Browse Tag: preggo

Christmas before Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

I hope you’re all looking forward to stuffing your faces today!  I know I am!

Last night, Jes gave me an early Christmas gift!  It came in a normal-sized Amazon.com box and inside was a smaller box – a kindle fire!  Cool!  I recently considered getting one so that I can get my magazines digitally and get rid of all my print issues to make room for Kumquat and TA-DA!  I got one!

Here are some of my preliminary thoughts after my first night playing with my new toy.

  1. It’s heavier than I expected but much smaller than Jesse’s iPad.
  2. I like the back of the device, which is a soft smooth rubber that makes it easier and more comfortable for me to hold without dropping it.
  3. The screen is glass so I can see that I’ll still need to take my other Kindle on sunny vacations if I want to read outdoors.
  4. The color display and resolution make browsing really easy on the eyes.
  5. The magazine selection is not bad.  I’m just trying to figure out how to get free issues of the magazines I already subscribe to by mail.
  6. Now I can read or browse in the dark when I’m awake in the middle of the night or early morning.
  7. I’ll be able to download children’s books in color for Kumquat to flip through later when he/she is ready.

So far, I like my new toy.  Ryan has one and apparently hates it.  I’m sure there are disadvantages over the iPad but it’s only $199 versus $499!  Thanks for the gift, Jes!  Happy Thanksgiving and Christmas to me!!

Why hello there, Kumquat.

I’m officially 18 weeks preggo today and Kumquat is now 5 1/2 inches long (the size of a pear).  I also finally got the nerve to take (and post) my first belly bump photo.  I have a short torso and wide hips so I’m curious to see how my body is going to accommodate for a growing Kumquat.  I guess you can say I’ve “popped” this week and my belly is now showing whether I want it to or not.  I’ve always been a little weirded out by other people’s pregnant bellies and that holds true with my own.  This weekend my tummy went from squishy to firm and has rounded out.

Here’s what I see from my perspective.  The wide camera angle makes me look HUGE!  Not sure I’m looking forward to the day that I won’t be able to see my feet.

Strangers are also calling me out on my new figure.  Just last week, the cashier at my hospital cafeteria said to me, “I usually get in trouble for this but I’m noticing you’ve got a bump there.”  Also, just last night as Jes and I were picking up snacks and beer for the Pacquiao fight, the cashier asked, “Would you like a bag?”  I said “no, it’s ok” and grabbed the two bags of Ruffles off the counter.  Then he looked at me and said, “OH.  I see why you don’t need a bag.  You’re pregnant.”  What’s that supposed to mean?!  Does he think I’m going to take these out of the store and devour both giant bags of chips on the sidewalk by myself?!  *sigh*  I guess it’s just a sign of more “experiences” headed my way.

By the way, I went shopping with a Gap Friends & Family 40% off coupon today and scored a pair of maternity pants for $11.38 and one of my tops costed $1.78!!!!

Popcorn

I’m at about the end of Week 17 and I gave up on trying to mask my growing belly at work this week.  On Thursday morning, I buttoned my work pants and it was U-G-L-Y.  It was also pretty snug so I finally busted out the BeBand that Ranee told me to buy from Target a few weeks ago.  It turns out to be as awesome as she described.

I basically went to work in my regular work pants on but left the top button undone and then slipped the BeBand over it to hold up my pants.  With a t-shirt over it, it just looked like I was wearing 2 layered t-shirts and I was so much more comfortable.  On Friday, I wore it again on top of my new maternity pants that are still a little too big and I didn’t have to keep pulling my pants up all day!  Genius.

Another new thing I’ve experienced this week was Kumquat kicking and squirming inside.  Every once in a while when I’m sitting still or lounging on the couch, I get this feeling of popcorn popping in my lower abdomen.  People say that it sometimes feels like gas but it’s different…the feeling comes from more in the front and to the right.  Neato.

