What's shakin'...

Can you say earthquake?! It scared the crap out of me! All I could think was, "Please don't be the big one, please don't be the big one," and thank goodness, it wasn't. A 5.4 magnitude hit at around 11:42 this morning. It was centered in Chino Hills, a city that's located around 15 miles away (or a good 30 minute drive). During this time, I was supposed to be at a doctor's appointment, but luckily the doctor's office had just reschedule me for an afternoon appointment. Since I had some time to kill, I had decided to hang Baby J's name on the wall. I went to grab a yard stick when all of a sudden everything started shaking, and it lasted a good 20-30 seconds. I had the news on already and they broke into the story quickly. We had two after shocks that followed, and I have not felt anything since. Thank God everyone is okay!



I had my OB appointment today. Baby's looking good, but I'm not. This rash is driving me up the wall! Doc decided to give me something stronger and hopefully it works. I also have numb hands. Yes, numb. I cannot feel my pointer, middle, and ring fingers on both my hands, and it's worse when I wake up in the morning when my hands are completely numb and achy. And well, it's pretty much guaranteed that we'll meet baby boy within the next 2 weeks. Doc recommends that I have a c-section, however he'd like another growth ultrasound. Yay for another ultrasound, but boo to the c-sect. I'm a little bummed about the c-sect but I kind of knew the chances of having one we're going to pretty high. However, there's always a possibility that I may go into labor on my own. I hope this happens, but as far as I know (or feel) nothing is happening. No significant contractions at all, nada. Again, however, there's a possibility to still go into labor with out any foreshadowing symptoms. We'll see what happens within the next couple of weeks.

Let's talk about the weekend. Saturday I went with my sister and her family to drop off my nephew at camp. It's a cute little camp located just a few miles from the beach in Malibu. The drive was nice and scenic. We cruised up the coast through PCH, and scoped out all of the beach bums and celeb cottages on our way to the top. On the way back down we were starving and my niece had mentioned an Italian restaurant they had gone to a few weeks ago that they absolutely loved called Louise's Trattoria. I ordered the chicken marsala along with a caesar salad and lemonade. The food was delicious, and they have the best foccacia bread e.v.e.r. Sunday I spent the afternoon with my brother, sister, mom, and niece house hunting for my brother. After that, we had dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant in Yorba Linda. The name escapes me, but it was good. I had a a chimichanga. Yum!

As for the rest of the week. I have nothing planned but to finish getting Baby J's stuff together. Wish us luck and lots of labor *dust*!

What a day...

Baby Boy J is officially full term today! For a short time, we didn't think we'd make it this far. From the doc telling us he would possibly deliver at 35-36 weeks, to a scare and possible delivery at 31 weeks. We've made it! And for that I'm grateful and blessed. So, we now have 3 weeks to go until EDD of August 15th. I can't believe it, but I'm also very excited. I cannot wait to meet him! I also cannot wait to get rid of this horrible rash! This thing stinks. I hate it. As soon as the meds wear off, I start itching all over, but I'd rather have this thing than pre-e or gestational diabetes. Baby J will be here in less than a month!

Today Jess and I picked up our magnificent wedding album. We've now been married for 9 months. A little delay in getting the album, but it was my fault for procrastinating on picking pictures. I love the way it came out. The first time I looked through it, I remembered the fun and specialness of the day, and then I looked through it again and I went through all the things I could've changed. Not many changes, just one or two, but I still wouldn't change that day for the world. Here are some pics....

After picking up our album, we also took my niece and nephew out to lunch. Jess picked Chili's even though we just ate there last week. Apparently he really liked their burger. On the way there, we made a quick stop to pick up a "baby crack machine" (aka Homedics Sound Spa Lullaby). Yes, this is what it is being called. I'd first seen it months ago at Target, and I thought "we need one of those" and then just blew it off. But then I started hearing more about it on the Nest boards, and then I also heard about it from a fellow blogger (Jennifer). So, I got a recent tip from the Nest boards that it's only 19.99 at Bed, Bath and Beyond, while Target has it for 29.99. And well, what do you know? I had a 20% off coupon for BBB, so I got this lovely machine for only 15.99! Let's hope Baby J really loves it!

Other than that, today has been pretty uneventful. And as far as weekend plans go, nothing much is going on. I plan to go with my sis to drop off my nephew at summer camp, but other than that nothing else is going on...for now.

Oy vey...

