Update...

We are now in Shanghai awaiting baby's arrival.  

We already had 2 amazing meals at 2 different Italian restaurants.  The food options here are much better than Nanjing.  I probably would have put on double the baby weight if I had access to food like this every day! ;-) 

So we keep flop flopping back and forth now.  After I was up all night last night and most nights these days considering it is now 2:30am here, and googling more about c section recovery I thought maybe I don't want a c section now.  

Our baby girl Chu Chu is super attached to me and not being able to properly pick her up or hold her for however many weeks would not go over well.  And her being this attached is exactly what Michael and I want because that is the goal when adopting ....getting good attachment.  So we don't want to set her back in anyway.  That was one of my biggest worries when we wound up pregnant out of the blue....how it would affect Chu Chu because we wanted and thought we would have way more alone time with her than like 10 weeks ....give or take. 

After talking to our doc today and telling her what we are thinking she suggested we might just induce instead of doing a c section.  I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of this option before...I have had other friends choose to induce for various reasons.  The main reason always being the convenience of knowing when the birth will happen rather than letting nature takes it course.  And that is our reason as well because again one of our concerns is getting Ayi here in time to watch Chu Chu so Michael can be with me.  

Our doc is really great and fine either way.  I've been full time for a couple weeks now.  The baby is great so her coming out at any point now is fine.  We just need to decide and of course I think the doc said by next Monday (ish) we should have decided.  Gives the baby 1 more week to bake but she said there is no reason to go past our due date when we are electing pull her out at a convenient time for us.  The sooner we get her out the sooner we can get Chu Chu back to her "normal" life and Michael can get back to work.  Or I should say back to the office.  He is working here but it can be a little tricky when a 2 year old keeps yelling at you to play Legos while you are on a conference call. ;-) 

So that's where we are now but of course that could change tomorrow depending on our moods ;-) or if Mei Mei decides on her own which way to make her entrance into this world.  And if she is anything like mama and sister she will do it the way she wants to...not the way anyone else tells her to do it.  ;-) 

We'll keep you posted! 

Decisions, Decisions...

We are getting close to Mei Mei's arrival.  So we just wanted to update our friends and fam.

Where we live in China there is no hospital with international medical standards so we have to go to Shanghai to give birth.  In order to get there you have to take a car, train and a subway or taxi.  So most people end up going early and renting a short term apartment.  Some of my friends have went a month in advance and some a week in advance.  Because even though we have a due date you obviously never know when the baby will decide to makes it's way into the world.  And it is better to be safe than sorry.  And that was our plan, to be in Shanghai already.

But with Chu Chu in our lives now, she is our priority.  And even though we feel like we have been together forever it has just been over 7 weeks.  And we did not want to move her to a new place when she is still getting used to her home here in Nanjing.  So I have just been stalling.  And praying that the baby does not enter the world early.  And so far so good.

Also we need someone to watch Chu Chu while I am giving birth and we have an Ayi (housekeeper) that will come when we need her, but she works for another family part time as well.  So she cannot come early.  She would not be able to come until I went into labor.  I was worried if we had to wait to call her until I went into labor that she might not get there in time.  We know from our birthing class with the first child we probably would have plenty of time.  But you never know and what if I had to get an emergency c-section or something.  Then I would be alone because Michael would need to be with Chu Chu.  

So because of all this we have pretty much decided that a c-section is the way to go.

Our doc keeps asking us to move to Shanghai, so we have decided to head there this weekend.  We will probably have the c-section next week ...maybe the week after, but there is a Chinese holiday in between so the doctor has to check the hospital schedule to make sure there is adequate staff and she is thinking next week is best.

That is the latest.  We should have baby girl #2 in our arms fairly soon.  Please pray all goes well.  I am not happy about having to give birth, but this baby has to come out one way or another.  ;o)  Please pray the surgery goes well without any complications, that the baby is fine and that I have a quick recovery. 

We will try and post pics as soon as we can.  We are still adjusting to being a family of 3.  So jumping right into a family 4 so quickly is going to be another shock to our systems.  ;o)  Please forgive us if it takes a while to get some pics of up. 

Thanks for all the prayers!

Baba's fave...

This is one of Michael's favorite photos.  I sent it to him while he was at work one day.  And now it's his screen saver ;-). She put the stuff on herself...her backpack and my fake glasses. They are all the rage these days ;-).  She came over and was like Mama look. She looks ready for school.  

Practice...

Practicing for Mei Mei's arrival