Back on the rollercoaster

This pregnancy has been mostly smooth sailing.  For the most part, I have loved every minute of it, even the rough spots.  The journey to get here was a rollercoaster ride, and at times, this pregnancy has been too.  But magical nonetheless. 

The last couple of weeks have been busy prepping for baby.  Two weeks ago Chris' mom threw me a wonderful shower, with the help of his cousins, his aunts, and some of our friends.  It was a lovely afternoon, with great food and wonderful company.  Baby girl received some lovely gifts.  I will post pictures from this and my NJ shower later.  I'm still in the process of uploading these photos.

In the last week, I have been prepping my replacement at work.  We are fortunate enough this year to have a very competent student teacher, so she is going to take over for me and teach my classes.  She is going to be great.  I've been working with her to get her ready and I think the transition will be seamless. 

We've been busy getting the nursery set up.  I'm happy to say it is mostly done.  There is nothing on the walls, but it still looks really great and I'm really happy with how it turned out.   I am most proud of the fan that Chris and I installed ourselves.  It has a remote that has a dimmer feature, and I really like how it looks. 

Both cars have car seat bases installed.  The clothes are washed.  Chris and I tag-teamed Market Basket on Saturday to stock up on supplies, so that we don't need to go out for a month if we don't want to.  I spent this past Saturday preparing freezer meals.  I also made beef stew and chili to can.  Sunday we cleaned the house from top to bottom.  To say I hit the nesting phase is an understatement. 

Since we both had the day off for Columbus Day yesterday, we booked a tour at Children's to see the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.  The reality of everything really hit me in there, as we looked on at a one week old baby who had just recently come out of open heart surgery.  She was perfect, but hooked up to so many machines and looked so small.  But the level of confidence and professionalism displayed by the nurses and doctors we observed there was awe-inspiring.  And the technology!  Every patient has its own room, and each room has all the equipment needed to perform all the tests needed as well as small procedures.   The CICU cares for patients from newborns up to adults.  Each patient is assigned its own nurse and they try to keep the rotation such that there is consistency in who is caring for the patient.  They offer pumps and pumping supplies.  They also give nursing mothers vouchers for three meals a day in the cafeteria.  But I have to admit - it was hard to look on at that little baby.  I am sure it will be even harder when it is our own child, however, we will know more about what is going on with her once she is through surgery than we do now, which in many ways will make it easier for us to cope with her condition. 

And how is little miss, you may ask?  Our last few appointments, she has flown through with flying colors.  We have had a biophysical exam at each ultrasound - this checks to make sure she is practicing breathing, her heart is pumping, her kidneys are functioning, her bladder is full and that my amniotic fluid levels look good.  Each time, she has shown them each of those things, no problem.  Last week we had a non-stress test, which involves them strapping on two monitors - one to measure her heart rate, one to measure for contractions.  She spent the 30 minutes it was on my belly kicking like crazy. 

So back to the rollercoaster.  It wouldn't be us if it were entirely easy.  Fortunately, it has nothing to do with baby girl's health, but instead mine.  At my last appointment, the doctor noticed that my blood pressure was up.  That along with a couple of other red flags - I had a huge weight gain (9lbs in two weeks), my feet were swollen and the blood pressure - made them suspicious that I may be brewing pre-eclampsia.  I was sent home with a jug to collect my urine for the next 24 hours, to test for protein.  My doctor told me if it came back positive I would be admitted and kept until 37 weeks.  Fortunately, it was negative, so I was able to go stay home and go back to work.  Unfortunately, he also warned me that if it didn't go down by my next appointment, they would be inducing at 37 weeks.  Well, today was that appointment and it did not go down.  I did lose a few lbs, so there was that at least, but on the other hand there was a little protein in my urine, so they are now definitely worried about pre-eclampsia.

And here's the kicker - they've decided to induce me at 37 weeks.  So I am booked for induction on Thursday.  Looks like this November baby is going to be born in October.  Tomorrow is my last day at work. 

