A little excitement

Hey all!

A little update to fill you in on the excitement we had yesterday. Well I'd been feeling pretty cruddy (mainly a headache) for the past 3 days or so and yesterday we were all packed up and ready to spend a day at the Snoopy Museum for their 60 year anniversary celebration! But on our way I kept feeling worse and worse, until suddenly, I started throwing up. Which really put a damper in our day :P So we started to head back home and it happened again! Sheesh! So once we got home and I was thrown into bed Bill called the Dr. and they told us to come right in to get checked out. So after some last minute help from our awesome friend Johnny who came to watch Charlie for us we went in to the hospital which is also where the Dr. Office is and the maternity ward and all that. It's conveniently in one place (so handy!) They got me right in and it was pretty clear that it wasn't Preeclampsia (which is bad) which they thought it might be. My blood pressure is great, and the baby's heart beat is fantastic (the nurse saw the printout and said "now THAT'S a happy baby!") but after the urine test it became obvious that I was very dehydrated. So to make things go faster they hooked me up to an IV with some sugar water type stuff and I got to catch up on my magazine reading. Then after a while I was feeling MUCH better and I got to come home (hooray!) So I'm fine and the nurses told me that this happens a lot, especially to women that have young kiddos at home, and with all that's been going on with me lately it's no surprise at all. So things are good, baby is just fine, and I'm fine, just tired. But thank goodness I have an awesome hubby that took very good care of me all weekend :)

~Karen

29 Weeks! Are we there yet?

So things have been quite busy for the Drastal Family over the last few weeks. In a nutshell we have;
1. Become Google employees
2. Changed work offices
3. Moved

So busy is really an understatement for all that we've done in such a short time! But here's the long story for you;


First we heard the FABULOUS news that the company we work for got bought by Google! So we are now Google employees! Which is AWESOME! We get a ton of new perks including free breakfast and lunch (and the food amazing!) We also moved our offices into the San Francisco Google office which isn't that far away from where we were working. I really like our new office and me and Bill get to share a cubicle (they call them "pods") which comes complete with a huge bean bag! I still do the same schedule as I used to where I go into the office on Tuesdays but other than that I stay home with Charlie and work in the evening once Bill gets home. It works out really well for everyone. Although for a few days Charlie did have to go into daycare (which was free through Google, SCORE!) when we were doing Google orientations and Charlie LOVED it there! The first day when we came to pick him up he was sad to leave, and the second day he had a little buddy that was all excited that Charlie was there :) We thought about the idea of part time daycare for Charlie but it is quite expensive :P We only get a few free "drop in" days for daycare for free so it's not a regular thing. That's ok though because our usual schedule still works really well.




So during all this we got a weird notice posted to our front door saying that the house we were renting was in foreclosure and the bank was going to auction it off on Sept. 2. Well long story short we decided that that was motivation enough to get the heck out of dodge! We had options to see what the new owners, or the bank would do and wait until we got an eviction notice...or just move. So we moved. And the weekend we found out we went house hunting and found this great new place that we're now living in! It's not that far from our old place and it's in Daly City and it's literally down the street from the city of Brisbane, and San Francisco. So we didn't really move far at all. And there's FAR less fog! We can see the fog come rolling in and it goes right past us while we have blue skies! Yay!! It's also cheaper in rent than our old place, AND it has a yard! Charlie LOVES the yard he wants to go out there alllllll the time! We also have a small balcony upstairs that Charlie loves to hang out on. We really love it. And thanks to our awesome work friends, a Uhaul, and a couple of moving helpers we hired it was the easiest move we've ever done! Now we just have to unpack....ugh.


