Do I look pregnant?

I look at myself everyday and don't really notice any physical changes. Who am I kidding? Well, last night was a clear indicator that I am getting big. After work, I went home to change and get ready for WorldQuest - a game on world knowledge, hosted by the Employee Resource Groups at work. Attire: wear our Mission in Motion tee shirts. No problem! I have a couple at home. Since it was a little chilly, I put on a white tee underneath and thought...wow, a little snug... must have dried it on 'high heat'. Then, I put on my tee shirt... whoa, is this the right size? Took a look at the tag - yes, it's a large but felt like a small. What happened? This thing is tight all over!!

I'm sure all the halloween candy hasn't helped either. Too funny. All this time, I'm thinking, "people at work probably don't notice" But now I'm thinking it's, "people at work notice I'm getting big but not very PC to ask - why you so fat??" HAHA

It's like crack! - October 19th

Last week, Bill and I took some vacation time since Bill had a number of days to burn before the end of the year. We decided to stay in town for a “staycation”. It was my first and not so bad! I had plenty of things on the “to-do” but it didn’t get done. We went to Babies R Us and it was craziness… I had no idea there were so many baby products. It was a quick realization that we are moving into a new stage of life- parenthood. In addition, we started to look into daycare. That stirred up a whole new conversation, “how can anyone afford kids these days?” Of course, the week couldn’t go by without many fun meals – dim sum, good Mexican food and a tray of warm chocolate chip cookies. My comment as I was eating them, “it’s so good, it’s like crack!”

We also met up with Bill’s parents and finally broke the news. Bill gave his Dad an early birthday card with an ultrasound pic of the ‘high-five’. Even though this will be #13 for the grandparents, they were ecstatic. Bill’s Dad went around the restaurant and started telling people. His Mom couldn’t wait to tell the siblings and we drove around to their homes – too funny.

Bill can now feel Adzuki moving around. If he puts his hand on my belly, the moving starts in a few minutes. It’s really fun… kind of like he’s trying to say hello!

Hamburger - October 4th

Good morning! Today, Bill and I are off to the doctors for a full appointment along with an ultrasound. We’ll also get to know if Adzuki is a boy or girl. There was a lot of growth this weekend, I started to get ligament pain on Friday and by this morning, my pants no longer fit. Perfect timing since I just purchased my first set of preggar clothes.

The ultrasound went really well! The doctor told us that everything is normal – which is great. In addition, we saw the hands and feet – you have big flintstone feet (like your Mom) and had a high five going (Bill called them ‘big mitts’). HAHA From a growth perspective, it looks like I’m at 21 weeks although it’s only 19.5. You’re about 13 oz and camera shy – always having an arm by your face. In addition, I noticed that you really like to wiggle around after I eat… especially after dinner, which is very cute. We also found out the gender – it’s a boy! Hamilton Berger it is – hahaha

Fat Rolls - September 30th

I looked in the mirror last night and noticed a few things. (1) My belly has grown to quite a big size. When I sit down, my shirts are clinging onto this big melon (2) I was expecting this very cute round melon. At this time… it just looks like big fat rolls. Hopefully, it’ll start to shape up! (3) I no longer have a waistline. Seriously. The ever expanding belly has decided to expand out AND across. It’s fun to watch but also a bit daunting since it’s never been an “ok” time for me to gain weight.

What did you do this summer? - September 20th

We had a very busy weekend. On Saturday, there was a birthday party, Melissa’s daughter Alex turned one! Then, we headed over to Eric & Sarah’s for poker night. Bill loves poker night with the gang – Eric & Sarah and Tim & Jess. They both have little girls that recently turned one; Elsa & Greta. At the bonfire, Jess asked me, “So what did you guys do this summer?” My response, “Well, we went to Hawaii with family and had a blast and we also got pregnant.” It was so dry she didn't know if I was kidding or not and had to ask Bill. They were all genuinely excited and then Jess said she was pregnant as well! What a blast. I definitely need to go clothes shopping next weekend – the pants are definitely “snug” now.

