First day of Maternity Leave

Today was my first day off.  It was the first time I've woken up at 8:30am on a Monday :)

We had an awesome weekend in Santa Cruz - the Bay Area was over 100 degrees, so it was nice to get away to a cooler place - cooler only because there was a nice wind that masked the 90+ degree weather.  We had rented a house which turned out to be pretty much right on the beach.  So relaxing...just what I needed.

We're at 36 weeks now.  I've been having a few contractions here and there.  So far everything has checked out ok and my doctor says the contractions are a good sign that things are progressing normally.  Good to hear!  Still, I'm not taking any chances and started washing all her clothes, sheets, towels, etc... today.  What a big task - between her laundry and mine & Amit's, I've already done 5 loads of laundry today!  And I'm not done yet, either...

If tomorrow doesn't bring more laundry, I'm hoping to catch a midday movie.

Almost there...

35 weeks!

My doctor switched me to weekly visits now.  I remember back to sometime in the first trimester when she told me that at 35 weeks we'll meet weekly - it seemed like so far off the in future.  Now here we are.  The baby's head is down, and she's just hanging out till she's ready to come out (which will hopefully be right on schedule so I can enjoy a few weeks off from work first).  It's such an amazing feeling when she moves.  I can feel every little turn, kick & jostle.  It kind of makes me chuckle when I think back to the weeks when I felt it only occasionally, or if I was super still and after I ate.  Now - it's like a drum in my belly, all day, every day, and I love it!

This is also my last week of work.  It's been a mix of emotions.  I'm partially checked out already and eager to start my 6-month hiatus.  On the other hand, I'm struggling with the thought of being out of the loop for 6-months.  I feel resigned to having an "On Target" year with no hopes of pushing myself ahead.  A 6-month career interruption will take a year of catch-up on the competitive front.  A few people have asked why I'm taking so much time off.  It's a no-brainer to me - this is the only time I'll ever get to spend so much time with my daughter, and to get some time for myself.  I have the rest of my life to run the rat race, so I want a break to enjoy my expanding family.

The girls threw me a shower a couple of weeks ago - it was awesome!! At Hakone Gardens, on a beautiful day, I spent the afternoon enjoying the company of all my girlfriends.  It was a truly memorable day.  Each person painted & decorated a onesie for the baby - it was a really fun activity!  Towards the end, some of us went for a stroll through the gardens - it was a small, quiet, beautiful place.  Here are just a few of the pictures.  The rest can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/anjali.rele/BabyShower#

Amit & I are going up to San Francisco for the day today and then planning to stay overnight.  We're both starting to feel our quiet time together slipping away in the near future, so we're trying to really clear our schedules and just focus on each other, and finishing up things for our little one's arrival.  I'm dying to tell people her name, but Amit is holding strong and stopping me :)

We're getting a roommate soon...

The clock's ticking - week after week is flying by, and we've barely made a dent in the things we want to get done.  The baby preparation has given us a good opportunity to get some other things done that have piled up over the years.  We've donated 3 Jeep-fulls of stuff so far, and it's not over yet!

Her room got painted last week - it looks awesome!!  The crib's in there, too, so it's really starting to feel like she's coming soon.  Amit and I have been joking about how it feels like we're getting a new roommate.  Here we are, setting up all this stuff for this person who's moving in - we have no idea who she is. will she play loud music at all hours? will she take up all our space? will she eat all our food and not replace it?  We're so excited to meet her, yet mildly amused by how it feels to be buying clothes and decorating for the arrival of our mystery baby :)  We can't wait to meet her!

A weekend getaway...

We're still trying to get in as many trips as we can before the little one gets here. So, we took a road trip to Sequoia this weekend.

Friday we left around 3pm - just in time to catch the traffic on 101. Once we got out of town it was smooth sailing. The plan was to get to Fresno that evening, stay there, and continue on to Sequoia the next morning. Well, we got to Fresno really fast, and when we got there it was the most boring place ever. We had no clue where to stay and it felt too early to stop for the evening. So I called the Bed and Breakfast in Three Rivers where we had reservations for Saturday night, and luckily they had our room available on Friday too! So we kept on going, and arrived in Three Rivers by 8pm.

