Blankie for Baby Girl

I don't know why I had the sudden urge to be crafty all of a sudden. One Saturday a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to crochet a blanket for Baby Girl. I walked into Beverly's and bought some yarn - pink and white ones of course. So I excitedly started on the project the same day and then came to regret it only after a couple of hours! It actually takes me about 20-30 minutes to crochet 1 row. So you can imagine after a few rows, I questioned when will I ever finish this blankie?? Hopefully before Baby Girl arrives! I learned how to crochet back in college but I haven't really continued it ever since. So I was a bit rusty but thank goodness for You Tube! It was so easy to find videos on You Tube showing how the different stitches were done. It beats having to figure out the stitches with some black and white drawings!!


So every night after dinner when I had some "free time," I would crochet a couple of rows. Unfortunately I can't do much more than that just because my hands get really tired (don't want to get carpal tunnel!) But alas, my patience & work paid off.... here is the finished blanket for Baby Girl!! It measures about 36 inches wide and 48 inches long - Pink & white stripes and in the waffle pattern with white edging...now Baby Girl can be cozy and warm!

Kome Buffet

My nephew, TY, celebrated his 1st birthday at Kome Sushi Buffet in Daly City. This is the same place near Century Theaters - once known as Todai, and McSkewers. The previous 2 restaurants have gone under. I've never been there before prior to the party, but I heard that there were lines out the door!! Really? A serious contender to rival against Moonstar?
When I arrived at the restaurant at approximately 11:40am, there was indeed a long line out the door. It was incredible how many people were there. Inside the restaurant, it was PACKED. Every table was occupied. Tons and tons of people...there were even lines to get food. They had a great sushi bar - lots of variety. They had shrimp tempura rolls, spider rolls, catepillar roll, hand rolls. just to name a few special ones. Of course, there are the usual salmon, tuna, himachi nigiris. Too bad I can only stick to the good ol' California rolls!

The other main counter was the Chinese food section - they had fried noodles, chow fun, broccoli beef, fried chicken wings, eggplants, veggies of all sort, and the "siu lap" section - roast pork, BBQ ribs, roast duck, BBQ pork, etc. They also have a soup noodle station & a steam station with steamed buns (baos) and Shanghai dumplings that they make fresh on-site.

The dessert bar was decent - mango pudding, green tea pudding, various cakes, tiramisu, chocolate pudding,5-6 flavors of ice cream, and fruits (mostly melons).

Not a whole lot of seafood or expensive foods, but a lot of variety. The taste of the dishes were decent. But from what I heard, the attraction is the price. Weekend price is only $12.95 for lunch and $20.95 for dinner. That's a really good deal to eat your tummy out!!

Life differences

I find life being pregnant and not pregnant roughly about the same so far. In fact, sometimes I forget that I'm pregnant, especially during the morning when I'm half awake. I think I'm just fat and have a big belly. Prior to my pregnancy, I've just gained some weight in my tummy area due to me sitting all day in the office & the lack of exercise. So I still think that it's my fat belly that sticking out. At work, sometimes I spring out of my chair to get my print jobs and then I feel a slight pain from the sudden move...that's how I get reminded.

I am having a harder time sleeping at night though. I used to be able to sleep soundly throughout the night, but not anymore. I wake up at least 2-3 times a night due to just being uncomfortable, and then I realize that I have to go pee. I sometimes wonder why my body is generating so much liquid even if I haven't drank anything since dinner. It's still a mystery to me. I also wake up a lot from dreams. Some are scary, some are just outright weird. My favorite one is a dream I had a couple of days ago. I was walking on the street and picked up some cash on the ground. Then as I continued to walk, I found more money, and then more, and then some more. The amounts varied from dollar bills to hundred dollar bills. It was weird, but I wished that dream would come true (it hasn't yet!).

Eating-wise, I have been fine (knock on wood!). Foods I love to eat I still continue to love, and foods I don't like, I still don't like. Nothing has really changed all that much except for eating rice for dinner. I've just started to dislike eating rice for dinner. I still can eat it but just don't care for it. Don't know why - eating rice for lunch though is perfectly fine. There is just something weird about dinner. When I was in my 1st trimester, I had morning sickness only during dinner time; all other times, I was fine. Weird. Baby Girl also kicks the most and hardest during dinner time. She must have a thing with this time of day!

The Power of 46

For most people, the number 46 is just a random, insignificant number. But not when you're pregnant and your baby's health and future depend on these 2 digits. 46 is the number of chromosomes a normal human being should have...anything less or more of the magic number means that there may be genetic abnormalities with your baby.

The risk of having a baby with genetic disorders increases with age. I first heard about these risks when my sister had her 2nd baby a couple of years ago and her doctor told her that she has an increased risk of having a baby with Down's syndrome - she was only 33. The news tormented her for weeks.

I absolutely feared that I would have to go through this process too and wished and wished that I wouldn't have to come to that road at all. When I took my 1st trimester screening test, I was given a 1 out of 630 chance of having a baby with Down's Syndrome. My blood test looked good and the NT scan measured 3.1mm. I felt good about my probability even though I've heard that some people had an 1 out 10,000 chance. By week 15, I took my 2nd trimester blood test. This blood test completes the screening. I felt confident and worry-free that everything would be fine.

I got my results from the genetic counselor of Mon, Jan 4. She told me my risk has now increased to an 1 out of 220 chance. I was devastated. How can this be? How can my risk increased by so much?! I decided to go through with an amino. I was able to get an appointment on Wed, the same week. I talked to my husband, cried, and got really scared. I hopped on the web the minute I got home that night to research. I looked for happy stories from message boards from mothers with worse risks than mine but still ended up with a normal baby.

I was not nervous on the day of the amnio procedure. A little pinch in the belly area, a little bit of discomfort, and nothing more. It lasted less than 1 minute. I went home to rest and was fine to go back to work the next day. But there was the 2 week wait, which was dreadful. It was hard to see the baby on the ultrasound, see the movements, and then have negative thoughts. What if? What if the baby is abnormal? It was such a sad thought. I was 17-18 weeks at that time, and loved everything about the baby. I wouldn't want to give up. The unknown was the worst thing in the world - I would never wish this on anyone, even my worst enemy.

I missed a phone call from Kaiser the Friday before MLK day. I picked up the message 50 minutes after the call was left and I was so angry at myself for having missed that call!! Though the message didn't leave much details, she did say that the results looked good. I felt a sense of relief. I replayed that message 4-5 times just to hear it again. I was ecstatic. I called the genetic counselor 1st thing on Monday. And the news was indeed good. Everything was normal, and I found out (upon my request) that I am going to have a GIRL! That day was a great day! I was on Cloud 9...or actually, I was on Cloud 46! Thank goodness!!