Getting all rashed up again

One of the assistants at our doctor's office told me that my rashes could possibly last throughout this pregnancy (which happened to one of their previous patients), and though mine went away for a good while, they are back. In the last two weeks alone, my belly just kind of popped out of nowhere. I wasn't showing much a month ago, and now, it's getting hard to hide it. :) Surely this rash is corresponding with the stretches of my skin, but it's driving me crazy!!! Knowing my little belly jean is growing, on the other hand, is an awesome reason why. :) 

Responding to noise

As every family gathering goes, we watch a lot of movies. Today, for our new year gathering (which was rather boring) one of the movies we watched was Die Hard, Live Longer (or something like that). It had a lot of explosion and stuff, and my uncle's sound system is pimped out so not only could you hear the bass, but you feel it too. Apparently, Gerard felt it as well. He was kicking in startle everytime something exploded. On an unrelated (or kindof related) note, the bad guy in the movie was named Thomas Gabriel. That was a name we had thought of the day we found out we were having a boy. Thomas, Dylan, Gerard... were a few of the names we were going to pair with Gabriel. He's also been feeling heavier each day. Getting up from a chair, and in fact, just sitting down, feels a whole lot different now than a month ago. It's hard to sit on the floor, and whenever I get up it I definitely feel the extra weight from my belly. Last night, I had to sleep with a pillow under the side of stomach for the first time. I've read early on that the pillow really helps but I hadn't had the need for it until last night. I usually sleep on my left side, but my back was hurting that way and when I turned to my right side, my belly was drooping a lot more than I've ever noticed. Perhaps maybe, his head was weighing down on my right side which might be why it felt heavier. I've been bad and lazy about eating fruit as of late, and because of the holidays, I'm overwhelmed with chocolate around me. That's pretty much what I've been snacking on, and I don't even like chocolate all that much. Agghhh. Back to work tomorrow. Not.so.happy.about.that!

Christmas

I've been away from work for the last week, and won't be back until next Wednesday, after the new year rings in. If only I could take everyday off, it would be sweet. Our Christmas went well. Spent it with my family, and stayed up really late on Christmas eve. Next Christmas, Gerard would be about 8 months old. Old enough to see the lights. It should be more exciting for us then, since this time around, I was just a big little thing (a 5 foot, belly-growing thing) sitting on the couch. I'm trying to upload a picture of myself but I'm too lazy to downsize it. Anyway, take my word: I look a lot bigger in the picture than I actually feel. But I am now convinced that my stomach isn't just fat anymore, it's an actual baby belly growing. Never thought I'd see myself look like this but it's definitely a cool experience. As I type, Gerard is squirming around :) He seems to be up late, from 10pm to after midnight. Just like me. -Rio

dreamin on

So far it's the 'coolest' symptom of this pregnancy. In reference to a pregnancy calendar marking daily milestones and/or tips, this is around the time my dreams would be vivid. How true that is.

The last two nights, my dreams were quite vivid in color and in sound. The scenes were so specific, and I remember intently hearing conversation with actual words. My usual dreams pre-pregnancy were black/white, and no sound. Just complete visual and feel, as if I can read minds and know what's going on.

Although the dreams aren't making much sense, it's kind of cool that I'm remembering my dreams again. I read somewhere that we dream even when we don't know it, but most of the time I forget about it once I wake up. These two dreams have kept me in bed much longer than I should in the mornings. LOL.

The whole concept of dreaming has always fascinated me. In the last two years, I've had quite a few significant dreams regarding the changes in my life. Babies can dream in the womb, so I read. I'm curious as to what kind of dreams Gerard's been having. Perhaps it's a mix of the lights and sounds he's been able to grasp. I dunno but that's just really cute to think about. The first time I noticed a baby dream, it was my nephew. I think he was probably 1 year old. He was napping on my bed, and out of the blue, he just started clapping and smiling. It prompted me to lay next to him as I thought he was awake, but he was quite asleep!
 

