We get one last ultrasound! For the last 3 months, we have been wanting to get another ultrasound - despite the fact that there really was no reason to get one. considered buying our own machine (not really once we found out the price), so we could peer in on hm whenever we wanted. Our doctor kept telling us that that they only order those when there is something that might be wrong. But we were just dying to see him!!! :)
To our surprise, when we went in for a routine checkup yesterday, the doctor covering for our regular obgyn, decided that i was a little small looking for 38 weeks and told us we should get an ultrasound to get an estimated fetal birth weight. what a nice late christmas present!
So we have an appointment for this afternoon at 2pm to sneak one last peek at the little alien junior growing in my tummy before he makes his grand entry into the world. exciting.... :)
p.s. hmmmm... definitely not as exciting to get an ultrasound at 38 weeks. the baby is so cramped in there, that you can only get partial views of his profile and tummy. everything else is pretty much just a blob. he can barely move around. so if you want to see him, make sure you get it in before 30 weeks - when he can still swim around in your belly like a little tadpole.
we also had to wait in the radiology waiting room for an hour despite being on time to our appointment. so it was a double whammy, wait one hour, with nothing exciting to see at the end. boo hoo...
Thursday, December 29, 2005
The Notebook
William has been on winter break for the past several weeks so we have been watching/renting a lot of movies in the evenings and weekends - all the movies we have not been able to watch while he was in school. of course, we also realize that we will not be able to watch movies once the baby is born either so that is another motivation. I would love to go see some of the movies out in theaters now - but sitting in those theater seats for 2-3 hours just doesn't sound comfortable to me right now.
Anyways, last night we finally got to watch "The Notebook". someone had told me (lots of people actually) that it was really good but i didn't remember what it was about - and i didn't remember why it was good. i just remember hearing from quite a few people that it was worth watching. so i convinced william to watch it - although his first reaction was "waaaah.... chick flick. scsi you go watch it with her... " it starts a little slow but it is one of those movies, even though it is a chick flick that grabs you and sucks you in. a good story, well told.
needless to say, by the end of the movie, i was crying quite uncontrollably and could not stop thinking of Nancy Reagan. and william was using copious amounts of tissue to try to stem the flow from his eyes as well. we sat through the entire end credits, tissues in hand, when william mentioned that it wouldn't be so hard if it weren't for the image of Nancy Reagan, and how she said good-bye to her husband. thinking that she had to go through that, for 10 years. i could just say "i know" and sob even more.
every once in awhile, it is good to watch a movie that reminds you of how exciting it was when you were dating, and how the years have been flying by, but that you love each other all the more for the memories. it helps to find a way to treasure each day together, because you never know how it will end and you don't want to regret what you weren't able to tell your best friend.
Anyways, last night we finally got to watch "The Notebook". someone had told me (lots of people actually) that it was really good but i didn't remember what it was about - and i didn't remember why it was good. i just remember hearing from quite a few people that it was worth watching. so i convinced william to watch it - although his first reaction was "waaaah.... chick flick. scsi you go watch it with her... " it starts a little slow but it is one of those movies, even though it is a chick flick that grabs you and sucks you in. a good story, well told.
needless to say, by the end of the movie, i was crying quite uncontrollably and could not stop thinking of Nancy Reagan. and william was using copious amounts of tissue to try to stem the flow from his eyes as well. we sat through the entire end credits, tissues in hand, when william mentioned that it wouldn't be so hard if it weren't for the image of Nancy Reagan, and how she said good-bye to her husband. thinking that she had to go through that, for 10 years. i could just say "i know" and sob even more.
every once in awhile, it is good to watch a movie that reminds you of how exciting it was when you were dating, and how the years have been flying by, but that you love each other all the more for the memories. it helps to find a way to treasure each day together, because you never know how it will end and you don't want to regret what you weren't able to tell your best friend.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
My tummy.. 38 weeks and counting...
So here is my tummy on the 24th - pretty humongous. i have to lean over to see my feet otherwise, they are completely gone. only 3 more weeks to go until I am considered full term. we tried to convince the baby with lots of walking that he wants to come out earlier but at our doctor's appointment on Friday, there was no change in my condition... aka he is definitely n0t ready to make his entrance into the world. so we are still waiting...Just don't want to have to go in and induce!
Thursday, December 22, 2005
On pregnant food cravings...
there are a lot of myths about pregnancy out there that are propagated by media. the biggest one I found in terms of my own preggers time was the junk food craze. I did not find myself craving crappola at all. definitely not greasy, overheated fast food french fries, or heat lamp hamburgers. gross! What i did crave was fruit - almost any kind of fruit, esp grapefruit, fuji apples, cherries, strawberries or frozen natural strawberry fruit bars, blueberries, almost any berry, oranges, grapes, bananas, etc. Regina mentioned that all she wanted was salad in her first trimester.
you will also find yourself changing habits that you would never think. for me, it was ice in my drinks. i NEVER EVER drank water with ice. in fact at restaurants, i would actually sit there and scoop out my ice into william's glass. i never liked the feeling of my fillings shrinking as icy cold water hit them along with my teeth. well, turns out pregnancy raises your basal body temp just a bit. enough to make you feel hot a lot of the time, but at the same time, get cold easily i.e. indoors, i am down to a T-shirt. but step outside in 50 degree weather and even with a down jacket on, i start shivering almost right away. even now, in december, i am just fine with our thermostat at about 64 degrees. heater? who needs a heater! william walks in for lunch and is always freezing - for once, turning on the heater when i don't need it. i told him to enjoy the savings now b/c once junior is born, we'll probably have it at 69-70 at all times until he gets a little older. last night, i made myself a passionfruit/mango tea in a glass full of wonderful ice - LOVE that ice cold tea and juice!