Then during everything I also had a Dr. appointment. And everything is wonderful! The Dr. says I'm as healthy as a horse and everything is normal! Chloe is kicking up a storm now-a-days and I'm now entering that crazy uncomfortable time again :P but the heartburn isn't nearly as bad as when I had Charlie, but she really loves to sit on my bladder which isn't so fun. And I think she's either got her feet or her arms by my ribs because she really kicks me far up there in my rib cage which is a crazy feeling. And I'm always tired. I feel like I can't sleep enough! But there's only 75 days to go!! Hooray!!! And right around the corner is the baby shower/family reunion is Reno!!! Can't wait!!!

Until next time!

~Karen

24 weeks going strong!

Hi all!!

So I just had a doctor's appointment and everything is great! My doctor refers to the baby's heart beat as a good "gallop" :) and things are progressing well! I've officially reached the comfortable (if you can call it that) part now so I'm relatively not that uncomfortable! I'm enjoying it while I can. I've also began feeling some pretty good kicking now! It started as small little kicks at about 18 weeks and now it's progressed to some good jabs :) And while with Charlie his kicks were mostly at night and fairly low, her kicks are all over the place and any time of day! The heartburn has subsided and I haven't had any headaches for a while now. Things are good :)

We just got back from a fun vacation down to San Diego for Comic Con! We all had a fantastic time! Charlie had a great time running around the floor and getting his very own badge! He also loved exploring a new place and having some good Grandma times :) The day we arrived he got to see both Grandma's and he got SO excited he could hardly contain himself!! It was adorable :) I also enjoyed the sunny warm weather which was GREAT! Except I found out that the heat also triggered my ankles to swell (boo!) but since we've returned to cold and foggy San Francisco my ankles have returned to normal. So I'm trying to see the bright side of a sun-free summer :P

Sadly though we brought back a cold from San Diego too :P But it's just a standard cold and we're all sniffly around here but otherwise doing good :) Hopefully soon the snotty noses will clear up and we can get back to having more adventures.
Charlie is really growing up fast and some of his favorite things to do are draw (he's even starting to hold crayons the right way like a big boy!) playing with his toys (he loves to figure out how things work!) and spinning around on his bouncy pony toy until he gets dizzy (it's so cute to see him get off the pony and try to keep his balance! I guess he thinks it's fun because he keeps doing it!) and he also loves to sing now too! Although he doesn't sing the words right he loves to try to do the motions to "Itsy bitsy spider" and other songs we sing at story time :) Sometimes he even enjoys "Charlie time" where he sits and plays in his room and doesn't want to be bugged. And when I call to him and ask "Are you ok?" He calls back with an "OK!" to let me know things are good :) I love it!!

So other than the collection of snot rags we have hanging out around here things are great!! Here's some pictures from our recent Comic Con trip!

Charlie being a big boy with his own Comic Con badge!


It's us :)

Charlie has discovered the amazing fun that comes with an empty box!

Charlie being a panda :)

Until next time!

~Karen, Bill and Charlie

Some more updates!

So after talking with some people I realize I haven't really updated everything :) So here we go, a little Q&A about how things are going on with Baby #2

Q. How do you feel about having a girl?
A. Excited! This will be a fun experience :) Both Bill and I are super excited to try things out with a girl this time. And we're sure that Charlie will be a GREAT big brother to a little sister :) And we have a ton of girl clothes from my sister when she had Maggie so either way we were set!

Q. How are you feeling?
A. MUCH better than I was! I'm so glad the morning sickness has passed! But now I'm hungry like crazy and SO tired, and my back hurts too!! It's either one extreme or another it seems. I have had some bouts with heartburn though, which isn't fun at all. But what is fun is that my ankles aren't swelling like they did with Charlie! Woohoo! But I know the swelling may come later. But I'm enjoying it for now :)

Q. Are you showing?
A. Not much really. Bill says I'm showing more than when I had Charlie. But I'm still at that stage where unless I'm wearing a maternity shirt then someone just looking at me wouldn't really know if I was pregnant or just ate a lot at lunch ;)

Q. How's Charlie doing?
A. GREAT! He's such a great little guy :) He loves to draw and to run around and kick or throw the ball around. But his biggest love is with books, either looking at them himself or having us reading to him he loves books of all kinds. He's also doing great with pointing to different things when we ask. We finally got all of his space stuff put up in his room and he loves to point out the planets and the rocket ship :) It's so much fun :)

So there you go! An update to an update :D

Until next time!

