25 Weeks

Oregon Coast

How far along: 25 Weeks
Weight gain: according to last week's check, 17lbs during pregnancy
How big is baby: Rutabaga
Maternity clothes: Got to wear the dress I bought at Old Navy (pictured above) that wasn't maternity wear but loose enough to pass as if it was!
Sleep: Sleeping well, all except for at the hotel because I never sleep well if it isn't in my bed at home.
Best moment this week: 4-day weekend down on the Oregon Coast with my love and our friends from Spokane, Ben & Steph and their adorable baby girl Whit. Gorgeous weather all weekend!
Movement: One night this week meeps woke up and started kicking at 1am for almost one hour, I tried to rock him to sleep in my belly but as soon as it seemed had quieted down I had to get up to pee and then he woke up again! I guess this is good practice for what's to come LOL
Food Cravings: Being as how we were on the Oregon Coast, I was craving anything and everything seafood. Fish & chips with tartar was definitely my pick! Also had a ton of homemade ice cream and probably need a break from that for awhile.
Belly button in or out: Innie (I don't think it will ever be an outie...)
What I miss: (I'm post-journaling since I've been super lazy these past 3 weeks so I can't quite remember what I was missing that week LOL)
What I'm looking forward to: Seattle summer to finally arrive...any day now...

Psalm 139: 13-16

For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be.

24 Weeks

How far along: 24 Weeks
Weight gain: approximately a total of 17lbs during pregnancy
How big is baby: Ear of corn (12.5 inches, 1.25 lbs according to BabyBump iPhone app)
Maternity clothes: yes, filling out all of my maternity clothes, pretty uncomfortable to try and wear anything non-maternity except for maybe my pajamas. Even my larger scrubs I got are starting to get snugger.
Sleep: Still pretty good, probably wake up every 3 hours to pee but I fall back to sleep quickly.
Best moment this week: My 3-day weekend! We had our 24-week check Friday morning, pretty uneventful and it was a quickie appointment (uterus is measuring 25 cm, right on track), I had a massage appointment afterwards which was great and then we went to the Bracks for taco night and got to hang with Katie & James, Kathy brought little Olivia and Coco came to romp around with Carli, great night. Then Saturday we headed down to Monkey Bridge in Ballard to celebrate Lils birthday, I had canh chua which was delish and then afterwards we went to the Seattle Animal Shelter to see if we could get meng a new baby and Bert a new bro/sis, no luck this time but still a fun time with the fellow dog mamas and foodies. Sunday, today, was Father's Day, I let hunnie sleep in, then we went to Original Pancake House (location just opened on Bothell-Everett Highway, we used to go to the one in downtown Kirkland when we had our apartment there). Afterwards we had a little shopping spree at Target and Cost Plus World Market, found a great bench and table for our entryway and a closet organization system for the nursery. Hunnie and I have been making lots of progress on spring cleaning, the kitchen is done being painted (picture to come soon!) and we had a very productive weekend but still have more to do!
Movement: Lots of movement, noticing it more now during the day maybe because meeps is getting stronger. I notice that when I change positions like lay flat in bed he gets really active, or after I eat something sweet. 
Food Cravings: This week the craving has been veggies - mushrooms, olives, corn. Also fruit like strawberries and raspberries. And salmon too, had it twice this week, once at home, we baked it on alder plank in the oven with mayo on top, and then I had it in the canh chua at Monkey Bridge,  yum!
Belly button in or out: Innie
What I miss: My mama who is currently on vacay in Vietnam, also miss my Ong Ba Ngoai who I haven't seen since 2000. Wish I was there to give them a hug. 
What I'm looking forward to: Only 3-day work week, off early on Wednesday and then Hunnie and I are heading to Oregon Coast for the weekend with our friends Ben & Stephanie and their baby girl Whitley! Hoping for good weather!

23 Weeks

How far along: 23 Weeks
Weight gain: scared to know...
How big is baby: Large Mango (must be quite large, never seen a mango bigger than a papaya LOL)
Maternity clothes: nothing new but loving the stuff I have, so comfy!
Sleep: Very well!
Best moment this week: Friday "date night" dinner, we tried Tablas up at Mill Creek Towne Center. I really love our Friday night dinners together, just me and hubbs, great way to end the work week and start the weekend. We had a really great talk and I'm just so thankful and blessed by such a wonderful husband and papabear ♥
Movement: Hunnie felt meeps kick for the first time! It was on June 7th at 8:13pm, he made me remember the exact moment LOL so exciting!
Food Cravings: On Monday I was craving roast duck and BBQ pork and Hunnie delivered, it was delicious but wasn't so great later in the week, Meeps' taste changes day to day, quite picky! Other than that no super strong cravings this week.
Belly button in or out: Innie
What I miss: Really missing sushi this week, especially with our occasionally moments of sunshine, the weather has still been so bipolar.
What I'm looking forward to: Our 24-week check is this Friday, will be another quick one, just checking blood pressure and urine, listening to baby's heartbeat and measuring uterus. I also have a massage scheduled for that day and then later dinner with the Bracks & Glazes. Looking forward to a weekend at home, we have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do. Today Hunnie set up the day bed in the nursery, looking good!
Weekly Wisdom: This week weekly wisdom came from my wonderful husband, it was a rough week at work for me and Thursday was my breaking point. Hunnie was so encouraging, reminded me to pray about it, and was supportive even though I was in a super grumpy mood. As always, God delivers and helps me see the Light again. Thanks Hunnie ♥ Love you!

