WEEK 18: What's Happening

How Far Along:  18 weeks 1 day

Baby's Size: 6" the size of a mango

Total Weight Gain: 2.6 lbs (Woo Hoo. almost back where I was!)

Maternity Clothes? Ordered some real maternity jeans and yoga pants... nothing else seems to fit anymore.

Stretch Marks? No, but my childhood ones are QUITE visable these days. :( Still using cocoa butter, but I hate the way it feels. Wonder if the Aquaphor stuff will work just as well, its texture is a little better.

Sleep? Strange dreams abound. The other day I dreamed that I was spending time with Johanna's girls, Hannah & Haley - and that I kept hearing Johanna's voice. It was comforting to hear her voice, and what she was saying was like proverbs. Little tidbits of wisdom. It was really an interesting dream. I wish I could remember her words.

Best Moment this Week: I had been getting a little bit worried this week, because the baby moved up out of my hip bones and now sits above my hips, however I couldn't find its heart beat anymore. It was comforting to me to feel the baby's heartbeat before bed time, but for the last few days I have had trouble locating it. I did last night though, and of course everything was fine. It's not nice to play hide and seek with your Mama!

Miss Anything? Not so much this week, just sleep. I need a lot more of it these days.

Movement: A little here and a little there, with the baby sitting higher up I feel less bursts of pain because its moved away from some of the important stuff I think.

Food Cravings: Thai food, Mac & Cheese, Grilled Cheese, and Ramen noodles. Oh - AND HOSTESS CUPPYCAKES. I finally found them, and then Crescent brought me a few too! WIN! I think the news of the comeback made me crave them even more, they've only been back on shelves for 2 weeks after a 9 month hiatus.... (9 months, hehe).

What Makes you Queasy: Chicken. Like nobody's business. I also found out that apples are not a smart way to start the day, they are a little too acidic. Much better as an afternoon snack.

Gender: No idea! We have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, and then next wednesday is the 3d ultrasound for the "halfway there" checkup.

Labor signs? None

Symptoms: Exhausted, nauseous, morning sickness - still have all the first trimester ickiness... they keep telling me it will go away but I am still waiting.

Wedding Rings On or Off?  Off :(

Mood: I am feeling like a horrible wife. Thank God my husband understands, but I am sure that most husbands wouldn't understand why they aren't getting home cooked meals or having the house be cleaned all the time. It's just so hard to keep moving when I get home from work. I am EXHAUSTED. I think the last 3 weeks we have spent the most money on dining out since we bought the house. Of course I have a freezer full of food, but I just have had no memory to pull something out or the energy to actually cook something! I am going to try extra hard to do more this week. We shall see how that goes.

What's the Daddy-to-be Doing? He is amazing. On top of everything he normally does, he has been cleaning, and cooking, and taking care of us when I am sick. He even protects us from the ants that keep trying to take over our house - they attack my water glass at nighttime!

We were all so worried about Eva when we took her in for surgery on Friday and the doctor said they couldn't perform the surgery because something was array with her blood work. Come to find out their machine was wrong - and she was just fine, but of course we got charged for their error, AND Eva has to go back for the surgery. Our poor EvaDog. She really doesn't like that place!

Notes to the Little One: Your Mama was so excited when the goodies she bought from Thirty One came in - she bought them all with you in mind! Two bags to hold baby stuff, a trunk organizer for the car so stuff doesn't roll around, a bunch of organizing pouches and a clip that makes it so you can hook the bag to a stroller. Of course I am not sure if any of it will be practical until you come, but hey I tried.

Last night, Dad and I watched this documentary from National Geographic about the Science of Babies on Netflix. It was really interesting! Turns out that we are the least equipped species at birth because if we stayed in to cook to 100% the mommies wouldn't survive childbirth. So we spend 9 months in the Mommies bellies for the important growth, and then continue to grow and learn for the first year of life before we are able to maneuver the world as other primates do at birth. I hope that the National Geographic film I rented "In the Womb" comes soon, I found some info about it while searching the other day, because I am really interested in knowing what's going on in there...

After that Netflix decided to recommend us to watch "The Business of Being Born" by Rikki Lake - which wasn't as good of a movie for us, since natural birth isn't an option for your High Risk Mama. Alas, it was interesting to see how the United States has changed its views in the last 100 years. That movie however, will probably mean that we will not watch any more documentaries without the National Geographic symbol. LOL! 

