October Update

I haven't had updates in months :( I just don't have the time to write since the little man was born and now I am looking for a practicum for school and even that small amount of spare time will likely evaporate. So no more writing for now. Just spending time with my amazing son and hopefully finding a counseling practicum at a mental hospital. Wish me luck! Here are a few pics of my little guy

3 months

First Braves game

2 months!

1 month

Tomorrow Remi will be 1 month old. That just blows my mind. I feel like he's been a part of our life forever. He is resting right next to me right now and I could just burst into tears half the time I look at him because I love him so much (hormones could be slightly responsible). He is already about a pound heavier and almost 2 inches longer. His hair has grown in and he has developed a little personality. He hates to be cold (who doesn't), he gets super frustrated when you don't feed him quickly enough, he loves to be held and bounced and to sleep snuggled next to either me or hubs at night. As far as developmental milestones, he is more awake and alert, sleeps typically 3-5 hours a night and can already roll over from his stomach to his back. I was pretty impressed with that last one but have yet to catch it on video. Every time I try he does it as I am getting my camera and then refuses to do it again. Here are some pics! Hope everyone is having a nice end to their summer.

Pictures from our weekend trip to the lake

Hanging out with his buddy Jake

Slept the whole time I was down at the lake chilling out and drinking beer!

Dads and their little men

Picture from his 1 month checkup

Remi's Birth

So here is Remi's birth story in a little more detail. Last Friday we went to another ultrasound appointment (weekly after 40 weeks) and saw that little man was still quite happy in his breech position. He went from Frank Breech, which would still allow me to have the natural birth I had planned (minus the water birth portion), to a Footling Breech, which gets a lot trickier to deliver naturally, to a Complete Breech that the midwives told me would be an AMA natural birth. So, as much as I was excited about my birth plan, it became obvious that unless he moved, I was gearing up for a c-section. Not my first choice obviously but a healthy baby is all that matters in the end. So, baby was still breech at 41 weeks and 1 day. We discussed waiting until labor started naturally and then going to the hospital, but that could be weeks still as I had no signs of impending labor. Added to that my parents were leaving town that next Monday for my mom's hip replacement in Florida and they wouldn't be back for two weeks. I just knew it would kill them to not see him when he was brand new. So with that in mind we scheduled the c-section for the next day, Saturday the 6th. That was to be Remi's birthday. We went grocery shopping, got some movies, came home and started watching The Matrix. Just as the movie was heating up I felt like I was sitting in a puddle so I waddled to the bathroom and low and behold my water had broken. NOT like it happens in the movies either. This was a slow leak that lasted for HOURS. Anyway, I went upstairs, took a shower, took 5 minutes to meditate a little and then climbed in the packed car. Despite my water breaking I never had a single contraction.

July 5th about an hour before my water broke

Once we got to the hospital, I was checked into Triage where I hung out from around 7pm until I was wheeled back to the OR at a little past 11pm. We had a great anesthesiologist who stayed on past his shift to give me the epidural (because apparently the guy coming on next he didn't find super competent...he didn't say this but my friend who was also pregnant and checked in that night had the guy and he messed up her epidural). Hubs, me and our doula Paige hung out waiting to go back and then it was finally time. At this point I was numb from below my chest down and I was freezing from my chest up and shivering like crazy.

Sleepy baby loves his minky

One thing I love about this midwife practice and Dr. Bootstaylor, the perinatologist they work with, is that they do Family Centered C-Sections. That means hubs and doula were both with me the whole time after I was prepped and I actually got to watch Remi be born after they had his little feet out. After he was born was the scary part. His head was really wedged in there and when they finally got him out he wasn't breathing or moving. They had 40 seconds to get a reaction or NICU nurses take him away. When it was clear he wasn't moving, hubs called out Remi's name and told him to wake up. He moved right away and it was enough to keep him in the room to be worked on. He had to have his lungs pumped several times to get out all the extra fluid but 15 minutes later he was given to me for skin to skin while I was stitched up. He snuggled up to me and even nursed a little.

Size 3 month + swimmy hat was all we had for some outside time in the sun

We spent that night and Saturday night in the hospital but were able to go home by Sunday afternoon after his circumcision. He has a little jaundice, which is lingering because he is still only getting colostrum (almost day 7 and my milk still hasn't come in...awesome c-section side effect) but since we started supplementing an ounce here and there with the supplemental feeding system (no bottle feeding formula which is good because I don't want to have to deal with nipple confusion) he is doing great. Now we are all just settling in to our new routine and spending time together as a new family :)

Hanging out with daddy

Trying out the Moby Wrap yesterday. He loved it!

