Category Archives: babyDragon
Happy 5th & 8th Birthday Leo & Lily!
Happy milestone 5th birthday to my little prince Leo and happy golden 8th birthday to my princess Lily!! Lily measures about 48 inches tall and weighs about 42 pounds. Leo stretches about 44 inches and weighs in at 37 pounds. This year we had to experience the unfortunately worldwide pandemic of covid-19 and so the kids this year celebrated their birthday at home through zoom. I made a balloon garland and blew up a ton of golden and different blue color balloons to decorate the house as well and made them each a display cake that had all their current favorite things on it. I also made a read strawberry cake for Lily with whipped cream cheese frosting on it and got Leo a cheesecake since he cannot have eggs. The morning of their birthdays, I surprised them with a bunch of blue balloons all over the floor of their bedrooms, so that was very fun to watch them wake up to that! I had a bunch of candied bacon for their dessert as well and ordered Olive Garden (Lily’s favorite) delivered for lunch and invited friends to wish the kids a happy birthday! It wasn’t as extravagant as I planned for earlier this year but it was still perfect because the kids had so much fun and felt all the love from everyone, and that’s all that matters.
Lily learned how to ride her bike this past year and nailed it really quickly, within 30 minutes! I’m so proud of her dedication and willingness to learn, even if it may seem scary at first. She also learned how to swim, and can even do the forward stroke decently. She can float and play in the pool all on her own with no floaties, what a big girl now! Lily really likes to cook and bake still, she’s my little sous chef! She also likes to practice origami and her favorite thing to fold right now are boxes, cubes boxes where you blow into it and it puffs up into a box! She is a very social person and so staying quarantined these last few months have been quite challenging, as I’m sure is the case for everyone else right now. She does facetime with her classmates and so that helps a bit. She likes to go and ride her bike outside or go swimming or play on the splash pad to cool off and burn off some energy. Her favorite shows are The Last Airbender and The Legend of Kora. He favorite movie was Sonic the hedgehog and she loves playing Arms and Animal Crossing on the Nintendo switch. She also really likes playing with slime and watching a bunch of YouTube videos, especially of Collin Keys and he craziness haha. Lily also likes reading a variety of books, and reading to Leo as well. What a great sister Lily! Lily also donated her give jar to her 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Barnes because she said she loves Mrs. Barnes and she had so much fun in her class and wants to donate her money so Mrs. Barnes can get more things to help teach more kids. Lily, you have such a sweet and amazing heart, you impress me everyday with your kindness and generosity, I love you so much!!
Leo loves Chuck E Cheese right now and I would say it’s pretty accurate to say that Chuck E Cheese is his best friend haha. I got him a Chuck E Cheese doll for his birthday and he brings him everywhere he goes. It’s so cute to him so attached to him, and he’ll even pretend to give Chuck E Cheese his milk, and share his snacks with him as well. He also likes watching Peppa Pig, GooGoo GaGa on YouTube, Pixar’s Bao, Float, Birds and Moana. He likes to sing a lot more now and will try to sing along to random songs on the radio, but he favorite is the Happy Birthday song. He can sing almost the entire song pretty well!! Leo loves dancing to music, or even when there’s no music, and he loves to follow along to the Chuck E Cheese Cha Cha dance video. He memorizes all the words and moves and will shout along periodically the words! I love to watch his excitement when he plays the dance video, he has to stop what he’s doing and dance along! It’s super cute! Leo is also increasingly more affectionate and loving as well, it just truly melts my heart. He’ll come over and randomly gives me hugs and kisses. Sometimes he’ll ask me to give him a piggy back ride going down the stairs as well. He needs to remember to not let go sometimes but he knows to hold on for the most part! Leo really likes to climb, run around, play with swords, and baby dolls. His vocabulary is increasing and he’s able to put 5 words together in a sentence recently too! He blows my mind with how smart he is and how much he’s learning and able to achieve. He’s also able to eat pretty much everything now too, except for soupy things, he’s still working on that. He can eat rice dishes, noodle dishes, all kinds of seafood, chicken, tacos, any kind of sandwiches, he is such a great eater now! He also still loves fruits, strawberries, blackberries, grapes, cherries, apples, oranges, pears, everything! I am constantly so proud of him! The zoom sessions for therapy and school has been challenging but I’m so glad he continues to make movement in his accomplishments. You’re so incredibly amazing my petite prince Leo, I love you oh so much, and you light up my life!
