6 month anniversary

It's been six months already since our wedding! I've learned a lot about how to be a good husband, and I'm so happy that I found the best wife ever. Looking through the wedding photos again, it seems like just yesterday... We've only just started our life together, but so far it is great!




And who could forget what a wonderful time we had at the wedding! It's still the talk of the town...



To celebrate our anniversary, we went to eat sushi a few days ago. It's funny because in Canada that's the one thing that everyone knows you're not supposed to eat when you're pregnant! But here in Vietnam and Japan, pregnant women eat sushi all the time... But I only allowed Thao to eat a little bit of sushi, and then she had her favorite fried fish.

So today we were getting the craving for sushi again, just when Thao's "Japanese daddy" said he would come over for a visit and make us sushi!



Here is the "sushi sweatshop" in action! Rice mixed with rice vinegar and sugar, cooked carrots, cucumber, egg, and raw salmon.




Put everything on the seaweed sushi paper, and carefully roll it up. The bamboo roller underneath lets you roll it and pack it tight.




The Sushi Sensei looks on as Thao carefully cuts the roll...




The finished product! Looks so good!




The big plate is for the "wrap it yourself" style sushi, and we also had some miso soup.




Mmmmm I could eat sushi all day!

16 weeks

Time for the 16 week ultrasound! We went to a different doctor this time, because he is supposed to be better at checking everything. I didn't like this doctor because:

1. We had to wait something like 2 hours
2. The photo isn't nearly as clear as the last one... You have to stand far away to see her face and hand
3. They didn't let me go inside to see the baby moving! :(

But everything is great, and baby Katie is growing up fast.


Due Date: Feb 28, 2010
Gestational Age: 16 weeks 1 day (since LMP)
Weight: 171g
Heartrate: 154 bpm
Mommy's weight: 51.5kg (+1.5 kg)




Here is a picture of how Katie will look when she is born! ;))




And this is a picture of our family in a few years! :)





One thing that is good about being pregnant is that you get to buy a whole new wardrobe! This is my favorite one, a nice silk dress. Thao is one sexy mama!




Wow! Look at that big belly! Here are some more picks where she shows off her baby bump...

12 weeks 1 day

Yesterday we went for the third ultrasound at 12 weeks. This time the baby was sleeping so we didn't get to see any movement, but the heartbeat was strong and everything checked out okay. And we found out........

It's a girl!!!

Just what I wanted! So many nice cute dresses to buy! :)

The doctor said the baby is a bit small, 23g when normally it is around 25g. But according to the growth charts on US websites, it is actually pretty big for 12 weeks. Maybe there is a difference between Vietnamese and Caucasian growing rates, or the baby is confused how fast she should grow! ;) But it doesn't really matter, since she will start to double in size every week for the next few weeks...

But now Thao is worried because for the past week she was feeling sick and could not eat any meat. Any kind of beef or chicken she just takes a bite and wants to vomit and has to spit it out. So we are trying to find other things for her to eat, like seafood, sneak some ground meat into porridge, etc. But she does take a pregnancy multivitamin and drinks "EnfaMama" milk.

Last night I called my parents to give them the good news! And mom had a great suggestion for a girl name... Since her parents are Kyle and Thao... K and T... K-T... Katie! Or if we give her the official name of Catherine, there are many short forms for her to choose: Cathy, Katie, Kate, Kat... We'll keep this name on the list of good suggestions :)


Due Date: Feb 28, 2010 (this changed since last time...)
Gestational Age: 12 weeks 1 day (since LMP)
Size: 56 mm
Weight: 23g
Heartrate: 154 bpm
Mommy's weight: 50kg (+2 kg)

Our new home

The lease was up on our old apartment, so we decided to move into Thao's apartment that she has owned for almost 10 years. It is a bit small, but she has great neighbours that always visit. You can always count on them to give you some eggs if you run out, or give you some fruit when they buy something at the market.

Here I look funny because I just woke up... And already the next door baby and grandmom came for a visit! :)




We spent a few days re-arranging furniture to get all the stuff from the old apartment to fit. As you can see, Thao's house is very decorated, and there isn't a bare spot on the wall anywhere to be found!

There are many differences living in Vietnam! For example, here you can sell your recycling for a bit of money, so many people ride around on bikes collecting cardboard. One lady came around, and Thao convinced her to clean the whole house, wash the floors by hand, and then take down big boxes of garbage down 4 floors... just so she can have our old moving boxes to sell! heheh




The walkway outside our front door. If we are home we just always keep the door open, because people like to come and chat chit :)




The next door baby and her big sister.




The baby is only 8 months, but loves to climb on our window like a little monkey!

9 weeks 3 days

We went for the second ultrasound today. Yes, it is a bit early, normally in the west people go at 8 weeks and 12 weeks. But Thao is always worried when she feels fine and worried that her belly seems smaller and worried that she has not gotten morning sickness and worried about everything... So we went to the clinic and of course everything is just fine!

It was such a wonderful feeling to see the baby move and listen to the heartbeat for the first time. Thao was crying, and I'll admit I got a bit misty eyed too! So many things to do to prepare for the new baby, luckily still 215 days :)

Due Date: March 5, 2010
Gestational Age: 9 weeks 3 days (since LMP)
Size: 25 mm
Heartrate: 180 bpm
Mommy's weight: 48kg (-1.5 kg)