On Sunday 3/18, we got a new addition to our extended family. My cousin John and his wife Nuch, who live in London, were expecting just weeks before us and little Natsha arrived two weeks early! Apparently it took mom only 30 minutes of pushing and baby weighed in at 3 kg (almost 6 1/2 pounds).
Here’s a video of her at 18 hours old:
Boy, our family just keeps growing! Congratulations, Cousins!
Today was the first day of Spring and my last day of work. It was actually business as usual with a few “goodbyes” and “good lucks” sprinkled throughout the day. Luckily, I had enough non-patient time to finish up paperwork and to get everything squared away. I took one last photo with Teresa before leaving this afternoon as we were finishing up for the day.
I also received this sweet little vase of flowers this morning from my current PT partner, Jessie. As I looked over my desk, it was actually kind of hard to walk away. But I did and I walked out of the hospital quietly as if it was any other day. Walking to my car was kind of surreal though. It was hard to believe that I didn’t have to return to the hospital for another 4 months.
So….what should I do tomorrow?
It’s official. After consulting with my doctor today, I decided to make my last day of work TOMORROW!! Yep, I’m taking off a week early and my short time of being a “Lady of Leisure” begins on Wednesday. Not sure what I’m going to spend my time doing before Kumquat arrives but I’m so relieved that I won’t have to stress about getting to work on time on very little sleep and having to keep my energy up all day at the hospital. It’s a tough job already and it was even harder with a small watermelon in my tummy this past month.
Yikes. The time has come. I’m at 36 weeks and if Kumquat arrives today, she’d be in pretty good shape. I can’t believe I’ve got less than a month left! I suppose I should start preparing. Some start way in advance but I’m JUST getting the sense of urgency to get ready. Just the other day, Patti texted me to remind me that her first girl arrived at 36 weeks and 5 days. If that were to happen, that would occur this Friday! Wow! On top of that, my cousin’s baby girl arrived today 2 weeks early!
Last week at work was rough. With Kumquat hanging out so low, I swear she uses my bladder as a pillow and I make a stop at the bathroom almost every hour. Getting up off the floor while carrying a 2-year-old is also becoming a greater challenge. In fact, by Friday around lunch time, I was looking and feeling a little ragged. I was sweating for no reason, I felt a bit light-headed while waiting in line at the cafeteria, and I had to work harder to breathe. The great thing about working in a hospital is that everyone seems to know what to do when stuff like this happens. Our nurse practitioner checked my temp (normal) and blood pressure (normal but higher than my usual 100/60) and made me lie down in one of the clinic rooms for the rest of lunch. Then, I was pretty much nudged out the door to go home for the day. I stayed another 2 hours to finish up on paperwork but it was a relief that I wouldn’t have to see anymore patients that afternoon. I may need to rethink the start of my maternity leave. Not sure I can hang until March 27th.
I’m going to have some routine 36-week testing done this Wednesday and then seeing my doctor on Thursday so I should have a better idea of what’s to come. Thankfully I’m still feeling fine…just maybe a little less mobile.
On that note, this weekend has been a little less comfortable doing my usual activities:
So here’s the plan so far:
All this nesting is getting kinda fun. I’ve avoided it for quite a while but I think it’s safe to say that now is probably a good time to start.
Kumquat has been pretty active throughout this pregnancy. Jesse calls it Kung Fu practice and it certainly feels like it sometimes. Yesterday morning, I was hanging out on the couch and she was really going at it. I had my phone handy so I took a short clip. Crazy, isn’t it? I’m at about 35 weeks now and the doctor says she’s dropped already. I can certainly feel it. I think I stop at the bathroom every 1-2 hours now…even at night. It’s like I’m being trained for what’s to come in 5 weeks.
I’ve also decided on my last day of work: Tuesday, March 27th. So, I’ve got about 2 1/2 weeks of work to go before my maternity leave! Yippee! I’ll be at Week 37 so it should give me 3 weeks before my later due date of April 17th and sufficient time to get things in order in case she decides to arrive early.
On Saturday morning, Michelle arranged for us to get some pedicures and then a pizza lunch afterward. It was fun to be pampered and the company was nice too. Thanks for planning such a fun morning, Michelle!
Later that night, we had what we considered our “Last Hurrah”. We won’t have many opportunities left to eat and drink freely with friends at our house until whenever we want so we invited our friends over for dinner. Jes barbequed and there was Scotch and beer for everyone to enjoy. Dayantha, Krissy, and Huy even came up from Southern CA to hang out with us!
Michelle brought the kids and Jack got a quick lesson on how to fight and defend himself. That seems to be Victor’s specialty when he hangs out with kids lately. First Cole and Brandon and now Jack. *sigh* Maybe Jack will have some extra courage the next time he comes over and has to encounter the scary statue in our elevator lobby.
It was fun to catch up with everyone and we had a really nice time.
Only 6 more weeks of this kind of freedom!! What else should we do before Kumquat takes over our lives??
Here are the rest of the photos from the evening.
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