Life is always a rich and steady time when you are waiting for something to happen or to hatch.
-E.B. White


so week 33 is here...and i've got me a little over 4lb'er baby in me=). they say baby is equivalent to a pineapple today...hmm is it weird that pineapple just sounds so good right now? hahah, gross. well i've enjoyed eating pineapple and watermelon in this pregnancy and especially now with the summer heat! i think just cold stuff in general is appetizing to me these days. 


ah boo, i experienced my first bout of ankle swelling yesterday. i had me some cankles! it was just the weirdest looking thing. it was like when i sprained my ankle(s) during flag football and our inca trail hike. seester said to just elevate my legs really high and drink lots of water..that the heat probably caused my ankles to swell. well, i've been guzzling water like it's crack these days, haha..so i'll attribute the cankles to the heat. plus i walked around a lot yesterday while we had the farmer's market in downtown. haha somehow i thought i'd be able to get away with not having this pregnancy symptom..i guess i should be lucky that it's only hitting me now? i'm glad my fingers haven't swelled up (crossing fingers they won't!) because i'm still able to wear my wedding band=). i know that's shocked a few people, they're like..really you can still wear it? so here's hoping!


i've noticed too that i've been getting more braxton hicks contractions (the non-painful, practice kind) lately. in all our reading/classes they say if you get 6 or more to call your doc/hospital. but our ob told us if i get 4/hr to notify her. right now i've sometimes been noticing 2-3 in an hour. but that's mostly when i'm sitting in our vanpool and can't really  move around. so i just drink water hoping it goes away. it doesn't hurt, for some reason i know one is coming bc my stomach starts to feel jumpy..like i've got butterflies in there and then all the sudden my tummy gets really hard. a midwife pointed out to husby and i that that was my uterus contracting..and then after about 10-15 seconds my belly gets soft again. so weird. 


when i told the fam about that my sisters got all excited that maybe i'd have the baby a little bit earlier than the due date. i'm like...please, please baby stay in there til you're full term (which i believe is at 37 weeks). haha i know, i'm being paranoid..but even when husby says..i wanna see our baby girl now - hehe i have to say..wait til she's full term please=). i know, it's normal for us first time parents to get nervous...we all want the same thing - a happy, healthy baby!


the past 3 weeks have been so busy with family stuff and all of our baby classes. about 2 more weeks to go and we're done with the classes. despite what people have said to us, we really enjoy our childbirth classes. we weren't able to get the 2-saturday sessions so we're going through the 5 week, 2 1/2 hr course right now. yeah maybe all the breathing techniques will get thrown out the door once i'm actually in labor..but just the whole understanding of labor and delivery is informative and super useful. duuuuuuuuuude i knew that i'd need to be dilated 10cm before i start pushing..but c'mon i didn't know that's how my hoo-ha looks when baby is crowning! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. i swear everytime we watch a new labor video i freak out. i mean, i'm glad we watch them bc i need to know this stuff but yikes...what the human body is capable of. boggles the mind. i don't think i want the mirror as part of my birth plan..haha i might freak myself out. i'll just opt to use husby as my focal point along with a pic of baby girl from our ultrasound and maybe a vacay pic to ease my mind (if that's possible while i'm screaming my head off from contractions=/). for now i'll just practice my hee's and candle blowing breaths..hee hee hooooooooo. 


the breastfeeding class was extremely helpful as well. i thought i'd heard it all from family/friends..but there's always more to learn! breastfeeding SHOULD NOT hurt. need to remember this=). we also had our maternity tour. hehe that was nice! didn't realize that labor rooms and the post-partum rooms were so big! and geez in the labor room the nurse pointed out to us the recessed lights above that can get turned on and just focus on our hoo-ha. ha, she's like..imagine it's like who wants to be a millionaire and you've got all that spotlight! mmhmm, sure lady. we also learned that when we go down the corridor from our labor room to the post-partum room, there's a painting we'll pass by that has a red button for us to press. aww and it plays the baby lullaby throughout the whole hospital to signify that a baby was just born=). how cute is that!


we've got our infant safety & cpr class coming up along with the remainder of our childbirth classes. man, once those are over we'll be in the home stretch. can't believe it..the weeks are just going by so fast now! i get up to pee at least once every night, sometimes twice. and even when it's time to go to bed i still stay up a little later. i don't know if that's a pregnancy thing or just me being all anxious. but i do like it when i'm just sitting in bed and i can feel baby moving around. such a nice feeling=). ha, though one of the nurses said that this may also be the baby's future sleep patterns once she's born. we got a night owl on our hands!


baby girl, mommy & daddy can't wait to meet you!

