I'm so excited. And I just can't hide it.

Sorry for not updating sooner. I've been a little busy trying to adjust to life with 3 children. Not sure if I'm successful yet. Well, actually, I know I'm not there yet. The kids' are on vastly different schedules (Kael and Malia vs. Taede) and I'm trying to get used to the every 2-3 hour nursing around the clock deal that I'm pretty beat. I have a family calendar hanging on the fridge that I treat as my lifeline. I've written everything down that I need to remember and I'm constantly checking it, making sure I didn't do something stupid, like leave a kid someplace.

That's actually my biggest fear: that I'll forget and leave Malia at the store or Taede in the car. At least Kael has a set routine: school everyday so I'd have to be brain dead to forget him.

hmm.... there are times.... well, let's not go there. The important thing to remember is I still have all my children.

This will be a quick post because I'm tired and I have a big day going solo tomorrow (Truong will be in Sacramento and San Francisco until Friday night). We just had Kael's birthday party. I think it was a pretty successful party. All the kids had a great time and parents were able to sit back and relax. Kael requested Pump It Up (again) and since I'm 7 days post partum, I'm glad I agreed. It's an easy party - all I have to do is provide some food and they take care of the rest.

I gave Kael 10 spots for friends to invite, knowing that these 10 friends would have siblings, making it a total of 20. It was hard to fill up the spots since he's accruing more friends every year, and we obviously don't want to forget friends from the past. With everyone going to different schools and not seeing each other as much, Kael naturally selected the kids he interacts with the most. This included some Gymboree families he's known since 9 months old, some neighbors and some schoolmates. Overall it was a good mix of kids with everyone getting along quite nicely. I think a sweaty, smiling kid is a pretty great indicator of a good time.

Once at home, we told Kael that he could open his presents after his shower and PJ's. I've never seen him move so fast in my life. We ohh'ed and ahh'ed the gifts. He graciously allowed Malia to hold a couple of them and even gave her some cards to keep that caught her eye.

I know this sounds like a totally random post, but keep with me -- there's a point to it.

By far, his favorite "present" wasn't a present at all. It was the card that accompanied the present. It was from his classmate Lauren (this is his 2nd year with her - they are so cute together). It's a singing card and it's hilarious. After a while though, it got annoying because it's so damn loud.

Kael LOVED it. And you can see how much he loved it.
(TIP: Start to play it then pause it immediately to let it stream and then play it again when it completes its streaming.)



It sings "I'm So Excited" and I have to confess I found myself bopping my head to the music. I was afraid he was going to take that card to bed with him and we'd hear it all night long. But somehow Truong managed to get it away and now all 3 children are sleeping peacefully.

Now it's mom's turn...

Happy Birthday Taede!

Here are some pictures of the big day. It's also located here with captions. Just go to the top and turn "Info On."

To do the slide show with the captions, click on the full-screen icon, bottom right corner, and turn "Info On."

The wait is over...

No more "You're still pregnant?!"
No more "You haven't delivered yet?!"

I am happy to announce that Blub finally decided to join the rat race.

Where did I leave you last? Oh yeah, random contractions late at night. They never became regular, ranging from 5 minutes to 18 minutes. They did however become more intense as the night wore on.

At 11:00pm, I decided that I was hungry. I was about 80% sure that I was going into labor so I didn't want to eat too much lest I throw it all up at the hospital. No need to make a messy situtation (birth is very messy) gross with vomit. However, since dinner was at 5:30pm, I thought it was prudent to get something in my stomach since I knew it would be a long while before my next meal. So at 11:00pm, I had a bowl of cereal before heading off to bed to rest. I catnapped in between contractions until something started nagging me that I needed to get out of bed. They still weren't consistent but the intensity was increasing. I got Truong out of bed just before 1:00am and we started to take stuff to the car. By 1:00am we were racing on the 55 to St. Joseph's. I called Shana and realized that I already started getting the shakes -- a sure sign for me that I was going through transition. I told Truong to step on it. I wanted to be in L&D before it got bad.

