It's all happening so fast!

Today I feel really pregnant. Like I could feel my belly button trying to pop out. The Eve belly button may have been the ignorant bliss of a first time mom. :-)

We're starting to call daycares and pediatricians for interviews and I'm getting all the maternity leave ducks in a row at work. It's hard to believe that I could go out on leave in 6 weeks! Wild.

Messing with Strangers

So this whole pregnancy, I've been waiting for a stranger to ask me if I'm pregnant and tell them "no" just to have a laugh at their reaction. Up until yesterday, every stranger that asked me was so amazingly sweet I felt guilty playing a prank on them.

Yesterday, while in the free weights room at the gym, a big guy says to me as I'm walking out to another room, "So you're pregnant, right?" to which I respond, "Nope, just fat," and keep on walking. Two minutes later he walks into the room I'm in and says, "Are you for real, because I feel SOOOOO bad,". I laughed and told him that I was pregnant but I had been waiting for just such an occasion. :-) He was a good sport and chatted the rest of the time we were there.

I'm glad that I got to do it, doubt I'll ever do it again. Muuuhahahaha (maniacal laugh) :-).

11 more weeks to go!

Farewell my friend!

I've begun my long, drawn out goodbye to my friend the belly button. As you can see here, she is singing her swan song. I think it's going to go flat, so I'll look like Eve (bellybutton-less). At 28 weeks, I should be thankful that my friend the bellybutton hung out with me this long.

This weekend we went to childbirth class, a 2-day intensive course with 7 hours on Saturday and Sunday. I have to admit, I was looking forward to it as much as might anticipate traffic school, but it wasn't too bad. Our super energetic teacher kept our attention and we really enjoyed seeing the facilities at the hospital we'll be delivering at (and getting to know the route there) and learning more about birthing positions (I'll spare you the details). After 14 hours in a classroom this weekend, Brendt and I are very thankful for a long weekend to catch up!

Alls well!

I had my regular monthly doctor's appointment this morning and I got great news! My glucose test came back well within the safe level, so my doctor has ruled out gestational diabetes. We were prepared for whatever came, but it is a relief to know that the next few months don't have to be complicated by a restrictive diet.

Otherwise the doctor said that everything is looking great. I'm measuring right where I should and my weight gain has been healthy.

This weekend Brendt and I will be spending Saturday and Sunday at Mary Birch Hospital for Women where we will deliver FiFi/Filbert. Wish us luck! Right now I'm having a hard time thinking about sitting on the floor for hours on end. I might bring my beach chair instead.

3rd Trimester!

Well, we're in the final stretch now. Today begins the 3rd trimester. Its hard to believe that in 3 months our little Gideon will be here. Here is the belly shot on a beautiful day in San Diego. At least when the baby gets here there will be more interesting photos on this blog!

At work I actually put my maternity leave on the calendar which made it all very real. I'm planning on going out on April 25 if all goes well. On top of that my mom, Devrah, and Katie have both called to tell me when they plan on coming out for Fifi/Filbert's grand arrival.

This week we had our first event in a thusfar uneventful pregnancy. Last Friday I failed the 1 hour glucose test, one that tests for gestational diabetes. This one hour test is notorius for having false failure rates. The doctor then asked that I take take a 3 hour glucose test on Tuesday. This test involves a 12 hour fast followed by 4 blood draws over 3 hours after drinking a super sugary beverage. BLAH. Not fun. Just after my second blood draw I started feeling woosey and then vomitted. Game over. I couldn't finish the 3 hour test. Needless to say it's been pretty frustrating. The good news is that the results of the first 2 blood draws were normal. Today I'm back in the lab for another 1 hour test. Fingers crossed that all goes well and I'm hoping to get beyond this little bump in the road. Even if it comes back that I am diabetic, its not a huge suprise (lots of sugar problems on both sides of my family) and I can do any diet for 3 months.

Just a Rainy Super Bowl Sunday

We were hoping to get up and go walking to our favorite coffee shop this morning, but I think Mother Nature wants us to stay in and drink coffee at home. Its raining right now and the weather report has 80-100% chance of showers until about 9pm.