It's a harsh summer. Or maybe it feels like that because I'm now in my ninth month of pregnancy! Ugh. Can I vent? Of course I can! I have this terrible rash, and it itches so bad. I feel like I have full body athlete's foot. Gross, but that's how I feel! The doc gave me some ointment, but it's barely cutting it. Yuck. Anywho speaking of the doc, I had an OB appointment yesterday. Baby Boy J still looks good. He's head down, no pre-e, nada. Everything's normal. Woo hoo! Okay, expect for this rash, and when I complain to the doc about it he replies with, "I dunno what that is." What?!?!? What do you mean? Were still awaiting results to see if it's another type of dangerous rash, but I won't know until next week at my other OB appointment. It's so contradictory, but I rather have this rash than the dangerous rash. No win situation. Oh, well. And last but not least, I tested positive for Group B Strep. Great, just one more thing to worry about. I loved my first and second trimester, but this third one is really going haywire.

And since I'm coming down to the wire I'm looking to old wives tales to help get this baby out. The one I'm hoping will work is the one that got us in this situation. Anyone have any suggestions? Oh yeah, and I may try the walking thing, but I get super tired after that. Right now, it feels like this baby will not budge. I've had no contractions, no mucus plug fall out, no weird pressure that lasts, nada. Please, please send me some labor dust. I don't think I can hold out another 3 weeks of itching! Oh yeah and to the doc's comment about this still being a big baby...he needs to come soon.

The view from above...

Boring...

It's Sunday night, and I had a pretty boring weekend. I have to admit that I wanted it to be boring. I have very little, to no energy, and since I will be having a child soon, I decided to basque in the glory of nothingness. Okay, okay, I did some stuff. Saturday, my sister, my niece, and myself went on a little shopping trip. Our first stop was Babies R Us where I returned some baby shower stuff, and I got a good chunk of change back. Next, we headed to the mall. And, BTW, I loathe the mall on a weekend. Anywho, my sister needed to buy a b-day gift, and my niece wanted to buy some stuff. I did nothing but sit. I didn't need or want anything, let alone be there, so I sat myself on a bench the whole time. After they shopped and I sat, we started to get hungry, so my sister wanted to head out to lunch at Red Lobster. Food was okay.

Saturday night was less eventful, I sat myself in front of the TV and watched The Phantom of the Opera. I hadn't seen it since it was in theatres back in '04. I absolutely love the music. I also started getting hungry for dinner. I must also mention that before Phantom, I was watching a burger challenge on Food Network. So, what did I want for dinner...a burger, and where did I send hubby? To In-N-Out...

I had a cheeseburger with grilled onions, animal style fries, and a strawberry shake...

Sunday was boring, too. I was super duper lazy. Jess was working overtime, and I had the TV all to myself. I watched a lot of MTV, which I've not done in a looong time. I watched a couple episodes of True Life and Made. I was quite entertained. But by the time Jess came home I was over TV and I wanted to watch a movie, so he suggested Blockbuster. Yes, it's true we do not have Netflix but we do have Dish, but nothing was on, so we resorted to Blockbuster. A couple of days ago Jess and I had been joking about the movie The Great Outdoors, so we picked that up along with Semi-Pro. Oh, and Cold Stone ice cream. I had Birthday Cake Remix: cake batter ice cream, with rainbow sprinkles, brownie, and fudge all in a waffle cone. Jess had an Our Strawberry Blonde: strawberry ice cream with graham cracker pie crust, strawberries, caramel, and whipped cream. It was yummy :0)

Now, I'm just prepping for tomorrow. I have to fast before I have blood drawn tomorrow. Hopefully, everything comes back negative.

Baby update...

Yesterday I had an ultrasound and an OB appointment. My U/S appointment was in the morning and it was to see how big baby was/is. Everything looked good with baby's home, he's head down still, and the tech estimated that he weighs about 6.4 lbs. Basically, right on track, not too big, not too small. According to his weight, I'm only measuring 2 days ahead with an EDD of August 12. But man is baby big. She gave me a tour of his body and she went from his head all the way around to the other side of my stomach to his feet. I was a little freaked by that, and it all made it seem so real. Ack. I've been having little freak out moments. I can't believe that he'll be here soon. So, everything looked good with baby. Yay! After that, Jess and I headed to lunch at Chili's. Yum. One of my favorite spots. And then off to the post office to send off baby shower "Thank you" cards.

My OB appt was later in the afternoon, so I rested 'til it was time to go. Napping and such. For my OB appt, I took an entourage. This time my sister joined me and Jesse. During this appt I had a vag exam and the strep B exam. I was also ordered to get more blood work done, but specifically for this rash that I have all over my belly. According to my very scientific Internet research, it's PUPPs. A rash that appears on the belly first and spreads to legs, arms, butt, and can be caused by baby boy's DNA which can be a skin irritant. Crazy, huh? Also, there's a more serious rash that can be very dangerous to mom and baby called Cholestasis, this has to do with the liver. So, doctor is checking for this. I was very nervous about yesterday. I know that things can go from good to bad in an instant and I thank God that everything is still looking good, and I could possibly have a vaginal birth, if I "can handle it," as my doctor had said yesterday since he thinks my baby will be an 8 or 9 lber! Thanks, doc!

