She finally looks pregnant. :)
I'll be home soon, honey. Love ya!
Monday, December 12, 2011
A Quick Update
I'm on the road again, but Jun let me take this picture of her in one of her new maternity shirts before I left. It's now my phone's wallpaper so I see it every time I make a call or send a text.
She finally looks pregnant. :)
I'll be home soon, honey. Love ya!
She finally looks pregnant. :)
I'll be home soon, honey. Love ya!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
It was the best of times....
...and hopefully the worst of times are behind us.
For those of you that don't know yet, we are having a...
That's right, it's a boy. During our appointment a month ago, little Puff was not very shy and made sure we knew which gender he was. So I guess from now on we'll be referring to Puff as a "he".
That was over a month ago, so let me get everyone caught up to what's been going on. As of tomorrow, Jun is now 23 weeks along and feeling great. The sickness is now pretty much behind her and she has a very healthy appetite. Her stomach is growing little by little, but it's definitely not big enough to be cumbersome. She gets around really well and isn't having any health problems or swollen joints. It's a good time to be pregnant!
A few weeks ago we had to begin buying Jun maternity clothes due to her ever-expanding waistline and based on her reaction, she may never go back to normal clothes. All I hear is that they are "sooooooo comfy!"
For Thanksgiving, Jun and I set out from Fort Worth early on Thursday morning to go back to Oklahoma and see my family. It's nice leaving at like 4:30 because there's little to no traffic, and we managed to make good time. That day for lunch we ate at my grandma's house. We had a great time seeing a lot of family and eating a delicious lunch. That night we finally let my family know that we are having a boy. Everyone seemed really excited.
Late Thursday/Early Friday was Black Friday, and once again I got waist deep in the madness and went into each store swinging elbows. The stores opened super-early this year and it led to much frustration in the planning and execution of our shopping trip. We hit the major retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart, but it wasn't as successful of a trip as we had had in the past. I think it may be the last time I participate, especially with a baby to take care of next year. Good luck to those of you that go next year!
On Saturday we had our family Thanksgiving dinner. Dad fried a "cajun-style" turkey and we all ate more food than we thought possible. That evening, Jun and I had to leave to head back to Texas, as I was flying to L.A. on Sunday and we wanted to spend some time together before I left for a week. It was sad to have to leave everyone so early, but it was nice to get back home again as well.
After a week on the road, I made it back home on Friday to go with Jun to her follow-up appointment with the Perinatologist. My mom and dad were also able to be in attendance, which was very nice of them. This appointment went very well. The doctor was able to find the small "mass" again, but it didn't grow from the last appointment which was very encouraging to the doctor. In her opinion, it wasn't really a mass at all, but probably a "pronounced" gallbladder or perhaps a dilated liver tube (whatever that means). She said she wouldn't have caught it if she didn't know what she was looking for and that everything else indicated a perfectly healthy baby boy. We were of course very relieved to hear the news. We'll still see the specialist every month, but we were assured that everything was moving along great. Puff was sort of curled up in a ball during the visit, so we weren't able to get a good length measurement, but we did find out he weighs about 1 lb, 2 oz now, which is apparently right where he should be.
Another fun thing; I was finally able to feel Puff kick the other day. I laid my head where Jun said he had been moving, and after a little bit of patients, I was able to feel him kick me right in the ear! Pretty special.
We had another appointment with Jun's regular OB doctor today, and while we didn't get a new ultrasound, we were still able to hear his strong heartbeat, which is always reassuring. Jun was given a sugary-drink to take home with her which she will be drinking prior to her next appointment where they will be checking her sugar levels to detect gestational diabetes. The whole day of the test she's not allowed to eat anything with sugars or carbs so that the test won't be screwed up. Hope everything goes well then too.
I'll leave you with one of the pics from the specialist ultrasound. It may be hard to make out, but we caught puff sucking on his fingers and the doctor snapped a picture.
Until next time!
For those of you that don't know yet, we are having a...
That's right, it's a boy. During our appointment a month ago, little Puff was not very shy and made sure we knew which gender he was. So I guess from now on we'll be referring to Puff as a "he".
That was over a month ago, so let me get everyone caught up to what's been going on. As of tomorrow, Jun is now 23 weeks along and feeling great. The sickness is now pretty much behind her and she has a very healthy appetite. Her stomach is growing little by little, but it's definitely not big enough to be cumbersome. She gets around really well and isn't having any health problems or swollen joints. It's a good time to be pregnant!
A few weeks ago we had to begin buying Jun maternity clothes due to her ever-expanding waistline and based on her reaction, she may never go back to normal clothes. All I hear is that they are "sooooooo comfy!"
For Thanksgiving, Jun and I set out from Fort Worth early on Thursday morning to go back to Oklahoma and see my family. It's nice leaving at like 4:30 because there's little to no traffic, and we managed to make good time. That day for lunch we ate at my grandma's house. We had a great time seeing a lot of family and eating a delicious lunch. That night we finally let my family know that we are having a boy. Everyone seemed really excited.
Late Thursday/Early Friday was Black Friday, and once again I got waist deep in the madness and went into each store swinging elbows. The stores opened super-early this year and it led to much frustration in the planning and execution of our shopping trip. We hit the major retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart, but it wasn't as successful of a trip as we had had in the past. I think it may be the last time I participate, especially with a baby to take care of next year. Good luck to those of you that go next year!
On Saturday we had our family Thanksgiving dinner. Dad fried a "cajun-style" turkey and we all ate more food than we thought possible. That evening, Jun and I had to leave to head back to Texas, as I was flying to L.A. on Sunday and we wanted to spend some time together before I left for a week. It was sad to have to leave everyone so early, but it was nice to get back home again as well.
After a week on the road, I made it back home on Friday to go with Jun to her follow-up appointment with the Perinatologist. My mom and dad were also able to be in attendance, which was very nice of them. This appointment went very well. The doctor was able to find the small "mass" again, but it didn't grow from the last appointment which was very encouraging to the doctor. In her opinion, it wasn't really a mass at all, but probably a "pronounced" gallbladder or perhaps a dilated liver tube (whatever that means). She said she wouldn't have caught it if she didn't know what she was looking for and that everything else indicated a perfectly healthy baby boy. We were of course very relieved to hear the news. We'll still see the specialist every month, but we were assured that everything was moving along great. Puff was sort of curled up in a ball during the visit, so we weren't able to get a good length measurement, but we did find out he weighs about 1 lb, 2 oz now, which is apparently right where he should be.
Another fun thing; I was finally able to feel Puff kick the other day. I laid my head where Jun said he had been moving, and after a little bit of patients, I was able to feel him kick me right in the ear! Pretty special.
We had another appointment with Jun's regular OB doctor today, and while we didn't get a new ultrasound, we were still able to hear his strong heartbeat, which is always reassuring. Jun was given a sugary-drink to take home with her which she will be drinking prior to her next appointment where they will be checking her sugar levels to detect gestational diabetes. The whole day of the test she's not allowed to eat anything with sugars or carbs so that the test won't be screwed up. Hope everything goes well then too.
I'll leave you with one of the pics from the specialist ultrasound. It may be hard to make out, but we caught puff sucking on his fingers and the doctor snapped a picture.
Until next time!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
A Long 24 Hours; Or, How I Learned What A Perinatologist Does
Jun and I had another visit with the doctor on November 3rd. Yes, I know that was 10 days ago. Yes, I know I'm slacking.
This was a very important appointment because at about 18 weeks, Jun was just shy of being halfway through the pregnancy. We went into the doctor's office very excited, because from what we were told, the ultrasound tech should be able to determine gender.
Jun's name was called by the nurse and me, Jun, and my mom (who was nice enough to come down for the appointment) went back to the ultrasound room. The tech got Jun all set up on the table and we saw this on the monitor:
Wow, Puff has gotten a lot bigger from the last time we got an ultrasound. The tech also turned on the 4D ultrasound again and we got a pretty good look at the baby's face:
Puff was (at the time of the appointment) 5.5 inches long and weighed about half a pound.
After all the niceties and "ooo-ing" and "awww-ing" the tech spent about fifteen minutes taking measurements on all of Puff's vital body parts.
Brain? Check.
Heart? Check.
Spine? Check.
Internal Organs? Check.
Arms, Legs and Fingers? Check.
Unidentified mass? Che.... wait what?
The ultrasound tech dropped the words "mass" on us to describe a dark-ish spot near the baby's liver/gall bladder area and it totally killed the joy we were feeling in the room. She tried to get a view of the "mass" from several different angles and she had no idea what it was. She said there was nothing in her medical books to describe what she was seeing (which she said was a good thing).
She referred us to the doctor who took a look at the ultrasound pictures and basically shrugged and said "I don't know" before referring us to a high-risk pregnancy doctor called a Perinatologist. Great. We then spent the whole evening worrying that our baby wasn't the perfectly healthy bundle of joy that we were hoping it would be. Not a lot of sleep was gotten that night.