We got to the hospital and did the check in process. Because my contractions were coming so fast, they made me sit in a wheelchair to get to the Mother Baby Unit. Unfortunately, when in a wheelchair, I had no control over how fast we got to our destination. The girl was a very slow walker and it took all I had to not bark out "STEP ON IT SISTER! I'M HAVING A BABY!"

We get there and I find out that the hospital is maxed out. Seriously maxed out. As in there are no available rooms or nurses for me. What the hell does that mean? Am I supposed to deliver in the hallway? The janitor's closet? What?! They take me to the overflow recovery room where's there's one lady recovering from a C-section, waiting for a room. The recovery room is exactly that: one large room with cloth wall dividers. And that's where I ended up at 1:30am. Where I labored. Where I rode through my contractions. Not exactly the lasting memory I wanted for the birth of my last child. But you know what? I was already dilated to 6cm and 80% -- I had other things to worry about.

Finally at around 2:45am, they find me a room. They wheel me around and I'm seriously having contractions one on top of the other. Just before we leave the recovery room, Jennifer (my nurse) checks me and I'm 7cm and my bag of water is bulging. Things are getting pretty hairy and I'm starting to get a little mindless with the pain. On the way to my new room, in the hallway, I inform Jen that I needed to push. Both she and Truong tell me "DON'T PUSH!" We get to the room and I inform them again that I needed to push. She checks me and I'm at 8cm. She tells me again "Don't push. I'm going to get things ready. Page me if you need me. PAGE ME!"

She leaves the room and it's just me and Truong. I'm practically crawling up the wall with each contraction and I tell Truong I need to push. I start pushing -- I can't help it. Truong tells me not to. Then I feel a small gush -- my water breaks.

Uh-oh. The last time this happened with Malia, she soon followed. I tell Truong and for the first time tonight, I sense panic in his voice. He immediately pages Jen:"Comebackrightnow -- Sonya'swaterbrokeandsheneedstopush!!"

I say again "I need to push!" and I start pushing. The need to push is like the tide - it can overwhelm your body and control you. Truong's starting to panic "No, don't push!" Jen runs in with an armful of baby blankets. I tell her in a pretty calm voice: "I need to push and I can feel the baby crowning." I was very matter of fact. She all but throws the blankets onto the baby warmer and speed walks over, while snapping on some gloves. She pulls up my gown and says: "Well, look at that! You're right -- the baby is crowning!" I'm mindless in my pushing. I start chanting: "The baby's crowning, the baby's coming!" I try to stop, knowing that the OB hasn't even been called but I can't. Jen on my right side, calmly tells Truong who's on my left: "Hey Truong, can you pick up that white phone, dial 1 something something and tell them that we need some nurses in here?" I can dimly hear Truong say into the phone: "Hi, we're in Room 18 and we need some help, the baby's coming out, Jen's in here by herself and the doctor's not here!"

If I wasn't practically levitating off the bed, I would have laughed.

I feel the burn of the head crowning and then I feel the head pass. Weirdly, I'm still feeling pressure. Jen comes around to my feet and tells me to push one more time. I do and then I feel shoulders and the rest of the baby come out. Then I let out a huge sigh of relief -- it's done!

It's 3:05am. We were in my L&D room for less than 10 minutes. Once again, my nurse catches my baby and I deliver without an OB present. Jen laughs and tells me I delivered the baby practically by myself.

So stats:
Weight - 5 lbs, 12oz
Length - 19 inches

Oh yeah... it's a BOY!

Taede Vinh Mai

Taede (Croatian) - strong
Vinh (Vietnamese) - victory

Whew!

I've got a Kael, a Malia, and a Taede -- I'm done.

Do we stay or do we go?

So I've been having irregular contractions since yesterday. They are quite annoying since they can't seem to make up their mind about whether or not they are here to stay or if they are just teasers.

Tonight at dinner they started getting more painful. I mentioned it to Truong and Kael immediately picked up on it:

Kael: "What's wrong Mommy?"
Me: "Mommy's tummy hurts. But it's OK."

