32 Weeks

This morning we had an ultrasound to check on Charlie's growth. They wanted to make sure that the septum in my uterus wasn't putting any growth restrictions on him or affecting his ability to turn head down. Turns out, the ultrasound tech couldn't even find the septum so apparently it's been pushed or stretched out of the way and is having no affect on the pregnancy. Charlie looks perfect...he's currently head down and is growing like crazy! One of my biggest fears was that he wouldn't be able to turn and I wouldn't be able to have the natural birth that Dennis and I have been preparing ourselves for. I'm so glad I don't have to worry about that now! For the past few weeks I really thought that he was in a transverse position. If I pushed in on both sides of my stomach I would feel a solid lump on each side. It turns out that on my right side is his butt and on my left side, what I thought was his head is really his giant feet! The ultrasound tech told us that his feet are only a centimeter short of 3 inches right now!

She also said he has a big head which is going to be oh so fun for my drug free birth plan!
In our 4d ultrasound pictures I thought that Charlie looks alot like me when I was a baby. In this profile picture, the shape of his face really resembles Dennis. I know that when you're pregnant you see what you want to see but I really think his nose and lips totally resemble Dennis' profile!

We also got an estimate of what he weighs right now. The ultrasound tech told us that he's weighing in at about 4lbs 8 oz. Most babies gain about a half of a pound a week from here on out so if that's the case Charlie will at the very least weigh 8 and a half pounds! Dennis and I were both big babies and I've had multiple dreams that he will weigh 10lbs so this definitely doesn't surprise me! I really can't believe that we only have about 8 weeks left before we meet our little man.

He gave us another little wave today as if to say "See you soon mom and dad!"

Baby Shower In A Box

Being pregnant and stuck on a rock in the middle of an ocean is definitely not easy....it's hard not really having our family and friends to share it with. I don't get to go shopping for baby clothes with my mom, and when Charlie arrives, other than posting pictures online, I don't get to show off our new baby to the people that we're closest to. While I am so thankful that I have Dennis home to experience every second of this pregnancy with me, I do wish that we were at least attached to the same piece of land as the rest of our families. We are also so incredibly blessed to have family back home that goes out of their way to make us not completely feel like there is an ocean between us.

This afternoon there was a box on our front porch.

My mom and grandma sent us a box filled to the brim with baby presents wrapped in monkey/jungle themed paper.

Here's a peek at what was in the box:






I can't wait to see Charlie in this. There's just something about these nightgowns that make babies seem extra snuggly!

This is one of my absolute favorites...EVERY baby needs a glowworm!

I love this little Giraffe rattle!

This blanket is SO soft and snuggly!

A rainbow of baby bibs!

and...

My favorite outfit of all- How cute is Charlie going to look in this! Hopefully his uncle Jordan will be able to come back out to Hawaii so we can take a picture of them together!

Thank you Mom, Dad, Grandma, Jordan, Kay and Danielle for everything!!!
We love and miss you all!

30 weeks

Charlie's room is finished! The wall decal I ordered finally came in the mail and that's all we were waiting for to complete the room. I can't believe we only have about 10 weeks (give or take a few) before we meet Charlie!

Here are a couple of belly shots that Dennis took. I think he did a pretty good job!

Hello 3rd Trimester!!!

Dennis and I kept going back and forth about whether we wanted to get a 3d/4d ultrasound done again. We absolutely loved the first one we got at 17 weeks and knew we wanted to see his face once he filled out a little more but couldn't decide if we wanted to spend the money on it since there is still so much more we have to do to prepare for his arrival. When it came down to it, we decided that we would treat ourselves- plus think how awesome it's going to be to show these pictures to Charlie one day!

When the Tech first got him on the screen, Charlie was doing exactly what I expected he would...covering his face! This has been the norm for him for the last 2 ultrasounds we had. If you remember from our 17 week 3d session, he kept his arms up by his head the whole time. At our 20 week anatomy scan, he had his feet right by his head. Absolutely nothing has changed with out stubborn child!


These make me laugh- It looks like he's scratching his nose with his hands and when that didn't work out for him it looks like he tried to pick his nose with his toes! Is our child part monkey?!

He looks so sweet and peaceful in these. It's amazing how much his face has filled out in just 11 weeks!

Here's his foot back up by his face and the U/S Tech caught him yawning! In the second picture, I like to think that he was blowing me kisses!

