Kensington Palace, London Eye, and a Train to Cardiff

I woke up especially excited to go site-seeing on Friday, Dec 28 because we were going to see Kensington Palace where Queen Victoria was raised. Ever since I saw the movie, "Young Victoria" I have been a bit of a fan. Plus, who doesn't love most of the things that came out of the Victorian era?

Once again we hopped on the tube and then made a bit of a walk through the park where the palace is located. When it came into view, I tried to hide how giddy I was to be laying eyes on the palace.

In front of Kensington Palace

The Christmas tree in front of the palace

One thing that was kind of a letdown about this trip was how little everything was decorated for Christmas. Apparently loads of lights and decorations is a US thing. We thought London would be a site at Christmas with all the lights... too bad there really weren't any.

Queen Victoria's cradle and busts of her children

Prince Albert's uniform

A portrait of Queen Victoria

I seriously loved touring Kensington. There was only one section that was all about Queen Victoria, and then there were two others that showed the difference between the male and female quarters of the palace. Obviously the Victoria section was my favorite.

It wasn't until after I got home that my mom reminded me Kensington is also where Princess Diana lived, and where Kate and William currently reside. If I were royalty, I'd make Kensington my home too.

The rest of the day was really low key, much to Hubs' disappointment. We found lunch at an Italian restaurant, and then went back to the hotel for a nap. We spent the rest of that day just relaxing and watching American TV.

The next day was our last in London. We packed up our suitcases that morning and checked out of the hotel. We left our bags with the concierge while we did some final souvenir shopping and rode on the London Eye.

Hubs and Little Bean on the London Eye

It was raining that day (shocker), so we didn't get very good pictures from the London Eye

This was our hotel. Our room was located in the arch. (Marriott County Hall)

Not my best picture. I'm sure I was telling Little Bean to smile.

Big Ben, Little Bean, and Hubs

After the London Eye, we made our way to Paddington Station, grabbed some lunch, and then hopped on the train for a 2-hour ride to Cardiff. If I haven't said it before, Hubs gave Little Bean and I awesome Christmas presents for moments like this. We both watched movies and played games all the way to Cardiff.

When we got to Cardiff, we made a very long, arduous walk of five minutes from the train station to our hotel, which was visible from the train station. Honestly, we were really glad it was so close because we had six pieces of luggage.

We closed out the evening watching more American TV, eating candy, and just taking it easy. Perfect!

London Zoo and The Tower of London

We knew when we booked our trip to London that nothing would be open on Christmas day, including most restaurants. We did not, however, take into account that most attractions would also be closed on Boxing Day (does anyone even know what this day is? We asked a few people and no one knew). Luckily, one thing that was open was the London Zoo.

The zoo opened at 10:00 a.m., so Hubs wanted us up and going by 9:00. We walked over to a restaurant by the tube station and had a classic English breakfast. The part that was funnies to me was it came with what we Americans call "pork and beans." I knew it was going to be a long day with lots of walking, so I ate up most everything, including the beans.

After breakfast we walked to the tube station, only to find the train drivers were all on strike, so no trains were running that day. But Hubs, being the awesome planner and pro-vacationer that he is, knew we could take the bus. We walked a few blocks to the bus station and waited while every bus on the route but ours stopped at least once and sometimes twice before ours ever showed up.

The wait did give us a chance to snap this picture with the London Eye in the background.

Eventually we did make it to the zoo, after a bus ride and a long walk to the gates.

You wouldn't believe how much this picture cost us

Not the best picture, but the best we could get.

Creating her own animal

A real, live reindeer!

Penguins came to say hello!

A playground designed by kids for kids - or so the sign said

That  morning before leaving the hotel, we had asked to borrow an umbrella. The doorman told us in his fabulous cockney accent that we wouldn't need one because it wasn't going to rain that day. If only had had been right. It rained on us a lot that day. At lunch time we had seen most of the zoo, and only had a little bit left to go, so we sought refuge in the reptile house from the rain. As we made our way down the rows of lizards and snakes, I started to feel like I was some place familiar. I knew I had never been there before, so how could I recognize the python cage? Then I realized it is because that is where the had filmed the first Harry Potter.

We had a wonderful, full day at the zoo. By the end of it, we were ready to hop the bus back to our hotel where we could get warm and dry. Shortly after arriving back, we decided to go look for some dinner and found a noodle restaurant close to our hotel, so we got takeout and went back to the hotel to eat it. While the food tasted good, it smelled sooooo bad. I tolerated the smell as long as I could after we were done, and then packed up all of the leftovers and placed them in the hall, which mad Hubs and I laugh.

