35 weeks

Wow! I have really neglected writing on here....mostly because our Internet at home has not been reliable to say the least, and lugging a laptop and a
Baby belly to Starbucks is just.not.appealing. Typing on this lil iPhone is tedious, but I guess I've been needing to get with the century for a while now anyways.

My goodness honey girl!!!! There are so many things to say about you. You are so CLOSE to me, inside me, near my heart. And yet. You are still SUCH a complete mystery to us. Here is what I know about you so far:
You don't appreciate it when my blood sugar is low, and you have no trouble letting me know it.
You love music, particularly The Civil Wars, Gungor, The Decemberists, and a host of other folksy sounds. You're a girl after your daddy's Virginia mountains, Americana heart.
I've never felt or seen you move so much as you do when I've got the Mumford and Sons station playing on my belly.
You like your daddy's voice but shy away from his touch. Like most babies you stop moving the moment we
Draw attention to the fact.

Now that it looks like we can have a natural delivery, I've been reading up like crazy. Nothing I read dispels the terror. As horrifying as it ALL sounds and as much as I wish there was an alternative way to get you into the world with us, I am feeling more ready each day. The crowding in the ribs
might have something to do with it.
You know, I hear a lot of women complain about the discomfort
of the kicking. I keep waiting for it to become that way for us, but even when I feel a twinge of pain from your movements, I still just think its the sweetest thing. When other things ail me, I get grumpy, but it's never really had to do with you. I wish you would move more than you already do. I just really like you a lot. It keeps occurring to me that one day you will be a grown person walking around, making decisions. Pretty incredible but I wont fast forward.
We've had little time to prepare a room for you, what with all the moving and medical expenses over the course of the pregnancy, but I hear ya don't need much. We bought you a crib his week, and I think you'll be crashing with mom and dad in our room for the first few weeks. I've got food for your lil baby belly, and lots and lots of (free!) diapers for your lil baby booty. We have a few outfits for your first months. Other than that I think we'll manage as we go.
(who is this zen lady talking to you? You know as well as I do that your pop is the relaxed one.)

Ok well. Thats the update. You're lookin great in there. You've done a top notch job of developing. Could t be prouder :) See you in a couple weeks! (a wk and a half from now and you will have my full permission to make your debut.)
Xo pat pat pat snuggle snuggle

Battling the Blues

What do you do when the pit is past eye level. Every day my spirit grows more restless. There is so much time to fill now, and not enough to fill it with. My body is growing while my heart tosses and turns. I ache for home.

movin right along!!

You are kicking and turning up a STORM, and I could NOT be more relieved. You really had me going there with your two day nap. (I'm sure you weren't asleep that whole time. What were you doing?) I've gotten used to feeling you wiggle regularly and I did NOT care for your absence. Lecture lecture finger shake. I even went to the doctor to eavesdrop on your heart beat. They were all hey man, chill out. You don't need to worry so much. Only they said it in Chinese, so through translation it was something like, "Everything alright with baby." And the doctor told me to take my shoes off and I almost cried. (Hello.Evil.Hormones.) I wish I had my own ultrasound shannanigins at home so I could peek in on you any time I wanted or felt worried or wanted to know exactly what is jabbing me in the rib. What will it be like when you get here? I'll work on chilling out, man.

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! Wowza. I sure stinking do.

Ps we gotchya a place to live. High five, parents! (Really, it was Jesus. He loves you more than even me. What! We'll talk.)

xo,
thecrazyladyobsessedwithyourkickcounts.

Hello, third trimester.

Well, there was about a week and a half there where I was exercising at the gym again regularly. It didn't take long for restless nights, Dongguan humidity and seven hour days with preschoolers to wear me down. Now my days consist of a long walk waddle home from school, panting at the top of that hill, and finally making it to the apartment where I strip off my sweaty clothes and wrestle myself into the least waist-hindering clothing I own to settle into a deep dark nap coma. Later I will peruse Pinterest, see images of pretty baby nurseries and girls in skinny jeans, get depressed and begin my search for a fruity cereal.

Sigh.

