...or so my dream two nights ago indicated. This was my first dream regarding the sex of our baby, or about our baby in general that I can recall. For those of you who didn't know, like with Mirabella, we chose not to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. There was all kinds of craziness surrounding my dream (just like with my first pregnancy, I am dreaming all the time!), but then it was all clear and relatively normal when I was in the operating room about to have our baby. I was having a c-section and within what felt like about ten seconds (wouldn't that be nice?), the baby was out and she was a girl! She was plump and beautiful. And nameless.
Someone in the operating room asked what her name was (just like they did right away when I delivered Mirabella and it was so surreal to say her name for the first time), but oh my gosh, we didn't have one! And in reality, we don't have one!
Names have proven to be more challenging this time around, but hopefully we won't be leaving the hosptial with a nameless baby. We have a few contenders, but no decision yet. During my first pregnancy, I was telling everyone for the longest time that we hadn't made a final decision regarding names, but we had and just weren't telling people what they were (we didn't want to be influenced by other people's opinions and we wanted the name to be another surprise to everyone on delivery day). We decided on Mirabella's name maybe before I was even pregnant, or right in the beginning of my pregnancy at least. The boy's name came later, but we were pretty sure of it for quite some time. We think we're all set on a boy's name this time around, but I really mean it, we do not have a girl's name picked out.
When I was pregnant with Mirabella, I dreamt we had a baby boy...and we all know how that turned out. So, maybe this time it'll be the opposite again. Should we be getting prepared to blend our currently pink world with a blue one?
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
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Friday, December 25, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Six months down
At 24 weeks pregnant (as of Sunday, December 20th) I've been very fortunate again in that I'm feeling so well and my pregnancy is going wonderfully. Right before I hit week 16, I felt my baby move and a couple weeks later, Jeff felt it too. Over the last eight weeks since I felt those first flutters, I've been feeling him or her moving a bunch ever since and have been loving every second of it. Especially lately, the baby moves constantly and not only can it be felt, now it can be seen!
I think it was at about 17 or 18 weeks when I was at the grocery store that the first person, the first stranger, acknowledged I was pregnant. It was sample day (go figure) and when the woman gave me a sparkling juice taste, she said that it was good for me, then looked down and said it was good for both of us. It made me so happy. Pregnant, not fat...thanks for noticing, dear sample lady! Surely other strangers noticed my belly before then, but this was the first time one had felt comfortable saying something I suppose. Well now that I'm 24 weeks, I'm obviously fully showing to the world at this point and have been since oh, about week one (or so it felt like to me!).
When my first trimester ended, the tiredness remained whereas with Mirabella, I remember feeling refreshed almost immediately once I got out of it. Although I didn't quite get that same pronounced burst of energy upon entering into my second trimester as I did then, I can't complain in the least. I'm quite sure I just need to get used to being tired for a while, years I suppose, but I am much less tired than I was in the beginning. I think the energy burst is coming, just a little late. Or, maybe this is it!
Previously (in my second trimester has begun post) I had mentioned that I was getting the same goofy butt pain I had gotten when I was pregnant with Mirabella. I have since forgotten to mention that it was thankfully short-lived and after only having it for maybe a week or so, it hasn't come back! I also had bothersome back pain with Mirabella in the middle of my right side, and that hasn't come back either. I feel tinges here and there, but nothing like last time. That was the worst. I don't know if it's still too early on for it, but I'm enjoying its lack of presence.