The next morning we hopped on the tube to go see The Tower of London. We had been telling Little Bean about it since we planned the trip. We told her it was a castle that had lots of jewels because that is where the Crown Jewels are housed. She was so excited.

Of course it rained all day that day, and we constantly asked ourselves if we had made the best decision to be at an outdoor attraction all day. We had borrowed an umbrella from the hotel that didn't last even long enough for us to get through the castle entrance because of the wind. But we endured, cold and wet, and enjoyed every bit of the castle we saw.

Little Bean in front of Tower of London (I obviously need to fix this picture)

Little Bean refuses to smile cute for or even look at the camera anymore

Exploring the Tower

"I love castles and jewels!"

The line in the picture is to see the Crown Jewels

Henry VIII's armor with XL cod piece

Just plain cute

On the castle wall in front of Tower Bridge

One thing I had forgotten about castles is that there are lots and lots of spiral stair cases with tiny stairs, and I do mean tiny. Hubs and I had been to London and even Tower of London back in the spring of 2007, so it wasn't news to me. However, doing stairs like that when 19-20 weeks pregnant is a task! I would run out of breath so fast, and those stairs would just go on and on and on. I was secretly glad whenever Little Bean would go up the stairs first because there were times I couldn't even keep pace with her.

Little Bean loved the crown jewels and not only couldn't get enough, she kept asking to see more the while trip. She kept asking if we could get some. I wish we could too.

We had talked about going to see a pirate ship across the river from Tower of London afterward, so we walked across the Tower Bridge in the rain and wind to go see it. When we got to the other side, Little Bean was done. She was cold and wet, and all she wanted to do was go back to the hotel. After all of the stairs I had done, I couldn't argue. All I wanted was a nice cup of hot chocolate, and to get my damp gloves off my hands and to where they could dry.

That night we walked along the River Thames to find something for dinner and ended up at a pretty tasty Italian restaurant. While we were there, I asked Hubs if he thought people in London earned the equivalent amount in salary after exchange as we did, or if they earned more. He found that he would actually make less in London after the conversion. What was sad, though, is he discovered I would make A LOT more. Even for where I am, I'm underpaid. But to find out how underpaid I am even by London standards was kind of depressing and almost makes me want to move to London. Ha!

In all reality, one of the things I discovered about myself this trip is that I really do love where I live. I've been saying it all along, but it was interesting to have that fact driven home after a vacation to such an amazing place. I love my wide open spaces with new architecture and the community we live in. I really am home where I belong.

Christmas in London

Wow, I can't believe I am finally getting to blog about Christmas in London! I say this because when Hubs asked me in spring of 2012 if I wanted to spend Christmas and New Years in London, I don't think either of us really thought it would happen. In fact, the night before we flew out, we talked about how surprised we were that we were actually going.

Because we planned to fly to the UK on December 23rd, we had Christmas a couple days early, on December 22. It was a pretty great Christmas. Little Bean got a Nabi, which is an Android tablet made especially for kids. Hubs had spent days loading it up with movies and games for Little Bean to play on the flights and during our trip to the UK. I have to say, it was an awesome present for her. It took her no time at all to figure out how to use it, and use it she did!

Hubs gave me a Kindle Fire, which I am definitely in love with. I have an iPad that I got from work, and after having it only a few months, I can honestly say I am glad its not mine, and that I didn't spend money on it. My Kindle, however, is a different story. Big fat puffy heart love it. I also bought myself a nice maternity coat that Little Bean "gave" me for Christmas. This also turned out to be an awesome buy for the trip.

On the evening of December 23, we hoped on a 9-hour flight from home to London. Thanks to being pregnant, not taking a nap that day, and running myself ragged, I was actually able to sleep most of the way to London. We had kept Little Bean up all day too, and she konked out an hour or so before I did. We got into the Heathrow airport around 8:30 in the morning UK time on Christmas Eve. Amazingly, I had zero swelling from the flight! I was amazed when I didn't have any difficulty at all getting my wedding ring off that night.

