October 24th 36 weeks 5 days

Not much new. I have 2 more weeks of work. I have decided to stop working after Nov 5th. Of course if she gets here early I wont complain! I wanted to go back to work in Feb, when the school year starts again, but according to my boss the Brazilian law wont let me go back to work before 120 days from the day the baby is born. So I will have 4 months maternity leave. When I go back to work I will probably only work two days a week and Saturday mornings.

Her are some maternity pics that Leto's sister Sol took. Some are during week 35 and some are week 36. They are amazing and we are so lucky to have such a good photographer in the family!




















We have a doctor's appointment on Friday, so look for another update then!

Lots of Love,
Kathy, Leto and Baby!

Oct 18th 36 weeks

Well, we have less than a month until our due date! Needless to say Leto and I are both supper excited and anxiously awaiting our little girl to show her face!

Last Wednesday was a holiday in Brazil. If you ask any kid they will say it is a holiday because it is Children's Day, but in reality it is the patron saint (Aparecida) of Brazil's day. I truly don't understand a holiday like "Children's Day," where children get presents and candy and celebrate at school. I guess the American mentality is that EVERYDAY is Children's Day, and they don't need one more day to get presents... If I am raising Brazilian children I better get used to this holiday, though! Anyway, on Wednesday we decided to take advantage of the holiday and we took our official pregnancy pictures with Leto's sister Sol at the Botanical Gardens of Sao Paulo. It was a beautiful day and I should have the pictures soon. As soon as I have them I will post the best ones on the blog!

We had a doctors appointment this morning. Everything was great. I still haven't gained any weight. I have weighed 75 kilos since my return to Brazil, that is about 165lbs. So that is 2 months with no weight gain! I am super excited about this! That diabetes diet sure works! The baby weighs about 2.6 kilos already! That is about 5.7 lbs . I think this is huge! And I don't think my belly looks like she weighs almost 6lbs. But she is right on track, and where she should be. We had what will probably be our last ultrasound. She is head down, facing my butt so we didnt get to see her face. We did get to see the part of her body that protrudes from my right side. turns out it is her super strong foot! At least her foot is in a soft part of my body with room to spare, and not a place like my ribs!

We talked to our doctor about how many c-sections she does versus natural births and she said she does c-sections about 90% of the time!!!! To me, this number is crazy! But most Brazilians opt for the scheduled c-section, and dont even try for a natural birth. Me, being American, wants a natural birth, or at least to give it my best shot! We will see what happens! I just hope our doctor remembers how to deliver a baby naturally!!! hahaha

Here is my 35 week belly shot. I am pretty much all belly!

Oct 5th 34 weeks!

We are at 34 weeks today!
We had an amazing Baby Shower on Sunday. My sisters-in-law, Ro and Sol, and two of Leto's cousins, Raquel and Rivania put on an amazing shower and Leto's mother was amazing in the kitchen!! We had about 60 people show up, although we didn't officially count. It was nice to see all of our friends and family in one place. We decided to have a co-ed shower because I didnt really feel comfortable being the center of attention at an all girl baby shower. Everything worked out exactly like we wanted it. We didn't have any games but we did do a baby pool, to guess when the baby will be born. The winner will get a little more than R$70! It was a wonderful day, but by the end I was beat! It seemed like I didnt really get 5 days of rest by the end of Sunday!

Here are some pictures from the shower.
Leto's mom made a million adorable cup cakes. I have 4 in the freezer waiting until our baby girl gets here and I can eat it!
Love him!
I have the best sisters-in-laws in the world! Sol and Ro!
My great friend Ligia!
Taking a minute to enjoy the food (that I could eat)
Such a wonderful shower!

It has become increasingly difficult to fall asleep. I am super tired but once I tell myself it is bed time, I CANNOT fall asleep. Of course it doesnt help that this is the time when my dear baby girl wants to move up a storm! I have heard that the time of day they move a lot while you are pregnant is the same time they like to be active after they are born! So it should make for some long nights! But she is pretty calm in the morning, so maybe she will let me sleep in!
I am getting really bored with this gestational diabetes diet. Of course all I can think about (besides the baby) is eating sugar... Well not just sugar, bread and fruit as well! It is annoying, but i am sure I will be grateful for the healthy diet when i am trying to get back to my pre-baby body :-)
Here is my 33 week belly pic, not much different than my 32, but i have a feeling my 34 week one will show a difference... I feel like the belly is getting bigger by the hour!

Lots of Love!
Kathy, Leto and Baby!