Back to this crappy symptom

Aiye!! My appetite is lost again. Getting hungry fast versus lack of appetite doesn't make me feel great. Today was a super lazy Sunday which was spent walking around downtown shopping for computer stuff and taking naps at gramma Hernandez's place where I spent the weekend. It started out as a nice, sunny day then the clouds rolled in =( The heartburn symptom began last week, and also, a very uncomfortable sensation struck me while we were in mass today. We did a lot of walking from the cable car stop to church, so as soon as I took off my jacket and sweater, I sat down and started to feel like there was no air around me. I coughed and wanted to vomit, and the thirst didn't help. It felt like my lungs were being pushed up, which is probably what was going on. Thank goodness it only lasted for a few minutes. After sitting down for the most part during mass, I got my normal life back. Oy we haven't been taking consistent pictures of my belly like some folks do, but we finally took a decent one this morning. It looks a lot different in picture than in the mirror. We'll post that up in a little while. Baby G has been kicking and moving much more (or I'm feeling it more!) -- last night Papa E finally felt something. It was great. Now we will always remember the first time we both felt Gerard kick was late at night while watching our favorite comedy flick Euro Trip. How classy. But hey someday we plan on taking our own Euro Trip so I hope this was a sign that it's going to happen. By the way -- street smokers are horrible people. There is simply no way you can breathe downtown without inhaling cigarette smoke every 20 feet. Second hand smoking is truly a killer disease that no law seems to care about. Hey I don't mind if anyone wants to smoke their lungs out, just don't bring the 10 people around you down! 

My new eating symptom

I'm guessing my uterus is just moving up as regularly scheduled, since I feel some pressure on my stomach (really, it feels more like it's floating sometimes). The pressure seems to affect my eating habits. Like my stomach is feeling smaller. I get hungry every 2 hours, and I eat, but I get full right away. Then I get so hungry again. Lately, I've been having two dinners. Usually, when I have 2 slices of pizza for breakfast, that lasts me until lunch. But nothing I eat for breakfast lasts me until lunch anymore. I need to eat every 2 hours! For some reason my body just wants to eat more at night. Gerard's movements are about as random as they come. I feel them more though, when I have tighter pants that press against my belly. Today I was wearing my favorite stretchy pants that aren't as tight as the others but I still felt his movements or hiccups :) The holiday virus is up in the air, and I caught it a couple of weeks ago at work. But it didn't last very long with me, although remnants of my sore throat are still around. Papa E has been very sick since the weekend, so we've had to stay away from each other. My mom also caught something, so I should be really careful about catching it again. Preggy + flu = not good! 

His name

We decided to stick with Gerard Gabriel because there's just no other way! Can't wait to meet you Gerard.

In preparation, we are slowly buying his clothes and setting up his college fund so we don't roll over in stress later with tuition costs. He must be excited because he was moving around a lot late last night as I was opening up an account, and also this morning on my way to work. We're also excited enough to get something like this started so early. I really hope his movements are not the result of the caffeine I had earlier yesterday because I've been craving so bad and depriving myself of coffee for weeks now (and in fact, during this whole pregnancy). Doctor said it's ok to have 1-2 cups a day, but I've avoided it for the most part so when I'm reaaaally craving I go for a very small cup or a few sips at the most. I've only had coffee of such amounts twice during this time. Although my dosage of chocolate is far more than that of coffee, even if I only have it every now and then. I'm not a big fan of chocolate to start with.

Yesterday in mass, the priest was talking about the end of the world and how we should be prepared because we can not expect the moment. He was contrasting it to the kind of preparation an expecting mother goes through, and the way he described that was exactly how it feels! The changes, the preparation, the anticipation, etc are all exciting times but nothing like the preparation for the end. LOL. In the meantime, we are straightening out our lives and habits and preparing a good path for Gerard so as the end of the world approaches, we'll be sure he is raised a good person.

These new pants I bought last weekend are cool, but I forgot to cut out the security tag sewed on to it and I was setting off alarms at every store I've walked in and out of on Sunday. Something to laugh about. I just saw the tag this morning, though, so it's not like I was completely aware!

Anyhoo, it hasn't been a great start of a Monday for me. Not only have I been getting morning gagness, but when I was preparing my breakfast, I knocked my cereal bowl while opening my box of milk, and the cereal went flying towards the floor and I salvaged what I could off the counter. A majority remained in the bowl. Keep in mind this was a small box of "travel" cereal so there wasn't much to begin with. On the way back to my desk at work while carrying the bowl in one hand and the rest of the milk in the other, my elbow knocked something and I almost lost the bowl too! So more cereal and milk spilled all over my work station. Oh and the first crap I committed this morning was losing one of my contact lenses while I was trying to put it on! I dropped it somewhere in the bathroom and couldn't find the damn thing! Luckily I still have glasses and it's actually the time of the month for me to dispose of those lenses anyway... I just now have to find my new lenses that were packed away somewhere when I moved out of my apartment.

Our next appointment is in about 2 and a half weeks (my birthday which I should be taking a day off for anyway!) and we hope to have more good news! Can't believe the year is almost over. It's been wild and awesome and sad at the same time.


-Rio

p.s. To answer Nikki's question on the guestbook, yup, I'm having the wobbly walk now. And having a harder time getting in and out of my car and bed!