We were very fortunate to get in to see the specialist the next day. The doctor that we saw was very nice, even though it looked like I was older than she was. She did another ultrasound on Jun and Puff and found the "mass" that the ultrasound tech had found the previous day. Her thoughts about the dark spot?
"I don't know"
Her best guess was that it was gallstones, but while it wasn't unheard of for a fetus to have gallstones, it was pretty rare to see it this early. Her other thought was that it could be a cyst on Puff's liver, which she said wouldn't be a very big deal. She had a fancy tool which could measure bloodflow to different baby body parts and whatever the "mass" was it did not have blood moving in and out of it, this meant that she thought it wasn't a tumor. The doctor was very reassuring, stating that she was almost sure that the "mass" is not a big deal and not something we should lose sleep over as we have an otherwise perfectly healthy baby.
We still don't know what it is, and we have another appointment in a few weeks with the Perinatologist to see if it's still there. We'd certainly appreciate any prayers you would be so inclined to give regarding the matter as it is as yet unresolved.
I almost forgot, we DID find out the gender! We are having a.....
This was a very important appointment because at about 18 weeks, Jun was just shy of being halfway through the pregnancy. We went into the doctor's office very excited, because from what we were told, the ultrasound tech should be able to determine gender.
Jun's name was called by the nurse and me, Jun, and my mom (who was nice enough to come down for the appointment) went back to the ultrasound room. The tech got Jun all set up on the table and we saw this on the monitor:
Wow, Puff has gotten a lot bigger from the last time we got an ultrasound. The tech also turned on the 4D ultrasound again and we got a pretty good look at the baby's face:
Puff was (at the time of the appointment) 5.5 inches long and weighed about half a pound.
After all the niceties and "ooo-ing" and "awww-ing" the tech spent about fifteen minutes taking measurements on all of Puff's vital body parts.
Brain? Check.
Heart? Check.
Spine? Check.
Internal Organs? Check.
Arms, Legs and Fingers? Check.
Unidentified mass? Che.... wait what?
The ultrasound tech dropped the words "mass" on us to describe a dark-ish spot near the baby's liver/gall bladder area and it totally killed the joy we were feeling in the room. She tried to get a view of the "mass" from several different angles and she had no idea what it was. She said there was nothing in her medical books to describe what she was seeing (which she said was a good thing).
She referred us to the doctor who took a look at the ultrasound pictures and basically shrugged and said "I don't know" before referring us to a high-risk pregnancy doctor called a Perinatologist. Great. We then spent the whole evening worrying that our baby wasn't the perfectly healthy bundle of joy that we were hoping it would be. Not a lot of sleep was gotten that night.
We were very fortunate to get in to see the specialist the next day. The doctor that we saw was very nice, even though it looked like I was older than she was. She did another ultrasound on Jun and Puff and found the "mass" that the ultrasound tech had found the previous day. Her thoughts about the dark spot?
"I don't know"
Her best guess was that it was gallstones, but while it wasn't unheard of for a fetus to have gallstones, it was pretty rare to see it this early. Her other thought was that it could be a cyst on Puff's liver, which she said wouldn't be a very big deal. She had a fancy tool which could measure bloodflow to different baby body parts and whatever the "mass" was it did not have blood moving in and out of it, this meant that she thought it wasn't a tumor. The doctor was very reassuring, stating that she was almost sure that the "mass" is not a big deal and not something we should lose sleep over as we have an otherwise perfectly healthy baby.
We still don't know what it is, and we have another appointment in a few weeks with the Perinatologist to see if it's still there. We'd certainly appreciate any prayers you would be so inclined to give regarding the matter as it is as yet unresolved.
I almost forgot, we DID find out the gender! We are having a.....
Monday, October 24, 2011
The Robbins' Nest: Now with Pictures!
I know it may seem, at times, that I have lost interest in blogging due to the length of time between posts, but rest assured, I do plan on sticking with it, and creating the longest run-on sentences I possibly can. I suppose the reason for the lack of posts over the last couple of months is because... well... not much has happened.
Jun is still pregnant (thankfully), but there's not much more on that front to report. She is slowly but surely feeling better and her "evening" sickness is now only occurring once every 3 or 4 days. I'd say she's almost into the "feel good" period of being pregnant. Her appetite has returned lately and she's been able to eat three good meals a day. Actually, as of this morning she has gained a net total of 1 pound! (After having lost about 5 in the first trimester.) She's still frustrated that no one can tell that she's pregnant just by looking at her. I mean, I can tell, but I see her quite a bit more than most people do and I hear her complain that her pants are starting to fit snug. You can definitely feel a hard spot under her belly button, so it's growing, just not showing yet.
For reference, here's some pictures we've taken to show her progress:
(Note: All "week" calculations are actual baby age [weeks since conception]. Add approximately 2 weeks to convert to the "conventional" way of counting weeks [weeks since last period]. I will be using the actual baby age from here on out to avoid confusion.)
11 Weeks:
15 Weeks:
Not much of a change, right?
As of today, she's somewhere around 16/17 weeks, so she'll be due to take another progress picture in about 2 weeks.
Jun had another doctor's appointment last Thursday, but since they didn't give her a sonogram, there isn't much to say about it. Puff had a heartbeat of 149, which is still good and strong and Jun and Puff are still doing great. According to Dr. Internet, Puff is now around 5 inches long which is approximately the size of a large avocado. She has another doctor's appointment on November 10th which is going to be the appointment where we are able to determine gender (hopefully... if Puff isn't too shy). We're really looking forward to it.
In other baby-related news, we made our first nursery purchase. Jun noticed that Babies 'R' Us was having a sale on a set of baby furniture that we really liked so we went ahead and ordered it. It came in to the store last week and we brought it home to get it set up. I'd like to send out a thank you to our good friends Mandy and Jeromy who were nice enough to help us move the incredibly bulky boxes to our house from the store. A special thanks to Jeromy, who's strength and masculinity are beyond reproach (no homo), who risked muscle tears, spinal dislocations and/or tendon and ligament injury to help me lug the ridiculously heavy boxes inside. We wouldn't have been able to get it done without you guys (and your pickup).
Here's a couple of pictures of the assembly process and the finished products.
This is the box the crib came in. It was as heavy and unwieldy as it appears. In this picture I'm trying to wedge a box cutter into the joint to cut the box open without somehow opening my femoral artery instead.
All the crib parts laid out.
Assembly. I've got my tongue sticking out and my mouth held just the right way, which is just the way my dad taught me how to get work done. Jun, who refused to have her picture taken that evening, was dressed the way my dad taught me to dress to get work done... in teal sweatpants and a bright orange shirt. :)
...and completed!
Having some furniture in Puff's room makes it seem a little more real and exciting, but just sheer amount of stuff we have to buy is a little overwhelming. Looking forward to getting started though!
I know I promised a video from the last ultrasound Jun had, but the video the ultrasound tech gave to Jun at her last appointment was in some strange format and I've got to get around to converting it correctly and uploading it to YouTube. Hopefully I'll have it up in the future.
Until next time!
Jun is still pregnant (thankfully), but there's not much more on that front to report. She is slowly but surely feeling better and her "evening" sickness is now only occurring once every 3 or 4 days. I'd say she's almost into the "feel good" period of being pregnant. Her appetite has returned lately and she's been able to eat three good meals a day. Actually, as of this morning she has gained a net total of 1 pound! (After having lost about 5 in the first trimester.) She's still frustrated that no one can tell that she's pregnant just by looking at her. I mean, I can tell, but I see her quite a bit more than most people do and I hear her complain that her pants are starting to fit snug. You can definitely feel a hard spot under her belly button, so it's growing, just not showing yet.
For reference, here's some pictures we've taken to show her progress:
(Note: All "week" calculations are actual baby age [weeks since conception]. Add approximately 2 weeks to convert to the "conventional" way of counting weeks [weeks since last period]. I will be using the actual baby age from here on out to avoid confusion.)
11 Weeks:
15 Weeks:
Not much of a change, right?
As of today, she's somewhere around 16/17 weeks, so she'll be due to take another progress picture in about 2 weeks.
Jun had another doctor's appointment last Thursday, but since they didn't give her a sonogram, there isn't much to say about it. Puff had a heartbeat of 149, which is still good and strong and Jun and Puff are still doing great. According to Dr. Internet, Puff is now around 5 inches long which is approximately the size of a large avocado. She has another doctor's appointment on November 10th which is going to be the appointment where we are able to determine gender (hopefully... if Puff isn't too shy). We're really looking forward to it.
In other baby-related news, we made our first nursery purchase. Jun noticed that Babies 'R' Us was having a sale on a set of baby furniture that we really liked so we went ahead and ordered it. It came in to the store last week and we brought it home to get it set up. I'd like to send out a thank you to our good friends Mandy and Jeromy who were nice enough to help us move the incredibly bulky boxes to our house from the store. A special thanks to Jeromy, who's strength and masculinity are beyond reproach (no homo), who risked muscle tears, spinal dislocations and/or tendon and ligament injury to help me lug the ridiculously heavy boxes inside. We wouldn't have been able to get it done without you guys (and your pickup).