Remington Lee Kilpatrick

Remi was born July 5th at 11:52pm weighing 7 pounds and 7 ounces and measuring 19.75 inches long. I will have a longer post later on about the whole experience but for now, here is my little man.

My sweet baby

Baby and daddy relaxing

On the way home :)

Cloth Diapering

I am so excited! I got my Newborn Cloth Diaper Rental from Earthy Crunchy Mama over the weekend and the diapers are adorable. I got 4 bumGenius All-in-Ones, 4 Fuzzy Buns Pocket Diapers, 4 Little Joey All-in-One, 3 MiniMaestro Pocket Diapers, 3 Kissaluvs All-in-Ones and 3 Kissaluvs Fitteds plus a few prefolds to try and a bunch of free stuff I can keep (cloth wipes, doublers for nap/bedtime, cloth diaper detergent etc) all for a $150 deposit.  

They are so cute :) The pictures sucks but that's what you get at 1am 

I cannot wait to start using these and see which ones I like. I originally got the Premium Rental which is Pockets, All-in-Ones and Fitteds but I wanted to try Prefolds as well (just in case I like them) and Jenn worked with me and made that happen. Prefolds are definitely the cheapest option and I wanted to try them for two reasons. A) They are cheap and if I love them that's awesome for the wallet. B) You can use a diaper service with Prefolds so if I decide prefolds is how I want to go, I can sign up for a service meaning they provide the diapers, they pick them up dirty and leave the clean ones. The money saving aspect of cloth diapering goes out the window (around $100 a month) but the convenience goes way up. I work from home though so I don't think I can justify the extra cost just to avoid laundry. Either way, excited to get started.

Here is an overview of the program:

• Choose a Program (Prefolds or Premium Rental)
• Choose Diapers (Choices vary by rental program) 
• Pay $25 Program Fee & Rental Deposit
• We mail your diapers to you for the date of your choosing.
• Keep the diapers as long as you want.
• Don't like a diaper?  Want to exchange it?  Just email us and we will send you new diapers.  You just need to cover the shipping.
• Contact us for a return shipping label when you are finished with the diapers.
• USPS will pick up your diapers at your home for the day of your choosing.
• Choose Cash Back or Store Credit and receive your refund.
• If you choose to keep any of the diapers or accessories you will be billed for them at a discounted rate.

38 Weeks

I can't believe that I am 38 weeks pregnant. So many changes since we found out I was pregnant. We moved from Beijing to Atlanta to live with my parents short term until we moved to Charleston. Then we decided to postpone Charleston and moved into our own (rented) place in Atlanta. Now we are settling into the new house, setting up the nursery and awaiting Remi's arrival. Doctor's appointments are every week now and we are wondering when he will make his grand entrance. Birthing classes, Hypnobabies, are over, showers are behind me and we have almost everything we need for his room. 

I have been told I am super healthy which is great and today I was told he is measuring at 6 pounds 12 ounces...which means the earlier guess of 9 pounds was a smidge off. Can't say I'm too bummed about that. Our one surprise is that after the 35 week appointment, little man decided he had had enough of standing on his head so he flipped head up (apparently very rare...awesome). He is now frank breech. Thankfully there is still plenty of fluid around him for him to turn back and if not, the midwives do deliver frank breech babies...but either way, keep your fingers crossed that he somersaults back to the more normal head down position :)

I haven't done one of these before but here is my bumpdate:

How far along? 37 weeks and 6 days

Total weight gain/loss: 32 pounds...so much for keeping it under 30 ;)

Maternity clothes? Ha...yeah, real clothes bit the dust months ago 

Stretch marks? Some additions to the bust area but none on my stomach...yay!

Belly Button? Half in and half out, pretty weird looking

Sleep: Since turning over feels like a marathon it is a little hit or miss

Best moment of the week: Seeing him on the ultrasound again today and seeing his little heart beating and his lungs working 

Miss Anything? Beer, Tequila, sleeping on my stomach, being able to turn over and stand up with ease

Movement: Like he is trying to escape by kicking a whole in me

Food cravings: Not really, just enjoying eating as much fruit as I can get my hands on

Anything making you queasy or sick: Chick Fil'A ...ate it again today even though I had a pretty good idea that I am sensitive to whatever they fry the chicken in. Cramps all afternoon after that

Have you started to show yet: Since about 11 weeks so yeah

Gender: A boy :)

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks every once in a while but nothing yet

Wedding rings on or off? Wedding ring on, engagement ring off

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy 100% of the time, Tired about 90%

Looking forward to: His arrival

Nursery

Work in Progress but I am making head way! I decided not to paint, and instead I am going to use this cute decal above the crib to give at least some color to the walls. 