Happy special milestone birthdays Lily and Leo!! I hope you both had an amazing birthday this year. This year has definitely been a challenging and different experience for birthdays, and any kind of social celebrations, but I’m glad that it doesn’t take much to make your guys happy. I’m glad that you both appreciate the little things that just feeling my love for you is enough, and that I can make you happy with what I have. You guys are my everything and I’m definitely going to take you guys on a big vacation next year when things are safe. Can’t wait for more adventures with you Lily and Leo, I love you both so much!! Your hearts, smile, laughter, hugs and kisses makes me the luckiest and happiest mom in the world. Happy golden 8th birthday Lily!!!!!!! Happy milestone 5th birthday Leo!!!!!
Here are Leo and Lily’s birthday videos, Lily riding her bike with no training wheels, and Leo’s video of his 5 word sentence! ENJOY!
39 Weeks!
At 39 weeks into my pregnancy, our baby dragon Lily is about the size of a watermelon! Last week at my doctor’s appointment, her heart beat was a 146bpm, I gained a total of 14 lbs (so I lost a pound), I was still only dilated 1 cm and I was 70% effaced! (TMI alert ahead!) I believe last Friday or Saturday I lost my mucus plug too. It doesn’t mean I will instantly go into labor, every person is different. However, this does make progress so she can arrive any day now!
For the most part, I am feeling great, just really anxious and eager to meet our dragon lily! I get a lot of braxton hicks contractions and a lot of “lightning crotch” symptoms (it’s when the baby’s head is so low that sometimes she bumps into some nerves that’ll send a sharp shooting pain down my leg). I don’t feel terrible uncomfortable most of the time, but I am usually quite tired. I can tell she’s dropped a lot cause my belly use to be a lot higher, so I feel like we are getting close! I want her to come out when she’s well and ready, but at the same time, I’m very impatient and want her in my arms now!!!! haha. I hope it will be sooner than later! Khoa and I joked saying if she’s like me, she will come out early, and if she’s like her daddy, she will wait until the very last minute and come at her due date or after! I really hope she’s like me =P.
Yesterday we had a growth ultrasound and she sure is growing fast! She is about 7lbs 5oz which puts her in about the 40th percentile! Still below average on the small side but that seems big and dandy to me!! They also measured my cervix and I am 2cm dilated! During the ultrasound, Khoa was able to capture a really cute video of our Lily pad sucking with her lips!! Since she’s making us wait to meet her still, here are a couple pictures where you can see her big lips, little button nose, and chubby cheeks! Also, below is her video for all of us to enjoy for now! =)
Update: June 6, 2012
I just had my Dr’s appointment today and here’s the latest update. I gained a total of 15 pounds, I am almost 3cm dilated (what a GREAT head start!) and I am 80% effaced! Woohoo! We continue to wait, but I feel she’ll be here sooner than later (I hope)!
Lily’s Dragon Lair! (aka: Nursery)
While waiting for Lily’s arrival and distracting myself from thinking about the inevitable labor process, I have been going into full blown nesting mode! I’ve been doing a lot of reorganizing drawers and cabinets around the house. I’ve been dusting, scrubbing, and cleaning anything that I can reach and get my hands on. Most importantly, I’ve been setting up our Lily’s dragon lair (also known as the nursery!). I would reposition things to make sure everything is in the right spot to get the proper flow, etc. I literally made Khoa move the crib 5 times till it was in the perfect spot! I went to target and shopped online for little decorations for her room and this is what we have for now!
I was super excited when the rocking chair arrived because it was the last piece of furniture for Lily’s nursery. It’s really comfy and I’ve been sitting it ever since it arrived yesterday, just imagining holding Lily, feeding her, rocking her to sleep, or just holding her on my lap. I’m so excited! Lately I’ve still been having trouble sleeping laying down, so I have to start off the first half of my night sleeping sitting up. So when we got the rocking chair, I told khoa I should just sleep in the chair! He then tells me if I do that, then he’ll camp out in the nursery with me and sleep on the floor! He’s so cute, he was really excited to do that and said “it’ll be fun, like real camping!!” That’s one of the many reasons why I love him =). Also, Lily’s changing pad is all ready to go, we know she will be on that thing quite often! Her crib is all set up with the safe breathable bumpers, quick zipper sheets, and the ultimate crib sheet that is waterproof and machine washable to make our lives that much easier. She also has multiple colorful mobiles hung around the nursery for constant stimulation for her entertainment! We also have the baby monitor mounted and all ready to so we can always keep a close eye on her during her times of cuteness and mischief =P.