Kael (with an awareness that surprised me): "Is it the baby?"
Me (caught off guard): "Actually, yes, it is the baby."

Kael: "Is he coming out now?"
Me: "I'm not sure. Not right now, but maybe later. Are you excited to meet your new baby brother or sister?"

Kael: "Yes, but why isn't he coming out yet? I've been waiting a long time."
Me: "Why do you think the baby hasn't come out yet?"
He's already surprised me once, let's see how deep his thought process is in regards to Blub.

Kael: "Because he's too small to come out."

I'm surprised at his insight. I also remind myself to watch what I say on the cell phone around him. His grasp of the world is really taking off.

Anyway the conversation peters out and he soon forgets.

All throughout the evening and into the night I get contractions. Some are long and quite painful and others are short and not quite sweet but does count for a blip on the radar. I'm not sure what to do because the long hard ones are pretty hard. Enough to stop me in my tracks and start my measured breathing to coast through them. But again, they are not regular at all. Some are 8-10 minutes apart, others are 5-6 minutes apart. And I will get a few that are 12 minutes apart.

With Kael and Malia I was able to time my contractions without a doubt. These are really bugging me since they are all over the darn board. So I call Shana and we have a long discussion about the merits of going to the hospital or not. Actually, she tried to convince me and I said not yet. I doubt she'll get any sleep tonight, wondering, wondering if tonight is the night.

heh heh heh - it's all part of my evil plan to get back at her for trying to convince me to get an epidural.

So here I sit, posting an update, going through contractions, waiting for them to start building up. It would probably be an immense help if I could remember the timing. I just realized that I went through 2 contractions without actually seeing the clock. I mean, I look at the time, but I can't remember what time it read when the next contraction started.

Oy. It's going to be a long night.

I have a hellish day tomorrow with an OB appointment at 9:45am and then I have to pick up Kael from school for his and Malia's flu shots at 11:30am, take them to lunch, then drop him back off at school by 12:45pm, go home and put her down for a nap, then come back and pick him up from school at 3:00pm... so I will try to post as soon as possible.

Disneyland - Take II

We went to Disneyland again this morning and I was actually hesitant to go because I didn't think I'd make it. I woke up feeling a little off and crampy so I was a little relieved that Truong said he didn't want to go (we've gone the past 3 weekends).

But as we racked our brains, trying to find something to do with the kids that didn't require a long drive, it turned out Disneyland was the best bet. Plus the kids heard us talking and picked up on the D-word, immediately informing us that they wanted to go there.

So we packed up and headed out.

Surprisingly (and unfortunately) my body handled walking through the Happiest Place on Earth quite well. Hardly any contractions and the ones that I did get were totally manageable. So either I'm not walking fast enough or Blub really has a good grip on my insides.

As for tomorrow, Truong canceled another business trip (he was due to be in San Francisco tomorrow morning) and it's another day as usual chauffeuring the kids around town. Shana cheered me up with the thought: "Sonya - I think you're going to go past your due date! What if Blub ends up with the same birthday as Kael?"

Kael's birthday, by the way, is this coming Saturday (September 27). I wasn't planning on thinking about that. I was just going at it day by day.

So thank you, Shana, for bringing it up.

Inquiring minds want to know.

It has been brought to my attention that no one knows what I look like at 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant. I figure since eviction day is just around the corner, I'd better take a picture before I forget. Plus this way at least my hair is combed, I'm dressed, not in my jammies in the middle of the night rushing to the hospital.


Kael thought it was a kick to have his picture taken with a baby in his tummy.


And here's me solo.
My measurements:
Weight gain - 24 lbs
Belly button circumference - 39.5 inches

And yes, that's a maternity tank I'm wearing. It wasn't until recently that it started to get short on me. Truong made the comment tonight that I looked huge so I'm guessing Blub dropped some more sometime this afternoon. I've been feeling crampy on and off all day. I made the mistake of telling Shana and she turned Nervous Nelly on me. Hopefully tonight is the night -- at least for Shana's sake. I don't know who's more anxious about this birth: me or her.