Here is a photo of Brendt and I before we went out for Film Club last night. We've been trying hard to do those things that will require a baby sitter after Fifi/Filbert arrives. This week it means that we've only eaten at home one night, and even that was leftovers. It has been fun and we've had a chance to catch up with a lot of friends.

So I think the 4th time is the charm with the tsoudeki! The 3rd time I forgot the mahlepi, but I feel like I got it right this last time. Good thing, because I think that the oh-so-hard-to-find-cake-yeast is starting to loose it's oomph. I'll try again in March.

While the cats are away

All senior management is away at an offsite today, so I arranged a pizza party for everyone else. This included a little creative party poses in our manager's offices. :-) We think we're funny.

The 100 Day Countdown!

It’s hard to believe, but we’re entering into the single digits for the arrival of Fifi/Filbert. It all still feels so very far away, even with the ever expanding belly. Brendt just keeps laughing and saying “You look so pregnant!,”. Things are coming together though. We’ve chosen a doula, signed up for child birth classes, set up most of the baby room, and started doing daycare research. As far as names, we’re starting to whittle down the list and start pairing first and middle names together. Somehow things will all come together.

I’m also trying to figure out if we can manage a long weekend away in the coming weeks. All will depend on how I’m feeling, but we’re hoping to have another few days of solo grown up time before this child makes his/her presence known.

Today we also said farewell to Katie Neuendorf who had been staying with us for 3 weeks. Last night we had a wonderful send off dinner for Katie at Lei Lounge (hooray for restaurant week!) along with our friends Lisa & Julie. It was really great getting to know her better and she was an easy house guest. She even made us dinner and played with the Westies! What more could we ask for? With any luck she and her husband George(my 2nd cousin) will be back in July of 2009 for her to do a fellowship at the San Diego Hospice.

Photo L to R: Lisa, Angie, Brendt, Katie, Julie

Tsoureki- Take 2

Ok, so here is my 2nd go at the Tsoureki.

I added 1/2 cup of sugar this time and it is pretty darned close. I think it could use a touch more sugar and a tad more mahlepi, but I was pretty pleased with this version. As you can see it is half eaten. Katie N. said that she thought I got it right. Brendt still said it needed more sugar. We'll do a side by side test on Friday to see what is the closest!

In Search of Yiayia's Tsoureki

Thinking of family legacy and stories, I find myself thinking a lot about some of the family recipes that I want to make sure live on. One of those recipes is my Yiayia's (grandma's) Easter Bread recipe, called tsoureki in Greek. Every year growing up, we would receive a huge box of these braided sweet breads. We gave a good number of them to local family and friends, but we would still be left with a good number of loaves for ourselves. I would cherish the morning treat of toasted tsoureki with a little pat of butter on it, for as long as as they lasted.

After my Yiayia passed away in 2000, my dad began shipping boxes of the bread that the ladies at his local church make as a fundraiser. Although I love getting these loaves in the mail too, I want to make sure that this recipe doesn't become a distant memory. So, I've started my charge to learn how to make tsoureki. Let me just start by saying, although I really enjoy cooking, yeast breads have always been a challenge for me. Maybe it is that I lack the patience to knead as much as I should, or maybe it is that truly great breads rely on commercial grade ingredients and ovens. Either way, if Yiayia could do it, I'm going to give a good ole Karnoupakis try!

Today I gave my first try with a recipe that my Nona (godmother) Debbie pointed me to. I managed to find the Mahelpi (a spice made from ground wild cherry seeds) easily enough, but it was the cake yeast that evaded me. No local grocers carried the compressed yeast, so I called speciality stores and finally resorted to calling bakeries to ask(ok, begging) if I could buy some of their stock off of them. Finally, our local Jewish Deli and Bakery, D.Z. Aikens allowed me to buy 1 lb (roughly 12x what my recipe called for). Just another reason to love that place.

