My second trimester

The second trimester was an interesting combination of residual morning sickness and rapid waist expansion.  The first six weeks were much like my first trimester which, if you read about it, was less than awesome.  However, once I hit week 19 ~ 20, I was able to remember what life was like without nausea and a whole new experience began.  I re-discovered food and spent a ton more time in the kitchen baking and cooking.  I didn't realize how much I missed that! 

I started showing (finally!), and my body decided to make up for lost time and gain the first trimester and second trimester weight all within about a month.  It was kind of shocking to get on the scale in the doctor's office at my last appointment and hear how much I had gained, but when you look at my weight gain overall, it actually isn't that much.  Within a span of about 2 weeks I "grew out of" all my pants and was left with 2 dresses, 3 skirts, and 1 pair of shorts that still fit.  No more procrastinating shopping for maternity clothes for me!

Anyway, I have tried to make the most of this trimester by socializing (I still have friends?!) and traveling (see the Babymoon posts for details).  Trip has enjoyed the second trimester as well because I have actually been wearing makeup and doing my hair again, so I look like a human being  :)

The best part about this trimester is experiencing Baby Bean's development.  We found out that our little "jumping bean" is a girl, and we couldn't be more thrilled.  (This has been confirmed at the last 2 ultrasounds, so we are pretty confident that we won't be surprised on her birthday)  I started feeling her move this trimester, which is both awesome and sometimes weird.  When I first started recognizing her movements it seemed like she was always hitting my bladder.  It was such a foreign feeling, I knew it was the baby.  Sometimes I joked that she liked to jump on it, but I think she must have known that was the best way to get my attention because since I have gotten better at feeling her, she has left my bladder alone.

She sits low in my belly, and even though she moves a decent amount, she is not as active as other babies that I hear about.  She rarely rolls around; instead she just kicks and punches and occasionally jumps.  She has gotten the hiccups a couple of times but not very often.  Baby Bean often sleeps during the day and gets active around 9 or 10 at night.  Sometimes she wakes me up in the middle of the night...looks like we are going to have another night owl on our hands!

Trip and Baby Bean have had a great time getting to know each other too.  When she is poking me, you can actually see my belly move (reminds me of a popcorn bag when it's popping).  Once, Trip poked my tummy while talking to her and we could see her poke back in the same spot!  They did that a couple of times and he got a kick out of it.  It seems like most of the time I tell Trip to come and feel and then she will stop moving...typical :P  She has been nice to me so far and avoided my ribs (for the most part) which I appreciate because I don't like that feeling at all!

The second trimester was all too short and very sweet.  We have enjoyed having some time to get to know our baby's personality a little better and of course, we have loved getting some good quality time in before she joins us  :)  Here's to a smooth third trimester and delivery!

Bad Parenting

Waiting to see the vet and not too sure how she feels about it

Quick Update:  Tigger's x-rays showed no foreign objects in her intestine, so the worst case scenario did not happen, thank goodness!  Looks like it was a false alarm and she is doing just fine.


To some people, pets are just pets.  Similar to other household items, they are just one more thing to take care of and should it become inconvenient to keep a pet, they find some way to get rid of them.  To other people, pets are family.  They stick with you and you plan around their needs just like any other family member.  These people would do anything to save their pets.  Of course, these are 2 extremes and most people fall somewhere in between.


Trip and I both treat our pets like family.  I believe that even though they are not "people", they are still living and breathing creatures with distinct personalities and they deserve to be treated as such.  I recognize that pets are not the same thing as children, but part of the reason we brought Jack and Tigger to Malaysia (and we will take them back to the US with us) is because we took on a responsibility when we adopted them and we take that seriously.  Unfortunately, just like caring for children, caring for pets is not always easy.  We started out by being very conscientious caregivers; the kind who would never let a regular vet visit slip by and who would notice the second something seemed amiss.  However, living in Malaysia has made the regular vet visit difficult (they don't do preventative medicine here), and lately I feel like I keep missing things that I shouldn't be missing.  


Poor Jack had an allergic reaction to the flea spray that the vet used when we put him up for boarding one weekend, and it took his hair falling out for us to notice (how did we miss his itchiness?!).  Sweet Tigger hasn't gone to the bathroom in a couple of days and it took that long for me to even notice!  As soon as I did, I took her to the vet, but I'm afraid that my negligence means that the situation is not going to be good and she will suffer for this.  I hate knowing that it all could have been prevented too.