The first thing we did after riding the tube for what felt like forever, was take our bags to the hotel, and then go find some tasty pub food while we waited for our room. At the pub I got my first taste of bangers and mash and a scotch egg. The food was actually pretty good. Oddly, the scotch egg was cold, and both Hubs and I had expected it to be warm. We asked at the hotel later if it was supposed to served cold or warm, and we were told warm. I think it would have tasted better warm.

After lunch our room was ready, so we checked in, and we got spoiled with a room overlooking Big Ben.

This was our actual room view. Little Bean LOVED it! She would sit in the window every day and watch the people on the bridge and listen for the clock to chime. She would constantly say, "I just love London," while looking out the window.

She only knows how to give cheesy smiles anymore

I don't remember why we didn't go out and go site-seeing right away, but we didn't, so I ended up taking a nap. That night we went in pursuit of an Indian restaurant called Roti Chai we had seen on a food show. I was not disappointed in the food. After dinner, we went to visit a Winter Wonderland carnival that was kind of a disappointment, so we didn't stay long before hopping on a train and going back to the hotel.

On Christmas day we had a nice sleep in (11 hours), and then had a large lunch at a Cuban/Chinese fusion restaurant that cost a ridiculous amount of money (because it was Christmas). The one good thing was that the food was really good, and I mean really, really good. We knew that everything would be closed as far as sites and attractions, so the only thing we planned to do was the only thing we could do, take the Dickens walking tour. It was supposed to be a tour that took you around all of the place in London where Charles Dickens lived and that inspired his writing.

The tour started in Trafalgar square with the guide telling about Dickens' life.

During this time, Little Bean took the opportunity to chase a few pigeons.

We made it half way through the tour when all of the water I had drank at lunch caught up with me, and I had to pee so bad I could barely walk. I'm sure on a normal day the tour would have stopped by places with public loos, but because everything was closed, we had to abandon the tour to find a bathroom. However, this was not before we got to see the church where Chaucer himself was married.

That night we paid the high price to get internet in the hotel room and called friends and family via Skype to wish them all a merry Christmas. This was when we found out it had snowed back home. There have been two white Christmases since we moved here almost 5 years ago, and both of them have been when we were out of town.

After the phone calls had been made, we sat back and watched the Dr. Who Christmas special 6-7 hours before anyone else at home. There was something really cool about watching Dr. Who in London, and both Hubs and I enjoyed it immensely.

That night at bed time, I hooked up the Baby Plus for the first time with this pregnancy (if you don't know what that is and want to, you can either follow the link or google it). It made Sweet Pea (which is what I am calling the baby going forward) flip and jump, and for the first time this pregnancy, I saw my tummy jump and move when the baby did. Let me tell you, this baby is a mover and she is strong in every sense of the word.

That's all I want to write about tonight. Rest assured, there is much more to come. I am going to have to break the trip up into multiple posts because I want to remember it all, and it was a 13-day trip. For now, enjoy a few more pictures I took that day.

2012 in Review

I know this post is a bit late in coming, but I was out of the country with limited access to the internet from Christmas until well after New Years. I wanted to make sure I actually got the post in though because a LOT happened in our family this past year. So for my own records and your reading pleasure, here is 2012 in review for our family.

Road to Baby

• In January I underwent my second laparoscopy to see if we could figure out why I wasn't getting pregnant. My RE told my husband different and more information post-op than he told me in my follow-up appointment. This ended our relationship with him.
• In March I decided to find a new RE to get a second opinion and ensure my previous RE wasn't hiding anything, since we could already label him "negligent." This was when we found the fabulous Dr H.
• In May I underwent my third laparoscopy that lasted 3.5 hours, removed endo and scar tissue the previous RE did not.
• In June we did a cycle with chlomid and metformin.
• In July we were going to start an IUI cycle that got put on hold because our doctor was going to be out of town.
• In August we started a cycle with menopur and later opted to go forward with IUI. We were told the day of IUI not to get our hopes up because things didn't look good for us.
• On September 12, I saw two beautiful lines. EDD 5/20/13
• In December, we found out the baby is a girl.

Family Travels
This year was full of vacations for our little family. I guess you could say we instinctively knew we needed to get them in this year because we wouldn't get many in 2013.

•  May - We made our annual trip to Cancun, Mexico.
• July - We went to grandma and grandpa's for Independence Day.
• November - We went with all of my family (except grandpa because he wasn't feeling well) to Disneyland.
• December - We went to London for Christmas (got in on Christmas Eve), and then rang in the new year in Cardiff, Wales.
• Extras: I went on two business trips to CA, and made an additional trip home to visit my parents. 