Jeff will concur that my absent-mindedness is in full effect. I can't seem to remember much of anything unless I write it down. I make lists for everything, online, in my phone, on paper, in my head and soon, on my forehead, I swear. I think absent-mindedness is putting it politely. Sometimes I'm an utter idiot! Brainless even. I find myself saying some of the stupidest things and of course, blame the baby for sucking the oxygen from my noggin. Common sense? On vacation. I forget food in the oven (after shutting off the timer thinking I can remember to take whatever it is out after just a few more minutes of cooking), on the stove and in the toaster. I'll fluff up clothes in the dryer I've forgotten to empty only to forget them again. It's a vicious cycle of fluff, fluff and refluff. (Hey, shouldn't I be taking a break from cooking and cleaning right now anyway?) I've forgotten to add street addresses on cards I've mailed; the tune of "Return to Sender (address unknown, no such number, no such zone...)" plays in my head. I wish I could remember the better examples, but why is it not surprising that my memory escapes me now? Somehow I remember to shower (well, most days) and pick up Mirabella at daycare, but I'm waiting for all that to change.
Another symptom of pregnancy for me that has come back this time around is the bloody noses. I've had several gushing nose bleeds in the past two months. They are more of a nuisance than anything. I'd much rather have a bloody nose than a migraine though, which have been sparse, thank goodness! I had a few early on, and one two weeks ago, so all in all, things are good in that area. I’ve had some cramping in my foot a few times, but nothing as bad as the handful of times they happened with my first pregnancy. Oh, and I get winded easily, especially when going up stairs (and especially with a nine month old on my hip while climbing those stairs) but that's standard. Surprising some with all the marathon running I do, but fairly standard nonetheless (haha!).
Listing these things is more to keep record for myself, not to complain about them. Really, how could I complain? I mean, it's not like someone forgot to put the cheese cup in with my nachos or something.
I love being pregnant. I am utterly grateful that I have been able to be pregnant twice in my lifetime and I'm incredibly blessed to have been given the chance to enjoy my pregnancies so much. Cheers to the bundle being in my oven for six months!
I think it was at about 17 or 18 weeks when I was at the grocery store that the first person, the first stranger, acknowledged I was pregnant. It was sample day (go figure) and when the woman gave me a sparkling juice taste, she said that it was good for me, then looked down and said it was good for both of us. It made me so happy. Pregnant, not fat...thanks for noticing, dear sample lady! Surely other strangers noticed my belly before then, but this was the first time one had felt comfortable saying something I suppose. Well now that I'm 24 weeks, I'm obviously fully showing to the world at this point and have been since oh, about week one (or so it felt like to me!).
When my first trimester ended, the tiredness remained whereas with Mirabella, I remember feeling refreshed almost immediately once I got out of it. Although I didn't quite get that same pronounced burst of energy upon entering into my second trimester as I did then, I can't complain in the least. I'm quite sure I just need to get used to being tired for a while, years I suppose, but I am much less tired than I was in the beginning. I think the energy burst is coming, just a little late. Or, maybe this is it!
Previously (in my second trimester has begun post) I had mentioned that I was getting the same goofy butt pain I had gotten when I was pregnant with Mirabella. I have since forgotten to mention that it was thankfully short-lived and after only having it for maybe a week or so, it hasn't come back! I also had bothersome back pain with Mirabella in the middle of my right side, and that hasn't come back either. I feel tinges here and there, but nothing like last time. That was the worst. I don't know if it's still too early on for it, but I'm enjoying its lack of presence.
Jeff will concur that my absent-mindedness is in full effect. I can't seem to remember much of anything unless I write it down. I make lists for everything, online, in my phone, on paper, in my head and soon, on my forehead, I swear. I think absent-mindedness is putting it politely. Sometimes I'm an utter idiot! Brainless even. I find myself saying some of the stupidest things and of course, blame the baby for sucking the oxygen from my noggin. Common sense? On vacation. I forget food in the oven (after shutting off the timer thinking I can remember to take whatever it is out after just a few more minutes of cooking), on the stove and in the toaster. I'll fluff up clothes in the dryer I've forgotten to empty only to forget them again. It's a vicious cycle of fluff, fluff and refluff. (Hey, shouldn't I be taking a break from cooking and cleaning right now anyway?) I've forgotten to add street addresses on cards I've mailed; the tune of "Return to Sender (address unknown, no such number, no such zone...)" plays in my head. I wish I could remember the better examples, but why is it not surprising that my memory escapes me now? Somehow I remember to shower (well, most days) and pick up Mirabella at daycare, but I'm waiting for all that to change.