How am I feeling?  A little bit of everything.  My emotions have been all over the place, ranging from sad to see pregnancy end, to scared (mostly of being induced, not of labor), to excited to meet her, to annoyed that it didn't go the way I want, to stressed about getting everything done.  I know not many women say this, but I am not ready to be done being pregnant.  Like I said - I have loved every minute of pregnancy.  Having waited so long for it, and worked so hard for it, I always promised myself I would love it if it ever happened.  And I did.  In some ways, I feel jipped out of three special weeks.  I have loved watching my body change and grow.  I have been lucky to gain the weight mostly in my belly and feel like I have carried really well.  Other than the 9lb jump last week, my weight gain has been slow and steady.  I don't have any stretch marks.  Because my weight gain has been so level, it has only been in the last month that strangers have commented on my belly, and I'm going to miss my belly.  I'm going to miss feeling her kick and being inside of me.  I hope I get to experience it again.  I've only recently started to feel uncomfortable.  On the positive side, we'll finally be able to hold her and interact with her.    

I will continue to update over the next few days.  I'm guessing there will be a fair amount of down time while we wait for labor to progress....so stay posted.  As I leave you tonight, I am leaving you with my 34 week, my 35 week, and my 36 week bump pictures. 

34 weeks - Apple picking at Shelburne Farms

35 weeks - Apple picking with my SRR girlfriends at Nashoba Valley

36 weeks exactly - I love this dress.  

Feeling the pressure

The countdown has begun.  Yesterday we made it to 34 weeks.  This is exciting because a baby with no health problems has a 99% survival rate if born at this point.  This makes me think that our sweet baby girl would also have a decent chance of survival, even with the heart defect.  

I have given my date at work.  I will be leaving on Oct 28, 2 days before I hit 39 weeks.  This is 4 weeks from Tuesday!!  I decided that if they are going to induce me at 39, I'd like a couple of days to rest / get things done at home.

Speaking of work, I'm hanging in there, however, it is definitely feeling harder.  I struggle to get up in the morning and have a hard time getting through the day.  By the end of the day, I have full fledged cankles (sometimes they're pretty swollen in the morning too).  

Overall, I've definitely slowed down.  I'm still running, but haven't gone more than 3 miles in a few weeks and haven't run more than 4 days in a week.  I'm lucky if I get 10 miles in a week.  The other day I had to quit mid-run due to heartburn.  But I'm trying to at least get 3 runs in a week.   I did run a 5k last weekend, and had pretty good results, especially considering it was a hot day.  

I was able to still run 9:22 min / mile and still came in in the 43% overall, 32% in my age group - not bad for 33 weeks.  Now the next bit of exciting news:

Two weeks ago I signed up for the 2015 Boston marathon!  In April.  I worked hard to qualify last Nov and the qualification is only good for one year.  Couldn't waste it.   So the longer I keep running, the easier it will be to come back and start training.  It has been 5 years since the last time I ran Boston, so I am looking forward to having such a special race as my first marathon after baby girl, even if I don't expect it to be pretty.  I will have a month to recover and 4.5 months to train - hope that will be enough!!

This weekend is my MA baby shower.  I'm really looking forward to celebrating baby girl with my New England friends and family.  I realize I still haven't posted the wonderful pictures my cousin Ashley took at my NJ shower, but I promise after this shower is over, I will do a baby shower post.  Here's a sneak peak - me with my Saghirian cousins and my Aunt Gail - it meant so much that they came so far:

The nursery furniture was delivered last weekend.  It's perfect.  I worked myself to the bone last weekend putting everything in order, both in her room and and in the front bedroom which has now become the guest room /office.  I'm happy to report, if baby girl came home tomorrow, her room would be ready for her!  We still need to put some stuff on the walls, but I know exactly what I want to do so that will be easy.  The more daunting task is the ongoing job of cleaning out the closet in her room.  But at least I can close the doors and pretend it's not there for now.  I feel like Monica from Friends...  Anyway, here are some before / after pictures:

I am really happy with how it turned out.  Sanders, on the other hand, is not so sure.  Last week he wouldn't go in at all, now he'll come in, but doesn't want to stay in there.  

And baby girl, what's the update on her, you ask?  She is growing well.  As of my appointment on Monday, she was 4lbs 9oz, and was in the 33%, which is completely normal.  She is head down, let's hope she stays.  She was very active. I was able to see her make breathing movements and they said she has good muscle tone.  My doctor said this was a boring pregnancy, which is just what we want.  I did not get to see her face - she had her hands in front of it.  They showed me where her foot was, and a few moments later she kicked in that same place!  I get to see her every week now, as they want to continue to monitor her growth.  Can't believe she'll be here so soon!

