Reasons why this could be a boy.

So... everyone likes to put in their 2 cents on what the gender of the baby probably is. Which is a fun game that I am really enjoying. So far, the consensus is that I am most definitely having a boy, which makes me happy cause I kinda want a son. I would also love a daughter, though..don't get me wrong, little girls rock! But anyhow, here's what people so far have told me about why they think I'm having a boy.

1. Suejin's mom says that because I have no morning sickness, I'm carrying a boy. I've heard this from another woman that came into my cafe as well.

2. Random pregnant girl that came into my cafe says it'll be a boy because I've already gained 10 lbs by the 11th week. She says that boys make you gain more weight than girls.

There's a 3rd one but I can't think of it right now.

So it may be that I'll be having a Waylon Thomas Harmon. Hopefully he'll have blue eyes like his daddy. And not such a smush nose like me...

20 Questions

Things I am going to ask the doctor at my prenatal appointment. Hopefully they wont kick me out for being an annoying brat.

1. Can I take extra strength Tylenol for my toothaches everyday? Will it hurt the baby?
2. Can I still drink herbal tea, like Yerba Mate and Lady Grey?
3. How much folic acid, iron, Vitamin D & calcium should I be taking? For how long?
4. What other vitamins should I be taking?
5. How bad is constant second hand cigarette smoke exposure to my baby's health? (hopefully this will get Chris to stop smoking in the house and around me all the time)
6. How can I ensure an un-medicated birth at the hospital?
7. What is up with the dizzy/faint spells and how can I get rid of them?
8. Is cramping normal? I get cramps in my left side, sometimes I feel like I'm gonna get my period!
9. What medicine can I take if I get sick/injured? Is there and herbal alternative that's better?

Oh there's more but I'm getting too tired to think of them so maybe later I will come back to this post...

Chris's Favorite Smoothie

I started making smoothies at the restaurant and they are the bomb!! Even better than Smoothie King or Arden's Garden. My secret is I use fresh fruit instead of frozen. I also put a squirt of agave nectar and a dash of either ginger or nutmeg in my smoothies. So Chris's favorite is the Peanut Butter Banana Protein shake so I thought I would write the recipe here, in case anyone wants to try it. You must have a pretty good blender that can blend ice.

2 cups of ice cubes
3 cups of unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk

(Blend the ice & milk together first)

1 whole banana, not too ripe
3 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter
1 squirt of Agave Nectar
1 dash of nutmeg
1 scoop protein powder
(I use Max Protein Vanilla)

Whizz all this up in the blender until smooth and voila! It's yummy!

Vote!

I completely forgot to mention that I chopped off all my hair a few weeks ago. I have sort of a bob haircut, it's the shortest my hair has ever been. I like it, it's nice and cool but I do sometimes miss long hair. Except that I have wild crazy woman hair that's hard to tame. Anyways, here's some pictures I took of us in the car the other day.

You can't really tell my hair is short cause it's pulled back here but trust me, it's short!

Also, those of you who actually read this blog should vote on the girl name poll I have to the left side of the blog. You can pick multiple names you like. It's fun, so do it! AND.... you can leave comments too cause you know it's starting to feel like I'm talking to myself over here and if that goes on for too long I'll just quit blogging cause I really don't have a lot of free time and although I enjoy sharing, I would rather be doing other stuff sometimes.

First prenatal appointment is coming up this week! I'm stressed over it because it's at 10:30 am and that means I wont be able to open my restaurant at 11. I called to reschedule for earlier but they have been closed for several days now, since it's the weekend and holidays and all that annoying mess. Hopefully they can get me in in the morning cause I can't open my restaurant late, that's pointless.

She's Crafty!

At this point, Chris and I strongly suspect that my mother knows everything and is now just torturing us. Today she mentioned several times about Chris "one day" being a father, and "what if" I was pregnant... The first time she said anything was this morning while we were opening the restaurant, and aimed directly at Chris. She said something along the lines of "If you're going to be a father, you need to help Heather carry bags...etc..." The look on Chris's face was absolutely priceless. I can't even get a look like that out of him! It was a cross between a deer caught in headlights and a man being sentenced by a judge. I couldn't help but laugh as he looked at me desperately without knowing how the hell to respond to her. Then when she turned around, he mouthed the words, "She Knows!!" The man is scared.

So yeah, mom is dropping hints (I believe) about me being pregnant and Chris being a daddy. Well, at least it wont come as a total surprise. I still have no clue how she will react and I'm not going to hold any silly hopes or naive preconceptions about her reaction. All I know is I can't let her spoil the happiest moment of my life, and if she does I most certainly will never forgive her for it. For that reason, she is the last person on earth to be privy to the news. Shame, isn't it? That's what happens when you torment your daughter all her life.

