Bump Watch Week 26

One month ago, at 22 weeks, I felt like I was blowing up:

In hindsight, I cannot believe that I thought that was "big." Here I am now at the end of 26 weeks, a few pounds heavier and 2 stretch marks later:

Baby girl is the size of an eggplant and weighs around 2 lbs. My stomach is supposed to look more like a soccer ball at this stage in the pregnancy, but it doesn't quite look like that to me. I'm definitely carrying wide, which I hear is common when you are having a girl. I'm also feeling more pregnant these days.  I can no longer use my ab muscles to lift me up and I find myself breathless after climbing a flight of stairs with Luca in tow. Pretty soon I will have to stop picking up Luca and carrying him like a baby:/

The good news is I finally got an appointment with the highly reputable Dr. Elsa! We met her earlier this week and she is by far the best doctor we've seen. She was so knowledgeable (and complimentary), which put us at ease right away. She works out of the hospital, so it will give us extra practice on driving there. (One of these days we'll get there without taking a wrong turn!)

The bad news is I recently found out I have gestational diabetes (GD). I was pretty upset to hear the news because I have no symptoms at all. Apparently Indian women have an increased risk. Regardless, it's a big deal in terms of the health of the baby, so I've got to monitor my levels from now on. I'm just praying that baby girl is healthy and she comes before November (I want her to be a Libra like daddy).

This news coupled with a few other factors have been throwing me off balance lately. I look in the mirror and I can hardly recognize myself. My hair is dyed black (promised Ram I would go au naturale when I became prego); I have a row of pimples that have taken permanent residence on my forehead (thank god for bangs); I have splotchy un-even skin on my face (thank god for make-up); and I have 2 large stretch marks despite lathering up with oil daily (stupid expensive oils are good for nothing). It's easy to sulk and get depressed over all of these things. But I just keep reminding myself that these "issues" are temporary and should be worn as a badge of honor.

At the end of the day, I really do love being pregnant and am in awe that I have the ability to create life. Being pregnant seems to agree with me: never have I been so even-tempered in my life! And this seems like a popular year to have a baby. Lots of celeb babies were born and a new heir for the Prince William and Princess Kate, 2013 rocks! Now we just need to find a way to send baby girl to school out wherever Prince George goes so he can fall in love with her! 

Afternoon Tea, Baby Aiyer style

On Saturday, July 13, Emily and Shilpi hosted my afternoon tea themed baby shower at Flora & Muse Cafe. We got off to a rocky start with the event coordinator but it ended up in a round of free drinks for my friends, so I guess it wasn't all bad:)

I ordered the decor from a store in the UK (thanks Nary) and it was just perfect. I'm planning on re-using the bunting for the baby's room and I'm sure it will come in handy again for her first birthday. I even found tea crackers! My friends definitely had fun with that.

Variety of teas

My pretty hosts:) 

Cracker fun:)

Ram came just in time to open the gifts, lol

I was so great to finally have some girl time. I really appreciated those that came from afar. Special shout out to Jillian who represented the 'Deen!

We got super cute presents and I just have to show y'all a few. This baby's wardrobe is already growing by leaps and bounds!

She's already got swim gear. Thanks Aunt Vicky! 

Her first designer clothing, the white onesies are from Diane Von Furstenburg's new baby line at Gap. Thanks Varsha, Nasreen, Monica, Sonar, Ami, Rachana & Ragini Masi's. I almost don't want her to wear them and get ruined!

The next day we took a 3 day mini-vacay to Vegas. It was a nice break from all the excitement and a chance for Ram and I to re-connect...with Encore that is:) People were skeptical when I mentioned we were going to Vegas but Encore was well ventilated and until 10pm, I had no issues with smoke. It was kinda hard though at night to see all the women dressed up in cute outfits, cocktail in hand. In hindsight, maybe Vegas was not great for my ego because I felt as big as a whale. But at the end of the day, I'm glad we went. We had a spa day, checked out some of the new restaurants at the hotel and saw the new Michael Jackson show at Mandalay Bay. IT WAS AWESOME. Baby girl was kicking the entire time. I think she's going to be a dancer. I highly recommend anyone going to Vegas to see the show, I really want to see it again!

Houston Recap: A Weekend of Celebrations

We took the long 16 hour journey back to Houston and landed on Independence Day. We had to get Taco Bell and some good home cooking from my mom outta the way before hitting the sack. I remember my head hitting the pillow as the sound of the first round of firecrackers lulled me to sleep. Jet lag is a b*tch y'all.

The next day, after devouring Whataburger breakfast taquitos, was the first of few days we knew we would have to ourselves. We had a big week ahead of us. Turns out, Baby Girl Aiyer is not the only new addition to the family this year...

Tuesday, my newly engaged sister arrived in town from NYC. First stop, Chuys, of course! (Gotta throw in all the delicious food we ate as much as possible!). After some shopping, we headed home to prepare for my brother's upcoming wedding. After what seemed like an eternity, my baby brother Kunal, and fiance Emily, finally set a date! We were thrilled that they decided to have a family only court marriage while we were in town. So on Thursday, July 11, 2013, I finally got a new sister-in-law. Emily was a glowing bride and my brother looked so proud and happy. It was a perfectly short and sweet ceremony followed by dinner and cake at Backstreet Cafe.  Click here to view pics.

The celebrations didn't end there. Late that night, my sister's fiance, Jake, flew in from NYC. Since we only had 2 short days with him in town, I wanted to plan a little engagement party for them the next day, which also happened to be my mom's birthday. So the whole time I was trying to get my family (minus Shilpi) on board to have a double celebration that night. I ordered a cake and everything. But my family was being unreasonably difficult and kept saying they wanted to celebrate them separately on Saturday night. I reminded them that my shower was Saturday and I wanted to keep the evening free to see my friends that came from out of town. I couldn't understand why they were insistent that we celebrate Saturday night instead and was very upset with them.

Come Friday afternoon, Ram, seeing my stubborness in high gear and still fighting to have a mini-celebration that night for my sister, decided to get me out of the house for a few hours. He said he was going to happy hour with friends and suggested that I come. Going to a happy hour while pregnant did not sound appealing to me but I figured it would get my mind off of things. Few hours later, we came back home for dinner and turns out, the surprise was on me. Apparently, our families planned a surprise baby shower for us with both sides present.  I was shocked. My mom was so sweet to share her birthday with her kiddos but I know she was in heaven with all the good news buzzing around. It was great to have the families together to share in our happiness.

Baby's first nursery book filled with everyone's well wishes. One of the many thoughtful gifts from family. 

Ram's cute niece and nephew

But I couldn't let the night end without celebrating my sister's engagement! It was great to hang out again with my soon to be brother-in-law:)

The happy couple! 

It was an exciting week but the fun was not over. The next day was my official baby shower and I can't wait to tell y'all about it!