Nursery

So your father and I spent an amazing amount of time getting your room ready for your big arrival! Dad and Granma painted the room for, and I brought you all the stuff and bossed your poor Dad around. I hope you love it as much as we do.

I saw stripes on a website that someone else had done up for their nursery, and me and your Dad just loved it, so we decided to do that as well. We choose apple green and white as your colours  cause it's bright and cheerful. Plus, Mommy has never been one for gender specific colours.

So, Mommy actually wanted a cartoon monkey on the walls, but me and your Dad couldn't find the decals anywhere so we went with this nursery rhyme instead. Dad did an amazing job on your room didn't he?

Me, Ba Wai and Di Diana hanging out in your room. They approve!

Here's your big brother Rhino testing out your crib for you. He wanted to make sure it was safe for you to be in. Isn't he the best?

Baby Shower

So your Auntie Mary and Ba Wai threw us an amazing baby shower. Here are some pics from that day that your Auntie Mary took.

We got to play baby nursery rhyme Jeopardy  This is when your mother realizes she didn't know any nursery rhymes at all.

Everyone had a fun time playing this one.

Me and your Auntie Linda. She had the most amazing basket stuffed full of stuff.

Your Granma with her big bag of goodies.

Auntie Chantal and the book she added to your library. I remember reading this one to your Auntie Diana and Uncle Matthew when they were little.

Auntie Martha with your first aid and grooming kit!

Your Autie Diana with her never ending box of presents for you. She started buying stuff the day she found out about you.

And Auntie Mary, who brought you some amazing onesies and threw a party for you. She did an amazing job.

Me and your big brother Rhino wants to thank everyone for making this day special and for building your library. Hopefully, it will be as big as your Mom's one day.

31 Weeks!

How far along? 31 weeks. They moved the due date to Jan 2 instead of Jan 8. 

Total weight gain: 12.5 pounds. 

Maternity clothes? Nope. Just buying clothes in large and extra large.

Stretch marks? No stretch marks yet. This makes me happy!

Sleep: Sleep? What's that? I haven't had a good night sleep in forever. 

Best moment last week:  Getting the nursery all done up! All I need is some good decals for the wall. 

Miss Anything? Nope! 

Movement: She likes to kick whenever I am trying to sleep or nap still. 

Food cravings: Anything with carbs. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Only when I have had nothing to eat yet. She seems to like everything. Sometimes if she doesn't, I will puke it all up. 

Gender: It's a GIRL. =)

Labor Signs: Had a scare with gush of liquid coming out of me. Ended up in Labor and Delivery but it turned out fine. The membranes weren't ruptured.  

Symptoms: Still my lower back hurting. Sometimes my legs start to cramp up. 

Belly Button in or out? It's still and innie, but I can feel it moving outwards.

Wedding rings on or off? Off. They are now on a necklace around my neck. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody. Very moody.  

Looking forward to: Getting some much needed time off to relax. Doc might put me on bed rest. 

Maternity Pictures

Dear Aria,

So me and you and Daddy decided to do a maternity shoot to show off how excited we are to have you. Your big brother Rhino also came along for the ride. Your Dad and Grandma Blondeel have started your nursery, and it looks great so far. I can't wait for you to get here.

Love,

Mom

27 Weeks!!!

How far along? 27 weeks and one day. 13 more weeks to go. 

Total weight gain: 10.5 pounds. 

Maternity clothes? Got the Bella Band and loving it so far! I'm on the small size so I have been just buying clothes in Large.

Stretch marks? No stretch marks yet. This makes me happy!

Sleep: Sleeping well and like a dead person. Though sometimes it is hard to fall asleep. 

Best moment last week:  Seeing my family for Thanksgiving!

Miss Anything? Nope! 

Movement: She likes to kick whenever I am trying to sleep or nap still. 

Food cravings: Anything with carbs. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Only when I have had nothing to eat yet. She seems to like everything. Sometimes if she doesn't, I will puke it all up. 

Gender: It's a GIRL. =)

Labor Signs: None yet. Let's keep our fingers crossed here.  

Symptoms: Still my lower back hurting. Sometimes my legs start to cramp up. 

Belly Button in or out? It's still and innie, but I can feel it moving outwards.

Wedding rings on or off? Still on. They come off and on easy still.  

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happier then last week!

Looking forward to: Nursery getting painted this weekend. Finally moved hubby's stuff out of that room. 