I got the hanging wire frames and white flower set at Target! I put her ultrasound pictures up for now, but once we get photos of Lily, I can easily swap out the pictures to keep them up to date! Also, look at all the books she already collected! I have a feeling she’ll like to read and be a nerd like her parents! Also, we have a cute princess piggy bank to start saving up for her college fund! And of course, the cute nightlight will keep her safe at night, just in case she’s afraid of the dark like her mommy…haha! It’s amazing how much preparation, love, and excitement we can put into a little room for our baby girl who hasn’t even arrived yet. However, just thinking about sleeping in that crib and filling these walls with her presence and memories makes what’s to come (labor) completely worth it. We’re all ready for you Lily, don’t keep us waiting too long now! =)
Baby Shower!
We had the most wonderful time yesterday at our baby shower thanks to our wonderful host Chi Hai! So many of our friends and family came out to share this special celebration with it, it was almost overwhelming, but in a good way! We truly felt the love and excitement for our baby Lily’s arrival and it was simple a happy day! There were such much details that went into this shower, I don’t even know where to begin!
One of my favorite displays at the shower was the dessert bar! Chi Hai bakes some delicious vanilla mini cupcakes and I made the green tea buttercream and fondant decorations. My cute little niece Brooke was our super helper in placing the flowers on the mini cupcakes and she did it like a pro! Chi Hai also baked vanilla cake pops and Alvina and I dipped them in pink chocolate and Chi Hai and I striped them with white chocolate. I made rose and green tea macarons, to go with our color scheme of pink, white and light green. The mixed berry cake was ordered from Givral Bakery where they did the piping on the sides and added the green ribbon border. I made the baby dragon out of fondant and arranged real light pink spray roses on the cake as well. We also had bowls of pink and white sprinkled animal crackers, mhmmm! The lovely dessert tower was arranged by cousin Chi Tu and friend Alvina! They did such a great job layering the desserts and I loved how Chi Tu placed the leftover spray roses inside the tiers! It just looks so pretty and tasty, I love it!
Our Party favors consisted of pink and light green frosted take out boxes that were filled with silver hershey’s kisses and a custom fortune cookie with a special message from our baby Lily! The boxes were wrapped with a decorative wrapping paper strip and then sealed with our dragon Lily Logo! The Fortune cookies are dipped in either milk chocolate, white chocolate, or dark chocolate with flat circle sprinkles on top. The fortunes in the cookies consisted of 5 different custom message:
1) I can’t wait to meet you! – Love Baby Lily
2) Thank you for coming to my mommy & daddy’s shower! – Love Baby Lily
3) There’s a baby girl named Lily in your future that can’t wait to meet you!
4) Love, joy & wonderful dreams are all the sweet things baby Lily will bring.
5) Roses are red, violets are blue, baby Lily can’t wait to meet you!
Our baby dragon Lily’s logo also made her appearance on the 
cheeseball cups, and the lemonade drink dispenser. We made custom water bottle labels with her logo on them as well, and had a custom super cute nutritional facts label as well. In case you can’t read the nutritional label, you can see it close up!! We also had custom made Bingo Gift boards with dragon Lily’s logo in the center as the “Free Space.” We had Wish List for Lily that people can fill out for her. We plan to bind all the cards into a small book for Lily and we can read them to her later! We also have custom designed certificates of award for all the games where the certificates were presented by Lily with a special message for the winner! We also designed a t-shirt for the onesie design contest winner as part of the prize! The front says I*heart* Lily and the back had Lily Design INC. logo below the back neck line, and on the bottom right butt check there’s a “Lily Approved” stamp (Khoa’s idea for the back of the t-shirt layout haha!)
Other details of the baby shower consisted of an amazing GIANT diaper cupcake that Alvina made!! The base of the diaper cupcake is a laundry basket wrapped with diapers, each tied with a pretty brown bow. Inside the cupcake consists of cute and practical goodies that Alvina was compiling together since she found out we were having a baby! She even asked Khoa for my bakery logo so she can hand draw the tag herself, so impressive the amount of work and thought she put into this gift for Lily! She also made a beautiful poster with a thoughtful quote and framed it as well. It will go very nicely on the wall of Lily’s dragon lair (nursery). Chi Hai brought cute lanterns to hang up around the clubhouse, and thought up of hanging up sample onesies at the onesie design station as well! I also crochets some stuffed dragon dolls for Lily as display and for her tohug and love. Also, Bi-Ying couldn’t make it to the shower but she shipped over a lovely diaper cake for display and use as well!