Baby J @ 35w5d...

One month to go...

Today is July 15th and my due date is estimated to be August 15th. I have approximately 31 days to go. I can't believe it. These last couple of days, as my due date grows nearer, I have been thinking about a lot of things. How exhausted will I really be? What am I capable of? What exactly is going to happen? All of these questions, and many more, are driving me nuts. I'm a planner. I like to have things in order and I like to prepare myself, and with a birth of a child you just can't do that. So, I've been trying to get as much done as possible, but since this is our first child I have no idea what to expect at all. I'm not sure I have everything I need for when he gets here. I have the basics, but I feel like I need other stuff or that stuff is missing. I suppose tomorrow I should find out some news. I have an OB appointment and an ultrasound. The ultrasound is to check growth since he was measuring almost 4 weeks ahead at my last OB appt. I hope to hear something at my OB appt, as far as what, I don't know, just some kind of news. I'll also begin to see my OB weekly now. I'm basically just waiting to go now. But it's all worth it...

Party, party, party...

I'm seriously over parties. Party on Saturday, party on Sunday. What was supposed to be a small get together, turned into a party. Ugh. So, it was my mom and nephew's other birthday celebration yesterday, and there was supposed to be only a total of 20 guests but ended up being a total of 40. But I had fun. And had a chance to cool off in the pool. It was a pool party. Just means more fun, food, cake, and ice cream. We had nachos, deli sandwiches, and fried chicken. Here are a couple of pics...

More cake...


"Happy birthday to you..." again...


The boys playing poker...


My adorable little cousin Salina...


All in all, despite the heat and humidity, we had a good time.

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I've been trying to finish up Baby J's stuff, and one thing that I was procrastinating on is his name. Well, we finally decided on it, and I had custom wall letters made. Once everything is complete I'll post a pic, but for now here's a teaser pic...

Vegging out.

It's Saturday night, and I'm home alone doing nothing at all. Rumor Has It... is on in the background, but I don't feel like watching it. But I did spend my afternoon doing stuff. Kind of. We went to my little cousin's birthday party. It was quite a little shindig complete with bouncer and piñata. Oh and a taco guy. Yum. But it was hot as heck out there. I was melting and quite uncomfortable. We left after only a few hours. Looking forward to another "party" tomorrow.

Thursday, July 10th was my mom's and nephew's birthday. We celebrated with my mom's version of Chinese food which was delicious. She made fried rice with vegetables and chicken, and I made the cake...

I should be a cake decorator, don't you think? Yeah, right. But it was tasty. Actually, I've always wanted to do those cake decorating classes at Michael's but have always procrastinated doing them. Maybe one day I'll actually do it. So anyway, since it was their birthday we're going to have another little get together tomorrow afternoon. I think I've reached party overload.

Randomness...

So, let's talk TV. It's summer and usually there aren't too many new shows on, but can I say how obsessed I am with a few?! My favorite show at the moment, that I DVR religiously, is Jon & Kate Plus 8!


I watch this show every Monday night. It's basically about a husband and wife who have 2 sets of multiples, twins and sextuplets. The show follows their daily routine, and how this large family gets along in general. So here's why I think I relate. Jess is similar to Jon who's very passive, while Kate can be aggressive and is very anal and organized, and well, I can be somewhat too. I also have to say that Kate can come off as quite a b*tch, but with everything on her plate I think she does a fab job. The day this show goes off the air I think I may cry.

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Another show that I try to catch regularly is Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. This one airs on Tuesday nights, and while I used to strongly dislike Tori Spelling, after watching the first season of their show, I changed my mind. With all the billions her father had, I assumed that she was pretty bratty and snobby, but after seeing the show it basically confirmed my thoughts. But I also saw the down-to-earth side of Tori. This show is basically about Tori and Dean's trials and tribulations being a "Hollywood" couple. Dean is busy doing voice overs and acting while Tori is pregnant with a second child, a girl, and busy with a book tour. This is somewhat of a guilty pleasure.

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Now the dorky side of me. A show that I catch every Wednesday night is...I'm so embarrassed to admit it. It's Ghost Hunters! There I said it/admitted it. Jess makes fun of me for it.

So this show is about a group of "investigators" who check out and try to debunk ghost/paranormal activity. Do I believe in ghost? Yes and no, I've never seen one in my life, but I'm sure there's something walking with us. Oh, and they also have another show called Ghost Hunters: International. I'm a geek.

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Another obsession that has nothing to do with TV...Mother's Circus Animal Cookies. I've always liked these but lately I just can't get enough of them. I also recently bought the patriotic version, and they were delicious!

Exhausted.