The B&B was so nice! It was a really cute house right on the river. Apparently a bunch of nuns used to live there, until they were exiled by the Fresno Archbishop for some sort of misdeeds. I love a good scandal so I was thrilled to learn that fun fact :)

On Saturday, we headed up to the park after packing a small picnic lunch. It was pretty, but I was expecting a little more than just giant trees. So I patiently waited and posed while Amit took pictures in various spots along the drive. We stopped to try out a couple of hikes, but as we walked down the path, we started coming across some snow. There was enough snow to make the conditions too unsafe for me to go any farther. The walkways were pretty icy. So we kept the hiking to a minimum and managed a few short strolls in the lower elevations. We continued on towards Kings Canyon, but again the snow got the best of us - the road was closed and there was no entry to the Canyon. Bummer!

So we drove back down to Three Rivers, and got back to our room by 5pm or so. I was pretty wiped so I settled in for a nap, while Amit headed out to the river, book in one hand, glass of wine in the other. That night we had dinner in a weird Mexican restaurant, watched a movie in our room, and peacefully drifted off to sleep.

The next morning when we woke up, suddenly my belly was huge! I don't know what happened overnight - the baby must have turned or something - but now when I'm walking straight ahead, I see this belly preceding me everywhere! It was pretty cool to see the sudden change. Once we were done giggling and admiring our daughter's growth spurt,we needed to come up with plans for the day.

After breakfast, we sat in the back yard by the river. I read for a bit while Amit experimented with the camera. We brainstormed ideas of what to do next, while we sat and took in the sun and our beautiful surroundings. Since most of Sequoia was covered in snow, neither of felt like going back there for a 2nd visit...so we came up with Plan B.

Once we got in the car, we headed straight west and made a beeline for Paso Robles. We picked out a couple of wineries to visit and found out way to them. Amit tasted - surprisingly I wasn't too tempted to participate in the tasting and had so much fun just hanging out with him.

We spent the day there, had delicious BBQ for lunch, and got home around 6pm that evening. It was the best weekend! Two days and 4 hours away we felt as though we had just been on a romantic, exotic, this-one's-for-the-books weekend.

Don't Mess With Ancient Chinese Techniques

Saturday night we were over at Samir and Manisha's house. They're having a girl in April, and we started talking about my upcoming ultrasound. Samir knew of a Chinese gender prediction website, so after dinner we all settled in to learn from the Chinese masters.

When we entered my info into the site, it made pretty much the same prediction that most of our friends did...a girl. So there it was - an official prediction ("guaranteed" to be correct) was now out there... we'd have to wait and see on Monday.

Well Monday came along, and it was time to leave for the appt. As usual Amit wasn't ready yet. This date seemed so far away for so long, and now we were finally about to leave...if Amit ever decided to be done brushing his hair. Amit finally came downstairs - ok I was wrong - he wasn't brushing his hair. He had been busy getting a camera, a flash drive, and a blank CD to take along with us...just in case! It made me smile. After 2 full minutes of hugging, we were on our way!

Amit was a little flustered, I could tell he was a little nervous. Amit tends to look the same when he's nervous and when he's not nervous - so it takes a really keen eye to tell the difference :) I was anxious too. It had been 2 months since I had the last ultrasound at my doctor's office (in Week 11) and I was feeling really uneasy not knowing how things had been developing since then. I think we were both feeling so many things, it was amazing to think that within the next hour, we'd be picturing ourselves with a litle boy or girl.

We rushed over to Camino Medical Ctr and arrived there about 1 minute before our appt time. I handed the form to the receptionist and they took us straight back to the ultrasound room. Our technician was a really cranky woman whose name I don't know because her ID badge was on backwards. She didn't let me watch any of the ultrasound because she "needed to focus on some very important details". I thought I'd be really upset, but somehow watching Amit's face for that 45 mins made me so happy. He was grinning, his eyes wide. And every once in a while he'd perk up a little more and look at me and smile. It made me feel like I knew everything that he was looking at, even though I had no idea. Finally at the end, the technician let me take a quick look at the screen. I paid careful attention and relished the 2 minutes that I got to see my daughter! Yes...that's right- we're having a girl!