We have agreed on a name, but please don't ask.  We don't plan on sharing!  This our one secret we've been able to keep between us.  It's a name we have been talking about for months, but finally just agreed on.  

I will leave you now with my bump shot for 34 weeks.  I took some pictures of my bare belly, so I will give you some comparison shots between 5 weeks and 34:

I was so skinny and fit!

Still fit, not skinny...lol

And here is the more traditional one (I look so tired!):

I'm still being told how small I am, though I certainly don't feel that way!  I didn't gain any weight in the two weeks between my last appointment and this week.  This is good and bad.  It will keep me on track for the 25-30lb range, but on the other hand I know gaining weight at this stage is healthy.  

Overall, I still feel pretty good and I'm trying to enjoy the last few weeks of this blessed pregnancy.  Sometimes I get sad thinking about the fact it is almost over and realistically I know I may never get to experience it again. While she is inside, it's just me and her and I love that special relationship.  Other times, I just can't wait for her to be here and have everyone else meet her and experience the fierce, independent little girl I think she will be, based on her behaviors so far.  

Have a great weekend!

Back to the grind

We've officially entered the single digit countdown.  8 weeks and 1 day left!  More on that later.

Though you wouldn't know it from last week's weather, summer came to an end two and a half weeks ago for me.  Teachers at Malden Public Schools go back to work the Monday before Labor Day, and kids start to return on Tuesday.  High school kids don't come back until Wednesday and even then it is only Freshmen.  The whole school comes back the Thursday before Labor Day, we run through the entire schedule, and then get Friday and Monday off.  Last week was the real deal - the beginning of teaching.  This coming week will be the first full week.  So far my classes seem to be good.  I like my students and it makes me sad I will not see them through the year.  The being back on my feet all day is a challenge.  If I don't remember to sit as much as possible, my feet and ankles swell.  My back hurts sometimes at the end of the day.  But overall, I don't have too many complaints.  I'm not as tired as I expected to be and I still love being pregnant.  I can't believe that there are only 8 weeks left!  As excited as I am for baby girl to be here, thinking about not being pregnant anymore makes me a little sad.  Unlike those who have not experienced infertility, it is not guaranteed that I will ever experience this again.  In fact, I have to think like I won't, but try to be hopeful that I will.  It has been a magical time.  

In other news, we have finally started on the nursery.  We had some time over Labor Day weekend so we moved some furniture around to start clearing the room out.  There are still a few things that need to be moved.  The furniture is set to be delivered in two weeks.  I have washed all the sheets and all the clothes I have received so far.  This weekend we ordered a glider for those late night feedings and rockings.  Things are coming along.  Maybe it will actually feel real when the furniture arrives and the room is ready for her!  I keep thinking certain milestones will make it feel real, but it continues to feel like a dream.  This seems to be common for those of us who tried for so long and struggled so much to get here.  

Two weeks ago we had a few appointments.  I had my first appointment at my new doctor.  Unfortunately, he had a family emergency and the office switched my appointment, but I never got the message.  They squeezed me in for an ultrasound and an exam with the nurse, so at least I didn't go all the way there for nothing.  It is not an easy trip in to see the doctor.  I have to see him at the hospital and the hospital is in downtown Boston.  Originally they were talking like they wanted me to come back two days later.  I was not happy about that since I had already left work early (On the first day, no less) and knew I was going to be getting in late on Wednesday.  The appointment itself went ok, though I was disappointed not to see my doctor.  It took them about 45 minutes before they called me in.  Then they did the ultrasound and it took about 20 minutes for a doctor to come in and see me after the tech examined me.  All went well in the ultrasound.  Baby girl weighed in at 2lbs15oz, which was right on target.  We could see her making breathing motions and the tech said her movement was good.  As is typical of this child, we were unable to see her face.  She was facing the wrong way this time, so no pictures.   Then the nurse did my exam.  She weighed me.  As most of you know, I have been pretty careful about my weight so when she asked me if 177 sounded about right, I was shocked.  She explained that different scales weigh differently.  Obviously I know that.  Since this was my first appointment, she didn't know what my weight was at my appointment 3 weeks before - it was 163.  Needless to say, I was a little freaked out.  14lbs in 3 weeks?  I didn't feel like I had gained that much.  The nurse went about her business and moved on with the appointment, but I couldn't let it go, it was really bothering me.  So I asked her about it again, and explained that my weight had been 163 at my last appointment.  So she double checked it.  Turns out she had read the scale wrong and I was 167.  I'm glad I asked, because otherwise, it would look like I lost a bit of weight at my next appointment. 

