Pinafore dress

My sister in law Charlee made Carla a really cute pinafore dress & bloomers.

With Easter approaching, I was excited for her to wear it....but after trying it on her, I realized it won't be fitting her until summertime. Bummer.

I started browsing pinterest and found a tutorial on making the pinafore dresses. This style is a favorite for me, because it can be worn as a tunic after she outgrows it as a dress, and I love how breezy it is for our hot Wuxi summers. The tutorial seeme easy and included a PDF pattern. The only problem was that I have no way of printing it. I pulled out the pinafore that Charlee made and used it as my guide, scaling the pattern down by 1/4" all the way around. 

Next I dug into my fabric stash (it is a pitiful stash compared to what I had back in the USA), and found two coordinating prints. I cut, sewed & pressed the dress in less than twenty minutes. I was undecided on whether to use snaps or buttons and ultimately chose to sew buttons on both sides of the dress and cut button holes--which were then sewed by hand, since my cheap machine doesn't do button holes--on the straps. 

This afternoon, she modeled it for me. I'm super happy with how it turned out since this was my first time scaling a pattern down. 

                                        [pinafore dress: front view]

                                          [pinafore dress: rear view]

I forsee many of these dresses in her summer wardrobe. 

37 weeks

How far: 37 weeks...Full Term! We freaking made it. I feel like I should give an Oscars-like speech to thank my friends and family and most of all husband for their support. There were many minutes, hours, days, and weeks I wondered if I would ever see full term again. I know it ain't over yet, but a little weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

                    

                                 Holy belly. Happy to have hit 37 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss: 36 lbs 

Maternity clothes? Pajamas at home. Nicks jackets when I have to go out. I actually wore jeans and a cute shirt and scarf to the store today....I haven't given up completely.

Stretch marks? My belly is so itchy. I think I may have sprouted one on my underbelly so we shall see what it looks like once I can see south of the belly button again. 

Sleep: pregnancy insomnia has come back with a vengeance. I'm usually laying awake from 1:30-5:30 every morning. I tend to drift back to sleep as the alarm clock goes off. 

Best moment this week: Spending time with my son just reading books and counting everything in sight with him. He has recently started counting and is infatuated with reciting numbers. I am holding on tight to our one on one time, as I know that he will have to share me soon. 

Miss anything?: A cold beer on a Friday night, a pair of jeans that fit just right. 

Movement: Yes. Some of it is getting painful. 

Food cravings: crushed ice. Still. Unfortunately, I doubt I will be given ice pellets while in labor. The Chinese tend to opt for hot water to keep the "internal fire" burning. I highly doubt the nurses will let the white lady extinguish her fire with ice. Plus, it's almost impossible to find here. Most soda in restaurants served from an unrefrigerated can. Mcd's is about the only place one can get ice in their drinks.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Every night after dinner I get sick to my stomach for a half hour or so.

Gender: Girl.

Labor signs: not really. Baby had a NST on Saturday and passed with flying colors. She still hasn't dropped, but is head down. My next appointment is in one week with a new OB. My OB is being sent to the USA next week so, she has passed me off to an American OB who happens to be the chef medical director of the hospital. I'm in good hands, but obviously sad that my OB will miss the birth. She really has been wonderful. Hopefully the new OB will agree to induce within the week as we had previously discussed with my regular one.

Symptoms: some sharp pains below my belly button, dry mouth, waddling

Belly Button in or out? Out

Wedding rings on or off? Back on this week. 

Happy or Moody?: Anxious. Especially with the curveball we were thrown at my last visit (learning that my OB will not be able to deliver for us). Happy though, to have the chance to hit full term and hopefully bring a healthy baby home soon.

Looking forward to: Meeting the new OB and having my sister arrive. Getting a delivery day on the books. It's possible that either NZ (1/9) or Sal (1/13) will be sharing a birthday with her. 

35 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I gained 2.2 kg since my last appointment to make up for the lack of weight gain from the previous visit. I guess all those cookies at the cookie exchange and my baby shower packed em on. I'm now up 32lbs, just shy of what I weighed while pregnant with Sal at this point. 

Maternity clothes? Baby, it's cold outside. Been wearing my steelers sweatpants, UGGS and Nick's sweatshirt most days.