Here's a couple of pictures of the assembly process and the finished products.
This is the box the crib came in. It was as heavy and unwieldy as it appears. In this picture I'm trying to wedge a box cutter into the joint to cut the box open without somehow opening my femoral artery instead.
All the crib parts laid out.
Assembly. I've got my tongue sticking out and my mouth held just the right way, which is just the way my dad taught me how to get work done. Jun, who refused to have her picture taken that evening, was dressed the way my dad taught me to dress to get work done... in teal sweatpants and a bright orange shirt. :)
...and completed!
Having some furniture in Puff's room makes it seem a little more real and exciting, but just sheer amount of stuff we have to buy is a little overwhelming. Looking forward to getting started though!
I know I promised a video from the last ultrasound Jun had, but the video the ultrasound tech gave to Jun at her last appointment was in some strange format and I've got to get around to converting it correctly and uploading it to YouTube. Hopefully I'll have it up in the future.
Until next time!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
On Travels, Careers, Visits and Bumps
I realize that it has been awhile since my last blog post, but it's not without reason. Several changes have been occurring in my life in relation to my career. Life has been hectic and I haven't always been in the mood to blog after work.
A little of what's going on:
When I started this blog, I was between careers. I had lost my previous job and was actively pursuing another. My urgency increased when Jun found out she was pregnant. At the beginning of my job search I was looking only for jobs that were closely related to the one I previously had. After our big news, I started branching out, looking for ANY kind of job so I could support Jun and my future family.
A few days after my last blog post, I got a call saying I had received a job offer. I was extremely happy to be gainfully employed again and even happier to just get out of the house during the day. I think I may have been getting cabin fever during those extremely hot months of summer.
The main drawback to this new career is that I will have to travel more than I'm used to. I'm currently in my 3rd week of employment and I've already been to Toronto and I'm currently in New Orleans. I think the travel will die down eventually once I've "learned the ropes," but right now it's something that Jun and I have to deal with. I'm not crazy about leaving a pregnant wife at home, but we both realize that right now, a job is a job and we have to make the best of it. I'm lucky that Jun is by nature a very independent person and is smart enough to take care of herself, but I still have a guilty conscience like I abandoned her.
I've joked with Jun that this job was perfect for me four years ago when I wasn't married and not expecting a baby. Hopefully in my travels I'll get to go somewhere "interesting" and Jun will be able to work it out in her schedule to join me.
Enough about me...
Jun is still doing well and our little Puff is now 14 weeks old, this means that Jun has now finally crossed into the second trimester. The second trimester is supposedly the time period in which pregnant women feel infinitely better. They are not plagued by morning sickness constantly and they aren't big enough to be over-encumbered. So far that has been the case. Jun hasn't been as sick as before and is now only "sick" every now and then. She's starting to get an appetite back and is actually putting on a little weight. No baby-bump yet, but you can definitely feel it coming if you place your hand in the right place.
I think she's ready for a baby-belly because then when people view her they will immediately think, "Oh, she's pregnant! Look how cute she is! She's absolutely glowing!" instead of thinking to themselves, "Is she putting on weight?" Don't worry Jun, it will get there soon enough.
We haven't had a doctor's appointment since the last blog post, but she will have another one next Thursday. If the books we have are to be believed, Puff will have almost doubled in length since the last visit.
Last weekend, while I was not yet back from Toronto, my mom was nice enough to come and visit Jun and keep her company in my absence. They went shopping for baby-related items and hit all the usual stores including Babies 'R' Us and Buy Buy Baby and also went to a consignment sell. Although they didn't come away with anything, they did bring home a few ideas for what we should by in the coming months. Thank you mom, for hanging out with Jun while I was gone and taking care of her. I appreciated it and I know Jun appreciated you taking time to come down.
I know this post was woefully boring with no pictures, but hopefully we'll have some soon when Jun goes in for her next appointment. Hopefully a video as well!
A little of what's going on:
When I started this blog, I was between careers. I had lost my previous job and was actively pursuing another. My urgency increased when Jun found out she was pregnant. At the beginning of my job search I was looking only for jobs that were closely related to the one I previously had. After our big news, I started branching out, looking for ANY kind of job so I could support Jun and my future family.
A few days after my last blog post, I got a call saying I had received a job offer. I was extremely happy to be gainfully employed again and even happier to just get out of the house during the day. I think I may have been getting cabin fever during those extremely hot months of summer.
The main drawback to this new career is that I will have to travel more than I'm used to. I'm currently in my 3rd week of employment and I've already been to Toronto and I'm currently in New Orleans. I think the travel will die down eventually once I've "learned the ropes," but right now it's something that Jun and I have to deal with. I'm not crazy about leaving a pregnant wife at home, but we both realize that right now, a job is a job and we have to make the best of it. I'm lucky that Jun is by nature a very independent person and is smart enough to take care of herself, but I still have a guilty conscience like I abandoned her.
I've joked with Jun that this job was perfect for me four years ago when I wasn't married and not expecting a baby. Hopefully in my travels I'll get to go somewhere "interesting" and Jun will be able to work it out in her schedule to join me.
Enough about me...
Jun is still doing well and our little Puff is now 14 weeks old, this means that Jun has now finally crossed into the second trimester. The second trimester is supposedly the time period in which pregnant women feel infinitely better. They are not plagued by morning sickness constantly and they aren't big enough to be over-encumbered. So far that has been the case. Jun hasn't been as sick as before and is now only "sick" every now and then. She's starting to get an appetite back and is actually putting on a little weight. No baby-bump yet, but you can definitely feel it coming if you place your hand in the right place.
I think she's ready for a baby-belly because then when people view her they will immediately think, "Oh, she's pregnant! Look how cute she is! She's absolutely glowing!" instead of thinking to themselves, "Is she putting on weight?" Don't worry Jun, it will get there soon enough.
We haven't had a doctor's appointment since the last blog post, but she will have another one next Thursday. If the books we have are to be believed, Puff will have almost doubled in length since the last visit.
Last weekend, while I was not yet back from Toronto, my mom was nice enough to come and visit Jun and keep her company in my absence. They went shopping for baby-related items and hit all the usual stores including Babies 'R' Us and Buy Buy Baby and also went to a consignment sell. Although they didn't come away with anything, they did bring home a few ideas for what we should by in the coming months. Thank you mom, for hanging out with Jun while I was gone and taking care of her. I appreciated it and I know Jun appreciated you taking time to come down.
I know this post was woefully boring with no pictures, but hopefully we'll have some soon when Jun goes in for her next appointment. Hopefully a video as well!
Friday, September 16, 2011
A Lesson in Patience: The Longest Doctor's Appointment
Yesterday Jun had another checkup with the doctor to make sure everything was going ok with Puff and that his heart rate was still up in the acceptable levels. Jun's appointment was at 3:30 and we had plans to meet up with our friends Nick and Ashley at 5:45 to get dinner and go to the Rangers' baseball game. We were to pick up Ashley at 5:00 in downtown Fort Worth in order to get to Arlington safely by 5:45. That was the set time because the Arlington restaurant we were eating at, Hibachi 97, has an early-bird 2-for-1 dinner special and you had to get there and seated before 5:45. I'll give you a rundown of how the afternoon/evening went.
3:30 PM: We arrive at the hospital and are welcomed by a fire drill. The sirens were going off and lights were flashing... but no one in the hospital seemed to notice. All the employees were still milling around inside or still going about their jobs. Some of the fire curtains that closed off certain hallways were closed, but people were just opening them and walking on by. We get seated in the lobby and commence waiting. Usually the doctor runs about 30 minutes behind schedule.
4:00 PM: Still waiting. All the other patients in the lobby were there before us, so we know something is up. We were sure that we were just coming in for an Ultrasound, which took about 15 mintues, so we were still ok.
4:15 PM: I'm starting to get nervous. It takes about 15 minutes to where we have to pick up Ashley and then about 30 minutes to get to the restaurant.
4:30 PM: Our appointment is now one hour overdue. A lady across the lobby from us gets a cellphone call and explains to the person she's talking to that her appointment was a 3:00. Uh oh.
4:40 PM: I call Ashley to explain our situation. If Jun were to get in RIGHT NOW, we could possibly still make it. Ashley is very understanding.
4:45 PM: I'm checking my watch every 30 seconds and my heart sinks a little more every time another name is called.
4:46 PM: I set the new high score in Yahtzee on my phone.
4:50 PM: As I'm calling Ashley again to say that I think we'll have to change dinner plans, Jun is called back.
4:52 PM: Jun is getting her Ultrasound done and the Ultrasound technician (Joy, who is wonderful) shows us this:
There he is! He's looking quite a bit bigger, and now more human than blob shaped! Joy turned on the heart rate monitor and we heard the wub wub wub sound of his heart. It had slowed down slightly to 163, but still good and strong. My heart has pretty much melted by this point and I had forgotten all about how late we were for dinner when... did I just see... did the baby just... move?
