11 Years

On this day, 11 years ago, I met a very special man who turned my world upside down. Our courtship and relationship was not easy at all - we hit plenty of rocky patches between our 2 year long distance relationship, trying to figure out our paths in life, full time work combined with full time school, and other different life events. But in the end, it seems my type A personality, sassy & stubborn Israeli self founds its match in a mellow, intelligent, deeply caring Colombian American. Things are in an upswing and I can honestly say I have never been happier with US.

This is a photo montage we made and showed our guests a couple of days before our wedding -- It summarizes our first 10 years:


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


And here are some pictures from this last year:












And, of course, some obligatory honeymoon photos (I don't really have much photos of us together during the honeymoon):



















And, a mere three months after getting married, we got a BIG surprise:



We surprised Emiro's mom by framing a "Congratulations GRANDMA!" album





Then we flew to Israel and surprised my parents by giving them a framed ultrasound











Some pictures from our trip to Israel:













I wonder what the next 11 years will bring?!?!?

Pregnancy Update...........


So, I'm wrapping up week 21. I know I keep saying this (and will continue to....) but time is zooming by so quickly its absolutely insane!!

I must say, I am loving pregnancy. I'm embracing all of the body changes, the mood changes, the little kicks and tumbles I feel inside. Often when I pass a mirror I stare at my expanding stomach in complete astonishment -- how amazing is it that there is a growing life inside me? I've become calmer. Despite all of the scary and confusing life changes around me, there is also a serenity enveloping me, and it relaxes me in a way nothing else has. At moments I get really excited and I can't wait to meet the little one, but then I remind myself to enjoy every moment of this pregnancy which is passing so quickly. I'm taking advantage of this transition period and fully relishing in all things selfish - sleeping late when I can, spending lots of time hanging out with friends, going out at night when I can. I think one of the things I look forward to the most, though, (other than meeting my little girl!) is enjoying a nice, full glass of robost red wine! MMmmmmm, vino!!

I had my 21st week doctor's appointment a couple of days ago, and everything looked great. Blood pressure was 102 over 70, and total weight gain through the pregnancy is 6 lbs. Before we saw the doctor I notified the head nurse about my disappointing experience at the big ultrasound I had at the hospital. She was really surprised and said she will add this to the monthly report they compile on that outside service. I also asked her to contact the hospital and see if they can correct my name, thankyouverymuch. I got a little teary when I told her about my bad experience. DAMN! That was annoying. Probably looked like a hormonal mess.


Rockin' and Rollin' - well, I am definitely feeling the baby move around on a daily basis..... Mostly in the evenings and mornings when I am sitting or laying down. I'm starting to feel movements other than kicking and poking - now I can often feel when she's rolling around and doing saumersalts. Its so cute - and never fails to bring a smile on my face. I LOVE feeling her inside me.

Braxton Hicks - I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a couple of weeks now, which is interesting. Sometimes I don't feel any for hours, and sometimes I feel one every 5-10 minutes. It doesn't hurt - but I can feel certain areas tighten up and they become rock hard until the contraction is over. Also, its often the right and bottom areas of my uterus, which the doctor said is completely normal.

Wardrobe change - yesterday was my first day in maternity pants! I can still get by wearing most of my old jeans, but the maternity pants with the elastic waist were sooooo comfortable....... So I think I will start wearing mostly pregnancy clothes now. I have 2 pairs of pants my mom bought me while I was visiting in Israel, and I purchased a couple more pairs of jeans (and am waiting for them to arrive via mail!).

Cravings - I have moved from tomatoes to oranges. I can't seem to get enough of oranges lately! I'll peel them and eat them one right after the other without getting tired of it. YUMMMM. And generally speaking, my interest in sweet stuff has increased quite a bit. I'm ordering desserts nearly every time I eat out... And enjoy every bite to the fullest! Cheese, which is my usual induldgement, is a bit of a turnoff for me now, which is good considering I can't eat quite a few of the soft cheeses I love.

Now its time for some belly shots!!!