We're going to get your daddy's blood tested this weekend to find out if he is negative like me- there's a sliver of a chance he is, but we'll take it. If he's not, we'll have to go to Hong Kong or Macau or somewhere else out of our pay grade to get some shot called Rhogam. I guess it keeps me from making antibodies against you. We really want to avoid anything anti where it concerns you. We are all pro you around here.

We looked at an apartment last week that I decided I could make work since it seemed to be our only option. Having the entire summer to get it ready was promising, (since I will now be grounded to China til you come. No flying for us after all!) and I was starting to feel a bit optimistic about our living prospects when this move became unavailable to us as well. Along with every.single.good.apartment.we have seen/heard about.

Disheartened. That is the word. We're coming up with another plan, and I spent the weekend crying like seven month pregnant mommies will do, over all this atop feelings of inadequacy and fear of the future and exhaustion from the burden I didn't know I was carrying, and now I feel a bit  better. Still lacking resolution, still lacking a plan, but, better than mascara running down my face and those weeping-hangovers the next two days. I don't know what we are going to do. I don't know what this summer will be for me now. Ha. I don't even have a "but I do know..." to add to that. I really don't know anything! OH. Here is one. I know I will be napping A LOT. ;) And I suppose I know that I will  make this frustrating-for-a-new-family apartment work. It's not SO bad. Its squishy and small, but so are you. Maybe I need to learn GRATITUDE. Maybe I need to learn to train my heart in CONTENTMENT. And maybe I need to keep reminding myself that things won't always be this way.

gettin a watermelon belly

I know that God wants to teach me something. SOMETHING. In all this wonderful chaos. I hope I am learnin whatever it is I'm supposed to be learning.

our first Eisley purchase. You're tiny!

In my belly

I'm feelin like you keep the same schedule as I do. On top of that, you keep he schedule I would love to keep. You sleep all day, wake up for a few snacks, are hyper before bed, then sleep all night. In the morning you wake up wiggly and (I imagine) happy. Then you go back to sleep.

Your video ultrasound let us see you grabbing your lil feetsies. It kills me every time I watch it, and now when I feel you move I picture that is what you are doing, and I basically swoon for you all over again. All bias aside, you're the cutest thing I have EVER seen.

Daddy

Your handsome daddy has been writing your name on his hand. Ain't that sweet?

27 weeks!

How far along? 27 weeks 
Total weight gain: 12 lbs (Been trying to rectify this with inordinate consumption of cheese and peanut butter!)
Maternity clothes? Two sister in laws and a husband's trip to America later and I am well stocked with maternity clothes. I mostly just try to be creative with stretchy skirts and form fitting shirts, because maternity dresses tend to make me look like I am wearing a giant bag. (Blame it on the booty!) 
Stretch marks? no :) 
Sleep: getting better now that I have a maternity pillow! That thing is BRILLIANT.
Best moment this week: Hmmm....When our friends Josh and Jenny offered to buy Eisley a crib. And aquiring our new (to us) i phone! I am excited to be in touch with our family in the states, and taking lots and lots of pictures of our lil honeydew melon!
Miss Anything? Definitely miss sitting or laying without back pain, and I also miss eating without heartburn afterward!!
Movement: several times throughout the day and at night and especially after eating apple slices! :)
Food cravings: Cottage cheese with peaches. But I think I really only want these things because they  are difficult to come by in China. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: not much of that going on anymore. Maybe once or twice a week I have a queasy hour or so, but we've been pretty clear since we made it past the fourth month. PRAISE THE LORD.
Gender: GIRL!!!
Labor Signs: still nope lol
Symptoms: heartburn! And a very painful burning/tingling sensation in my left leg- only because of where Miss Eisley bird is sitting. It's okay. ;) AH and some majorly pinched nerves in my back, which make it awkward to sit or lay at any point for any amount of time. 
Belly Button in or out? innie! 
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: I really only have two 'moods' outside of happy: super sleepy, and super sensitive. We've had so many conversations the last few months where I have had to stop and say..."I hear myself. I hear the irrational." 
Looking forward to: findin out for sure how early baby bird will be makin her debut. Praying and hoping she can make it past week 31!!