No Easter Bun!

Happy Easter everyone, I'm still pregnant! I honestly never thought I would still be pregnant. Saturday, I went for another non-stress test, and everything was good. The nurses are on strike at my hospital, so maybe that is why little bun is waiting. I'm starting to get very uncomfortable. My mid section is constantly aching, and my hands, feet, and face are very very swollen. I'm glad that I'm swollen though because I'm going to need those fluids to get me through the labor.

Today was a great day. The weather here has been beautiful since the beginning of February, and I'm afraid to brag about it to my mid-western family, but it feels so wonderful! This morning Dorrie came by to check on how we were doing. It was a short visit since we had made plans to go to the beach today. Still it was nice to see her. Above is a picture of me at Baker beach by the golden gate bridge. It's one of the closet beaches to where we live. It was my first time there, and we made it for the high tide. We took a little nap and ate lunch and then Tim read to me some birthing affirmations. It was nice to hear his voice against the pounding of the waves: very peaceful.

We went back to the city and stumbled upon a convenient store with Irish goodies!!! So, I got my Tato's (not my favorite cheese and onion: sold out), some club orange, and a few chocolate treats. What a perfect end to the day.

Tomorrow, I will go to Jeri to get my massage, so hopefully that will push things along. It seems as if I will definitely be induced on Wednesday, but I hope it will not come to that.

St. Pat's!!!

Well, while we were waiting for little bun we decided to go to the St. Pats parade in San Francisco. My ultimate goal was to find some Tato's, but this year for some reason they didn't have any so I settled on some garlic fries. It's not that hard to find them when you need them, but I have to go to a different part of SF which takes up too much time and effort. For lunch we went to a strange hamburger diner. I had some fish and chips which woke little bun up. We went to an Irish shop, and I got some Turkish delight...yummy! That's when I started to have my contractions. I've never had them this intense before. When we got home, I had a little bit more chocolate and had another intense contraction. It is an amazing feeling. They feel like a huge force that is trying to lift you up. They are quiet amazing and powerful. Anyways, nothing else happened after those. Tim and I are patiently waiting, and everyone is wondering if we'll get a little St. Pat this year?!?

Birthday!

One last get away before "little bun" comes. For my birthday we went to Muir woods. I really needed to get out of the city and be in nature for a while. If you have ever been to Muir woods you'll have experienced a special natural high from the smell and extra oxygen from the red woods. I love being in the red wood forests. We tried to take the low trails, but a lot of them were blocked off this time of year, so we ended up taking the ocean view trail which kept getting steeper and steeper. We had no idea where it went so we went back. We didn't see any salmon in the creek, but we did see a lot of babies. next time we come back to the forest we'll have a little one ourselves!!!
After Muir woods, we drove to Stinson beach and took a walk along it. It was a gorgeous day! We had never walked along this beach before and found some interesting rock formations which we climbed around. Below is a picture of me in front of one such rock formation. Look at my belly....it's huge. I tried to meditate with the waves so that I can use that imagery while I'm getting my rushes (contractions). It was a great and wonderful weekend. The best birthday trip ever.

Gramma Rachel Came!

Times when I wish I wasn't pregnant!

5th Year Aniversary

Tim and I celebrated our 5th year anniversary by going camping at Humboldt Redwoods State Park this labor day weekend. It took us six hours to get there, but it was worth every minute. The campground was beautiful. Our camp was very private and sat on the edge of the forest. Campfires are usually not allowed at campsites in California, but ours had a fire pit which we took advantage of the first night we got there.

On our first day, we needed to get a few supplies, so we went to the quaint local town. There was an "antique" store that Tim thought Grandma Rachel would love. We bought an iron skillet, and an apple sauce sieve with pestle. We are going to make apple sauce this coming weekend. We then headed over to the visitors center to get a map of the park and its trails. The visitors center was very impressive, and we found the life of Charles Kellogg fascinating. We went back to our camp, and we decided to hike from the trail behind our camp to the South Fork Eel River. It didn't take very long, but it was a beautiful trail. Every twist and bend was so exciting. There were also very few people on the trail. It was nice to escape from our city manners, back to our small town manners again. There were a lot of burnt redwood stumps which created the most unusual forts for creatures. We got down to the river and Tim took a little dip. We ate our lunch and headed back. I took a nap for the afternoon while Tim spent a frustrating time trying to get an impressive fire going. We ate dinner, talked for a while, and went to bed. We were exhausted.