Think of stretch marks as pregnancy service stripes.
-Joyce Armor


haha i don't know why i find that quote funny. it's not funny to to know i have stretch marks, but to understand it in the light of that quote makes it okay=P. bah, so i'm getting them at my lower belly...i didn't realize it til i went outlet shopping with the seesters and the older one noticed them. my belly has been getting a little itchy but more so at the bottom where my pants touch my belly. and i told her i'd been scratching there..boo guess it makes the stretch marks worse? and i've been sooooo good with my cocoa butter! oh well, they always say no matter what precautions you take it's in the genes anyways. what's funny is that i couldn't see them bc my belly's so big now..and husby doesn't really know what stretch marks look like so he couldn't tell me. hahah so leave it up to the seesters to point it out!


ahhh this pregnancy is going by fast now! 32 weeks going on 33 at the end of the week. woohoo maternity leave in about 5 weeks!!!!! can't believe that everything is approaching  quickly now. we get so excited..but at the same time freaked out. or maybe just me=P. husby just can't wait to meet our little girl! he usually calms my nerves when i start imagining how labor will be. i switch back and forth between thinking i can do it all naturally and just asking for the epidural right when we go in to labor=P. hahah. we'll see how that one goes!


i've been in awe and full of gratitude at how much this baby girl of ours is loved! we are surrounded by so many people who care about us and are just as excited as husby and i to meet her and welcome her into the world! my co-workers threw us a baby shower last week and it was so awesome to have everyone there. i'm the only girl coworker that is/has been pregnant in our section and usually all the showers we throw have been for the dad's since our section is predominantly male. so it was nice to see 2 of my guy co-workers help out one of the other female co-workers plan the shower. haha and everything was SO pink! all our other baby showers have been for boys, i'm the first one having a girl...so they had fun with that as well=). 


then the weekend before we went up north to visit lou's cousins since his niece was having her debut. they actually surprised us twice that weekend for the baby! once was for dinner friday night, which i thought was our surprise shower since his cousin was trying to throw me off. and y'know, i get all shy when the attention is on me....but it was super nice of them and the m-i-l to plan. then the sunday following the debut his other cousin was hosting a party for all the family to get together to celebrate her daughter's graduation/bday and son's graduation. haha little did husby and i know that this was also another surprise baby shower for us..since more of the family was able to make sunday. wow, we are truly blessed to be surrounded by our loved ones. in a few weeks it'll be the socal showers with our families and friends. can't wait to see everyone again=). always nice to have everyone together..and then it just makes it even more apparent that baby girl will soon be here!


third trimester so far has been going well. i am feeling the tired kick in these days. darn, i thought i'd still have the same energy as before. but this tiredness just seemed to happen all of the sudden last week. not to mention the heartburn! ugh yuck...i've been starting to get that too=/. and y'know the other icky preggo symptom that heightens in the 3rd...yup backed up. hahah tmi i know. at least the latter i'm doing better now. i think our trip up north totally threw off my regular type of meals here. and i realized that taking tums for the heartburn can also contribute to being all backed up. boo on that. i also found out at the beginning of the third tri that i have to be better with my food choices and learn my portions. i thought it would actually be hard to do, but it's not to bad actually. all those times i thought i was eating a lot of veggies, guess that wasn't even close to what i should be having. and i have milk like 2-3x a day. that's a new one for me..i used to never like the taste of milk except for with cereal or cookies. these days it's kinda refreshing. mmmm and so is ice cold water! i'd always drink my water room temperature but now i love it with lots of ice. and dude, with this summer starting..even better! 


so people keep asking us if we have a name picked out. ha, why yes we do! we'll probably say it at the shower  since i'm sure it'll be one of the main questions that day=P. it's actually the first name we came up with when we found out i was preggo. we knew we had to pick a boy and a girl's name since we didn't know the sex yet...but somehow it was easy to pick the girl's name. we came up with other names but this name just stood out for us. baby's full name and the nickname that she'll go by have such pretty meanings and just remind us of our love for travels and two of our favorite countries we visited. so i hope she grows up to love her name, the meaning, and live a life full of travels as well=P. but yes i know...whenever they tell you you're having a girl, better to be safe and have a backup boy name as well. that we're still working on too! though i'm pretty sure she's a girl...3 different ultrasounds/techs pointed out the anatomy and that that cannot change to a boy! hahahha...so despite people telling me, oh maybe the baby was just shy and you're having a boy, let's hope the techs know more on this topic=P. my coworkers have a pool going on about the baby (guess the sex, weight, height) and so far i'm hearing these "shy baby" words from those who guessed boy. hehehe.