the last thing - about all those strange combos of food, midnight pickle/ice cream runs... personally, it was not about odd combos for me, but i did crave 1) really good food and 2) variety. eating the same food for days used to be fine - esp b/c i don't like to cook every day. so when we did cook it was at least 2 days worth. plus, any time we got food from either mom, it was always several days worth. enter pregnancy! definitely do not like eating leftovers for days now. must have GOOD restaurant food at least 2-3 times per week. And variety - oh love variety. Trader Joe's has been great because they sell a lot of different types of food. My favorites to add variety to a ho humm food day have been: 1) Trader Giotto's organic vegetarian pizza 2) Tandoori Naan bread with different types of hummus 3) steamed artichokes with almost any type of dressing 4) spinach & mushroom quiche 5) chicken perogies with olive tapanade... yummmy!!
you will also find yourself changing habits that you would never think. for me, it was ice in my drinks. i NEVER EVER drank water with ice. in fact at restaurants, i would actually sit there and scoop out my ice into william's glass. i never liked the feeling of my fillings shrinking as icy cold water hit them along with my teeth. well, turns out pregnancy raises your basal body temp just a bit. enough to make you feel hot a lot of the time, but at the same time, get cold easily i.e. indoors, i am down to a T-shirt. but step outside in 50 degree weather and even with a down jacket on, i start shivering almost right away. even now, in december, i am just fine with our thermostat at about 64 degrees. heater? who needs a heater! william walks in for lunch and is always freezing - for once, turning on the heater when i don't need it. i told him to enjoy the savings now b/c once junior is born, we'll probably have it at 69-70 at all times until he gets a little older. last night, i made myself a passionfruit/mango tea in a glass full of wonderful ice - LOVE that ice cold tea and juice!
the last thing - about all those strange combos of food, midnight pickle/ice cream runs... personally, it was not about odd combos for me, but i did crave 1) really good food and 2) variety. eating the same food for days used to be fine - esp b/c i don't like to cook every day. so when we did cook it was at least 2 days worth. plus, any time we got food from either mom, it was always several days worth. enter pregnancy! definitely do not like eating leftovers for days now. must have GOOD restaurant food at least 2-3 times per week. And variety - oh love variety. Trader Joe's has been great because they sell a lot of different types of food. My favorites to add variety to a ho humm food day have been: 1) Trader Giotto's organic vegetarian pizza 2) Tandoori Naan bread with different types of hummus 3) steamed artichokes with almost any type of dressing 4) spinach & mushroom quiche 5) chicken perogies with olive tapanade... yummmy!!
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Waiting...
our official due date for Baby Kuo is jan 11th. our ultrasound technician said it was jan 8th. we still haven't figured out a name yet - down to Michael vs. Thomas. one of my co-workers has survived the first 8 weeks with their new baby, brendan nicholas. cute name! seems that posting pics online is the easiest way to go to satisfy friends and family who want to see the newest member of the family.
anyways, here we are at 37 weeks and after all the stress and bedrest, my doctor laughingly said that we will probably carry him to full term. we've decided that that is not going to work for us. we want our tax break!! :) so i have been doing everything within safe reason to induce: a lot of walking, up and down stairs, massaging pressure points that shouldn't be massaged, and am now contemplating taking small amounts of evening primrose oil. supposedly that has a little more effectiveness than the castor oil.... we'll see. most of the online articles say if the baby is not ready to come out, he won't come out so I have been praying too - asking God for this very selfish request - please let us have it early rather than having to induce late! please please please God :)
Luckily God has a sense of humor... and of course, all things according to His will. amen...
anyways, here we are at 37 weeks and after all the stress and bedrest, my doctor laughingly said that we will probably carry him to full term. we've decided that that is not going to work for us. we want our tax break!! :) so i have been doing everything within safe reason to induce: a lot of walking, up and down stairs, massaging pressure points that shouldn't be massaged, and am now contemplating taking small amounts of evening primrose oil. supposedly that has a little more effectiveness than the castor oil.... we'll see. most of the online articles say if the baby is not ready to come out, he won't come out so I have been praying too - asking God for this very selfish request - please let us have it early rather than having to induce late! please please please God :)
Luckily God has a sense of humor... and of course, all things according to His will. amen...
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Vicky & Raphael's wedding Sat Dec 17th
Here is detailed an account of what happened on our way to Vicky & Raphael's wedding on Saturday. we eventually went into the city for Vicky & Raphael's wedding but I had not finished working on all of the preparations for the Christmas dinner for LBF. so we decided to miss the ceremony and make it to the reception at 6pm, at Yang Sing in the Rincon center.so poor william had to run around at 1pm to print all of the packets out for me once i had them all formatted. this was for the after dinner game - guessing who's who based on baby photos. he asked how many copies were needed and i told him 40 (we were expecting about 37-38 people). he informed me that 40 copies, with 15 pages each was over 600 pages, lots of copies. well gee, i had never thought of it that way. but it was true - i really had not thought about the fact that it was 600+ pages. on top of that, he had to print out 60 envelopes and 60 mail merge letters for LBF (our follow-up pastoral search networking letter). both of which I also was finishing last minute.