Another symptom of pregnancy for me that has come back this time around is the bloody noses. I've had several gushing nose bleeds in the past two months. They are more of a nuisance than anything. I'd much rather have a bloody nose than a migraine though, which have been sparse, thank goodness! I had a few early on, and one two weeks ago, so all in all, things are good in that area. I’ve had some cramping in my foot a few times, but nothing as bad as the handful of times they happened with my first pregnancy. Oh, and I get winded easily, especially when going up stairs (and especially with a nine month old on my hip while climbing those stairs) but that's standard. Surprising some with all the marathon running I do, but fairly standard nonetheless (haha!).
Listing these things is more to keep record for myself, not to complain about them. Really, how could I complain? I mean, it's not like someone forgot to put the cheese cup in with my nachos or something.
I love being pregnant. I am utterly grateful that I have been able to be pregnant twice in my lifetime and I'm incredibly blessed to have been given the chance to enjoy my pregnancies so much. Cheers to the bundle being in my oven for six months!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
The San Francisco treat
And what a treat it was. We loved our time there and we made the most of it. Of course we missed Mirabella, but thanks to our parents, she was in good hands allowing us to enjoy a solo trip. The traveling companion in my tummy could not have been more accomodating too, leaving me feeling very well. Aside from some nose bleeds, I couldn't imagine feeling better at five months pregnant in San Francisco.
We lucked out with our hotel view, overlooking Union Square. Lights were being strung on the giant tree on the square, but we settled for the skaters to get us in the holiday spirit since the tree was never fully lit at night during our time there. It was still pretty. The weather was nice the whole time as well. It was sunny and in the mid 60s during the day. Not California hot by any means, but San Francisco warm for November.
Some more of Union Square, right outside our hotel's door
Seeing San Francisco wouldn't have been complete without a trip to The Rock, Alcatraz Island, the most famous federal prision around. We did the night tour which started at 4:20, so it was really cool seeing it during both the day and night. It was a highlight for us.
View of the Bay Bridge from the ferry...
...and of the city
Sea lions
Night views
We rented a car for a day and drove just outside of the city to Muir Woods. The beauty of the nature that surrounded us was breathtaking. Our pictures couldn't do the place justice, so I only included a few, but we'd highly recommend going there. It felt like we were in a rain forest. It was a completely different world from the city limits, and just a short drive to get there. The sun was shining brightly before we arrived and after we left, but in between, we were enveloped in browns and greens.
These are from the car on the way out
Some veiws of the Golden Gate Bridge while we crossed it on our way there and back
And two other views, not from the car
Saw plenty of cable cars...
...and finally, it was time to ride one for ourselves
In motion
Enjoying the scenery
Coit Tower
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No idea why
Fisherman's Wharf
.JPG)
We explored a horse track too
I indulged in plenty of chocolate, Ghiradelli being among San Francisco's best known brands
We made a stop at the Buena Vista, home of the Irish Coffee, for a taste. I watched. Jeff started without me while I tooled around Ghiradelli Square.
One of our favorite food items in San Francisco was ice cream from Bi-Rite Creamery. And it wasn't just any old ice cream, it was Salted Caramel ice cream. It was unbelievably, sinfully delectable! If someone can figure out how to send us some, we will smother you with kisses. And cash.
This is our light breakfast (light for one of us) at a cafe called La Boulange where I had an egg, cheese and veggie croissant (both Jeff and I said it was the best croissant we had ever tasted), fruit and a canelé (one of my favorite patries in the world!) and Jeff had a cream cheese pastry that was outstanding. We both had hot chocolates which were also delish.
Another morning, we had an awesome breakfast at Mama's, where we had been warned of a line outside. Now that's some good grub when people wait outside for a seat. We got there five minutes before it opened, and at 8:00, we were inside. The line was just about as long when we left, so we concluded that going on a weekday was key. The place was packed.