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.
-quoted from The Wonder Years


so..i've been away for awhile. not bc i didn't want to blog, it's just every time i'd try to write this new post i couldn't. why not post about other things? i don't know. just felt like if i can finally get my thoughts together on this post, i can slowly move on. long post on it's way...


people have asked us if we planned on getting pregnant, or was this an accident, why wait so long? you know..all the questions married couples begin to hear if they didn't have a honeymoon baby from the start. well...to be quite honest, the thoughts of getting pregnant weren't really serious until after dad passed away. on every wedding anniversary/birthday/celebration we'd constantly hear about how we should start a family now, we're getting old, your parents want grandkids, don't be selfish. in our minds we wanted to experience life and see the world. we didn't want to be that couple that regretted having children too early or weren't mature enough to take care of a family. it would make me sad if i had kids and in the back of my mind had bitter thoughts of "i wish i did that, too bad we couldn't do this...yadda yadda."  so, that was our choice. and i'm certainly happy with it. we've got so much to share with our new bundle of joy on the way and we're so excited to be parents. it is such a life changer!


you could say the final nudge to finally have kids was my dad. in an odd sense, his passing really hit me with this subject. hubby and i were unfortunately away on vacation while my dad passed and while gone we were already thinking about squeezing 1 more trip before babies. yeah, i think we had said that since 2010. but with dad's sudden passing, it's like a light bulb just clicked in my head. life is so short, and anything unexpected could happen. so, over the summer husby and i talked and we both felt we were 100% ready to have kids. and well...there you go...i got pregnant and we're expecting our first child this summer=).


of course i was wary when we started to talk about seriously having kids. i was still grieving for my dad, but starting a family was a choice that i was firm about. i would read articles online on how to cope with grieving and losing a loved one and was surprised how a few had said not to make any life changing decisions. i got scared...i mean, we wanted to have kids now. so what does this mean? throughout this pregnancy i think i can understand now why those articles mentioned it. while pregnant you get a surge of emotions. i was already crying at random moments before i got pregnant...and well you can only imagine how magnified it got with these pregnancy hormones. i'd start talking to baby about grandy (what my dad liked to be called=P) or i'd just have a random thought about dad..and i would just burst into tears. i would just get sad bc dad wouldn't be here to see our first child and teach her silly jokes and dances. so i keep telling myself that i need to always always be sure to tell baby girl about her grandy so that we can always keep dad's memory alive.


i know this may sound silly....but after this pregnancy my sisters and i are planning on getting little tattoos. we were supposed to do it earlier, but with me being pregnant...getting a tattoo was a no-no. they will all be matching tattoos and must have a ladybug in them. why a ladybug? at dad's funeral, 2 ladybugs flew into my lap. our families can get pretty superstitious..so they said it was dad & my uncle (dad's younger brother who had passed a way a few months earlier) visiting us. they wouldn't fly away, just crawling along my skirt. of course me being the scaredy cat, i didn't know what to do so when i stood up they fell. i put them in one of the white roses after bc i didn't want them to get stepped on. afterwards i looked up the meaning of ladybugs and they symbolize protection and much more:


This tiny little beetle brings with it a powerful message. Because the life cycle of the adult ladybug is short it teaches us how to release worries and enjoy our lives to the fullest.  When it appears in our life it is telling us to "let go and let God." 


Seen often as a messenger of promise, the ladybug reconnects us with the joy of living. Fear and joy can not co-exist. We need to release our fears and return to love  - this is one of the messages that the ladybug brings to us.

