A Weekend in San Fran & Sonoma

(Originally written 09/20/12)

Last weekend, my husband was in one of his best friends' weddings in Sonoma.  That meant a weekend trip to California for this couple.  Dang it!  Since the wedding wasn't until Sunday we decided to take an extra day and spend Friday tooling around San Francisco.  Neither of us had ever been there before so we were ready for an adventure.  Once we checked into our hotel our first stop was IN-N-OUT Burger.  As we sat in the restaurant enjoying our burgers and milkshakes (mmmm) a girl walked in and started dumpster diving right next to us.....IN THE RESTAURANT.  This was a first for us!  My husband had his back to her so he couldn't see what was going on.  Of course, this was something he must see so I urged him to turn around and gawk with me.  Right as he turns to look, the girl turns so her backside is facing us.  "GASP!!!"  His mouth drops to the floor and says "why'd you have me look at that?  That's disgusting!"  I sat there frozen, looking onward at the train wreck that was in front of me.  The girl had a giant hole in the ass of her pants and wasn't wearing underwear.  We thought we were just getting burgers.  Not burgers and a show.  It was hilarious!

We were both pleasantly surprised by San Francisco.  We didn't really know what to expect and we both thought it would be like a glorified Portland, but it sooo wasn't.  It was such a neat city!  Since we were only there for a day, we'd love to go back someday and do more exploring.

Oh and Sonoma was cool too but we were there for a wedding so we didn't do much exploring.  Plus, its all about wine and I couldn't drink so......We'll definitely have to go again! 

Although it looks like it was in a parking garage, it wasn't

We had to go to the store of giant candy! So exciting!

I was in heaven!

The Golden Gate Bridge in all its glory!

The view from Hyde Pier

Ghirardelli Square - Mmmm such great hot cocoa!

Alcatraz

He hates when I make him take solo pictures. Lol

When in San Fran, do as they do on Full House...You know you just started singing the theme song

Posing for the caricature I made him get - He's such a good sport!

My turn

It took the guy 10 minutes.  Pretty accurate depiction I'd say

Genius idea!

The creative sourdough store

Darci - They actually have an entire store for you!

More of the bridge

Headed to Sonoma

A beautiful winery in Sonoma..........But they were cooking ham in the gift shop that didn't smell so good........sooooo.....I may have left them a souvenir

Ian and the Groom

Deer at the rehearsal dinner

The groom and his groomsmen

Bump Bound - Week 12

(Originally written 09/19/12)

Baby is the size of a LIME!

Whoa, I need a tan!

12 week development - Courtesy of babycenter.com  

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.  Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce. 

You guys.  Its official.  I can no longer button my pants.  I’m sure its mainly still gas and a few extra LB’s but my pants are definitely not buttoning.  Its just such a weird feeling to be able to button your pants one week and then the next, nadda.  I couldn’t even button them if I wanted to.  My shirts are also getting tight.  The button down blouses I wear for work are popping open at my chest.  So I can’t wear those anymore.  Then my non-button cotton dress shirts are getting too tight around the chest and belly also.  I actually got stuck in one of my shirts this morning.  Really.  I was STUCK!  I got it on, but couldn’t breathe so I knew that wouldn’t do.  When I tried to take it off I found myself spinning in a circle in my closet with my shirt up around my head.  It took a good minute to get it off.  Sigh.  

We told a few friends and some more family this week!  It was so great to see people’s reactions. I even got flowers at work from one of my closest friends!  It was very special!

I experienced some pretty intense cramping this week.   Like, to the point where I almost doubled-over in agony.  I’ve never experienced pain like this.  It was in my abdomen, creeped into my side and into my lower back.  It didn’t feel like typical female cramping or bloating cramping, but it also didn’t feel like something was wrong so it didn’t worry me too much.  Do you want to know what it was from? TMI Alert!!!  Apparently it was because I needed to poop!  Even though I had already gone twice that day!  I’ve always been a very “regular” person.  The two days prior to that, I didn’t go at all.  I’ve never gone more than a day without “going” so my stomach was pissed! After two more poops that day which would make a total of FOUR times, I was feeling great! LOL.  I’m screwed when it comes to the pain of child birth.

Our first official, official doctor’s appointment was this week.  I finally got to meet my new doctor.  He was alright.  I mean, he was fine, but I can’t help but compare him to my last doctor.  She was amazing and I’m so sad that she’s no longer my doctor.  I’ll have to get over that I guess.  We got to hear the heartbeat again and got another ultrasound!  The sound of the baby’s heart is seriously the best sound in the world.  We both get teary-eyed every time!  It was also crazy to see how much bigger the baby is this week compared to the ultrasound last week.  Its amazing how fast they grow from week to week. 

This one kind of looks like a crab

We may have a bit of a drama queen/king on our hands

I also had to give blood at this appointment.  Although, it wasn’t your typical blood-giving experience.  She took the blood from my finger and I had to produce enough of it to fill in 6 big circles on a sheet of paper.  It was like paint-by-numbers, but with blood.  So weird!  And, my fingers weren’t cooperating.  She had to stick me THREE times!  Ouch.  One of my fingers didn’t appreciate it and now I have a bruise to show for it.  Who gets bruises on their fingers? I guess there’s a first time for everything. 

Ouch!

