Wow. I'm 6 months today. (that is if my preggers math is correct)

Frog Throw down at the Cal Academy of the Sciences.
We went to Nightlife at the California Academy of the Sciences in Golden Gate Park last Thursday. It was great - $12 to get in, 21+ over, and bars (ok the bars were not a main highlight for me) I really enjoyed walking around the Rainforest and exhibits without a million kids running around. Oh god, does that mean I am going to be a miserable mother?


On another subject, I have roughly 16 weeks until my due date. 16 weeks. It seems like alot of time. But we have so much still to do - Decide on childcare, update baby registry, doctors appointments, blood draws, weight gain, etc. Ok I'll stop myself there.


On a more serious note, there have been 3 murders in our neighborhood in the last week. I try to reassure myself that these are all "gang-related". But when these shootings happen in broad daylight 3 blocks from my house, I'm wondering to myself, "What if...I had been walking down that street...what if I had the baby with me" .

When we initially moved into our place in June 2008 there were a stream of murders (I want to say 15 people were killed in a course of 2 months.) The UPS driver informed me that one of the kids that was killed lived across the street. I remember when we moved in I would see a group of Mexican kids , decked out in white shirts which were 3x's too big hanging out in front of the house where the "kid" lived. We haven't seen them since the kid got killed. I've been trying to learn more about the gangs in our hood - the Norteños and Sorenos. Here is the recent news article I found about the murders 2 blocks from my house, mid-day Sunday on bustling 24th street.

To end this post on a more positive note - San Francisco's mayor Gavin Newsom and his wife had a baby girl last Friday. I hope that good ol' Gav is able to start implementing some more kids friendly activities (such as Sunday Streets)

23 weeks down...

So we made our first "big" purchase for the baby today - a Stroller! We found a Quinny Buzz in great condition on Craigslist. Its a great stroller and I love how easily the Maxi Cosi car seat adapts to the frame. D thought is was a little on the heavier side - but I feel we are going to be using it alot in the hood walking around so there shouldn't be too much need for me to lug it up our stairs. This nice thing is that the seat/car seat comes easily off the frame so if baby is asleep I just have to carry that part up.


So here I am at nearly 5 months.

I'm just starting to get an Outie. Thank god for maternity pants.

My staple articles of clothing while getting bigger:
1. H&M Mama Black pants
2. American Apparel - Bandeau dress worn as a high waisted skirt - nicely accentuates the baby bump
3. Empire Waist anything - thank you for coming back into fashion!
4. My Keds - they fit no matter how swollen my feet get.

I went to a few maternity shops and sample sales and was so appalled. The clothing for maternity is so hideous unless you want to drop the bucks for some designer duds. I lucked out BIG TIME when I hit up the Goodwill Boutique in West Portal one day. Not only did they have a selection of designer jeans on sale for $10/pair - I was able to find three pairs of newer Maternity (Sevens, Earl Jeans and Diesel). I've had some good luck scoring maternity clothes at Thrift stores. The best/cheapest purchase was a vintage black lace dress that I found while I was in Dayton, Ohio for a week for work. $2! I have yet to wear it as I'm saving it for a special occasion.

I did manage to find a cute jean skirt at Motherhood.

Ok enough about Maternity clothes and me - Its back to baby stuff....

hi

So I'm updating this at 23 weeks - as I didnt really have much to say early on. In fact, I secured this blog even before I was pregnant. I went to London for a week for work and came back feeling sluggish and tired. I thought it was surely the jet lag - but the pregnancy test said otherwise. I certainly did not believe my eyes, so I took another 6 tests. My disbelief was in the fact that the pregnancy test with the two lines can certainly be open to interpretation. "D, one line is darker and the other line is barel showing up - What do you think that means?!!" I went so far as to scour google looking for people posting about similar test results. I even called the company (First Response). Finally, after reading mixed feedback and getting the "sounds like your pregnant" from the company - I broke down and bought the Mambo Jambo of pregnancy test - the one that clearly reads "NOT PREGNANT" or "PREGNANT". Needless to say, the test finally showed clear and concise results - Pregnant.



Why I didn't just drop the $25 dollars in the first place to save all the confusion was beyond me. But thats just me, always looking for a cheaper alternative.


So we go to the Doctor in May (1 month along)- and I'm still apprehensive about really being pregnant. We get a ultrasound and the doctor shows us a little blob that is apparently a life form growing in me. I haven't had any significant indications that I'm pregnant - such as Morning Sickness, tenderness of the breasts etc. So this little blob could have just been some sort of anomaly the doctor found. I'm still not really sure I'm pregnant. (Yes, I am a little bit in denial)

I think the real "seal to the deal" was when we went back to the doctors a few weeks later (Maybe at the 3 month mark) and got another ultrasound - and saw the defining features of the baby. Nose. Hands. Head. Whoa - this is real!