Acts of a Desperate Mom

Last night Truong and I had a serious talk about what to expect in the immediate future, as far as Blub is concerned and his work travel-wise. In the act of being an awesome Dad and Partner, he postponed many trips and moved out-of-town meetings around until a later date. We had planned on Truong staying home with me for 2 weeks (with the ability to work from home), on the third week to go back part-time, and then eventually weaning me off his support by the 4th week. We both anticipated Blub's arrival to be on par with his/her siblings and even earlier as that's the rumor with 3rd babies.

Clearly this kid didn't get that memo.

Well, we are now entering "a later date." As it stands, all of the postponed trips are now coming to a head, making it near impossible for Truong delay it any longer. His travel schedule starts at the end of next week for about 3-4 weeks straight, with him being physically out of the picture about 3 days out of the week (per week), and most likely working late the remaining 2 days.

Essentially, if Blub doesn't come out sooner rather than later, I'll pretty much go from the hospital straight to the car, chauffeuring my 3 kids around on their daily outings.

As Shaggy would say: ZOINKS!

Sorry - Kael is totally into Scooby Doo and it's hard not to talk "Shaggy" after reading Scooby stories for weeks on end.

With that dispiriting thought in mind, I am determined to evict Blub. The sooner the better. So what did I do this morning, after dropping Kael off at school?

I took Malia to Disneyland.
By myself.
In 90 degree heat.
And I walked.
Pushing a stroller.
In 90 degree heat.
Up Main Street, into Tomorrowland, through Fantasyland, back down Main Street, through Downtown Disney and then finally the parking lot.
In 90 degree heat.
But when you're this pregnant, it really felt like 120.

This was the first time I took Malia solo so we both enjoyed the one-on-one time. Malia is so very different from Kael. She knows what she wants and will tell you what she wants (Nemo and horsey ride -- meaning the carousal, which we rode 3 times). Kael (at the same age) went with flow, not caring what ride we took next.

Our first ride was Nemo. Surprisingly, the wait was longer than I would have thought for a Friday morning at 9:30am. All the other rides were practically deserted, but there was a 45 minute wait for Nemo.

So we waited. This was the only ride she really wanted -- we had to wait. And Malia being so cute and social, made fast friends in line. Of course that lead to the anticipated "When are you due?" question.

You'd think I just escaped from an asylum or admitted that I sacrifice small animals at every full moon, from the looks of incredulous disbelief when I told them that I'm 39 weeks and change, going solo to Disneyland, with a 2 year old. Every single pair of eyes immediately went down to my tummy and then further south, clearly anticipating my water to pop and gush out at any second.

Sheesh.

(As if I were so lucky...)

Needless to say, despite the heat and the aching feet and the multitude of contractions walking through Disneyland, I now sit in front of my computer in the comfort of my air conditioned home... still with child.

Not even a lingering contraction from all my efforts this morning.

** Sigh **

I made it!

To 39 weeks.

Not the post you wanted to read, I'm sure. And believe me, it's not the post I wanted to write.

As if, well... NOW... I'm still with child. I'm also officially trudging my way to 39 weeks, 1 day. Who woulda thunk I'd make it this far. Certainly not me, certainly not Truong. He's still calling me every day, asking me if I'd gone into labor yet.

Hello!! As if he wouldn't be the very first person I'd call when that event happens! I'm starting to feel bad whenever I call Truong or Shana just to chit chat. The very first thing they ask is: "Are you in labor??" And when I reply with a "no", they usually respond with a "OK, let me call you back -- I'm busy/On the phone/In a meeting/Nursing Anthony." My friend Erin in Michigan is starting to do that now too. Although she's not as bad. I do feel though that she's silently giving me an evil chuckle at the predicament that I'm in.

At my Monday appointment, I was 70% effaced and "barely 2cm dilated." I love how my OB stated that: "barely 2cm." Almost like he was throwing me a bone. I lost a little weight and Blub measured 33 cm (fundal height) -- last week Blub was measuring 34. However, Blub was facing sideways so I'm not worried about the difference.

