Friday, September 30, 2005

First Shopping Experience

I am just so excited about having a girl that I thought I'd post another entry about my appointment yesterday. Alexa is really active. She kicks me all the time and the doctor had to chase her around because she was moving so much during the ultrasound. At one point, the technician was right above her head, and she was pushing down hard. Well just then, Alexa kicked me and as she did, the technician said whoa. I asked her, did you feel that or see that and she responded that she felt it. Then I said wow, she must have kicked pretty hard for you to feel that, and the technician told me that she didn't kick, she head butted...LOL. The technician said she doesn't think Alexa was liking what she was doing, so she head butted her...LOL. My baby is going to have a temper just like her mommy!

Also, according to the calendar, I was 21 weeks and 2 days at the time of my appointment. However, after the technician did her measurements, she said I was really 20 weeks and 6 days. She said it's no big deal and they won't change my due date because it's only a matter of three days. So far I have gained 16 pounds, which I guess is good. Every week, I check the development of my baby on babyfit.com. Well, during the 21 week, it says that the baby should weigh approximately 10.5 oz. Well, Alexa weighs 13.5 oz. What a piggie...LOL.

So after the appointment, we came home and ate dinner. Later that night, we went to Babies R Us to buy Alexa her very first outfit. Actually, it was going to be her going home from the hospital outfit. Well, after picking out an outfit, Jeremy says, we need to buy her something else because it's going to be cold in February. So we got her a layette. Then we were looking at hats and Jeremy wanted a three pack of one of those hats that the hospital puts on babies after they are born. Well, I told Jeremy we didn't need that because the hospital provides that for us, and he said he doesn't want his baby girl wearing something from the hospital. The hats will be dirty and he wants something clean for his baby. I told him the hospital is the cleanest place, and he just won't budge. So we bought the hats. Then he wanted to buy Alexa a "blankie". So we got her that too...LOL. I swear, he is going to SPOIL her.

My friend gave me really good advice. She said we should start stocking up on diapers, so that will be one less expense to worry about when I am on maternity leave. So we bought a pack of diapers and wipes. Every week or two, we plan on buying diapers and wipes. Of course, we will buy a little of the 1's and 2's so that as the baby grows, we will have diapers that will fit her. After buying that stuff, it just makes this pregnancy more real. I am so excited!!!

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Team ......

On PW, they use the term Team Blue for a boy and Team Pink for a girl. That is the reason for my title. I went to my ultrasound appointment today and I have the results! But before I tell you, I want to keep you in suspense and tell you about my appointment first.

The very first thing I did was give a urine sample. Then they did the ultrasound before they did anything else, like blood pressure and weight. The technician asked if we wanted to find out and we said YES. At first, the baby had its hand over its private part, so the technician said let me do my measurements of the baby first and then we will go back to that. I was getting nervous thinking the baby wanted to keep its identity a secret.

She did all her measuring and printing and then explained to us everything she was seeing. She was really sweet. She said the baby was measuring just perfectly and it weighs 13.5 oz as of now. All the organs are there and we even got to see one hand with all five fingers attached. When I saw that, I cried because I was just so grateful that our baby was healthy and growing normally. She then printed out a few pictures for us to keep and went back to the private part. Now the results...it's a...

GIRL!!!!!

We are sooo excited. We have been wanting a girl and my entire family wanted a girl too, so we are all so excited. At first I was a bit shocked because everyone kept saying I'm going to have a boy and deep down I felt like it was going to be a boy, so when the technician said congratulations, it's a girl, I was in shock for a minute. It had to sink in. We have some awesome pictures. We have one where she is looking right at us and you can see her eyeball. It's kind of scary...haha. She also took a side profile picture and a picture of her private part...LOL. I can't believe how much she has grown. The doctor did an ultrasound when I was only 9 weeks and back then, she looked like a peanut, but now she looks like a human. She has a huge head.

I am so glad that finally I can say she and not it. We have already picked out a name. She will be named Alexa. We are still waiting on my mom to give us a Korean name for her middle name, but if she doesn't come up with anything cute, we might go with Lee, her maiden name. So it might be Alexa Lee Bottoms. What do yall think? I'm not too sure if it flows, but I really like Alexa. I think it's really pretty and unique. Well, not unique, but not a lot of people are named Alexa.

Alright, let me stop here before I bore you guys to death. That's the verdict!

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Gas and Butterflies

Starting last week, I started feeling weird movements in my stomach. At first it would feel like gas, but nothing. Then it would feel like butterflies, and I would even think to myself "why am I so nervous" and realize that it is the baby. I know the doctor told me that the first initial movements would feel like gas or butterflies. Over the weekend, I actually felt a couple light kicks. I woke up one morning to feel three light kicks. I was so excited. I thought I would never feel the baby. But now I am feeling it all the time. It is very active!

So today is officially my 20th week. I am halfway there. I can't believe it has gone by so fast. Feels like I just found out yesterday that I am pregnant. Next Thursday is my ultrasound appointment. I get to find out what we are having. Jeremy wants a girl, but deep down I feel like it is going to be a boy. Whatever it is, we just hope we have a healthy baby.

As for married life, I thought our relationship wouldn't feel any different since Jeremy and I have been living together for a long time now, but we feel more love for each other and our relationship feels more concrete. It's a nice feeling. I feel like I have more responsibilities though. I should cook more, clean more, things like that.