Two days after that appointment, we had our follow-up at Children's.  Once again, they did an echocardiogram, and once again, baby girl was somewhat uncooperative.  After the echo, we sat down with the doctors and they went over the diagnosis.  To recap, at the last appointment, they thought it was a different diagnosis than the current diagnosis.  They called us later that day with the current diagnosis.  So at our follow-up, they were trying to confirm this diagnosis.  They feel pretty confident that they are right, but can't be too certain on the details because it is hard to see on a moving baby inside the belly, especially one as feisty as our daughter is.  Overall, the news seemed to be good.  The best thing to come out of the appointment, is that they actually think there may be a possibility that she comes home with us shortly after birth and will have the surgery later.  This would be best case scenario.  Essentially, there are three scenarios with Tetrology of Fallot.  The simplest form is simple Tetrology of Fallot.  This is still a major heart defect, but is easy to fix and most Tet babies go on to live healthy, active lives.  Shawn White, the olympic snowboarder, was a Tet baby!  We are pretty certain it is not that simple with baby girl.  The second scenario is TOF with Pulmonary Atresia.  Essentially, this means that the pulmonary artery is not hooked up where it is supposed to be, but instead coming off of the aorta.  This is what baby girl has been diagnosed with.  The question is whether she has one pulmonary artery or multiple pulmonary arteries coming off the aorta, a condition called MAPCAs (Multiple Aorto-Pulmonary Collateral Arteries).  One PA is much easier to fix and a much better prognosis.  From what they can see, this is what they think is the case with baby girl, but they can't completely rule out MAPCAs.  

They also went over what would happen once she arrived and cleared up a few questions we had.  Once she is born, we will get to spend some time with her to hold her and bond with her, maybe up to an hour if NICU isn't too anxious to rush off with her.  Then NICU will take her and stabilize her.  Chris will be able to go with her to NICU.  Once she is stable and ready, she will be transported over to the CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit) at Children's (within a couple hours).  If she arrives in the middle of the night, and is doing well, they will wait until daytime to do an echocardiogram on her.  If she is struggling, they will do one immediately.  If she is doing really well, and they feel they can wait on the surgery, they will send her home.  She will not need monitors, our doctors don't like to send a baby home if they need monitors because they often give off false alarms.  They also said that she won't need the monitors, that we'll be able tell if she is struggling and that it won't happen instantaneously and we'll have time to get her over to Children's.  If she is doing well enough to go home, we won't have to live in a bubble, we'll be able to take her places and people will be able to see her.  If this is the case, she will go back when she is 3 or 4 months for surgery.  This is obviously the better option because she'll be bigger and stronger when she goes in and will also have learned a lot.  If she has to have surgery right away, she will be in the hospital longer because there will be more developmental delays, such as knowing how to feed.  If she has surgery later, she will already know how to do these things, and won't have to be in the hospital as long.    We are hoping and praying that is she is strong when she comes into this world and that we will get to come home with her.  If she is anything like what she is like in utero, she will come out fighting.  She has been a fighter since the very beginning, this child who statistically shouldn't even be here, so we'd like to think that this this little girl is a strong little warrior.  