Stretch marks? Still clear.

Sleep: Much better than last week. Thank goodness! 

Best moment this week: We had an impromptu ultrasound in which we got to see the girl last Saturday. My OB was worried about my cervix so she ordered an ultrasound to measure baby and predict size etc, in case she comes early. She weighed in at 2777 grams which is just about 5 lbs. 

Miss Anything? I miss being able to get up and down off the floor to play with Sal. We've watched way too many cartoons and played with the tozzle app from the comfort of the sofa more than I'd like to admit. 

Movement: Yes. With contortionist proportions. It's the creepiest feeling. Don't get me wrong, I love it...but it's creepy. 

Food cravings: crushed ice. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Chicken

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs: My OB was concerned that my cervix may be shortening a bit prematurely, so she has asked me to slow down, and ordered me not to pick Sal up any more than necessary. Other than that, I'm feeling quite well. 

Symptoms: I feel very emotional. I feel exhausted. I feel overwhelmed. I feel anxious. I just want to know that we will make it to the hospital and have a safe birth. I'm not scared, just anxious. 

                    [my out-ish belly button debuted this week] 

Belly Button in or out? Out

Wedding rings on or off? On, barely.

Happy or Moody?: Both. Happy to still be pregnant and healthy, but I feel like I am short tempered. For instance, a lady cut in front of me and walked into NZ at the train station last week. She bumped my belly while doing so. NZ had stopped as the lady walked into him, and then tried to make it hard for her to get around us (she literally walked right into us trying to cut across the path we were walking), so she pushed me a little. I put both my hands on her to spin her around and yelled "look at my belly!" She obviously didn't understand and kept pushing so I yelled really loud (and according to Nick I tried to hit her!) "effing bi+ch!" . We really should be careful doing stuff like that in public here because as laowai, we are more apt to get jumped for public outbursts. I was just so angry that she didn't just wait til we had passed so she could change her direction, and for the fact she knocked my belly more than once. So yeah--my shoving match was not exactly exemplary citizenship. 

Looking forward to: Baking this baby a few weeks longer. 

A huge shoutout and Thankyou to Heather and Mimi this week for offering to watch Sal and for grocery shopping for us. I appreciate all the help, and I'm thankful for friends that will go the extra mile. These two have made it possible for me to take it easy and keep this kid safe inside a bit longer. 

Lil lady baby shower

I've mentioned a time or two before that the support network of fellow expats here is amazing. I have met many women through the Wuxi international Club that NZ and I joined our first week in Wuxi, and I have to say, we've created quite a village together.

From keeping each other's spare keys (for the inevitable lockouts that happen here), to group walks to Starbucks, to last minute babysitting, to cooking meals for housebound friends, there's always somebody doing something for somebody. This past week--the ladies gave me and our daughter-to-be a baby shower, hosted by Mimi and Heather, and attended by many. 

They chose a ladybug theme for the shower which was adorable. There was punch, a hot chocolate bar (they know I love me some hot cocoa!), cheesy dip and chips, ladybugs made from tomatoes and olives as well as funfetti cupcakes and cookies sent by my sister. 

We played games, chatted, and just enjoyed the afternoon together. 

Oh....and of course, I was spoiled with gifts.

It's really weird being over here in China, and pregnant. Things I looked forward to with my previous pregnancies have seemed to sort of slip by on us without much excitement or build up. We were caught off guard when we were told the sex of the baby four weeks before we expected it. There was no buildup of anticipation prior, because we really didn't think we would have an ultrasound that particular appointment. I didn't register (do people even register for second showers?) at babies r us or target or wherever American's register for baby showers now. I didn't sign up for Enfamil freebies. I haven't shopped to maternity clothes or baby clothes (thank goodness for hand me downs).

It's been all about getting from appointment to appointment without complications. There's less baby preparation excessiveness, I suppose. 

So, to have the women pull together a shower to make this pregnancy as special as it really is for us, really touched my heart. This baby is a miracle. I'm pretty sure all babies are miracles, but to have this one come much sooner after Sal than anticipated (based on our lackluster history of pregnancy successes) and so far be healthy and low risk in a risky country is really a miracle.

A huge thank you for all those who showed up to shower us with love.