Of course, another big hit from the shower was all the yummy Vietnamese food! We got food catered from 4 different Vietnamese restaurants for the egg rolls (@Thanh Long Deli), nem nuong (@Khanh Hoa), mi xao (@Tan Cang Newport Seafood), and banh beo (@Phuong Giang). My mom made her infamous pasta salad and clear noodles and my aunt made her delicious fried rice! We also had honeydew and watermelon balls, balled by Chi Hai and Brooke! We also had a tray of Logan, more watermelon, and pineapples! I wanted to have some dragon fruit too for our dragon theme shower, but unfortunately it is not in season right now. Regardless, the food was fabulously delicious and there were hardly any leftovers!
We would like to give special thanks to Chi Hai for hosting our wonderful shower, it was perfect!! Special thanks to Lily’s auntie Jennifer for documenting the shower and making a video. I haven’t seen the video yet, but I know it’ll be great!! Also, thanks to all our family and friends who helped us prepare and set up for this occasion, and to those who helped us clean up afterwards. You know who you are, you didn’t have to help us set up or clean, but you did and we totally appreciate it! Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate Lily’s upcoming arrival with us as well! Most of all, extra special thanks to Khoa, without him, I would not have all these wonderful things in life to look forward too! I love you baby cakes!! We had so much and it was great to see everyone before our precious baby gets here. We felt so much love from everyone and we are extremely blessed and lucky to have such a wonderful family. We are so excited for what’s to come, we can’t wait to meet her!!!!!
Enjoy more photos from our baby shower here!
Here is the video that Lily’s auntie Jennifer made of our wonderful baby shower!! She is so talented and captured the festivities so nicely, I cannot thank her enough for documenting this for us. I can’t wait to show Lily this video one day!
9 Month Update!
Today I am 36 weeks and 3 days!!! I cannot believe I have reached the 9 month mark! By the way, I count months by counting 4 weeks to 1 month. I know there’s an extra 2-3 days added to a total month, but it’s just easier this way! =) So last Friday we had another growth ultrasound, most likely the last ultrasound before our Lily pad is here! She’s now in the 35th percentile, she’s getting bigger, still small, but growing, so yay! Also, the ultrasound specialist pointed out she’s growing more hair on her head as well, woohoo! She’s facing head down as well, ready to go, and as of Friday, she weighed in at approximately 5lbs 10 oz! She’s bigger than me than when I was born (5lbs 5oz), but then again, I was a twin haha. Her heart beat also measured at a fast pace of 153 beats per minute! Overall, things are looking great! Here’s her beautiful profile and close up of her little button nose and plump lips from the ultrasound!
I had my baby check up appointment this week to confirm things are moving along smoothly. Her heart beat measured at 134 beats per minute (I guess she’s not an active morning person…haha), that could be a good thing for us! I gained 1 pound since my last appointment, putting me at a gain of 12 pounds total now. My belly measures at 33cm and the doctor measured my cervix for the first time and I am excited to say I am 1cm dilated and my cervix is starting to thin out! This doesn’t mean our dragon lily will pop out any minute, it just means the process has started! It can take a couple weeks, a few days, who knows! It’s exciting nonetheless!
So how am I feeling now that I’m 9 months in? Well thanks for asking! I’ve started to feel some Braxton Hicks Contractions, and it’s a little confusing because sometimes I’m not sure if it’s just her moving really strongly that made me uncomfortable, or if it’s the contractions. As for my belly button update, it’s nearly flat as a pancake now! I knew it was bound to happen, but it’s better than popping out into an outtie I guess, although I’m still waiting for that to possibly happen. Also, no stretch marks yet (that I know of) woohoo!! I sure feel lucky!! I feel great, but now and then, the contractions creep up and my belly sides feel really tight and uncomfortable. I tend to get a lot of back aches too when I’m working at my desk or driving in the car, so luckily when I’m work, I can just get up and walk around. Today is my last day working at work, then I get to work from home till she’s here! I have lots of trouble sleeping at night. I often have to sleep sitting up so that I don’t get acid reflux, and I wake up in the middle of the night a lot because I have to pee. I forgot what it’s like to sleep through the night, I guess that’s my body’s way of preparing me for what’s to come!! Other than that though, we are just super excited for what’s to come in a few weeks so these little back aches and pains will totally be more than worth it!
