38 weeks

38 weeks and you will find me unapologetically wearing flip flops to work and staring blankly at my computer screen for most of the day. I have found that I can manage one major task at work per day these days and when that task is completed, I am pretty much worthless for the rest of the day. So if you need my help at work, ask early.

Rolling over in bed has become quite the production. It's a process similar to the three-point turn you learn in driver's ed. Last night, I must have gotten tired halfway through because I fell asleep midway only to wake up with a crick in my neck. Overall though, I'm not sleeping all that much - maybe 5 hours but not consecutively. It is, however, amazing all the sh*t you can get done when you don't sleep!

Last night, I finished the treat "bags" for Little Miss J's party.

 

And finished my Halloween decorations

 

 

 

I also finished a Halloween treat for Little Miss J's preschool teacher, prepped the Jello for the party, and played numerous games of Candy Crush. You know ... very important sh*t.



her new calling?

Little Miss J showed off some fierce badminton skills last weekend. Gus will allege it is really his skills that are being showcased here because, "Do you know how hard it is to anticipate her trajectory and throw it in that exact spot?" But let's give credit where credit is due ...

Badminton. It is an Olympic sport after all.

oh what a beautiful morning!

As the weeks drag on, I'm become more and more reluctant to get out of bed and become slower and slower at getting ready making me later and later for work. This morning when I finally got up, I thought I'd try to get a few little projects I was too tired to do yesterday completed. Of course my little helper wanted to get involved so we ended up making pumpkins instead.

For some reason my pregnant brain thought that the glue stick would be the worst offender. She's been cutting with scissors on her own for months. What could possibly happen? So when we took a break so I could shower, I told her she could finish cutting out her pieces, but that she had to wait to glue them until I got back. While I was in the shower she was yelling about something, and Gus was in the dining room helping her. Apparently, during that time, Little Miss J asked whether scissors were used to cut hair. Gus, not thinking like a toddler holding scissors, told her yes, that's how people get their haircut. As he was walking down the hall to the bathroom, I crossed paths with him as I was returning to the dining room table to commence with the gluing. By the time I got there, all I heard was Little Miss J wailing, "My hair fall out!"

A self-inflicted haircut prior to 8 a.m. along with all the will power it took not to stifle my daughter's creative genius with her pumpkin and I'm exhausted already. Oh and when Gus asked if she cut her hair, at first she said, "no" before she confessed and then also confessed to cutting her dress. LOL. Looks like it's either Project Runway or Blowout for this kid!

wordless wednesday

the end is near - TGIF

I started this blog post on Wednesday when my mood was a bit more gloomy and doomy ...

36 weeks. The end is near. I want to be one of those active, happy mothers to be and for the most part I was - or at the very least I was more so than I was when pregnant with Little Miss J. As the weeks tick by, however, I am becoming increasingly uncomfortable and irritable. Seriously. OMFG. At this point, I can definitively say this pregnancy is worse than the last. I continue to be nauseas, and am so uncomfortable. There is no comfortable position. None. Nada. Just existing hurts. Part of the discomfort and irritability is likely because my job is much more stressful than it was when I was at the City of Duluth. At the City, I was able to work part-time during my last month. I inquired about working part-time until delivery and was mostly met with a blank stare by my current employer, as if I were the only woman in the history of ever to request such a thing. So, I am trying to stick it out but there are times when I seriously think I'm not going to make it. I can often be found staring blankly at my computer screen because that is about the only thing I can do with the energy I have left.  I am so exhausted by the end of the day that the only thing that makes me feel better is seeing how happy my little munchkin is to see me when we arrive home. Our "quality" time spent together consists of me lying in bed with a hoard of pillows and her patting my tummy saying, "You not feeling so good, right?" Gus has taken over bath and bedtime duty full-time, except for those nights when she insists on Umma, in which case I let her lay in bed with me. As much as I want to enjoy these last few weeks with my only child, including her birthday party, my body seems to be screaming to get this baby out. I sort of dread how awful I imagine I will be feeling by birthday party time. I think I need that "Just Hang In There" cat poster. One day at a time ...