so i started calling all of the places that offer printing services (kinko's, office depot, staples, etc) and found that printing is not cheap! what happened to 3 cent b&w copies!!! all of the places pretty much across the board charged 7 cents/page to laser print. after that many charge 6-7 cents/page for self-service B&W copies. what a rip off! anyways...
while he was printing, he decided that each couple was only going to get one packet. so that cut it down to 20 packets. poor william - now i was feeling really bad about leaving this for last minute.
by the time he gets home (4:30), he is fairly grumpy. i had a plate of food ready for him because we had woken up late that morning and really hadn't had lunch. but he didn't want to fill up too much before big chinese banquet though. so we got ready - but even that took longer than expected and we ended up not leaving until 5:30. as anyone knows, you can not get into the city in 30 minutes on saturday evening at 6pm. so we are both grumpy sitting in bridge traffic and hoping that we were not missing too much.
i apologized for the last minute rush and causing him stress on what should have been a more relaxed day. he said that it was like handing in a final term paper at the last minute - did not like having to do that one bit. so i apologized again and told him that i know i should have finished the packet on wed or thursday but that last minute photos kept trickling in. so i left it to the last day to prevent re-work to paste in last minute photos. i told him that i was really frustrated that we had left late, causing us to have to sit in traffic anxiously. now i was getting hungry and thirsty and i don't like feeling hungry at this stage, b/c it probably means that the baby is hungry.
william pauses when i say this. turns out the real reason william is so frustrated with the day is that i have been volunteering to do a lot for church lately when he has really wanted me to just rest, eat and walk - be a little selfish for myself and for him. instead, i am having to sit on the computer for long stretches to fulfill the items i committed to in the board meetings. that has been upsetting him (awe... actually very sweet of him and makes me feel like a big jerko b/c he is thinking about me/us, not all the printing problems). so he has purposely not committed to anything, thinking in his head that he is going to have to help me with my to-do items anyways. *sigh* most of it was phone work up until this last week so it really was not a problem. but he really wants us to think more for us - and we only have 2-3 weeks left before the baby comes and lots still to do to get the house ready. i think i am still in partial denial that this baby is coming. we have been married for nine years (NINE!) with no kids and it is hard to imagine how this little kid is going to turn everything upside down...
anyways, we finally arrived at Yang Sing - a little after 7pm. turns out they were still doing toasts and hadn't started eating yet. all that rushing for nothing. and william couldn't get a glass of wine because the bar was instructed to stop serving wine after 7pm - and we had just missed the cutoff. he could get wine once food started coming. so we sat there starving for half an hour while the toasts finished and finally started eating. the food was marvelous - a full, 10 course, gourmet chinese seafood banquet. sooo soo yummmy. we sat with phebe & don kuo, who were happy that we were there because they didn't know anyone else at the table. it was very nice to catch up with them. their boys andrew (15) and jonathan (13) used to be so quiet and nerdy, are actually getting into girls and clothes now. funny.... also saw andrea & pastor Johnson and their girls, felix, and grace & albert with daughter Catherine.
vicky looked so beautiful in a simple strapless silk gown with silk flowers bunched in the back, and a ruffled organza silk train falling from box pleats in the back of the skirt. the wedding cake was this beautiful tiffany blue 3 layer cake - but it didn't taste as good as it looked so we capped off our meal with 2 bowls of mango pudding. double yummy!
ugh, my posts are getting too long... :p ramble ramble...
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Baby Showers
Sunday, Dec 11th, we had our baby shower. we weren't originally going to have one because we really weren't sure when the baby was coming (with all the preterm labor complications). also having family host a baby shower was out of the question (his parents are not very social), my mom is not in good health and my sister has her hands full with her 2 year old (plus planning these types of things is jut not something she likes to do :)
then we got to a point where things looked good - baby was staying inside where he belongs and all the weeks of bedrest were paying off. by that time, it was mid-nov and i was contemplating planning my own shower. i didn't want to ask anyone and it wasn't really going to be a shower - more of a celebration party... ha ha...
Robin started asking about a shower and i explained the above and she decided that wasn't good enough (thanks dear robin) and she mobilized Grace and what was going to be a small party turned into a bigger party (somehow everyone that i thought might not be able to make the odd time {due to morning church} ended up making it).
so we packed over 30 people into our house and did a Costco run for food. Robin also cooked up a massive egg casserole - yumm! it was a little hectic but it was actually really nice to see everyone, esp being on bedrest for so long. got to catch up with a lot of people and find out what was going on for the holidays (lots of family and skiing trips). 4 of my co-workers were actually able to make it - it was great to see them. we played some baby shower games: guess the belly circumference, match the animal to it's baby and guess the baby food. surprisingly it was mostly guys that won - ha ha.... and then we had cake - special ordered by michael and grace by a bakery on the peninsula. it was a whole sheet white cake with yummy strawberry mousefilling. we were still eating that cake at the end of the week :p
it was overwhelming how generous people were with gifts. we got so much of what we needed as well as a good number of gift cards to make up for what we still need. we love our friends and family! of course, we don't love them just for gifts, but we never expected all that. it reminded me of how important our little community of friends are and how we support each other through all of life's many changes and curve balls.
we had another baby shower on Wednesday, the 14th at william's office. we were overwhelmed there too! i teased william that for all his scowling grumpiness, i was surprised at how many of his co-workers would want to contribute to his first kid (almost 20 of them!). even he was amazed and reasoned it by saying that his co-worker Vicki must have went around twisting people's arms for money. ha ha! but vicki did a lot of work - she was the one that collected $, as well as buy all the gifts, cake and decorations. i am trying to figure out what we can get her as a thank you gift. William mentioned she just got a golden retriever puppy this summer so maybe something dog related.
then we got to a point where things looked good - baby was staying inside where he belongs and all the weeks of bedrest were paying off. by that time, it was mid-nov and i was contemplating planning my own shower. i didn't want to ask anyone and it wasn't really going to be a shower - more of a celebration party... ha ha...
