Update and Prayer Request

Some of you already know this but I thought that since I am going to have a lot of time on my hands now and because I believe in the power of prayer I would put it on here and ask you to pray with me. 

I turned 27 weeks last Saturday. On Sunday I woke up with some pain in my back and it felt like the baby was really low, like it was putting pressure downward. The pain got worse as the day went on, it would kind of come and go, but I thought that maybe I had just slept weird the night before or something. I mean, it's normal to have back pain when you are this pregnant right? Well I went to bed at 11 and as I laid there I noticed that the pain and pressure would come and last for a minute or so and then go away only to come back about six minutes later. After almost two hours of this (I know.. you would think I would have caught on earlier) I looked on line to see the signs of preterm labor. I definitely had the signs. I told Chris that I thought we should go to the hospital. He said to call my on-call doctor and let her know what was happening, I did and she agreed that we should go to the hospital right away. 

We headed to labor and delivery and they hooked me up to a monitor. Sure enough, I was having contractions. At 27 weeks. I was dilated 2 cm and 80% effaced. They put me on some meds to stop the contractions and gave me something for the baby to help it's lungs develop in case it did/does come early. It was a pretty scary ordeal. The medication did stop the contractions and the baby seemed to be doing fine. I was released on Tuesday morning and told that I needed to be on bedrest until further notice. They want me to make it to at least 32 weeks, which is obviously still early but is the next big 'hump' for the baby to get to in it's development. Of course, it would be even better if we could make it full term. 

So, now I am home on the couch. I can't work which is a frustration in itself because I had planned to work up until the baby was born in October. I am trying not to worry about these things- about work and money and most importantly the baby. I know that this is the best thing for our baby, I really just want the baby to be healthy. We are praying that God would continue to watch over us and our little one and keep it safe. My emotions have been on haywire but each day has been better than the last since I have been home. I have been feeling more of His peace and reassurance. He is our Provider and our Strength and has been faithful to us in this situation even before we knew we were pregnant and I know that He will be with us through it's completion too. I have to daily chose to give my worries over to Him and trust in His plan. My worries that the baby will come too early, that the meds I am on will effect the baby's health, that without me working we wont have enough money. These are all things that God knows and they are not too big for Him to handle. I just have a tough time with the HOW. How will He get us through this? How will He make it come together? This is a struggle- but I am learning that without struggle we can not gain strength. I want to trust in Him in ALL things, I want to feel His peace in this even if I don't understand the why or the how. 

Each time I feel the baby move I am overjoyed at this gift God has given us and reassured that it's going to be ok. I can't wait to meet our little miracle and am so excited for it's arrival and to hold it in my arms. But not yet :) It needs to stay in there a little longer! I know that a lot of people are praying for us right now and I can't tell you how much it means to us. Please keep us and our baby in your prayers. 

Foggy Friday Night

Every Friday night during the summer there are fireworks at Coney Island. Last Friday I had the great idea to go to there to watch them. The last time we went to Coney Island it was really foggy- remember this? 

Well, Friday was even worse.. 

We headed out with Chris's mom, brother, and some of the staff from our church's summer kids program. The rain was on the way and when we arrived and saw all the fog we figured they wouldn't set off the fireworks at all. We decided to get some food while we were there and found a table to eat at. As we were eating a light rain started so hurried up and headed to the van. We couldn't see ANYTHING but it was kind of cool. And eerie. Then, from the direction of the boardwalk we heard pops and bangs. They were actually going ahead with the fireworks- but no one could see them! The fog mixed with the smoke from the fireworks and the air around us turned extremely thick. Occasionally we could see colors in the distance, the fog and smoke would show hints of orange and green.  

It sure wasn't the evening we had expected but the sights were still pretty cool. As we pulled out someone in the group asked "who's idea was this anyway?" hmm..

26 weeks

Brothers

We brought a football to the park today for Anthony and Chris to play with. Anthony was more interested in wrestling with his big brother than throwing the football.

 

YUM...

Dear Fourth of July Cake, 

It has been a year since I have made you.. a year since I have tasted your wonderful cakey goodness, with that sweet, rich frosting and delicious fruit. I have missed you. I have dreamt about you, about this day, and it is finally here. Today I will select the reddest fruit for your stripes, and the most plump blueberries for your stars..er, square. This year I promise to make your berry stripes even, and not mix the raspberries with the strawberries. I will bake you with great care and anticipation in my heart, and stomach, looking forward to tomorrow's BBQ when I can devour you. 

Yours Truly, Janet

*If you would like to make this delicious Fourth of July cake too, check out The Pioneer Woman for the recipe and step by step instructions. 

It's been a busy few weeks since my last post and I thought I better catch up. I thought the best way to start off would be to share our latest ultrasound photo with you.. say hello to our baby!!

We are in love already! A little over 16 weeks to go and I just can't wait to meet our little one. We had an ultrasound two weeks ago and it was so great to see Baby Weaver. Since then Chris has been able to feel it move for the first time which was so exciting for him and really beautiful for me to witness. I know he is going to be such an amazing father and I love when he kisses my belly and tells the baby he loves it. It's so cool to feel it's movements and kicks and know that soon we will be able to hold it in our arms and see it's precious face. 