I brought some balloons home after my baby shower (post about this to come soon), which was mistake number one.  I should have remembered that our vet had told us not to have anything with strings around because Tigger would eat the strings and that could cause some major problems.  Mistake number two was when I caught Tigger eating said balloon strings and still didn't remember what the vet said.  We did get rid of the balloons, but the damage had already been done.  On Saturday, Tigger threw up 3 times, but then started acting relatively normal.  We watched her on Sunday, but she seemed to be doing fine, so we promptly forgot about it.  That was mistake number three.  Yesterday, I noticed that she hadn't used her litter box, and we decided that if she still hadn't by the time we got up this morning, we would have to take her to the vet, which is where I just got back from.


The vet was very nice and I know that Tigger is in good hands, but I could tell that he was worried about her condition.  She is running a temperature and might have an infection, but the worst part is that he thinks her intestines are blocked.  If this is the case, then we will have to do surgery to fix it, otherwise they will go necrotic and she will die.  I had to leave her at the Animal Hospital so that they can do x-rays and watch her overnight and it is killing me!  This is all my fault and if I had not been so caught up in what was going on with myself, I would have noticed this sooner and things wouldn't be so bad.  How could I have become such a neglectful pet parent so quickly?  Am I going to be like this with my own children?  I feel like such a bad mom right now.

Welcome home

Captain Jack and Tigger were certainly glad to have us back from our little adventures for awhile.  Both of them welcomed us home in their own sweet way.

"Dad cuddles, my favorite"

I'm so happy, I look high...

I'm just gonna lay on your pillow and not move for a long, long time

Tigger was rubbing against Trip's leg for at least 5 minutes straight.  Of course, she stopped when we started videoing. 

Babymoon part 4: Vietnam

Vietnam was the last of our weekend trips.  It was pretty cool and we enjoyed it, but didn't take nearly as many pictures as we normally do.  I guess there are only so many pictures of a city that you can take  :)  One of the best things about Vietnam was the food, but sadly, I didn't take any pictures of it.  It was delicious all the same.  Something that immediately stood out about Vietnam was the traffic.  We thought driving in Malaysia was crazy, but Vietnam took it to a whole new level.  I managed to get a video on the way to the airport that kind of gives a sense of what the traffic was like, but it really was crazier in person.

The family sandwich!  We see this in Malaysia a lot, but I haven't gotten a successful picture before.  At least in Vietnam they wear helmets.

Our first day there, we did a walking tour of District 1, which is where most of the activities, museums, and buildings of interest can be found.  The city is pretty diverse, with colonial style buildings nestled among high rises in one area, while just around the corner are street markets surrounded by a hodgepodge of houses crammed next to each other.  We found some great markets for shopping and stopped at some of the highlighted "tourist stops".  Most of these were museums, which were interesting because Vietnam certainly brings a different perspective to the table when discussing history.

The Reunification Palace, or Presidential Palace...very retro on the inside

The opera house.  Very different architecture than the rest of Saigon

Some cool boats on the Saigon River

That evening, we went to a Water Puppet Show that was pretty cool.  The music and voices were done live by people sitting on the sides of the pool, while the puppeteers worked the puppets from somewhere...we really couldn't tell where until they revealed themselves at the end.  Here are a couple of clips of the show.








The next day we took a half day tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels which were used by North Vietnam during the war.  It was pretty interesting and amazing how small the tunnels were!  I did not go inside because I was pretty sure I wouldn't fit, and even if I did it didn't look comfortable.  Trip, Steve, mom and dad all went through the tunnels and came out no worse for the wear.  Here are some of the pictures we took at the tunnels.

Trip showing off the tiny little secret entrance to one of the many tunnels

A picture of the tunnels from the inside...most of the time Trip had to crouch down or crawl on hands and knees, that's how small they were.

One of the US tanks that was taken out by the Cu Chi guerillas

One of the jungle paths through the Cu Chi area.

Trip shooting and AK-47.  You could pay to shoot different types of weapons in one part of the park.

Our tour guide, "Slim Jim" was pretty entertaining.  Trip got a video of him explaining how the cooking fire smoke was dispersed so that the American troops would not see the North Vietnamese camps.





After we got back from the tour, Trip and I took off to one of the markets to get some cute little baby clothes.  I really wanted to get some Asian clothes for our Baby Bean so that she has a souvenir too.  We did pretty well and got 3 adorable outfits.  

Can't wait until she will fit into these!

