Kapilialoha

Kapilialoha: "enjoined in love", "one in affection", "coming together because of love". That will be her middle name.

I've already sent Gabe's mom an email about her middle name, so sorry this isn't new for you! For those of you who aren't very familiar with the Hawaiian language, a general rule of thumb is the vowels in Hawaiian are pronounced like the vowels in Spanish. So the "A" is pronounced as "ah" and the I is pronounced as "ee". So her name would be pronounced as "kah-pee-lee-aloha". And I think we all know how to pronounce aloha! As I told Gabe's mom, don't think too much about it, just let it roll off your tongue!

Her name was chosen by a well known linguist in Hawaii, Puakea Nogelmeier. If you Google him you'll find a few articles about him. Puakea and my Uncle Robert are good friends and I consider it an honor (corny I know) to have her name chosen by Puakea. Prior to choosing her name Puakea needed to know about Gabe's and my relationship and what this child means to us. Kapilialoha is the first name that came to Puakea.

We really like the name, I think it's appropriate. I think it exudes simplicity and is elegant at the same time. Now we just have to chose a first name!

Expecting Photos Taken by Dana Napoleon

Here are our pics we took the other weekend. If anyone wants to order prints let me know and I can let the photographer know and we can get them ordered for you.

The Belly

Here are a couple of belly shots. Nothing too exciting, but here you go. We're almost there!

Photo Shoot

Gabe and I took professional pics this past weekend. I was on the fence on whether or not to do it but I decided to take the big plunge and do it because if I didn't I knew I would regret it. Gabe I'm sure would have been fine either way!

I told my siblings about it the night before when we were at their house for dinner and of course my brother made fun of us. He took my 8 year old nephew and used him as his the "expecting mom model" (that would be me) and my brother was the "expecting dad model" (that would be Gabe) and demonstrated for us the various poses that we would be doing for the pics. We were laughing our butts off as my nephew wanted to run away and hide in a hole.

The photographer came to our house on Sunday and spent about an hour and half with us taking pics, some were taken outside in our back area. Gabe and I had no idea what to expect but it turned out to be a kind of fun experience! The photographer works for the same company as I do and I found her on my work online classifieds. She was super nice and her husband coincidentally is from Hawaii (Kaneohe). It wasn't uncomfortable as I thought it would be having my belly hang out in front of a stranger and barely wearing anything in a couple of the poses. Gabe and I were cracking jokes left and right and the photographer said that she enjoyed doing the shoot with us.

She said she would have our pics done sometime this week and I'll be meeting up with her to get the "brag book" that's part of the package deal that we purchased. She'll also be posting the pics online for people to order, so once that's up I'll post the website and password. She'll also be taking baby's first pics about a week after she's born, so we're excited about that too.

Mili

She's Turned!

She has officially turned! YAY! What a relief. I know we had "plenty" of time for her to turn but at least this way we know for sure AND I did not want to do an external version. Gabe was able to go to the appointment with me yesterday which made me feel better as well. I think she turned at some point Sunday night or in my sleep. I was telling a couple of my friends yesterday afternoon before I went to the doctor that I think she turned because I wasn't as uncomfortable as I've been the past couple and weeks and she just felt different. And the doctor confirmed it yesterday afternoon!

She took the baby's heartbeat and measured my uterus and said it looks like she's where she should be. So she did a quick ultrasound and her head is sitting low in my uterus verifying that's she where she should be. Baby is healthy and I'm doing A-OK. I didn't gain any weight the past two weeks. Double yay! We'll be going to the doctor weekly from now until baby gets here.

I also got a flu shot and we turned in our birth plan. I asked if Gabe should get one too and the nurse said yes. I tried to score a free flu shot for him while she was giving me mine but she said she couldn't because she's gotten in trouble for giving flu shots to her friends! We were cracking up.

So thank you everyone for all your prayers and good thoughts. She's now being a good little girl!

Mili

Water Aerobics

Yes, water aerobics. I took my first water aerobics class yesterday and I liked it. I didn't know what to expect but it was quite relaxing and it just felt good to be completely immersed in a pool. The water was a warm 94 degrees (salt water pool I may add) and there were three other preggars in the class (one girl was in our Preparation for Child Birth class and Breastfeeding class) , a middle aged woman and an older woman (it's a low impact/prenatal class). They all seemed pretty friendly including the instructor.

So we did some exercises in the water and did some stretching. The class was an hour long and I probably could have stayed in the pool a little longer than that even though I was turning into a prune. I haven't been a pool since the Topeka baby shower and I wasn't nearly as big back then as I am now.

As soon as I was heading up the steps out of the pool all the weight came back and I was brought back to reality. :-( I should have been doing this earlier, but I guess better late than never! The pool is being cleaned next week so there won't be any classes. I'm planning on going the following week and hopefully continue until I pop.

Mili

Baby Shopping

We went on our shopping spree last weekend. I finally have been taken off of shopping restriction now that we've had all the baby showers! Side note on the baby showers, I'm planning on posting a separate blog and pics on that.