The suspense is nearly over...

...Monday is the big day! I have my 5 month ultrasound where we'll find out whether we should buy trucks or dolls :)

Check out my poll on the right and cast your vote for which one you think is on the way!

I also started feeling the baby move much more this week! I felt it just twice before this week - once at the end of the Hawaii trip, and once the weeked after we came back. It was really faint and quick, and I was lying very, very still when I felt it.

But now, this week, I've been feeling the little one move around a bit every day! And I can feel it even when I'm moving around too. The little one is getting stronger! I can't wait till Monday when I can see what's going on in there :)

Day 2 - Waimea Canyon

Today we drove to the other side of the island to check out Waimea Canyon.  It was a long drive, and everywhere we went there were chickens and roosters running around.  They were on the road, in the canyon, in parking lots, at the beach... it was hilarious to see how enthralled Akhil was by the chickens.  Every time we got out of the car, he was off on the chase.  The only problem was that he wants to run faster than his legs, so just as he'd come close to a chicken, he'd fall and have to catch up again.

Waimea Canyon was nice but we were hoping for more view

 points.  There's only 1 road along one side of the canyon, so you basically get the same view, just from slightly different angles.  We stopped off at the park museum to get a trail map of the hikes.  Amit went in while we watched the chickens.  He asked the lady for a hike that 2 pregnant women and a 1 1/2 year old could handle.  She pointed out only 1 hike that matched thadescription and we were on our way.  Before we got to that trail, at one of the view points, Srivalli and I noticed another trail and decided we wanted to try that one.  The trail map said it was moderate but we felt bold enough to try it out.  I was so glad we did!  It was the most unique terrain I've ever seen on a hike.  Even though we had to be extra careful in our baby-on-board condition, we loved climbing up, down, and around all the rocks and bends on the trail. 

Day 1 in Kauai

We arrived in Kauai late last night.  We're here with Chethan/Srivalli/Akhil.  We've got a gorgeous 2 brdm condo with a breathtaking view of Safeway.  The resort itself is right on the beach, so sitting at the restaurant or pool had a great view.  

Today we spent the day swimming & napping in the morning, followed by lunch at the restaurant downstairs on the beach.  In the afternoon we went to checkout the blowholes in Poipu, the southern coast of the island.  While we were there, right off the coast, Amit spotted 2 whales! What a treat...who needs a whale watch tour when you have this!

The Introduction

We saw our little one for the first time today (Week 8)!  It was incredible!  We heard the heartbeat, too.  The next appointment is in 3 weeks - Week 11.

All my pregnancy symptoms are in full swing - I am only able to eat apples, dal & rice, spinach, and beef (weird, right?).  I'm also exhausted beyond words.  I pretty much go to bed by 8pm and even that feels like it's really late!

Big News!

It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving - we were at BJs with Dumma, Chethan & Srivalli to watch the Patriots vs Dolphins game.  I usually love their pizza so if I had to spend 3 hours pretending to be enthralled by the game, there was no place I'd have rather been than at BJs.  

...or was it?

Strangely, when the pizza arrived, I found myself sick to my stomach at the sight of it.  And don't even get me started on the smell!  I must have raced to the bathroom two or three times during the meal, and couldn't wait to leave the restaurant.  That's when I started to suspect that something was fishy.  Apparently Amit was thinking the same thing.  

Later that day, we made a special trip to Walgreens and which would lead to confirmation of the good news...we're pregnant!!!  We were so excited - it was a mix of disbelief that it was finally happening, combined with total elation.

A visit to the doctor a week later, right after Thanksgiving weekend, confirmed through an ultrasound that I was 6 weeks along.  Another 2 weeks and we'd have our first ultrasound where we'd also hear the heartbeat.  Suddenly our lives started revolving around when the next doctor's appt would be and the anticipation of seeing our little guy/girl on the little screen.