Friday's update

Well yesterday turned out to be a long day for several reasons...

First, as you all saw on the news, we had the VT alert situation. For those of us around here in 2007, it definitely brought back some strange feelings and uneasiness. At the same time, it surprised many of us that a simple report of a "possible" gun made the national news. We can all understand why VT took the stance they did in sending out the alert, but it was very strange that it made the national news so quickly. I spent my morning getting updates from David, who of course was on campus at work, while watching the news coverage. Since we live less than a mile from campus, I was constantly looking out my window looking for anything suspicious and trying to listen for sirens, etc. Made for an interesting morning.

I headed out in the early afternoon for my 41-week check-up. This one was over at the hospital office with one of the nurse-midwives. I intentionally chose this so I could see this nurse practitioner, Sherrie, because she is my favorite of all the docs/midwives in the group.

She checked me out and said that I was 2cm and about 60% effaced. She said the main hold-up was that the uterus was posterior...basically, it needs to angle forward. She went ahead and pulled it forward with her hand and when she did, she said the baby slid right on down. She felt that it wouldn't be a whole week (which would mean induction), and that she felt that once I started having contractions, things would speed way up. So she gave me some suggestions on how to get some solid contractions going.

Because it was the 41-week visit (albeit a day early), she went ahead and sent me across the hospital to get the NST (non stress test) and another BPP. This began the second half of my long day... After sitting through the first 30 minutes of the NST, the nurse told me she "wasn't thrilled" with the way the baby was moving around. About that time, patient transport showed up to take me to ultrasound for the BPP. I went to ultrasound and waited for 10 minutes, then had the BPP done. Again, things looked good, but it did take a few minutes and lots of poking/prodding to get the baby to move one final time to score an 8/8. I was told they wanted to see me back in the birthplace to continue the NST, so I walked back across the hospital. I walked through the door only to have a nurse tell me that they needed one more pic in ultrasound, so I had to walk back over. I went back, got one pic taken that apparently had not printed correctly, and then walked back to the birthplace.

David wasn't with me, as he had a meeting he was unable to get out of. This was the first baby visit he's ever missed (with either pregnancy) and of course it was the one where I was going all over the place. When I got back for the NST, they told me they were looking for more activity. Earlier in the afternoon, there were a few "concerns" about the readings and they wanted to see some more. I laid there for 15 minutes and not much was happening. They had me move around and change positions and drink some juice and do just about anything to see if the baby would move more. All the while, I was texting David trying to make arrangements for him to get Daisy from daycare, which was going to pose a challenge since I had the car seat with me 15 minutes away. Fortunately, the position changes worked and mini-chinny began to move quite a bit. The nurse sent the strip up to Sherrie, who was monitoring me all afternoon, and she said she felt comfortable with what she had seen and letting me go. I walked out of the hospital feeling better (it was a nerve-wracking afternoon) about 5:15...just in time for me to get to Blacksburg and meet David at daycare and give he and Daisy a ride home (he had biked to work).

We grabbed some dinner and headed out to our bible study for the evening. It was nice to get out of the house and spend the night with friends and be able to take my mind off of the events of the day.

Today, we walked to breakfast and I had some contractions, but they stopped as soon as I stopped walking. I then went to a friend's house for "mommy lunch" where a bunch of moms and kids come over. I decided to have David drop Daisy and I off with the stroller, and after a few hours there, I walked home. This way I could get some contractions going and Daisy could nap in the stroller. I thought the house was about 1.5 miles away...turns out it is a full 2 miles. Anyway, I walked home pushing Daisy through some neighborhoods, some with a few hills. It was good exercise and definitely got some contractions going. David met me for the final 1/4 mile (I called him to come out) so he helped push Daisy up the hill on our road.

I have been relaxin at home for the afternoon and have been having contractions on/off. We'll see what happens the rest of the night...

Here are a few pics from the end of the week.

This is a pic from the ultrasound. It's hard to make out, but it's a front-on view of the face.



Wednesday afternoon, I walked Daisy to the park in our neighborhood (1/2 mile away...up a giant hill). We had fun playing together.


At homegroup on Thursday night, Daisy got some chocolate dessert... you can tell by her mouth she enjoyed it!


This afternoon, Daisy was playing around in the basement while I relaxed. I'm not sure what she was trying to do with her legs...

More updates to come... hopefully soon!