The game plan for last Saturday was BabiesRUs, Target, and to find cloth diapers and wraps somewhere in the city. Everything went well, we had a long shopping list and got pretty much crossed off. We didn't have to buy anything online and found anything in the stores. It was an all day event, but it could have been a lot worse!

BabiesRUS we were in and out, we only needed a couple of things from there. We then had to stop by my friends Mary's house to get a coupon for a car seat that we were planning on buying at Target. That coupon saved us 35.00 so it was worth the trip! A good chunk on change was spent at Target, but like I said we got EVERYTHING including my glider and ottoman that I really wanted. And it was nice to be able to buy it in the store as opposed to online to save on shipping and handling. We didn't spend as long in Target as I had anticipated which is a very good thing.

So then it was off to find cloth diapers and wraps. First we went to eat lunch at Coastal Kitchen one of our fave places to eat. Yum yum. I had a couple of places in mind for cloth diapers, Bootyland (Gabe delivers water there) and Birth and Beyond. I figured we would go to Bootyland first because we went there together once (when Gabe's mom was visiting over the summer) and I remembered they had a lot of second hand cloth diapers and wraps. Low and behold they still had quite a few!

The girl that works there offered help as soon as we walked in and I immediately said "Yes, we need cloth diapers and wraps and a brief introduction to cloth diapering!". So she showed us a couple different wraps and how to use a cloth diaper. I've done cloth diapers when Carly was little (that was 15 years ago) and a brief stint with my cousin John when I spent the summer with my Aunty Paula. Gabe got the general idea of cloth diapering, I think he will do just fine. And I guess we'll learn after the first time when poop and pee gets everywhere because we didn't diaper her tight enough!

We bought ALL the diapers and wraps second hand and saved a ton of money. We thought it would be smarter to not start off with all new diapers and wraps JUST IN CASE we opt not to use them in the end. Plus we can always upgrade once we get more hands on experience and we have more of an idea of what we want and what would work better with baby once she's here.

Now we have baby crap EVERYWHERE around the house. We're in the process of cleaning and organizing as we go along. We have to wash all her clothes, bedding and diapers before she comes. It's a process but we're getting there!

Mili

P.S.
Who is "Dinner...It's What to Eat"?? I can't figure it out! Please tell me who you are cause it's bugging the hell out of me!

The Conclusion of the Preparation for Childbirth Classes and Breastfeeding

I just figured out I can blog from work (I'm surprised the wesbite isn't blocked) so I figured why not because I don't feel inclined to work at the moment.

So this past Sunday was our last day for our Childbirth classes. They weren't a total waste of time, but it did seem a little drawn out at the end. I think we did learn a few things that I'm sure will come in handy in the near future.

The facilitator told all the parents that we will all be great parents and it makes you smile (at least it makes me smile!). Apparently she's gotten some doozies in the past, parents asking when they can drink and smoke again. Those people will make Gabe and I look like the best parents in the world!

Last night I took my breastfeeding class. There was lots of information on breastfeeding, the class ran about 1/2 hour longer than it was supposed to and I was very close to leaving because I was exhausted and it was past my bedtime. I learned that a good latch is everything when it comes to breastfeeding! Patience and persistence is key. We really want to breastfeed as long as we can since statistically breast milk is so much better than formula. If you've ever looked at the benefits of breastfeeding as opposed to formula fed babies it's quite astounding how much difference it makes. So I'm crossing my fingers and hope that the baby takes to the booby.

All in all we're relieved that all of our classes are done and over with. After all, knowledge is power right?!

34 Week Check Up

I had my regular check up yesterday and both baby and I check out fine EXCEPT for the fact that the doctor advised me that the baby is currently in a breech position and if she doesn't turn then we're looking at a C-Section sometime the first week of December (approximately one week before the due date). I asked if there was anything I can do to help her turn and according to Doctor Shuster as well as the book that we got from Preparation for Child Birth Class I can elevate my hips and see if that will help. The book also mentioned playing music for her and placing the head phones on the lower section of my abdomen by my pubic bone. So I will be doing that for the next two weeks until our next appointment which is on November 17 in hopes she will cooperate.

At the next appointment if she hasn't turned we can try to do an External Version which is when the doctor physically manipulates my abdomen and try to turn the baby herself. This is does not sound like a very pleasant procedure which Crystal, our Doctor's assistant reiterated to me this afternoon. An External Version is successful about 50% of the time, which to me is worth a shot as I am trying to avoid a C-Section as much as possible. If we do opt to do an External Version we will set up an appointment at that time and probably have the procedure done either later that week or early the following week.

We're crossing our fingers and hoping she will turn and not turn back to the breech position! But like I've told a few people if she's stubborn like her parents (more so her mommy I should say) then we are screwed! ;-) On the up side the doctor did make me feel good when she complimented on how smooth my belly was and asked me what product I use to make my belly smooth! It cracked me up!

Mili