Happy Easter!

Why we celebrate Easter! He is Risen, our Salvation! Praise God and a Blessed Easter to everyone!

16 Weeks

How far along: 16 weeks
Weight gain: Have not been eating much since the surgery, still no gain. 
How big is baby: Avocadie
Maternity clothes: Now that the swelling has gone down since the surgery, I can tell that I am showing more and more. Got these great ribbed tank tops at Target that are nice and long to wear under some of my shirts. Still so cold out! Can't wait until it warms up so I can wear my sundresses.
Sleep: Still tough, I went to massage therapy and chiropractor this week which helped some. We're in Spokane for Easter weekend so not sleeping in our bed is not helping things. 
Best moment this week: Seeing our family and friends in Spokane, so wonderful! Last time we were there was Christmas. Also, on Thursday before we left Seattle we had our appointments. Dr. Dise was kind enough to bring in the portable U/S for us to see baby moving, which baby was doing a lot of! Dr. Dise tried to determine the gender. At first from the bottom-up view she thought it looked like a boy, but then when she looked at baby straight on she thought it looked more like a girl, so for now it will remain a mystery! Baby wants to keep us guessing for now ☺
Movement: Hard to tell since things have been rumbling around after surgery, looking forward to feeling movement soon though!
Food Cravings: Simply Lemonade, cheeseburgers, pizza
Pregnancy Symptoms: Cramping (Dr. Dise says this is the round ligament stretching which means I'm still pregnant)
Belly button in or out: Still an innie but now with a big scab from my lap site. No more belly button ring, Hung is a lil bit disappointed LOL Nice while it lasted ☺
What I miss: This week I miss all my friends who live out of state, so thankful for phones and internet that bridge the distance (in random order: Jess, Francie, Phuongy, Litto, Smackies, Emmy, K-dogg) And my mama too! She'll be back in town mid-May since Arizona is starting to get too hot :)
What I'm looking forward to: Finding out the gender of the baby!
Weekly Wisdom: It's really great to have our family and friends as great examples of wonderful parents who work and are still able to balance life with baby and everything else. This is inspiring and reassuring to us! Thanks to Chi Kim, Phuongy, Stephanie, Emmy and Kathy for all the new mama insight! Hugs & kisses to your little ones: Jacob & Baby girl, Cassius, Whitley, Owen, and Liv XOXO

Nursery Crib & Paint

Carter's Just One You Heirloom Crib from Target

After researching the Baby Bargains book we decided on a crib (Thanks Justin & Tamara for the book recommendation, it's great!). Our first big purchase for the nursery! Hunnie also painted the nursery "Gleeful" green (it's brighter than we thought!) from Sherwin Williams in Harmony paint with zero-VOC. I was not much help during this time as I was still recovering from surgery. But the dogs and I did come and cheer papabear on! :) He loves home improvement projects like this, have to keep him busy or he'll try to knock a wall down somewhere!

15 Weeks

How far along: 15 weeks
Weight gain: Was weighed before surgery and still no significant weight gain. So strange! I used to gain 5 pounds just by breathing before.  
How big is baby: Naval orange
Maternity clothes: Still having moderate swelling from the surgery, any type of waistband is pretty darn uncomfortable right now.
Stretch marks: Nope, but I now have 2 half-inch scars on either side of my abd from my lap sites
Sleep: HORRIBLE, sleep has been extremely difficult since the surgery. It's painful to recline back past 90 degrees, I thought I had a blood clot the stabbing pain was so severe. I can only sleep propped up on my left side, my right shoulder and neck are still extremely painful from the referred CO2 pain. 
Best moment this week: Waking up from anesthesia and realizing surgery was over, I was alive, and the MFM nurse came and listened for baby's heartbeat and said everything sounded good. Praise God!
Movement: None
Food Cravings: The only things I can stomach at the moment are Cambells chicken & stars soup, grilled cheese, strawberry jello and apple juice with lots of ice (I feel like a patient on 4NE).
Pregnancy Symptoms: Surgery symptoms are trumping pregnancy symptoms right now. I did get really nauseous and threw up about half liter or apple juice and man did that hurt my stomach bad. Coughing hurts! I have not let go of my tummy splinting pillow since I left the hospital, they had to let me take the pillow from the hospital because I wouldn't let it out of my death grip.
Belly button in or out: Undetermined, still covered with a steri-strip, very itchy!
What I miss: Missing a lot right now since I'm still recovering from surgery, I miss the outside world, tomorrow I am going to go with Hubbie to Costco so that I can walk around a bit, will be the first time out of the house since surgery. Wondering if they have those motorized scooters there.
What I'm looking forward to: Feeling better! And next week we will have our 16-week check and post-surgical check-up. Hoping they can do an U/S so that we can see baby moving, just want to know everything is okay. 
Weekly Wisdom: Have so much more empathy and understanding for the patients I used to take care of on the Med-Surg floor, didn't realize how challenging post-op recovery is until I went through it myself.

