Two Months

Rain is growing soooo fast - hard to believe she's already 2 months old! She got her first set of shots this week and lets just say she was not a fan. She weighed in at 9 pounds 13 ounces, 22.4 inches long, and a noggin of 15 inches. Basically, she's petite - she's been on the small side since birth and she's growing at a normal rate, so Dr. Nguyen said she's doing great!

She's smiling and cooing more and more every day and it is sooo much fun to interact with her and see her cute little reactions! I can't wait for Shane to be home so we can share this time together and enjoy Rain's first Christmas.

Now the part you've all been waiting for... pictures!!!!

One month old and Two months old

All smiles

double dimples!!

With Baba

(Baba is Japanese for Grandma)

With Grandma

First Thanksgiving

Soooo grown up!

Rain Mayumi Price

I realize this post is 6 weeks past due, but considering the drastic change life has taken in the Price household hopefully none of you will hold it against me!

First and foremost, Rain is absolutely the most precious, beautiful, wonderful little thing. EVER. The only word fitting in my opinion is PERFECT.

Rain Mayumi was born October 9th, 2010 at 12:15am in Yokosuka, Japan. She was 19 and 2/3 inches long and weighed 6 lbs. 7 oz. I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself though...

I guess you could say my pregnancy had its ups and downs. All in all I consider myself lucky because other than all day nausea for the first few months, painful feet, and the usual tiredness I didn't suffer from most of the other pregnancy ailments. I DID however have many false alarms with the pregnancy itself... first a short cervix, then an out of place placenta, LB measuring too small, an untwined umbilical cord, and finally a heart arrhythmia for LB. All of which turned out to be non issues but certainly created major concern and worry and the heart issue even resulted in us delivering a week early.

The only other major concern during the pregnancy was whether Shane would be here for the birth. Since the GW was on its summer deployment there was no guarantee that Shane would be home. Luckily, everything worked out and he was able to fly home when the ship pulled in to Thailand for a few days and he made it home 3 days before I was induced.

On the morning of the induction I think we were both in a state of shock, excitement, fear, disbelief, and joy that the day had finally arrived. I was admitted about 10am on the 8th and once settled in, the doc checked and I was 3 centimeters dilated but not effaced. I was given medicine and the waiting game began. I wasn't feeling contractions at all, though I was having small ones and Shane and I entertained ourselves by watching Heroes, reading magazines, and listening to music throughout the afternoon. Around 4pm the doc broke my water and I still didn't feel the contractions even though they were getting stronger. My only indication that I was having them is that I would get REALLY hot. Then around 7pm I got pitocin and each contraction gradually got stronger and stronger. At this point I hadn't gotten an epidural because my birth plan was basically to just see how things go. A big part of me wanted to go natural, but I also knew that with an induction there is a good chance for a long labor and I didn't want to be completely exhausted when there were perfectly good drugs available. So, around 9 or 10 I asked for an epidural or I should say I told Shane I wanted an epidural. I've never seen him move so fast! I think he was out of the room before I even finished the sentence! :) And I'm sure some of you are wondering... no I did not yell at him. There was only one time that I very directly asked him not to touch me, but I didn't yell and I even said please. (Yes, I'm very proud of myself! :) Shane was absolutely wonderful thru it all, he was there for me every step of the way and I can't even imagine going thru it without him!

Sooo, they decided to check me after I got the epidural and low and behold I was 9 centimeters! Pretty soon after that it was time to push. I fully understand why it's called labor now... I just kept thinking to myself, "this has to be a lot like running a marathon! I am soooo exhausted!" Of course the second Rain arrived I didn't feel tired at all, just completely overjoyed!!

I got to hold her immediately and it was truly one of the most special moments of my life. I can't even describe the rush of emotions I felt or how in that instant time was frozen and even with all the doctors and nurses in the room no one else existed except Shane, Rain, and I.

Eventually we had to let them clean her up, check vitals, and do an EKG (because of the heart issue). While we were waiting we realized we had left the radio on which made the room feel much more relaxed and added to the celebration - Rain's birthday celebration! I enjoy knowing that she came into the world with country music playing in the background! She might have been born in Japan but we found a way to bring a little bit of Texas to the hospital room!

Once things settled down (and I finally got some feeling back to my legs) the 3 of us moved to our recovery room where we spent the next 2 days anxiously waiting to go home. Rain's bilirubin levels were high so she had to be under the UV lights for 24 hours. It was such a helpless, awful feeling to see her under the lights with no clothes on and her little eyes covered. Luckily after 24 hours her jaundice levels were low enough that we got to go home! Unfortunately we had to go back to the hospital every day that week to have her foot pricked and check the levels again to make sure the jaundice wasn't getting worse. After 6 consecutive days of foot pricks and cries we finally got a clean bill of health and could settle in as a family!

Now that we're home and 6 weeks have went by I still feel just as lucky and overjoyed as the first day. Watching Rain is amazing and she's growing sooo fast - she already weighs more than 8 pounds! She's also very strong - she can hold her head up for several seconds at a time, does assisted crawling (if I put my hands at her feet she pushes off and moves all the way across her play mat), and rolled over entirely on her own already! She's also really good about letting you know when she's not happy about something! ;)

I will post more soon - very proud to finally get this out!!!