22 Weeks

How far along: 22 weeks - gonna make this a short post, busy weekend so not much time to journal, Saturday we trekked over to West Seattle to hang with Lils, Juls, Mang and all the pupps. Walked from Juls house to the Blackboard Cafe where we ate outside with all five dogs in tow, beautiful sunny day! Today went to visit my mama who is back from Connecticut and flying out to Vietnam on Tuesday. Had lunch with mums, George, baby bro, and hubbie at Pho 36 (Bun Bo Hue) and scored a nice day bed that used to be in my cousin's room that we're going to put in the nursery.
How big is baby: Papaya
Sleep: Swapped our pillow top mattress for the firmer mattress that was in the guest bedroom. The bed is so much lower now but Coco likes it because it doesn't kill her hips when she jumps off and on.
Movement: Yupp, it's so great!

Food Cravings: Copper River Salmon and I got my wish, went to Anthony's Homeport at Edmonds Marina for our Friday night dinner and it was delicious! 

Hunnie and the Edmonds Marina

21 Weeks

How far along: 21 weeks
Weight gain: didn't weigh myself this week...
How big is baby: Banana
Maternity clothes: Loving Gap's Pure Tees, so comfy! Wishing for warm weather so I can wear my sundresses! Got a couple "dressier" tops today from Macy's.
Sleep: We've been sleeping in the guest bedroom because the bed is up against the wall so I can prop all my pillows up against that and not worry about them falling off the bed. The bed is firmer so I think I've been waking up more frequently maybe. 
Best moment this week: Last weekend Anh Tuyen, Chi Kim & Jacob and also Ba with Huy and Kayla visited from Spokane for Phong's first communion. We spent the weekend at the Museum of Flight and also celebrated Hubbie's belated birthday at Red Robin. Yesterday our friends Ben and Stephanie with their sweet baby girl Whitley visited from Spokane. We met up with them at California Pizza Kitchen in Bellevue for lunch. Afterwards, we hung out with them at the beautiful Willows Lodge in Woodinville and then dinner at Purple Cafe & Wine Bar (no wine for me, but the meatloaf, mash potatoes and broccolini were delish! Finished the whole plate by myself!). All in all, it was a wonderful and warm day with some great company!
Movement: Still feeling lots of punches and kicks, usually when I'm laying still, especially at night. Baby must be a night owl! Still excitedly awaiting for meepers to be strong enough for papabear to feel too!
Food Cravings: Still loving lemonade, had a craving for english muffin pizzas that my mama used to make for me when I was a kid LOL and craving a dutch baby from Original Pancake House which will soon be opening on Bothell-Everett Highway next to our optometrist's office (when we lived in Kirkland, OPH was our fave brunch place).
Belly button in or out: Innie
What I miss: Sunshine, it's end of May already and we've only had a couple beautiful sunny days. 
What I'm looking forward to: While Ben and Steph were in town we booked our hotel for our trip to the Oregon coast at the end of June, very excited! It'll be nice to get away for a couple of days especially since we haven't been on vacation since our honeymoon. 
Weekly Wisdom: Had a great talk with Steph about being a working mom, very enlightening and makes me feel more at peace with how things have to be, realizing that both of us working will allow us to provide our children with experiences that we otherwise would not be able to and experiences that we might not have had during our own childhoods.  

20 Weeks

How far along: 20 weeks
Weight gain: almost 7 lbs total since first appointment
How big is baby: Small Cantelope
Maternity clothes: Finally got a pair of maternity jeans at Old Navy (half the price of Gap.com) and also got a great pair of black leggings at target that I can wear with my boots for the rainy days we're still getting in May (even though hunnie doesn't like them because they look like spandex LOL)
Sleep: Been sleeping pretty well but definitely needing lots of pillows to position comfortably, especially to keep me from being flat on my back 
Best moment this week: Our 20-week U/S when we found out baby was a boy! close 2nd was my wonderful massage therapy appointment, schedule one for another 2 weeks, so relaxinggggg. We've also been going to the chiropractor once a week which has really been helping all the shifting bones, hunnie likes it too, we're pretty hooked. 
Movement: This past week has confirmed my suspicions about the pokes I was feeling, definitely baby moving! At first it was super distracting, especially at work when I was trying to concentrate, but now I'm used to it and it's really exciting to feel him moving around in there. Hunnie is excited too but he can't wait until he can actually feel the punches and kicks too, he's been putting his hand on my belly when I say baby is moving but I think it might be another couple weeks until it's strong enough to feel from the outside. 
Food Cravings: This week I was super lazy about making lunches for some reason, one day I had ramen and my co-worker gave me such a hard time, I agree that MSG should not be part of baby's diet. I was craving tacos all week especially after we had some amazing tacos at our next door neighbors' house last Saturday for dinner. I've been really craving some good authentic Vietnamese food too and was in luck because mama phan was home from Arizona and made us Bun Bo Hue on Monday which was so yummy! I was craving Canh today so we stopped into Seattle Deli and got some along with a couple Banh Bao and Coconut Buns, sadly they were completely out of Banh Mi Thit Nuong sammies, maybe next time. 

Pregnancy Symptoms: Still some nausea at night (around dinner time, yesterday meepers did not like the sweet rice I had at family's house for a snack), braxton hicks contractions (midwife told me this is normal and that my uterus is "practicing")
Belly button in or out: Still an innie, Chi Kim told me hers is popping out now and very sensitive (she's at 28 weeks now). I think mine will look so funny when it's an outie, interested to see LOL!
What I miss: Mama's cooking (she flew out to Connecticut on Thursday to visit George's grandkiddies)
What I'm looking forward to: Memorial Day weekend, hopefully some more sunshine and wondering what and who baby will look like! 
Weekly Wisdom: This week was my wonderful husband's 30th birthday, so he is apparently one year wiser now! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPABEAR! 

Papabear (Hung) age 1 I think...wondering if this is what baby boy will look like! Such a cutie! And gotta love the red socks too! LOL