18 Weeks



21 Weeks (taken yesterday at work, my first day wearing maternity pants)



I think she gave me a kick right before I took this photo

Every day when I come home, I plop myself down on our comfy sectional and turn on the TV to see what goodies I have on Tivo. Usually the cats take advantage of this time for snuggling with me and getting their quality time with mama. Its funny, because recently their space on my lap has been slowly diminishing........ But they are not discouraged! This is the time I usually feel the little munchkin the most, so I like to have my shirt up and my hands on my belly.

For example, Fanta loves to use my belly as a little pillow for her head (you can kind of see my belly button is half popped out!!!):



"Why are you waking me up from my beauty nap??"



Plato sometimes likes to pretend he's on a beach, or something, and just lays eagle spread on me for hours.



And, from my point of view:



I wonder how they'll adjust to having less quality time with me (i.e. on me) when the baby arrives?

Baby beats........

I was driving in the car today, and a song I like started playing on the radio. Just like always, I started singing the song out loud, following the tune as best as I could. All of a sudden, little munchkin started wriggling around and poking me constantly. POKE. POKE. POKE. KICK. I couldn't help but wonder, is she enjoying my immense musical talent? Or is she trying, in her own way, to say "mommmmmmmmm, shut up!!!! you're disturbing my serene uteran experience". I put a hand on my belly, told her "hello little girl! I can't wait to meet you". And then continued singing... With a smile plastered on my face.

Allow me to whine for a little bit.......

Please let me preface by saying that obviously, the most important thing about yesterday's ultrasound was making sure our baby is healthy. That said, pleae keep in mind I had to make the appointment for this "big" ultrasound 3 months ago, and had been looking forward to January 15th ever since then (October). All of my friends who had the "big" ultrasound raved about how awesome it is - you get to see the baby in great detail for at least an hour, its a bonding experience, blah blah blah. I anticipated this day with so much excitement.

Well...... Ultrasound was one, big, honking disappointment. If it wasn't for the thrill of finding out the baby is healthy and a girl, I would have probably cried. The technician measured via ultrasound for over an hour -- but did not allow me to see!! Emiro saw most of it because of where he was sitting, but I felt so left out. The technician told me from the get go I will see the baby when the doctor comes. After an hour the doctor arrives, looks at the photos the technician printed, and then showed me the baby via ultrasound for ONE MINUTE. She asked us if we're finding out the gender, quickly looked between the legs and said "thats female genitalia, you're having a girl", showed us a profile shot, and thats IT. I was so shocked -- I've been looking forward to this "big" ultrasound for almost 3 months, and it was by far the lamest. We received 3 fuzzy pictures total, two of the profile and one of a foot. No entire body shot..... Nothing. No pointing out organs, brain, arms, nothing. Nada.

Once the excitement of finding out the gender wore off I got a bit sad (and might I say, slightly weepy) - I was looking forward to this so much and honestly our previous (less important) ultrasounds (one at 8 weeks to confirm age of the fetus and one at 12 weeks to look for possible downs syndrom) were much more detailed and informative for us. They were done at a different hospital (I'm kicking myself for not going back there!!! Why did I choose the one close to home?!?), and we had 2 TV monitors showing us the entire ultrasound while the technician was browsing around and taking pictures & measurements. Not so much this time . Emiro said he's willing to pay for us to have another ultrasound (3D which shows the baby in more detail) in a couple of months so I can have a better experience, but I'm still saddened. Thats another two months to wait. I was just expecting so much more... I know the important thing is a healthy child -- I KNOW. Really, not seeing the baby for more than a minute is not such a huge deal. I guess. Damn hormones!

Oh, and to add insult to injury, they listed my name in the computer as "noah" - great attention to detail, hospital staff.

Whine session over :) felt good to let it out.

We're having a healthy, perfect, beautiful little baby GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're both so happy, shocked, overwhelmed with joy. I'm going to have a little daughter and I am utterly besides myself...........