In total, I made 7 trips this year. Yes, I was sick of flying by the end of the year.

As far as big things go, that's about it for us in 2012. I would say that is plenty for one year. It is nice that we finally had a good year after a couple of difficult ones. We had a lot of great things come out of 2012, and I pray that 2013 is even better with the addition of our new baby girl.

My Perfect Miracle

Today I had another anatomy scan with the high risk OB. Originally my OB wanted the high risk doctor to do the scan, but when she could do it, I was out of town, and when I could do it, she was out of town, so I scheduled the appointment with her associate. I asked my regular OB if she wanted to just do it at her office before we went out of town, and she said that was fine. I was going to cancel the high risk appointment, but after we had the gender scan at my OB's office, I decided to keep the high risk appointment because I didn't think my OB's sonographer checked the position of the placenta. I know, long story.

I am really glad I kept today's appointment for so many reasons. Our anatomy scan at my OB's office lasted about 15 minutes, today's lasted an hour. The high risk sonographer and doctor were very thorough and checked absolutely everything. I also got a CD of the sonogram, which included 4D, and 4D pictures of my precious baby girl's face. I cried when I got to see that sweet little face in 4D. Technology really is incredible! I would have posted pictures tonight, but I left them on my desk at work, so they will have to come in a later post.


When the doctor came in he told me I had a very interesting history, and I do. While he was performing his scan he told me that when he read my chart before coming in that he was really afraid for what he would find, and that when people with a history of accreta and rupture get pregnant, it is scary. But after taking a look at the baby and position of the placenta, he said he wasn't worried anymore. He said the placenta could not be in a better place than where it is, and that he expects the pregnancy will be as smooth from here on out as it has been so far.

I cried for a good 15-20 minutes after I left today from relief and because the appointment confirmed even further what a perfect miracle this little baby is. We were told not to get our hopes up that we would get pregnant, and then beat the odds, which was our first major hurdle. Then we had to hope and pray that the placenta grew as far away from the rupture repair site as possible, and it did.

This little girl is so amazing and strong already. We are so very blessed.

I also saw my OB yesterday, and she put in a request for a c-section date at 37 weeks. The best part is the baby will be born on my husband's birthday! I'm a little bummed my pregnancy will be cut short, but I'd rather have both the baby and I make it beyond her birthday.

This baby also just made her first international trip. We went to London and Wales for Christmas and New Years! I have been dying to blog about it since we booked the trip last spring, but I don't like to talk about vacations until we've returned home from them. Believe me, there are many posts to come about that trip, complete with awesome pictures.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday, and wish you all the best in 2013!

The Reveal!

When I first got pregnant, I had no feelings one way or another as to the gender of the baby. After a while I began to feel like it was probably a girl. As time I went on, I was more and more convinced it was a girl. But no one was more convinced than Little Bean, who has insisted since the day I told her she is going to be a big sister, that the baby is a girl.

I kind of hoped the baby was a boy because I would love to give my husband a son, and because all of the grandbabies on my side are girls (Little Bean is the only grandbaby on Hubs' side). I longed to bring the first boy into my side of the family, especially since this is it for us. We're not trying for any more babies after this.

The day after we got home from Disneyland last month we had our NT scan, which lasted about an hour and a half. The baby wouldn't sit still so the sonographer could get a good peak at the gender, still, she hazarded a guess at a girl and said she wouldn't tell the doctor to see what the doctor thought. When the doctor came in, she said she thought the baby was a boy, and she got a couple of really good shots to confirm her theory, shots the sonographer was unable to get. Even after the doctor was so sure the baby was a boy, I didn't want to start buying any baby gear yet, simply because sonographer thought the opposite. I had to be sure.

Funny enough, I cried for about two days after that appointment because I had gotten used to the idea of having another girl, so it was hard to change my way of thinking. Whenever I would tell people the doctor thought it was a boy, I would choke up. Not because I didn't want a boy, but because it just seemed so perfect.

Since that appointment, we have been telling people we think the baby is a boy, but that we weren't positive yet, so we were withholding confirmation of team blue.

But the anatomy scan and big reveal was today. I'm surprised I was able to sleep last night, because every time I thought about our appointment during this week, I would get butterflies in my tummy. I couldn't wait to find out!

But before I tell you what we're having, let's see the Belly Pic of the Week.