WEEK 17 : What's Happening

How Far Along: 17 weeks 1 day

Baby's Size: 5.5" the size of a sweet potato

Total Weight Gain: 1.6 lbs (moving the right direction again!)

Maternity Clothes? Starting to need maternity tops.

Stretch Marks? No

Sleep? Last night I had a terrible dream about a big bridge full of cars that was falling. It was not a fun dream at all!

Best Moment this Week: Jeremy surprised me Saturday with seeing Despicable Me 2 at the movies! I just love those minions! 

Miss Anything? Peanut butter. I made one of Alicias recipes with it yesterday during meal prep and it smelled soooooo good. I wish my tummy let me eat it. I really want some spicy peanut sauce. 

Movement: A little bit here and there. I think its you... Dr said it probably is. :)

Food Cravings: Asian noodles are still winning this race.

What Makes you Queasy: Chicken. Peanut butter. pickles (nothing new there).

Gender: No idea!

Labor signs? None

Symptoms: Lack of comfort in every position. nausea. Exhaustion. worry 

Wedding Rings On or Off?  Off :(

Mood: I honestly can't believe its monday! My legs hurt so much from meal prep yesterday.  I dont think I'll be able to do it next month. probably will require a volunteer helper every month till the baby comes.

What's the Daddy-to-be Doing? He is still working on that big exchange project. He was very upset when the school director tried to break the rules and broke everything he had done! Thankfully he got it back up and told the guy he needs to tell anyone that has issue about the new protocol, but he can't make the exception. He's learning parenting skills already! 

Notes to the Little One: You are definitely taking all of my energy these days. I feel spent after only a little bit of exertion.  I was really scared the other day when I woke unable to move. The pain I felt was near my heart and it scared me a lot. I called auntie Jenna since she knows alot about muscles and she asked me lots of questions.  She said it sounded like I had injured my sternum. We figured it out that it was probably because of my new car is much lower than my lexus was, and being pregnant I have to stand up differently. She told me some stretches to do and they helped SO MUCH. I'm so glad I had her help. I'm sure the doctors would have tested me for everything because I am pregnant and made me really scared with what they thought might be happening (that too is a side effect of being considered high risk! ).

WEEK 16: What's Happening

How Far Along:  16 weeks 1 day

Baby's Size: a little over 4.5" the size of an avocado

Total Weight Gain: 1 lbs lost two last week :(

Maternity Clothes? Skirts & Pants, though I did buy 2 tops just in case.

Stretch Marks? No

Sleep?  ALL THE TIME. This weekend I took a nap on Saturday before my concert and then Sunday I went to bed at 7pm! It was a little broken but when I woke it would only be for an hour or so.

Best Moment this Week: There were a few! I started to feel you kicking! To me its like someone is tapping me with a finger, but sometimes it hurts because you are kicking the wrong thing! :) Another was that you went to your FIRST concert this weekend! You got to see New Kids on the Block and 98 degrees! :) They were some of my faves back in the day. You didn't complain at all so we figure you must have liked it too. ;)

Miss Anything?  I miss sushi - we passed by our fave place to go after our appointment with Dr. Medrano, and the taste of my favorite rolls flashed through my brain. I REALLY wanted to stop, but I couldn't remember if it was all cooked or if there was some raw fish in it too, so we skipped it.

Movement: I felt kicks! I also notice when you move from one side of my abdomen to the other.. its a very strange sensation.

Food Cravings: Ice Cream. Macaroni & Cheese. Chili Dogs (just the once). I didn't give in to the glass of milk, because it always made me sick before. I find it very odd that you like something that your dad AND I can't have normally. :)

What Makes you Queasy: Anytime I go more than 3 hours without eating. This week I would get sick when something is greasy, and I can taste the grease! YUCK!

Gender: No idea! Doctor says we may find out at our next appointment, if not the next week is our 20 week 3d scan.

Labor signs? None

Symptoms: Sleepy, Hungry, Nauseous, Morning Sickness, Food Aversions... Wondering when they will go away so I can 'enjoy' my second trimester like everyone claims I should. :P

Wedding Rings On or Off?  On a  necklace around my neck.

Mood: Exhausted, (after 10 hours of sleep) but happy. I had a great weekend. There were

What's the Daddy-to-be Doing? Being very helpful, he helped me clean the house in time for my party! :) I got to have a fun day with the girls as a result. He has been working a lot, too. He has a really big project that he is trying to finish this week. Hopefully it won't be delayed again, I can see that it is pretty stressful on him.

