Everyone likes pictures

Wow, it's been over a month since the last post.  Hubs has been asking me when I was going to update this thing.  Sorry, I've been busy doing some contract work and it's kept me busy.  I've been driving into work with hubs at 6:30am (NOT a morning person zzz~) and putting in 10+ hour days so needless to say, I've been coming home and going straight to the kitchen to eat then crashing into bed.  I have the next few days off until I start another project so this is as good of a time as any to update.  Thanks be to God for consistent work and extra income, especially at a time when interviewing is difficult and getting is job is probably near impossible.  I mean, I can only hide my pregnancy belly so much & the reality is nobody hires a woman who is going to have to take maternity leave right after she starts.  Anyway, as you can imagine, lots have happened and I'll try to update as best as I can remember or as long as my pregnancy brain allows.

Ok, so I've decided that this is going to be a mostly pictorial post.  We all like pictures don't we?

Yea, fist pump!!  

Baby agrees with mama that pictorial post is way to go.  :)

Baby daddy & I went to check out baby stuff and you better believe it, we parked in the reserved parking spot for expectant moms.  It was glorious.  The parking space, not so much the wandering aimlessly/cluelessly in a baby store.  I've NEVER, in my 30+ years of life, struggled while shopping until I walked into Babies R Us.  Other than diapers, neither one of us had heard of half the stuff these stores carry.  Diaper genie?  Here's my kid's dirty diaper, now grant me my wish?!

Flowers from hubby.  

Just thought they were so unique.

This one time, I went to the urgent care center for an inhaler and ended up in the emergency room.  Sometime towards the end of the 1st trimester, I experienced chest pains and had trouble breathing.  Thinking it was my body adjusting to altitude after a trip to Florida but wanting to be cautious, hubby and I went to the local urgent care.  I will spare you all the boring details of our all night ordeal, but after seeing an incompetent doctor at urgent care, I was sent to the ER where I was further probed, tested, and evaluated by the over cautious doctors and nurse practitioners until they concluded that everything was fine & sent us on our merry way with an inhaler.  Moving on. . .

. . .Banana bread.  

Hubby brought home a big ole bag of bananas to bake.  Kinda funny how he asks for it too.  "Oh, the bananas were going bad so I thought you might like to make your famous banana bread."  Ok hubby, let me put on my little apron & Suzy homemaker hat and whip up some banana bread real quick.  Actually, I don't mind at all.  I've neglected cooking or baking (ok, so any household chores) during the 1st trimester so I owe it to my hubs whose been picking up the slack. Besides, baking is a stress relief for me and I'm just glad I have my energy back to make something.

Glorious 84 cent slices of New York Style pizza.  

A local pizza joint was celebrating their anniversary with throwback prices so we treated ourselves to a few mega slices one evening.   I'm usually not a big pizza eater but baby didn't seem to mind.  Now that I think about it, I've probably eaten more pizza while pregnant than I normally do.  Hmm, I'm pretty sure the baby isn't part Italian.  Maybe I should check with the mailman.  Just kidding, hubs.  :P

Yummm, watermelon.  Not sure if it's a true pregnancy craving or something I just wanted over the summer.  Either way, it was delicious and I took a picture.

Before you think this is turning into a food blog, let me explain the above picture.  Hubs has been doing all the cooking while I've been "baking the bun in the oven" so a very generous friend of ours from Church prepared us a chicken dinner (pictured).  This woman should win mother of the century.  She has 4 beautiful children ranging from ages 3 to 13 with different food allergies/dietary restrictions, and health issues.  In order to feed her family, she raises her own chickens, grows her own fruits/veggies, fishes, and hunts for game.  Oh, did I mention that she home schools her children and brings her family down to volunteer with hubby's office once a week?  Yea, I think she might be wonder woman.  Despite her already busy/hectic schedule, she wanted to make us dinner so that hubs could have a night off of cooking.  Really, it should have been the other way around!  On another occasion, she baked us an apple pie and already offered to watch our baby free of charge.  Her joy is contagious and she's offered so much support for us materially, emotionally, and spiritually.  I hope we can find a way to repay her somehow.

