Two Days Past Due Date ... And Counting

I had a doctor's appointment on Friday, September 28th, my due date. Here is how the conversation went:
I walk into the office and sit down.
Me: Today is my due date.
Dr: I know. We need to schedule a date to induce you.
Me: Awesome! That is the best news I have ever heard. How about sometime after lunch today? (O.K. I really only said, "awesome" but I was thinking the rest).
Dr.: I'm thinking Thursday.
Me: O.K. (In my head, I'm thinking THURSDAY!!!!!)
Nurse calls the hospital to set up an appointment.
Dr: It looks like we can't get you in until Sunday, October 7th.
Me: (Fighting back tears) O.K.
So, there you have it folks. It's now September 30th and still no baby. I have tried talking to her, begging her to come out - she's just not rationale! Babies, I tell ya! So unless something miraculous happens in the next 10 hours, it looks like she's definitely going to be an October baby. Secretly, I was hoping to keep October all to myself, but I suppose if you have to share a birthday month, it's hard to think of a better person than your first child. :)
We've been doing a great job of killing time waiting for her arrival. Here's what we have been up to:
Thursday night we took the ferry out to Lamma Island, which is about a 30 minute ride away. We took my parents to the same restaurant the school took us to in our first few weeks here. We picked a fish from the tank and they cooked it for us. We also had shrimp, awesome fried rice, and sweet and sour pork - we're all still talking about it. It was quite the meal.



Friday we stayed in and lounged around - I lounged mostly out of depression. :) But, Saturday we decided to get active again. We went to Ocean Park, which is an amusement park very near our house. It's on the "Top 25 of Hong Kong" - a book my mom brought and is trying check off all 25. Pete and I ended up buying a yearlong pass - we think it will be a fun place to take visitors and little Lucy (if she ever comes out) when she gets a bit older. A highlight was the panda bears. We also saw a dolphin and sea lion show, which was fun.


After Ocean Park we went on a Sandpan Ride around Aberdeen Harbor. This is also something my mom has wanted to do since she got here. It was was fun little adventure.



Well, you're all caught up on the latest news around here. I wish there was baby news to talk about, but, alas, the wait continues. Here's hoping that we have better luck in October than we did in September.

Still no baby ...

It's Wednesday here and Pete has the day off due to the Moon Festival - that's a holiday here in China where they celebrate the moon. There's a story behind it, as well, but I'm not sure of all the facts. I'll have to look them up and post them later.
We've been having a great time with my parents reliving our first month with them. We took them to Dim Sum, Victoria Peak, and Stanley. It's been great. The past two days slowed down quite a bit, however, because Pete had to work and I am one slow woman right now. It's still been fun just to sit and relax with Mom and Dad. :)
The first night we were here we took them to Jumbo, the floating restaurant near our house where we went for Pete's birthday. They were fresh off the plane and a bit jet lagged, but we had a great time!


In Stanley, we happened upon a dragon parade. So fun to watch!





I think we may take Mom and Dad into downtown today for a bit of shopping. I was really hopping eveyone would be visiting me and the baby in the hospital by now, but no such luck. At this point, it looks like I may be going to my doctor's appointment on Friday, my due date, and begging for a little help :) We'll keep you posted!

Maternity Leave

Well, I am in my last 39 minutes of work. At 4:20 this afternoon I will officially be on maternity leave for the next 10 weeks. What our daughter doesn't seem to understand is that maternity leave implies that I am taking care of a infant OUTSIDE of my body. So, listen up little Lucy, it's time to come out and play!
We had a moment of excitement earlier this week when I was sent directly from my doctor's appointment to be admitted to the hospital. My blood pressure was pretty high and I had a couple other symptoms of pre-eclampsia, so they sent me to the hospital for monitoring. They also happened to mention that they would have to induce if my blood pressure didn't go down. When I called Pete he got all excited and asked if he should bring the car seat to the hospital. He's so cute. I told him even if they did induce we probably wouldn't need a car seat for a few days. :) After 24 hours of monitoring, however, they said I could go home - my blood pressure dropped to normal range. You know you are sick person when you were kind of hoping for high blood pressure so you could be induced. :) Oh well. My due date isn't until the 28th, so I'll try to be patient between now and then - I have to tell you it's hard though!
My Mom and Dad get here tomorrow and I can't wait to see them! I think they are already on the long flight across the Pacific. More updates as they come. Now that I will be home I may be blogging a lot until the baby comes.

Checking in

I was doing so good there for awhile and then I fell off the blog wagon! Grrr!!! Sorry about that. I'm sure some of you thought I had been gone due to having the baby - unfortunately, this is not the case. As much as I wish I had something to report on that front, I do not. I guess there are a couple updates. I did have an ultrasound last week and little Lucy was already measuring around 7 lbs, 10 oz. That was a week ago, however, so I am assuming she is bigger now. As owner of the Tracy Muilenburg hotel, however, I have decided to make a policy that guests over 8 lbs are required to exit the premises. If only it were that easy, right :) So, I continue to go to work and waddle around trying to do the best I can at my job. I turned in my maternity leave slip and my last day will be the 25th, so at least I only have a week and two days of work left.
Last weekend some of the girls at work threw me a surprise shower - so nice. We had high tea at a nice hotel in the center of town - it was great food and lots of fun. I happened to have my camera with me, but only took two pictures. Here they are:


My parents arrive a week from today! I am so excited to see them! I can't wait! Hopefully between bringing a new life into this world we'll have some time to show them around Hong Kong :) It really is a great city. We are loving it! I hope everyone is well. Stay tuned to the blog for baby updates - hopefully they will arrive soon. :)

Victoria Peak

Pretty nice little Saturday, actually! Pete and I started the day by picking up our official Hong Kong ID cards downtown. After that, we met some new friends from school for a lunch of dim sum at a popular and traditional dim sum restaurant. It was kind of a crazy experience. The waiters just walk around with trays of food and stop by your table to ask you if you would like what they are serving. You just take whatever you want and they add it all up at the end. Good food!

After that Pete and I decided to spend the day at Victoria Peak. We took the tram up the mountain, which is an experience in itself - very steep! Once you get up there, though, it is incredible! The view is great and there are two malls, lots of stores and restaurants. There is also a nature path that you can walk around. It's about 3k and we made it about a half a K before I decided that I was probably not going to make it all around. We'll definitely go back again when Lucy is with us and not in my belly! I think it will be a little easier that way :)
These are all pics of the view from the top! Fantastic!






After taking a taxi down the mountain, we went into central Hong Kong for a bit and visited City Super, a grocery store that had been recommended to us by many of our fellow teachers. The store was VERY crowed, however, it definitely a find. It has everything we could possible ever want there. Brand names from home and everything. We will be back - although next time I think we will avoid a Saturday afternoon!