I will finish it today and can say that my mood has definitely improved ... what a difference a few days makes.My back still hurts and I'm still waddling like a weeble wobble, but some good things have happened since Wednesday:

- Last night I had so much fun at my neighbor's freezer meal workshop. I ate too much bread and dip, got to catch up a bit with my good friend, Rachael, spent some time with my little girl and had lots of laughs. Plus I now have 10 meals in my freezer ready for Baby Wang II's arrival.

- The same neighbor also gifted us a newborn photo session with her favorite photographer. What a thoughtful gift! I'm super excited. For Little Miss J, my good friend, Jenn, did the same thing and it was the best gift because I love professional photos.

- Today I got a prenatal massage! My regular therapist was booked so I sent out a desperate e-mail and found someone near the office that had an opening today. It was just OK, but it definitely took the edge off.

- Today is also Friday and I'm looking forward to a weekend of nesting and visit with our friends, Stephanie and Dan and their beautiful little girls!

- It's already 3:00 p.m. and Gus and I are planning on a quick happy hour with our boss and his wife after work.

- Several of Little Miss J's little friends have RSVPd to her birthday party, and I know she's getting excited for it.

- We officially figured out how much PTO I needed for my maternity leave and it looks like I have enough to take a full 8 weeks off, which seems like a luxury considering I only took 6 weeks the first time.

Therefore, I am renewing my commitment to enjoy these last few weeks ... it will probably last until Monday after work but it's better than nothing, right?

settling in

Gus's parents moved here in mid-August and we are settling into a new routine. Last week was the first week that they did the whole daycare thing. We've cut Little Miss J back to three half days at preschool and the remainder of the time she's with her grandparents. At first I was a little bit nervous because she's been doing so well at preschool/daycare that I didn't want to derail any of her learning, but so far it has been life changing. She's at preschool for the curriculum portion and then at home getting lavished with attention by her grandparents. By the time we get home from work, she's exhausted but happy. There were days after we picked her up where she would whine in the car all. the. way. home. Thank goodness we only live a mile from the daycare! These days she's so happy to see us arrive home and is so sweet saying goodbye to her grandparents. Overall, I think she has been much more pleasant and cooperative in the evenings and I give all the credit to her grandparents!

Having them so close has meant many fringe benefits for Gus and me, as well. An unexpected trip to the hospital on Saturday evening (nothing to worry about, folks), and they were just a phone call away. They live less than 3 miles from us so they could just come on over and watch Little Miss J at a moment's notice. Gus and I have gone to one happy hour and got an overnight trip in a few weeks ago. Plus, they are always feeding us! The past two Sundays they have invited us over for dinner and many days during the week they leave us food in our refrigerator. So nice to not have to cook, and Gus is in heaven with all the Korean food!

Most importantly, I have been overjoyed to see how much Little Miss J and her grandparents enjoy each other. Little Miss J has become very attached and adjusted to her grandparents in just this short period of time. They are so great playing with her - coloring, sidewalk chalk, jumping rope, playing dance school, catch etc. I imagine it is exhausting for them but I am so happy that they are willing to do all these things with her.

We are very blessed to have family so close. I only saw my grandparents once or twice a year growing up, so I am thrilled that Little Miss J is able to have such a close relationship with her paternal grandparents. Wonder if I could get my parents to winter in California ...

an apple a day

I've been rather rushing the fall activities this year trying to fit everything in before Baby Wang II arrives. On Sunday, we headed to Apple Hill to pick some apples. It's still a bit early in the season but Denver Dan's had some apples ready to be picked. It was 90 degrees so not the kind of crisp autumn weather that those of us familiar with Apples Cheese Fudge are used to, but we managed three buckets of apples. The little princess, who insists on wearing dresses (she calls them ballets) everywhere, wasn't too impressed by the tall grass she had to walk through - "It's too spiky!" Gus spent much of the picking carrying her from tree to tree. She quite liked pulling the apples off the tree and she ate an entire apple afterward right down to the core - at which point I had to point out that she shouldn't eat the seeds.

