7 more weeks...

We had another doctor's appointment this morning. Things are moving pretty smoothly. I think Lena has gained a little more weight than she expected since our appt two weeks ago. In the beginning, I was hoping that I would lose enough weight that we would weigh the same when she has the baby. But Lena just isn't gaining enough for me to weigh the same. =) I have been losing weight... a couple of pounds since last appt. Must be the bicycling because it certainly is not my healthier diet!

Until next post...

Home Stretch

I can’t believe we’re already in the home stretch -- 7 weeks to go! We’re still preparing for baby’s arrival. There are quite a few things that still need to be done, including setting up the baby’s room, selecting a physician, GIVING HER A NAME, etc. We also have yet to start our baby prep classes. We’ll be spending almost every Saturday in the month of November at the hospital learning about baby basics, breastfeeding, Lamaze, etc.

I’m excited to have our baby with us, but have to admit it’s still a little scary to think we’ll be parents and our lives are going to drastically change. I guess what makes it scary is that we don’t know what to expect!

Derek’s cousin had her baby the other day. It was a little thing, just 5 lbs. 10 oz. When I saw the pictures of the baby, I thought to myself, “Wow, that’s what’s inside me!” (this pregnancy thing is still a bit surreal). I think about our God, the amazing Creator. He has fearfully and wonderfully made this little baby and he has allowed me to carry her in my sinful and broken body. I am so humbled by that.

I get a little more uncomfortable each day and good sleep seems to be quickly escaping me. The baby’s jabs are getting stronger and my breathing gets more difficult. I get really warm while sleeping and the leg cramps are severe enough where I have to get out of bed to walk it off to relieve the pain. Not fun at 2 am!

As excited as I am for our baby’s arrival, I can’t help but to think of the things I’ll be able to regain or do once she is born. As I was tossing and turning one night, taking the usual one hour to fall asleep, I listed in my head the top things I want to do once the baby is born.

• Eat sushi. Lots of sushi.
• Sleep on my back…and without a pillow
• Lie on my stomach to read, write, watch TV, etc.
• Hug my husband without my belly getting squished
• Be able to close the kitchen window
• Put on my shoes without getting out of breath
• Be done with my daily prenatal horse pill vitamins
• Be able to carry things in front of me
• Wear a fitted shirt (though it may take awhile for me to get back to those!)
• Go on a motorcycle ride with Derek

At 33 weeks, the baby weighs a little over 4 pounds and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening.

Why I Should Listen Better

Note: this is not to cover up that I was not thinking. But it does highlight one of the many reasons we (read Derek) should be good listeners.


Lena mentioned one night that dry erase markers work well on mirrors for quick notes. I tried it out and had been drawing arrows on the bathroom mirror to point to her belly saying, "hot momma!" and other lewd comments. Since I went away last weekend, I wanted her to know I was thinking about her while she was gone. Being the cute husband I am, I grabbed a red permanent marker and left her a love note... and another on the medicine cabinet... and another on her clothes closet mirror... one on mine... one on the 2nd bathroom mirror... one on her compact... one on the handheld mirror.... Yes, I left love graffiti on every mirror in our place. Sweet, aren't I?


It didn't hit me that I did anything wrong until I received an email from Lena that read, "Where did you find a red, dry erase marker?" Oops!

Our Baby Shower

We were showered with so much love. About 25 of our friends came to celebrate with us with good food, games and gifts. My oldest sister hosted the shower and she made a huge brunch spread. Everything was amazing! Our friend Peter generously opened his beautiful home to us and God provided the perfect weather.

After brunch we played a few games. The first game was to guess the size of my baby bump. There were three women (two who are pregnant) who were extremely close. The winner had the exact length. It was quite impressive. Not so impressive was how off some of the men were! They claimed they were guessing what I would be at 9 months -- it was pretty funny! We also tested everyone's memory (recall the baby items on the buffet table) and their knowledge of nursery rhymes. Lastly, we played bingo. Each gift was assigned a number. As the gifts were opened, numbers were called out and people tried to win bingo.

We had a great time and we think all of our guests did too -- even the men! We tried to make the event a party with just a hint of it being a shower so that Derek and his friends could be a part of the celebration as well.

We came home with a car full of gifts that have put us well off to a good start. We are almost ready for the arrival of baby Robinson, or often referred to as Baby Girl, Little Bubble, and Dereka.