I do have to go in for fetal monitoring twice a week and get an amnio fluid index u/s once a week until delivery. So far everything is looking OK -- no fetal distress -- so I'm sticking with my plan to not induce and let things ride. Unfortunately, the monitoring was not detecting any contractions either so it looks like this kid is going to bake in the Sonya Oven for another week.

Ugh.

On a good note, Dr. Linzey said that Blub should be packing on about 6 oz. every week. So if the computer prediction was correct almost 2 weeks age (5 lbs, 4 oz.) and I don't deliver until, say this weekend, I may get a 6 lbs baby after all.

Wouldn't that be great?!

--------------------------
PS... thanks to all of you who have written to me, asking how I'm doing and if I've had Blub. I promise to update the blog more regularly. I will have Wi-Fi connectivity in the hospital so I'll send out updates from there too.

Whenever I get there. Quite frankly, at this point, I take solace in knowing that I will eventually get there. Some day.

Little Miss Sunshine

I got a phone call from my friend Shana this morning at 7:00am. She's been calling me pretty regularly to see if I'm still pregnant even though I swore to her on my mother's death bed that she would be the first person I call when that big event happens.

So you can say that I expected her phone call.

What I didn't expect was her message. In a very irritating, chirpy voice, she said to me:

"Sonya!! Congratulations!! This is the longest you've ever been pregnant!! And ever will be pregnant since this is your last! Isn't that great?!!!"


Yeah.

Great.

Thanks, Shana.



And the clock continues to tick.

Latest Update

I went in this morning for an ultrasound due to Blub being so small (with IUGR - Intrauterine Growth Restriction). If I were not so far along, I'd have a u/s every 2-3 weeks. While getting one is pretty cool (most moms only get the one -- I've gotten 3 or 4), I'm hoping that the next time I head back in that area, it will be to deliver Blub, not for another OB appointment.

Sheri the u/s tech was not happy with the measurements taken. Blub's smallness was expected since both Kael and Malia came in at under 6 lbs. but it seemed that Blub either stopped growing or slowed down drastically enough to where she ordered me into Fetal Monitoring (or Stress Testing) immediately.

So I trudged up to the 8th floor and got hooked up. Luckily I fully charged Malia's DVD player and she was happily watching Dora. I settled back with 3 magazines and listened to the beep-beep-beep of the monitors for an hour.

Blub did well. Moved around in the beginning then settled down for a nap. The monitor caught some regular contractions on my end but nothing to go rushing into the hospital and gown up for.

My OB was in surgery so he will call me later when he gets a chance to review my chart. At this point in the game, according to the nurses, he will:
1) do nothing since I'm due anyway;
2) have me going in for monitoring until Blub arrives; or
3) induce me.

I'm not keen on inducing. Goes against my personal birthing beliefs. Unless of course there's fetal distress but it didn't sound as if Blub was in any of the sort. My OB is on-call this weekend so I figure I'll wait and see what happens. My next appointment is Tuesday and we'll take it from there.

Oh, I asked Sheri (the tech) how much do you think the baby weighs now? And according to the computer...... 5 lbs. 4 oz.

Holy smokes! That's even smaller than Malia. Hopefully it's wrong.

Not without a fight.

Blub is not coming out anytime soon. Not without a fight anyway. And maybe a super-vacumn to force him/her out.

Kael would be born tomorrow (38 weeks) around 5:00pm. Malia 3 days following at 5:00am (38 weeks, 3 days). They both showed great progress the weeks preceding birth, in terms of dilation and effacement.

And here's Blub, one day shy of 38 weeks:
1 (measly) cm dilated
A mere 60% effaced

Last week I was a fingertip dilated and 50% effaced.

I'm so sad. Even Dr. Linzey, my OB, said he was surprised there was so little progress. He expected me to be more of both. And then he said "But that doesn't mean anything, Sonya -- you can still go at anytime." I think he threw that bone at me when he saw how disappointed I was. He's such a nice guy -- even if he does lie.