I had more videos to upload, but it just is not working for me right now, so maybe I will add them in later.  It was a fun trip overall, and we enjoyed spending time with the family.  I am glad that it's over for now; I was getting worn out after all the vacationing, and there are still plenty of things to do around KL  :)

My Wife Blogs FTW

I really love my family. I love spending time with Kim, Jack and Tigger. I think that it is going to be awesome to get to know our little girl. I am really proud of the way that Kim has been handling her pregnancy. I also love the fact that she has been blogging about our life as a family and think that that is a really great use of time and energy, as it is something that we'll be able to look back on and see how far we've come and what we've been through together. I think it will be neat for our kids to be able to see our lives when we were first married and then as we grew and had them. Of course as they grow, it will be cool for them to be able to see their progression. 


Technology is an amazing thing. I am thankful for blogs, Skype, Facebook and all the other apps out there that allow us to chronicle and share our lives across time and space.  I am so glad that I get to live in a world that has such wonderful tools readily available to so many, allowing us to live richer, more meaningful lives. 

28 weeks

28 weeks and looking big :)

We had our monthly doctor's appointment yesterday, and it was pretty good.  I am now at 28 weeks, which marks the beginning of the third trimester.  Everything is looking good and both the baby and I are doing fine.  In Malaysia, it is standard to do an ultrasound with every appointment so that the doctor can see that the baby is growing well.  I really like this practice and am going to miss it when we are no longer here!  It is so fun to hear her little heart beat every month and to see how big she is.  Baby Bean apparently likes to be in a good "ready" position for birth because at the last 2 ultrasounds she has been positioned with her head down.


We really like Dr. Paul as well.  He is laid back and not a worrier, which fits both Trip and I very well.  I haven't had to do the glucose test yet because he only does it if you have sugar in your urine at least twice.  So far I haven't had any until this last visit, so he'll wait and see what the results are at my next visit and go from there.  I appreciate not doing tests that are really not necessary  :)  


Because I am Rh negative (O- blood type) and Trip is Rh positive (O+ blood type) I will have to get a shot at my next appointment.  This isn't a big deal and is standard procedure for all of us negative blood type moms.  My sister, Angie is in the same boat as me and has already had hers.  I guess if the baby has positive blood, then my blood might attack hers if it gets into my blood stream.  This would only be an issue during birth though, so no need to worry! The shots clean up my blood and prevent this from happening.  Dr. Paul is on top of it and has explained this in great detail to Trip and I, and we are not concerned.


The highlight of this visit was during the ultrasound.  While Dr. Paul was looking at her head, Baby Bean was positioned so that we could actually see her face pretty clearly!  She looks like she will be a beautiful little girl (I'm not biased at all).  She has nice full lips, like Trip, and Dr. Paul said her mouth looks like Angelina Jolie...not my favorite comparison, but oh well.  While we were looking at this she actually opened and closed her mouth...so cool to see!  She was sleeping through all of this so there wasn't much movement on her part except for that.  Baby Bean also weighs about 1.6 kg which is about 3.5 pounds.  Dr. Paul said that is a good weight, not small and not big.  Things are going well and we are getting more and more excited to meet her!

Babymoon part 3: Cambodia again!

The last temple that we went to was Angkor Thom.  There was another temple that we were going to try to see, but my pregnant body could only do so much in two days!  Angkor Thom was spread out over a huge area and had several different structures throughout the complex.  These are the ruins of the old palace compound, if my memory is correct.

The monastery.  Same basic structure as the temple at Angkor Wat

The face carvings here are really well preserved

Some ruins that we walked past on our way between main structures

I don't know why, but I really like this picture

One of the main entrances to the palace compound

Of course there was a lot more to it than what I have shown, but since it was fairly similar to Angkor Wat, I tried to stick to more unique pictures.  After all the walking around we did that day, we were ready for a break and some relaxation!  Mom, dad, Trip and I headed for the pool while Steve took a nap and we just let the water wash away some of the stress of the day.  Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera with me so no pictures of that.  But I did take pictures of dinner that night!  We ate Cambodian BBQ, which is kind of like a grill and soup combination.  You boil the veggies in a ring of water that surrounds the grill in the center.  All the juices from the meat run into this ring, so your veggies get some flavor too.  It was pretty good.  We also decided to be daring and sample some of the local meats that they had available.

Trip pointing out the snake and crocodile meat.  We also had kangaroo, beef, and chicken

Our favorites turned out to be kangaroo and ostrich.  Mom, Dad, and Steve all had ostrich and let us taste it

They also had goat meat available, but that just didn't sound like it would be good, so we didn't end up getting any.  The next day, we went out to a floating village.  The people live along a river and lake.  The houses are built on stilts and during the rainy season the water comes right up to their doors.  It was dry season while we were there, so we had to boat out to the lake to see some of them actually floating.  On our way, a bunch of the children in the villages and boats would come out to wave to us.  So cute!