Then we went to Apple Ridge Farms to feed the animals. We had gone there last year for pumpkin picking, and it had been packed. This Sunday there was hardly anyone there and it was much more relaxed. Little Miss J loved feeding the goats ... until one grabbed the cup of food from her hand. Tears were shed. As consolation, we all shared some pie a la mode.

With apple picking out of the way, and the kids Halloween costumes pretty much finished, the only major milestone I'd like to see completed before baby arrives is Little Miss J's birthday party! So please hang in there a bit longer Baby Wang II!

labor day

We had a nice relaxing holiday weekend. On Saturday Gus's cousin and his family came to visit and we took them to Gold Rush Days. It was 95 degrees out and this mama wasn't that thrilled about wandering around outside in the heat, but I managed for a little while before I holed up in a coffee shop with an iced chai. Little Miss J saw "horsey" and "cowboy," but "didn't get to ride a horsey," so was bit put out on our way home. Here she is panning for gold.

 

 

Sunday we just relaxed. Gus made some (very little) progress on our patio furniture. Little Miss J got a two hour nap while we drove aimlessly around Sacramento.

On Monday, I brought Carl to the daycare simply because I couldn't deal with his sad puppy eyes begging my 34+ week pregnant body to waddle him down the sidewalk. Then we hit up the free family festival at the Crocker Art Museum. There were various performers, a petting zoo, and some other activities for kids.

We stopped for lunch and ice cream at Burr's Fountain and then headed home to relax before going back to the inlaws for dinner. It's been great having Gus's parents living so close. Little Miss J has been having lots of fun with her Halmoni and Harabogee.

One more weekend in the books for the Chunglund 3. Hoping Baby Wang II can stay in there until after Little Miss J's birthday party. I am slowly running out of steam but I need to finish up the party prep and finish Halloween costumes for both munchkins.

why childbirth is not like hot yoga

We had a tour of the birth center at the hospital where Baby Wang II will be delivered during which the tour guide compared giving birth to hot yoga and said that she would gladly do it (and by "it" she's referring to childbirth, people!) every day of the week. As you can probably imagine, I pretty much wanted to punch her in the face. It could have been because it was early evening and I was tired from work and it was rather hot in the room with 16+ other expecting mamas, but probably not.

So here you are folks, the top 5 reasons that I could come up with as to why childbirth is actually not at all like hot yoga -

#1 First and foremost, because it just isn't. Labor and delivery is not hot yoga.

#2 If while doing hot yoga, one should become so unbearably uncomfortable that one thinks they simply can't go on ... the option exists for one to just STOP. Unfortunately, when one's baby decides it is going to come out one has little choice but to keep going until he/she is out. Like there's no crying in baseball, there's no stopping in childbirth.

#3 And really, if one needed some time to recover, one could take as much (or as little time) as one chooses. Unlike laboring mamas, who have very little time to recover and as discussed in #2 must keep at it until baby is out. As much as some of us would like for that little bundle of joy to just stay in there or maybe even crawl back up and hang out for a little while longer so we could take a nap,  it's simply not an option.

#4 Presumably, this woman wasn't referring to some unending hot yoga marathon. In which case, one probably knows how long their yoga class is going to last. So even if one had to hold the same awful position for the entire class period, one knows there is a definite end in sight. Had I known that I would only have to feel the worst pain in my entire life for a finite period of time, I think I would fared a bit better. It was the not having any idea how long I had to endure that pain (which ended up being hours ... many many hours) that left me panic stricken.
#5 At the culmination of a yoga class, I'm going to have to assume that one doesn't leave feeling like a mack truck just drove out of one's crotch and in need of stitches to repair it. Because really, if one needs stitches in their lady parts after doing hot yoga, I firmly believe that one is doing something wrong  ... very very wrong - or is a masochist.

But of course, what do I know? I don't even do hot yoga. I just make babies, but I can tell you if hot yoga feels anything like birthing a kid I have absolutely no desire to start doing it.