My next appointment at Beth Israel was this past Monday.  It went much better than the first one, but I still really miss Mt Auburn!  This time I got to see my doctor, so that was good.  He is the doctor that first suspected the heart defect, and I hadn't seen him since that day in early July, though I have had to him on the phone.  Anyway, he gave me a warm welcome and spent a bit more time with me than they did last appointment.  I also didn't have to wait all that long - only 10 minutes.  He decided we didn't need an ultrasound this week, but that I will have one at my next appointment.  He measured my belly (it was 31cm) and checked the heartbeat (144bpm) and declared everything to be "boring" which is what we want.  I gained 4lbs since my last appointment, which didn't make me all that happy, but oh well.  The real bombshell came when he told me that he didn't want me to go past 39 weeks.  If I don't go into labor by 39 weeks, they will induce me.  At this stage of my pregnancy, learning we have one less week is a little scary.  I keep thinking of all the things I need to do, both at home and at work.  It also means I have to leave work a week earlier than I originally thought.  So really, instead of having 8 weeks left, we really only have 7 weeks left.  The silver lining is that maybe we actually will have that Halloween baby I have always wanted.  I will be 39 weeks 1 day on Halloween.

After I saw Dr Ralston, they sent me up to NICU for a consult.  I met with a NICU Dr and two fellows.  This was meant to prepare me for what would happen on delivery day.  Basically they told me there would be a lot of them in the room.  After she comes out, I will get to hold her for a little bit (Maybe not as long as the cardiologists told me) and then she will be whisked away to NICU where she will be prepared to go to Childrens.  Much of the information they shared was not news and was just a reiteration of what the Cardiologists had told us.  After the NICU Dr debriefed me, she walked me through the NICU and gave me a quick tour.  This was emotionally very hard for me - it made it all more real seeing all those teeny tiny babies in glass cases.  In a few weeks we will take a tour of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Children's.  I expect this to be even harder.  

As I have from the beginning, I continue to go back and forth between wanting the next 7 weeks to fly by and wanting them to never end.  As her arrival comes closer and closer, I have started leaning more towards the not wanting it to end.  I have really enjoyed pregnancy, even with it's struggles.  It is such a magical time and I feel so blessed to have experienced it.  It is even more special knowing I almost didn't get to experience it.  I often think of all the women who struggled like I did, but have not gotten to this place.  I have made it a point to enjoy pregnancy for them, as much as for me.   The other reason I don't want it to end is that I know that baby girl is safe inside of me, where I can breathe for her and her little heart works without any trouble.  Everything post pregnancy is so uncertain, and while we have gathered the best team possible and it sounds like everything will turn out just fine, it is still really scary.  Funny thing is, I am calm about the whole labor and delivery piece and not really all that scared about motherhood, it is the in-between that scares me.  The time at Children's, the surgeries, and all the uncertainty that brings.  

On a lighter note, my NJ baby shower was two and a half weeks ago. It was wonderful and I'll try to talk more about that later this weekend and share some pictures too.  I am so grateful to all those who attended or sent gifts.  It was so wonderful to see everyone. However, it is getting late and I need to go to bed since it is a school night. I turn 32 weeks tomorrow, and will update more this weekend.  I will leave you with my 30 week bump shot and I apologize that this is the only photo this week, but like I said, it is getting late.   

World traveler

I'm pretty far behind on my updates.   It's been a busy summer, and with only a week left before returning to school, I find myself looking forward to getting back into the routine.  The summer has been exhausting!  Once I am back at work, I have a feeling the time is going to fly.   I will only be there for about 10 weeks before baby girl arrives.  I also am apprehensive in how exhausted I'm going to be and how much my body will hurt, with being on my feet all day.  

We had a great trip to Belgium, France, and Switzerland.  I wrote most of this post from 37,000 feet somewhere over northeastern Canada, but after taking several days to upload pictures, I'm just postin today.  I am exhausted, but so happy to have had this vacation.  We were away for 10 days and I'm really happy to be home, though after spending the last 5 days with our Belgian family, I am sad to leave.  Every time I leave, I never know when I will see them again.  I am so glad baby girl got to visit my adopted country before she was even born and that I was able to see my family while pregnant.  So far she is quite the traveler - we were in Mexico and California, a week before I discovered I was pregnant, when she was just a bunch of cells, she's visited Virginia Beach, and of course, many trips to NJ.  Now she's already hit four European countries.  

Here are a few highlights and photos from our trip:

Our first day we went to Bastogne to see where the Battle of the Bulge took place and to visit the World War II museum there.  We had lunch in the small town center, visited the museum (even though we were exhausted from the red eye), then went to our hotel, right over the border in Luxembourg.  For dinner that night, we had been invited to my host brother Fabian's house, to meet Christine's family.  We got to meet their dog Luna and their cats.  It was a great night - we had Belgian meatballs and frites - one of my favorite regional specialities.  Christine's family was great, we truly enjoyed their company, despite our jet lag.  

