19 weeks + and a lot of food!

19 weeks already! time is flying by fast and the twins are growing like crazy!

so how did last week go....
i made dinner for another one of the twins' ninangs' birthday, Cynthia. it was just her, me and mark. it was my first time (i think) making braised beef ribs in the slow cooker. i served it with a side of roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a mixed green salad with a mango balsamic vinaigrette. it was really tasty!

my very small but filling portion

i had to visit the endocrinologist again this past week. to see how my thryroid is doing. it's been acting up and they've been monitoring it. i got the call today saying that my TSH level was still a little low and that i'd have to schedule a follow-up in 4 weeks. i had been taking medicine for it before to bring it up, but then the medication must have worked too well and made my TSH level too high. i hope they get it right soon. it's stressing me out!

i finally got to go eat crawfish! of course, i ate much less than i normally would... but it was so delicious and totally satisfied my craving... for now! ;) (i was way too hungry to take pics)

when i posted about it on facebook though, so many people gave me their unsolicited advice and comments. it was annoying. i could understand if it were a doctor or medical professional or an established mother who gave these comments. but more than 50% of them weren't. the comments that annoyed me were the ones from people telling me that eating seafood was bad for pregnant women and things like that. after careful thought, i responded by telling them, "the other day i asked my docs if i could eat a bunch of crabs and crawfish and 3 of them said "can i come too?" if they don't oppose my seafood intake why the hell should i?" BAM! leave me and my delicious seafood alone please!

i just "LOVE" people's unwanted advice and comments about my body and my pregnancy... said NO PREGNANT WOMAN EVER!

on saturday, we went to a baby bazaar flea market. i thought it'd be a lot bigger though. we did get some cute clothes for reagan and adorable nike shoes for lincoln... all used of course so they were nice and cheap! one of the dresses we got reagan was a cute little green Ralph Lauren dress for only $5!! we also got some hooded bath towels and burp cloths for $1 each! it was amazing! but they're all in the wash right now to get out that flea market smell. i'll have to take pics of them once they're nice and clean. 

sunday, (yesterday) we went to several cemeteries where mark's family members were buried. it's an annual thing that his family (and most chinese families) do to pay their respects. it was a perfect day for it too. it started to get a little hot right before lunch and at the last cemetery though. i was getting hungry and irritable! but thankfully, the visits were all very short and we were able to eat lunch soon enough. so after the cemetery visits, we, mark's dad, mom and sister (Stephanie) and her husband (Chris) and kids, and also Chris's parents and aunt, and mark's Uncle Don, Aunt Jeanne, and Uncle Joe headed to get dim sum. we ate so much and i was so full that i was definitely waddling out of there! 

after a nice long nap, we went to church for Palm Sunday mass. i don't know why, but i hadn't noticed how much our church congregation had grown. years ago when we first started going to mass there, the late day mass that we sometimes attended, if we missed our morning service, wasn't full enough so that people had to stand. yesterday, there were so many people that they even filled up some of the room outside of the main area. it was really nice to see. hopefully it's not because it was a holy day of obligation and that it was because people really were wanting to become part of the church. i guess we'll find out after Easter has passed!

after mass, we went to eat mexican food at one of our old favorites Mi Rancho. we ordered the fajita combo (beef and chicken) and stuffed ourselves to the gills! it had been a long time since we last went there and it was just as delicious as we remembered it. and after dinner, we went home, cleaned up the house a bit and then settled in for the night. 

it was a busy but nice week/weekend. hope everyone else's week/weekend was just as nice as ours!

well played Jesus, well played.

so today is ash wednesday and the beginning of lent. if you're not catholic, here's some information to keep you up to speed... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent

i debated today whether or not to write this post cause it'd reveal more than i want to right now. but i decided i should for memory's sake... which right now, i severely lack! haha

so long story short...

we started a new IVF cycle just after the new year. they did the FET (frozen embryo transfer) just this monday, february 11. and now we're back to the 2 week wait.

and in the midst of all this...

we celebrated husband's 35th birthday with family the weekend prior to the FET. i felt a little bad that i hadn't gotten him a gift because of all the commotion and chaos with the FET and our other big event happening soon! but he reassured me that having a healthy and successful pregnancy was enough of a gift. i'm hoping in 9 months i can fulfill that. knock on wood. everything crossed. infinite prayers.

so where does the mention of lent and ash wednesday fall into place? well, obviously, some of the terms to being pregnant or possibly pregnant are no drinking and no caffeine. and if you read the lenten info, it's a common practice for catholics to give up something for lent as a form of self control or sorts. with the possible pregnancy and lent coinciding, i thought "perfect timing". i have to give up alcohol and caffeine for the possible pregnancy so that can also be my sacrifice for lent... just hopefully extended to 9 months instead of the obligatory 40 days!

also, as any mother to be knows, it will be easier to hide the possible pregnancy till it's time to announce it! which is where the "perfect timing" comes into play. husband and a couple of other friends with the same birthday as husband decided to celebrate their birthdays this coming weekend. enter the alcohol and shenanigans! usually, i wouldn't think twice about having a drink or two to enjoy the festivities, but not the case this year! see where i'm going with this?

because of lent, i have the perfect excuse not to drink! and because i'm the WORST liar in the world, lent has given me the best additional excuse as to why i'm not taking the shot with everyone else and screaming like a college kid. i won't have to really lie and be conscious if my eye is twitching or i'm overly smiling! well played Jesus, well played.

oh as for a glimpse to our other big event happening soon...