Surely not. I dismiss the thought as Joy just moving the Ultrasound wand around. Then the baby moved again. It moved it's little arm around almost like a wave. I got up from the little chair I was sitting in to get a better look... then the baby jumped! It was really swimming around in there! Joy could see how excited we were to see that and decided (out of the goodness of her heart I think, since it's expensive to use) turned on the latest technology, the 4D Ultrasound and we saw this:
If you're not quite sure what you're looking at, the baby is facing left in the picture. You can see the neck, body and one little leg at the bottom with his knees bend. Not sure what the blob in front of his belly is, possibly the placenta? In the first ultrasound (not the 4D) when the baby was swimming around we were definitely able to see 2 arms and 2 legs, so that was a relief.
Joy was also quick enough on the draw to record a short video of Puff swimming and moving around and generally showing off for the camera. We didn't have a flash drive with us, but she said if we brought one next time we could download it and take it with us. Look for that video in a future update.
Jun can't feel Puff moving around yet because he's only 4.4cm (about 2 inches) long. We're anxiously awaiting the day we can feel him moving around though.
5:05 PM: My amazement begins to wear off as we leave the ultrasound room and I realize that if we are able to leave RIGHT NOW we could still possibly make it by the skin of our teeth. I can almost TASTE the steak and fried rice that awaits me...
5:06 PM: A nurse informs us that the doctor would like to speak with us. I try to explain that this was just supposed to be a Ultrasound check up and that we didn't have any questions for the doctor, but the nurse insists that the doctor wants to see us. She shows us to a room and we sit down and wait.
5:10 PM: I text Ashley and tell her that we're not going to make it to dinner. We try to schedule something else. Poor Nick is in Arlington after work, now just waiting on us with nothing to do.
5:20 PM: Still waiting on the doctor. No new Yahtzee high scores to report.
5:25 PM: Jun informs me that the doctors office closes at 5:30. We should see the doctor any second.
5:30 PM: Nope.
5:45 PM: The door to the room opens and a clearly frustrated nurse brings us to another room where "we won't be forgotten this time". Oh boy.
5:50 PM: The door opens again and this time it's the doctor! Oh happy day! She sits down and glances over Jun's chart and says "The baby looks great, he's growing just as he should be, and unless you have any other questions, you can go. Sorry for your wait." I'm trying to keep a poker-face, but I'm really frustrated at this point. I mean, it's great that Puff is doing so well, but... the waiting was ridiculous.
6:00 PM: We set up our appointment for a month later and get out of there.
6:20 PM: Crazy traffic on Hulen Street causes me minor road rage, but we get to Nick and Ashley's place and pick up both of them (as Nick finally drove home because of the wait). We apologize profusely and begin making our way to the ballgame.
6:50 PM: Crazy traffic on I-30 causes me moderate road rage, but at least we were moving.
7:05 PM: In Arlington, near the ballpark, looking for a parking spot. We pay $10 for a spot 3/4 of a mile away.
7:25 PM: We are finally in our seats in the stadium. It is the top of the 2nd inning.
After that I managed to calm myself down and enjoy an absolutely fantastic night for watching baseball. The air was cool and there was a slight breeze and we witness the Rangers kick the snot out of the Cleveland Indians.
Amid all the frustrations of the day, and think Jun and I both learned a lesson in patience and what is most important in life.
3:30 PM: We arrive at the hospital and are welcomed by a fire drill. The sirens were going off and lights were flashing... but no one in the hospital seemed to notice. All the employees were still milling around inside or still going about their jobs. Some of the fire curtains that closed off certain hallways were closed, but people were just opening them and walking on by. We get seated in the lobby and commence waiting. Usually the doctor runs about 30 minutes behind schedule.
4:00 PM: Still waiting. All the other patients in the lobby were there before us, so we know something is up. We were sure that we were just coming in for an Ultrasound, which took about 15 mintues, so we were still ok.
4:15 PM: I'm starting to get nervous. It takes about 15 minutes to where we have to pick up Ashley and then about 30 minutes to get to the restaurant.
4:30 PM: Our appointment is now one hour overdue. A lady across the lobby from us gets a cellphone call and explains to the person she's talking to that her appointment was a 3:00. Uh oh.
4:40 PM: I call Ashley to explain our situation. If Jun were to get in RIGHT NOW, we could possibly still make it. Ashley is very understanding.
4:45 PM: I'm checking my watch every 30 seconds and my heart sinks a little more every time another name is called.
4:46 PM: I set the new high score in Yahtzee on my phone.
4:50 PM: As I'm calling Ashley again to say that I think we'll have to change dinner plans, Jun is called back.
4:52 PM: Jun is getting her Ultrasound done and the Ultrasound technician (Joy, who is wonderful) shows us this:
There he is! He's looking quite a bit bigger, and now more human than blob shaped! Joy turned on the heart rate monitor and we heard the wub wub wub sound of his heart. It had slowed down slightly to 163, but still good and strong. My heart has pretty much melted by this point and I had forgotten all about how late we were for dinner when... did I just see... did the baby just... move?
Surely not. I dismiss the thought as Joy just moving the Ultrasound wand around. Then the baby moved again. It moved it's little arm around almost like a wave. I got up from the little chair I was sitting in to get a better look... then the baby jumped! It was really swimming around in there! Joy could see how excited we were to see that and decided (out of the goodness of her heart I think, since it's expensive to use) turned on the latest technology, the 4D Ultrasound and we saw this:
If you're not quite sure what you're looking at, the baby is facing left in the picture. You can see the neck, body and one little leg at the bottom with his knees bend. Not sure what the blob in front of his belly is, possibly the placenta? In the first ultrasound (not the 4D) when the baby was swimming around we were definitely able to see 2 arms and 2 legs, so that was a relief.
Joy was also quick enough on the draw to record a short video of Puff swimming and moving around and generally showing off for the camera. We didn't have a flash drive with us, but she said if we brought one next time we could download it and take it with us. Look for that video in a future update.
Jun can't feel Puff moving around yet because he's only 4.4cm (about 2 inches) long. We're anxiously awaiting the day we can feel him moving around though.
5:05 PM: My amazement begins to wear off as we leave the ultrasound room and I realize that if we are able to leave RIGHT NOW we could still possibly make it by the skin of our teeth. I can almost TASTE the steak and fried rice that awaits me...
5:06 PM: A nurse informs us that the doctor would like to speak with us. I try to explain that this was just supposed to be a Ultrasound check up and that we didn't have any questions for the doctor, but the nurse insists that the doctor wants to see us. She shows us to a room and we sit down and wait.
5:10 PM: I text Ashley and tell her that we're not going to make it to dinner. We try to schedule something else. Poor Nick is in Arlington after work, now just waiting on us with nothing to do.
5:20 PM: Still waiting on the doctor. No new Yahtzee high scores to report.
5:25 PM: Jun informs me that the doctors office closes at 5:30. We should see the doctor any second.
5:30 PM: Nope.
5:45 PM: The door to the room opens and a clearly frustrated nurse brings us to another room where "we won't be forgotten this time". Oh boy.
5:50 PM: The door opens again and this time it's the doctor! Oh happy day! She sits down and glances over Jun's chart and says "The baby looks great, he's growing just as he should be, and unless you have any other questions, you can go. Sorry for your wait." I'm trying to keep a poker-face, but I'm really frustrated at this point. I mean, it's great that Puff is doing so well, but... the waiting was ridiculous.
6:00 PM: We set up our appointment for a month later and get out of there.
6:20 PM: Crazy traffic on Hulen Street causes me minor road rage, but we get to Nick and Ashley's place and pick up both of them (as Nick finally drove home because of the wait). We apologize profusely and begin making our way to the ballgame.
6:50 PM: Crazy traffic on I-30 causes me moderate road rage, but at least we were moving.
7:05 PM: In Arlington, near the ballpark, looking for a parking spot. We pay $10 for a spot 3/4 of a mile away.
7:25 PM: We are finally in our seats in the stadium. It is the top of the 2nd inning.
After that I managed to calm myself down and enjoy an absolutely fantastic night for watching baseball. The air was cool and there was a slight breeze and we witness the Rangers kick the snot out of the Cleveland Indians.
Amid all the frustrations of the day, and think Jun and I both learned a lesson in patience and what is most important in life.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Down with the Sickness
This first trimester seems to be creeping by. Jun has been feeling sick 6 out of 7 days every week. Most of the time she just feels nauseated, the other times, well... apparently what goes down must come up. It's really bumming us both out because there's nothing we can really do about it. The last time we were at the doctor, Jun was prescribed some anti-nausea medicine (Ondansetron) that dissolves in your mouth. She's been very wary about taking any kind of medication though, so she just suffers through it.
I know it's hard on her to be sick all the time, and it's hard for me as well having to sit there helplessly as she gets sick. At least we know that if she's getting sick, then her hormones are just acting up in response to the baby.
