Since I’ve been home I’ve been watching a lot of TV. There’s 2 shows I’ve been watching every day. One of them is A Baby Story and the other one is Bringing Home Baby. They are both on TLC – The Learning Channel. I remember before I got married I would watch a Wedding Story all the time and would always cry. The stories were so touching and I’m such a sucker for weddings so I always ended up crying after watching those. Well I’ve been watching A Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby all week since that’s what I’m relating to now and those stories are even more touching and of course I always shed a tear. It’s so touching to see how the couple goes through birth and transitioning into bringing the baby home. A lot of the stories are of couples that have had a hard time getting pregnant or of couples that have had miscarriages so they are totally tear jerkers. They show the challenges that the mom goes through giving birth and how mom, dad, and baby (or babies – lots of twins on the show) adjust after birth. It makes me nervous and anxious about it all but it’s kinda cool to see other couples’ experiences. I have another week to enjoy these cool shows. Have a great weekend everyone!
So I’ve been on modified bed rest for almost a week now and it gets kinda boring at times. I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday and doctor’s appointment today so I was able to get out of the house for a little bit. Gabe and I have been taking little walks in our neighborhood when he gets home from work so that I can get out of the house and get some fresh air.
I was really bored yesterday so I looked at all these old pictures on our photo gallery and it’s really amusing to see what we looked like 7 years ago when we first met and kinda cool to see how far our relationship has come along. It just felt like yesterday when we went on our first date to San Francisco and visited Nat & Tony. It was nice to reminisce and see all the things that we’ve done in the last 6 1/2 years of our relationship. I can’t believe that we’re moving on to the next chapter of our lives, how time flies.
Here’s a picture of Gabe & I on our first date in SF. We were on the trolley headed towards fisherman’s wharf. We look so young.
I guess first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage. I can’t wait until Apple gets here. We’re really looking forward to being parents soon. I know Gabe will be such a great dad.
I am 28 weeks today and I officially start my 3rd trimester. Yay, it’s the home stretch, 12 more weeks to go but it’s not going to be an easy one. I’ve been pretty stressed lately at work and at home. This whole gestational diabetes thing is very frustrating and I am trying my best to keep it under control but i’s hard when there’s all these parties and the holidays are coming up. I had my doctor’s appointment on Friday and she could tell that I was pretty stressed. I think I’m just overwhelmed with a lot of things lately like work has been crazy, and stressed about all the stuff we need to do before Apple comes. My blood pressure has been high lately and with the diabetes stress makes your blood sugar rise too. So my doctor put me on modified bed rest for the next two weeks until my next appointment. I’m grateful that I get to stay home and de-stress so that i can try to get things under control. I think I’ll be better with 2 weeks of bed rest. Please keep me and Apple in your prayers.
We did get an ultrasound at my doctor’s appointment. Everything looks good, she’s growing fast. Women who have gestational diabetes tend to have bigger babies. I hope she doesn’t get too big. I’ll ask how big they predict her to be at my next ultrasound. But with the average baby weight gain of 1/2 a pound a week, if I go full term she, I’m guesstimating, will be between 8 -9 lbs, yikes! Hopefully she won’t be that big. Here’s a couple new pictures of her. The first one is of her smiling and then next one is of her doing martial arts in my belly. She kicked and punched me.
Gabe’s been working hard on Apple’s room and it’s coming along and is very cute. I can’t wait until the finished product. We’ve been getting presents in the mail. So far we got a saucer/walker, a swing, and her crib set. The Wangs from China gave us her crib set. I can’t wait to put it on her crib. The animals are so adorable. I know it will look great in her room. We’re going to ask our cousins Matt and Patty to come over soon to paint some artwork for Apple’s room. Matt did a mural for our neice Katelyn’s room and it was so cute. Here’s a couple pictures of what Matt and Patty painted in Katelyn’s nursery.
Gabe wants actual canvas paintings so that we can keep them. I think I want something similar to what Nat bought her kids in Thailand. Here’s a couple samples of those paintings.
Her room is a work in progress and Gabe has done a great job so far. I’ll post pictures once Apple’s room is finished. Have a great week everyone!
I’ve been working on Apple’s room for the past couple of weeks. It’s been a slow process with our busy schedule but it’s finally coming along.
The first part of the room actually started during the summer. John helped me moved my office downstairs and turned it into the Man Room. Har, har, aarr… (manly laugh). Oh, I mean I lost the office and had to build a lounge downstairs. Sometimes Jenn needs to rest before she walks up the stairs so the lounge is a nice place to relax and watch some TV.
Last week, I prepped the room to be painted. I removed all the base boards and wall plates. I’m planning to put in some new ones. I put plastic sheets everywhere. I’m a messy painter. Then I put up the primer coat. I took longer than I expected. The walls on our house are like sponges. They just soak up all the paint you apply.
This week, I finished painting. The color is a yellow that I color matched with one of the accessory from the furniture set. At first when I was painting it on, I was thinking it seems a little bright. I was wondering if Jenn would like it. If you have been to our house you probably have seen our front hallway. It is a bright yellow hallway. It is literally blinding if the front door is open and the sun is coming in. Anyways, Apple’s room is not as bright. I like it. It’s very soothing. Jenn took a peek and she liked it too.
After painting, I put up the valence. I went to Target and picked up some curtain rods. Target is cool. I was probably dressed more for Home Depot because I had paint all over my hands and clothes but Target has some pretty cool stuff. I got these butterfly end caps for the curtain rods. Ahhhh… yes they are cute.
Next week, I’m either going to work on the baseboards or the closet organizer. The room is starting to look like a baby room. We’re excited and can’t wait until Apple comes and see her room.
Here are some pictures.
You can see more at http://phan.gbox.org/gallery2/v/20081019_apple_room.