Notes to the Little One: Why must you make your Mama so tired!? After the party yesterday I could barely keep my eyes open. I honestly don't remember what movie Papa was watching, I just remember Daffy Duck and Brendan Frasier... Must have been Looney Tunes or something. I started dozing a minute or two later, and finally around 7pm your dad put me in bed. He must have been tired too because he said he cleaned up a little and came to bed too. We woke up at midnight, and I thought it best to eat something so that you weren't starving when I woke up. I think you enjoyed your first midnight snack! Little Man did, too. He loves it when Mama shares. (Who can say no to that little face!?) We went back to sleep a little later and then were rudely awakened by his alarm (AT 4AM!) that he slept through. Of course we couldn't go back to sleep after that, until he actually got up. (It's really hard to fall back asleep when someone is snoring :[ ).

Papa is really excited about your next appointment. He is anxious to find out what flavor you are, and so are all of our friends and family. We would be happy either way of course, but I think he just want's to start to call you by name. Are you a Maddox Soren? Or are you a Violette Elora? Dad told me the other day that he was practicing calling your names in his car. He want's to make sure that he sounds really stern when he gets mad at you so you don't think he is kidding. HE IS SO SILLY! I am sure he will be a great Dad. Hopefully you will be happy to show us if you are a boy or a girl so that he can only practice one name from now on. {Your last picture (above) wasn't very good. I am guessing that its a view of your head and your shoulder, but I don't really see it.OUCH! Why did you just kick me in the nerve for!? You must know what I just wrote. LOL} Don't worry, I told him he wouldn't need to yell at you until you are at least 1 year old and doing something dangerous, so he has plenty of time to get it right.

WEEK 15: What's Happening

How Far Along:  15 weeks 1 day

Baby's Size: 4" the size of an apple

Total Weight Gain:  still only 3 lbs - I think that's good! 

Maternity Clothes? Bottoms... just skirts and pants.

Stretch Marks? No, but keeping to my cocoa butter regimen.

Sleep? Some days hard as a log and others broken with anxiety dreams. 

Best Moment this Week: Seeing my friend Kyla who was visiting from Instanbul! We went to Salt Creek for the brunch buffet and it was delicious!  :)

Miss Anything?  halibut. Oh how I wanted SCG's halibut yesterday! I settled with a pasta bar and aebleskivers!

Movement: I'm not sure. I have been feeling strange things this week but the books say you don't feel them until the 16th to 20th wk... but I think its possible that its the baby. I had a lot of other symptoms early so I am gonna ask Dr M this Wednesday. 

Food Cravings: Brownies. I haven't given in yet but they were my daddy's favorite and I'm missing him quite a bit right now. His birthday is tomorrow.... he would be turning 73! (The old coot!) Other than that I usually go for vegetarian options like beans and cheese... strange for me because I've never been a fan of Latin cuisine. 

What Makes you Queasy: chicken. Still - though its getting worse! And fish. And whenever my belly is empty.

Gender: No idea!

Labor signs? None

Symptoms: still nauseous and have morning sickness.  Food aversions and exhaustion too.  Oh! And my nails are growing like mad! See pic! I am REALLY looking forward to my mani pedi this week!

Wedding Rings On or Off?  around my neck! They were wavering between snug and loose so I found an amazing necklace option from lia sophia that resembled a look I found on etsy... but its retail was 20 $ less and its super versatile. You can wear it tons of different ways, both long and short! It comes with three detachable chains and two 'genius' clasps - I like it because it makes me feel safe putting my treasured wedding rings on it. See pic attached! Its called Classified.

Mood: sleepy. Seems to be the only nap times I'll take in life come with pregnancy!

What's the Daddy-to-be Doing? he is still not sleeping because hes worried. We did our revised budget yesterday and of course were going to survive. So hopefully he can calm down a little. He is starting to freak out about his health too (though his physical came back with high marks) he has decided to 'get healthy' and stay that way.