Speaking of the baby, Puff is now 10 weeks along, and the pregnancy is in it's 12th week overall. This means that we are approaching the end of the first trimester. We are almost a third of the way there.
In preparation for our upcoming bundle of joy, I took time on Saturday to clean out the room that will become the nursery. I should have taken before and after pictures of the room, but I moved out all the junk (thereby making 2 other rooms messy) and vacuumed the carpet. In the next few weeks we'll probably decide on a color to paint the room, probably a nice, gender-neutral pastel green or yellow. We're probably still a few months from buying furniture though. We've done a small amount of furniture shopping in stores like Buy Buy Baby and Babies 'R' Us, and we've come to the conclusion that it's all way expensive. I used to think that weddings were the biggest money-making scam, but I'm starting to think that babies are right up there as well.
Other than that, everything is looking good in the Robbins' household. Jun has another doctor's checkup and ultrasound on Thursday, so we're looking forward to seeing how big Puff is getting an hearing his heartbeat again. Hopefully it's still beating strong and fast!
I know it's hard on her to be sick all the time, and it's hard for me as well having to sit there helplessly as she gets sick. At least we know that if she's getting sick, then her hormones are just acting up in response to the baby.
Speaking of the baby, Puff is now 10 weeks along, and the pregnancy is in it's 12th week overall. This means that we are approaching the end of the first trimester. We are almost a third of the way there.
In preparation for our upcoming bundle of joy, I took time on Saturday to clean out the room that will become the nursery. I should have taken before and after pictures of the room, but I moved out all the junk (thereby making 2 other rooms messy) and vacuumed the carpet. In the next few weeks we'll probably decide on a color to paint the room, probably a nice, gender-neutral pastel green or yellow. We're probably still a few months from buying furniture though. We've done a small amount of furniture shopping in stores like Buy Buy Baby and Babies 'R' Us, and we've come to the conclusion that it's all way expensive. I used to think that weddings were the biggest money-making scam, but I'm starting to think that babies are right up there as well.
Other than that, everything is looking good in the Robbins' household. Jun has another doctor's checkup and ultrasound on Thursday, so we're looking forward to seeing how big Puff is getting an hearing his heartbeat again. Hopefully it's still beating strong and fast!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Overdue Update: Doctor's Appointment and Labor Day
It's been more than a week since I've updated so I'll try to run-down what's been going on with us.
Also, I hope that the title of this post, "Overdue Update", isn't one that I have to re-use in week 41+ of pregnancy.
On September 1st, Jun had another date with the doctor. This one was scheduled, however, and was only an ultrasound. This was the first time that Jun had an ultrasound. In the past couple of visits she was given a sonogram, but I guess the baby is big enough to be seen on ultrasound now. I think Jun likes it much better due to it being less "invasive", but it the picture quality was a little lower. Jun also mentioned that the lubricating gel they use was indeed cold like in the movies and on TV, but since it was like 105 degrees that day, she enjoyed it.
We were very pleasantly surprised to hear that Puff's heartbeat had increased from a borderline-low 117 to an incredible 170 bpm! We think he was just nervous to be on camera again and his heart started racing. The technician used her computer tool to measure Puff and determined that he is about the size of a strawberry. I know strawberries come in many sizes, but if I had to guess I'd say he was somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 inches long. All in all it was a successful appointment and it was great to see Puff doing so well.
Jun's morning(evening) sickness isn't really letting up and she still has her bouts with nausea, but from all we've read it should start to subside in the next couple of weeks. She's still not obviously showing yet, but you can definitely feel a solid area below he bellybutton where the baby is. Celebrity baby-bump status is still around 2-4 weeks away I think.
After our successful doctors appointment, we began our Labor Day vacation by driving to Oklahoma to see my family. We only had to stop a couple of times for bathroom breaks and Jun didn't need any of the throw-up bags we packed so all-in-all the drive went well.
On Friday morning we slept in a little and spend most of the day vegging out with my dad who also had Friday off of work. He started a new project cleaning out (and around) an existing (currently dry) pond in an effort to a make a nice camping/cooking out/swimming hole area for his grandkids. It will look really nice and be a fun play area by the time Puff is old enough to enjoy it. We're really looking forward to that.
On Friday night we traveled into Pawnee to watch the high school team play and watch my brother coach. The struggled in the first half but made big adjustments in the second half to get the game close, but ultimately the Black Bears fell to the Woodland Cougars 34-21. I was happy to see several of my good friends from high school at the game and, if you guys and gals are reading this, I'm sorry I didn't tell you our good news then, but we hadn't told the rest of my family yet so it wasn't fair to them.
Saturday my brother and sister and their families came out to my parents house to have a family lunch. We sat down to a great lunch of fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy. My dad blessed the food and in his prayer thanked God for "all our family members and those to come." Giving away the first hint that there might be big news to come. Secondly, my mom sat an extra baby-sized plate at the table which was a hint everyone picked up on. Thank you to mom and dad to for helping us set up our announcement and thank you to the rest of the family for being so excited for us! It's a big relief to finally have our secret out in the open and we're excited to start telling the rest of our friends and family.
After lunch, Jun and I went into Stillwater to tailgate for the OSU football game. We were happy to see some of our friends and share our news with them. It was extremely hot that day, so after only a couple of hours, Jun and I headed home to watch the game as God intended: at home under an air conditioner. We spend the rest of the evening enjoying an OSU victory.
On Sunday we went in to Church with my family and enjoyed a sermon with I think was directed right at me. I'm pretty sure it was titled "Get A Job You Lazy Bum!". Ok, not really. I know that it was not directed at people like me who are actively seeking employment. It was enough about me however, to get myself, Jun and mom tickled during the sermon and we had to do our best to hold in our chuckles.
Sunday afternoon and evening brought full bellies from another delicious meal of homemade fajitas, an Andy Roddick victory, dominance from me in Wii Jeopardy (with the exception of the game when I risked my $9,000 lead on final jeopardy and lost...) and cool breezes and perfect weather relaxing outside in the hammock. Our final event of the evening was driving a few short miles down the dirt road to tell my grandparents about the baby and show them ultrasound pictures of their new great-grand baby.
Monday was our last day home and we woke up in the morning and got in 9 holes of golf at the public course in Pawnee. Mom dominated us all with straight drives and LPGA-quality iron-play. It was a beautiful day to be outside (almost chilly when we started) and I barely broke a sweat even though we walked. Unfortunately after we were done it was time to go home to Fort Worth. So we packed all our things, said our goodbyes and hit the road once more.
Thank you to mom and dad for putting up with us all weekend and wasting all of your valuable water. Hopefully the new water wells being drilled will work out. Thank you to the rest of our family for being so happy and excited for us and our new addition, it really made our day.
Apologies to all of our friends and family who haven't heard yet. I'm sure we'll get to you soon and if not... well, word travels fast in small-town america. Haha.
Also, apologies to anyone reading the post and noticing the complete lack of pictures. I DID remember to bring the camera home to Pawnee, but I never even took it our of my suitcase. I promise to do better in the future.
Also, I hope that the title of this post, "Overdue Update", isn't one that I have to re-use in week 41+ of pregnancy.
On September 1st, Jun had another date with the doctor. This one was scheduled, however, and was only an ultrasound. This was the first time that Jun had an ultrasound. In the past couple of visits she was given a sonogram, but I guess the baby is big enough to be seen on ultrasound now. I think Jun likes it much better due to it being less "invasive", but it the picture quality was a little lower. Jun also mentioned that the lubricating gel they use was indeed cold like in the movies and on TV, but since it was like 105 degrees that day, she enjoyed it.
We were very pleasantly surprised to hear that Puff's heartbeat had increased from a borderline-low 117 to an incredible 170 bpm! We think he was just nervous to be on camera again and his heart started racing. The technician used her computer tool to measure Puff and determined that he is about the size of a strawberry. I know strawberries come in many sizes, but if I had to guess I'd say he was somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 inches long. All in all it was a successful appointment and it was great to see Puff doing so well.
Jun's morning(evening) sickness isn't really letting up and she still has her bouts with nausea, but from all we've read it should start to subside in the next couple of weeks. She's still not obviously showing yet, but you can definitely feel a solid area below he bellybutton where the baby is. Celebrity baby-bump status is still around 2-4 weeks away I think.
After our successful doctors appointment, we began our Labor Day vacation by driving to Oklahoma to see my family. We only had to stop a couple of times for bathroom breaks and Jun didn't need any of the throw-up bags we packed so all-in-all the drive went well.
On Friday morning we slept in a little and spend most of the day vegging out with my dad who also had Friday off of work. He started a new project cleaning out (and around) an existing (currently dry) pond in an effort to a make a nice camping/cooking out/swimming hole area for his grandkids. It will look really nice and be a fun play area by the time Puff is old enough to enjoy it. We're really looking forward to that.