Cravings - September 9th

A few things really scared me about pregnancy – weight gain, stretch marks, morning sickness, cankles, and giving birth. I’m now in my 16th week and it’s been a very different experience from what I anticipated. I haven’t gained any weight, haven’t have morning sickness and we’ll need to give it some more time on the cankles and stretch marks. Cravings have been on and off. My favorite treat is McDonalds sweet tea, haven’t touched chocolate (extremely bizarre) and I love soups! I’ll be sure to keep you posted when the cravings get out of control – hehehe

Check up time - September 7th

Labor Day weekend was uneventful and full of rest. Whoo hoo! I had no idea how tired I can get with a full week of work. Bill and I spent the weekend cleaning, running errands and a whole lot of nothing. We did go to the mall to try out some maternity pants since mine are getting tight. Wow – maternity pants are super comfy! In addition, Bill started to look at baby clothes and was surprised and excited at all the options.

On Tuesday, I had a check up with the Nurse Practitioner (Sheela) who is also awesome! All is going very well- your heart beat is very strong, around 150 beats per minute. I haven’t gained any weight and Sheela suggests a total of 10-15 pounds of weight gain until birth. She would like to see 2-3 pounds a month from now on. Not being able to gain weight has never happened in the history of my life! I can drink one too many glasses of water and gain weight. Bill makes sure I am stuffing my face and comes up with all sorts of creative food options, which includes drinking soy milk…. Last time I tried soy milk was probably more than 10 years ago.

Happy Hour - August 27th

I have regular Happy Hours with a few friends from work, Danielle & Marcie. We decided to try out Tryg’s in uptown today. The drinks were great (so I heard), apps were so-so. Since I could only get a ‘root beer’, I decided to spill the beans. Both of the girls were so excited! It’s such a great feeling to see other people truly happy and excited about the good news. In addition to my root beer, I stuffed my face with a loaded baked potato and teriyaki wings :)

Growing Pains - August 25th

This week, I had some “growing pains”. At first, I wasn’t really sure what was going on… dull pain in the front and back pain as well. I took some Tylenol but it didn't work. It wasn’t a big deal until I couldn’t sleep b/c of the pain. So I visited Dr. Swauger (who is awesome). She ran some tests and told me all is well – the back pain might be from the fibroids and the front pain is commonly known as “round ligament pain”. At the end of the week, the pain was gone and I’m back to a sound sleep every night!

Adzuki goes to Hawaii - August 14th

I've been keeping a journal but slacking on setting up a blog. So this is a little bit of catching up...

This week, we headed over to Hawaii with the family (Mom, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Johnny and cousins Anthony and Katrina). Hawaii was awesome. The guys and Katrina went snorkeling and parasailing. I was a little bummed I missed out on all the fun but there will be plenty of other times. We ate a ton of sushi (I had the cooked stuff), pineapple, malasadas, and bento box meals. We even got a cookout in there too – surf and turf. One dinner that was lackluster was Pizza Hut – bleeh.
Since Mom and Aunt Kathy already knew, we decided to tell the rest of the group. Everyone was very excited. Anthony immediately asked if he can be the Godfather. He then proceeded to plan a few things (I need to remember his birthday, probably swing up to Minnesota when you have the baby, etc, etc) It was very cute to see him excited about the news being that he’s 21 and celebrating his 21st birthday in Hawaii!

We visited the Dole Plantation as we headed up to the North Shore. Of course, I couldn’t miss out on having some Matsumoto Shaved Ice with sweet milk and adzuki beans! It was a wonderful week – full of food, fun and sun 

The Adzuki Surprise - July

I decided to get healthy this summer. After my physical, I started to take a multi-vitamin, some D12 supplements and tried healthy eating. So.. when I was 'late', I really didn't think much of it.

By the time I found out, it was around 6 weeks already. Wow, what a surprise. Bill was shocked and very happy. Probably more shocked than anything because I told him as we were driving back from Rachel's graduation party. I wasn't sure if he was concentrating on the road or just the usual Bill when it comes to surprises - totally calm and collected.

You might be thinking why Adzuki? Well, when we found out, it was the size of a small bean and I thought of my favorite red bean desserts in Japan and China, Adzuki. The word itself means "red bean".

Other than lots of fatigue, I've been feeling pretty good. Actually - too good to even believe that I'm pregnant!