Update and Daisy pics

Several folks have asked about the BPP ultrasound yesterday. It went well and the baby scored an 8/8. Plenty of movement, a strong heartbeat, and the fluid levels and placenta looked okay. The technician took measurements but didn't tell us what those were. I'll ask at the appointment on Thursday (assuming no baby between now and then) to find out if they have an estimate or not.

Because the baby is sitting so low, the technician also had a hard time getting an angle and good picture of the head to measure. This explains all the pressure I have been feeling down there... the baby is about as low as it can be without me being in labor.

Again, so far, this is duplicating how things went with Daisy. That means if this baby continues to be consistent with Daisy, we'd be looking at next Monday as possibly going into labor. Although I would enjoy it being sooner, it would mean that our baby would share a birthday with Jeanette (our dear friend and Daisy's godmother).

In other events, I decided to try a new recipe last night for a "sweet sausage marsala." It turned out great, and I had some wonderful help in the kitchen.

My helper, who was eating grapes while I cooked:






The ingredients:


The finished product:


These pictures are from today, and just because Daisy is cute and there can't be enough pictures of her. She is sporting a dress that her Gramma Chinn sent her.



That's all for now... more updates later.

deja vu

Well here we are. Second child on the way, and second time we have reached our due date with no sign of birth in sight!

We had our 40-week doctor's visit yesterday morning, and the report reminded me exactly of how it was with Daisy. Head nice and far down, creating a lot of pressure, but very minimal dilation and effacing.

We were scheduled for a Monday morning ultrasound for the BPP (bio-physical profile) where they check to make sure the baby has enough fluid and is moving around well, etc. Assuming that looks good, and we don't have the baby sometime during the week, we'll have our 41-week appointment next Thursday afternoon. At that point, we'll discuss the plan for the final week, including induction if needed. Our doctors/midwives prefer not to go past 42 weeks (the rate of stillbirth jumps dramatically past that point) and I agree. I really do not want to be induced, so we're willing to go the 42. But after that, we'd rather be safe than sorry. Part of this is because at times, people are unsure of dates of conception so actual due dates can be off. This can make it likely for babies to be "late" but not really be that late. I am 100% positive of our date of conception, therefore I know that our due date was calculated accurately. As I said, I'm willing to go the 42 weeks that most practitioners agree is safe, but to me it is not worth the risk after that just to avoid induction.

I am trying to have confidence that God knows our situation and desires and that he will provide. Many of you remember that Daisy was late, and in our 9th day past due date, my water finally broke and the labor process began. So I know that just because I'm late now doesn't mean that the worst case scenario will happen... but I'd appreciate your prayers anyway that I (we) will be patient in waiting for the big day to arrive.

In other news, we did our usual Our Daily Bread breakfast after our appointment yesterday.







We then went to a local showroom to see some landscaping stones for possible use in our driveway project.





Also, this morning I took Daisy to the local library to read books and attend storytime. It was nice to get her out of the house and for all of us to keep ourselves busy as we play the waiting game!





Hopefully more news to come soon. To close, I'll post one video of Daisy reading to herself when we got home from the library today.

Announcing...

... Mini-Chinny 2!

David mentioned this briefly in his post last Friday, when he mentioned our visits to Our Daily Bread after our prenatal visits. This mention sparked some questions of a missed announcement... nope. We've been planning to "blog-announce" our news for a while, but were waiting until we had spoken to a number of people in person, including our employers.

So finally, today, without further delay... Daisy is going to be a big sister!

We are expecting our second bundle of joy at the end of July (official due date July 29). Today, we had our 20-week ultrasound, and although we could have found out a gender prediction, we of course decided to wait and be surprised. So you'll all have to wait until July (or August if this baby is stubborn like Daisy) to see if it's a boy or a girl. But we are so excited!

Our pregnancy is going really well so far! We are thankful to have reached the half-way point without complications. I've been feeling great and have even been able to try and stay in shape with some running. In fact, I ran two races back in November when I was first pregnant but didn't know it yet. The 8k in Richmond and the half-marathon in Roanoke were both during the first month of pregnancy.

David was away on an overnight business trip in late November, and I was pretty sure at that point that I was pregnant. So I took a test, confirmed it, and then came up with a plan to surprise him. I had Daisy dressed up for when he returned...




We then decided we would tell our immediate families on Christmas Day. My parents and David's sister Lisa were in Blacksburg with us, so we had Daisy put on her "outfit" again to share the news with them. Here are a few pictures from that morning... she doesn't seem so excited about the news.







We texted these photos to the rest of our siblings and David's mom. After the New Year, we had our first doctor's visit and ultrasound.

