Baby Apple

So Apple will be here in 3 days YAY! I can’t believe it! It seems like I’ve been pregnant forever especially since I was on bed rest for a while.  She will be a Garden Rat (just like her daddy) and a Capricorn like a lot of people that I know. We can’t wait to meet her Very soon! We will update you all sometime on Friday. If you’re on Facebook, Gabe said he will be updating that too so stay tuned. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Thanks all and hope to see you all soon!

We just got back from the doctor’s and Apple is still breeched so it looks like we’re still on for next Friday. I can’t believe she’ll be here in a week!  We can’t wait to meet her and see what she looks like. Thank you everyone for your guesses on Apple’s weight. We’ll see who the big winner is on Friday. 

I have to share a funny story from yesterday because it’s too good not to. So I woke up yesterday morning and discovered that I lost my mucus plug. I was trying to wake Gabe up and tell him what happened and he was still half asleep when I said, “Good morning baby, I think I lost my mucus plug.”  So Gabe replied, “Where did you lose it? Do you need help finding it?”  I was laughing my head off. It was freakin hilarious. I decided to wait until he was fully awake to tell him again and then he finally got it.

So I guess she can come before Friday but if not then Friday’s the BIG day! Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Happy New Year 2009 everyone!  Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful new year’s day! Here’s to a happy, healthy, prosperous 2009 filled with lots of love, laughter, happiness, joy, and endless blessings!  We’ll see you all soon!

So the countdown begins, 10 more days (or less) until baby Apple gets here.  So far we are still scheduled for our C-section.  This Friday we have an ultrasound to see if she has moved but I feel like she is still lying sideways.  I think she’s trying to move but got stuck since there’s not much room now.  Gabe and I are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Hope everyone had a Happy Christmas.  Have a Wonderful and Blessed 2009 everyone!  We’ll see you all in the New Year! Cheers!

Season’s Greetings! Christmas is this week and I’m excited that the holidays are finally here.  I’m 37 weeks now and a lot of people were saying that Apple would be here already.  Who knows she can come this week.

Her actual due date is January 12th.  At our doctor’s appointment last week Apple was still breeched and she weighed in at approximately 7 lbs. Yikes! The doctor said if Apple doesn’t turn and if I don’t go into labor then I’m going to have to have a C-section. Or they can try and turn the baby  (which didn’t sound too pleasant) but  she might be too big to push out even if she does turn. So our C-section is scheduled for Friday, 01/09/09.  Please keep us in your prayers. I am very anxious, nervous, and excited all at the same time!  I’m sure Gabe is as well.

Since we pretty much know her due date (unless she comes earlier), I’m taking a poll to see how BIG everyone thinks Apple will be. If you’d like to take a guess, please leave a comment on this post.  Whoever comes closest to Apple’s weight and length will get a little prize from Apple mailed to them after she gets here.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season so far.  Wishing all of you and yours a Very Merry Christmas! Hope to see you all soon!

On Sunday, Gabe and I had a little Christmas maternity photo shoot at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.  I wanted some cute pictures for our Christmas cards this year so I asked Kim if she could take our pictures since she has an artsy style and Gabe likes her pictures.  So Kim, Andre, Gabe and I headed down to fashion island around noon. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were able to get some great shots.  Here’s a couple pictures from the shoot:

Kim edited some of the pictures for us.  The ones above and more of her favorites are located here.

Pictures of the whole photo shoot are on our gallery. 

Thank you Kim and Andre for taking our cute Christmas pictures, we love them and had so much fun! Now the hard part is picking one for our Christmas cards. Hopefully we’ll get them out before Apple gets here. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Happy December – 6 more weeks and counting down!

I’m 32 weeks and counting! We had a growth ultrasound on Friday. Baby Apple is now 4 lbs and if I go full term will approximately be 8lbs when she’s born, yikes! Hopefully she’ll be a little under that. She wasn’t too active during the ultrasound so we didn’t see too much going on but we did get to see her feet and she has mommy’s funny toes. I have funny toes where the 2nd toe is longer than the big toe and Apple’s toes were like that in the ultrasound. I think her cousin Kaylee has those toes too. I got them from my dad. I guess it’s hereditary on the Anotado side. We saw a picture of her nose too and I think she has my Filipino nose. I’ll try to post a couple ultrasound pictures later on this week.