Robin started asking about a shower and i explained the above and she decided that wasn't good enough (thanks dear robin) and she mobilized Grace and what was going to be a small party turned into a bigger party (somehow everyone that i thought might not be able to make the odd time {due to morning church} ended up making it).
so we packed over 30 people into our house and did a Costco run for food. Robin also cooked up a massive egg casserole - yumm! it was a little hectic but it was actually really nice to see everyone, esp being on bedrest for so long. got to catch up with a lot of people and find out what was going on for the holidays (lots of family and skiing trips). 4 of my co-workers were actually able to make it - it was great to see them. we played some baby shower games: guess the belly circumference, match the animal to it's baby and guess the baby food. surprisingly it was mostly guys that won - ha ha.... and then we had cake - special ordered by michael and grace by a bakery on the peninsula. it was a whole sheet white cake with yummy strawberry mousefilling. we were still eating that cake at the end of the week :p
it was overwhelming how generous people were with gifts. we got so much of what we needed as well as a good number of gift cards to make up for what we still need. we love our friends and family! of course, we don't love them just for gifts, but we never expected all that. it reminded me of how important our little community of friends are and how we support each other through all of life's many changes and curve balls.
we had another baby shower on Wednesday, the 14th at william's office. we were overwhelmed there too! i teased william that for all his scowling grumpiness, i was surprised at how many of his co-workers would want to contribute to his first kid (almost 20 of them!). even he was amazed and reasoned it by saying that his co-worker Vicki must have went around twisting people's arms for money. ha ha! but vicki did a lot of work - she was the one that collected $, as well as buy all the gifts, cake and decorations. i am trying to figure out what we can get her as a thank you gift. William mentioned she just got a golden retriever puppy this summer so maybe something dog related.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
My nemesis....
Maggie, on her favorite spot in the whole wide world - William's lap. She always looks at me with a snug, self-satisfied little look, as if she is saying "ha ha, i have his lap, and you don't." 
Monday, December 12, 2005
My constant bedrest companion, our dear kitty, Scsi. He is probably wondering why I have been spending so much time snoozing with him these last 3 months. I hope the adjustment is not too hard on him when the baby comes. william and i will have to make an effort to make sure he doesn't feel neglected. I hope our baby is not allergic to him!
Good Friends vs. Friends
on saturday, we had dinner with Robin & Stanley and Michael & Grace. Ho & Erika also came over. RS and MG are long time friends from college (can you believe it has been 15 years?? 15 years you guys!) and Ho and Erika couldn't make it to the baby shower on Sunday so were invited to join us on Saturday.
it was wonderful to hang out with R/S and M/G again - felt like we were back in oregon! *sigh* won't be any oregon trips in the near future with babies on the way and in the plans.....
robin is very good at engaging Ho - Grace and I both observed. so i was listening in a little as he talked. when she asked how he was feeling, he said that he is actually very unhappy with his job and wishes that he could move on to a different job at Stanford or UCSF, but does not have enough tenure. he also mentioned loneliness and being a little depressed. he has a form of blood cancer that i believe is in remission, but i am not sure. i am always afraid to ask the tough questions, but i think that asking also shows you care, so i always waver between not wanting to appear nosey and wanting to let people know i care. depends on how well you know the person too (and i do not keep in touch with Ho on a regular basis).
it felt like we were eating the entire evening - started with take out from Tri-Valley Seafood, paired with a bottle of chianti that G&M lugged all the way back from their Italy/Europe trip! then we moved to chocolate from Switzerland, this amazing tartufata (olives with black truffles in truffle oil) on shepard's bread, chocolate mousse cake, coffee, tea, chocolate chip butterscotch cookies, and more tartufata. grace said they first had the tartufata in Italy (called black gold for a reason) and has searched high and low for truffle oil and real truffle products in the bay area. turns out only the most high end, hoity toity grocer carries it. she couldn't even find anything at Whole Foods. trader joe's has an olive tapanade that is vastly inferior. i might check Andronico's. at any rate, by the end of the night, we were all stuffed.
it was wonderful to hang out with R/S and M/G again - felt like we were back in oregon! *sigh* won't be any oregon trips in the near future with babies on the way and in the plans.....
robin is very good at engaging Ho - Grace and I both observed. so i was listening in a little as he talked. when she asked how he was feeling, he said that he is actually very unhappy with his job and wishes that he could move on to a different job at Stanford or UCSF, but does not have enough tenure. he also mentioned loneliness and being a little depressed. he has a form of blood cancer that i believe is in remission, but i am not sure. i am always afraid to ask the tough questions, but i think that asking also shows you care, so i always waver between not wanting to appear nosey and wanting to let people know i care. depends on how well you know the person too (and i do not keep in touch with Ho on a regular basis).
it felt like we were eating the entire evening - started with take out from Tri-Valley Seafood, paired with a bottle of chianti that G&M lugged all the way back from their Italy/Europe trip! then we moved to chocolate from Switzerland, this amazing tartufata (olives with black truffles in truffle oil) on shepard's bread, chocolate mousse cake, coffee, tea, chocolate chip butterscotch cookies, and more tartufata. grace said they first had the tartufata in Italy (called black gold for a reason) and has searched high and low for truffle oil and real truffle products in the bay area. turns out only the most high end, hoity toity grocer carries it. she couldn't even find anything at Whole Foods. trader joe's has an olive tapanade that is vastly inferior. i might check Andronico's. at any rate, by the end of the night, we were all stuffed.