Speaking of generosity, people have been so incredibly generous to us this past year.  I should write a whole blog post on how giving people have been to us.  We celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary last month and the number of people that remembered our anniversary really surprised us.  We received calls, cards, and gifts from all over.  A law school friend and bridesmaid of mine sent the above pictured card and baby's first onesie (at least I don't think she meant for either hubby or me to fit into it).  My mom gave us $200 to go out to dinner and hubby's parents sent $60 for ice cream (oh, ice cream, they know their way to a pregnant woman's heart!).  The Bishop who presided over our wedding happened to be in town for a conference a few days before our anniversary so we met up and he treated us to dinner.  On the eve of our anniversary, our Church Pastor treated us to a musical.  For our 1st anniversary, hubby woke me up with a basket of gifts.  We exchanged gifts, mostly consisting of paper goods, then headed to Church where hubby had put in our anniversary as the Mass intention.  We spent the day together going to brunch, eating our 1 year anniversary cake, and watching our wedding video at home.  We continued celebrating our love by going to dinner at a fondue restaurant the next day. . .we joked that it was our longest dinner to date (3+ hours!) & hope that we love being in each other's presence for the rest of our lives.

^Not our 1 year anniversary cake but still delicious.  

A piece of red velvet cake (my favorite) hubby brought home for me.

Bagpipers starting off the Great American Beer Festival

Hubby and I volunteer at the GABF as responsible pourers of beer for breweries each year.  Last year, we missed out because we were on our honeymoon but this year, we volunteered and managed to drag hubby's cousin into slavery volunteering.  We, well, hubby and his cousin, poured for a brewer from Chicago who specialized in botanical beers.  It was a great time but such a different experience being at a beer festival while pregnant (read, sober).  I did take the smallest sip known to man of the beers we were pouring. . .hey, gotta know what I'm serving.

See, baby is all good.

Isn't he/she a cutie?  I always thought it was weird when people looked at ultrasound pictures and thought the creepy fuzzy white/black alien looking figure in the image was cute.  But now I get it.  Our baby wiggles around a lot so the ultrasound tech had a hard time getting good images.  Like father like baby?  Our baby also refused to put his/her arm down so we could only see part of the face.  Baby is already letting us know whose boss.

Profile of baby at 20 weeks

By the way, my mom says the baby looks like a boy.  Ok, mom!  Haha.

We decided not to find out the sex of the baby.  50/50 chance it's a boy or a girl.  Funny how it's driving people around us crazy but we don't mind not knowing.  I have to say though, initially, I thought we were having a girl but the way this baby is kicking and moving around, I'm starting to lean towards boy.  Either way, we love this baby so much already.  I kinda feel bad that hubby can't experience the kicks but then again, he doesn't have to experience the morning sickness, vomiting, and weight gain that comes along with the pregnancy so it's kinda fair.  Hubs has felt a few kicks but overall, the normally very active baby stops moving when daddy puts his hand on my stomach. . .maybe his touch is calming?  It's amazing how protective we are over this baby already. . .hope we aren't some crazy overprotective first time parents once the baby is born.

I interrupt this blog post with a very important PSA.  Get out & VOTE!

Hubs thought it was funny we put our ballots in our trick-or-treat bucket.

23 weeks and 17 more to go!  

I "popped" and became more noticeably pregnant at about 20 weeks.  The pregnancy belly kind of came out of nowhere.  Don't get me wrong, I was steadily gaining weight and not fitting into my clothes for weeks but at around 20 weeks, my pregnancy was harder to hide.  The receptionist at the office I was working at stopped and said to me, "I have to ask you something."  Though I was there for about a month by then, she said she didn't notice and until one random day she noticed my "popped" belly.  To her relief, I confirmed my pregnancy so she didn't have to worry about asking me if I was pregnant when I wasn't. 

At our last doctor's appointment, my blood pressure was reading high and my hands/feet were swollen so the doctor had me get tested for pre-eclampsia.  What you see above is not orange juice or tide laundry detergent but an empty container for 24 hour urine collection.  TMI?  Ah, well.  You know, these doctors are so worried about medial malpractice lawsuits they are too over cautious I think.  Maybe it's better to be safe than sorry?  The evening of said appointment, hubs got into a situation with a parking attendant in front of the office I was working at at the time and was in a really foul mood when he picked me up.  This along with driving in circles looking for the doctor's office, which we had been to before, must have raised my blood pressure.  Not sure where the swelling came from but it's mysteriously gone down a lot.  My right butt pain that I've been experiencing was confirmed as common/normal by my doctor and mom friends.  It too is gone now but it was the oddest and funniest thing.  Anyway, doctor called me the other day to confirm that all is fine and I do not have pre-eclampsia.  Doctor did say to monitor my blood pressure & I've been teasing hubby about my blood pressure whenever I ask him to do something he doesn't want to.  Next up, chugging orange drink for the glucose test.  Hope all is fine there as well.