I will post more later about the ultrasound :)

By the way - to post comments - look below the post, it says "posted by Noa..." and next to it "comments". Press on comments and type away......... I would love to hear your reactions!

State of the Pregnancy - 20 weeks

So as of yesterday I'm 20 weeks. TWENTY WEEKS! HOLY CRAP! How the hell did I make it to the halfway mark so quickly? This Tuesday (tomorrow) is our big ultrasound and we'll find out if this little pizpon is a girl or boy. I'm a bit nervous -- knowing the sex makes everything so final and real....... Its quite overwhelming to tell you the truth. I want to know, but then again I want to remain in blissful denial. I don't have any intuition as far as the sex is concerned (Emiro is sure its a boy..... surprise, surprise) and I think I will be fine either way. I always wanted a daughter, but seeing quite a few of my friends with darling little boys, and hearing stories about "mama's little boy" makes me feel fine with having a boy as well.

Some pregnancy updates:

• Gas - not quite as gassy as I was during week 18, but still more gassy than usual. Last week (during the height of my, well, gassiness) Emiro stooped to kiss my belly while I was lying down and I totally gave a little toot. It was a riot, although a bit embarrassing (he was like "whats that? was that you?") but what the hell can I do?? It was a funny preggo moment, though :D

• Showing - more and more people are asking me when I'm due, which is fun. Its totally obvious that I'm pregnant - I'm pretty small, and have this belly popped out in front of me. No strangers groping me yet, thank God!

• Friends with no tact - I've realized that some people just don't realize what they say to pregnant people can be soooo offending. I know they don't MEAN to be rude, but I guess they don't understand how sensitive you are when you're knocked up. I'll give one example - I saw one of my friends a week ago after not seeing her for almost 2 months. When she saw my belly she said "you're so BIG!" to which I retorted "well, I'm 5 months along" to which she responded "you're the biggest 5 months pregnant woman I've ever seen" and hugged me. What the hell?? Are you serious?!?!?! ONE don't tell me I look big. Tell me I look nice, I have a cute belly, whatever. SECOND, I'm not that big! Yes, I'm skinny so my belly really shows, but seriously, THINK OF WHAT YOU'RE SAYING! Sheeesh! Totally took a blow at my self confidence.

• Movement - I've spent the last couple of weeks eating more chocolate than ever before in my life in the hopes of feeling the bean move around. The past few weeks I occasionally felt something - but I wasn't sure if it was the baby or not. It felt like a muscle spasm, but also what could be a kick from inside. I was hoping its the baby, but didn't want to be imagining things because I'm so impatient. I rationalized that it could also be my tummy muscles stretching/splitting etc. Well, the past couple of days these "muscle spasm" feelings have become REALLY frequent, and occur in different spots between my pelvis and belly button - you can also feel it lightly when you put a hand on my belly. It will be like - two swift kicks to one spot.... quiet for a minute.... kick in another spot 3 inches down.... a couple minutes of quite.... three small thumps and then a big kick.... I realized that YES, its the little one kicking away inside! Definitely no "fluttering" sensation for me - the little spasms I've been feeling really sporadically (and the past couple of days frequently) are the little baby's jumping jacks. Its so cute and I always smile when I feel it. Actually, I've felt quite a few while writing this post. Emiro has already felt the baby 3-4 times and he LOVES it.

• Clothes - I'm still milking out my non pregnancy clothes. Surprisingly I am still fitting into all of my pants (zipped up but not buttoned) and my long sweaters. Pretty soon I'll buckle down and buy some maternity clothes - but then I'll be stuck in them for the next 5 months. Blah.

• Cravings - my constant craving for tomatoes has pretty much gone (although I will never say no to pizza). HOWEVER, I started craving chocolates and sweet stuff (do you hear that, Shira?!?! Where are your cookies when I need them?).
  

I don't have pictures of the 20 week belly, but here are some older pictures:


10 WEEKS:



11 WEEKS:



13 WEEKS:



14 WEEKS:



16 WEEKS:



18 WEEKS:



I promise to update ASAP with ultrasound photos :D