Empathy Belly

This was taken at our first labor and delivery class, 10/28/08. They made Ricahrd lay in a bed, under a sheet and toss and turn and then get up to give him an idea how simple things can become a challange when you are carrying 20+ extra pounds all in your belly. He really did have a hard time and complained because he had to wear the belly for 25 minutes. I of course loved every minute of it =D

Labor of Love

Tonight is our first "Labor of Love" class. In this class they teach you first signs that you are in labor, pain management techniques, laboring positions, etc.

The class is a 6 weeks series. Once a week from 6:30-8:30. Gosh, I am usually asleep by 8:30 so I am going to feel like a real party animal tonight :) I am excited and hope I don't get too freaked out right away.

This weekend (really this month) is going to be really busy. Friday we are going to Matt and Rachel's to help give out candy and to have chili. Yum! Matt and Richard are going to carve pumpkins, too. It will be fun. We spent last holloween with them and they actually had a lot of trick or treaters come by. All of them so,so cute! Rachel, Matt and Richard all went to college together so Rachel and I of course became close friends when I moved to Nashville. I was in her wedding and now it's so fun because we both are pregnant. She is only about 5 weeks ahead of me, so it's so great to share this experiance with a good friend.

On Saturday I plan on getting up and leaving Nashville no later than 7:30 am to drive to Mississippi. My friend Amanda is have a wedding shower on Saturday so I am driving home for that plus my cousin Jennifer is also pregnant (again, only about 4-6 weeks ahead of me)and her shower is on Sunday. So busy weekend but full of lots of fun stuff!!

Okay- Keep your fingers crossed I can stay awake for the whole class tonight :)

26 weeks!

Wow! 26 weeks! It's so unreal that we are at this point. I have never been this happy in my whole life.



So here is the belly at 25 weeks. My belly is HUGE! My mom came in town the other day and we were shopping at Kroger. I was a few feet in front of her and I turned to tell her something and she just started laughing hysterically. She said "You are so pregnant". It really is comical.

I feel pretty good, although I can't remember the last time I got a good nights sleep.

Our little monkey is moving and kicking and punching and I think sometimes he is doing cartwheels! He kicks so hard you can see my belly move now. It's amazing. I am so ready to meet this little guy, but I know a part of me will miss being pregnant. I have honestly enjoyed it and realize just what a blessing it is.

I still very much am interested in Vietnam adoption news and am so saddened to hear how things are turning out. I can't stop thinking of all those families who have been waiting years for a child who suddenly are faced with the reality they have to consider other options. And most importantly the children who need families to love. Richard and I would have been waiting 19 months (not long compared to some) if we were still in the program. And let's please not talk about the money lost. And when we signed on to the VN program we were assured by our agency it was a very stable program. Which at the time I am sure they believed it was. But by September 2007 (or a bit earlier) I had serious doubts and went to our agency about them. I told them I was concerned about the program being over taxed and the corruption. I expressed my fear that the program would implode and we would all be left at square one. I knew that with all the problems and issues that the program was having it was not a 'secure program'. Yet I was assured by my agency that I was wrong and that I was being "emotional" and that my fears were baseless. Everything I heard was "rumor". So I took their word for it. After all they were the experts, not me. Richard kept telling me to be more positive. But I could not ignore what I kept reading over and over. I don't want to be negative, but I didn't want to be naive, either.

I still have that email from my agency assuring me how stable the program in Vietnam was. I was urged to not switch programs (we strongly considered Ethiopia) and that we would bring home a child from Vietnam.

I understand at that time they might not have KNOWN what exactly was going to happen. My point is that if I, someone who was pretty new to adoption, had a strong gut feeling, idea, suspicion that things were not going to turn out well for all, that CHI knew a lot more than they were letting on. I believe they had information that they chose not to share with their clients. I got all my information from just doing a little research on the Internet. They had first hand connections, yet they didn't realize how bad it was but I did...?? I feel like they handled my husband's and my case very carelessly. My Bestie Samantha and her family are adopting from Ethiopia. I had to recommend that she not go with our agency based on our experience.

I want to stress I am not blaming CHI for what happened in VN, obviously. But I was not happy with the way our specific case was handled and I feel like all through the process information was with held from us.

I didn't mean to get into all that, but when I think of the families that I started the adoption process with who are hurting it breaks my heart. It's just a sad situation for everyone. The families and the children.