On Friday night we traveled into Pawnee to watch the high school team play and watch my brother coach. The struggled in the first half but made big adjustments in the second half to get the game close, but ultimately the Black Bears fell to the Woodland Cougars 34-21. I was happy to see several of my good friends from high school at the game and, if you guys and gals are reading this, I'm sorry I didn't tell you our good news then, but we hadn't told the rest of my family yet so it wasn't fair to them.
Saturday my brother and sister and their families came out to my parents house to have a family lunch. We sat down to a great lunch of fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy. My dad blessed the food and in his prayer thanked God for "all our family members and those to come." Giving away the first hint that there might be big news to come. Secondly, my mom sat an extra baby-sized plate at the table which was a hint everyone picked up on. Thank you to mom and dad to for helping us set up our announcement and thank you to the rest of the family for being so excited for us! It's a big relief to finally have our secret out in the open and we're excited to start telling the rest of our friends and family.
After lunch, Jun and I went into Stillwater to tailgate for the OSU football game. We were happy to see some of our friends and share our news with them. It was extremely hot that day, so after only a couple of hours, Jun and I headed home to watch the game as God intended: at home under an air conditioner. We spend the rest of the evening enjoying an OSU victory.
On Sunday we went in to Church with my family and enjoyed a sermon with I think was directed right at me. I'm pretty sure it was titled "Get A Job You Lazy Bum!". Ok, not really. I know that it was not directed at people like me who are actively seeking employment. It was enough about me however, to get myself, Jun and mom tickled during the sermon and we had to do our best to hold in our chuckles.
Sunday afternoon and evening brought full bellies from another delicious meal of homemade fajitas, an Andy Roddick victory, dominance from me in Wii Jeopardy (with the exception of the game when I risked my $9,000 lead on final jeopardy and lost...) and cool breezes and perfect weather relaxing outside in the hammock. Our final event of the evening was driving a few short miles down the dirt road to tell my grandparents about the baby and show them ultrasound pictures of their new great-grand baby.
Monday was our last day home and we woke up in the morning and got in 9 holes of golf at the public course in Pawnee. Mom dominated us all with straight drives and LPGA-quality iron-play. It was a beautiful day to be outside (almost chilly when we started) and I barely broke a sweat even though we walked. Unfortunately after we were done it was time to go home to Fort Worth. So we packed all our things, said our goodbyes and hit the road once more.
Thank you to mom and dad for putting up with us all weekend and wasting all of your valuable water. Hopefully the new water wells being drilled will work out. Thank you to the rest of our family for being so happy and excited for us and our new addition, it really made our day.
Apologies to all of our friends and family who haven't heard yet. I'm sure we'll get to you soon and if not... well, word travels fast in small-town america. Haha.
Also, apologies to anyone reading the post and noticing the complete lack of pictures. I DID remember to bring the camera home to Pawnee, but I never even took it our of my suitcase. I promise to do better in the future.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Travels: Denver
Jun and I are currently in Denver, as she had a work-related conference/class to attend. With my current joblessness, I am tagging along with her and enjoying the benefits her company has given her which include a free hotel room, free rental car (Dodge Caliber, which has to be one of the slowest, least-powerful vehicles I've ever driven) and enough per-diem money to feed both of us every day.
In the past when I've gone on trips like these with Jun, I've been able to go out during the day and walk around downtown and enjoy the things the city has to offer. This time is a little different because our hotel is about 10ish miles southeast of downtown. Parking downtown is ridiculous (in the neighborhood of $10/hour) so on Monday I decided to take the light rail. The nearest station to our hotel is about a mile away, so I got up in the morning and made the hike to the station and caught the train. It took a good hour of walking and train-ing to get downtown and when I got there, I roamed around for awhile and took some pictures and acted all tourist-y. It was a beautiful day in the low 90s with the sun shining and I enjoyed the day but by about 3 o'clock in the afternoon I felt like I had seen all I needed to see and caught the train back home.
I've spent the last day and a half lounging around our room reading my book or exploring the hallways and stairwells of the hotel...
Other than that we have been trying to eat in all the Denver restaurants that have been featured on food-related TV shows. So far we have been to:
The Cherry Cricket - As seen on Man Vs. Food
The Bagel Deli - As seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
and
Beau Jo's Pizza - As seen on Man Vs. Food
We might try to hit another place or two before we leave on Friday.
Also, last night we decided to take our extremely-underpowered car and drive into the mountains west of Denver. We drove along the winding mountain roads (avoiding the hundreds of bicyclists) and stopped at most scenic lookouts to take pictures. Along the way we also found the place where Buffalo bill was buried. Who knew he was buried on top of a Colorado mountain? I sure didn't. We were also planning on driving up the the famous (?) Red Rock Amphithéâtre (not trying to be snobby with my spelling, that is what the spell-check suggested as the preferred spelling) to check it out, but there happened to be a Death Cab for Cutie concert that night and the place was packed so we headed home. We might try again tonight since there are no scheduled events.
I forgot to upload the pictures from our scenic drive to the computer before making this blog post, so if you read this before I edit and add the pictures... I'll get to it!
Edit: Here's a couple of pictures.
In the past when I've gone on trips like these with Jun, I've been able to go out during the day and walk around downtown and enjoy the things the city has to offer. This time is a little different because our hotel is about 10ish miles southeast of downtown. Parking downtown is ridiculous (in the neighborhood of $10/hour) so on Monday I decided to take the light rail. The nearest station to our hotel is about a mile away, so I got up in the morning and made the hike to the station and caught the train. It took a good hour of walking and train-ing to get downtown and when I got there, I roamed around for awhile and took some pictures and acted all tourist-y. It was a beautiful day in the low 90s with the sun shining and I enjoyed the day but by about 3 o'clock in the afternoon I felt like I had seen all I needed to see and caught the train back home.
I've spent the last day and a half lounging around our room reading my book or exploring the hallways and stairwells of the hotel...
Other than that we have been trying to eat in all the Denver restaurants that have been featured on food-related TV shows. So far we have been to:
The Cherry Cricket - As seen on Man Vs. Food
The Bagel Deli - As seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
and
Beau Jo's Pizza - As seen on Man Vs. Food
We might try to hit another place or two before we leave on Friday.
Also, last night we decided to take our extremely-underpowered car and drive into the mountains west of Denver. We drove along the winding mountain roads (avoiding the hundreds of bicyclists) and stopped at most scenic lookouts to take pictures. Along the way we also found the place where Buffalo bill was buried. Who knew he was buried on top of a Colorado mountain? I sure didn't. We were also planning on driving up the the famous (?) Red Rock Amphithéâtre (not trying to be snobby with my spelling, that is what the spell-check suggested as the preferred spelling) to check it out, but there happened to be a Death Cab for Cutie concert that night and the place was packed so we headed home. We might try again tonight since there are no scheduled events.
I forgot to upload the pictures from our scenic drive to the computer before making this blog post, so if you read this before I edit and add the pictures... I'll get to it!
Edit: Here's a couple of pictures.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Don't Scare Us Like That!
Yesterday was probably the most nervewracking thus far. Pregnancy has not been a cakewalk for Jun; she's had terrible nausea and morning sickness for the last two weeks and just has generally not felt all that well, but it's never been anything to be concerned about. However, yesterday morning Jun got up for work and started getting ready and noticed a "personal" issue that warranted concern. She woke me up and told me what happened and we both got worried that a miscarriage was threatening. We immediately called the doctor who told us to be in her office first thing when it opened.
The doctor's office opened at 8:30 so I drove in to Jun's office to pick her up and we drove (in near silence) to the doctor. We arrived on time, but due to not having a "real" appointment, it was almost 10:00 before we finally got called out of the waiting room to get a sonogram. Once the sonogram got underway we were extremely relieved to see this:
and:
We were also able to hear his heartbeat which was actually a stronger 118. Not quite to the 120-160 range, but getting close.
Just also received the results of her bloodwork she had done two days before which said her progesterone levels were normal so she wouldn't have to go on progesterone supplements. (We also found out she did NOT have HIV or Hepatitis. What a relief!) Just to be on the safe side, the nurse took her blood again to make sure her progesterone levels didn't fall, so poor Jun had to be stuck with a needle again by the same nurse who gave her the big bruise on her other arm, so now she has a matching set! (Note: Got the new bloodwork back this morning and progesterone levels are still normal.)
We also got to talk to an actual doctor during this visit, who said Puff appeared to be doing fine and that all of Jun's "problems" from earlier in the day had no impact on the baby's health. She did prescribe bedrest to Jun, however, so Jun has to take it easy for the next few days.
We also talked to a nurse who did her best to scare us by informing us on all the terrible diseases and genetic malformations that they can now be tested for while the baby is still in the womb such as Downs Syndrome or Cystic Fibrosis. We also got to watch 3 videos about saving umbilical cord blood (which contain stem cells) which were pretty interesting.
All in all, it was an emotional day which ended on a happy note... but don't ever scare us like that again, Puff!