I almost have all the furniture in the room and when I do, the changing table and dresser will be painted this cute color.


Here are some of the pictures of the aforementioned work in progress...

More burp clothes than I know what to do with! That being said, they are so cute. Too bad for their use!

My new love: the new chair for the nursery. Minky fabric and so soft. Plus toys galore for the little man

His clothes stash so far

Hope all the moms out there had a wonderful Mothers Day!!!

New House

We found a rental house! After a drawn out process waiting on a previous applicant trying to negotiate back and forth via a property manager and an owner that currently lives in Europe, we finally got it! It is in a great location for us, close to friends and petty much equidistant to my parents and hub's family. We are moving in next week and I am already so excited to plan it all out! Our first house together (even though its a rental). We (read me) get to design Remi's nursery and buy accessories for the whole house and we get to buy a whole new set of living room furniture because currently we own a bedroom set and some club chairs. 

The House

The cute little kitchen

The yummy garden tub 

So this is the place. I love it and can't wait to get moved in and start nesting :) I have so many ideas for the nursery and I am so excited to have it all come together. These pictures were my inspiration:

LOVE this nursery because I love the painted crib

Love the monogram

Cannot stand this paint color but I love the stencil and the shelves

Here is what I have so far:

Crib, I am going to paint the little drawer below to match the rest of the pieces

Love this little cube because its tall enough to use as a little side table next to the rocker...once I buy one. Plus, its solid wood

Another paint project and again solid wood

And again...painting and solid wood

Looking for zero VOC, Benjamin Moore Natura Paint that ha the green in this fabric:

Nob Hill Sage or Winchester Sage

Please look at them and let me know which one you like more!!! 

Bumpdate

30 weeks down, 10 to go!

Started my Hypnobabies classes and love them! 

Will hear about a rental house application tomorrow...approved or not approved? If we are I race down there with a check because someone else has been approved but has not paid the deposit yet. Whoever does that first wins. Pray for us :) 

Hubs is in California all week and I hate being without him. Silver lining...working from bed all week 

Wonderful self portrait

Vero Beach and Glucose Screenings

Vero Beach and my Glucose screening are in no way connected but these are the two recent updates in my life.

3 weekends ago (I am slow to update) I drove down to Vero Beach with the family for my cousin's wedding and today at 10:30 am (a great apt time when you work until 4am) was my glucose screening. Guess which was more fun?

The only downside to the trip to Vero was getting there. We decided no reason to take 2 cars if we were all going to the same place so my parents and hubs and I drove down together with the addition of my sister on the way back. 6 hours down to Jacksonville on Thursday, 4 hours the remainder of the way to Vero on Friday, much needed day at the beach and with family on Saturday and then the 9 hour trip back on Sunday...then work that night.

Family shot with my parents and sister and aunts and uncles

The wedding was beautiful and great and I am so happy we were able to make it! Vero was warm (see below picture) and we got some beach time which was lovely and much needed (see my skin color versus my husbands). 

Beach time with the hubs

The glucose screening was not so fun! Monday morning after working until 4am I woke up at 9am to make it to my 10:30 appointment. I was not able to eat anything good for the majority of my work night and then had a very small protein based snack before I went in. I was planning on eggs and bacon but hubs finished those that morning :( Then I went in, drank a nasty sweet orange glucose drink, sat in the waiting room for 50 minutes, had my check up and got my blood drawn. Yuck! I was STARVING when I left. Thankfully though, I do not have Gestational Diabetes and I learned that my little man is head down. He is already so cooperative! I also learned that what I thought was him rolling over and sticking his back up (my stomach would all of a sudden go up on one side) is actually a BH contraction. Weird but they aren't painful, just a little uncomfortable. 

Sorry for my long delay (again) in posting. New's update: we have decided to stay in ATL for another year to be close to family before we make the move to Charleston. Just did not make sense to make the move with a brand new baby to a place that we love but where we do not know anyone. 

Happy April!