This just may have been the best French toast I had ever eaten
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He loved it, but I know Jeff's omelette took second place
Any food lover should make a stop at the Ferry Building Marketplace, containing a level of shops dedicated to my favorite pastime.
.JPG)
From outside the back doors
Very stiff competition when it came to food, but one of the very best things we ate during our trip was...brussel sprouts. We mean it. It won't surprise anyone that we found a Mexican joint to hit up, and Mamacita was fabulous. It was upscale Mexican for sure, and we made the most of trying as much as we could. We saw the chimichurri brussel sprouts on the menu and had to add them to our order. They were (and I don't use this term much) to die for. We had so much food coming, so we tried to refrain from eating the whole mess of them since we ordered them as a second appetizer. We could not resist them. I could go on and on, Jeff could too I swear, but I'll end with saying they are a must try for anyone who goes there. Worth a trip to Mamacita just for those and a cocktail.
Not pictured was the fine cuisine we indulged in at one of San Francisco's top restaurants, Michael Mina. Good for us, it happened to be located in our hotel. The food, the service, then entire experience was exemplary. Every bite was scrumptious. I even tried cod and liked it, which says a lot. For my main course I had the lobster pot pie and I'm telling you all, what a masterpiece. I wanted to lick the plate. I say plate because it comes in a bowl with the crusty top as you would picture a pot pie to look like, but then it is reconstructed on your plate by your server. The presentation was impressive, but the taste, mmmm. Jeff had some beefy entree that he also really liked, but I don't know how anything could compare to that pot pie. We both had the signature root beer floats for dessert, made with sassafras ice cream, root beer sorbet and IBC rootbeer served with two, big, warm chocolate cookies on the side, one light and one dark oozing with chocolate. Oh my word.
I think I can feel myself getting fatter just writing about the root beer float and cookies, and all of the food we had in general. Obviously I'm attributing much of my nine pound weight gain between doctor appointments to this trip!
We couldn't leave San Francisco without picking up a couple gifts for the highlights of our lives. I saw this and fell in love with it. It had a similar feel to the book we had gotten last year for Mirabella in Paris, so we had to buy it for our baby. Interestingly enough, we found it during our Alcatraz visit, in the gift shop. We can't wait to read it together once our family of three turns to four.
And for Mirabella, we picked up this book during our trip to Muir Woods. She has been having a lot of fun reading it since we've been back!
It was fantastic to have had this travel opportunity, but it was really nice getting back to Mirabella. The best was coming home to four more days of vacation-we were especially looking forward to Thanksgiving-before having to return to the daily grind of working. We'll treasure the lovely time we had.
We lucked out with our hotel view, overlooking Union Square. Lights were being strung on the giant tree on the square, but we settled for the skaters to get us in the holiday spirit since the tree was never fully lit at night during our time there. It was still pretty. The weather was nice the whole time as well. It was sunny and in the mid 60s during the day. Not California hot by any means, but San Francisco warm for November.
Some more of Union Square, right outside our hotel's door
Seeing San Francisco wouldn't have been complete without a trip to The Rock, Alcatraz Island, the most famous federal prision around. We did the night tour which started at 4:20, so it was really cool seeing it during both the day and night. It was a highlight for us.
View of the Bay Bridge from the ferry...
...and of the city
Sea lions
Night views
We rented a car for a day and drove just outside of the city to Muir Woods. The beauty of the nature that surrounded us was breathtaking. Our pictures couldn't do the place justice, so I only included a few, but we'd highly recommend going there. It felt like we were in a rain forest. It was a completely different world from the city limits, and just a short drive to get there. The sun was shining brightly before we arrived and after we left, but in between, we were enveloped in browns and greens.
These are from the car on the way out
Some veiws of the Golden Gate Bridge while we crossed it on our way there and back
And two other views, not from the car
Saw plenty of cable cars...