Here is my monthly photo taken yesterday when I was 36 weeks and 1 day! Special shout out to my sister, Jennifer, for capturing me at my best!
Cinemagraphs!
Having fun with cinemagraphs! Cinemagraphs are pretty much photos taken to a whole new level! You start with a video clip, and end up with a unique image to show off your memories! These are my first attempts at them, I hope you enjoy! =)
Babymoon!
Babymoon – April 27-29, 2012
Khoa and I took a babymoon locally and in San Diego to enjoy our time together as a couple before our whole world changed when our little miracle arrives! We started our weekend by eating dinner at A&J’s in Irvine Friday night and then watched 5 Year Engagement at the Spectrum. The movie was very funny and cute, we would recommend it! On Saturday, we had lunch at this place Khoa heard about on the radio that has really yummy open face tacos called Taqueria Tapatio! It’s quite delicious and the watermelon juice and horchata are REALLY refreshing as well! We then started out drive to San Diego. 
I always wanted to visit the stopping view point after you pass San Onofre, and so finally we did, it’s call Camp Pendleton Vista Point! There’s tons of squirrels there that are super friendly and a lot of people had little sunflower seeds and peanuts and bread to feed them. People gave us some sunflower seeds to so the squirrels went right up to me and ate out of my hand! I don’t know how sanitary that was, thank goodness for hand sanitizer, but they were so darn cute I couldn’t resist getting so close to them!
After stopping at Vista Point, we continued out drive and finally made it to Ocean Beach thanks to Alvina’s suggestion! It was nice little beach, pretty crowded, but it’s known for it’s pier. The pier is the longest pier in the west coast, and is in a shape of a T. The pier was not nearly as busy as the beach itself, so we enjoyed a nice spacious stroll to ourselves. After walking on the pier, we went to the side of the beach to explore as well!
For dinner we ate at Phil’s BBQ. It’s only of my favorite BBQ places and boy was I satisfied! I think our baby dragon Lily enjoyed it a lot as well =P The wait there is usually ridiculously long, so we made sure to arrive early around 4:45pm, and the line was already around the corner of the building. We probably waited a total of 25-30 mins., so we got lucky because usually the wait is double that amount! It’s totally worth it though =).
After dinner we went to Sunset Cliffs to watch the sunset. It’s a really nice scenic area with a clear ocean panoramic view! We arrived with about 30 mins to spare before the sunset, so we explored around the cliffs and got some photos. We also got lucky that it was a nice clear day with a few clouds so we got to see the sunset perfectly! Also, there weren’t that many people there either so it was overall a very nice, intimate time that Khoa and I got to share with each other. Some of the people we did walk by on the cliffs complimented me saying I look great and congratulated us on our pregnancy!! Little things like that sure makes we feel warm and fuzzy inside! =)
We went to Little Italy in Downtown San Diego afterwards to eat desserts at Extraordinary Desserts!! I’ve been wanting to eat there for the longest time but never had the chance because we were always so full after dinner! This time we had about a 1.5-2 hr gap between dinner and dessert, so that allowed us to digest and make room for all the fabulously delicious dessert we were about to experience! We ordered the tres leches cake, passion fruit napoleon, raspberry and lychee sorbet! The sorbet was SUPER refreshing and flavorful, the best sorbet I’ve ever had! I also ordered an appetizer of an avocado and artichoke truffle bruschetta and that was the best bruschetta I’ve ever had as well! Khoa ordered a macadamia nut iced coffee I got an American Beauty, which was pretty much a rose sparkling water. Our overall experience there was really great, we’d definitely come back for more!
On Sunday we had lunch at Watson’s Drugs and Soda Fountain. I had a groupon so we decided to check it out, and it’s cute little diner atmosphere 
restaurant, that even had a working jukebox! They are known for the patty melts so I ordered an avocado tomato patty melt and Khoa ordered the chili cheese eggs with home fries. I got a fancy root beer float and Khoa ordered a mimosa! The restaurant had store connected to it that sold all sorts of old fashion candies and sodas and other knicks knacks as well that was fun to browse through. After a really good lunch we took a stroll around the Orange Circle and did some window shopping. We then pampered ourselves and have a 1.5hr couple’s massage! After getting massaged for 1.5 hrs, it’s hard to go back to just the normal 1 hour massage haha! After our pampering, we went to Main Place mall and did some light shopping while sipping on one of my favorite drinks, milk tea! We then went home and started watching a movie on Netflix, The Sitter. It is not a family friendly movie, but there were a lot of funny parts in it! We had to put the movie on pause so we can go to out dinner reservations at Gulliver’s in Irvine!