Lady's Night Out
last thursday, we had our December lady's night out at Aura, a new nightclub in Pleasanton. it is owned by the same guy that owns Ruby Skye in the city so I suggested the venue to Daphne. we got there around 7pm for dinner (small plates type of menu) and drinks. they open at 7 for dinner/drinks and convert to dancing, live DJ mix at 9:45 or so. www.nightclubaura.comthe food was not bad - not fabulous, but not bad. there were 10 of us, so we tried a lot of their menu. By far the best items were the New Zealand Lambchops (obvious why it is the chef's favorite), the bruschetta points that came with the romaine salad, baked brie (so melt in your mouth good), and the Ahi sashimi salad. desserts were worth the wait, almost better than the food - the chocolate lava cake (with vanilla bean ice cream) and Mississippi mud pie (with carmel bourbon sauce) were just right. when I left at 10pm with Joyce (the 2 pregnant ladies), the bill for all drinks & food was at $300, not too bad for 10 considering that Joyce and I were really the only ones that didn't order drinks.
Julie said that she recognized a lot of the ladies there earlier in the evening, and that they probably recognized her (from Club Sport). She said she recognized all the fake boobs. ha ha...
We all loved the decor, even the few who were blasé about it. we couldn't believe that a place like this could be maintained in Pleasanton. It felt like you were at a trendy nightclub in the city, chain link curtains, cool looking bar area, dim lights that make everyone look good. at least at our table, we had spots so we could see our food. we couldn't believe the number of young people there. maybe all the apartment dwellers go there. of course, there were older folks - in their 30's and early 40's, but plenty of younger folks too. by10pm, the place was filling up pretty fast and when Joyce and I walked out, it was kind of intimidating because there were theses 6 humongous bouncers at various points around the entrance and a line of about 15 people waiting to get in.
the best part? being able to go hang out, feel trendy and cool and then not having to drive 45 minutes and over the bridge to get back home!!
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Congrats to Lu's & Gadad's!
Congratulations to our dear friends Vijay & Regina (Sara) and Stephen & Naomi (Dylan)! Both had their babies on Wed. The Lu's beat the Gadad's though - so they win our bet. Our long standing bet to see who could make a baby by October 15th. :)
The Gadad's have some really cute pics posted already on: http://sara.mysprout.com/
I have forgotten what the prize was... first year of tuition... something like that :). Now it is just Liz and I to go...
The Gadad's have some really cute pics posted already on: http://sara.mysprout.com/
I have forgotten what the prize was... first year of tuition... something like that :). Now it is just Liz and I to go...
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
My moms
I just talked to my mom. We have not told either parent about the bedrest because we think it would be more stressful for us with both mom's trying to hypothesize about why I am having pre-term labor contractions. My mom's theories would probably border on gov't conspiracies.
So anyways, I told her that I "finally" stopped working and will just be at home until the baby comes. Before, when she thought I was "working", all she would say is - don't work too hard, don't stay at work too late, make sure you eat enough, stress is bad for the baby, etc.
Now, the first thing she says is "Catherine, can I just ask you one thing? please don't spend all your time watching TV. You can be very productive during these next weeks"
*Sigh* I wish my mom was more westernized. She is never happy. She is not one of those moms who ever has anything positive to say - it is not her fault - it is the culture she was raised in. But it is really annoying sometimes that she can't just say "oh that's great. now you can rest up, eat all day and just get ready for baby."
On to the mom-in-law. I talked to her last week. i know she means well too. she asks me what i plan to do after the baby is born. she says with a bit of excitement that she can help watch the baby in the mornings in case I want to take classes, maybe to get an MBA (because one of her friend's daughters is taking classes and she watches her grandchild while her daughter is in class. of course.). (On a side note, where in the world did she get the idea that I would want to go back to school to get an MBA? maybe some courses in fashion design, and mfg or sewing, but not for an MBA). I tell her I am going to stay home for awhile (4-6 months) then decide whether I want to go back to work. Who knows, maybe I will want to stay at home, maybe I will be dying to get away and go back to work. Then she says "oh... you are still thinking about working? oh..."
What does she think I would do with an MBA? not work?? Go figure...
So anyways, I told her that I "finally" stopped working and will just be at home until the baby comes. Before, when she thought I was "working", all she would say is - don't work too hard, don't stay at work too late, make sure you eat enough, stress is bad for the baby, etc.
Now, the first thing she says is "Catherine, can I just ask you one thing? please don't spend all your time watching TV. You can be very productive during these next weeks"
*Sigh* I wish my mom was more westernized. She is never happy. She is not one of those moms who ever has anything positive to say - it is not her fault - it is the culture she was raised in. But it is really annoying sometimes that she can't just say "oh that's great. now you can rest up, eat all day and just get ready for baby."