Notes to the Little One: This week was my deadline week - (Which explained the mad rush to buy a new car last week). It went pretty smoothly but I didn't get to take part in any 4th of July festivities because I had to work. Around 845pm your dad and I went out front to see if there were any fireworks that we could see from the house and no luck. We went in to sit on the couch and then at 9pm the garage started changing colors! That meant that they must be pretty close. We went back out front to find THREE fireworks shows within our sight line! One was directly acrossed the street and one block or two over, if we set up camp chairs in front of mommy's office we could see EVERYTHING! :) The other was by the polytech high school, and yet another was towards downtown NoHo. How fun that our new house is good for fireworks watching! Poor Chance was TERRIFIED of the noises they made. He was hiding his face so far beneath my legs that I thought he would suffocate. He then proceeded to climb under your daddy too. The noises must have reminded him of his Oxnard past life... we like to joke that he was raised in the ghetto.. but after this behavior it seems it's quite the possibility. Poor little guy. Eva was totally fine right up until she actually SAW one explode over her head and there was a giant light show! She freaked out so much that she was clawing and screeching and begging us to put her back inside. And so we did. The fireworks made me feel a little better for missing out on all the fun festivities that happen on Independence Day.

Note to my readers: It seems my week 13 post has been lost in cyberspace! I will have to just re-add a blurb about my midwife visit for that week. So sad... I remember there was funny quips and silly stories in that one. :(

WEEK 14: What's Happening

How far along: 14 weeks 1 day - SECOND TRIMESTER HERE WE COME!

Baby's Size: The size of a lemon - approximately 3.5"

Total weight gain: 3

Maternity clothes? Yes!

Stretch marks? No. But the Cocoa Butter Regime is in effect!

Sleep: This weekend was exhausting so both nights I slept rather well. Thursday and Friday were rough with Lily the Lexus dying on me - I had some terrible dreams on Thursday, and then Friday I dreamed that I was taking an airplane to Seoul, Korea in a very strange airport with very tiny staircases. It was scary until I saw that Agnes was there with Joan and Nick, and Jeremy was with them. Less scary then. Funny thing is that I ended up buying a Korean car the next day!

Best moment this week: Buying a new car & getting to see my GRAMMA CHAR!! :)

Miss Anything? Easy lunches. :(

Food cravings: Pinto Beans - the boiled kind - not refried.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Chicken, Peanut Butter, you know - all the things I ate before you were in control.

Gender: Nothing yet - we should know by August.

Labor Signs: Nope

Symptoms: Abdominal discomfort, bloating, nausea, crazy dreams and more!


Wedding rings on or off? On - my Lia Sophia necklace with the large clasps should be here by Friday so I can see how it looks.


Happy or Moody most of the time: The fear is subsiding slowly, and the excitement is settling in. I definitely need more naps now to keep my stress level down.


Looking forward to: Completing another deadline this week. (And not having morning sickness anymore)

What's the Daddy-to-be doing? Working on a deadline of his own. Something about a school with linyx that he hates and transfering it over to exchange or something big like that - hes been doing the footwork for months but this week is the implementation - since the schools are out for summer and the all year staff is off this week for the 4th of July - now he can work on it. Fingers crossed it gets done!

Notes to the Little One: This week was pretty emotional for Mommy. Her very first big purchase, Lily the Lexus got sick and had to be replaced. She was my favorite thing for 6 years, and searching for a replacement was very trying. And the 108 degree weather didn't help that. We looked at my favorite choice first, and then went and looked at the competition. The Kia was just an all over better car - it ran smoother than the others, it had more features and cost less - and it had a better warranty and better lease options. Of course we both felt that we had wasted time with the other companies, but honestly we wouldn't have known how good of a buy it was if we hadn't tried them. So after hours of searching we returned to Kia and were amazed at how easy and quick the paperwork was. Never have we heard of a car deal going so smoothly. We arrived at 530 and were done with all of our paperwork - set to the specifics that we requested, signed and had the keys in our hand - (complete with a walk-through of the cars features completely setup - like Bluetooth and maintenance schedule) in less than 1 hour! Needless to say we were impressed. 

Yesterday Mommy went to see Laura, Claudia and Gramma Char for Laura's baby shower - her baby girl will be born just 2 months before you! :) It was so nice to see them, and we were all excited to see Gramma Char - It's so funny how we turn into little girls when she is around. The day was filled with fun, except the news of Gram's doggie passing away a few weeks ago. Heidi was a sweetheart and Gramma's best friend - and she will definitely be missed. 

Note to my readers! We took a belly pic at the office on Friday, June 28th - I will try to update it as often as we can so you can see progress - but there is definitely something growing in there. My lower abdomen has gone up almost 2 pant sizes and I have only gained 3 lbs! (Please no fat jokes! I'm entering the 'sensitive' stage of pregnancy!)