The next day we decided to take a longer hike. We drove to Albee Creek Campground, and decided to hike around there. After a false start up a gravel road, we decided to take the Bull Creek trail North which was 5 miles long one way. It was a beautiful trail which took us through redwoods and along Bull creek. The air was so fresh and smelled beautiful. We enjoyed crossing the different bridges, and again there were very few people on the trail. We talked about our baby again and spent some time trying to come up with a nickname for it while it's in me. Tim came up with "Quark", and I'm calling it "little bun"-not to be associated with "bun in the oven". It's a nickname of a little boy in my favorite Chinese movie. After along time, we got to our destination and thought that maybe we had been over ambitious. We were both very tired, but we had a quick lunch and headed back along south bull trail. A lot of the redwood trees in this area had foreign bulbous sacs which we had fun turning into old men and creatures. This picture of Tim is an example of an wise old man we ran into. We finally got back to our car. We were so beat. We lit a fire and got our dinner going. I was our last night there and I was sad that I didn't have enough energy to stay up later.

The next day we decided to take Highway 1 back to Oakland. Hwy. 1 is the most beautiful Hwy in the U.S. It follows the coast line, and goes through tiny tiny towns. On our way back we stopped at some tourist traps. We stopped at a supposed area where Big Foot has been sighted, and spend time in the gift shop. We decided to buy a carved wooden face as a present for our anniversary. It's hanging in our bedroom, and it makes me smile every time I see it. We also drove through a Drive-thru tree. I didn't realize those really existed.
Here is a picture that some kind ladies took for us.

We stopped at a town along the way and decided to have lunch with the hopes of eating fish and chips. The town was having their labor day parade, so we stopped and tried to look like locals. We did find a place with overpriced fish and chips, and then headed out again. We drove down to Goat rock which is where Dorrie and Dave took us the first week we came to California. It brought back nice memories of being with them. We walked to the end of the beach where Russian river and the pacific ocean meet. There were a lot of really cute seals on the beach. We then drove through Bohemia and headed home. Our total time from leaving the camp to getting home was almost twelve hours. All in all, we had a great weekend. It felt so good to go camping and spend some time together in nature. I think "little bun" enjoyed its time too because it didn't give me nausea!

11Weeks

Last Thursday, four of us teachers went to La Verne, California for teacher training all expenses paid. I was a bit frightened to fly since I've never been pregnant on a plane before, but everything went well. We got to our hotel, and immediately I realized that the hotel was very expensive ($245/night). We went up into our rooms, and as soon as I opened the door, my jaw dropped. I had my own suite! It was beautiful...maybe a bit too beautiful for my tastes. I took a little nap, and then we decided to go for dinner. By the way, the water in Southern California is disgusting; it tastes like water that has been in bottled for weeks which has then been left in a car. We went to the restaurant in the hotel because we had no idea where we were. We ordered our food, and were shocked when it was placed in front of us. Our food was on platters not plates; it was a huge serving. I ordered chicken and received half a roasted chicken. It was delicious, but seriously who can eat that much food. So i now have half a chicken in the fridge! We stayed at the restaurant for hours and hours just talking and having a good time. Then, we went to bed.

The next day, Friday, was training. We were taught about the TOEFL ibt test which is a test that students need to get into University. We are starting a new program which will prepare the students for the test and University. For lunch, we went to a Japanese restaurant which I loved. Then we went back and finished the workshop. I was really really tired after lunch. After the workshop all the teachers, who were other ELS teachers from the West Coast, went to a pub. I felt left out because I couldn't drink beer. My co-workers noticed, so I told them that I was pregnant. They were so surprised and happy for me. We then went to an Italian restaurant where something really strange happened to me. I was looking at the menu, and the only thing that looked anyway appetizing was the most expensive item on the menu (which was paid for by the company); lamb with potatoes. The food came; again it was a large portion, and I took a bite of the lamb and almost threw up. It was the strangest sensation. I read that this might happen in my pregnancy book. My mind really wanted to eat the lamb, but I physically could not. I honestly thought I was going to throw up in my plate. How strange? I hope I can eat lamb in the future because I really like it. We went back to the hotel, and stayed up late again talking and having a good time. I enjoyed the night sleeping in my big comfy bed, and then the next day we left.

Tim was happy to have me home. I took a long nap, and Tim went to work for a little bit. after he came back he brought me some cooked shrimp sushi, and some flowers. He's so sweet. We enjoyed the rest of the weekend together. I taught Tim how to stretch some canvases that my friend brought back from Tanzania. I really miss working with my hands. I might be taking a printmaking class this semester which I'm excited for, but I get so tired in the afternoons that it might not work out for me.

I'm pretty excited that I am approaching the end of my 1st trimester. Grandma Rachel told me that the 2nd trimester is a lot better. I sure hope so because I'm always tired, and my nausea has come back again.

Canoe Trip

Last weekend, Tim and I went canoing with Dorrie and Dave at the Fremont Sloughs with the Save the East bay organization. We had a lot of fun, and learned a lot of about the nature in that area. After we had canoed we decided to tell Dorrie and Dave that we were pregnant. It was our first time telling people in person, and we got an immediate congratulations and big smiles and hugs from both of them. It really felt good to have someone congratulate us. We just are never sure what the reactions are going to be like. Dorrie and Dave told us about their pregnancy experience with Chenoa and Ansel, and it made me very excited to be pregnant. I'm so glad that we have some family around to support us.