39 Weeks... Going on 40

.... Eleanor's still baking and pretty cozy in my tummy. We had a doctor's apt. last Friday and she doesn't look like she's anytime coming soon, but who knows? We will go back to Hong Kong Friday to reassess the situation. 

I realized this past Friday that when I was pregnant with Sawyer at this point in time, he was already here. 

 We are hoping to keep the plan of trying for a VBAC unless it's medically necessary to have another C-Section. I'm honestly not set one way or another, as long as she's healthy... that's all that matters to us. I would like to let my body try to do what it was made to do, so I'm going to let this lady come on her own time. Patience and enjoying surprises are not my  most redeeming qualities, so I am starting to get anxious about her arrival.  Also, our doctor will not induce me because I've already had a C-Section, so hopefully she will come in a "somewhat" timely manner.

Below is a picture of Sawyer & Eleanor's 4D ultrasounds. Is it just me, or does she look like Sawyer's twin?! I remember looking at his ultrasound thinking, "He looks like an alien!" Now looking at it, I definitely see Sawyer, even though his face is a bit smooched. 

Sawyer (left) & Eleanor (right)

Gender: Girl 

Weight gain:  64.1 kgs at my last apt. or 141 lbs

Maternity clothes: Yes! I cannot wait to wear normal clothes again, although they will have to be "nursing" friendly.

Stretch marks: Still in the clear, hooray! I read that stretch marks are genetic, if this is true, thanks mom and grandmas! 

Belly button in or out: Outtie

Sleep: Waking up 1x a night usually to pee, then our little rooster  sweet son has been waking us up at the CRACK of dawn (between 5:00-5:40 every morning) Come on kid, you're killing me! 

Best moment this week: Spending lots of one on one time with Sawyer before his little sister gets here.

Worst moment this week: Navigating Ikea with a toddler in tow (I feel like I'm in the Hunger Games when we go there. Seriously, it's an experience!)

Miss anything: Let's see...where to begin? Honestly at this point, just sitting comfortably would be a nice change.

Movement: She hasn't been as feisty. Slower movements, again I think she is running out of space to karate chop me.

Cravings: Lots of fruit (apples, grapes, oranges, passion fruit) chocolate, waffles, pretty much any breakfast food.

Queasy or sick: nope :)

Looking forward to: My family gets here in 2 days from today...AHH! And of course, meeting Miss Eleanor literally any day now!

Doughnuts & Diapers

This past weekend my teammates and lovely friends threw us a sweet baby shower brunch for Baby E. The theme was "Doughnuts & Diapers." Those are two things you don't expect to go together... ;) We got plenty of diapers that will come in handy when this little lady arrives. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such a a great group of friends and colleagues here in China. 

Also, you may have noticed that we changed our minds on our baby girl's name.. I told Kurt a few weeks ago that I just wasn't "feeling" Rosalie and he then told me that it wasn't his favorite either... ah just when I thought we finally agreed on a name! For some reason we had a really hard time with girl names but boy names are so easy for us. Anyway, we both are loving our new choice, Eleanor. My friend had mentioned that there's a song by the Avett Brothers called Eleanor (I know there are many other "Eleanor" songs as well) but this one is especially sweet because one of the band members wrote it about his eldest daughter. Totally made me tear up... that and a mix of pregnancy hormones. 

Things are definitely starting to feel real. I can't believe in about a week (give or take) I will be snuggling with my little girl! 

We literally took 1 picture on the day of the shower, so the following are courtesy of my friends. 

38 Weeks

Here we go! We're in the final two weeks and counting. I can't believe that's only about 12 more sleeps (more or less) until I am cuddling my sweet little girl and our family will change from three to four! My family will arrive in China two weeks from today which is also hard to believe since I haven't seen them since July, so many exciting things happening on our side of the world. I'm feeling torn because on one hand, I am beyond anxious for Baby E to get here and meet her. On the other hand, I'm terrified of how our lives will be turned upside down, adjusting to having two little ones around the house. Oh.. that and sleep deprivation, of course ;) 

Gender: Girl 

Weight gain:  Have to check again, but I think I had gained about 25-25 lbs since the beginning of pregnancy so far.

Maternity clothes: Oh yeah... there's not much else I can fit into, well besides Kurt's shirts...whoops!

Stretch marks: nada

Belly button in or out: still outtie

Sleep: Gosh, still not getting good sleep. It doesn't help that Mr. Sawyer has decided that he wants to wake up at the crack of dawn (5:00-5:30) everyday ready to go. Ah! 

Best moment this week: Enjoying a low-key Easter with my family and friends. 

Worst moment this week: Not sure that I've had one yet (which is great).

Miss anything: Bending over without grunting, seeing my toes, fitting into my clothes, living without acid reflux, being able to indulge in a happy hour drink, the list goes on... ;)

Movement: She's running out of room in there, so her movements have slowed. She is still very busy every night between about 7:00-10:00.

Cravings: sour fruit, chocolate, and cheese for the win!

Queasy or sick: nope :)

Looking forward to: Our baby shower this weekend and being done with school. It's really hard at this point to stay motivated and check everything off my to-do list before baby E makes her appearance! 

Mini Getaway: Yangshuo, China

Last week we headed to Yangshuo for 3 nights as a last minute trip during our spring break. We took the high speed train from Shenzhen to Guilin (3.5 hours) and then had another car ride to get to our home stay, about an 1.5 hour drive. The way there was a bit rough since Sawyer was still getting over some yucky virus that he had for about a week. Luckily, after one night in Yangshuo, Sawyer was back to his happy self and even slept in every morning we were there (what a treat!)

This is our third trip to Yangshuo, but our first with Sawyer. It is hands down my favorite place in China. We stayed in a charming little home stay in the country and it was so nice to get away to somewhere so charming and beautiful. 

The weather was drizzly and overcast, but that didn't stop us from getting out and about. Sawyer loved eating all of his meals on the stone terrace (...who doesn't love eating french toast for breakfast every morning?). He was so content just exploring and being outside. We took quite a few walks around the country side and mainly relaxed. We only went in to the city twice, briefly for dinner. It gets so busy there, I much prefer the sereneness of the countryside.  

One day, we met up with other teachers from our school who were also staying in Yangshuo and did a bamboo boat ride to see the infamous 20 RMB scene (see below). 

 There were a few times that I questioned our sanity for traveling 9 months pregnant to rural China with a toddler, but we are so happy that we ended up going. Obviously, the easy route would be to just stay home with Sawyer; however, as a family we've adopted the "Just Do It." motto. Otherwise, we'd probably never leave our apartment! It was a bittersweet trip for us because it was our last trip as a family of three. I've been trying to soak up every last moment with Sawyer before his baby sister joins our little family. It's hard to believe that in a couple short weeks, it will no longer be just us and Sawyer.