Week 19 – Banana

This week, Baby Girl Vo is the size of a banana.  My belly really popped this week (at least in my opinion)!!

Note to Self

Self,

Make advanced hotel reservations for the central coast if you are going on a sunny, holiday weekend. Thanks!

– Self

This past Sunday was my 32nd birthday. We decided to head up the central coast of California to visit the Hearst Castle, a site we had driven by, but never been able to stop and see. Towns like San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Cayucos, San Simeon, and Cambria, are just some of the ones that make up the central coast. I made reservations for us for the castle tour months in advance, but failed to make hotel reservations.

There was a reason for this. Since we were getting a late start driving up on Saturday, and we would be stopping along the way to see the sights, I wanted to add some spice to our adventure. I figured we would just pull over and stay in one of those side of the highway, dumpy motels where there are prostitutes, drug dealers, and a family of 4 from Ohio all sharing one ice dispenser. You know the kind…

Well, we started up the coast with one of our good couple friends and hit the outlet mall, roadside fruit stand, a stint in Santa Barbara, which included a visit to the beautiful Westmont College, an real estate open house, and a drive by Oprah Winfrey’s house.  As we got into Morro Bay, a tiny waterfront town, we saw that every neon sign on all the motels said “No Vacancy.” After going in and asking several of the hotel receptionists if there was anything available in town, we got the unanimous answer that there was nothing available within 45 miles. Wow! We even saw other parties looking for rooms just like us, so we knew there was competition.

Knowing that driving around would not be efficient, the 4 of us quickly got on our phones and called every hotel in the area, credit card ready. It took about 5 minutes, but one of us found a hotel in nearby Paso Robles, where someone had just cancelled 10 minutes earlier.  We gladly booked it and found out that since it was such a late availability, there was a discount! We ended up having a great time in downtown Cayucos and Paso Robles that night.

The rest of the weekend went smoothly and we were able to go to wineries (where Kate discovered high end grape juice), see Elephant Seals, and do the Hearst Castle Tour. Check out some of the pictures below.

A Healthy Baby

Our results came back from the ultrasound yesterday – Baby Girl Vo is healthy and growing at the perfect rate.  This is the best news we could expect!!

I, on the other hand, was told by my doctor that I am gaining a bit too much weight.  Looks like I won’t be able to eat all the bread and pasta that I keep claiming is important for the pregnancy.

Blue or Pink?

Today marked one of the biggest moments in my pregnancy thus far – we found out Baby Vo’s gender!!  At around 4:18pm today, the ultrasound technician took a peek and showed us that Baby Vo is a little girl.  I’ll be honest, we weren’t really expecting that, but we’re happy.  It’s time to start picking out the shade of pink for Baby Vo’s nursery!

We were also able to see how active Baby Vo is inside me.  She was kicking around a lot and gave the technician some difficulty in completing her measurements.  Perhaps our little girl will be the athlete that Steve has always wanted…

To celebrate our newfound knowledge, Steve and I went to Mozza for a romantic dinner…and we finally started to talk about names!!

Week 18 – Mango

This week Baby Vo is the size of a mango.  This week also marks something else momentous – I think I felt Baby Vo move for the first time!  It seems like little bubbles rolling around or popping every once in a while.  I can’t be certain, but it’s starting to become regular and from what I’ve read, Baby Vo’s movements can feel like bubbles…very exciting!!

Valentine’s Day

Last night, we decided to spend our Valentine’s Day enjoying each other’s company at home.  Steve (with some slight assistance from me) made DELICIOUS gnocchi from scratch using a friend’s recipe.  (That’s right – we own a potato ricer.)  He accented the gnocchi with a homemade lobster sauce.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  Simply wonderful.  Not only that, but we had fun making a mess in the kitchen as Steve prepared the gnocchi.

We ended the evening with a not-so-romantic movie…Waiting for Superman.  As if we weren’t depressed enough about Baby Vo’s education, the Superman documentary outright made us feel hopeless.  In fact, I cried at the end in part because of the outcome for some of the kids, but also because of how depressing our school system is.  We’ve really got to figure out what to do to make sure that Baby Vo gets the best education possible!  (Perhaps this is too big of an issue simply to add to our to-do list.)

Week 17 – Sweet Potato

This week, Baby Vo is the size of a sweet potato.

Worst Cooks in America

Tonight, we went to a viewing party for Worst Cooks in America on the Food Network.  Our friend, Kelli, is one of the contestants.  The party was packed and the food was excellent.  I recommend the show for entertainment value and some useful cooking tips.

We won’t ask Steve’s opinion on this one, but sadly, I could have been a viable candidate.  I really have to improve before Baby Vo arrives!

Time Traveling

Yesterday evening, we went to the coolest bowling alley around – The Spare Room at the Roosevelt Hotel.  It was the closest we’ve felt in Los Angeles to being “important.”  A pre-Grammy party was set up on the first floor of the hotel.  We just breezed by security on our way to the Spare Room where our friends had a bowling alley and table reserved.  The Roosevelt is a cool hotel in and of itself, but the Spare Room was awesome – it felt like we traveled back to the prohibition era.  The bowling lanes were dim, the score was kept on a chalkboard by an employee dressed in suspenders, and the beverages were served in large, silver punch bowls.

I should add that although I did not bowl, Steve blew everyone out of the water with his bowling skills.

Breastfeeding

Yesterday, I went to my first baby-related class.  (It’s never too early to start, right?)  This class was on breastfeeding.  As it turns out, there is a special technique for feeding Baby Vo.  I would have thought that Baby Vo would just want to eat and so I’d stick him or her on my breast for feeding.  As it turns out, the process is slightly more complicated.  However, the great thing about the class is that the teachers weren’t trying to scare us.  Rather, the teachers taught us the technique and encouraged all of us to not give up even if it is frustrating in the beginning.  I promised myself that unless feeding is impossible for reasons out of my control, I will breastfeed Baby Vo exclusively in his or her first months.