I guess I should have expected that since Blub hasn't dropped at all. I haven't gained any weight (still at a gain of 24 lbs) and Blub hasn't gotten any bigger either (still measuring at 34 cm). As such, I have a sonogram scheduled for Friday morning.

Yesterday my "friend" Linda sent me an email telling me that her sister (who has the same exact due date as me) went into labor. Her water broke at 6:00am and she was at the hospital. Lucky girl. (Thanks Linda -- I feel so much better.)

Immediately following that email was an email from Shana, telling me that since she didn't get a "I'm going to the hospital!" phone call, it was safe to say that I'm still with child and on a good note, at least I could go to Open House at Kael's school. So yes, I did waddle my way to Open House. And sat in those little itty bitty chairs, at Kael's little itty bitty desk. Wedged myself in and almost couldn't pry myself out.

Kael's school has a Festival this Friday. We would have to purchase $60 worth of tickets for the entire family to go, that includes tickets for meals and rides. Shana and Patrick think that I should buy those tickets, commit myself into going -- THEN I'll go into labor.

And then Patrick added "Be sure to have sex first."

Of course - leave it to the man to always find a way to add that. Sheesh.

Yes. I'm still here.

No. I haven't had the baby yet.
Yes. I'm getting anxious.
Yes. I'm very uncomfortable.

These are the comments that come out of my mouth several times a day as I make my rounds going about town:

Rosa and Jenny, the deli ladies at the grocery store.
Heidi, the checkout girl at Ralph's.
Man and Sinet, the doughnut shop ladies.
Lisa, the gymnastics teacher.
Parents from gymnastics class.
Margie and Sara, the Swim School ladies.
Parents from swim class.
Various teachers, aides and parents I know from Kael's school.
Our neighbors.

My family calls from the Bay Area.
My sibling-in-laws call from Santa Cruz and Sacramento.

Truong calls me from work: "So, how are you feeling? Baby coming anytime soon?"
Even my own friends who see me everyday, call and then act all disappointed when I pick up the phone: "Oh. You picked up the phone. I guess that means you're still pregnant."

ARGGHHH!!!

I'm starting to feel the pressure to evict this kid out.

My Merry Adventures on Craig's List

I'm helping my mother-in-law sell her car on Craig's List. I have a very simple and straightforward ad. It basically lists that the car is a 4-cylinder automatic, power windows and lock, 152k miles, new starter, new brakes... etc. Definitely a no frills ad. I included 4 pictures.

I didn't know how much interest we'd get but I definitely wasn't expecting what we got. Within 15 minutes of posting, I got 3 responses. By the end of the day, the number shot up to around 14. Then I checked my spam box and found 7 more.

Wow. So I went through them all and sent each and every one an email stating that I will contact them if the car doesn't sell. We had 2 people come tonight but no buyers yet. One needed to talk to her son (she was buying it for him) and the other wanted it rightnow,Ihavecash! So the Lady with the Son said go ahead and sell it to the Lady with Cash since she knows I want to sell right away. The Lady with Cash came from Cerritos with her husband who "took time off from work so he can drive her" and then proceeded to him-and-haw about the price. I told her right off the bat on the phone that the price is firm as I have a ton of other people wanting to take a look at the car. She said that's fine. She needed the car to get to work tomorrow.

This is where it gets kind of ridiculous. The guy popped the hood and revved the engine and said the engine sounded off. And wanted to knock $500 off. Here's the thing: we just took the car in to get serviced. That's when we got the new starter. And hello - it's a 1999 Camry. It's not going to purr. Hell, my 2004 Expedition just went in for a 60k tune-up at the tune of $1200 and it doesn't purr either.

Then he took a flashlight, shined it on the hood and said the paint looks really worn.

Did we forget that it's a 1999 Camry?
1-9-9-9.
As in a 9 year old car?

I could hear him wheedling Truong down a couple hundred dollars so I took matters into my own hands. I told him that I told his wife on the phone that the price is firm. I have other people interested in the car, take it or leave it. Then left. They talk some more and I could hear Truong saying: "Yeah, we've been married a long time. She's not going to change her mind."