Trip #1 to Charleston

Last weekend we went to Charleston for our first scouting trip. We have visited before and loved it but we knew relatively little about the different neighborhoods and what it might be like to live there. So this time around we set up some time on Saturday afternoon to drive all over Charleston with a real estate agent and check out the town. 

We drove up Friday night and arrived at about 1am after a 5 hour drive and pretty much crashed right away. Then we woke up the next morning, had some breakfast and drove to an area called West Ashley to look at the 1 apartment that had caught our eye. It was quickly eliminated...Not only was it at the top of our price range but it was 8 LONG miles away from anything likable. So we decided that we could cross West Ashley off of the list. We both fell in love with the charm of Charleston and this neighborhood had none of it.

So back to the hotel we went for a little break and then our agent, James, came to pick us up. His plan was to show us James Island, Mount Pleasant and Daniel Island. From what we had told him he thought we would love James Island but after looking at a few houses and town houses we moved on to Mount Pleasant. The downfall of James Island was simple...all the houses were decades old and most of them were really dated. Hubs really likes the idea of newer construction and although I like older houses, that's most likely because I grew up in older houses that had been gutted and updated. 

Mount Pleasant was exactly what the name implies, very pleasant. The shops are adorable, its close to the beach, its only 15-20 minutes from downtown Charleston and there were a lot of cute family friendly areas. So, check one...Mount Pleasant is on our list. 

Mount Pleasant 

Finally we went to Daniel Island and absolutely fell in love! It's quaint, kids are everywhere running around by themselves, you can get everywhere on a bicycle, there are cute restaurants and bars and they are building a marina right now which would be awesome.

This is downtown Daniel Island. Right down from here is a tree lined street with huge Oaks

So we are excited to go back maybe 1-2 more times and nail down a place. We can't wait to move! As usual we went out to dinner downtown and had an amazing meal. I have yet to eat anything in that town that wasn't the best food I have ever eaten. Our camera was being a little bit of a POS but we did get one usable preggo pic. 

23 weeks 

Maternity Shopping

Maternity shopping is new to me. I have read time and time again not to go crazy buying a bunch of maternity clothes, but there are some things I need. The biggest thing on my mind recently has been finding a dress for my cousin's wedding, which is in 2 weeks. I have been looking mostly at Destination Maternity, which carried A Pea in the Pod, Motherhood Maternity as well as a number of other brands and have struck out every time. Every dress I could find with a pattern I liked was in cotton blend that felt like a hospital gown...and looked like one too. Every dress with nice fabric was in black...I am going to a wedding in Vero Beach in March, I cannot wear black. I tried to explain this to one of the women that works there (and is there every time I stop in sadly) but she is not the best listener and kept suggesting every dress in there regardless of the color or fit. So overall, I was not impressed with Destination Maternity. 

SO, I decided to go to a store called Izzy Maternity, which is just a bit further away, but in a much nicer outdoor mall. As opposed to the chain, Izzy Maternity is a boutique and the second I walked in the door, my  checkbook was sighing. I liked EVERYTHING I saw. Added to that, both people working were so helpful and attentive and I ended up finding not 1 but 7 dresses I liked...well 7 dresses I bought. I liked everything I tried on. Before you scoff too much at me, 3 of the dresses will work whether I am pregnant or not and I am planning on having 2 more children, so that is 2.5 years of wear I will get out of these. So dress: check.

So far, the only other staple I have been wearing has been these Hue Leggings I bought. I have a brown pair, a gold pair, a purple pair, a blue pair and a jean pair. These are not pregnancy leggings but will work for pregnancy because of the stretchy waist. Added to that, they don't look like leggings because they have back pockets and are a really good, solid material. I love them and they are the only pant I have worn for the past 2+ months. 

So shopping has been taken care of for the time being. I plan on getting a few pairs of maternity jeans and a few more shirts and then I should be done. That's exciting. I don't necessarily love to shop. 

These are the blue ones, which are probably my favorite. No pictures of me in them yet though, so the model will have to suffice

From Paid In China to My Charleston Baby

I decided that I just couldn't stay away from blogging! There is so much I have been doing since I got pregnant. So many stores and sites that I love, like or would warn people against and I realized that I wanted a place to note it all down. So here it is! This is my new trip...a little less culture shock expected than with the move to China but I am SO MUCH MORE EXCITED! Follow me through the final 4 months of my pregnancy with my first child, a son, and then to my move to Charleston, South Carolina. Thanks to my readers who followed me through my dry months at Paid In China!