Here it is. Looks pretty good, right? Well, the exterior texture is a little less soft than I remember, but the interior has the right chew and suppleness to it. Unfortunately, the 3 tbsp. of sugar it called for wasn't nearly enough. I should have known that Yiayia didn't stick to a recipe. She liked to cook "until it looked right", according to my mom. Brendt and I are estimating that I should increase the sugar to 1/2 cup. I'll keep you posted as to how many tries it takes me to get the recipe right.

Why We Blog

First things first, here is the most up to date belly shot, 25 weeks.

So I've been pondering what to blog about over the past week or so and have been coming up empty handed. Other than the constant baby motion, this leg of the pregnancy is pretty uneventful. I'm feeling great, my energy is high and I'm not too uncomfortable (yet). Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be boring in this way, but I am finding it hard to write something.

Yesterday while reading a new magazine I got, I found this wonderful article about why a woman blogs about her family "Confessions of a Mommy Blogger" http://http://wondertime.go.com/parent-to-parent/article/confession-mommy-blogger.html. Some women she spoke to talked about the connection, "Being a parent is so frustratingly difficult and blindingly beautiful at the same time. Blogs remind me to celebrate the beautiful and that I'm not alone in the difficult,", while others saw the long term humor in it all, "I do picture these kids in college, turning their blogged childhoods into a drinking game, 'Everyone whose mom wrote about their diaper leaking. . .CHUG!'". Either way, I find it a way to relate the real story (sometimes very real) of this adventure we've embarked on.

When Maya(my niece) was born, I realized the importance of being around for such momentous occasions. In the lobby of the hospital there was a rich library of family stories, just like these, that were told by Ryan & Monica's parents and sister. My hope is that although many of you may not be able to be with us at the hospital lobby (don't worry, I won't be there either) that these little musings might help you feel a little closer and jog your memories as to similar stories that you might want to share with us.

Belly Watch 2008!!!

A pregnant belly button is a freakish thing indeed. Mine is ever widening as you can see in this photo.

My high school freshman English teacher was pregnant and she used to say that there was a direct correlation between happiness and the quantity of belly button lint one carried around with them. More belly button lint= more happiness. Inversely, as her belly button expanded, she was increasingly cranky. Ok, so she was a kookie one, but it made us laugh. She also told us she was going to name her child Phlegm, the choice of her husband Bubba (all lies by the way).

Things are well here. We're enjoying having a short term (3 week) roommate in Katie Neubauer, my 2nd cousin's wife. She's a doctor and doing a rotation at San Diego Hospice. She's kept pretty busy at work, but is an easy houseguest, loves the dogs (a miracle really), and even cooks for us!

The Fun of a Registry

Last week we tackled the daunting task of registering. The monster of a store that is Babies R Us was pretty intimidating but with the help of Monica and Krissy, we managed to knock out our registry in one trip. They helped us decipher the 200 different types of bottles, told us which gadgets were lifesavers and which ones were a waste of time. Thank goodness! Because the ability for an industry to play on our fears and insecurities is never more evident than in the baby products industry. How did our parents and grandparents live without a wipe warmer!?

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a great holiday season. We got a ton done and was able to see most of the family. In the first week off we had Mom, Jim, Katie & Josh here. They worked for three days straight on various house projects, getting FiFi/Filbert's room ready and assembling the crib. I think a conservative estimate would say that they saved us about 8 weekends worth of work. I'll send some photos as the room shapes up. It was amazing to have them here for Christmas! We had a laugh playing Katie's new Wii and even took a walk on the beach on Christmas day.

The second week of our holiday vacation, we went to Tucson to visit the Gideon/Wilson clan. The highlight of the weekend was our niece Maya's baptism. She did great! It was a long service and she got water poured over her head, but she didn't even cry. What a trooper! All and all it was a beautiful day. Here is a photo of the Gideons and one happy Maya.

Later that afternoon we went to Rocky Point, Mexico with Ryan, Monica, Maya, cousin, grandparents and aunts to enjoy New Years at the Sea of Cortez. It was wonderful to be down by the sea, even though it was a bit chilly. We were amazed at how much the whole area had changed. What was once a quiet little get away, is now a bustling resort town. Here is a photo of Brendt and I on Sandy Beach in front of Aunt Dolores's condo.