Speaking of daughters, I think I really like the name Natalie. And I heard it means born around Christmas...which I should look up on the million baby name websites that exist out there. Yep it means born on Christmas day, which could happen cause my due date is December 19. I'm kind of hoping for a cusp baby though. Another cool fact is if the baby is born on December 21, it'll be born on the winter solstice, which is exactly 6 months from my birthday on the summer solstice. Now if it turns out to be a boy, his name has already been picked out and chiseled into stone. Chris knew from the day I told him I was pregnant that his son would be named Waylon Thomas. I had no clue who the country singer he was talking about was, but apparently he's naming the child after Waylon Jennings, who sings "Mama don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys" and the theme song to Dukes of Hazzard (which was one of my favorite shows growing up). After hearing his music, I like him too. He has a very mellow soothing voice. I'm kind of fond of the name Waylon Thomas, so that's what the boy's name will be.

I signed up for a pregnancy newsletter called The Bump and every week they send me an email update about my baby in the womb. I think they are going a little too fast for me because the last email was talking about my 11th week and how the baby is the size of a lime now, with fingers and toes formed and hair, tooth and nail follicles forming. The size of a lime! It seems like just a few days ago it was the size of a kidney bean. This newsletter is making everything go too fast! I can't believe that I'm almost done with the first trimester. It's not incredibly obvious that I'm pregnant, either. I've only gained about 5-8 lbs so far (all in the belly, but still not that much), I'm not terribly tired all the time (OK, I am, but not in the pregnant way), and I have no morning sickness or weird cravings for pickles with ice cream and peanut butter. Well, maybe I kinda do crave those things a little bit, but not all together at the same time. If it weren't for the total lack of periods, I wouldn't even know I was pregnant.

Well, it's about 3:30 am and I really should try to sleep so off I go to bed. Chris likes to sleep with the table fan on mach 4 setting and it's like trying to sleep in a tornado for me. Hopefully he'll be sound asleep so I can turn the damn thing down.

No more jeans...

this is the interior of my Cafe....

Well it's official. I cannot wear my jeans anymore. I put on my Hollister size 10's this morning and I could barely breathe or sit down in them all day. I just got home and took them off and there was a red mark all around my belly where the waistband was just cutting into my flesh all day. I'm going to wash those jeans and put them away until next year.

My mom asked me if I gained any weight today and for a second there I held my breath thinking she figured me out (which to be honest, she probably already has but isn't letting on) but then she said, "you know...because of the restaurant and eating all the stuff you make." Yea, I gained weight but not because of the restaurant hahahaha.... no really. I'm obviously gaining weight around the belly and it's not gonna be a secret much longer.

This morning Chris said to me (jokingly) "well, at least your stretch marks are going away." Yeah, I have terrible stretch marks from losing a bunch of weight and now they are smoothing back out cause I'm gaining weight. Oh well, I guess that's a positive way of looking at it, but I still shot him a glance...

I know this blog seems to be more about food than a baby, but guess what I ate today?? Rabbit!! Yes, the soft, furry cute kind. I had one in an enchilada at this fancy restaurant/brewery in midtown with my mom and Chris. It was rabbit enchiladas with carrot puree in a cheese sauce and it was pretty good. Next time we go there I am going to try the antelope burgers. I wanted to try rabbit because I am seriously considering raising rabbits for meat. I did the research and everything and they are very economical to raise for meat. But I wasn't sure if I would like how they tasted so now I know that they are quite tasty actually. Kind of like chicken, but a little more tender and fattier. The waitress told me that the antelope tastes kind of like venison but less gamey, so I am looking forward to trying that cause I like venison.

I can't wait until my first prenatal visit, I am really really anxious to find out if the baby's OK, and if I'm OK and all that stuff. I am probably going to annoy the hell out of whoever my future midwife is because I have a list of questions and concerns. Mainly I just want to make sure everything is going smoothly. I kind of wish they could predict how big I am going to get but then again maybe knowing that isn't such a good idea....

Pictures

 Me & Chris cuddling the dog who loves being the center of affection.

 Baby bump or fat roll?? It's a fat roll!!!

 Chris loves Bibi.

Chris looking like a complete dork as my kitchen cook at Cafe O! hahahaha!!

Healthcare Finally!

Yay, I finally got confirmation of my Medicaid and Wellcare enrollment! I made my first prenatal appointment with In-town Midwifery on June 2nd. I also applied for the WIC program and have an appointment for that on June 8th. Now all I need to do is find a dentist to take care of these awful toothaches and I will be golden!