Bump Bound - Week 11

(Originally written 09/08/12)

Let’s get real personal for a minute.  Pregnancy farts.  Why has no one ever mentioned these butt assassinations before?  They are so bad that instead of calling them SBD’s I am taking it upon myself to rename them SBB’s (Sudden Butt Bombs) because no one see’s them coming and they have the power to take down an army.  PeeeeeUUUUU.  The bloating has been bad, but up until this point the farts have just exploded inside my tummy and haven’t escaped.  So as you can imagine, when I actually had one knocking to come out I eagerly proceeded and breathed a big sigh of relief.  OH. MY. GOSH.  That was amazing!  The relief only lasted for about five seconds and BAM!  What the?  What is that smell?!?!  Its not possible that I just produced that smell.  Not. Possible!  Right as my eyes started to water from the burning smell my husband walked into the kitchen to give me a kiss.  I started laughing so hard, and hung my head.  “I’m sorry.  I couldn’t help it”. 

“Oh my gosh!  That was you?!?!  I thought that was the dog!  That is the grossest thing I’ve ever smelt.  The air is just thick in here!”  

A few days later, again in the kitchen, I let another one.  My husband has impeccable timing.  Poor guy.  The second after my relief he walked into the hazy air.  He gets a puzzled look on his face and I kid you not, says “Are you cooking eggs?  It stinks in here!”  BAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA  Sorry babe.  You’ve fallen victim to another SBB!

We had a minor scare this week and as a result had an impromptu ultrasound.  Our first appointment with the doctor isn’t until 9/19 so it was pretty exciting to see our little grasshopper earlier than we had anticipated.  The baby is healthy and on track with a heartbeat of 157 beats per minute.  This was the first time my husband was able to see and hear the baby.  It was amazing to watch his face light up when he heard the heart beating for the first time.  That’s something I will never forget.

My clothes are starting to get uncomfortable this week.  I never had much room to expand in them to begin with so with all of the bloating they are really tight.  At the beginning of the pregnancy I scored a good sale at Sophia and Isabel and got two BellaBands for $6 each!  Holler!!!  They are normally $22 each.  Until this week, I haven’t felt justified in wearing them.  I mean, c’mon, I shouldn’t need a pant extender for gas!  I finally broke one out and wore it with some shorts last weekend.  It. Was. Splendid!   I also scored a new bra at the Motherhood Maternity outlet.  It was $10!  Normally $35.  Again, SCORE!!!  My bra has been leaving giant divots in my skin.  And this new bra is 2, yes TWO cup sizes bigger than my normal bras.  Can we say AWESOME!?!?!  Truthfully, I still have a little room to grow into it, but its quite comfortable. 

AND…….As if being pregnant isn't already a gift in itself, you get a ton of FREE stuff when pregnant.  Just for shopping at Motherhood, I got coupons for a ton of free items.  Like cool items.  I was able to redeem a baby sling as well as a hooter-hider!  ALL. FOR. FREE!  I still need to redeem my car seat cover.

Bump Bound - Week 10

(Originally written 09/01/12)

I keep talking about hormones, but wow!  They continue to amaze me.  How is it that these invisible emotion bubbles can wreak such havoc?   One minute I feel like myself, and the next, someone has awoken the beast.  Its crazy!   I thought my mall episode a few weeks ago was bad….Until yesterday.  I woke up not feeling well, with a migraine headache and hunger pains that wouldn’t quit.  Have you ever been nauseas and starving at the same time?  It’s a strange feeling.  All of the sudden I burst into tears.  Like inconsolable, couldn’t catch my breath, kind of tears.  Why?  Because I was hungry.  My feelings weren’t hurt.  The world hadn’t ended.  I was just hungry and nothing sounded good.  The one thing that did sound good was unattainable at that moment.  All I wanted was a Costco muffin and Costco was closed.  My husband came over to me and was like “what’s the matter?”  Trying to catch my breath I started laughing and crying all at the same time.  I knew why I was crying, and I knew how stupid it was.  It didn’t matter.  I couldn’t stop.  We both began laughing at the irrational meltdown I had just experienced and my husband was able to calm me down.  Aye, aye, aye.  At least we can laugh about it.

Food Aversions?  I would say so.  As you just read above, I’m having some major food aversions this week.  Nothing sounds good to eat.  My husband keeps trying to get me to eat protein and that’s the last thing I want.  When I do want to eat, all I want is carbs.  Carbs, and more carbs.  I know the baby needs some protein but yuck!  This week’s been a bit rough in the food department.  

Smells that I can’t stand this week?  Everything that has made me gag up until this point is still making me gag.   

New to the list?

Eggs.  The smell of eggs is terrible. 

Cantaloupe.  Ugh, just thinking about the smell makes me shiver.  We’ve had a great melon season this summer.  We’ve bought watermelon and cantaloupe pretty much every week, and it was delicious.  Well, not anymore!  My husband bought a cantaloupe and left it on the counter until he had time to cut it up.  I could smell it the minute I walked in the front door and it smelled sweet and sour at the same time.  Yuck.

Watermelon.  Same story as the cantaloupe.  We’ve eaten so much of it this summer that someone just has to mention watermelon and it grosses me out.  

My vitamins.  I’ve been taking the same prenatal vitamins for about two years now.  They have never bothered me…until this week.  Every morning when I go to take one out of the bottle, I gag.  Not to mention. They.  Are. Huge!