Skype Shower

On September 11th at 4pm (September 12th at 6AM in Japan!) I had a Skype baby shower!! Technology is sooo amazing and gave me the opportunity to have a shower with friends and family back home even though I couldn't make it to the states!

From left: Norma, Debbie, Mom, Christy, Angie, Lynnlee, Grandma, Emily, Kim, Julie, Josie, Amy, and Emily... Oh and ME on the tv!!!

Mom was an amazing hostess and I am sooo thankful that she threw this shower for me!

A picture from my side of the world... do I look a little sleepy?! Definitely not used to getting up at 5am... I suppose that's all about to change soon! (And yes, I kept things festive by using decorations from my shower here!)

It was sooo fun getting to chat with everyone and actually SEE them! It was fun that everyone got to see my growing belly (we even played the belly measuring game) and I gave everyone a tour of our Japanese home!

Opening gifts...

we are soooo blessed and thankful for everyone's generosity. I think Little Bit is spoiled already!! :)

SUCH a CUTE cake and fun Japanese treats! Of course I would have LOVED to taste the cake, but considering the early hour I think fresh blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries were probably the better choice! Little Bit would have been on a sugar over load if I had eaten cake at 6am!!

Lynnlee really liked the blue icing!

Meeting baby Josie for the first time! Julie and Stew made a long trip with a tiny little one to attend the shower... it was soooo great to see all THREE of them!!!

We are truly blessed to have such amazing friends and family. The shower might not have been traditional, but it was DEFINITELY memorable... Thank you soooo much to all who came and shared it with me!

Yokosuka Baby Shower

On September 4th I had an AWESOME shower here in Yokosuka with friends from base and Japanese friends from my kimekome craft class! First and foremost a HUGE thank you to Kelly and Tiffany for throwing the shower - it was sooo much fun and I'm incredibly grateful to them for doing it!!

The shower was a blast and I was honestly surprised by how many people came! It's such an unusual situation to be so far from home experiencing such a huge milestone... I just feel really blessed to have such good friends here to share such a special time in my life with. It was also special sharing this American tradition with my Japanese friends! The Japanese don't have baby showers, they traditionally bring gifts and visit the family AFTER the baby is born at their home. The shower was a new experience for them and one they seemed to really enjoy!

Haruko, Sadako, Yoko, Sumiko, Keiko, Kelly and I

Me, Erin, Dana, Beth, little Noelle, Haruko, Mayumi, and Sadako

An adorable diaper cake from Tif and super cute prizes!

I even had a corsage!

YUMMY FOOD!

A fabulous diaper cake that Kelly made!!

Julia was photographer for the day (THANK YOU!) but we got a picture before she took over camera duty!

Mayumi and Sumiko - winners of the "pass the gift to..." poem game.

Kelly explains and demonstrates the belly game for everyone...

Checking measurements with Sumiko, Dana, Yoko, Eiko, and Terri watching...

Lois didn't win the belly measuring game, but I insisted on a picture since she thought I was SMALLER than I actually am!!!

Haruko guessed the size of my belly PERFECTLY!

Opening gifts! Beth just had a little one and knows what a pregnant Momma REALLY wants! :)

I included this pic because it's one of the few with Tif in it (lower left)... she did a good job of avoiding the camera!!

Super cute stuffed food set - complete with eggs, fruit, shrimp, and onegiri - handmade by Sadako's daughter.

Being silly - what can I say, I really liked the bow and garland. I also LOVE Erin's reaction!

Lois, Yoshie, and Donna tied at the attributes games (they had to guess which attributes I hoped the baby would get from Shane, me, or neither of us)! Dana (2nd from left) won the don't say baby (or akachan) game!

I can't even put into words just how much fun the shower was... I'm always up for a good party and this was truly fantastic with incredible memories that I will keep forever! Thank you so much to everyone who came!!!

catching up

I know, I know it's been wayyyy too long, but I'm working on a couple of fun posts now and might even get one posted tonight! While you wait, check out the slideshow - I have several new belly pictures on it!

30 and 30!

30 years old and 30 weeks pregnant!!! I decided to celebrate my 30th with a trip to Tokyo - good food + good friends = a great birthday!!

Serendipitous! There were tons of costumed Japanese people at the mall, no idea why but it was fun taking pictures with them!!

I like to think they came to celebrate my birthday too!

The only thing that could have made my birthday better - having Shane home. He went all out even though he couldn't be here, scheming with friends and family to make sure my day was special - flowers, diamonds, and gifts galore...Thank you baby - I love you!!

Bubba Gump's was my choice for dinner - mmmmm, I love shrimp!

(The server wanted to take our picture with the shrimp and hat - loving the shrimp, not so fond of the hat!)

Joana, me, Lara, Erin, and Aaron

...and what birthday celebration would be complete without a trip to the Japanese arcade!

Yes, this is The Claw game...for Haagen-Dazs ice cream!

Don't mess with pregnant women!!!

Japanese photo booth fun!