I am so tired. I had such a busy weekend. Let's start with Friday. BTW, Happy *belated* 4th of July! I spent my 4th swimming, eating, and relaxing. Saturday was a little more eventful. Saturday morning Jess and I took an L & D tour of our hospital. Boy, was that a a waste of time. With all of the trips we'd done already, we could've given the tour. Saturday afternoon we headed to my brother's house and had the best nachos ever. These nachos are sooo good that it's a special treat when we get them. We also watched Hot Rod. The. Dumbest. Movie. Ever. After that we headed home, and just relaxed. Sunday was awesome!

My sister's good friend lives down in Carlsbad, and she invited us over for Sunday breakfast. She made us home made Belgium waffles, apricot turnovers, bacon, sausage, eggs, and hash browns! It was all sooo delicious. She even made me decaf coffee. My first cup in over 8 months. I loved it! So, the night before we had decided that since we'd be in Carlsbad that we'd head down to the outlets. Like the savvy little shopper that I am, I printed out some outlet coupons and was ready to go. We hit the outlets at around 11am, got really good parking, the weather was slightly overcast, and we were full from our grub. The first store we hit up was Coach! And I scored. I bought the following purse, which was originally 328.00, marked down to 199.99 plus an additional 20% off! Yes, I got this bag for 159.20!

I didn't stop there! I needed another diaper bag (aside from the one I just bought earlier in the week - pic below). So I tried to find a Coach one, and I did! I bought this black beauty originally 398.00 marked down more than 45% to 207.99!

Love them both, especially for the awesome price. But I wasn't done shopping. I hit up the Carter's store with my $10 off coupon! I bought baby boy some outfits and a couple of essentials, too:

After walking quite a bit, I was starting to get tired, so I knew we were coming to an end, but I made one final stop at the Vans store and bought these things:

Aren't they the cutest?! I'd like to say these are the first pair of shoes I bought him, but last week I bought him 2 pairs from Me In Mind. Anywho, we finished off shopping with some Hot Dog On A Stick. I had the cherry lemonade. It was tasty, and we headed back home. Last night, we just relaxed with The Simpson's Movie and ice cream.

Finally, today my sister and I attended a conference on Asperger's Syndrome. For those that don't know, I have a 12 year old nephew who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2.5. The conference was held from 8:30a to 4:30p, and was rather interesting. We got so much out of it. So much so that we had information overload, but I'm extremely glad we went. The information we gained will be very helpful for the upcoming school year! And I am pooped!

Twice in 1 day...

I've yet to post twice in one day, but here's my chance. I wanted to update about my OB appointment from this morning 'cause I got some good news. So, my appointment was scheduled to be at 10:45a, and I got there and the nurses were starting to turn appointments away. Apparently my doc had a delivery, and when I over heard him in the hallway he mentioned he'd be back in 30 - 45 minutes 'cause the lady had 3 kids already and this one should be easy. So, needless to say I didn't see my doc 'til about 12:30p. I didn't mind 'cause I just wanted to get it over with, and am I glad I did. Th doc said everything was still looking good, my BP was normal, and baby's HB was great at around 150. Oh, and baby is measuring 37 weeks! Hello! I'm only 33.5 weeks! So, he's ordering a growth ultrasound. Ummm, he said some of it could be mommy and let's just hope most of it is just mommy. Then he also mentioned that since my NSTs and ultrasounds have been great along with my BP, he said we could cancel them! Yay! I mean they were a great peace of mind thing, but they're sooo time consuming. I mean, me and Jess had to set aside a good 2-4 hours of time. And he said that since I'm so "normal" we are looking to go ALL THE WAY! All the way to my due date that is, of course permitting good health. Ack! I'm so relieved...for now.

Bed rest...

So, I have been on official bed rest since Monday, and can I just say that it is so boring. I mean, I love being lazy some days, but not to be able to do anything all day everyday just stinks. Of course, I've done a couple of things and Jess was not too pleased about it. But it's so hard to stay in bed. So far I've gotten baby's clothes together to wash, and I made the bed once this week. Other than that it's a day filled with online activities and TV. Thank goodness Jess has a laptop, unfortunately I have a desktop, but his laptop has kept me sane. However, a few of the websites I frequent on a daily basis have been down so I've been looking for fun anywhere I can and that includes shopping online. So, what I have a I bought so far:

A diaper bag by Bumble...

A hat with baby's name...

And a ton of "window" shopping for other things I want, and will eventually get.

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Update for Monday: I went for baby's NST and ultrasound. Guess what?! Baby's head down again! For the last couple of weeks every other visit he flips. One day he'll be breech and the next he's head down. I wish he would stay head down already. It makes me nervous. But on the health front momma and baby are still perfect. However, I do have a regular OB appointment today, so we'll see how that goes. Wish us luck!