Whose belly is growing faster?

Notice my shoes?  Those are the only pair of shoes I can wear comfortably right now.  Therefore, whether it's after Labor Day or whether it matches my outfit, I've got them on my feet.  That, or flip flops but I can't wear flip flops all the time. . .especially to work.  Hubby treated me to a pair of boots over the weekend.  With my swollen legs and feet, I was shocked that I actually fit into boots. . .even if they are one whole size bigger than my normal size.

Yesterday's texts between hubby and I

I get these weekly updates about the progress of the pregnancy and baby's growth.  The updates usually includes a size comparison of the baby with a fruit/vegetable.  One week, the baby was the size of a lemon and another week, the baby was the size of a head of broccoli.  Well, this week, I received an email saying that our baby was the size of a rutabaga.  What?!  Who writes these things?  Could they find a more obscure fruit/veggie?

Alright, well I think this post was long enough.  Besides, I've run out of pictures.  I'm using these next few days off work to sleep in, catch up with some friends, and take more pictures so I can update this nifty little blog that nobody reads.

O'H kay bye~!

Off topic

I know I haven't updated the blog in a while and have a full update written but I decided to publish something else today. . .

You see, today is my dad's birthday.  He would have been 77 this year.  Nope, not talking about my grandfather. . .though a lot of people mistook us for grandfather/daughter.  It's funny how offended I used to get when people thought my dad was my grandfather.  Legend says that I punched a little boy in my CCD class after the boy asked me if my dad was my grandfather.  Secretly, I think that was a proud moment for my dad as I don't ever remember getting in trouble for it.

My dad and I had a very special relationship.  Many people claim that they have/had a special father-daughter relationship but I am confident that none was more special than mine.  My dad taught me what love means, what sacrifice looks like, and how a man should treat a woman.  When I was little, my dad told me that I was the angel that he and my mom prayed for. . .and his love proved to me how much he believed that to be true.  I remember my dad coming home for lunch to spend 30 extra minutes of his day with me.  Once I started school, my dad prepared a bowl of cereal and left it on my desk for me to eat before heading to school.  He waited for my school bus at a bus stop near his office so he could wave to me before he headed into work and my school bus continued en route to school.  My dad traded his promotion to sleep on the floor while I was in the hospital awaiting my surgeries.  For long car rides, he turned the backseat of our Volvo into a suite using pillows and blankets so that I would be comfortable.  Spoiled some might say, but these were ways my dad showed me love and how an angel should be taken care of.

My dad always made me feel wanted and I loved his company too.  I loved going to my dad's softball games and playing in the pond next to the field looking for frogs.  Going to the library meant more than watching my dad read his newspapers off long wooden sticks (remember those?) and checking out books. . .it meant spending a Saturday afternoon with my dad.  I was embarrassed by my dad's singing but I tagged along with him every Wednesday so we could eat dinner at Burger King and go to his choir practice together.  Our daddy/daughter dates to the zoo was something I looked forward to even when I came home from college.  Our bond was special and thicker than any blood and
stronger than any glue.

There is not a day that goes by that I don't miss my goofy, lovable dad.  I miss the silly man who told his friends that he and my mom would be staying at my dorm to save money when they made the trip to my college graduation. . .I think/hope he was joking though I'll never know for sure since he died just months before my graduation.  I miss our daily phone calls, his little coded notes, and his bear hugs.  I wish he was still alive so I didn't have to miss him.

Last night, hubby asked me what characteristics my dad had that he doesn't.  Sure, my dad & hubby share many things. . .from their love for the Red Sox to their preference for walking/public transportation but they share more similarities than that.  I sat quiet while trying to think of something and realized how much my hubby is like my dad. . .at least in the way he loves me.   For a long time, I didn't think I would marry because my dad had set such high standards for love and how I should be treated.  I didn't ever think it would be possible for any man to come close to my dad. . .an unfair standard I set for myself.  However, each day, my hubby shows me that yes, it is possible to be loved as if I am an angel sent from God.

As the baby grows inside of me and we await the baby's arrival in a few months, I wish my dad was still here with us physically.  He was so amazing with babies/children and they loved him right back.  Though my dad isn't here on earth, I hope that our baby/ies will know him through our love.

Happy Birthday Daddy. . .hope you're celebrating your beautiful life today.

Celebrate!

Lots to celebrate!