On to the mom-in-law. I talked to her last week. i know she means well too. she asks me what i plan to do after the baby is born. she says with a bit of excitement that she can help watch the baby in the mornings in case I want to take classes, maybe to get an MBA (because one of her friend's daughters is taking classes and she watches her grandchild while her daughter is in class. of course.). (On a side note, where in the world did she get the idea that I would want to go back to school to get an MBA? maybe some courses in fashion design, and mfg or sewing, but not for an MBA). I tell her I am going to stay home for awhile (4-6 months) then decide whether I want to go back to work. Who knows, maybe I will want to stay at home, maybe I will be dying to get away and go back to work. Then she says "oh... you are still thinking about working? oh..."
What does she think I would do with an MBA? not work?? Go figure...
Bedrest & baby equipment
So I have been on bedrest since Sept 14th. That is almost 3 months. it is like torture. probably like people who are paralyzed but still fully aware.... ok not that bad. but sometimes it feels like it. You can't clean, you can't cook, you can't get up and walk around whenever you feel like it. On full bedrest, you can't even really sit up. they want you lying down. what can you do when you are lying down? nothing. watch TV, read, sleep. There is nothing good on TV and your arms get tired after reading for awhile. So really you can just sleep... and you can only sleep so much.
What causes preterm labor contractions? They really don't know. Sometimes it is stress, can be from uterine fibroids, can also be just that you have an irritable uterus. whoever heard of an irritable uterus? that is almost as bad as irritable bowel syndrome. And many women have Braxton-Hicks contractions in the later half of their pregnancies - like false alarms, contractions that do nothing (in terms of pushing the baby out) except contract your uterus. Who's to say when contractions are real and when they are BH? How come mine necessitated bedrest?
Well, I am very thankful that the baby is still in there and that we did not have to deal with a preemie baby the size of a small squirrel. I guess that is all that counts in the end!
-----------------------
There is so much baby equipment out there it is overwhelming to try to chose - esp when it comes to the bigger ticket items like the crib, stroller and car seat. Everything has different price points and it is really hard to tell when it is more expensive just because of the name brand, and when it is more expensive because it is really more well made, or better quality. It would help if I could actually get up whenever I wanted and go over the Babies R Us and try out the many different items. It has been frustrating trying to select everything from websites. At least Baby's R Us has a more knowledgeable sales staff that can give you some of the differences over the phone and help you select product. makes me want to buy more stuff from them.
What causes preterm labor contractions? They really don't know. Sometimes it is stress, can be from uterine fibroids, can also be just that you have an irritable uterus. whoever heard of an irritable uterus? that is almost as bad as irritable bowel syndrome. And many women have Braxton-Hicks contractions in the later half of their pregnancies - like false alarms, contractions that do nothing (in terms of pushing the baby out) except contract your uterus. Who's to say when contractions are real and when they are BH? How come mine necessitated bedrest?
Well, I am very thankful that the baby is still in there and that we did not have to deal with a preemie baby the size of a small squirrel. I guess that is all that counts in the end!
-----------------------
There is so much baby equipment out there it is overwhelming to try to chose - esp when it comes to the bigger ticket items like the crib, stroller and car seat. Everything has different price points and it is really hard to tell when it is more expensive just because of the name brand, and when it is more expensive because it is really more well made, or better quality. It would help if I could actually get up whenever I wanted and go over the Babies R Us and try out the many different items. It has been frustrating trying to select everything from websites. At least Baby's R Us has a more knowledgeable sales staff that can give you some of the differences over the phone and help you select product. makes me want to buy more stuff from them.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Just for the record
Just for the record, here is the year in review:
January:
- after living with us for 3 months to recover, my mom (who suffers from major depression and paranoia) moved out, back to Santa Clara with another single older Korean lady
- William treated me to a deluxe meal for our wedding anniversary @ Claude and Dominique's Bistro on main street in Pleasanton. We had the guilty pleasure of foie gras for the first time in our lives and now know why people eat it despite the terrible way it is made.
March:
-New York City for the first time with John & Liz. shopping, sight seeing, ground zero and the empire state building (though we didn't go in :p)
* first time EVER spent $400 on one dinner @ Daniel's in New York, maybe last time ever
* met Liz's wonderful Aunt Vicky & Uncle Jonathan in New York
- Also did a quick run through Philadelphia (birthplace of our nation) and New Jersey (really small state)
* first time shopping at H&M store :) bought a lot of clothes...
April 2005:
- 10th: U2 concert at the HP Pavilion in San Jose
- finally got pregnant! but didn't know about it until the second week of May or so
- 21st: went back to work at Mervyn's after a 5 month leave of absence (to take care of my mom and the de-stress after my mom moved out)
- 22nd: day off for Frisson & Ultra Lounge in the city with 8 girlfriends. Stayed at the brand new Hotel Vitale on the Embarcadero - for the Grand opening rate of $159/night.
- My sister miscarried on her second pregnancy - felt so bad
May:
- 7th: Darren & Dorris's wedding at Yoshi's in Oakland
- My sister and Brian are pregnant again - yay! and wow - they are so fertile. it took us 4 months...
- 28th: Jean (Chen) & Nelson Wu's wedding in San Diego
June:
- 18th: Jewel solo concert at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, with Adriane & Dunham, John & Liz, and Vijay & Regina
July:
- 7th: Chris Isaak concert at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga
- 17th: Ken & Angela's wedding in Yontsville/Napa - in 110 degree heat!