Ladybug teaches us how to restore our trust and faith in the great spirit.   When the ladybug appears, it is telling us to get out of our own way and allow the great spirit to enter into our lives.

you could say that i was a little surprised and skeptical. but all throughout my leave at home (homehome) i'd have random ladybug occurrences - not just seeing the bugs physically...but also tv shows/cartoons featuring the bugs, seriously? and it was just happening to me. so my sisters would tell me it's dad telling me it's okay that i wasn't there when he passed. to not hold on to that fact and blaming myself for going away. why am i sharing this? well i've noticed these little bugs a few more times since then and it's always reassuring to me that things will be just fine. when my sisters took me maternity clothes shopping we saw one. now mind you, this is INSIDE the store too!! i had just opened the door to show them a dress they picked for me and a ladybug flew towards me and landed near my feet. they joked and said it was dad wanting to shop with us too. the funny thing is that it just crawled around near me and when i was shutting the door to go change i said "dad, you pervert i'm gonna change go away!" and whatdoyaknow...the ladybug turned around and crawled the other way out of the dressing room. ha, so weird! and just this past weekend when i took my nephews out for a swim, a lady bug landed right next to me and one of my godson's. crazy. i know it may be insignificant and downright silly to some, but it gets me (us) by. these little things, help me to know that my dad will always be there for us. 

and so, with this pregnancy...i'm slowly realizing that. although dad won't be there physically to hold our baby (and future kiddos)...i know that he will constantly be watching over us. and yes, i know i keep saying it...i guess it's like a silent mantra. but it seriously helps me to know that. and these ladybug sightings just seem to be happen at all the right times. 

so yeah...i am now about 26 weeks pregnant and going with the flow. yes the emotions are still there, but i've learned to try to turn them into positive thoughts and not try to get sad. i know dad is uber happy for us. i know he was/is happy with all the decisions we made leading up to this point. i wonder if our baby will get some of my dad's  silly traits..hahah i can only imagine=). here's to the next chapter of our lives..it's gonna be a crazy one!

One joy scatters a hundred grieves.
-Chinese Proverb


so after finally getting my little baby bump and being super excited..haha i encounter my first rude comments about being "big" during my pregnancy. to the extent that i'm so big at 4 months that maybe i'm having twins? ha, oh well..i knew it'd happen. just didn't think so fast! yeah i was a little bummed at first, but had to realize..well some people just don't understand. until you experience the same thing, you never really know what the other person is going through right? i think that can be said in various situations. so as irked as i was when it happened, i tried to take it as a grain of salt...especially considering the person who said it.


either way, i vented about it and came home from work to lie on the couch bc i was getting a little tired. i was just lying on my side and closing my eyes for a bit before i started doing errands.  and i'm not sure if it's what i think it was, but i think i had my first baby flutters! it kinda had that feeling like when your heart kinda skips a beat...your stomach is full of butterflies. i think that was a flutter? hahah then i started giggling, put my hand on my tummy and was like..baby, are you trying to cheer me up? hehe then i waited and waited for more flutters but i was already happy that i got to feel this one. i think now's the time when i can feel the baby a bit. can't wait til he or she starts kicking more and moving around. awww i'm going to love these moments. it really is the little things that make me gush sometimes. 

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases from being shared.

-Buddha

i think i finally have my baby bump! yes it's tiny..hehe, but it beats looking like a bloated person the past four months. hahah husby saw me this morning in my pj's getting ready for work and was like...aww i like this shirt on you. look how tight it is now bc of your baby belly! okay, so maybe he didn't say "aww" but you get the point=). so despite the few gagging sessions i still have and the troubling tummy issues that come along with this preggo business...moments like these make it all worth it! we have our next dr. appt next week, i'm so excited to hear baby's heartbeat again. and then the week after we find out if we're having a little baby dragon ninja or ninjette. hahah.

this past weekend was pretty awesome. ever since we got engaged on 2/24, hubby and i have been celebrating that day as our valentine's day. it makes it easier than trying to make a reservation at crazy crowded restaurants and well..it just makes the day even more special for us bc it's when he proposed and i said (okay i giggled) yes! so, he surprised me with a nicely planned weekend getaway to catalina. we've always tried to plan a trip there, but for some reason it just never panned out. and i can't believe i've never gone before!!! it was so beautiful while we were there. dunno if it's bc our winter season has been kinda crazy, but we were blessed with blue skies during our stay. 