So now that our wedding is over with, we need to start concentrating on the baby. I think when I am around 25-30 weeks, we are going to start really putting the nursery together. Once we find out the sex of the baby is when we are going to start buying things. We haven't bought anything yet. Our friend, who had a baby last year, gave us a ton of stuff and one of Jeremy's aunts bought us a couple of pacies and a pull down toy that plays music, but other than that, we haven't bought anything. I am excited though. I would go to the store and see something and be so tempted, but can't buy it because it's so gender distinguished. I have been using cocoa butter lotion on my stomach, but I've heard from many that stretch marks are hereditary and I've also been playing music for the baby. Jeremy and I fight about how soft or loud we should have it. I put it on loud thinking the music has to travel through my skin and my organs to reach the baby, but Jeremy puts it on so low that I can't even hear it.

He is so excited about the baby. My stomach is starting to get real hard and when you press on it, you can actually feel the baby. One morning Jeremy pushed on my stomach and he said the baby is right here and he was so excited. When he felt the baby, he said it feels like Christmas. He is going to be a great dad.

The next time I report is when I find out the sex. September 29 at 2:45. So excited!!!

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Mrs. Jeremy Bottoms

Well I am back from our honeymoon and before I begin my daily life, I want to soak in my week of fun and tell you guys all about it.

Last Friday, 9/2, I picked up my family from the airport. Thank the Lord that the plane was not delayed. I was worried about that because it was Labor Day weekend and I wasn't sure how busy the airlines were going to be. After picking them up, we dropped some of them off at home and ran to the Church for the rehearsal. After the rehearsal, we went and had dinner at Kani House aka Yoshino's. It's a Japanese restaurant and it was goooood.

On Saturday, a couple of my friends came over at 6 am to help me get ready for the wedding. One of my friends, Jama, was doing all of our hairs. They looked so beautiful. We were sort of late for the pictures, but it was okay. We just took a few and took the rest after the wedding because guests were starting to arrive and I didn't want them to see me yet.

The ceremony went perfect. All my hard planning paid off. I was so nervous though. As soon as I saw the last set of attendants walk down the aisle, my knees started shaking because I knew I was up next. Walking down the aisle was a little scary. I saw my mom crying, then Jeremy's mom crying, so I started crying. Then as we were saying our vows, I started crying again. Not when I was saying them, but when Jeremy was saying them to me because they touched my heart. Jeremy was tearing up also which also touched me.

Man, I feel like it all went by so fast. It's like a blur. Everyone always told me it will be over in a snap of a finger, but I didn't think it was going to go by that fast. But it was beautiful. Everything went perfect and everything just fell into place.

Afterwards we had our reception at the Modavi Restaurant, which I was not too happy about. Sonya, the lady who has been coordinating our reception, told me that people who ordered steaks would get a chance to let them know how they want to be cooked. Well, the restaurant decided on their own that they would cook all of them medium. Not everyone eats medium. And they were bloody medium, so almost everyone asked them to cook it a little longer. What a pain. Other than that, it was pretty nice.

After the wedding, we came back to the house and dropped my family off, packed a few more things and headed off to the Stone Mountain Marriott. My co-workers got us a room there. They wanted to book us at Chateau Elan, but it was booked for that Saturday. But the Marriott was beautiful and it was a perfect wedding night...sorry guys, no details...haha.

On Sunday, we woke up early and headed off to Pompano Beach, Florida. We did so many things there. Airboat riding, buggy rides, went to Miami and Miami Beach, and other things I can't remember. We hardly had time to lay out at the pool and get ourselves a tan. We met some really nice people and it was an awesome honeymoon. We really had a great time! I will post pictures as soon as I find out how.

While in Florida, we attended some timeshare presentations. If all of you don't know, when you attend one of those presentations, you get free things. We attended one in Myrtle Beach and we got $100. We attended one Tuesday morning and got $90 and went to another one right after that and got two free tickets to the Jungle Queen dinner cruise in Fort Lauderdale and a trip to St. Thomas. We have 12 months to use that trip. It's for 5 days 4 nights. So it was well worth going to those presentations. The only thing I hate about them though is when it's time to decide if you want to make a purchase and you tell them you want to think about it, they push you and push you to try and say yes that day. Sales people, go figure.

Anyway, that was our wonderful wedding and honeymoon. I wish we can do it a hundred times over again, but eventually reality sets in and back to our lives!

Friday, September 02, 2005

Last Day

This will be my last day as a Kang. Tomorrow, I will officially become a Bottoms. That's a little scary don't you think. I mean, I am excited about getting married to the man I love, but dropping my family's last name and no longer being a part of them, in a sort of way, is kind of terrifying. But I am excited about this new journey as Jeremy and I start a family of our own.

The wedding is a little stressful now that it is finally near. When we first got engaged, everyone was telling me how stressful it gets and I was thinking, I'm having fun planning it. But now that it is getting to the end, it is very stressful, let me tell ya. The reception lady called us yesterday saying she can no longer offer the lunch menu. Therefore, we need to get the dinner menu, which is $4.00 more a person. Then the limo driver tells me a of couple weeks ago that he will call me back and fails to call me. I called him yesterday why he hasn't called me back and he said the quote his mother gave me is too low and he can't do it for that much. Well, call me and tell me. So, he is not getting our business. When he says he'll call me back, he needs to call me back no matter what.

Good news. The preacher agreed to allow us to move the communion table. About time something goes right! That is a huge stress reliever. Now I don't have to worry about people not being able to see us or the photographer not getting a full body shot of us.

Well, for the last time, I am signing off as Miss Ju Kang.