After that, we started the process of slowing telling others, trying to catch as many folks in person as we could. We still waited awhile to announce the news to co-workers and our supervisors, making sure that things were going smooth. We then told Daisy's daycare to be expecting another Chinn to be joining them sometime this fall.

Again, we are excited to share the news with everyone. I'll close out the post with a few pictures from this morning's ultrasound. The first one is 2D, but the other two are 3D and are of mini-chinny's face and a hand up to it.

Looking forward to sharing more news as the little one gestates!

Labor Day!

This post means Mini-Chinny is on the way!

We are at the hospital "in labor." We went in this morning for a non-stress test since we were 9 days overdue. I mentioned I thought my water might have broken overnight and the nurse checked me. Water had broken and I was 3cm dilated. They admitted and here we are!

We'll post another update soon! :) Check back for updates!

Last Adventure before Baby?

I ended the last post saying maybe the next one would contain good news. Well that is accurate, but not for the reasons you might think. No baby yet, but today's post is about good news -- because we had a good day. :)

At church this morning, Matt talked about "Rugged Obedience" and I could definitely relate to the points of the talk. He discussed Moses and the ways that Moses obeyed God and had to ignore his own expectations and timing and trust God. It was definitely a message that encouraged us in our current situation. :)

In the afternoon, Jackie, Jessamyn, Katie and I were hanging out for some much needed girlstime.

We were gonna watch a movie, but got sidetracked making cookies. Then Evan showed up and he and David were hanging out. Marcus stopped by while he was in town to see Katie, and the boys started playing Wii. At that point, Jessamyn called her dude over, and JD joined the games downstairs.

Therefore, we ladies decided to go on an "adventure" to get some essentials (like milk for the cookies) and to pick up dinner.

We first went to Food Lion for the essentials.


Then we went to Gumby's where Jackie was memorable but not too memorable. (To retrieve our free Pokey Stix using our club card coupons). We acted like we were spies the whole adventure...it was fun pretending to be clandestine.

Then we raced over to Papa John's. Here, since we ordered separately to use two coupons, we split into two groups and pretended we didn't know each other. We were just being silly having fun!



The whole time while driving around town in Novalee Jolene (K-Po's car), we were listing to "Motown's Greatest Hits" in the car in honor of Motown's 50th anniversary.

Below is us dancing... this is the best photo my phone could take while we were all moving!


After getting back home, we shared the pizza with the men and watched "88 Minutes" with Al Pacino. Not Al's finest work, but it was fun to joke around with the group and try to guess the ending.

After the movie, Evan told poop stories while we all laughed hysterically. (His stories followed up a conversation on childbirth where I was trying to explain parts of what being pregnant has been like...there was an actual tie-in somewhere...)
The goal of all the laughing was to try and induce labor -- but so far it hasn't worked.

Despite no mini-chinny yet, I had a blast today with friends. I'm glad we are able to enjoy the journey while we wait and have fun living life!

Tomorrow is Labor Day -- maybe in more ways than one? Only time will tell...

No Full Moon Baby

Well, we had a bunch of contractions last night, and I was timing them, but they weren't consistent enough to go to the hospital. We even went for a walk at 11:30 pm in hopes of making them stronger. And they did continue, but as the night wore on, they got slower. They continued to slow down overnight once I went to bed, and although they have started back up today, they are still slow.

I'm not sure the full moon has helped, so far... let's hope today is the day?

All along throughout our pregnancy, we've gotten a weekly email from babycenter.com telling us about our baby's development each week. This is also the email which would give us the size, for those of you who know about our produce comparisons each week. These emails are all based on the due date that is listed. Today, ironically, we got the below email:


I'll have to admit it was slightly discouraging to get an email with the subject: "Your 1 week old." Actually, we don't have a 1 week old. We don't even have a 1 day old. Or a 1 hour old. We have a 41-week old baby in the belly.

Oh well. God's timing is best. In this we have to trust. Otherwise, David and I would be going nuts right about now.

I hope my next post can be good news! We'll have to wait and see!

Mini-Chinny update

Or should I say, the un-update.

This week has been anti-climactic. We went for our regular doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning, and although the baby was very far down (still), there wasn't much progress on dilation. Still just 1.5 cm. They scheduled us for a BPP ultrasound (bio-physical profile) to check on the baby's health, and sent us home.