So my first prenatal visit will be just right around the beginning of my 2nd trimester and I will have an ultrasound where I get to hear the baby's heartbeat!!! Right now I am at 10 weeks and the baby is the size of a prune, with organs beginning to function and little arms moving around.

Chris will be coming with me to this appointment, but we will have to open the restaurant late in order to make it. I wonder if they will give me a copy of the heartbeat sound file... I will have to ask cause it would be soooo cool to have that!

Still no morning sickness, and I am handling the tiredness pretty well. I come home from work and pass out. I also eat A LOT. Still hovering at 170 lbs, which thank god I'm not gaining anymore weight at the moment cause that really concerns me. I am eating tons and tons of fruit, trying to keep my protein intake high too. I ate half a watermelon by myself in the past 2 days. Watermelon is so freaking good right now. I'm also really big on jalapenos and lemonade. Otis Spunkmeyer cookies are also a weakness...they make a killer Oatmeal Raisin. OH!!! and I FINALLY found a milk substitute that I can handle - Sugar-free Vanilla Almond Milk is the shit! I eat my morning cereal with that and I am good to go! Soy milk was making me feel sick and of course I can't drink cow's milk anymore thanks to being completely lactose intolerant now.

Anyways, keep on thinking of girl names everyone, cause that's the tough one to pick. I got some ideas but none of them have really stood out. I'm not saying it's a girl, but just in case....

I'm Pregnant!

As of today, exactly 9 weeks pregnant. I feel pretty good, considering all the hard work I've been putting in at opening my restaurant. No morning sickness, but sometimes I get slightly queasy. I eat a lot of saltines and cheese, with diet Ginger Ale and I'm fine. I was pretty tired for a couple of weeks but since I'm so busy now I'm just plain exhausted all the time anyways.

Today was a rough day because I keep having to delay the grand opening of my restaurant due to some equipment that still needs to be repaired and I can't find anybody with common sense to fix it for me. I won't go into detail about that, but it is the reason why I am enjoying a TINY glass of red wine right now. I've only taken one sip and I feel like I could go to sleep on my desk right now.

I'm also eating BBQ fried pork skins with my wine. Leave me alone. It was a frustrating day.

I already have a belly forming!! It may just be fat because I'm gaining weight (I gained 5 lbs already!). I weigh 170 lbs now. Well, actually that's how much I weighed a couple weeks ago when I went to the Medical Center to take my official pregnancy test, so I may actually be heavier than that already.

According to a bunch of sources, it would be normal for me to gain between 25-35 lbs. But I heard that Kate Hudson gained 70 lbs with her last baby and she's a toothpick now!

A lot of people have concerns that I may not be getting enough food to support a baby, but trust me, I am eating more than plenty. I've done a lot of research on the topic and there's absolutely no risk to the baby as long as I take enough vitamins. Which I am. Yesterday for lunch I had some weird African cassava leaf curry which looked like grass clipping soup, it was healthy and I ate more of it than I should have, plus an entire apple and a whole banana. In fact, I wolfed the fruit down one right after the other and had to take a few moments while they battled it out in my stomach.

I've been craving a lot of fruits and cheese. Also anything crunchy or with peanut butter. In fact, I think I could eat just about anything put in front of me at this point. For a whole entire week I wanted Sonny's BBQ salad bar so bad I almost cried about it, but I never got to go there. It was very disappointing. So yeah, I'm eating plenty. All I do is eat, eat, eat. I'm probably going to blow up like a whale.

I am a little worried about gestational diabetes because I have a sweet tooth now, which is weird because I never really had a sweet tooth when I was big. Now I just crave crave crave cookies and cake. Ice cream, smoothies, pie.....mmmmmm.

OK enough about food. What else... I wont be able to see a doctor until my Medicaid comes through which is a pain in the butt because the people around here (sorry but this may sound racist, but I do live in downtown Atlanta a.k.a. the Ghetto) don't seem to give a shit about their jobs or being helpful to the people who rely on them to actually DO their jobs. So I'm pretty sure my Medicaid application has gotten lost in the shuffle since it's been almost a month since I filled out the application and I haven't heard a thing back. So I applied again, this time I did it myself online so hopefully that will take.

I have a Midwife picked out that I want to go to for my prenatal care, they are located right across the street from the hospital where I will likely be having the baby - which coincidentally is the same hospital I was born in 32 years ago.

Well... that's about all I have the energy to write about for now. I will try to put up some pictures and add some more information later about Chris - the baby's daddy.