18 Weeks, 1 Day

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for... this baby is playing for....

TEAM PINK!

I have to admit, I was surprised. After our NT scan, I had gotten used to the idea of a little boy and pee pee tents and everything blue. But most of all, I had gotten used to the idea of bringing a son, grandson, and nephew into the family.

I asked the sonographer if she was sure about five times, and asked her to look again at least three. I know she hates people like me, but I had to be sure after our last appointment where we were told it was a boy. When she confirmed again and again, and told me she was almost 100% certain it was a girl, I started to cry. I was a little disappointed, and again, I had to change my way of thinking.

Now don't get me wrong, I am over the moon no matter what this baby is. I am so happy and excited that we are pregnant, and that we are FINALLY adding to our family. I am just so full of emotion, and going from girl to boy to girl is kind of a lot to take in. You get used to this idea of how your life is going to be with one gender, and then have to re-arrange it, which is a lot for a highly emotionally charged pregnant woman.

Just like after our NT scan, every time I told someone the gender of the baby today, I would choke up. It makes me laugh. When I checked out at the doctor's office, the receptionist congratulated me on a girl, and I just started bawling. It was quite comical. One would think I didn't want a girl, but again, the reality of the situation is it is a lot to take in and I am just so happy this baby is on its way into our arms.

I asked Hubs if he was happy, sad, or indifferent. He said indifferent. There were pros and cons to either gender. He did say he is disappointed for one reason though: we now have to come up with a middle name we can both agree on, which has been no easy task so far.

So we're having another girl! I really am excited and happy. I get to do pink and frilly and bows again. Little Bean has been ADAMANT that this baby is a girl, and she is having a sister. Turns out, she was right! She went with us today, and when I told her she was right, she ignored me, as if to say, "Well, yeah. Duh mom! I've been telling you that all along!"

I have been jonesing to buy this since we found out we were pregnant

but refrained until we knew the gender for sure. Today, I finally bought it!

A baby girl.... I am a happy mama with a happy little girl, all set to be the world's best big sister. It just doesn't get any better.

I Went Home

I thought it had only been a week since I posted, but apparently it has been two. Goodness the time flies.

Last Wednesday night after work, I flew home to spend some time with my dad before he went back in for surgery. I got the added bonus of spending time with all of my siblings for a couple of days. I spent some good, quality time talking with my dad and just being together, got chocolate from my favorite chocolatiers (and the best in the country), had tasty Chinese (because we don't have any around where I live for some reason), got to see the mountains, and even had a bit of snow.

The one downside to the trip is I can now tell you where I experienced the rudest TSA officers. I travel a lot, and have been through a lot of airports. When I asked to not be put through the full body scan, due to being 5 months pregnant, the agent acted like I was out of line. I told her there was no way I was putting my unborn baby through that scanner, so she made me stand aside until another agent could come give me a pat down. Luckily the officer who patted me down was very nice, but I still didn't appreciate having my time wasted.

I think the best part of my trip was when I showed my dad his pictures I had scanned in from his time in Australia back in the mid-60s. I had forgotten to take my thumb drive with me, but Hubs saved the day by getting the files to me. The look on my dad's face was priceless, and worth every second spent scanning over 300 slides. It was fun to look through them with him and see how many people and places he still remembered, even after all these years.

On the baby front, I finally found the heartbeat with my doppler! Last night I let Little Bean sleep with me, so she got a listen too, and she loved it. I had an OB appointment on Monday, and we scheduled the anatomy scan for next Thursday. We get to find out a bit early what we're having, and I'm excited. I wish we could have had a scan on Monday, since I'm supposed to get them monthly and my last one was over a month ago, but I suppose I have to take what I can get.

I have been getting weekly prenatal massages, which is always awesome. I plan on doing that all the way until this little one is born. I got nearly weekly massages when I was pregnant with Little Bean, so to me, there is no other way to fly.

As far as symptoms go, I have a lot of heartburn while sitting in any semi-reclined position, and especially when laying down. Just when I thought I was done with the achy hips, they have started back up again. The thing I love most is being able to really feel the baby move. The first night I found the heartbeat with my home doppler, the baby kicked the doppler so hard, my stomach actually moved. This baby is a strong one for sure! (And probably has lots of hair sprouting.)

I can't wait to find out for sure what we're having so I can actually start shopping. There are a couple of things I am jonesing to buy, but I can't get them until I know the baby's gender. Soon!