My parents were here over Father's Day weekend. It's a tradition at our church for all the dads to wear Hawaiian shirts on Father's Day so to make my dad feel welcome we made sure he had a Hawaiian shirt to wear with all the other dads. It was really fun to have them here and for them to be able to 'meet' the baby. It's been hard at times to be away from family and friends right now so it was such a blessing to have them here for a short visit. They have been here a few times before so we didn't have to go SEE  and DO a lot of things, instead we just relaxed, ate some good food and spent time together. We did go to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum one afternoon which was pretty cool. We toured two apartments that were lived in by immigrants during the late 1800's and early 1900's. If you're in NY and want a little local history and short tour I highly recommend it, especially if you visit Ellis Island as well. 

On top of our short list of things we had to do while they were here was to spend an afternoon in Prospect Park. At first it didn't look as though it would happen because the forecast said rain everyday but God gave us beautiful weather on the last day they were here so we took a picnic to the park.. and of course made a stop by Connecticut Muffin on the way in. It's right across the street from one of the main entrances and has become a must-stop for me if I go to the park. 

My parents left on Tuesday night and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were filled with wedding events. Our friends Dion and Janet got hitched on Thursday night so of course Wednesday was the rehearsal (Chris was a groomsman). Thursday was the wedding ceremony and reception at our church and Friday was the traditional Chinese wedding banquet. 

I love weddings and this was no exception. The bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, and we are so excited for our friends! Plus, it's fun to dress up every now and then. 

The banquet on Friday night, I knew, would be interesting. Not the social aspect, or the location.. I'm talking about the food. For those of you who think Leeanne Chin or Chinese Buffet is real Chinese cuisine- think again. And believe me, I'm not knocking the Chinese Buffet- I love the Chinese Buffet, all I am saying is that.. while it may be good, it's just not authentic. And really, I'm not knocking authentic Chinese food either, I'm simply saying that it's not all for me. But thanks for offering.

The meal consisted of 9 courses and I believe each had a specific purpose for being served at a wedding banquet. For example, roast suckling pig with crispy skin symbolizing virginity, shark fin soup for prosperity, fried lobster served in pairs because it's not good for a man to be alone, whole steamed fish that hasn't been flipped (which derives from old fisherman's superstitions that flipping the fish is like flipping a boat) symbolizing abundance, and red bean soup (red for good luck). I must say that I was thankful to be pregnant and unable to partake so that I had a polite excuse not to try some of the food served. Ok, most of it. 

Chris sure was a trooper though. 

If you are thinking those are tiny squid brains...  you are right. Chris couldn't go on after seeing that. I don't blame him. 

From the top: shark's fin soup, lobster, whole steamed fish (the server de-boned it at the table for us), I'm not sure what that was but I think it was chicken, red bean soup, meat platter (the long things are pickled jellyfish). 

It was a really great experience and I am happy that we were able to attend. It was also fun to extend the wedding festivities another day and celebrate together with our friends. I wasn't able to eat much of the food but that didn't matter, I had a great time. 

The weather was beautiful again over the weekend and we spent two afternoons in the park, again. Now as I am typing this is has started raining which means that I am not going to be able to wash a load of clothes and hang them on our line.. oops- I guess I should have done that before I started blogging. It will just have to wait.. 

Only in New York

Only in New York...

...can you go to a pier in Brooklyn overlooking the Manhattan skyline intending to enjoy the weather and eat some ice cream and see in one corner a diplomat surrounded by people dressed in business black, three women dressed as fairies and mermaids with glittery painted faces just 'chillin' for no reason in another corner, and at the end of the pier a music video being shot of four guys performing their new single. 

We got our ice cream and went to the park instead. 

Baby Bump Update

I'm sorry it's been so long since I have posted.. and even longer since I have shown a picture of my growing belly. I really have no excuse so I'm not going to try and give one. Please just accept my sincere apologies. 

I am 21 weeks already! What?! I have passed the halfway mark and it's feeling good. My belly is growing, Baby is moving and my ankles are disappearing. It's truly wonderful!

As far as the pregnancy itself goes, things have been pretty smooth so far and we are praising God for it. Sure there have been a few other glitches like having to cancel my flight home due to doctors orders because I am at a higher risk for blood clots and have to give myself a shot everyday of a blood thinner. Or like four trips to the doctor in one week including a visit to the ER because of a terrible UTI/kidney infection. (Let me just say, UTI's are not fun. They are even more not fun when you are pregnant.) But honestly I am not complaining. Really, I'm not, because God has been so Faithful through all of it and we have been amazed at how He has provided for us. Our little baby is healthy and growing strong and we just cant wait to meet him/her!

Speaking of him or her.. here's a picture at 16 weeks. 

We have our 20 week ultrasound appointment on Tuesday. It's always exciting to see our Baby moving around in my belly. So cool! We actually had scheduled this early at 18.5 weeks but the baby was still a bit small and was moving around a lot making it hard to take the measurements. So, we are coming back to try again. I love seeing our little baby. 

18 weeks.

Another exciting thing we are looking forward to this week is a visit from my parents. Since I was unable to come home this summer and visit they are taking a trip out here to see us. They have never come for a New York summer but it's still pretty nice in June so I am hoping for beautiful weather while they are here. July and August can get pretty miserable with the heat and humidity -something I am not looking forward to experiencing while huge at 6 and 7 months pregnant. It will be so fun to have them here.. there will be trips to the park, cafes, museums and possibly a show. Oh yes.. and shopping :) Right mom?! 

19 & 20 weeks