Pre-surgery

14 Weeks

How far along: 14 weeks
Weight gain: Still no weight gain since my 8-week check. 
How big is baby: Lemony lemon
Maternity clothes: Scrubs are getting tighter now, couple of co-workers who know I'm pregnant have said I'm starting to show my bump now. Outside of work, I'm wearing jammies or stretchy pants and long tanks and shirts.
Stretch marks: None, I have started using Mama Bee's Belly Balm, thanks to mama Kathy! It has pumpkin seed oil and olive oil, the stuff is great and my belly is so soft! 
Sleep: Sleeping pretty good now but getting nervous about surgery.
Best moment this week: Visiting Kathy and Andy and their new baby girl Olivia on Whidbey Island, such a sweet baby girl! We had a wonderful time hanging out :) Those BBQ sammies were the bomb!
Movement: None
Food Cravings: Strawberries, Odwalla orange juice (Meepers is very particular LOL)
Pregnancy Symptoms: Still some nausea but it's improving, otherwise feeling pretty good, even have been waking up early on the weekends, made it to 8am Mass for the first time in 3 months (we've been going to 10am instead).
Belly button in or out: Innie
What I miss: A runny sunny-side up egg
What I'm looking forward to nervous about: At our 12-week U/S I was found to have a left dermoid ovarian cyst, 7cm in size. Dermoids originate from stem cells and can contain hair, bits of teeth or bone, etc (Mang and I nicknamed it Igor). We met with the OBGYN who advised that we have it removed to avoid complications further along in pregnancy. We could wait and have it removed 3 months post-partum but if at any time the cyst became so large that the ovary twisted ("torsion"), which apparently is horribly painful (they say worse than labor), they would have to cut me open emergently which would be more dangerous for baby and I would most likely lose the ovary. We decided to go forward with the laparoscopic cystectomy, baby's body systems are fully developed but baby is still small enough for surgery to be the safest under controlled circumstances. I am really nervous because I have never had surgery before, it makes me nervous to know that I will be "knocked out" under anesthesia. And I'm also very nervous about a spontaneous abortion occurring, even though the OBGYN says the percentage risk is no different than not having surgery. After Mass last Sunday we told Father Jim the happy news that we were pregnant and we also told him about the upcoming surgery. I couldn't even finish explaining it because I started to cry. Father Jim prayed over us and the baby, it was very meaningful. We are so blessed to have many friends and family who are praying for us during this experience, we're so thankful!

12 Weeks

How far along: 12 weeks
Weight gain: No weight gain since our last appt 4 weeks ago, surprising because I feel like I'm definitely eating enough to gain weight. 
How big is baby: Plum
Maternity clothes: Jeans are too tight, I bought the Bella Band which is actually pretty comfy so I can still use my jeans even though they don't zip/button up anymore. Thankfully, I wear scrubs to work instead of business clothes.
Sleep: Sleeping better now, still getting up during the night but able to fall asleep okay.
Best moment this week: We had a high-resolution U/S at Maternal Fetal Medicine for the Nuchal Transparency Screening. Baby no longer looks like a gummy bear, now looks like a baby, big head with arms and legs moving around. Baby was so cute, flopping around and moving like crazy, very active one, made me laugh! The doctor said the baby's neck was "textbook" perfect! They even took pictures because baby photographed so well and they needed photos for their annual review. At our midwife appt we were also able to hear baby's heartbeat (148-150's), such a beautiful sound! 
Movement: None
Food Cravings:  Still craving lots of carbs! Red Robin french fries with honey mustard, one of my faves even before being pregnant. 
Pregnancy Symptoms: Nausea, extreme fatigue (even after sleeping 10-12 hours, ugh)
Belly button in or out: Innie
What I miss: Feeling energized and well-rested
What I'm looking forward to: Seeing baby on the U/S again, so amazing!

First picture of baby "Meepers"

Nguyen Family Growing

Anh Tuyen & Chi Kim (Hung's older brother & sister-in-law) found out the other day that they will be having a baby girl in August! Jacob is going to be a big brother! We are so excited for them ☺

This is definitely the year for babies in our family! Toan & Nadia (cousin) will be having another baby girl sometime near the end of next month and Anh Hai & Chi Holly just found out that they will be expecting their first baby mid-November! We are so happy and excited for everyone!