the room husby got looked right into the ocean and was so pretty to see from our balcony/windows. we played some miniature golf (ha, and we freaking tied!!), had some good eats (though my preggy appetite sometimes makes me not as hungry as my eyes seem to be), enjoyed wine & cheese hour (okay, lemonade and cheese for me=P), had such a relaxing couples massage (hahah and my first ever pregnancy massage. must get used to being on my side), rented one of those golf carts and went around the island for some breathtaking views (and we saw a fawn and he/she didn't even run away while i snapped a photo), and one of my most favoritest parts of the trip....watching "the artist" at the avalon theatre. 

oh i can't even describe how cool this place was. we watched their nightly movie showing and were lucky enough to see "the artist" being played here. it couldn't have been a better movie to see as a first timer at the theatre! after dinner we did the 15-minute stroll along the waterfront to the theatre and right when we stepped inside it's like you're transported back in time. the theatre was built in the 20's as part of a casino and back then was frequented by a lot of the old hollywood actors. you step into the main entrance to the theatre and there's an organist playing! ha, how crazy was that? he was playing some big band tunes and then finished with moon river...and it just totally set the mood for such a unique experience. the murals adorning the walls just added a special touch to the theatre. i felt like a giddy little kid in awe of my surroundings. so, that's why i say it was perfect to have watched "the artist" there since the movie is a black and white, silent film that takes place in the 1920's. couldn't have enjoyed our stay any more..i'm so thankful and blessed to have such a great husby=). thanks for the surprise!

hmm but on a more serious note, prayers for a close friend and a family member who are going through a lot right now. i pray for their healing and hope they know that they are surrounded by so many who care for them.

Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.
-Alexander Smith


happy valentine's day y'all! woohoo, finally get to tell everyone=). feels so nice!


happy birthday to my little seester too! you old girl! muahahhaahha. hope you enjoyed your martha cake=P.


quoting from mr. ice cube, today is a good day...

12/9/11


i took a test...it came out positive.
we are having a baby!
insane.
haha i didn't believe the first test. so i took another one.
yup the same results.
2 lines = baby


still crazy!
yet we couldn't be happier.


12/10/11


went to agoura for some family time..and shared the big news.
haha though i pretty much did it by waving around my peepee sticks. yes, so adult of me right? well, that's what i did and of course no one was grossed out. we're weird like that. everyone was all smiles and full of happiness.
though i was bummed when they were celebrating w/ wine..and i realized i can no longer have any for the next 36 weeks.
even worse...they put out cheese & salami..and i couldn't eat the salami! aye yay yay!!! but i got me some cheeses, so that's good. wasn't allowed to touch the camembert, but i was satisfied w/ the gouda and parmesan and manchego=).


12/11/11


though i told him when it happened, we visited dad's grave site and i gave him the news again. and yes, like i did the previous day...i waved my peepee sticks and told him we're having a baby! and again i waved it up towards the sky because i know he's smiling and watching over us. i am sad not knowing his facial expression at the news. but i'm sure what i have pictured in my head is exactly how dad would have looked if he were physically with us now. and i know he's so so happy for us.


12/12/11


went to the doctor, well actually the nurse's station and got the official confirmation. again, another urine test. this time though it made it more official for us. made our first prenatal appointment where the doc will do an ultrasound and find out how far along the baby is. right now i'm approximately 4-5 weeks. 


12/13/11


still unreal. ordered some baby books that should be arriving soon. read so much online and of course paranoia starts to kick in about little things. is cramping normal? going to the bathroom so much normal? feels like this all happened right after we got the official yes, you're preggos. weird right?


i did notice that in the days leading up to us finding out we were having a baby that i was having crazy, vivid dreams, my right knee was super sore and i had to keep elevating it, i was always thirsty, pounding headaches two days in a row,  had a cold & sore throat, and tiiiiiiiiiiired. now i'm feeling the slight back aches, the sore boobage, and cramps. hehe and more tiredness.


how to prepare now? we're so not prepared. hahahah. this is going to be interesting!


oh, and those we've told think we made a jamaican baby=P. y'know..bc we went to jamaica? and now we're preggos? hehehe.


so happy bc my parter in crime is expecting as well=). pretty much got the news right when we came back from vacay. heheh and then when they got back from vacay they got the news about us. such a crazy, exciting time for the both of us! yay!!!