The doctor's office opened at 8:30 so I drove in to Jun's office to pick her up and we drove (in near silence) to the doctor. We arrived on time, but due to not having a "real" appointment, it was almost 10:00 before we finally got called out of the waiting room to get a sonogram. Once the sonogram got underway we were extremely relieved to see this:
and:
We were also able to hear his heartbeat which was actually a stronger 118. Not quite to the 120-160 range, but getting close.
Just also received the results of her bloodwork she had done two days before which said her progesterone levels were normal so she wouldn't have to go on progesterone supplements. (We also found out she did NOT have HIV or Hepatitis. What a relief!) Just to be on the safe side, the nurse took her blood again to make sure her progesterone levels didn't fall, so poor Jun had to be stuck with a needle again by the same nurse who gave her the big bruise on her other arm, so now she has a matching set! (Note: Got the new bloodwork back this morning and progesterone levels are still normal.)
We also got to talk to an actual doctor during this visit, who said Puff appeared to be doing fine and that all of Jun's "problems" from earlier in the day had no impact on the baby's health. She did prescribe bedrest to Jun, however, so Jun has to take it easy for the next few days.
We also talked to a nurse who did her best to scare us by informing us on all the terrible diseases and genetic malformations that they can now be tested for while the baby is still in the womb such as Downs Syndrome or Cystic Fibrosis. We also got to watch 3 videos about saving umbilical cord blood (which contain stem cells) which were pretty interesting.
All in all, it was an emotional day which ended on a happy note... but don't ever scare us like that again, Puff!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Doctor's Appointment #1 of Many
Today was a big day for our young pregnancy; we had our first prenatal doctor's appointment. I was fortunate enough to be able to tag along and I was very glad that I did.
This appointment was an sonogram only... we only got to talk to the doctor for maybe one minute and that was only in passing. Apparently it's too soon to even ask any questions? That was one thing that frustrated me about the appointment. Jun and I went in with a long list of "first-timer" questions but really got nothing in return... but I digress... on with the appointment details!
Our baby is still very young, and as it turns out, even younger than we thought. Jun and I had tried calculating the baby's age by counting from her last period, and thought we had a pretty good estimate of being in our 8th week (6 week fetal age). Well, it turns out that since Jun's period is longer than the average lady's, she ovulated later and didn't get pregnant when we thought she did. In fact, it turns out that she got pregnant almost a week and a half later than we thought. This was apparent on our sonogram picture when the technician used her computer to measure Puff and found out he was quite a bit smaller than we thought he would be at this point. Not really a big deal, it just means that we aren't as far along as we thought and it pushed the due date back about a week longer than Jun and I had estimated on our own. (Doctor's Projected Due Date: April 7th, 2012)
It was really a neat experience to see our baby on the monitor. I hesitate to use the words "cute" or "precious", because it wasn't much more than a dot on the screen.
Probably the most special part of the appointment came when the technician found Puff's heartbeat. Jun and I weren't sure if we would be able to hear a heartbeat at this appointment, but we were presently surprised when the "wub-wub-wub" sound came out of the speakers. It was definitely a surreal experience for me, and I can't even imagine what Jun was feeling at the time. The technician used her tools to calculate the fetal heart rate at 113 bpm. This is apparently a little on the low side (normal is 120-160) but the technician said that it's probably because the baby isn't far enough along yet. We're supposed to go back in 2 weeks to have another sonogram and make sure then heart rate gets up to into the normal range.
After the sonogram experience, we went with a nurse to another room for Jun to get her blood drawn. Jun said later that the nurse "wiggled the needle around" in her arm and left her with a bruise and a sore arm.
This appointment was an sonogram only... we only got to talk to the doctor for maybe one minute and that was only in passing. Apparently it's too soon to even ask any questions? That was one thing that frustrated me about the appointment. Jun and I went in with a long list of "first-timer" questions but really got nothing in return... but I digress... on with the appointment details!
Our baby is still very young, and as it turns out, even younger than we thought. Jun and I had tried calculating the baby's age by counting from her last period, and thought we had a pretty good estimate of being in our 8th week (6 week fetal age). Well, it turns out that since Jun's period is longer than the average lady's, she ovulated later and didn't get pregnant when we thought she did. In fact, it turns out that she got pregnant almost a week and a half later than we thought. This was apparent on our sonogram picture when the technician used her computer to measure Puff and found out he was quite a bit smaller than we thought he would be at this point. Not really a big deal, it just means that we aren't as far along as we thought and it pushed the due date back about a week longer than Jun and I had estimated on our own. (Doctor's Projected Due Date: April 7th, 2012)
It was really a neat experience to see our baby on the monitor. I hesitate to use the words "cute" or "precious", because it wasn't much more than a dot on the screen.
Probably the most special part of the appointment came when the technician found Puff's heartbeat. Jun and I weren't sure if we would be able to hear a heartbeat at this appointment, but we were presently surprised when the "wub-wub-wub" sound came out of the speakers. It was definitely a surreal experience for me, and I can't even imagine what Jun was feeling at the time. The technician used her tools to calculate the fetal heart rate at 113 bpm. This is apparently a little on the low side (normal is 120-160) but the technician said that it's probably because the baby isn't far enough along yet. We're supposed to go back in 2 weeks to have another sonogram and make sure then heart rate gets up to into the normal range.
After the sonogram experience, we went with a nurse to another room for Jun to get her blood drawn. Jun said later that the nurse "wiggled the needle around" in her arm and left her with a bruise and a sore arm.
Anyways, in a couple of days we'll find out the results and find out if Jun needs any supplements such as Progesterone to help support the pregnancy. Hopefully everything will come back in the clear!
Once the bloodwork was over we were free to go. Like I said, we didn't get to see the doctor for very long so we still have many questions left unanswered. Hopefully we'll get a little more attention next time we are there.
Overall, the appointment was a great experience. We both got confirmation that we were in fact, pregnant, and 3 pregnancy test weren't lying to us, and we got to see that Puff is growing just like he should be. I can't imagine what the next appointment will bring...
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Gender Determination: Science vs. History
First things first... Jun and I don't care whether Puff is a boy or girl. As long as he/she is happy and healthy we could care less. We are just excited to be increasing our family size. That said, we would definitely like to know Puff's gender in advance so we can plan accordingly.
Modern technology has given us a few different ways to determine a baby's sex while still in the womb. The method with the earliest detection period is chorionic villus sampling (CVS) which can be done sometime around the 10th to 13th week, the next earliest is amniocentesis which can determine gender around the 14th to 20th week. After that an ultrasound can be used after the 20th week.
Need to know sooner? How about before you even conceive? How about before you even think of getting pregnant. Look no further than the Chinese gender chart. It's several hundred years old and said to be around 90% accurate. Without further ado, here it is:
If you happen to be a mother already, check it to see if it's accurate. Remember that in China, when you are born you are 1 year old, instead of 0... so add 1 year to your current age. For example, Jun got pregnant at 28, so her Chinese age is 29. The month of conception is pretty self explanatory.
Jun's age is 29, and Puff was conceived in July... so that means...
A boy!
Actually, we had about a 5 month window in which to conceive a boy according to the chart.
Now, we are definitely taking that chart with a grain of salt and we won't be purchasing footballs and dinosaurs any time soon... but it is fun to look at. Hopefully in a few months we'll know the baby's gender and we can come back and see just how accurate the chart is.
Modern technology has given us a few different ways to determine a baby's sex while still in the womb. The method with the earliest detection period is chorionic villus sampling (CVS) which can be done sometime around the 10th to 13th week, the next earliest is amniocentesis which can determine gender around the 14th to 20th week. After that an ultrasound can be used after the 20th week.
Need to know sooner? How about before you even conceive? How about before you even think of getting pregnant. Look no further than the Chinese gender chart. It's several hundred years old and said to be around 90% accurate. Without further ado, here it is:
If you happen to be a mother already, check it to see if it's accurate. Remember that in China, when you are born you are 1 year old, instead of 0... so add 1 year to your current age. For example, Jun got pregnant at 28, so her Chinese age is 29. The month of conception is pretty self explanatory.
Jun's age is 29, and Puff was conceived in July... so that means...
A boy!
Actually, we had about a 5 month window in which to conceive a boy according to the chart.
Now, we are definitely taking that chart with a grain of salt and we won't be purchasing footballs and dinosaurs any time soon... but it is fun to look at. Hopefully in a few months we'll know the baby's gender and we can come back and see just how accurate the chart is.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
On Food: Aversions, Cravings, Spicy and Sweet
Today is the last day of week 6 and tomorrow will start the first day of week 7. I've heard that pregnancy seems like it goes by quickly, but for me it seems to be crawling by. I think it's because we are anxious for Jun's first doctor's appointment in a little over a week. At that appointment we'll finally get a chance to ask our pressing questions, get some information and finally get a sonogram which will show us both that Puff really is in there.
