belly @ 19 weeks...!

a large tomato!!!

also,this coming weekend is a 3 day weekend... woohoo!

belly @ 18 weeks...!

well, photo was taken roughly around 18 weeks... !
baby has upgraded to bellpepper size!
still kicking, and still sleepy a lot of the times...
but it's getting better!
i think the nice weather is helping too...it hit about 70 degrees today!
at least it felt 70 degrees... yay summer is near!

he felt it...!

holy cow!!
the beh beh is kicking so hard lately, James finally felt it last night♥
the kicks are pretty hard...it tickles O_o
i can only imagine how crazy it must feel when i'm further along--yikes!

in other somewhat related news, erika went ring shopping with me over the weekend.
i didn't know where to start...but i'm starting to find the kind of ring i like.
i didn't know what the budget was so i was being cheap...but now i know i can go up a bit more...
i might check out Tiffany's! squeeee♥

belly @ 17 weeks...!

i'm definitely starting to show now...
wow...i think i'm gonna get huge. i'm not even halfway there yet!

the best part of the day? after i eat dinner i lay on the couch and feel the baby kicking around♥
i've been feeling it everyday--it calms me down knowing that the baby is doing just fine.
i've been trying to get James to feel it but it's still too small and subtle to be felt from the outside.
maybe in a couple weeks!

mother's day...♥

yay! in honor of mother's day i'm posting one of my favorite pictures of me and my mom♥
she's so cute and rockin those overalls!!hahaha
i must've been around 3...which would make my mom 26!

apparently you can get "happy mother-to-be" cards out there, but i'll consider next year to be my first mother's day♥ since i haven't really done any motherly duties just yet.

thalassemia free...!

wow what a relief!!
i just got news that jamus does NOT carry the beta thalassemia trait--just me!
which means the baby wont' be affected ♥♥
oooooOOOOOO~!!!!!!! this is goood news!!!

ivy & bean...!

so i was browsing around Borders yesterday.
i wandered into the children's books and found this!
it's a whole series called "Ivy & Bean"!
hahhaah! so cute!! it's like ivy & mame~!

monthly appointment...♥

so i had my monthly appointment with the OB last week!
took a pee test, got my belly measured, got weighed (yikes... i'm now 107lbs and gained close to 15lbs already!!) AAAAAAND i got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time♥
awwww it was the best sound in the world! the bpm dropped a bit to 148bpm. but otherwise still very normal!
i also asked the doctor about the weird "muscle twitches"i feel in my lower abdomen.
she confirms that it IS indeed the baby kicking around.
i feel it everyday at some point--it's a nice reassurance that the baby is doing good and jumping around♥♥ ***ooh! i just felt one!!***

but there is one concern....
i found out that i carry the trait for Beta Thalassemia.

i tried researching it but it's filled with medical terms, i don't quite understand it but it has something to do with being anemic. not being able to produce enough hemoglobins.
i don't have it myself-- i just carry the trait. (apparently a lot of asian people do).
the problem is, if Jamus has the trait also, then the baby has a 1/4 chance of getting Beta Thalassemia MAJOR.
he's getting his blood tested today and i hope it comes out negative.
doctor said not to worry, since it's very rare for Caucasians to be a carrier.

twitchity twitch...!

now i'm not sure....
i'll be 16 weeks tomorrow but starting yesterday i started feeling these weird muscle twitches in my lower abdomen. it's very random....
i wasn't sure if these were "baby kicks" since they are usually described as feeling like "flutters" and "gas bubbles".
so i googled "baby kicks & muscle twitches"
turns out, quite a few people have described their first baby kicks feeling like muscle twitches!
in the lower abdomen!
now, i'm pretty sure i'm feeling the baby bouncing around...!!
why else would i be feeling these odd twitches in the same spot throughout the day?!
WOW! i can't stop smiling♥

first onesies...!

so erika couldn't wait any longer....she told me she was purchasing a few onesies suitable for both boys and girls.

PJ???!

I KNEW IT!!!!