We went to the BPP yesterday and our baby scored an 8/8. That means it met all of the criteria for a healthy, safe baby. Plenty of amniotic fluid. Plenty of movement. Strong heartbeat and breathing. The only quirk was the fact that Mini was lying in a sideways fetal position, which explains why I have a huge bulge on my right side. The ultrasound tech confirmed that the head is all the way down in position -- the baby is ready to roll except there's no way out right now. Also, now that I understand the position, I understand why I have an awkward shaped belly that puts pressure horizontally across me (which has made it very tough to sleep lately).

Anyway, things checked out, which meant no need to rush an induction. We had previously been told that we wouldn't be allowed to go past the 8th. We were okay with that date (which happens to be our 8th anniversary) and so we've been looking at that as the beginning of the next phase. Yesterday, I received a call from the doctor's office and because of scheduling reasons, I was told we'd be induced on the 10th if necessary. I know its only 2 days, but I was so discouraged. Ugh. That would put me at 12 days past due date. Just about 42 weeks... I am praying we don't last until next Thursday.

Today, I went to Starbucks to do some paperwork for work (it's a work from home day) and Kristal got me to try a sample of a pumpkin-spice frappacino. If you know me at all, you know I hate coffee anything. But I figured, hey, why not. So I tried the sample...it was tolerable, and I hoped it might spark something!






After Starbucks, I met David for a quick lunch at China Inn. His fortune said "Your luck has been completely changed today." I took this as a positive sign. :)










So that's the latest update... I've been having contractions, just not regular ones. Still just a waiting game...so keep praying. Pray for contractions to be regular and productive. And to not stop once they start.

Full moon tonight... maybe that will help?

the good news and bad news...

always better to start with the "bad" news first... september is here and still no mini-chinny! we are still on the great baby-wait of '09 and i am beginning to wonder if i am permanently pregnant. at least that's what some of my co-workers keep joking around with me!

all-in-all, it's not terrible news -- just not what i was hoping for. we will keep you posted on the baby, though.

in "good" news, i have the day off today from school because of a water problem in giles county. that's right, it's the second day of school and we already are missing a day. that is some good news indeed. yesterday, i will be honest, i was quite miserable being at school. i really was not looking forward to today, so when i got the call last night saying school would be canceled for a "major county-wide water problem" i was leaping with joy. what an answered prayer!!!!

katie pepiot returns to blacksburg today after just getting home from her peace corps duties in south africa the past 2 years. i am so excited i cannot wait. she really wanted to see me pregnant -- maybe that's why i have not had this baby yet! anyway, she just promised me on the phone that once she arrives around lunch, we will do everything possible to get this baby out. i love her persistence and dedication to me. this is the girl who took me off her christmas card list 9 years ago when we worked in hokie grill as students at VT. who knew then that almost a decade later, we'd still be amazing friends and she'd be here with me in the final moments when i'm going out of my mind trying anything possible to get this baby out of my belly into my arms!

more later... gotta get some work done from home today! oh the joys of paperwork and my job...

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Afternoon update: Katie arrived to Blacksburg safely!


Above is Katie hugging Jessamyn! It's so great to have her back in Blacksburg from the Peace Corps. She plans to stay and visit through Mini-Chinny bring born. :)

30 is here

As many of you know, today is not only our due date but also my 30th birthday. I was selfishly hoping to have the baby before today so I could say I had our first child in my 20's. I don't know why it mattered - and obviously it's a moot point because today has arrived, I'm 30, and mini-chinny is still hanging out in my belly.

I've been on several long walks the past two days but nothing major to report as far as contractions go. They continue to come and go.

Anyway, I appreciate all the birthday wishes and look forward to posting other exciting news soon!

No News Yet!

I know a lot of folks are curious... because for all our delinquency lately, I promise we will post an update when we are in labor and the baby has been born.

But unfortunately, we don't have any news yet. We are 48 hours from due date and we don't have any clue how long it will be until it's time.

We had our latest doctor's appointment yesterday and he confirmed that mini-chinny is very, very low and in position -- the problem is there is no room for him to exit right now. I have no dilation or effacing really happening. Once contractions start, the baby is in position so things should move decently once I start with some heavy contractions. But so far, I've just been having light contractions on and off for a week. One night they lasted a while and I started timing them, but they stopped and it was a false alarm. So there's really not much to report... yet.

But I promise we'll update when there is something to say. Keep checking back!

August!

The month of August has flown by...

The first weekend we had a 2-day childbirth preparation class at the hospital. We learned all about labor and how to breathe during it. We took a hospital tour and found out a lot of good information to help prepare us for the big day.