August:
- 20 weeks and we found out we're having a boy! william is a little bummed but adjusting to the idea. seeing him move around in my belly using ultrasound had to rank up there with the 7 natural wonders of the world... made us both a little teary... :)
- 27th: Andy & Mary Anne Chen's wedding in San Francisco - we had to decline due to William's schedule... too bad
September:
- Hawaii for 5 days with John & Liz: wonderful condo on the west side of Maui
* first ever helicopter ride!
* first ever puking on a boat for both of us - during snorkeling trip
* william got to surf in Hawaii - where surfing all started
- left Mervyn's for LOA starting 15th due to pre-term labor contractions. Start fulltime bedrest.
October:
- still on bedrest...
- started work on hardwood floor installation. pooor william - this was a really stressful month for him. not only working F/T, in school and taking care of wife on full bedrest, but also moving all furniture around from one side of house to another so that our flooring installer could work. all by himself. he was not a happy camper during those 3 weeks - but to his credit he did not complain at all about housework, cooking and picking up after me. somehow God gave him patience at home... thank you GOD!
November:
- still on bedrest.... but can "walk around a little" according to our doctor after a checkup on the 11th
- glucose test came back negative - no gestational diabetes - yay!
- hardwood floors finally finished - we are so happy with results.... and soooo happy it is over.
- had thanksgiving dinner at our house with William's parents, Aunt Li, and my dad. we ordered a thanksgiving meal from Marie Calendar's - for $70 it was yummy and easy!
December... almost done with 2005
January:
- after living with us for 3 months to recover, my mom (who suffers from major depression and paranoia) moved out, back to Santa Clara with another single older Korean lady
- William treated me to a deluxe meal for our wedding anniversary @ Claude and Dominique's Bistro on main street in Pleasanton. We had the guilty pleasure of foie gras for the first time in our lives and now know why people eat it despite the terrible way it is made.
March:
-New York City for the first time with John & Liz. shopping, sight seeing, ground zero and the empire state building (though we didn't go in :p)
* first time EVER spent $400 on one dinner @ Daniel's in New York, maybe last time ever
* met Liz's wonderful Aunt Vicky & Uncle Jonathan in New York
- Also did a quick run through Philadelphia (birthplace of our nation) and New Jersey (really small state)
* first time shopping at H&M store :) bought a lot of clothes...
April 2005:
- 10th: U2 concert at the HP Pavilion in San Jose
- finally got pregnant! but didn't know about it until the second week of May or so
- 21st: went back to work at Mervyn's after a 5 month leave of absence (to take care of my mom and the de-stress after my mom moved out)
- 22nd: day off for Frisson & Ultra Lounge in the city with 8 girlfriends. Stayed at the brand new Hotel Vitale on the Embarcadero - for the Grand opening rate of $159/night.
- My sister miscarried on her second pregnancy - felt so bad
May:
- 7th: Darren & Dorris's wedding at Yoshi's in Oakland
- My sister and Brian are pregnant again - yay! and wow - they are so fertile. it took us 4 months...
- 28th: Jean (Chen) & Nelson Wu's wedding in San Diego
June:
- 18th: Jewel solo concert at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, with Adriane & Dunham, John & Liz, and Vijay & Regina
July:
- 7th: Chris Isaak concert at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga
- 17th: Ken & Angela's wedding in Yontsville/Napa - in 110 degree heat!
August:
- 20 weeks and we found out we're having a boy! william is a little bummed but adjusting to the idea. seeing him move around in my belly using ultrasound had to rank up there with the 7 natural wonders of the world... made us both a little teary... :)
- 27th: Andy & Mary Anne Chen's wedding in San Francisco - we had to decline due to William's schedule... too bad
September:
- Hawaii for 5 days with John & Liz: wonderful condo on the west side of Maui
* first ever helicopter ride!
* first ever puking on a boat for both of us - during snorkeling trip
* william got to surf in Hawaii - where surfing all started
- left Mervyn's for LOA starting 15th due to pre-term labor contractions. Start fulltime bedrest.
October:
- still on bedrest...
- started work on hardwood floor installation. pooor william - this was a really stressful month for him. not only working F/T, in school and taking care of wife on full bedrest, but also moving all furniture around from one side of house to another so that our flooring installer could work. all by himself. he was not a happy camper during those 3 weeks - but to his credit he did not complain at all about housework, cooking and picking up after me. somehow God gave him patience at home... thank you GOD!
November:
- still on bedrest.... but can "walk around a little" according to our doctor after a checkup on the 11th
- glucose test came back negative - no gestational diabetes - yay!
- hardwood floors finally finished - we are so happy with results.... and soooo happy it is over.
- had thanksgiving dinner at our house with William's parents, Aunt Li, and my dad. we ordered a thanksgiving meal from Marie Calendar's - for $70 it was yummy and easy!
December... almost done with 2005
Baby & Other odds and ends
I can't believe it is already Dec. 2005. i've decided to use a blog as a journal because i am so bad about writing in my real journal I know i am going to regret it. there is so much going on in my head and i haven't written any of it down.
Our baby is due in only 4 weeks. 4 weeks! we have a baby shower next sunday, a wedding and a Christmas party on Saturday, and only 4 weeks to clean up the room that we have been calling the baby room for 9+ months. It is still a junk room.
