RIP Pad Thai

Like I said, the first trimester has not been easy. This little guy (above) is just over 1.5 inches and creating so many hormones in his mommy’s body that it feels like her stomach is on a rocking boat all day long. My mom likes to tease me about how I can’t account for my size (her 5 foot nothing to my 5’9″, had three kids – 2 of whom were born 1.2 years apart, and had no difficulties her first trimester). She finds it rather funny that I’ve been transformed into such a weakling, thanks Mom.

The term “morning sickness” is a joke because it can strike at any time of the day and is triggered by smell, motion, and/or sight. I think the worst is the feeling of nausea, hunger and heartburn all rolled into one when you’re trying to sleep. Actually no that’s a lie, the worst is becoming averse to all the foods that I once loved to eat.

Case in point, my love for pad thai. For some reason, as an adult, I have grown a fondness (some might call it an obsession) for Pad Thai…I could eat it several days in a row and not get sick of it. I judge a Thai restaurant by how they prepare a Pad Thai. My sister and I bonded over plates of Sunday afternoon Pad Thai. When we lived together, my brother (Tim Jo, The Neighbors, Reggie Jackson!) knew that Pad Thai was an appropriate peace offering after an argument. My husband and I had finally found the best Pad Thai in all of Houston. Over Thanksgiving, one of the first things my brother-in-law said to me was how he wanted me to try out the Pad Thai he recently discovered and get my approval. Oh the memories, *tear*.

My last plate of Pad Thai was for lunch at Thai Cottage in the early weeks of my pregnancy (around 5.5 weeks, btw Thai Cottage has decent pad thai – go during lunch though), medium spicy with extra green onions…just the way I like it. Unfortunately, before I could even finish half my plate, I had to run to the bathroom to evacuate my stomach AND my bowels and thus begins the story of my “morning sickness”. Since then, I can’t even stand thinking about it, makes my stomach do flips in the most uncomfortable’est of ways. Major sad face.

Now, I can’t stand most foods that I have grown to love AND my list of things I cannot eat has grown very very long. If I venture out of my safety zone of foods, my meal will undoubtedly come right back out.

Things I Can’t Stand:

1. garlic – the smell itself is bad…I give the hubby such a hard time if he’s eaten garlic during the day…he has to brush his teeth!
2. onions – same as above
3. green onions – same as 1
4. kimchi…actually spicy anything
5. ice cream
6. anything too flavorful
7. anything too greasy
8. anything with fish/seafood in it
9. ANYTHING ETHNIC 😦
10. anything that has a peculiar smell – the other day, I stupidly attempted to eat a bowl of gumbo at a restaurant…it smelled so foul, it ruined my evening
11. chicken
12. bacon
13. anything sweet
14. coffee/espresso
15. vegetables of most varieties
16. sometimes beef
17. most pork – like Perry’s Pork Chop 😦
18. I might as well just say FOOD in general because the list still continues to grow!

As you can imagine, Thanksgiving was tough…my sister in law made a delicious array of amazing homemade dishes, but I could only try to eat the mashed/pureed sides. Sadly, everything came out with a vengeance only a few minutes after dinner ended. Side note: if I have another child, which at this point, I do not want to, I will have to make a mental note of avoiding being in my first trimester around Thanksgiving.

Oddly enough, I am loving on my salami and cheese sandwiches with yellow mustard and sweet pickles which can be washed down with either Simply Lemonade (it HAS to be the Simply brand) or a glass of milk (I know, sounds heinous, right?). Sometimes, SOMETIMES, I can enjoy a hot dog with mustard, relish and ketchup. The only Korean food I can eat is dduk gook and rice porridge w/sesame oil and soy sauce. I like clementines and can tolerate bananas. When I get sick of salami and cheese, I can replace it with peanut butter. Fage Greek yogurt has just recently re-entered my diet and I am relishing each spoonful. And that’s about how limited my diet has become.

The end of the first trimester is soon approaching which hopefully means the end of this constant nausea/vomiting. Oh how I fantasize about the moment when I am reunited with my beloved plate of steaming hot Pad Thai. Until then, Rest In Peace my friend…you are sorely missed.

Hello world!

I’m pregnant… 11 weeks and 4 days pregnant to be exact. And we made our baby announcement via Facebook yesterday! (See above) I know it’s a little shy of the “safe zone” of announcing pregnancy, but we had our 12ish week check up the other day, followed by early testing (to check for chromosomal abnormalities like Downs and Trisomy 18) and Baby Lee seems to be healthy. So I thought it was okay to share with everyone…and you know, it’s not official until it’s on Facebook! I was bursting at the seams to tell people, but I managed to keep it to my family and a close group of friends.

Once I figure out how to do it, I’ll have to post the video of us telling my family.

Some of the top questions I’ve been asked since telling my friends and family that we’re expecting:

1. Were you trying? Not really, but not entirely not trying – if you know what I mean, hahaha…but come on, do you really expect a newlywed couple to be using protection?? Marriage allows us to finally delve into the carnal desires with which God blessed us and not feel guilty about it afterwards. It’s time to finally let your hair down and get it on, baby. And get it on again. I mean, we’re lucky we even made it three months into marital bliss without getting pregnant. We for sure should’ve had a honeymoon baby! (p.s. I don’t believe in female birth control – a discussion in it’s own, but I think it is harmful to women’s bodies no matter what doctors say)

2. Are you ready? Heck yea, I think my calling in life is to be a mommy. I adore little children. If I love other people’s kids so much, I can only imagine how I will feel when I am finally holding my own child. However, I think my brain is slow to catch up with my heart. I have had several dreams where I show up to school or work and I am totally unprepared. One dream, I went into my class to take a test and was horrified to see that it was in Russian! I couldn’t remember anything and I was panicking to the point of tears. As of late, those dreams are less frequent, so I think my brain is finally coming to terms.

3. How do you feel? I tell people it’s been hard, but hard is not even close to how I actually feel. In all honesty, the first trimester has been horrendous. Between the fatigue, the constant nausea, and the expelling of bodily fluids out of all ends, it sucks. I’m not sure if I’m a little worse off than other pregnant ladies or if the majority of pregnant women feel this way, but it has not been easy. DAMN YOU, EVE AND YOUR DECEPTIVE WAYS. I will post more about this later in more detail.

So yes, I have started a blog to chronicle my next 6 months of pregnancy. And perhaps continue with the joys and woes of child rearing and explosive diapers. I will have pictures, videos, and much more in the days to come! Thanks for tuning in! And don’t forget to watch The Neighbors on Wednesdays @ 7:30/8:30PM ET! And vote for them here for Best New Comedy!