A Mothers Love

Dear Aria,

Growing up me and your Ba Wai, didn't always get along. Especially during my teenage years. She was always holding me back, and I felt like her backward vietnamese way thinking annoying. Girls should be seen and not heard. We should know how to cook and clean, no man is going to marry you if you don't know how to do these things and on and on. What I didn't stop to realize was that she grew up differently. She was only doing her best, the only way she knew how, and I didn't understand it at that time. Sure, I do expect you to hate me as you gradually get older. Unfortunately, that's how teenagers are. I'm going to be that mean old lady that doesn't let you do anything fun. Hopefully, it'll be different and we'll have a good relationship. I didn't really appreciate your Ba Wai till I was in my twenties.

Now that I am on my way to being your mother, I want it to be different. I want you to able to come to me with your problems and that we can work it out together. I don't want to suffocate you, but I don't want to give you free reign either. I hope as you grow up, you'll understand that every generation is different, but a mothers love is always the same.

Love,

Mom

23 Weeks!

How far along? 23 weeks and 4 days. Only 16 more weeks to go!

Total weight gain: 7 pounds. One pound at a time.

Maternity clothes? Not yet. But I am going to get one of those belly bands this week. 

Stretch marks? No stretch marks yet. 

Sleep: Finally got some sleep in this past weekend. Had a bunch of naps too. 

Best moment last week:  Putting the remote on my belly and finally seeing her kick it off. 

Miss Anything? Nope! Besides me sister seeing my belly pic and saying I am fat. =(

Movement: She likes to kick whenever I am trying to sleep or nap. Practicing keeping me awake. 

Food cravings: Still just wanting milk and cake.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Only when I have had nothing to eat yet. She seems to like everything. Sometimes if she doesn't, I will puke it all up. 

Gender: It's a GIRL. =)

Labor Signs: None yet. Let's keep our fingers crossed here.  

Symptoms: Still my lower back hurting. Not as much as last week. Had a bad Friday, nothing I ate wanted to stay down and nausea was kicking my butt.

Belly Button in or out? It's still an innie for now!

Wedding rings on or off? Still on. They come off and on easy still.  

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happier then last week!

Looking forward to: Nursery and buying more girlie clothing. 

Channeling My Inner Fat Kid

There's nothing I like better then to stuff my face full of yummy food. Before I was pregnant, I was already eating like a 240 pound man. My mom used to complain that I would eat her to the poor house. The when I met my husband, he said the same thing. Course, people who didn't know me very well would always ask if I was pregnant as my eating habits would scare them. Pizza pop for breakfast. Sure! Cake as mid-morning snack. Of course! Chips and Pepsi all day. Check! Food and me always went hand in hand. Here are some of my great stuffing my face moments that were documented through my Facebook. One day my daughter will appreciate this post. At least I hope she does!

YUM! I can't deny that I love the food at Costco. I might have more then once gone to the food center and only got a pizza or a hot dog. Okay, maybe both sometimes. But this was on a trip with my cousins to Helena, MT and I just couldn't help myself. Plus, it was cheap meal ringing in at $3US!

I know they say that you shouldn't stuff your face on your wedding day, but seriously. I was hungry! I've been up since 4:30am. This was the first thing I had to eat all day. Dear future daughter, don't starve yourself, even if it is your wedding day. Trust me, you will turn into a mean bitch and he might rethink about marrying you. Just kidding. Okay, only a little. I also promise to not tell you that you look fat in your dress like your grandma did to me. But remember, Grandma is Vietnamese. She will always say these kind of things, but she means well. I think.

Things I miss is sushi and raw oysters. I can only hope that you have a healthy appetite and be willing to eat everything. I am not going to lie, but I can't wait for you to be born so I can eat my tuna sashimi again. For all the people out there who don't like raw fish or seafood, seriously?! I'll eat anything that pretty much comes from the sea.

Don't be afraid to get messy. This hot dog was topped off with chilli, cheese, and I threw some mustard and onions on top for fun. Your Grandmother Blondeel has this lovely picture framed on her fridge. A nice present from your Auntie Diana to her. I expect that you will have one too so we can put it side by side on the fridge.

Your Dad likes to drink and your Mom likes to eat. Which makes us the perfect couple. Unfortunately, it makes us your future parents. Hopefully, you will not be embarrassed by us that much. Also, while I wrote this blog to you, I am eating Cheetos and Skittles.