Gulliver’s is a steakhouse that is based off the theme of Gulliver’s Travel (or so Khoa says). The facade is very cute with pretty flowers and the inside is really intimate and cozy! The staff were super friendly and when Khoa told them we were celebrating out babymoon, they were very enthusiastic in congratulating us and making us feel special! The food portions were humungous!!! Plus no matter what you order, they come and scoop you a huge helping of cream corn as well!! Good thing we had a groupon for that place too because it’s quite expensive, but well worth it! They also have gift certificates on restaurants.com (thanks Jennifer for the info) and so next time we go, we’ll definitely get a gift certificate to save some money! By the end of the meal, I couldn’t finish half of my meal, so we decided not to order dessert. However, they boxed us up a complimentary house special dessert anyways, a raspberry sponge cake, for celebrating our babymoon!! Yay!! After stuffing our faces, we went home and finished the movie. We had such a nice and relaxing babymoon, and I couldn’t have spent it with a more wonderful man! Enjoy our pictures, the full album can be viewed here!
8 Month Update!
Hello 8 months, I am exactly 32 weeks and one day today! I have less than 8 weeks to go (give or take) till our little miracle is here!! So two weeks ago, our baby dragon Lily had a heart beat of 140bpm, I gained a total of 8 pounds, and my belly measured at 29.5 cm. I was at 30 weeks and 1 day then so my belly size was only half a centimeter behind from where the average belly size should be, so overall I was doing pretty well. I did get some majorly bumming news though that I cannot nurse due to my thyroid medications. I was really sad at first because I did a lot of reading and heard that nursing is really beneficial for you and your baby, and I was really looking forward to the experience as well. Luckily, I have a really wonderful support system and my family cheered me up in no time. Benefits to formula right off the bat is that Khoa can help me feed Lily which means I will get more rest. Later on I won’t have to worry about switching her to a bottle, and I won’t have to deal with all the discomforts of nursing. Also, my generation grew up with formula, and we all came out just fine! =D
Today, Lily’s heartbeat is 139bpm, I gained 1 pound since my last Dr.’s visit, making it a whopping total of 9 pounds since my start weight, and my belly size is 28.1cm. I don’t know how it got smaller, but the average belly size at this point should be around 32cm since I am at the 32 weeks mark. I did a growth ultrasound last Friday, and it’s amazing with technology these days. They were able to measure how big our dragon is, she’s 1,702 grams (3lbs 12.02oz) as of last Friday! The results from the ultrasound shows that she is in the 26th percentile for growth. At 18 weeks of pregnancy, she was at the 40th percentile, now she dropped to 26. What that percentage means is that she’s bigger than 26% babies, and smaller than 74% babies at this stage in the pregnancy. My doctor wants to schedule one last growth ultrasound in three weeks to make sure she’s still growing ok, and as long as she doesn’t fall below the 10%, then it should be fine. The results also show that she has a lot of fluid (that’s what allows her to have her oxygen flow, etc.) so that is a very good sign. If she stops growing at a healthy rate, the the fluid would decrease in size as well, but since it hasn’t, then it’s a good sign. Also from the ultrasound, they were able to point out that she has a lot of hair growing on her hair! Yay! Also, she’s still in the head down position, looks like she’s ready to come to our side of the world!! Hehe. Here are a few pictures from the ultrasound appointment.
Another update is that lately I’ve been having trouble sleeping at night, because everytime I lay down, my throat would start to burn and I would get the urge to throw up, and a few times I actually did throw up. Turns out, my stomach valve opening thing (sorry I don’t know the medical term) doesn’t close all the way at this point in the pregnancy, so it’s easier to get acid reflux. So one of the things I’ve been doing was sleeping while sitting up, and then in the middle of the night I would finish sleeping laying down. Once I slept on the couch because I thought it would be more comfortable than sleeping sitting up in bed, and Khoa is the sweetest husband ever for sleeping next to me on the couch too so that I won’t be alone! =) I’m one lucky gal! My Dr. today told me that I can try taking pepcid AC or any over the counter acid reflux medication and that should hopefully fix that problem, so we’ll see how it goes! On the belly button update, it’s still there but barely! It’s getting quite flat, and I feel like it’ll pop any minute!! Not bad for lasting this long though, we’ll have to wait and see what it decides to do, stay and innie and be flat, or be adventurous and become and outtie! Also, no stretch marks that I know of yet, woohoo!