12/15/11


got our books yesterday=). good thing i ordered a few books on my own. hahah the one's that my sister gave me were all about after having the baby. heheh, she must've been tired when she got us the books=P.


just recently found out that 2 more of our friends are preggo as well! wow, 2012 is going to be the year of babies!!!! i'm so glad i'm not alone in this. it helps to be able to talk to others about things i'm going through, things they're going through, and just relate to the whole pregnancy. the big thing is it helps to make me feel sane about it all and not so paranoid=P.


restarted my daily downtown walks during break time. man, that last climb towards the disney concert hall had my heart racing. good thing i brought water with me. i'm SO thirsty all the time now! hopefully these little walks can slowly ease me back into the fitness regime. is that normal? am i supposed to get winded that easily? 


ooooh and a new discovery -  taste nirvana's coco aloe! coconut water w/ aloe vera mixed in. yum! i thought zico water was good, but man this is so much better. mmm, and it should help w/ these darned pregnancy symptoms. 


i've been stuffed up the passed few days. of course i turned to trusty google and realized there's such a thing as rhinitis of pregnancy. uh yay? lucky me. thank goodness it's not harmful to the baby, i was really worried i had a cold virus at first. but i don't have the normal body achy feeling or chills that i normally get. so, let's just hope continuous neti-potting helps out!


oh geez. too add to my paranoia...i just read that aloe vera isn't good during pregnancy. ahhhhhhhhhh i hope 1 bottle of the aloe coco doesn't do anything bad. so back to regular coconut water from taste nirvana from now on. i've read already that coconut water is good=). where was my head when i was checking that stuff out? why didn't i search aloe too? d'oh. hoping all is well.


01/3/12


happy  new year! wow, it's been awhile. the holidays go by so quick and were so busy! got to tell the rest of the cousins about the baby=). yay they're so excited. hahah of course hoping for twins! crazies. i was soooo tired christmas eve. we usually stay up til midnight to open gifts and stuff, but i had to take a nap beforehand just so i could be awake for the midnight festivities=P. plus i felt bad that i couldn't help with more of the cooking. the smells would just get to me, so i contributed some baked goods=). this nausea sucks hard.


we also had our holiday party with the friends. haha that was interesting. husby and i figured we'd take the marshall & lily approach from himym and pretend to drink but have husby finish my drinks. i took a beer and then totally forgot that we always cheers w/ each other..so we did and while everyone knocked their heads back to take a swig i just pretended to take a drink while looking at the tv=P. dunno if ppl bought that. haha bc i didn't take a drink for the rest of the night. guess we'll find out! i was bummed too bc i had signed up to make a ham for the potluck. then after we found out i was preggos i was like..ahhh i can't eat ham anymore (well i guess if it's piping hot). but i didn't want to change my dish at the last minute bc ppl might wonder why. so i baked my ham, but didn't get to eat any since it cooled down by the time we got to the party. boo. heheh oh well..the little things we have to give up.


1/11/12


we had our first prenatal appointment today! got the ultrasound, heheh and no, no twins. though we have a beautiful baby coming=). doc said i ultrasound well. umm thanks? hehe=P. i did get a little freaked out though after she gave us our ultrasound pictures she glanced up at the screen again and was like, hmm do you mind if i check the baby again i want to see what that artifact(??) is. and so i started freaking out...and to cheer myself up i'd look at hubby and think oh maybe we're having twins after all? hahah. but it was just the baby's yolk sac=). dr. just wanted to make sure and was totally reassuring that everything was okay and baby looks beautiful. hehe we got to see the arm buds and leg buds..crazy! i just kept giggling while i was looking at the screen. i can't believe i've got a baby growing in me. insane.


now it's on to the gazillion blood tests and lab work that the dr. requested. since dad was diabetic they want me to do an extra glucose test. i guess it's normally done in the 2nd trimester, but they want me to do one in the first as well to make sure i'm okay and not on track to gestational diabetes. then we have to make the choices about prenatal screening for birth defects. i'm such a worry freak..always so scared. but lou keeps telling me everything will be fine. i think i just get so paranoid bc i have an uncle with parkinsons and one other that we thought had parkinsons but was later diagnosed with huntington's. hoping and praying baby is just fine!


aww i also found out from the dr. that no more hot yoga for me! darn! i just bought a class membership to the nearby yoga studio and also a groupon to the one near cat. i know it's for the best...can't have my body temp going up bc that means baby's body temperature would get higher than mine. but that class was so fun! time to invest in prenatal yoga dvd's and check out the other nearby studio that has prental yoga=P. should be interesting. for now, my workout regime has just been my daily walks during my work breaks. it's only about 1.5 miles but at least it's something. i get so winded still going on that uphill climb. must go slower so that i'm not over exerting. so weird not being able to do my regular workouts.


