when we turned in.

We had to wake up early for my prenatal appointment today. When I got up, I had this burning sensation on my right knee. Great, my feet are still very swollen, and my ankles are so sore like I sprained them or something. My fingers are swollen like sausage links and yes they are sore. Baby kicks like he just took some cough syrup and coke together and can't stop moving/ kicking. I had this really nasty pain on my right side of my ribcage the other day, and I just can't stop thinking that little alien may have pop my diaphragm or even my lung when he practise  his kick-boxing skill.  And now I have knee pain too. I guess I know why I have knee pain coz I have gained so much weight. It horrifies me to gain 40 big-fat-lbs in only 9 months. I witness my double chin come back, and my flat stomach has become a 50" waist. I guess that is the maximum my body can take and that's why my knees are complaining and become sore. I just really really hope it ends soon.

Baby crib is painted. Crib sheets, clothes are washed. Mom is making the ginger and vinegar thingy. Everything is ready for the arrival of little alien. Question is when is he going to come out?

I'm glad we invited some friends over for dinner tonight, so I got something to do and forgot about all these discomforts. Speaking about the dinner, I was too busy cooking and I didn't take any pictures. I hope my friends took some nice pictures, so I can steal from them.

36 weeks and 2 days

Wow.. 9 months already.. It could be any time any moment now.

The night before, I had a bad dream. In my dream, I was arguing with this guy who used to be one of our roommates when I was a little kid. (We shared our apartment with a couple when I was young) Anyhow, I was really really angry and I wanted to hit the table and make some noise so that that guy would shut up. The moment I hit the "table", I was like.... sh!t... I opened my eyes, it was not a "table", it's OH's back. Poor guy...He woke up and got all confused and wondered why I beat him... lol... just thought it was funny.

Anyway, we met with Mackoff, I asked him how much does the baby weight now, and he said he will send me to another ultrasound to find out, but for sure he is not a big baby. Two months ago, Mackoff said the baby was small, then two weeks later, he said the baby was ok, and now he said the baby was not a big one...  hmm..... let's wait and see what the ultrasound looks like....

My fingers swell like sausage links... let's see... pork sausages?  I'm not kidding with you, my joints hurt every morning. I am feeling the worst now... I really hope it ends soon. :(

34 weeks and 2 days

Little alien has done some power cycling for the past week. It’s really painful since I don’t think there is much room left in the womb. But what can I do? I can’t stop him..  Anyhow, I found a way to “play” with him…well...sort of. If I can find his little foot, I either tickle his foot or give it a little press, he will kick me back. We played a few times already and I had fun, I don’t know if he had fun too or felt annoyed or what…

How’s mom doing? Mom bought new shoes yesterday!! It’s a men size 11 (OMG, like a pair of dragon boats), and it fits comfortably. But mom found another problem. My hands started to swell too, now when I type or write my fingers hurt. And I have noticed a weight shift this week, which means the baby is moving down to my pelvis. I walk like a penguin… no kidding… it’s really hard to walk when you have a “watermelon” between your legs and swollen feet. 6 more weeks…. We are almost there…

It’s been a week since we moved in the new place, but with the prenatal classes, regular prenatal care visits, the stressful non-stress tests, cleaning out of the apartment, and a full time job, we barely have time to unpack anything. We only got some kitchen stuff unpacked and we can cook a little bit. Living room is still a mess. I must say I hate it. Every time when I want to sit down and rest, I have to walk on my toes to the other side of the living room around the coffee table and sit only the corner of the sofa. And my energy level is very limited, I can only unpack that much at a time, and then I need to take a break.

Last night, I was looking at the little mountain in the living room and the stuff in the garage, I thought to myself, there is no way I can unpack everything before the baby is born esp if I am still working full time. And I just remember that I still haven’t finished painting the baby crib yet. May be I should take my 2 weeks now and start my mat leave right after, so I have enough time to get prepared for the birth. I don’t want my baby born without a crib to sleep on.