This next picture was taken Monday, August 3 before work...


We've been at home every weekend, not traveling this month because our baby is due Aug. 29. This meant we missed the annual NLCF staff retreat, which was the second weekend of August. While it was a bummer to miss out on hanging out with our friends, we enjoyed a relaxing weekend full of getting things done around the home. We also were able to go to Steppin' Out, Blacksburg's annual downtown summer festival.

Jeanette's birthday was on Saturday, August 8th, which is when the staff were out of town. When they returned on Sunday, some of us went out to dinner to celebrate her birthday. (Her dad was staying with us for a few weeks while he worked on the house he and Mrs. Staats own in Blacksburg and plan to retire in this fall!)


On Monday, August 10, my wonderful friends threw me a baby shower here in Blacksburg. My mom and sis drove up from Richmond and my sis came with me to the shower while my mom entertained my hubby. It was definitely a unique baby shower, full of interesting games (one with melted chocolate in diapers), and of course I was showered with wonderful gifts. It was a huge blessing to receive all that we did, and I had a great time celebrating with everyone. Probably the most original shower food for a baby shower, too, since my friends had all my favorites: cream soda, grilled cheese, oat fudge bars, and dark chocolate candy! Also, the ladies made origami animals to hang on a homemade mobile for the nursery (nice idea Jessamyn!). It's pretty cool.

Some other folks have better pics I know, but here are two taken on my camera. The first is of me and Kristal, who returned from being gone all summer at LT. She had fun making up for lost time talking to Mini-Chinny. The second is a pic of Rachel's head on a stick along with booties from Guatemala she mailed me. She wasn't able to come to B'burg for the shower so I made sure she "attended" while I opened her gift. :)




Finally, we have gotten the nursery ready for Mini-Chinny. I think I mentioned before that we were using a panda theme, and have as a result named the room "The Panda Room." (All the rooms in houseofchinn have a name...) We moved "The Cheetah Suite" to the basement, where the guest room now is, and it makes more sense since Peter started his Cheetah research living in the room in the basement.

Here are some pictures from the nursery...






This past week was "move-in" here in Blacksburg, as the students have all returned. We had several church events in the evenings that kept us busy, which helped pass the time as I have been anxious to get this "show" on the road!

So here we are... August 22 and awaiting the arrival of the baby. David has been nesting like crazy this month, doing a deep clean and organization of our house. I cannot explain how much he has gotten done -- so much that has needed to be done for years. He has been amazing!

I have had "false labor" several times this week, having been experiencing contractions for about four days now. Of course they come and go -- sometimes in the middle of the night -- and a few times I have thought "this is it!" For now, we are just waiting, though, knowing that the time will come soon enough!

We'll keep everyone posted as we count down the final 7 days until our due date. I promise we'll send a few updates when I go into labor/deliver Mini-Chinny.

July in Pictures

The summer has continued to cruise along since the holiday weekend. On July 10, David's mom came in town for a 10-day visit to Virginia. We welcomed her to town by dressing up in cow costumes so we could get a free meal at Chick-Fil-A.


On July 12, I spoke for the final time this summer at NLCF. (Messages from this summer have finally been loaded online and are available to listen to now.)

David has enjoyed taking pics of my belly growing... this one was from July 13 before we left for work.


On July 18, my mom and sister joined David's mom and sister in throwing us a baby shower for mini-chinny. It was a blast to celebrate with folks and prepare for the big day. We were extremely blessed by all of the generous gifts. After the shower, my mom treated a small group of us to afternoon tea at the Jefferson Hotel. Included with my immediate family (mom, dad, sis and I) were David and his mom, both my grandmothers, and my aunt Elsie. We had a wonderful time eating sandwiches and tea breads, and the scones were to die for. :)




We said farewell to David's mom on July 20 and spent this past week getting the nursery together. We've gotten a lot of stuff arranged, and even though we have some things left to do, we are feeling much more settled.

Finally, this weekend, David thought it would be a wise idea if we sold our 2-door '94 Camry that has about 200,000 miles and bought a little bit newer 4-door car with less miles. We've heard putting a baby seat in and out of a 2-door car can be frustrating, and since David is an avid Craigslist stalker, he found some viable options for us to get a 4-door car. We met a Chinese graduate student at Tech on Saturday morning to test-drive his '97 Nissan Altima and ended up making him an offer and buying his car. He was about to return to China after getting his PhD and his car only has 120,000 miles. So now we just have to sell the Camry and we'll be set!



That's about it for us this month... more to come!