Another reason time is moving along slowly is the fact that we can't tell anyone our good news yet. To all who are reading this a few months on down the road, we're sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but we really wanted to! Hopefully in a few weeks more of our friends and family will know. The plan right now is to tell our family (outside of our parents who knew on day one) over Labor Day weekend and begin telling our friends after that. That's still about 4 weeks away, however, so I hope we can keep the cat in the bag that long!
As the title of this blog entry suggests, Jun has started having her first sensitivities to food. Food "aversion" and "craving" are still probably too strong of works, but there are definitely sensitivities. Her first aversion was to sweet foods. Anything overly sugary or rich. It's not constant, and every once in a while she actually does want a sweet treat, but for the most part even the smell of sweets or baked goods tends to make her nauseous.
Her first real craving has been spicy food. Pretty much anything with salsa or tabasco sauce has been high on her list. She's a girl that enjoys a little spicy food every so often, but lately we've just been leaving the tabasco sauce bottle on the table just incase whatever food she has in front of her needs a little "kick."
Other than that, Jun's pregnancy symptoms are rather mild. She has gotten sick or nauseous only a few times after meals, but usually feels quite a bit better after. Everything else is going great, though.
Hard to believe a 1/4" baby is causing all these problems.
Another reason time is moving along slowly is the fact that we can't tell anyone our good news yet. To all who are reading this a few months on down the road, we're sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but we really wanted to! Hopefully in a few weeks more of our friends and family will know. The plan right now is to tell our family (outside of our parents who knew on day one) over Labor Day weekend and begin telling our friends after that. That's still about 4 weeks away, however, so I hope we can keep the cat in the bag that long!
As the title of this blog entry suggests, Jun has started having her first sensitivities to food. Food "aversion" and "craving" are still probably too strong of works, but there are definitely sensitivities. Her first aversion was to sweet foods. Anything overly sugary or rich. It's not constant, and every once in a while she actually does want a sweet treat, but for the most part even the smell of sweets or baked goods tends to make her nauseous.
Her first real craving has been spicy food. Pretty much anything with salsa or tabasco sauce has been high on her list. She's a girl that enjoys a little spicy food every so often, but lately we've just been leaving the tabasco sauce bottle on the table just incase whatever food she has in front of her needs a little "kick."
Other than that, Jun's pregnancy symptoms are rather mild. She has gotten sick or nauseous only a few times after meals, but usually feels quite a bit better after. Everything else is going great, though.
Hard to believe a 1/4" baby is causing all these problems.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Puff...
In an effort to stop referring to our upcoming bundle of joy as "it," we tried to think up a nickname for our baby-to-be. We thought of several different nicknames, but they were all either too gender specific or just plain too goofy... also we kept coming back to items of food for some reason.
List of rejected nicknames:
Noodle
Doodle
Button
Dot
Bear
Bug
Nut
Panda
Pea
Bacon
We hadn't settled on a nickname the first night so we slept on it (I know... this is such a HUGE decision...). The next morning my mom (MyMy to her other grandkids) called and asked when the baby would be due. I told her that we estimated it would be late March/early April which meant that the baby would be born in the year of the dragon based on the Chinese zodiac calendar. I then informed her of our dilemma of choosing a nickname and she immediately stated that since the baby would be a dragon, why don't we use "Puff" as a nickname (in reference to Puff the Magic Dragon).
It was just too perfect to pass up... it's very cute and good for either a boy or girl so that's what we're going with. Thanks, MyMy for your help with this IMPORTANT decision.
List of rejected nicknames:
Noodle
Doodle
Button
Dot
Bear
Bug
Nut
Panda
Pea
Bacon
We hadn't settled on a nickname the first night so we slept on it (I know... this is such a HUGE decision...). The next morning my mom (MyMy to her other grandkids) called and asked when the baby would be due. I told her that we estimated it would be late March/early April which meant that the baby would be born in the year of the dragon based on the Chinese zodiac calendar. I then informed her of our dilemma of choosing a nickname and she immediately stated that since the baby would be a dragon, why don't we use "Puff" as a nickname (in reference to Puff the Magic Dragon).
It was just too perfect to pass up... it's very cute and good for either a boy or girl so that's what we're going with. Thanks, MyMy for your help with this IMPORTANT decision.
A Little About Me, Us and This Blog
My name is Greg. I am 28 years old at the time of writing this. I graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2007 with a degree in Civil Engineering. After gradation I moved to Fort Worth, Texas to take a full-time position with an engineering firm. I have lived here ever since. My life would be pretty dull and boring, had I not met Jun during my last year of college. She was a fifth-year senior, like me, and she was an Architectural Engineering major. She was a Teaching Assistant for a class along with one of my roommates which is how we originally met. She would come over to drop off tests or help grade papers and we eventually became friends... and a little later... more than friends.
We didn't officially begin dating until April 2007, which was one month before we both were graduating. I was going to be moving to Texas and she was staying at OSU for grad school. We knew it would be tough to do a long-distance relationship, but decided that it was worth taking a chance on. Fast forward more than four years and you have us as we are today; happily married for two-and-a-half years, still living in Fort Worth in a house we had built west of the city proper.
In the early Spring of this year, we began entertaining the idea of increasing the size of our family by 50%. Due to my employment status (which is a tale for another day, and possibly another blog), we put off actually trying for a kid until our 28th birthdays began approaching (Me: July 11th, Her: June 30th). After deciding we were going to get too old if we didn't get our act together soon, we officially started trying in late June.
We began charting waking temperatures and using a guidebook (thanks cousin Cindy!) to tell us what her temperature charts meant and what days she would be most fertile. Well, that book must contain some kind of magic because it took only one month for us to get pregnant. One month. I can't believe it. I mean, I really went in with no expectations because I had read it takes some couples months or even years to conceive, surely we couldn't be so incredibly lucky.
The test says otherwise. As of today, Jun is approximately 6 weeks along. Not very far at all, but it's crazy to think that one month out the nine passed without us even knowing. She isn't showing and probably won't for many more weeks. She has some symptoms of pregnancy such as fatigue and funny tastes in her mouth as well as a few others that are too personal to go into on here. No morning sickness yet, but our other book says that will probably start in 2-3 weeks. Neither of us are looking forward to that, but we both know it comes with the territory.
Now, while we are extremely excited by this news and feel that God has certainly blessed us, we still approach these next few weeks with wariness. Jun won't even be able to go to the doctor for another two weeks to confirm. Even then, we probably won't be sharing our joy with anyone outside of family for probably even a month or so after that. Chances are, if you're reading this, we're already a few months along and you have some reading to catch up on!
I've intended for this blog to be a journal of sorts for Jun and I, but also as a way our family and friends can keep updated on our progress and share in our new adventure (both the highs and the lows...).
Thank you for reading our blog. I hope you will have as much joy reading it as we have writing (and living!) it.
Surprise!?!
August 1st, 2011, 5:45 AM
We had just woken up to Jun's phone blaring "Hanging by a Moment" by Lifehouse as her alarm clock. Time to start the day. Jun sleepily rolled over and said one word, "thermometer." With my eyes still mostly closed, I felt around on the bedside table for the basal thermometer we had been using for more than a month now to chart her waking temperature. I was almost asleep again when I heard the thermometer beep and Jun use her phone as a flashlight to look at the numbers. I held my breath as I waited for her to tell me what the temperature was. If it was over 98 degrees again, it would be 16 days of high temperatures in a row. If you've never really studied the patterns in a woman's basal temperature as it relates to fertility, I'll tell you what 16 day of high temperatures after ovulation means...
Pregnant.
"98.32," she calls out. We both knew what we needed to do. We crawled out of bed and walked the short distance to our bathroom and started un-boxing a pregnancy test. We had a couple of different types of test and I had chosen the one we bought on a whim from a Dollar Tree. Turns out it's not like the ones on the commercials with the sticks you pee on, it requires you to pee in a cup and then use the included eye dropper to add four drops of urine from the cup to the tester. We both somehow managed to get this done without getting anything on our fingers and we waited the required 3 minutes. After the required period of time, we saw this:
 |
| Dollar Tree Test... Pregnant |
You can definitely see a faint pink line next to the dark red line which means...
Pregnant.
Well, we weren't satisfied with a Dollar Tree test. Who knows how accurate they are. For a dollar they may tell EVERYONE they're pregnant. However, when I think about it, you would think most people who buy pregnancy tests at a dollar store would be hoping for a negative... but whatever.
So I pulled out the big guns. The Equate brand pregnancy test from Wal-Mart. This one cost $5, so it must be 5x as accurate, right?. Well, this test requires you pee on the little absorbent tip for 10 seconds and seeing as how Jun had just used the bathroom for the first test, she didn't really have it in her to complete the test as instructed, but she did have enough left to fill up the little cup we were using for the first test again so we just stuck the absorbent tip of the new test in the cup for 10 seconds. Figure that was close enough. After another mandatory wait of three minutes, we checked the new test and this is what we saw:
 |
| Wal-Mart test... Pregnant |
In the circular opening in the new test, you can definitely see the "+" symbol which means...
Pregnant.
 |
| Pregnancy Factor of Safety = 2 |
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