Overall, I’m loving this pregnancy! I find myself very happy, like a constant state of euphoria, and I feel so grateful for this experience in life. Lily’s kicks get stronger each day and she’s reaching maybe 2-3 inches about my belly button now! She’s starting to nudge around in there more rather than just kicking and punching. Khoa and I can’t wait to hold her in my arms!! That’s all the update I have for now, enjoy my 8 month baby bump photo!
Maternity Photos!
Maternity Photos!
Fun day in the sun with my baby and Hun! We finally took our maternity photos this past weekend on Saturday and Sunday. At first we were worried the rain might postpone our plans, but Lily summoned her lucky energy and brought our the sunshine! We also took advantage of this time to just have a nice outing and enjoy the outdoors and sunlight as well! Saturday (April 14th) Khoa and I grabbed our tripod and camera and when to the William R. Mason Regional Park in Irvine. It was pretty chilly outside, and windy, but we toughed it out and got some nice fun shots! We were going for a Pixar’s Up inspired theme for the photos at the park, and so we had some fun colorful balloons as props, and I wore a bright fun yellow dress for contrast! A reason why we wanted to do an “Up” theme was because we like to go on adventures together, so having a baby is our next BIG ADVENTURE we will face together, so it seems so appropriate! =) After we were done with the balloons, we gave them to a little girl and made her day! =) Khoa did such a great job with the self timer, it’s a good thing he can run fast! =)
After the park, we had had lunch at Le Diplomat and got milk tea at Cha for Tea! We met up with Jennifer and she then helped us with photos at the Corona Del Mar Beach in Newport! We chose the beach because one of our favorite vacation spots is Hawaii, and so we wanted to represent that in our photos in hopes to bring our baby dragon Lily to Hawaii with us one day when she’s older! The beach was super cold and windy, and I was really nervous the wind would not look good, but Jennifer assured me that the windy worked just fine! It was sure cold though, but worth it in the end from the shots we got!! Jennifer sure has a great eye, and we are greatly appreciative of her help!
On Sunday, we went to the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden at Cal State University of Long Beach! I chose that place this is the year of the dragon, and the Japanese Garden has that Asian motif that fits our theme perfectly! Also, I just love the pond and the bridge, etc. Also, I wanted to print some of these photos and hang them in the dragon lair (nursery) for Lily to look at, and the garden had so many vibrant colors that I think Lily will really enjoy! Jennifer also helped us with these photos as well and once again, magnificent job! =) At one point during the pictures, I dropped a block into the pond, and luckily Khoa was able to swoop it out of the water before it went under the bridge! What a great save! Haha! Anyways, enough with reading, time for you to enjoy the photos! =) I plan to make some Cinemagraphs (animated photos) soon, so stay tuned for that!
Hello 3rd Trimester! 7 Months!
I am doing the happy dance because I am officially in my 3rd trimester! Today I am exactly 28 weeks along with my pregnancy and I cannot be more happy! Also, today is the first day of Spring! Yay! Doesn’t all this goodness make you want to jump for joy? I sure do! Our little baby dragon Lily really is my lucky charm! This is month 7, lucky number 7, and this past weekend was just St. Patrick’s day so that’s why I decided to wear green in my photo! Our dragon Lily gave us so much luck, here are a few examples: I won my first poker game ever on our recent trip to Bass Lake with some great friends of mine, and we got some scratcher tickets and it led to 2 more free scratcher tickets, and $3! Those 2 tickets then won us another free ticket and $10 more! We haven’t cashed in that last free ticket, but I know it’ll for sure be a lucky one!
As for updates, there’s not much. I recently got a bad cold and phlemgy cough, and I’m still battling it as we speak. I don’t know if it’s related to my sudden sickness or not, but I lost a couple pounds…so that’s a little worrisome to me since I’m suppose to be gaining weight! I’ve been trying to get a hold of my Dr. but they have been closed, so I will try again tomorrow. Hopefully it’s nothing to worry about! Positive thinking! Also, Khoa came home last night and brought me this beautiful bouquet of flowers to make me feel all cheery! Isn’t he the sweetest??
I am happy to announce that I still have my belly button…but I’m trying my best not to get too attached haha. I do not have stretch mark yet on my belly, and I do emphasize YET because I know it’s inevitable! But I’m laying on the lotions thick anyways cause you never know, it could be helping a little bit! I am sleeping better now and then, but it could be because I’m sick and am exhausted, but at least I got some nights of uninterrupted sleep! I need to enjoy it while it lasts!