Love your future Mom.

22 Weeks!

So, I borrowed this template off of I Heart Maternity blog, that I found this morning during work. I will start documenting and posting my baby bump. I guess I should have started earlier, but I have finally come to terms that I am no longer skinny, but pregnant looking.

My bloody baby bump shot. Taken at Evil Dead: The Musical. 

How far along? 22 Weeks and 3 days. 

Total weight gain: 6 pounds. My pre pregnancy weight was 110, but I lost four to six pounds from not being able to keep anything down. 

Maternity clothes? Not yet. I have been wearing my cousins hand me ups as they are bigger then I am, Plus free clothes are always a bonus!

Stretch marks? No stretch marks yet. 

Sleep: Sleep? What's that? I haven't had a good sleep in a long while. The body pillow that we brought is too uncomfy for me. Usually I can only sleep through the day. 

Best moment last week:  Seeing my two oldest friends, finally tying the knot. It was a beautiful wedding and a great reunion of the old work crew. 

Miss Anything? Husband finally finished framing the basement. The quicker he gets it inspected, the faster I can move him out of the office so that we can turn it into the nursery. 

Movement: I feel her kicking alot during dinner hours and more at night. Also, kicks or punches when I am watching TV. She must not like the sounds. 

Food cravings: Milk! All I want is milk and cake. Okay, really anything carbs I want. Not really into meat at all. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Only when I have had nothing to eat yet. She seems to like everything. Sometimes if she doesn't, I will puke it all up. 

Gender: It's a GIRL. =)

Labor Signs: None yet. Let's keep our fingers crossed here.  

Symptoms: Backache. Especially my lower back. Walking is starting to get tough or going up the stairs. Funny as I haven't gained that much weight, but you can totally tell I am pregnant. I am still moody every now and then. Sleeping lots still. My feet are getting more swollen as my shoes are starting to pinch. I still pee pretty much every hour. 

Belly Button in or out? It's still an innie for now!

Wedding rings on or off? Still on. They come off and on easy still.  

Happy or Moody most of the time: Uh, can I say happy? Okay, I get moody and cry a lot still but not as bad as I was in the first trimester. 

Looking forward to: Doing up the nursery! Need to start painting soon. Pretty much I want my little girl here now!

Here is a link to the website where I got this from. It's actually fantastic blog that I have enjoyed reading. 

http://iheartmaternity.blogspot.ca/

Finding out I'm going to be a Mom.

This is it. I am becoming someones mom. The thought of it terrifies and excites me all at the same time. I'm 22 weeks pregnant and decided that "hey, I'm gonna write out this whole experience and maybe my kid will get to read it one day." Or, when I get pregnant with my second, I'll read back and laugh about my first experience.

I always told the husband that I wanted to have a baby before I was thirty. Thirty was coming up fast as we were approaching our 29th birthday. I was in full blown panic mode. I was scared of not being able to conceive after getting off the pill, and cried for the first three months we started trying when my period would show up. The day that home pregnancy stick showed two lines, I was the happiest camper in the world.

Then the morning sickness kicked in. I'm talking full blown can't eat, throw up galore. I was scared. Now, I have a food blog as well that I write on every now and then, which I abruptly stopped posting as I could not keep anything down at all! Plus, I was sleeping pretty much all day every day. Let's say I was super happy when I reached my second trimester.

When we went for our first ultrasound (the nuchal transluency), I was amazed when I saw the little one on the screen for the first time. My eyes welled up with tears and I was clutching my husband, (okay, more like a death grip) and it hit me. I had something amazing growing inside of me. This is life that we made and it made it more real.

Since we passed the 12 week mark at this point (aka the safe zone), I wanted the whole world to know that I was becoming a mother. I like to think that my little fur baby was super excited about becoming a big brother. Of course, the next question everyone asked was "boy or girl?"

Now, Pete was content with having either as long as they were healthy. Me, I wanted a boy. Only because my side of the family was cursed with a long lineage of girls. Not just in my family, but all my cousins are girls. So the countdown to the 20 week ultrasound began. Now I tried doing some of the old wives tells about pulling a strand of hair out and then putting your wedding ring on it and putting it over your left arm. It said boy and I was so happy. Lo and behold, the day of the ultrasound we found out it was a GIRL! First thing my husband said was "I need to go buy a shot gun."