~Karen

IT'S A GIRL!!

That's right! We found out that Charlie is going to have a little sister!! We're so excited! And our appointment today makes for a pretty good story :)

So we get to the place where they do the ultrasounds and I'm an anxious wreck. Not nervous but the kind of anxious where you know something exciting is coming and you don't like to wait. Like on Christmas Eve or the night before going to Disneyland. Well they take us back and the technician starts doing his thing looking at the baby, measuring the head and taking different pictures and all that standard stuff. The whole time I'm trying to get a look and see if there's any "goods" or not :) And no dice. She's being shy. Apparently she was all curled up in a corner with her legs crossed and her arms over her face. The technician tried different angles and gives it a few goes and he says he has no idea because she's just too curled up. So he says he'll show the Doctor his pictures and then maybe the Dr. will give it a go and see if he can find out. So we wait....what felt like an eternity....and the Doctor came in and said everything health and size wise on the baby looks great and he says he'll try to see the gender. I've already given up on finding out this visit and in my mind I'm planning one of those 4D ultrasounds because I'm finding out dang it!! Well low and behold he turns on the machine and he says "Oop! You ready to find out?" And I do everything I can not to explode "YES!!! TELL ME ALREADY!" And he says we're having a girl! And then I did explode because I finally knew! And for the rest of the day we've been soaking the news in. And the more we think about it the more excited we get because we think Charlie is going to be a great big brother to a little sister :) Good times are ahead for sure!!! As for names we're throwing around some possibilities but our favorite so far is Chloe Elizabeth. Here's some ultrasound pictures to check out;


Thumbs up!

Crazy view of her skull and hand

Her leg!

Until next time!!

~Karen, Bill & Charlie

Almost 16 weeks. Chugging right along!

Hey all,

So things are still moving right along. I had a doctor appointment about a week ago. Everything looks great! The heart rate sounds perfect although when the doctor was trying to listen the baby rolled over which made it like a scavenger hunt to find the heart beat again. Such a shy baby :) As for me I've been feeling better than I was before, but still not great :P During the day I feel pretty good but at night I get all tired and gross feeling and usually camp out on the couch. But I can eat more now and don't feel as nauseous as before. Hooray! And for more exciting news we have the ultrasound scheduled to find out if we're having a boy or a girl! We couldn't wait, we want to find out :) So stay tuned because on June 29th we'll find out!

As for Charlie he's such a great little buddy :) He's really getting good at pointing things out when we ask, I was especially surprised when we asked "where's the ceiling?" And he pointed right up! Such a smart boy! :)


Until next time!

~Karen, Bill and Charlie

Ultrasound take 2!

So since we were off with the due date at the first time around, they wanted to take a look again 2 weeks later when the baby was bigger. So this morning we got even more ultrasound pictures! Yay! And it's crazy how much bigger the baby has gotten in only a couple of weeks! From 1.5 inches to 4 inches! And the baby was bouncing around and moving and it even swallowed! Bill thinks the baby already looks like me and he thinks he or she might have the signature big bottom lip :) As for the baby everything looks wonderful! Things are formed like they should and nothing looks out of the ordinary at all! We'll get another ultrasound around 20 weeks or so (and I think that's when we find out if it's a boy or a girl!)

Hello baby Drastal! Look at those tiny arms and legs!


A tiny little foot!

They even took a 3D picture! The head is on the top there at a 3/4 view. And you can see the torso and arms!

The due date is still at November 19th for now! And I'm still feeling pretty sick a lot. It seems like every evening I feel awful and I even still have whole days when I feel gross :P I won't miss this stage at all!!

Well I have a doctor's appointment in a couple of weeks so I'll be sure to update you then!!

~Karen