Now we're back in San Diego, trying to get our lives in order before going back to work. We're also preparing for Katie Neundorf, my cousin's wife. She's going to be staying with us for 3 weeks while she does a rotation at a local hospital.

2008 here we come!

Dad Chimes In

Hey everyone, I thought that I would take a turn this week with notes from the Y zone. We had our first Christmas in San Diego since moving here nine years ago. We were visited by Angie's mother, step-dad, sister and brother in law. With their help, we now have nursery! Katie and Carol painted and built the furniture. We reorganized the garage and spare bedroom to make space, and finished in time for Christmas. Pictures will follow when the room is officially done.



I felt actual baby movement for the first time this week, so I know that the little bump around Angie's midsection is a baby and not just gas. I would say that I would have seen it at the ultrasound, but I spent most of that visit with my eyes close in an attempt to avoid seeing the baby's goods, which apparently he/she is more than happy to show- A LOT.



Christmas was great and we are so grateful for all of the help. Hope everyone's New Year is great, and I look forward to writing more blog posts in the coming months.



Daddy G

It's a . . .

BABY! Ok, lame joke, I know. But I had my ultrasound today. All went well. We managed to keep baby's gender a secret even though the wee one kicked off the the ultrasound with a his/her best spread eagle shot. Luckily we weren't looking, so the secret is still safe.

So here are the photos:

This one is the baby's face

This one is of Filbert/Fifi's tiny little feet

This one is a side view with an arm up

I had the coolest dream the other night. I had a dream that my belly was semi-translucent and that if the baby was turned a certain way, that I could see his/her face. It was the most beautiful little face! Sure beats my terrifying nightmares from a few weeks ago.

Can you believe we're almost 1/2 way there! See you in 20 more weeks precious baby!

It's been a busy day! First we had a doctor's appointment and then a doula interview. At the visit with the doctor, we immediately heard the baby's strong heartbeat and then it was suddenly gone. The doctor said that babies often don't like the sound of the doppler and move quickly to get away from the noise. It took the doctor a while to find the baby again, but we did. He/she moved from a few inches under my right ribs to way down by my left hip. Hope he/she doesn't get used to all that room. It will soon be cramped quarters. Speaking of not fitting, check out the last hurrah for these jeans. They will be soon retired to the pre-pregnancy clothing bin. Here I am at 19 weeks.

Next Tuesday is our big ultrasound. Stay tuned for new photos of Filbert/Fifi!

RSS Feed If you'd like to keep us with our blog through an RSS feed, click here

Subscribe to Gidepakis Family Blog

For those of you that are novices to an RSS feed (like me), you can drop a link into your Yahoo account, Internet Explorer, Outlook, Blackberry, etc, etc. That way you find out when something has changed on the site. Thanks to my geeky friend (not an insult to a techie) James for the idea. Not sure it is very important right now, but might keep you in the know when FiFi/Filbert decides to grace us with her/his presence. :-)

I wonder what the over/under on this gamble is!? I just found this website that guesses the baby's due date, gender, vital stats, etc. Sort of like an office pool, but with out the need to gamble on it. Feel free to join in the game!

More crazy dreams and Belly photo- 17 weeks So last night I dreamt that the family was all in Hawaii for some vacation. I was pregnant but yet I decided to go surfing, a hobby that I've hung up for the next 5+ months in real life. The water was warm but there was slushy ice in it and the waves broke well past the shoreline onto the street. Ahhh, the things this child is doing to my subconscious. :-)

Back to reality! . . .Here are my next belly photos. I'm noticing that my baby belly is no longer hiding away when I lay on my back, it stays in full view. Good times! I'm wearing my very slimming "Due in May" shirt. You might not notice I'm pregnant.

Until I give you the side view!

Yesterday I went to my twice a year dentist appointment. When it came time to leave, I went to make my next appointment, six months from now. That took me to 3 weeks after my due date. Crazy to think that by that time we'll have the little one here with us! Life is about to get very different.

Well, its been rainy here in SD today, so I went to prenatal yoga and we've been decorating the house for the holidays. They'll be here before we know it.