Fishing is how the locals eat out here so they have to fish daily

Part of the floating village from a distance

One of the floating houses up close.  It's not an easy looking lifestyle, but it is pretty chill

Ladies coming to sell clothes to the village

Random pigs...and probably someone's dinner

Traditional boat, that is also selling fruit door to door

On our way back from the floating village, we had Di stop at some roadside stands.  He was kind enough to introduce us to some local "treats".

It's hard to tell what I am holding because the car was bouncing too much for a clear picture, but that is a fried cricket.  And yes, I ate it  :)

You can see the cricket better in this picture.  Trip really liked them and ate several.  They kind of tasted like french fries

How to eat a cricket, by Trip Baker

We also tried a snack that is rice, coconut milk, sugar and beans cooked in a bamboo stick.  It was pretty tasty.

Trip with his spoils

That night we went to a dinner and dance show.  The dancing was pretty cool and definitely different than other cultural dances I have seen.

The dancing is fairly slow paced and more about hand and feet movements

This video is of the traditional dance that is depicted in most carvings in the temples.  The singing was done live as was the music.

Babymoon part 3: Cambodia

I am a little behind on the Babymoon posts, but that's because it is surprisingly time consuming when you travel 4 weekends in a row.  I didn't take into account the fact that we would be coming home, doing laundry, unpacking and repacking all within 3 days before the next trip.  Needless to say, I've been a little busy.


Anyway, 2 weekends ago we went to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  This was my favorite out of all our mini vacations.  The country was beautiful, everything was stupid cheap, and the people were amazing.  Cambodia is still recovering from a very recent war (ended in 1998) and the effects are readily apparent.  3-5 people die per day due to landmines that are left over from the wars.  (the city and tourist areas have been cleaned up and are perfectly safe, so we didn't have any problems.  Also, Trip says this number is less now, but it's what I remember most, so I'm going with it)  But even with all of this fresh pain, the people are some of the happiest, most positive people that I have ever met.  I was seriously impressed and obviously quite taken by their attitudes and examples.  It really makes our complaints seem so superficial and stupid.


But I digress.  The temples were beautiful and with the combination of ancient construction and modern worship going on, they were quite unique feeling as well.  We took almost 700 pictures, so it took some time for me to choose which ones to show.  Even with the narrowing down, this is going to turn into 2 posts.  I hope you enjoy the pictures and that they convey the awesome beauty that we experienced in Siem Reap!


The first temple we went to was Angkor Wat.  This is one of the main ones, and with good reason.

Angkor Wat from across the moat

Random guy who spoke to Trip in French for quite some time

The entrance to Angkor Wat

One of the many intricate carvings that decorated the temple

The Angkor Wat temple itself

Group picture.  I should mention that it was over 100 degrees F while we were there!

View from the center tower in the Angkor Wat temple

Pregnant women weren't allowed to climb up to the towers in the temple so I had to wait outside while everyone else went up.  I guess they thought the stairs were too treacherous.  Trip took a whole bunch of "stalker photos" of me while I was waiting...if we weren't already married, I'd find this slightly disturbing  :)

Trip's favorite stalker photo

Steve, Trip and I with the temple in the background.  You can see the towers pretty well from here

After Angkor Wat, we went out to the "Jungle Temple", officially called Ta Prohm.  This one has been used for filming a couple of movies, and we could see why.  It is certainly unique!

Part of the temple entrance

One of the carving's faces still peeking through the roots that are taking over

The cool part about this is that you can climb and walk just about anywhere in these ruins

The trees are taking over the temple bit by bit

This just looks so awesome

Trip taking pictures of the ruins while I take pictures of Trip on the ruins :)

This is a video of some mine victims playing traditional Cambodian music while we were leaving Ta Prohm.

Trip holding up a crumbling doorway...so strong! ;)

There was a small building in Ta Prohm called the "Echo Room" where the men would go for a ritual.  They would beat their chests and the sound would resonate in the stones.  Our guide, Di, told us that this symbolized the prayer in your heart calling out to God.  The echo didn't work with clapping or shouting, only with hitting your chest.  This video kind of shows it, but unfortunately the background noise obscures some of the echo.

We actually went to another temple after this, but since this post is already way too long, I will save that for part 2.  Thanks to those who made it all the way through!  I will try not to be so long winded in the next half  :)