This one is about pants

I'm totally digging stretchy pants. I never thought I'd ever wear them, but they are much more comfortable than my regular pants that need buttoning, zipping and belting. I haven't been able to get into my regular pants for a few weeks now so I started buying some and also got hand me downs from my sister in law's sister who just gave birth a few months ago. I still need some more and this calls for a trip to Old Navy soon which I'm told has a really good selection for maternity pants. Egan saw me wear for the first time the stretchy jeans this morning and while we both agree it's so UN-PUNK ROCK, we totally don't care either! My work wardrobe is slowly changing and while not everyone at work knows about me yet, they'll see really soon. I'm getting more stretchy jeans. I'll probably even wear them after birth. They're just totally too cool for school. 

Looking good there, baby!

We had two appointments yesterday. The morning was brief and quick with our OB, as we were listening to a great heart beat and got reassurance from Dr. Rittenhouse that cramps are normal and unless I'm feeling continuous pain, there's nothing to worry about. He also heard a kick as soon as he listened for the heart beat, but nothing that I felt -- but a good sign, nonetheless.
The afternoon appointment was for genetic testing, where we also got a better ultrasound (in 4D! with video!) and saw our little belly jean moving around. It was awesome to see it at this size since the last time we got an ultrasound it was just about 2cm and I barely made out anything past the head and body. We now got a measurement of 7cm from crown to rump, and a date of 13 weeks/1 day. Baby looks perfect and we saw its arms and legs, and back and neck and nice big head! We didn't see the face in 4D but sure enough it has eyes and a nose and a mouth and round cheeks =D So far, we're doing and feeling great!
We should be getting another ultrasound at the next appointment in about a month, and we'll definitely know if it's xx or xo. Whatever it is, we're happy that it's growing and learning to move its limbs around!
In other news, I have another month left of rockin' n rollin' before I take a long break from playing music. We have a long road ahead of us and while it was tough to accept the fact I'm putting down my bass for a good while, I'm happy to take it easy for baby. I have some 3 shows left and baby's going to experience them with me (though he/she won't know what's going on!) but someday I hope to share it when he or she is old enough to hold a guitar!

Egan has been a great source of help and support this whole time. He's been quite busy so it's just me updating the blog for now. He already has begun the conception of our own website -- something we've talked about doing long before as a photo blog/journal -- so that's another thing to look forward to. Yes, we're both hobby photographers and baby will be getting plentiful of papparazzi love from us.

Until the next update, we'll be here!

-Rio

Eating normally again (kind of)

I've had a better appetite lately, but today I realized that I tend to gag when I'm at the meat section at Trader Joe's. The last 3 times I've been there looking for something, I felt queasy, like today. Other than that, I've been eating normal portions again... less fruit and vegetables (not good), but I'm eating. I am, however, grateful to be sleeping earlier. Another week and a half until our next appointment. We should have more baby updates then, instead of just me. -Rio 

The weight game

I've been conscious of my weight for a while now, and my doctor said to expect to gain some 25 lbs throughout this time. At the beginning of this year, I was at my heaviest. Within 2 months, I dropped significant pounds from half-assed workouts but mostly from cutting down on my carbs and calories. The weight loss was noticed, and I was doing well, with the intention to lose another 10 pounds.

This morning, I have since gained some 7 or 8 pounds (atleast, from the last time I checked). And I am, in fact, losing that nicely-shaped waistline I was so happy to have back when I was losing weight. At this time, a flubber of skin have formed around my waist from all the food I've forced myself to eat! I've been eating a lot of carbs lately... However, I've been nearly consistent in having a daily walk of atleast 20 minutes. I do get tired really fast, and getting sleepy much earlier in the night--and oftentimes during the day--and still, having a hard time wanting to eat.

I am also finding myself getting more and more annoyed with public outdoor smokers because I end up walking into their zone and breathing in that poisonous smoke I used to love so much. Second-hand smoking is deadly!! I am very much missing my regular soda and coffee consumption, and I do not miss my alcohol consumption at all (not that I drank much to begin with).

-Rio

Food, eating, cravings, nausea

My appetite's been on-and-off lately. While I randomly start craving for something, the thought of eating still doesn't really appeal to me. Unfortunately, I've really been craving for sodium-heavy and greasy foods... which were my normal cravings before all of this. On the bright side, I think my indigestion has slightly improved because I was able to eat 3 bagels in a row over the weekend (well, shared with my nephew). If this were last week, I would have probably been able to eat 1 and not eat anymore for the rest of the day. My indigestion then was quite bad, as I had a really hard time eating regularly. My nausea disappeared for a good couple of days since my last journal, but it returned full-swing over the weekend. Over the weekend, I did a lot of sleeping and napping, and basically just sat on my bum for the most part, and still felt tired (and nauseous). I'm in week 9, but entering week 10, and our next appointment is in about 3 weeks.

EDIT: After posting the above, I should also add for journal-keeping sakes, that I couldn't sleep well last night (had a nightmare as well!!!). Both legs were cramped, and I was tossing about, waking up randomly and feeling cold. Oddly enough, I woke up unusually fine this morning when my alarm went off.

-Rio
 

Symptom City

I had really bad stomach pain yesterday, all afternoon into the evening, not to mention a bad headache along with it (perhaps, the effect from my nausea pills which is printed as warning on the label). They are apparently common symptoms. It was hard eating my dinner consisting of cheesed vegetables and veggie shu mai. In fact, it's just hard to eat throughout the day. It sucks to NOT want an In N Out burger when I'm already there!

-Rio

Small note

Here is the other ultrasound scan (Dr. Rittenhouse gave us 2 from the last appointment). By the way, I'd appreciate if anyone on my Myspace reading this could just keep any comments here and not on there. Thanks!

-Rio