Last month, we took a trip down to Florida for hubby's cousin's wedding.  We were so excited to witness the lovely couple exchange vows and celebrate their love.  I'd never been to a semi-Jewish wedding so it was fun to experience everything from the ceremony under the chuppa to chair dance with Israeli music.  Typical hubby, shed a tear or two during the ceremony. . .what can I say?  I have a sensitive man (who isn't afraid to show it).  He was overjoyed to see his cousin get married as she (and probably the rest of the family) had been waiting for a long time to find her love. . .and it was well worth the wait!

Yay, to a new life as a married couple!

When we left for Florida, I was just at the end of my first trimester and still not feeling that well.  In preparation of the nausea, I made sure to pack plenty of saltines, apples, medicine, and sweets.  I made sure I was well medicated & rested during the trip.

My exciting carry on. . .contents to be replaced by diapers & bottles in 2015.

With the exception of smelly towels in the laundry, a boat ride out to the ocean, & the heat during the wedding ceremony (where one of the wedding guests was starring me down while I stuffed my face with saltines), I was feeling better than I had during the previous weeks of the pregnancy.  In fact, towards the end of the trip, I was wondering if the 2nd trimester magic that I heard about was really happening.  Wahoo~!!

Ah~ so relaxing

Of course, the first thing I did went we arrived at home from Florida was throw up. . .actually I didn't even make it into the house.  I threw up a few more times after coming back home and haven't thrown up since last Wednesday.  I'm happy to report that I have been feeling much better, less tired, and not so sensitive to smells.  Now that I'm feeling better, I've been antsy to get out of the house and I think hubby's happy that I've been asking him to go on walks with me.

Date night at the Botanic Gardens to see the Chihuly exhibit

Oh, we also started telling our friends about our pregnancy.  Some said they figured since I wasn't drinking and others were surprised.  One of our friends took us out to ice cream & joked about naming the baby after her (luckily, she has a unisex name).

Why does ice cream taste better when you're pregnant?

Two of our friends were due on the 7th.  One of them had a beautiful baby girl yesterday & the other friend is in labor anxiously awaiting the arrival of their baby boy.

From marriage, family, to new life. . .it is an exciting time right now and there's a lot to celebrate!

Much to Celebrate

July has been a month of non stop celebrations.

Starting with 4th of July - pig roast, fireworks, friends, parties, & lots of illegal fireworks in our neighborhood.

Concert & fireworks at city/county building

Then off to the Colorado Irish Festival

Outdoor Mass.  Hubs is on left w/the choir (!!!).  

Don't worry, he was just recruited to serve as a Eucharistic Minister

All the celebrations went to my head & I got a little cocky with food.  Oh, don't worry, baby put mama in her place.  I was not able to keep anything down on Sunday.

Plain noodles w/parmesan hubs made me at 11pm

Unfortunately, this also didn't stay in my stomach

Also, what is it about July & hamburgers?  Until the smell of hamburgers started making me queazy, I never really noticed how every party, BBQ, & festivals in July serve burgers.

Doctor advised me to just go ahead and take the nausea medicine on a regular basis to relieve nausea.  Too bad she couldn't tell me when the nausea would stop.  A quick Google search says that it gets better in the 2nd trimester so there is hope.

Yesterday, we went to a going away party where the theme was an imaginary redneck town, Krackerville.  The guest of honor has been creating a silly village full of characters and families, some more offensive, than others for years.  We feasted on the usual Krackerville favorites - alligators (aka chicken), whole pig, etc.  Guests dressed up & played the part of their character.  In Krackerville, Hubs is a used car salesman named Jubal married to me, Cypriana Mae.  Our dear friend is headed off to Boston and his quirkiness will be missed.

A mansion turned into Krackerville for the day

Anxious hubby has been wanting to announce our pregnancy so we created a little announcement to send to family & friends.  He called most of his family & friends.  I haven't mentioned anything to my extended family or friends yet. . .hubby & I agree it's a cultural thing.

We are off to visit hubby's family for a family wedding.  We're excited to see everyone, celebrate with family, & take in some fresh ocean breeze.

Worrywart

Pregnancy changed me. . .my health, energy level, and in some ways my personality.  I noticed that I've become more paranoid and worry about every little thing.

I worry about the baby, any small symptoms (or lack thereof) I have, whether bleeding means I miscarried, if skipping prenatal vitamins because even the thought of taking it makes me nauseous harms the baby, whether my next meal might make me throw it all up, my husband and how exhausted he must be working & taking care of me, whether we'll be able to afford the expenses of having & raising a human being, not to mention finding a job before I start showing. . .worry, worry, worry.  Worrying probably isn't good for the baby (see - worrying again!).  And, probably is due to my lack of faith.

