Visit from a friend..

When we woke up this morning, Daddy Jarbs was giving my tummy a rasberry. I said "stop, you are waking up the baby". Of course, I was just exaggerating. He stopped and then started talking to my belly "Hi Baby! This is your daddy!" LOL. So funny.

My friend/co-worker, Patty, visited us at home today along with her 2.5 month old baby girl Valentina and her 2 year old son Sebastian. We originally planned to visit her at home to meet her baby but it worked out that they'll be in the city so they stopped by our house instead. We met her beautiful baby girl, Valentina. She's such a sweet and happy baby. She just kept on smiling :-). I found out that we get 16 weeks of maternity leave (12 weeks paid and 4 weeks unpaid) at work. Awesome! It's great to know that I will be able to spend about 4 months with Baby Jarbs :-). I also found out that there is a diaper service called Modern Diaper Service  which we can use to order cloth diapers. They also pick up and wash the diapers for you and they service the DC area. Great! It is good to know that there is such service if in case we do not want to do the dirty job of washing cloth diapers with poop :-). I was dying to tell Patty that we are expecting but since we are not telling anybody yet, I have to bite my tongue. She'll know in a few weeks, hopefully. After they left, I felt so sleepy and took a nap.

I did not do much today but still felt tired by 9:30 pm. I fell asleep on the couch while watching the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. I walked up to the bedroom around midnight. As we kissed each other goodnight, Daddy Jarbs pulled down the comforter and kissed my tummy. So cute. I already know he's going to be a good daddy :-).

So hard to keep a secret...

Today, we had lunch with Daddy Jarbs' teammates from his flag football team. Their team was the champion during the fall season league, so the whole team got together for a celebratory lunch at Cafe Asia in Rosslyn. Daddy Jarbs has been playing with this team for a few years now. One of the teammates pointed out that this team has had a few marriages over the years. I think over the last couple of years 4 of the team members have gotten married. Of course the next question was, "when are you all going to have babies?". One team member outed herself and announced that she is expecting this October! She is due around the same time we are due! I was looking at Daddy Jarbs waiting to see if he would want to announce to the team as well but he did not. Later, in the car, he admitted that he wanted to spill the beans and announce to the team but held back since we have not told our families yet. Oh well..

The hunt for day care begins...

Yes, you read that right...day care!! Baby Jarbs is only the size of a pea but we are now looking for a day care for him/her! I had been doing my research and found out that there is about a year wait for day cares here in DC. Crazy! Today, I emailed a few Bright Horizons day cares that are in both in close proximity to our offices. One facility emailed back and I found out that they charge $1,910 per month! Wow. I did not realize that the cost of putting a child in day care is the same as paying for a mortgage! We can register in one of these day cares now and put ourselves in the waitlist. There is a $100 fee for this. Daddy Jarbs and I plan to go ahead and sign up and have this as a back up plan. This puts us in wait lists in three Bright Horizons facilities. Hopefully, by the time a space opens up in one of these day cares, which we assume will be in about 10 - 12 months, we would have found a cheaper option for child care.  We are hoping that we would be able to find a live-in nanny for Baby Jarbs or put him/her in one of the federal day cares which are a tad cheaper. We are keeping our fingers crossed!

1st food craving..

I think I just had my first pregnancy-related craving. I have been eating green mangoes and shrimp paste for the past couple of weeks but that does not count as a weird craving since I crave for it almost every month when I am PMSing. When I woke up this morning, the only thing I can think about is peanut butter and jelly sandwich!!

I am not a huge fan of PB&J sandwich. Daddy Jarbs can attest to that. I have probably eaten only three PB&J sandwiches in my entire life. I am not a huge fan. Daddy Jarbs LOVES PB&J sandwich and he's the only one at home who finishes the entire jar of PB&J. Well, today is a different day. I HAVE to have one NOW! There is a Potbelly across the street from my office building and I know they have a PB&J sandwich! I looked up the nutrition info online and cringed. One sandwich has 855 calories and 45g fat! Ugh. I sucked it up and eventually got myself a one. I got their thin cut sandwich which 1/3 less than their regular sandwich. Boy, was it good. Mommy and Baby Jarbs were happy. The sandwich was not enough though. It left me wanting for more :-(.

The worrying never ends...