Getting ready for the guests to arrive.

Derek, my sister Julie and I

Julie and her creations.

I wanted to bake something, so I made some cupcakes with buttons on top.

Getting ready to eat

Game time

Friends from work

Friends from church

Decorated shortbread cookies I made for each guest

Mornings

A few things I noticed about mornings this morning:

• Speed limits are apparently not in effect before 6 AM.
• Before the sun rises, it's dark. No, like really dark. I'm guessing because there is no moonlight so early in the AM.
• I am reminded of the "freshness" of the day. The beauty is that this happens each and every morning whether or not I am up and about to experience it.
• For me, there is something special about being up extra early for no "special" reason. I am not headed to the airport. I am not trying to get a parking spot for a 1/2 marathon or Mud Run. I am going to work for a weekly prayer meeting. This morning I was early than usual as I dropped Lena off at work for an early client meeting. Normally, I would not arrive so early.
• Parents - is this preparation for when our child arrives?

7 1/2 Months

Some people have told me that I'm barely showing. I think it has a lot to do with what I typically wear. Most of my tops are not even maternity shirts. They're just loose fitting shirts I'm hoping to get some wear out of after the baby is born.

So I bought a new shirt with a more snug fit. In addition it has horizontal stripes. There's nothing like horizontal stripes to alter the look of any body shape. Here I am at 7 1/2 months (30 weeks). 10 more weeks to go!

The baby is about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds. She continues to be very active!

My Favorite Blog

At church, we’re going through a series called 40 Days of Love. We’re learning how to love and as we do that, we define what true love is. In our small group we talked about how the word “love” is not to be used loosely or just thrown around for just anything. That said, I can’t say I love this blog, but I truly, truly do enjoy it.

This blog makes me laugh every time. It has great pictures and hilarious text to accompany it. Whenever I need a pick me up or a break from work, I check out this blog. It never fails to disappoint. I don’t think I find it amusing because I make desserts. I think anyone would get a kick out of it. Let me know if I’m wrong…

http://www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

- Lena

What will the baby look like?

I find myself often wondering what our baby will look like. We know the gender, so now I just want to know what she will look like. So much so that I've had some crazy dreams about it (one even included Barrack Obama... don't ask!). I dug up a couple of our baby pictures. From the looks of them, our baby will definitely have some big cheeks! Everything else I guess is left to the imagination...for the next three months.


- Lena

27-Week Check-Up

We had another check-up at the doctor today. After the nurse checked my vitals -- weight and blood pressure -- we had to wait a bit for the doctor to come. The baby started to kick and it felt a lot more uncomfortable than usual. I even laid down on the exam table to try and relieve the discomfort. When the doctor arrived, she checked the size of my uterus (right on track!) and then the baby's heartbeat. It was then that we realized that baby girl had her first case of the hiccups. It was cute, but pretty uncomfortable -- they were rhythmic jumps/jabs that made my belly shake. It only lasted a couple minutes and then subsided. She had the hiccups again later that day after I ate lunch. Supposedly the hiccups will be a regular thing from here on out.

Development Update: The baby should weigh almost 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, the baby's brain is very active.

Playing nice

Okay, we're having iBook battery issues. It is good for less than 1hr. No warning from 50% to 0% and it just shuts down. That being said, this is a 2nd attempt to type this. I have less creativity and patience to write it again.

So I was observing my wife and our friend Stacy playing nice while divvying up some donated baby clothes. They had a huge pile between them. One at a time, she would pick up an outfit, hold it high for both to see, each would comment, then as she was folding it she would place it in her "to keep" or "not to keep" pile. It was amazing!

I was wondering what it would be like if I were to be sorting though say gift cards to food joints with a guy friend. First, I don't think there would be such a situation as I'd likely go through a stack myself and then say, "Here, you want these [scraps]?" But if we were to sit down together, I think it'd go something like this....

I would be frantically searching for the best food places. If I were to be questioned when grabbing a favorite, I'd say something like, "Oh, you're allergic to the food they serve here." Or, "Yeah, this would be too spicy for you." And when we'd both grab a mutually enjoyable one, we'd resort to arm wrestling or some type of video game competition to earn the right to keep it. Overall, nothing like what I witnessed.

I think I should learn something from witnessing that interaction between Lena and Stacy, but I'm still simply amazed.