These are absolutely my favorite. Before going to our appointment I wasn't sure how I would feel when I saw him. I thought that I really would just think that he looked like every other baby that I've seen 3d pictures of. It's so amazing because I can already see so much of Dennis and I in him. He looks so much like my baby pictures and every so often we caught a glimpse of what looked like a little butt chin! You can see it in the picture on the left- Dennis is so proud of that! I was really hoping we'd get pictures of him smiling and we definitely did!

Only 12 more weeks until we get to meet our sweet baby boy!

27 weeks

Pregnancy comments from then general public have started coming at me in full force lately. So far I've been asked if I'm due any day now, if I'm having twins, and if all the food I'm buying is for me or for "the baby" (why my husband is never included in the food equation, I'll never know!) I hate to inform you world: I still have 13 more glorious weeks to go! You think I'm big now...wait til you see me when I have about 6 more pounds of baby. Add on to that my new pregnancy craving of chocolate dipped ice cream cones from Dairy Queen and then just maybe I'll be asked if I'm having quadruplets by the time July gets here!

Charlie is doing good- moving around like crazy. He's gotten so big and strong that I can actually see him move now. I put my phone on my belly the other night to see if he would kick it so Dennis could see and sure enough he did! It feels like just yesterday that we had gotten an ultrasound at 8 weeks and he was 1.8 CENTIMETERS. Now he's about 15 INCHES long from head to toe!
---
I've been doing alot of reading and research on a drug-free birth and it's something I've become passionate about doing. I was able to switch into the midwife program at the hospital and I have my first appointment with them next week for my 28 week check up. I think it will be a much more positive experience for all of us by not being delivered by an OB in the baby factory. Childbirth is an amazing thing and I look forward to experiencing every aspect of it to the fullest... as excruciating as it may be! Not to mention that I can hold it over Charlie's head for the rest of his life! ;) Of course there is always the possibility that things may not go as planned and I will need some form of medical/drug intervention but I'm hoping that's not the case.
---
We've also decided that we will be cloth diapering Charlie. I'll be the first to admit that just a few months ago I would have NEVER considered it. I thought it was disgusting until I learned just how far the cloth diapering world has come. After doing alot of research and talking to other cloth diapering moms, it's definitely something that we want to do. It saves money, it's better for the environment, it's better for the baby, and the diapers are just so cute! We've still got a ways to go to complete our stash before he gets here but here's a look at what we've got so far:

We're going to be doing prefolds with covers during the day and a pocket diaper at night time. The covers for the prefolds are what you see in the picture I posted above. They go over a single flat cloth diaper like these:

So really when it comes down to it, we're investing maybe a couple hundred dollars up front that will end up saving us a couple thousand in the end. Especially if we reuse them for our next baby!

---
Other than that we're just trying to finish stocking up on all of the gear that we'll need for Charlie's arrival. We purchased his carseat/stroller combo a few weeks ago. It's the Chicco Keyfit 30 and came highly recommended to us so when we saw it on sale one night at the exchange we went ahead and got it. I can't believe that in just under 3 months, our teeny little baby will be sitting in that carseat!

---

That's all for now! I'll update after our 28 week appointment next week!

26 Weeks & an art project (updated)

We're 2 weeks away from the 3rd Trimester! Insomnia is starting to kick in big time- I think it's my body's way of letting me know that as much as I don't want to believe it, I will be able to function on very little sleep once Charlie gets here!

Dennis and I went to the zoo yesterday- I had been before but he hadn't. Actually, he hasn't done alot of things because he was gone for the majority of his first year here so we're making an effort to get out of the house every weekend and do something new. The Honolulu Zoo is awesome- Their set up makes it feel like the animals are so close! I brought my camera and zoom lens in hopes to capture some good photos for Charlie's room. We've decided that instead of just monkeys, we're bringing in some other zoo animals as well. I wanted some really cool black and white animal photos to hang in his room and in the end, I have so many good ones to choose from!

Here's a few:

My plan is to transfer a few of them to 8x10 canvases and make a collage for one of Charlie's walls. We'll see how that turns out! I'll post pictures when I'm done.

update...

-------------------------------------------I finished!!-----------------------------------------

This is the changing pad cover I made for the changing table:



These are the letters I made for the wall above his dresser:

25 weeks

No interesting news for us lately- things are still progressing the way they should. Charlie will be here before we know it!

I was cleaning out one of our closets and found a baby picture of me. Dennis' dad then sent us a picture of Dennis when he was a baby.

Poor Charlie is going to look like a crosseyed Jabba The Hutt.