I did not realize until now that finding out that there is a little creature growing inside you will just be the start of endless worries. Before I conceived, I was wondered whether I was fertile enough and whether we will have a hard time conceiving. I thought the worrying will stop after we get the BFP. Boy, was I wrong. Now, I ask myself..

"Am I eating the right food?"
"Am I exercisingntoo much?"
"Is my space heater to hot and bad for the fetus?"
"Is my heart beat too high?"
"Will we have an easy 1st trimester?"
"Is the fetus developing normally as it should?"
"Will we be able to hear the heart beat of the baby during the 1st appointment with the doctor?"
"Am I really pregnant and this is not just chemical pregnancy?"
"Is there blood when I go to the bathroom?"

The list goes on and on. I worry about every little ache or movement that I feel in my body. I know I should not worry too much and just let nature take it's course and trust God that everything will be fine. I guess like any other mother-to-be, worrying about the growing creature inside you is normal. After all, you just want the best for your growing child. I know the first trimester is very important since all major organs develop during this stage. I am sure I'll breathe a sigh of relief after we're done with this stage. Second trimester will bring a whole new set of things to worry about :-).

Btw, Baby Jarbs is five weeks old today :-).

Scheduled doc's appointment

I finally found an OB-GYN doctor and scheduled our first pre-natal appointment! I have researched, googled, yelp'd, checked ratemds, vitals, healthgrades, etc.  to make sure that we get a good doctor and that me and Baby Jarbs will be taken care of well. I found a doctor who practices at Sibley & George Washington Hospital. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will like her so we don't need to find another doctor. All the other doctors in their practice also had good reviews so that was comforting to know.

I still need to see my general doctor next Monday so they can take a confirmation blood test. My appointment with my OB-GYN is on March 16th. We will hear Baby Jarbs' heart beat then. So excited :-). This will be the longest three-week wait ever!

Pregnancy symptoms

So far, I do not have major body changes. Except for my very full and tender breasts and very light cramping on my lower left abdomen, I feel fine. No morning sickness or anything yet and I hope it stays that way. As far as food cravings, I had been craving for green mangoes with bagoong (shrimp paste) for 3 weeks now! This is the same symptom that I have when I am pmsing so when I craved for mangoes 3 weeks ago, I just thought it was my normal monthly pms symptom. Seems like Baby Jarbs has a salty tooth :-).

Books!

I ordered a bunch of pregnancy books on Amazon today. I know I will have tons more baby related purchases so I just bought slightly used books to save $$.

I am so looking forward to getting and reading all of them!

 

 

  

  

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I was browsing online and stumbled upon this interesting article:

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 17 (HealthDay News) -- The sound of two languages spoken regularly during pregnancy might encourage babies to tune in to both tongues soon after birth, a new study finds.

A team of psychological scientists at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in France, watched the sucking reflexes of newborns born to either monolingual English-speaking women, or women who spoke both English and Tagalog, a language native to the Philippines.

The researchers explained that increased sucking behavior indicates newborns' interest in a particular stimulus, including spoken language.

The team found that babies born to monolingual mothers exhibited increased sucking behaviors when they heard English, but not Tagalog, while infants born to the bilingual mothers showed interest, regardless of which of the two languages was being spoken.

A separate experiment suggested that infants could tell when a speaker switched from one language to the other. That's important, the team said, because it shows that from the very start babies born to bilingual mothers do not confuse the two languages.

"Monolingual newborns' preference for their single native language directs listening attention to that language," the researchers wrote. "Bilingual newborns' interest in both languages helps ensure attention to, and hence further learning about, each of their languages."

The study findings were released online Jan. 29 in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal Psychological Science.

More information

There's more on early childhood development at the American Academy of Pediatrics.

I can speak both in English and Tagalog so it's great to know the baby Jarbs can recognize both languages while still in my tummy. Jeff and I have agreed a long time ago that we will encourage our child to speak in both languages. I hope I will not have a hard time teaching him/her my native language.

When did we conceive?

Daddy Jarbs and I were trying to figure out the exact date when we conceived. We are guessing Baby Jarbs was conceived on January 30th - the day when DC had it's second snow storm for the season. No, it was not during the big snowpocalypse week. It was the weekend prior to that. Can it be that baby Jarbs is a snow storm baby? :-) I guess we won't know for sure until we have the sonogram and confirm with the doctor.