Okay, something that I found hilarious!-- So Richard does most of his research on rats (sorry rat lovers),so we got Samuel a stuffed rat so he can grow up and be like his daddy. Well, we got our swing for Sam the other day and we noticed the thing has buckles. So Rich decided the sensible thing to do was to practice strapping in "the baby" so when it is really time to put him in, we know what we are doing. The rat is what Richard practiced on!

Sam's Room!

Samuel's room is almost done! I am pretty happy with how it tunred out. I did a couple of art projects for his room. I painted the letters on the wall behind his crib and added the ribbon and I painted the "samuel" train on the shelf. Our mothers bought us the glider and I am beyond thrilled to have it! It's so comfy. I sit in it and look around his room and imagine what it will be like once he is here!

So you can see he already has lots of stuff! What you don't see is the dresser full of even more clothes and shoes. Oh the shoes! He has a bunch of different sneakers and even hiking boots! They are so cute I cant NOT get them!

Snakes and Snails and puppy dog tails!!

Yep! It's a BOY! A sweet, little boy!

Richard and I couldn't be any happier!

18 Weeks!

I am 18 weeks today! Yay! I had a doctor's appointment this past Wednesday and got to hear the baby's heart beat again. The sweetest sound ever! And we set up an appointment to find out gender! September 11th! I am sososososo excited!

Next Wednesday we are going to tour Baptist's labor and delivery unit and then the following Monday we are going to tour Centennial Women's hospital. So we should know where we are delivering pretty soon. I would like to take childbirth classes at the same hospital we have the baby. At first this pregnancy seemed to be creeping by so slowly. Now I feel like it has really picked up momentum and is going by pretty fast!

Oh, I felt the baby move! It is obviously very subtle, but it is such a great feeling! The baby is now about 5.5 inches and weighs just over 5 ounces. Considering I was reading about the baby when it was just the size of a poppy seed, that seems huge! Oh, and my uterus is the size of a cantaloupe. Average weight gain for this week is 10-13 lbs. I am right at 10 lbs so I am hoping if I continue to eat a healthy diet I can avoid gaining something dreadful like 60 lbs! My diet is pretty good, but I have got to get more active. Before I was pregnant, I worked out all the time! Jogged, walked, aerobics, light weights. The first trimester I felt great, but I was exhausted! I definitely didn't have the energy to work out. Now I feel like I have more energy, but it's just so hard to get back into the routine. Plus if I am going to do any exercise, it needs to be in the am. After a full day of work now way can I muster up the energy to do it. I will set a goal to start next week.

Not a whole lot else going on. Richard is still plugging away at school trying to finish. We love our new apartment. There is so much more room and it just feels so much more open.

I am anxious to see what happens with the dossiers on Monday. I am saying a prayer that something wonderful happens and they aren't sent back. I am also saying a prayer for all the families who are waiting to bring their children home.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day.


Oh, and one last thing…. GGGOOO OBamba!!!!

16 weeks and hard decisions.

Tomorrow I am 16 weeks! 4 months, wow! I have to post a belly picture soon. I have really popped! Still feeling great with the exception of a few bad headaches. Other than that, so far so good.

We are moved in! We started moving things Thursday afternoon and had everything done by Sunday. Everything. From organized drawers to curtains hung! I love it. It seems so much bigger. Definitely much more open. We were able to turn the guest bedroom into a bedroom/office. So Richard now has a quiet place to go and work while he is at home. And of course we have baby-baby's room set up. I have more to do in there like pictures, rugs, etc, but I will wait until we find out if our little one will pee standing up or sitting down :)

So it looks like we are officially staying in Nashville for at least the next two years. Richard is taking a position at Vanderbilt so now all he has to do is graduate :) We are shooting for late October. It would have been really nice to move back home to Memphis. He had a great interview with ST. Jude and they really liked him. Vanderbilt just seemed to be the better fit for many different reasons. And 3 hours isn't so far, right? Plus we both really love Nashville and wouldn't mind staying indefinitely.

This week we officially withdrew from CHI's Vietnam program. It's something he and I have been talking about doing since April. We just needed a lot of time to think about it to make sure 100% it is what we wanted to do. We still plan on adopting. No question there; just where and with whom we aren't sure of. Right now it looks like we would adopt from Ethiopia, but we will of course have to evaluate all the programs that are out there in about a year. I have a lot more to say regarding withdrawing from CHI and my feelings on officially leaving the VN program but I will write about that later.

Oh! I want to say congratulations to my bestie Samantha! She and her family have started the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia! YAY!!! I am sosososos excited for her! This is something she has wanted to do forever and I am so happy they have officially started! Her 2 year old daughter, Emerson will make an awesome big sister! I couldn't be more excited for all three of them!