We also got our test results back from the Quad Screen, a blood test for women over 35 years of age, that will tell us the likelihood of having a baby with a chromosomal anomaly or neural tube defect.  Everything was a big fat NEGATIVE, which is a super relief for us.  So now we’ll have to wait and see if we have a healthy kumquat in the anatomy ultrasound scheduled for Monday, 11/28.  We’ll also get to find out if it will be a boy or a girl.

We passed.

A few weeks ago, Vyl convinced Jes that he needed some practice before Kumquat arrives.  So he agreed to babysit Rowan for an evening.  On Friday night, Bang and Vyl dropped him off around 6:30 and they handed him straight over to Jesse.  I paused to see if he would cry but he didn’t!  In fact, he was totally cool with him all the way up to the condo.  Vyl left quickly and Rowan didn’t even flinch.  Instead, he was busy watching Koa who was scurrying around him on the floor.

Apparently, he LOVES dogs and it was perfect.  He spent most of the first half-hour crawling around the house and Koa enjoyed it just as much.  Don’t worry, I made sure to wipe his face and hands down before bed.

When it was around his bedtime, we prepared his bottle and he guzzled that down.  Unfortunately, he was still wired from all the excitement so we hung out for a while.  Jesse even got into the mix and read him a book and then snuggled with him with the lights turned down.

He cuddled his blanket and doggie while sucking his thumb quietly all night (just like Linus) but just couldn’t fall asleep.  At one point we put him down in the pack-and-play but then he started to cry for a good 10 minutes.

I felt bad so I brought him back out and we just hung out until he fell asleep.  It only took an extra hour for him to settle and he didn’t fuss when his parents returned.

There were a few things we learned last night: 1) our house is pretty toddler-friendly, 2) the dog is good entertainment for a toddler, and 3) we can handle this kid thing together after all.  Oh and of course, Rowan is pretty darn cute.

Here are the rest of the photos from our evening with Mini Bang.

Feeding Kumquat

On Thursday morning (11/3), I had my 3rd prenatal check-up.  It was pretty routine.  We heard Kumquat’s heartbeat with the Doppler and it was a strong 150 bpm.  The interesting part of the visit was when I told her that I had gained 3 pounds so far.  Doctor informed me that I should have gained more than that by now (at 16 weeks) so she advised me to eat more calorie-dense foods (peanut butter, ice cream, etc.) and not to worry as much about eating all my veggies and stuff.  In other words, she looked at Jes and implied that he needed to help fatten me up.  Haha.  It’s like a girl’s dream but I felt kinda sick thinking about it.  How ironic.

Luckily, that same evening, I had McWino Night planned with the girls.  It’s our spin on Happy Hour that started one night when Teresa and I ended up on the roof of my building with wine and junk food.  It later evolved to a night on the roof with McDonald’s and bottles of wine. For this go-around, we had to move it indoors since it had rained earlier in the day.

We also added nachos to the menu this time in order to celebrate the end our hospital audit.

While I was telling the girls about how I had to fatten up, I found a baby McNugget.  Isn’t it cute?  I thought so…and it was delicious.  At the end of the night, we used FaceTime to hangout with Ranee too.  Good times…

Anniversary Dinner

On Wednesday night (11/2), Jes and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary.  We drove down to Los Gatos, which is about an hour south of SF, for an epic 3.5-hour dinner at Manresa.  We opted for the tasting menu and probably had a total of 11 different little morsels.

This one was a really pretty one called “In the Garden”, which is basically a collection of vegetables and edible flowers from their organic garden on site.  The food was all very good but I was ovewhelmed by course #8.  Kumquat made a little harder for me to eat as much as I usually do so Jes finished off a lot of my dishes.

The night ended with a pair of black sesame/black licorice macarons and candles.  Cute.

Well, we definitely have plenty to celebrate this year.  It’s crazy to think that we’ve been together for 16 years and married for 9 of those years and we’ll be embarking on a new stage of our life this coming year.  Cheers!