Later today, Daddy Jarbs and I went out to dinner and watched Avatar. During dinner, Daddy Jarbs ordered seared ahi tuna but I did not partake :-(. It made me realize that I now have to be conscious of the food that I can and cannot eat. It sucks to think that I may not be able to enjoy all you can eat blue crabs this summer! :-(. Giving up alcohol for the next nine months is pretty much easy for me since I do not really drink a lot in the first place. Who knew that I'd have my last sip of alcohol (at last for the next 9 months) during our Valentines day dinner in Philly a week ago?

 I had a pineapple ginger mojito at Roy's and a glass of wine at Tria.

Big Fat Positive!

Two days after missed period...

So, this is the day that I have decided to take the test. I woke up at 5:30 am, went straight to the bathroom and POAS (pee on a stick!). As expected, the result was positive. Wow! I had mixed emotions and random thoughts...

"I'm not infertile!! Yay!"

"Daddy Jarbs' boys can swim. Yay!"

"How do I tell Daddy Jarbs?"

"I do not want to gain too much weight and look like an oompa loompa!"

"Do I tell anybody? Who do I tell?"

"Oh no, I won't be able to wear the $100 jeans I bought recently"

Yes, so many random (and shallow) thoughts were in my head. Of course, I was happy and relieved to know that my gut feel was right and was indeed pregnant. However, I did not want to get my expectations too high just yet and decided to buy a couple more pregnancy tests to confirm. I TRIED to normally go about with my day, acted normal and did not mention anything to Daddy Jarbs. For the second day in a row, I had green mangoes and shrimp paste for breakfast. I am still craving for sour and salty food.

Needless to say, I was distracted all day and can't concentrate at work. I pretty much spent all day researching for OB GYN doctors since I do not have one. I called my general doctor's office and scheduled an appointment with her so she can take a blood test and get OB GYN referrals. The doctor is out all week next week and the earliest day that she could see me is on Mar 1st. I grabbed the appointment and continued my search for an OB GYN in DC who is reputable and have great reviews.

I went about with my normal lunch work out routine and took spin class. I was mindful of the fact that I may indeed be pregnant so I tried to take it easy and made sure that my heart rate does not go way beyond 140 bpm. After work, Daddy Jarbs had to go to the Wizards game so off I went to the gym for my second work out which is my bootcamp class. I did feel very sluggish and noticed that my energy level was low. After the gym, I went straight to CVS and bought 2 different brands of pregnancy tests and a bottle of prenatal vitamins. When I got home, I went straight to the bathroom and POAS again.

Wow!

Speechless...

Yes, BFP = Big fat positive!!! Now, I am convinced that I really am pregnant. I felt relieved. After I confirmed this, I immediately thought about how to break the news to Daddy Jarbs. I planned on making a card and breaking the news there along with a book that I bought at Borders early in the night. On a side note, as I was pulling into the Borders parking lot, I thought to myself, "yay, I can park at expectant mother's parking spot" now! LOL!

I worked on the card for the next couple of hours. Just as when I was about to print it, I realized that our printer needs a new cartridge. Argh. Off to plan B. I converted the card to powerpoint and saved it on Daddy Jarbs' computer.

Later in the night, Daddy Jarbs came home from the game. I still was not sure how to break the news. Do I tell him tonight or wait tomorrow morning!? I can't really keep the news to myself so I decided I'll tell him tonight. It was past 12 midnight so I told him it's time to go to bed. As expected, before going to bed, he went to the guest office, sat in front of the computer and checked his email. Before he got lost in cyberspace, I told him to click the powerpoint file on his desktop. This is what he saw:

(Click to enlarge photos)

After reading, he looked at me and said "Really?!?!?!?". I nodded and we hugged each other. Yes, there were tears from the both of us. Happy tears :-). We sat there and talked for the next half hour...

"We have to fix the baby room.."

"We should think of names.."

"Who and when should we tell our family and friends?"

We decided not to tell anybody just yet. We want to wait until we have our first appointment with the doctor and hear the heartbeat. We'll probably tell our families next time we see them. Incidentally, my mom and sister are coming to DC this March so we can break the news to them personally. I am sure they will be thrilled since they've been waiting for this since the day after we got married.

We finally went to bed past 1 am. Daddy Jarbs said "goodnight mommy" :-). I knew this is the start of a new chapter in our lives.