Apple
Gabe and I had our baby care basics class on Saturday. It was from 10:00am – 12:30pm so it wasn’t too bad. We even got out a little early. In this class we learned things like giving baths, changing, diapers, and swaddling. They taught us the 5 S’s on how to sooth a baby. The 5 S’s were: swaddling, side/stomach, shhhing, swinging, and sucking. We watched a great video where this doctor demonstrates how to soothe your babies and when he did these things the babies calmed down instantaneously. It was pretty cool. Hopefully we’ll remember these things and try them on Apple when she gets here. We have one more class in November to take and then we’re done with our baby classes.
On another note, I didn’t pass my glucose tolerance test so I had to take the 3 hour test and I didn’t pass that one either. 
So now I have to measure my blood sugar four times a day and meet with a nutritionist. Please keep me in your prayers that I can stick it out and last. It’s kinda stressful and frustrating especially trying to do this at work or when I’m out and about but I know it will all be worth it when she gets here. My cousin (who just had her little baby girl Jasmine Rain on 10/01/08) and my sister want Apple to come around the holidays since my cousin’s family will be here from Wisconsin and she said that would be cool if they could meet her while they are here. It is possible if Apple comes a little early so we’ll see.
One more thing, I came home today and there were 3 big boxes on the porch and they were all addressed to me. They are gifts from our baby registry. I haven’t been able to open them up yet since I’m waiting for Gabe to come home and carry them upstairs but I was so excited when I saw them. Thank you to whoever sent them. I’m sure Apple will love whatever it is she got! 
Gabe and I had our Prepared Childbirth Super Sunday class this morning at 9:00am. I was a little worried that neither of us would wake up this morning because we had Natalie’s 2nd birthday party in the day until 8pm and then went to Joey’s 30th birthday party and got home at 2:30am. Gabe was playing poker and was at the final table so we were there for a while.
Anyways, we were actually able to get up this morning and drove down to Newport. We had breakfast first at Shirley’s Bagel’s in Costa Mesa (we used to go to Shirley’s a lot when Gabe lived in Costa Mesa) then we headed to Hoag and surprisingly we were actually the first couple to check in. There were 14 couples in our class. I was a little worried that we wouldn’t make it through the whole thing since it was until 4:00pm.
So the class started and so far so good. We were both tired but were attentive since there was so much to cover. The lights were dimmed and we watched slides and video clips and then the mats came out. Oh no, we needed to lie down with the dimmed lights and do some relaxation visualization techniques. I had a feeling Gabe wouldn’t make it through this one since we had to close our eyes. The women had to lay on one side and the men had to lie behind them and we both had to practice these techniques. With the dimmed lights, the soothing music, and calming voice on the recording I knew Gabe wouldn’t make it for too long. All of a sudden I hear heavy breathing and then some snoring. I had to elbow Gabe to wake up since he snores pretty loud when he’s sleeping and I didn’t want him to fall into a deeper sleep. That exercise was only about 10 -15 minutes. Thank goodness it wasn’t longer because Gabe would’ve totally been out.
We broke for lunch and had pizza and salad delivered and I was worried about having food coma and falling asleep after lunch. They pumped up the a/c after lunch so I think that’s what kept me awake. We also had to practice breathing techniques and I kept laughing the whole time. The OB nurse was probably annoyed that I kept laughing but Gabe kept making me laugh. He was so serious and it was funny. I guess I need to practice at home since all I kept doing during class was giggling.
Besides giggling I was also crying when when we watched those videos. I guess it’s the hormones but I was very emotional and a lot of the videos touched me. Thank goodness the lights were dim and Gabe didn’t see me because he would’ve been making fun of me the whole time. Gabe saw his first vaginal birth on one of the videos so that was cool. Gabe doesn’t do well with blood so I wanted to make sure he knew what to expect.
The class ended a little early and we were both thankful so that we could go home and take a nap. I think Gabe was relieved because by the last hour of class Gabe kept nodding off. I bet the couple in back of us was laughing because he kept doing the head bob. At the end of the class the nurse gave all of the couples a little onesie from the children’s place as a gift.
So overall the class was very informative. I’m still nervous and anxious about the whole thing but I feel a little better kinda seeing what to expect. I head that your labor is usually like your mom and sister’s experiences. My mom’s longest labor was 2 hours (which was with me) that’s including the time she started contractions until she delivered. My brother and sister were delivered within an hour. My sister had Kaylee 30 minutes after she got to the hospital. I give my sister props because she didn’t even have any drugs and they didn’t even have time to give her an iv. I guess Kaylee was ready to come into this world. I just hope and pray that my experience is similar to my mom and sister’s.
We have our baby basics class on Saturday. That’s where Gabe gets to practice changing diapers since he’s never changed a diaper before. Gabe’s also going to start working on Apple’s room soon. So I’ll update and post before and after pictures with the progress. Until next time, have a great week everyone!
So I had to take that blood sugar glucose test today to see if you gestational diabetes. My doctor’s office actually gave me the drink at my last appointment so that I can put it in the fridge and keep it cold and I can drink it before I go to take the test so that I don’t have to wait a whole hour at the lab. I thought that was cool. I almost forgot to take the drink on my way out the door. Must be Mommy brain. I had the Orange flavored one and since I don’t drink soda it was kinda hard to drink it fast but it actually wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be. I just hope I don’t have to take the 3 hour one. Not sure how long it will take to get the results back. I guess I just want and see.
We have our Lamaze class on Sunday so I’m looking forward to that. I’ll write an update on Sunday after our class. It’s ALL day long. Hopefully we’ll be able to last. I hope Gabe doesn’t get grossed out on the videos. So until Sunday… Have a great weekend everyone!!!