My whole life, though I've relied heavily on God, I still find it hard to "let go & let God."  Letting go of control is not my strong suit.  Ok, so the piles of laundry and dirty house probably say otherwise.  See, my personal mantra is "if you want it done right, do it yourself" and I absolutely hate asking for help.  It's not so much that I don't appreciate the help, it's more the feeling of I SHOULDN'T be asking for help & asking for help makes me uncomfortable.  <Insert only child stereotype>  My normal control freak self would quit worrying about everything and get everything done.  This pregnancy, however, turned the control freak into a worrywart.  I guess it's some sort of coping strategy.  This is where my loving husband brings me down to earth & humbles me.   He lets me know that I can ask for his help (& he WANTS to help), that he'll help me clean the house, doesn't mind running to the grocery store for my latest craving (even if I end up changing my mind), and reassures me that everything will be a ok.  He doesn't try to take on the world himself. . .he's a total team player - sometimes a captain, at times the 6th man, and always a cheerleader.  He asks for help, he leans on people, and he prays.  His vulnerability is his strength.  Letting go and trusting allows my husband to be free of worry.

Where is the light at the end of the tunnel?

Why didn't anyone tell me how awful the 1st trimester is?  Why does this feel like some kind of cruel hazing that women keep hush about until someone gets pregnant?

To say I feel sick, awful, tired, nauseous, and fatigued would be the understatement of the year.  I just don't even know who I am right now.  My A-type personality has gone out the window and the laundry is piling up higher than the Rockies.  My mom says I shouldn't complain or even pray for relief since the pregnancy symptoms are included in the gift package called life.  While I agree and feel somewhat guilty about complaining, I just want to feel normal again.

I hate asking my husband to stop the car so I can throw up on the side of the road.  I don't like being able to smell everything like some trained police sniffer dog.  I dislike laying in bed all day and being so unproductive.  I would like to eat something other than saltines and plain soup like some patient recovering from surgery.

Ok, so I had a craving for a cinnamon roll last week and ate this surprise goodness from hubby in 1 bite.

My best day so far was Monday at the baseball game with my husband's co-workers.  Our baby clearly loves baseball as much as we do because mama was feeling good at the game. . .indulging in 9 innings of baseball, salty nachos, and sweet soft serve ice cream.

Baby is a baseball fan already.

Other times, I lay in bed crying to my poor tired husband about what a crappy wife I've been.  He snores through most of my teary apologies and rants but wakes up to hand me tissues and to tell me he would continue to take care of me for 6 months, 60 months, and 60 years.  Did I win the husband lottery or what?

Ok, so I'm complaining a lot.  There are women who pray to get pregnant and would give anything to experience what I'm going through.  There are women who are going through pregnancy alone, without the love and support of a husband like mine.  I will try to offer up my misery and sickness in prayer for these women (when I can remember and not throw myself a pity party).  After all, I will be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel in just 7 short months.

Eventful weekend

This weekend was full of excitement.

We finally had our housewarming/blessing on Saturday.  About 50 of our closest friends showed up for the blessing and BBQ.  The weather stayed nice all day even though clouds hovered over our house.  Hubby and I were not feeling 100% but rallied to make the party happen.  There were times I just wanted to cancel but I knew how much hubby was looking forward to finally having people over at our house.  The preparation and party must've taken a toll on my body because Sunday was not a good day for me health wise.

I went to the bathroom on Sunday morning and found blood in my urine.  We called the Dr. on call and she said to keep monitoring but that I didn't need to run to the emergency room since I wasn't feeling any sharp pains or cramps.  We prayed and asked for Mary's intercession.  It was a scary couple of hours.  I slept most of day and then woke up in time for Church.  When I woke up, I felt extremely nauseous and ran to the bathroom, I hovered over the toilet and threw up for the first time.  I haven't had much to eat except some saltines so I'm not sure what it is that came up but I felt terrible.  I still managed to make it to Mass.  I called my OBGYN's office this morning to confirm what the on call Dr told me on Sunday.  The nurse said unless I bleed again or have severe cramps, I don't need to run to the ER.   Poor hubby, feeling sick himself, had to play caregiver again. . .rubbing my back and taking care of me.  Praying that the rest of the pregnancy is uneventful and smooth sailing.