1/25/12


man i feel so fatty and bloated. i'm starting to bust a bit out of my pants so i went to babies r us this weekend and invested in the belly band and this other clasp looking thing. now my work days feel sooooo much better. it was hard having that pressure on my belly the past week. it's already bad i have to pee a lot now, but with the pants pressing on my belly it increased it even more.


my jeggings and stockings have been my bff's. haha but i can't wear that to work..so belly band it is. it's a good thing it's been chilly these days. i get to wear my coats to cover up my bloated looking self. though the one time i took my coat off (since i just came back from my walk and was hot) i had to talk to one of my coworker's about something. so we talk, i go back to my cube, and my other coworker who knows i'm preggo told me that coworker #1 just asked him (coworker #2) if i was pregnant! so #2 plays dumb and is like, oh i don't know..why do you think she is? and #1 says well, she looks like she gained a little weight and starts pointing towards his belly area. so #2 says why don't you ask her? and #1, smartly answers, no way! hahahahah. darn...the one time i took my jacket off i get noticed! i kinda knew my outfit was a bit risky to wear too. my pants were one of the ones i had felt like i was busting out of..and my sweater was a bit too form fitting for someone trying to hide the preggo belly=P. my bad. i just thought i'd have my coat on the whole day! geeeeeeeeeeeeeeez. 


so now i'm sure everyone's raising an eyebrow when i pass by. haha i can just see their eyes working their way to my belly after we exchange hello's. just 2 more weeks and i'll start sharing the good news=). i think by week 13 that should be okay right? i can share the news at work and we can finally tell all our friends and the rest of the family. though i think some of the friends already have suspicions too since i wasn't drinking at the holiday party and i've been dodging some invitations lately. not because i don't want to go, i'm just so tired sometimes and the nausea will just trigger so randomly.


ehhhh so we've got this super smelly vanpool rider that just joined the van last month. oh geez..not only does he have bo, but his lunch is smelly too. and he just puts it in a plastic bag! fool you need a lunch bag!!!! soooo my quick remedy? i put a bounce sheet in a ziploc and whenever i get a whiff of the yucky smells i bring the bag close to my nose and i can smell some bouncy goodness! that or i resort to ginger candies, saltines, and water=/. it's crazy how acute your sense of smell gets while pregnant. i can't wait for 2nd tri to start! they say this nausea is supposed to subside by then and i'll regain my energy. please please please=).


2/1/12


february...already a month into 2012. feels fast but slow as well. i'll be starting my 12th week at the end of the week and i'm already itching to tell ppl. hard to hide the belly sometimes. i try the big sweaters, but i don't think it's working as well as i'd hoped=P. sometimes i go w/o the belly band since a few slacks still fit okay but might be more snug that i like. haha i just feel like sometimes w/ the belly band, you can see the the area where my pants aren't buttoned so i get conscious. heheh silly i know. this is all a part of the pregnancy=P. caaaaaaaaan't wait til we can tell everyone and i can bust out my belly! hahhhahah


so i had a lot of my labwork done last week. the only snafu was the glucose test. i tested higher than normal=(. i was totally bummed out when i got the results. dr. emailed me right away to tell me that i might be having a hard time breaking down the carbs - pasta, rice, crackers. which totally sucks right now bc those are the foods that i've been craving and have been good to my tummy w/ all this nausea. doesn't help that i've been drinking 7up/ginger beer during dinner to ease the queasy tummy. so next week i have to do that long 3 hour glucose test. i've changed my diet A LOT and i'm hoping that next week everything goes smoothly. i miss my pasta, rice & FRIES every once in awhile=/. 


i've gone a bit neurotic with this whole prenatal diet and created a spreadsheet to log in all the carbs/proteins/fiber/etc.. that i'm ingesting. just to make sure i'm following the right track. i was doing well until today - a belated chinese new year luncheon w/ the coworkers. tried to eat minimally on the rice but i'm sure the other stir fried stuff was loaded w/ carbs. here's hoping the next week and a half are positive for me. i want the baby to be okay so that's the motivation. i'm glad though i haven't really had any cravings for anything sweet lately. the only thing really was the nutella milkshake=P. i wanted to make one after having one last week (before i found out my test results!) but must be strong! and besides my morning walks and my yoga videos, i've added in afternoon stair climbing. hoping that with a bit more exercise it'll help break down the glucose.....please please please...


