small is good

this morning we had another sneak peak at baby O, and boy, is he a shy one! this is our fourth ultrasound and we have yet to get a nice profile view of him. each and every time he covers his little face but we can see his big ol' cheeks emerging though. we can't wait to see him again in four weeks and then his big debut is just around the corner.

baby O is still measuring a little small for his "age." he's currently weighing 3 pounds 11 ounces, at the 24th percentile. however, we learned that from 35 weeks on, babies gain about half a pound a week. so at the rate he's growing, we should expect a 7 pounder. oh yeah, and his head is a little small in proportion to his body but hey, that's good news for me!

our trip "home"

after spending 12 days in california, we are finally back to the grind. not like my grind is any different from being on a permanent vacation but A's grind is. despite the time difference and jet lag, he was up and at it again by 7 am est.

we began our trip in san diego visiting friends and attending a wedding. then we decided to do a scenic drive up highway 1 to san francisco. finally, we spent a week in san francisco hanging out with family and attending two baby showers, our own and my bff's. 

it's tough not living in california but we're working through it. we already planned our next trip to san francisco in september! baby O will only be about 3 months old then. so despite being so far from everyone, we are trying our best to make it out west as often as possible. when i say the west, it not only includes san diego and san francisco, but it also includes the great northwest, vancouver. 

pictures to come...

last of our travels before baby is here

we are spending the next week and a half in california! we're so excited to see all our friends and family again. first we're heading to san diego for a wedding and to spend a few days in our old 'hood. then we are spending the remainder of our time in san francisco visiting family. our baby shower is also on the 21st, and so is my BFF's! i'm so excited to see everyone but not excited for the super long flights we have to endure. there are no direct flights from charleston to anywhere! well, most places.

i'm 30 weeks and a couple of days along now. we got to hear baby O's heartbeat again this morning. he was kicking all morning and his heart is going strong beating at the high 130s to low 140s. in another two weeks, we get to see baby O again to track his growth.

old wives' tales & gender prediction

these are fun but there is definitely no science behind it. according to all the old wives' takes, it's more likely that i am having a girl. WRONG! there is no doubt that baby O is a boy. he's shy about showing us his face but not so shy when it comes to his boy parts. 

below are just a few i've heard over and over again but there are so many out other ones out there. some are just outright silly. did you fall for any of these?

old wives' tale #1: the telltale carry. one of the most common gender-predictors is the way you carry your baby. legend has it that if you’re carrying low, you’re carrying a boy; a higher bump means a little girl. some claim that if you carry in front, you’re expecting a boy; expand horizontally and wait for a girl. i am carrying more horizontally. in fact, i'm carrying all over the place! i believe the way one carries is according to your personal anatomy. because i am quite short, my organs have no where to go but up and out. my waist size has expanded and my rib cage has also expanded for sure. i wish i was carrying in front! this old wives' tale was WRONG for us.

old wives' tale #2: heart rate decoder. this old wives’ tale claims that the fetal heart rate of a girl will exceed 140, while that of a boy will be slower. baby O's heart rate has always exceeded 140. early on it was in the 160s. at our 18 week appointment it was in the 150s. and at our 28 week appointment, his heart rate was in the 140s. this old wives' tale was WRONG for us.

old wives' tale #3: body clues. a girl steals her mother’s beauty. a girl causes acne. dry hands indicate a boy. cold feet point to a boy. a larger left breast indicates a girl. dark nipples are signs of a son. not sure if i look better or worse this pregnancy. but A tells me i look good pregnant. i'll take that as a compliment and that baby O is not stealing my beauty. i also have some pregnancy acne. it's not bad but i am getting more than when i'm not pregnant. no dry hands here. cold feet? i always had cold feet so it's nothing out of the ordinary. okay and the last two are a little TMI but lets just say that this old wives' tale was WRONG for us.

old wives' tale #4: ring test. using a string, hang your wedding ring over your belly. if it swings back and forth, expect a girl; swinging in a circle promises a boy. not sure if i did this test correctly or not, and i only had yarn around. my rings (i tried it with my engagement ring as well as my wedding ring), and they just sat there. i finally shook it a little and it swung back and forth a few times then circled a few times as well. i'm not sure what to think about it but let's just err with caution and say that this old wives' tale was WRONG for us.

old wives' tale #5: chinese gender chart. legend says that the gender chart is more than 700 years old and was discovered in a royal tomb. it predicts your baby's sex based on your chinese lunar age at the time you got pregnant and the chinese lunar month in which you conceived. the chinese gender chart says i'm having a girl. in fact my chances of having a boy is only 4 in 12 or 33 percent! this old wives' tale was WRONG for us.

old wives' tale #6: morning sickness. if you had a smooth pregnancy with no morning sickness, it’s a boy. if you were sick or felt really nauseous during your pregnancy, count on a girl. during the first trimester, i was maybe nauseated for a week but it's been smooth sailing since then. finally, this old wives' tale was RIGHT for us.

32

last weekend i turned 32. sigh. my sweet husband planned a great weekend for me. on saturday, we went out for breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast joints. he also planned a spa afternoon for me, which included a prenatal massage, facial, manicure and pedicure. for dinner, we finally had a chance to try the fat hen. the genre of this restaurant was labeled as "lowcountry french" by a local food critic. it was quite good. we'd definitely go back once i can try some of their yummy sounding cocktails! 

on the day of, A spent the day baking for me. he started off the morning with fresh baked blueberry muffins. he ended the day with a nice two layer chocolate sour cream cake with bavarian cream and strawberry filling. he made everything from scratch including the cake itself, except for the bavarian cream which was leftover from my fruit strudel experiment some time ago.

look at this beautiful birthday cake! what you don't see is that A painstakingly cute out a dahlia pattern by hand and used that as a template to cake a dahlia motif on the top of the cake. he first sprinkled it with powdered sugar but didn't like the way it turned out. he then scraped the top frosting and tried it again and again with a combination of powdered sugar and cocoa powder. he finally settled on using cocoa powder solely and surrounded the cake top with sliced strawberries. i do have quite a wonderful husband!