Khoa and I took our first baby class last night too! It was Baby Basics so we learned how to soothe the baby when it’s crying, learned how to give the baby a bath, change her clothes, change her diaper, and swaddling! It was a very informative class and I’m glad we went! I was tempted not to go because I’m feeling so sick, but I toughed it out and now I feel that much more prepared! We have an 8 hour long birthing class this coming saturday, and a baby safety class this coming monday! Lots to look forward too!
Here’s a photo of my baby bump at 28 weeks! 7 Months baby! =D
6.5 Month Update!
So currently I am 6.5 months and 3 days (26 weeks and 3 days) into my wonderful pregnancy and I feel great (despite not sleeping through the night and having crazy weird dreams and nightmares)! I recently took my glucose and anemic screening tests and passed with flying colors! Baby Dragon Lily is kicking all over the place now, and she’s reached an inch or so above my belly button too! Speaking of belly button, it’s still there, hanging on like a champ! Hopefully it will last the next 2.5 months without popping out (fingers crossed!). Also, a couple days ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and had this excruciating pain all over my belly, sides, and back. It lasted for about a minute and so I emptied my bladder and tried to lay back down but every moment had such paralyzing paid that it was hard to do anything to make the myself feel better! I tried to explain this to my Dr. and she said I had my first contraction! However, contractions should be painful like THAT…so I still don’t know what happened, but I’m glad that hasn’t come back!
Other updates are that my belly measures 25cm, so I’m 1 cm low since I’m at 26 weeks right now. I have gained a total of 6 pounds, so 5 pounds since my last appointment a month ago! That’s progress! I noticed that my belly gets quite pointy, especially when I start to lay down, it’s a crazy phenomenon where I start to lay down and when I’m at the 45 degrees angle, you see a narrow point go down my belly, like an outline of the baby itself! Maybe I’ll take a video of it sometime…but maybe not because it’s quite strange to see… Overall, I’m as happy as can be and I really do look pregnant now! I love seeing my baby bump in the mirror and as it gets bigger, I get that much more happy. I can’t wait to meet you my little lily pad!!
Anyways, here’s my 6 month photo taken a couple weeks ago when I wad 24 weeks and 4 days! I wore pink since it was the week of Valentine’s day! She will always be my Valentine! I included our 1st child Luna in the photo too, she’s starting to get curious! =D
Parts of Baby
I’ve been meaning to post this last month, but now is better than never! We found out the gender of our baby on January 11, 2012, it’s a GIRL! We also got a few ultrasound images of our baby and here’s a collage to show you how far she’s developing. It’s amazing what’s been formed already and you can just look at her beautiful bones and spine and just look at those limbs!!
Here is a video as well that shows our little precious dragon Lily (yes her name will be Lily!) wiggling around and you can see her heart beat pumping away! What a strong heart!
Also for more updates, I felt the baby kick higher in my belly for the first time on a few days ago on Monday, February 13th! Normally she kicks and punches really low by the hairline, but now she’s starting to expand and moved up only a couple inches below my belly button now! It’s very exciting to feel her everyday, and she just keeps getting stronger, and the amount she moves at a time is increasing as well! I love seeing Khoa’s reaction when he gets to feel how much she moves, it’s such a great feeling! As for more updates on my weight: I lost a total of 5 pounds as of mid January since my start weight back in October. Since my last appointment a couple weeks ago, I gained 6 pounds, making me +1 pound since my start weight. It’s really strange how little weight I’ve gained because my belly clearly is getting larger, but since the anatomy ultrasounds in January showed that the baby is growing and developing just fine, my doctor isn’t too worried yet. Hopefully, at my next appointment in two weeks, I will continue to gain weight and I won’t have to do weekly growth ultrasounds, but even if I do have to, then at least I get to see our dragon Lily more!! =)
Another exciting news is that I’m over half way done with this pregnancy, I can’t believe how fast time has flown! Dragon Lily can now hear our voices for a few weeks now, but she can also hear surrounding noises as well, so watch what you say, she can hear you! We make sure to have belly talk every night so Lily can know our voices =). Also, she can hear my own heart beat! How much more connection can a mother and daughter get than that?! There’s really something sweet about her being able to listen to the rhythm of my heart every day =). Now I leave you with a photo of me taken around the 5 month mark, due to high demands to see my baby bump! It’s not impressive yet, but that will surely change rather quickly!