...and finally, it was time to ride one for ourselves
In motion
Enjoying the scenery
Coit Tower
.JPG)
No idea why
Fisherman's Wharf
.JPG)
We explored a horse track too
I indulged in plenty of chocolate, Ghiradelli being among San Francisco's best known brands
We made a stop at the Buena Vista, home of the Irish Coffee, for a taste. I watched. Jeff started without me while I tooled around Ghiradelli Square.
One of our favorite food items in San Francisco was ice cream from Bi-Rite Creamery. And it wasn't just any old ice cream, it was Salted Caramel ice cream. It was unbelievably, sinfully delectable! If someone can figure out how to send us some, we will smother you with kisses. And cash.
This is our light breakfast (light for one of us) at a cafe called La Boulange where I had an egg, cheese and veggie croissant (both Jeff and I said it was the best croissant we had ever tasted), fruit and a canelé (one of my favorite patries in the world!) and Jeff had a cream cheese pastry that was outstanding. We both had hot chocolates which were also delish.
Another morning, we had an awesome breakfast at Mama's, where we had been warned of a line outside. Now that's some good grub when people wait outside for a seat. We got there five minutes before it opened, and at 8:00, we were inside. The line was just about as long when we left, so we concluded that going on a weekday was key. The place was packed.
This just may have been the best French toast I had ever eaten
.JPG)
He loved it, but I know Jeff's omelette took second place
Any food lover should make a stop at the Ferry Building Marketplace, containing a level of shops dedicated to my favorite pastime.
.JPG)
From outside the back doors
Very stiff competition when it came to food, but one of the very best things we ate during our trip was...brussel sprouts. We mean it. It won't surprise anyone that we found a Mexican joint to hit up, and Mamacita was fabulous. It was upscale Mexican for sure, and we made the most of trying as much as we could. We saw the chimichurri brussel sprouts on the menu and had to add them to our order. They were (and I don't use this term much) to die for. We had so much food coming, so we tried to refrain from eating the whole mess of them since we ordered them as a second appetizer. We could not resist them. I could go on and on, Jeff could too I swear, but I'll end with saying they are a must try for anyone who goes there. Worth a trip to Mamacita just for those and a cocktail.
Not pictured was the fine cuisine we indulged in at one of San Francisco's top restaurants, Michael Mina. Good for us, it happened to be located in our hotel. The food, the service, then entire experience was exemplary. Every bite was scrumptious. I even tried cod and liked it, which says a lot. For my main course I had the lobster pot pie and I'm telling you all, what a masterpiece. I wanted to lick the plate. I say plate because it comes in a bowl with the crusty top as you would picture a pot pie to look like, but then it is reconstructed on your plate by your server. The presentation was impressive, but the taste, mmmm. Jeff had some beefy entree that he also really liked, but I don't know how anything could compare to that pot pie. We both had the signature root beer floats for dessert, made with sassafras ice cream, root beer sorbet and IBC rootbeer served with two, big, warm chocolate cookies on the side, one light and one dark oozing with chocolate. Oh my word.
I think I can feel myself getting fatter just writing about the root beer float and cookies, and all of the food we had in general. Obviously I'm attributing much of my nine pound weight gain between doctor appointments to this trip!
We couldn't leave San Francisco without picking up a couple gifts for the highlights of our lives. I saw this and fell in love with it. It had a similar feel to the book we had gotten last year for Mirabella in Paris, so we had to buy it for our baby. Interestingly enough, we found it during our Alcatraz visit, in the gift shop. We can't wait to read it together once our family of three turns to four.
And for Mirabella, we picked up this book during our trip to Muir Woods. She has been having a lot of fun reading it since we've been back!
It was fantastic to have had this travel opportunity, but it was really nice getting back to Mirabella. The best was coming home to four more days of vacation-we were especially looking forward to Thanksgiving-before having to return to the daily grind of working. We'll treasure the lovely time we had.
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