My doctor put me off of work until I deliver so I’m officially on leave, yay! I really didn’t want to go back to work anyways. Now at least I don’t feel like I’m left hanging not knowing whether or not I’m going back to work or not. My doctor said everything looks good but since my family tends to deliver a little early she just put me out just in case. We have so much stuff to do before little Apple arrives. Gabe is busy working on closet organizers for Apple’s closet so that we can put all her diapers, clothes, toys, books, etc.. away. I can’t wait until the nursery is done. I think I’ll feel a little better once it’s ready for her. Hopefully she won’t come before the nursery is done.

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is already next week. This year just flew by. I want to take a little maternity shoot sometime soon for our Christmas cards so hopefully we’ll be able to do that before things get really busy.

I hope everyone and their families and friends are safe from all those fires. Hopefully the brave firefighters will be able to put them all out soon. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families that were affected.

Alright everyone have a great week and a very Happy and safe Thanksgiving. Till next time!

On Saturday, our families and friends threw us one huge baby shower. We just wanted one shower for both sides and it was pretty big. There were about 100 people that showed up on a hot November day. I guess it’s better than rain.

Everything turned out great from the invitations, to the decorations, giveaways, yummy food, and desserts. We got everything we need and then some. Everyone was so generous. We had a diaper raffle and received over 1800 diapers, yikes! We’re still receiving gifts in the mail this week and our diaper count is now over 2000!!! I wonder how long that’s going to last. Gabe is working on organizing the closet this weekend so that we can put away all the diapers and baby gear. We feel so loved! Here are some pictures from the shower:

Thank you Cynthia for the awesome invitations!

Thank you to my mom, Gabe’s mom, and Tita Beth for all the yummy food!

Thank you Mon and Laura for the Portos desserts and to Ellaine for the red velvet cupcakes!

Thank you Gabe and John for setting everything up and for bbqing the tons of meat for 3.5 hours!!!

Thank you Kay for the candy apple favors and for the fun games and prizes!

Thank you Ellaine, Ed, and Tita Cel for the candy lei, cute decorations, and beautiful centerpieces!!!

Anotado cousins, Kuya and Kaylee Jo, Annie, Lucas, & Jayden in the bounce house

The Dang cousins and the Tran cousins

Phans, Trans, & friends, the homies – Villaverts, Yangs, Millers, Trains, Ruizs, & Kanamoris

The Yus, Treanors, & Sheybanis

Mey & Tiff, Cindy & Chloe, Kevin & Arlou

My coworkers (thanks Dana for the tents), and Gabe’s coworkers the Newlyweds (2 weeks) Dennis & Loraine, and the Lopez’s

Four generations of Camus (my mom’s side) Kay, Kaylee, me, Apple, Mom, & Lola, (Auntie Faye got in the picture too)

Playing the string game (Esther’s was my favorite since it was the shortest), the match the baby to the star game, Lucas & Tim competing for the clothespin game.

Opening presents and counting all the diapers

The kiddos taking a break from the bounce house watching us open presents and having a snack

Thank you everyone for spending the day with us, for the generous gifts and diapers, and for helping us prepare for Apple’s arrival! Apple can’t wait to meet all of you very soon!!!

Love, Gabe, Jenn, & Apple

So I’m 30 weeks now and my Dr extended my bedrest for another week. I have to go back Friday to see whether or not I’m going out for good or am going back to work. I’m kinda getting used to staying at home even though it gets boring at times I wouldn’t mind extending my leave until Apple gets here. Whatever is best for the baby so we’ll see what the Dr says on Friday.

This past weekend Matt and Patty came over to create some artwork for Apple’s room. It took a couple hours since we had to buy supplies then Matt made some sketches and then drew them on the canvases. Then we started to paint the backgrounds (that’s the only part I helped paint since I’m bad at art and didn’t want to mess it up) and then Matt, Patty, and Gabe painted the pictures of the animals. I wanted to include some different animals that weren’t part of the bedding so that there’s a little bit of variety than just 4 main animals. The animals on the bedding are an elephant, hippo, zebra, and koala. The animals that we added are a monkey, a giraffe, and a lion. Matt was the art teacher so he told us what colors to use on what part of the paintings. It took all day to complete but they came out so cute. I love them and I know Apple will too! Thank you Matt and Patty for coming over and creating some artwork for Apple. Daddy did a great job too! Here’s a couple pictures of the process and the final masterpieces.

Matt's Sketches

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Happy Sweet November! Don’t forget to vote. I can’t believe the holidays are almost here and Apple too!

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!

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!