William is finally done with the quarter on Thursday. it has been a really trying quarter for him with me on bedrest, getting hardwood floors put in and all the church activity. some times, i hate that he is in school. i know he is learning and will have a good chance to get further at work with an MBA - but ugh, it takes up so much of his time - and has the unfortunately side effect of turning him into a stress case. i have noticed he has far less patience for people since he started school. luckily - he has been super nice to me. but that doesn't make it ok for him to be so foul-tempered towards others just because they don't do things the way he does or they have a moment of stupidity. Everyone has moments of stupidity. oh well - he only has 2-3 more quarters to go and then i am never letting him go back to school again! 3 degrees is enough... isn't it??! :)
i have been reading a lot about stay-at-home moms vs. stay-at-work moms. it is crazy. such a ridiculous mental and emotional conflict for women. it is not fair that men do not have to deal with this. if you stay at home, you loose out at work and the longer you stay out of work, the harder it is to get back into work and convince employers that you are a viable employee. if you go back to work, you loose time with your baby. if you identify strongly as a career oriented woman, you feel you lose a part of yourself staying at home. if you go back to work, you are made to feel guilty about not doing the best for your children. what a bunch of crock! why is it that men do not have to go through this. it is not fair not fair not fair. and what if part of my identity is wrapped in working? what if i make a decent amount of money and want to maintain financial security and a certain amount of independence? i mean, as much as i pray that william will be around until we are old and grey, the reality is we never know when God will call us home. i still haven't really decided which way i fall. i want to stay home "be there for the kids", but at the same time i don't, I want my own identity and something to be good at apart from family. i definitely do not want to be one of those women who only talk about their kids because that is all they do or have. i guess only time will tell.
Our baby is due in only 4 weeks. 4 weeks! we have a baby shower next sunday, a wedding and a Christmas party on Saturday, and only 4 weeks to clean up the room that we have been calling the baby room for 9+ months. It is still a junk room.
William is finally done with the quarter on Thursday. it has been a really trying quarter for him with me on bedrest, getting hardwood floors put in and all the church activity. some times, i hate that he is in school. i know he is learning and will have a good chance to get further at work with an MBA - but ugh, it takes up so much of his time - and has the unfortunately side effect of turning him into a stress case. i have noticed he has far less patience for people since he started school. luckily - he has been super nice to me. but that doesn't make it ok for him to be so foul-tempered towards others just because they don't do things the way he does or they have a moment of stupidity. Everyone has moments of stupidity. oh well - he only has 2-3 more quarters to go and then i am never letting him go back to school again! 3 degrees is enough... isn't it??! :)
i have been reading a lot about stay-at-home moms vs. stay-at-work moms. it is crazy. such a ridiculous mental and emotional conflict for women. it is not fair that men do not have to deal with this. if you stay at home, you loose out at work and the longer you stay out of work, the harder it is to get back into work and convince employers that you are a viable employee. if you go back to work, you loose time with your baby. if you identify strongly as a career oriented woman, you feel you lose a part of yourself staying at home. if you go back to work, you are made to feel guilty about not doing the best for your children. what a bunch of crock! why is it that men do not have to go through this. it is not fair not fair not fair. and what if part of my identity is wrapped in working? what if i make a decent amount of money and want to maintain financial security and a certain amount of independence? i mean, as much as i pray that william will be around until we are old and grey, the reality is we never know when God will call us home. i still haven't really decided which way i fall. i want to stay home "be there for the kids", but at the same time i don't, I want my own identity and something to be good at apart from family. i definitely do not want to be one of those women who only talk about their kids because that is all they do or have. i guess only time will tell.
Monday, March 07, 2005
First post
I just read some posts on my friend's blog and I was so inspired I had to start one. She is a really good writer! Liz - you should be a writer! I have never been good writer, too unfocused and rambly but this is not English class, just for good friends. I don't think I will write every day... who knows...
This week has been so exhausting. I would not even know where to start if I had to recount the events of the week so I am just going to start Sunday.
Got up after staying up late last Saturday night (yet again) talking with close friends about the recent and not so recent events at Faithwalk. William got very buzzed and was saying some pretty funny things. It has been a very stressful two weeks for him, so I didn't stop him. (sheesh I need to get my typing speed up faster...)
We got to know another couple at church better - it was a lot of fun hearing them talk about how they met and got together. What made it funnier was that their oldest kid, Fern was there too and had a good laugh about some of the things said.
William slept like a LOG because of the bottle of wine he imbibed during the course of the evening. I was still troubled and couldn't sleep well. Sometimes, I really wish I could just throw the bottle back too! stupid asian genes :p
anyways, worship went really well. i heard from a several people that the songs really went well and several people came up to John to say what a good job he had done. God really worked through him to touch me too.
Our friends from LA, Andy, Elisa, & their baby Erik left the house at 4 for the airport. It was so nice to see them! Erik is soooooo cute. He has the biggest eyes. *sigh* babies are a miracle.
Anyways, I had another call that night with a member of Faithwalk. Again, not easy but hopefully, with God's help, productive.
Monday came and I talked to a couple other people and again, mostly about being fair and seeing both sides of the issues. The last conversation of the evening was particularly encouraging. They were very willing to be open and really look at what was going on in an impartial way. That is always a good sign and a sign that God is moving.
It is Tuesday and I am still feeling so heavy. This, all this, is not what God has made. This is us, silly headstrong people messing up what God started as very good.
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