Needless to say, they left sans car.

I go back in to check my email and set up an appointment with a lady for a viewing and test drive tomorrow at 10:00am. I reply to the rest of the pack that someone's taking a looky-loo tomorrow and I'll contact them if the car is still available.

This is the response I get from one of the interested parties:
"or you can drop that person and show it to a cute guy like me first"

No kidding. That's a cut and paste from his email.

Shana thinks I should tell him to show me the money and the car is yours.

Ugh.

Blub Update

As of today (I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow):

Mom's weight gain - 24 lbs
Blub - measuring 34 weeks

I'm 50% effaced and about a fingertip open. Last week my cervix was just starting to soften and not open at all.

Effacement is the process by which the cervix prepares for labor. 100% effacement means that the cervix is paper thin and labor is right around the corner.

With Kael I was walking around about 4 cm dilated for about 2 weeks. I don't remember how effaced I was but apparently being that much dilated didn't mean that labor was around the corner. With Malia, I was 3 cm dilated for 2 weeks and again, that meant nothing. So I'm not putting much thought in how many centimeters I'm dilated with Blub. I think effacement is a better indicator.

So that's how things stand. Blub has moved around enough so that s/he's facing the other way (facing east now when it was west last week). That might explain the extreme discomfort I was in all weekend. Ouch!

I'm torn between wanting Blub to come out now so I can move onto the next chapter of Mommyhood and wanting to bake Blub in the oven a bit more for a bigger baby. In the end it doesn't really matter what I want -- it's all up to Blub.

Once again, as usual, my children are in the drivers' seat of my life.

I know you're out there!

So why haven't you put in a prediction for Blub?!
(Game Name: OhMai)

There's not much time left so get on the horn, people!

A ticking time bomb.

That's what I'm calling myself: A ticking time bomb, ready to go at anytime. And I mean anytime.

This weekend my in-laws (all of them) converged at my house for the celebration of Trieu's and Ingrid's nuptials. At least the Southern California part of it. It was very nice and we got to spend a lot of time with the Anderson's (Ingrid's family). It was a great family weekend, one that I wish we could do more often.

I suffered through the usual "damn, you're huge" and "wow, you're really waddling" and "do you want the eat the rest of this?" comments all weekend but that's OK. I am huge and I am waddling and YES, I do want that last piece! so it's not as if I can put up any kind of sound argument. Truong put a damper on things though when on Thursday he made the comment that he thought I was going to go into labor this weekend.

Let me give you some background information of Truong's ESP on my pregnancies. For both Kael and Malia, he's correctly "predicted" (or perhaps "anticipated" is a better word) when they would come. With Kael, on Friday night he said "you know, honey, it's Friday, I finished my workload to take off the next couple of weeks, we've got the weekend coming up, my parents aren't working... it's a good time for you to go into labor." I pished him and said "No way, dude! I'm only 38 weeks." Ahh, the naivety of the first-time mom....

What happened? 1:30am that night, my water broke.

Malia: he said the same thing. He waited until Friday then said: "It's the weekend again. I think it's a good time to go into labor."

1:30am that night, I started having contractions and Malia came that morning.

So when he told me Thursday, August 28 that he felt I was going to have the baby this weekend, I freaked out. I didn't have the car seat, I didn't have the stroller, I hadn't washed Blub's clothes, we had a wedding picnic to be a part of, tons of people were coming... it just wasn't the right time!

Needless to say, the entire Labor Weekend I was on pins and needles. Luckily Nostradamus proved to be wrong since I'm still heavy with child (and extremely uncomfortable to boot). He's still predicting that Blub will come sooner rather than later (well, no duh -- I've got a week left!) and tonight kept checking up on me, making sure my bag was packed, asking me how was I feeling, any contractions?, etc. He's such a Nervous Nelly. His greatest fear is that he'll end up pulling over on the 55 on the way to the hospital to deliver Blub himself.

Now wouldn't that be a great blog post?