Chris in front of a tank, in the center of Bastogne

View from the Bastogne memorial

The next day, we were off to Strasbourg.  We decided to see a little bit of Luxembourg on our way there, so we drove off the beaten path, through the countryside and visited the small castle town of Vianden.  It was rainy and not real nice, but the town was pretty cool.  When we left there, we decided to get to Strasbourg by driving through Germany, so that we could hit another country.  We got to Strasbourg around dinner time and had a nice Alsacian dinner.  

Le Château de Vianden

Town of Vianden, Luxembourg 

On day three, we followed the Route du Vin through the Alsacian vineyards and small towns.  This may have been my favorite touristing day.  We love to get off the beaten path and road trips are a great way to do this.  At one point, we accidentally got off the Route du Vin and went up a mountain (the Vosges mountain range).  Right before we got to the top we noticed a sign pointing to a castle up a small road.  We decided to check it out.  After a 10 min drive up this winding, narrow road and a 15 minute hike, we stumbled upon the ruins of a medieval castle, which we explored.  The view from there was incredible.  It was so cool.  Back on the Route du Vin, we stopped to taste some Alsacian wine, before getting back on the road towards Switerland, where we would spend the next two nights.  

Strasbourg cathedral 

Le chateau de Berenstein

View of the Alsacian Wine Valley

Alsacian villages

Our hotel just outside of Luzern was a little bit disappointing.  It was near the lake, but not as near as I had thought.  It did not have air conditioning, and at night, the smell from the neighboring cow pasture filled the room.  The nights were cool, but our room did not get much air, so we were warm.  

On the one full day we had in Switzerland, we decided to go up the mountain across the lake from our hotel, Mt Rigi.  Fortunately, the weather cooperated.  The views were breathtaking and it was really amazing being on top of an alpine mountain listening to the cow bells or the cows that roam the mountain tops.  We hiked halfway down, before getting on the tram to get to the bottom.   From there we went into the city of Luzern.  We saw the sights, then had a typical Swiss dinner in a hole in the wall restaurant we found on Trip Advisor.  We were pretty much the only tourists in this restaurant.  It was a lot of fun!

Top of Mt Rigi, Switzerland

View from the tram

Luzern 

On our 5th day, it was back to Liege.  My original plan was to take our time, but we got a message Tuesday night that we were being invited to dinner at my first host family's house.  In addition, it was raining pretty hard, so we didn't really feel the need to be touristy.  We stopped in a small Alsacian village right off the highway for lunch, then continued right onto Liege.  We had a great dinner with my host parents, Jean-Claude and Jacqueline, their daughter, Cassiane, her husband, Pierre, and their kids,  Pauline and Thomas, as well as my parents.  We had another Belgian speciality - waterzoie.  

We spent the next two nights in Liege, the city I lived in 19 years ago, when I did my exchange.  The hotel there was amazing.  It was a restored castle and had been renovated and added to to make a very modern, chic hotel.  The bed was really comfortable, there was air conditioning, and they had a really nice pool, which after 5 days of walking several miles a day 6 months pregnant, floating in a pool was very welcome.  

View from our room at the Crowne Plaza Liege

I visited a friend, Karine, and her new baby the next morning, then we had dinner at the restaurant at Guillemins, the train station, before visiting a really great expo on World War I.  We had dinner that night  at my third host parents', Annie and Fernand, along with Jean-Claude and Jacqueline.  

Jacqueline, Jean-Claude, me, Chris, Annie, Fernand

More Belgian meatballs....yum!

On Friday, we relaxed in the morning, then walked around town a little before celebrating my friend Karine's birthday.  From there, we headed into the countryside, to the chateau where the wedding was to take place, the chateau de la poste.  This was to be home for the next two nights.  That night we had dinner with Fabian, Christine, her family, one of the groomsmen, and my parents at a small restaurant in the village.  It was excellent!