2/9/12


so we had our prenatal screening ultrasound yesterday. so happy that everything was good news! you don't know how worried i've been. i guess the whole failing my glucose screening test bummed me out and i've been scared about anything else that might happen. so when i was lying on the hospital bed, husby right beside me..i was too scared to look at the ultrasound screen. all i heard was the sonogram clicking away on her mouse while she prodded my belly with that ultrasound wand thingy they use. then all of the sudden i hear a heartbeat and the technician goes, "there goes your baby's heartbeat!" awww it was such an awesome thing to hear. 


hubby squeezed my hand and i finally turned to look at the screen..and there was baby=). the sonogram tech turned the monitor and we got to see the baby doing just fine and comfortable in there. ha, so comfortable that i had to get up and touch my toes 10x so that the baby can turn around and the technician could get the measurements she needed=P. it worked for a quick second and the tech was able to zoom in and get us a picture of the baby's facial features..hahah before he/she turned back around into his/her comfy position. man..takes after daddy! doesn't wanna be bothered when they're comfy cozy..hahaha.


then the dr. came in with all the results and i couldn't have been more relieved. she took a look at the baby as well and i had mentioned that the tech kept saying our baby was so comfortable with his/her back to us! and she goes, oh look the baby turned around, and see that? that's baby's hand resting on his/her head. awwwwww. i don't know why i didn't..but i'm totally regretting not asking for a sonogram picture of that moment. i can totally picture it in my head too! hehe totally reminded me of rose's pose (from titanic) on the couch...hhaha dram=P. so so cute.


and now tomorrow i have my 3 hr glucose test. please please i hope the results come out good and i don't have gd! not that i've been eating all bad lately, but i just feel so crazy monitoring everything i eat all the time. i'd like the occasional splurge on frozen yogurt & fries here and there=). but i know...all this for baby's health, and that's really what's important! so crossing fingers that i can last with this 14 hours of fasting and 3 hours of drinking yucky sugary glucose and getting my arm pricked.


2/13/12


yay my glucose test results all showed normal! i was so happy last friday!!! but man, the 3hrs waiting to get my blood drawn was blehh. actually that first hour after i had that glucola drink was the worst. the drink was more concentrated this time than the one i drank for the screening test. it actually went down pretty well so i thought, okay this is going to be no problem. hahah wrong! once that drink settled in i started getting really nauseous and just wanted to gag. i had to keep reminding myself that if i couldn't hold the drink down, i'd have to do this all over again! so noooooooo way!!! when the hour was up and it was time to get pricked again i was worried about not being able to hold down the 2nd drink. but i totally misunderstood and i didn't have to drink the glucola anymore!! yahoo..just the one time and then they prick me for the next 3 hours. i was SO relieved. and thank goodness for my new phone & kindle..kept me occupied while i was in the waiting room.


afterwards i had about 20 mins to eat lunch before seeing the ob/gyn. i wasn't sure if we'd be getting an ultrasound done, hehe but just in case i wanted to be prepared. since baby was resting the last time we got an ultrasound, i wanted to see him/her moving this time. i looked online and ppl said they drank oj, cold water, coffee, mt. dew, etc...to get the baby all revved up. so since i had to eat lunch i decided to get a coffee to check this theory out. i only took about 5 sips bc i was scared to take in too much caffeine. about a half hour passed and husby and i head to our appt. the dr. did an ultrasound and whatdoyaknow...baby was kickin' up a storm! hahahah we were soooo happy to see baby moving around..hehe but afterwards i felt guilty for drinking the coffee to get the baby up=P. so i tried to tell myself that it was from all the walking around i did earlier that woke up our baby. hehehe.


just made an appt. for the ultrasound where we find out the sex of our baby. woohoo exciting! i used to think i'd care whether i had a boy or a girl first...but with it actually being here now, i really just want us to have a healthy baby! still, it is pretty exciting to find out=). and i can't wait for tomorrow...yay going to finally share our happy news with the rest of the friends/fam/coworkers. yahooooooooooooo.