(if you didn't know, erika is a HUUUUGE pearl jam fan--like hardcore.

she's in their fan club and she never misses a show in Seattle if they come)

PJ clearly stands for Pearl Jam.

these are awfully cute tho--but they do look more like BOY onesies.

belly @ 15 weeks...!

eeek!! it's kind of...bumpy all over...and i have a mini muffin top now!

NOOOOOO!!!!

it's definitely awkward looking... i'm hoping the bump will smooth out later.

one of the "old wives tale" is determining the sex of the baby by the shape of your bump.

it's hard to tell right now, but they say if you carry "low" then it's a boy.

if you're carrying "high" then it's a girl.

hmmmm.... i can't tell :(

i'm really dying to find out!

healthy over junk...!

i've been eating a lot of junk food lately... partly because i don't have the energy to cook a good meal.. yikes!

so i went veggie splurging and made a big bowl o salad

and stocked up on fruits to eat as a snack rather than ice cream, chips and candy....

Belly @ 14 weeks...!

hmmm... kinda hard taking a photo of your own belly...
i see a bump though!
i think i'll have to ask james to take my belly shots...

according to baby sites, it is now the size of a lemon♥


maternity jeans are still way too big for me right now.
looks like i'll be sporting leggings and loose dresses/shirts for the next few weeks!

mommy tea...!

i had no idea they had a "mother to be" tea out there!
and it's quite delicious♥
alon bought this for me! omg..she's so sweet *happy tears*

i'm actually still feeling nauseous.. i've tried a few remedies.
(paul's wife gave me some of her leftover Preggie Pops and ginger gum..but they didn't really work for me) this tea though, it's working!

12 weeks...! (04.05.2011)

wow! mame-chan is mame no more! more like a lime-chan♥
measuring 6cm! big enough to be seen via regular ultrasound now.
the right arm was raised up the whole time...sort of like waving at us.
not as bouncy as last time but heartbeat was 153BPM.

now this is a crazy shot! a little creepy in fact... the technician was able to get a front view!
there's the arm raised up by the face.
hmmm... sort of an alien-like face...
it's the skeletal feature we're seeing.

so between 12~14 weeks would be the end of the first trimester... aka the riskiest stage!
now that i'm done or close to done with the first trimester, i've been dying to tell people!
i asked my doctor today and she said i'm low-risk and it would be completely fine to announce it at this point♥
so it's been announced!

we told our families last weekend and we are ALL excited!!
morning sickness has subsided quite a bit and i'm feeling much MUCH better...
still bloated though...and exhausted all the time...
but seeing these pictures make it all worth it!

9 weeks...! (03.25.11)

(at this point we are calling the baby mame-chan..which means "little bean")

9 weeks along!
the above was taken with a regular ultrasound, but again mame-chan was still too small to be seen clear... so it came out blurry.

so we took more transvaginal ultrasound photos!

ooh! you can make out the big head and tiny feet!

now that's a good shot!
with this ultrasound i got to see mame-chan bouncing a little...swaying its arms!
heartbeat was 150 bpm♥

6 weeks...! (02.25.2011)

after confirming my pregnancy at a nearby clinic, i was referred to an OBGYN.
for my first visit i took a transvaginal ultrasound
(since the baby is too small to be seen by regular ultrasound, it needs to be seen from inside!)
and ta-dah!
according to my LMP (last menstrual period) i was thought to be 8~9 weeks along but the baby only measured to 6 weeks along. i was worried about this...but i may have a longer cycle than most woman.

that round circle is the yolk sac! the oddly shaped blob next to it is the baby♥
i witnessed the heartbeat at this point!

the test...! (02.03.2011)

so here's where it all began!!
i took this test on February 3, 2011 after i noticed TOM didn't arrive (time of the month)
i've taken these tests in the past and they always came out negative...
so i was SHOCKED when i saw that extra line...
am i reading this right?!?!

i proceeded to take 5 more tests, all different brands.
and i waited a whole day or two before i broke the news to James...
who's to know how the boyfriend will react?!

he was more than supportive♥