Me, Karine, Kassandra

The next day was the wedding, which in Belgium, is a marathon of a day.  The church was at 1, followed by the cocktail hour from 2-5, dinner from 5-10, and then the party from 10-?.  We made it to 2AM, which I was pleased with - I never thought I'd make it that late.  It was a great wedding, and I loved having the opportunity to see many of my host family's friends.  I was surprised by just how many people I knew and remembered me.  

Cassiane, Stephanie, me pre-wedding

Chateau de la Poste

The Newlyweds

L'eglise St. Martin

Cutting the cake

Our last day was Sunday.  It was a really nice day, starting with a 3 mile run through the country, breakfast in the chateau with the family, a walk the woods, and a post wedding BBQ in the chateau.  From there, we were off to Brussels. We decided to stay at the airport hotel, right across from the terminal.  I was surprised by just how close it was.  Literally a two minute walk to check-in.  We dropped the rental car off, then headed into Brussels.  We were lucky enough to be there on the weekend of the Tapis de Fleurs, when they cover the Grand Place (which is already beautiful) in a carpet of cut flowers.  This only happens every two years, and only lasts three days, so as I said, the fact that we happened to be in Brussels was amazing.  I have always wanted to see it, and it was amazing.  

Chateau de la poste

Le tapis de Fleurs 

Alloys (in the stroller), Geoffrey, me, Chris, Hector, Anne-Sophie in the Grand Place, Brussels

Our last dinner may have been my favorite.  We had made plans to meet up with my host sister my third family, Anne-Sophie, Annie and Fernand's daughter, her husband Geoffrey, their kids, Alloys and Hector, and Annie and Fernand.  I can't really say why this was my favorite meal, but it was a great way to end the trip.  

It never ceases to amaze me how every time I go home to Belgium, it's as if I never left.  I am filled with love for the people that cared for me during my stay there and after 19 years, I know this is a lifelong bond.  As we said goodbye last night, I was struck by the tears in Fernand's eyes.  They are truly family and I am always sad to leave them, never knowing how long it will be until the next time.  

That being said, I am happy to be home.  I am happily exhausted.  My feet hurt and were swollen from all the walking.  I was out of clothes.  I missed ice cold drinks and am happy to be eating the foods I am used to eating again.  I am really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for more than one night in a row. 

And what about baby girl?  She's doing good.  She enjoyed the trip and has been getting more and more active.  And bigger!  I feel like I left here ambiguously pregnant and am coming home obviously pregnant.  She enjoyed the wedding.  Unlike me, she danced to the music the whole night, and even continued dancing well after we left.  She was tired from all that dancing on Sunday, but was back to her old tricks quickly, bumping around for the first few hours of travel on Monday.  As my due date is getting closer (75 days left!), I was starting to feel a little anxious in Europe being so far away from our doctors, so I am happy to be home for that reason as well.  

The week before we left for Europe was filled with doctors appointments.  The basic gist of it was that everything looks good.  I had an ultrasound to check growth.  The doctor said everything looked great and that she was growing and developing well.  My amniotic fluid levels were good, and there was no sign of heart failure or fluid around her heart, which is good.  The next day I had my last appointment with my midwife, which was emotional.  She also said everything looked good.  My belly is measuring just right, the heartbeat sounds good, and once again I felt reassured as I left her office.  I was truly sad to know I will not be going to back to her with this baby.  Later that night, I had an MRI as part of an experiment at Children's to measure brain development in children with heart defects vs normal children.  The results came back entirely normal and having read the reports, they looked good.  Finally on Thursday, the day before we left, I took my glucose test, to check for gestational diabetes.  

Baby's foot (her feet were over her head, so no profile)

Glucose test

Now that I am officially in my third trimester, the more intensive visits begin, so it is the appropriate time to switch over to Dr Ralston.  I have my first appointment with him on Monday, including an ultrasound, I think.  Next Wednesday we go back to Children's to see the cardiologists again.  All this, as well as the return to work.  It's going to be a busy week.  But first, I am back in Ocean City one last time for a long weekend.  I am looking forward to seeing my New Jersey / mid-Atlantic friends at my baby shower today!  Looking forward to updating on that soon.

Time to get started on my day.  Off to run and to the beach :). But first, a few bump shots from week 27-28.  Week 28 she was the size of a head of lettuce, week 29 she is a butternut squash!

Bump in Belgium

Amongst the chateau ruins

Top of Mt Rigi