Thankful for: My Tribe Edition

  It’s without question that this past year has been one of the hardest years I’ve gone through in a very long time.  I won’t go into as much detail as some people would like me to (ya nosey), but I am going to state the big things I am extremely thankful for.  I learned a lot about myself.  I had to shatter myself to rebuild what I have now, almost destroying everything and everyone around me.  It’s without a doubt, that I appreciate everything I’m about to list.

God

  Around this time last year, I had been so lost.  I’d seen some of the darkest days of my adult life, where I was questioning my existence and whether it was worth it to keep pushing.  I doubted every glimmer of hope that I’d seen before and felt like I was right back at square one: age 16, depressed, lost, and misguided.  It took a lot of strength to reach out to an amazing (online!) community of women who were struggling through similar issues, and prayed for each other.  In the midst of it all, I found my way back, and he’s continuously shown me that my hard work and effort was worth it.

My husband

  It’s been a rough journey for my husband, and I commend him for all of his efforts in supporting me through whatever travesty I was experiencing.  It’s uncommon to find someone who will put up with the rollercoasters of life nowadays, and we were really pushed to the limits this past year.  We almost lost our way from each other, but we managed to come back stronger than we’ve ever been.  It was long conversations of what we wanted to work towards, and how we needed to work together if we were going to come out of it alive.  I really have been blessed with an amazing partner in life.

My fur babes, Okami and Okiharu

  I’ve already written so much on how Okami has really been a rock for me.  When they say that dogs are a (wo)man’s best friend, they weren’t lying.  Okami has always shown me love, no matter what is going on in my life.  Oki has brought a new energy to our home that’s really livened it up.  His personality is the complete opposite of Okami, in which he really enjoys playing with us.  No matter how long we’re gone, or if we lose our cool, they always greet us with excitement.  Most loyal pets I know. Except when Ami decides she wants to try and bolt, then it’s a different story.

Our Families

  It’s been really hard moving to yet another place without our family close by.  We’re very thankful for Facebook and Skype to connect us to our families in Asia and Europe during the holidays and during this pregnancy.  As we grow into our own cluster of a family, it’s nice to have the love from each of our parents and siblings.  We miss everyone and we can’t wait to see everyone once our bundle of joy appears!  Then our 2020 family adventure to Asia is going to be in the works to see extended family, <3

& Finally, my Baby Boi

  You are my light.  You are everything to me.  They say that having a child doesn’t “fix” things, and it doesn’t, but once I knew I had you in my life, I had another someone to live for.  I love that every day I can feel you grow and get stronger, waiting to come into this world with both fists up ready to take anything on.  I can’t wait to see what kind of boy you grow into, and I can’t wait to hold your hand through it all.  I love you so much, baby boi.  So, so, so, so much.

Thankful for: Photographer Edition

  Sean and I have been together for almost 6 years now, and we’ve had so many adventures all across the globe.  We’ve spent so much time apart in the 6 years we’ve been together, that pictures used to happen over SKYPE.  Our photos used to be screenshots of each other during a video call.  We would always take the time and effort to hire someone to take our photos during the times we were together.  So, I’m taking the time to really appreciate the ladies who have helped us keep the memories throughout the years during our biggest milestones.

Our Elopement by Carolina Segre – Copenhagen, Denmark

  I found Carolina from an extensive search through Instagram and Google.  It was my first time looking for a foreign photographer, and I was terrified I wouldn’t be successful due to the language barrier.  When I reached out to her, she was extremely easy to connect with.  Carolina’s work on Instagram captivated me, because you could see the realness it all of her photos.  When we met her on our wedding day, she was so easy going.  Everyone was so comfortable during the photo sessions, and all of the photos she captured were beautiful.  She really took her time to get intimate shots of our small ceremony, and we greatly appreciate it.  I think my favorite part of the shoot was when she pulled out a giant jumpsuit to get down & dirty into bushes to capture shots.  I was so surprised with how dedicated she was with her work.  Carolina also travels outside of Copenhagen to do photography, so you know that we’re going to be reaching out to her again when we’re back in Europe!

Location of Shoot: Ceremony at Rådhuspladsen (City Hall), Botanisk Have (Botanical Gardens) of Copenhagen

Our 1st Anniversary by Jas & Jules – Tacoma, Washington

  It was through one of my sorority sisters that I actually found Jas.  I saw her work of my soror and her boyfriend, and I immediately wanted to do another photoshoot with Sean.  When I reached out to her, I was talking to her from Germany, but the communication was still so easy!  Jules was actually also in Germany at the time, and I hadn’t found that out until the day of our shoot.  These two ladies are bada$s women, who take their work so seriously.  Just from following them on social media, you can tell that they pour every ounce of their souls into making sure they’re doing the best for their customers.  The one thing I really appreciated about Jas during out shoot was her patience with us when we asked for photos with our fur baby Okami.  Okami is not the easiest to photograph because she will literally turn away from any type of camera lens, but Jas was able to get us some amazing photos with Okami!

Location of Shoot: Fort Steilacoom Park, WA

Our Baby’s Announcement by Northern Lily Photography – Seoul, South Korea

  Michelle is SO understanding.  I have to start off with that because we had to reschedule due to so many weather warnings in South Korea, that when we finally met up, I was surprised.  This lady also puts her heart into her work, and you can tell because it seems like she’s pumping out all sorts of photos all hours of the day on her social media.  It makes you wonder how she has so much time to shoot and edit, but she does it!  Really, our day was just so special with her because we were all so high on life due to the fact that we found out we were pregnant, and this was going to be our baby’s first announcement to the world. 

Location of Shoot: Mulhyanggi Arboretum, Osan, South Korea

Our Maternity Shoot by Memories by Christine Mendoza – El Paso, Texas

  Our most recent photo shoot was with Christine and it was for our maternity shoot.  I connected with Christine through a Facebook group because I saw she had questions about living in Germany.  It wasn’t too long until I realized that she was the mastermind behind the beautiful photos I was seeing all over the El Paso Facebook page on business days.  Christine is a very down-to-earth, easy-going photographer.  She brought so many dresses for me to wear for the shoot which was nice because I didn’t have to go through the trouble of finding something to wear.  All of the work that she puts out looks amazing, and I’m sad that she’ll be gone when our baby arrives, but we’re so excited for her family to experience Europe!

Thank you to all the ladies that have given Sean and I beautiful memories to look back on during our time together.  These photos are going to be something that we cherish forever.

Location of Shoot: Red Sands, El Paso, Texas

A halfway there scare & our trip to the hospital

  I was ecstatic to be over the halfway hump because you could start seeing my halfway bump.  It didn’t last for very long though before I was scared something was wrong.  At 21 weeks, I started having severe sharp right flank pain followed by diffuse abdominal pain.  I was able to withstand it for one day at home.  I went to work the next day thinking that it was just gas pain, constipation, or simply baby trying to make room in my small torso for it to grow.  I did the most mom thing a girl could do, and I went to Facebook for Facebook answers from women who had gone through pregnancy.  They all agreed that it could be gas or constipation, but many still said to go get checked out.

  I said I’d wait.  I’m a nurse, and if you don’t already know, we make the worst patients.  We often wait too long to be seen, and when we are seen, we demand our care to be nothing less than stellar.  As I was driving home from work that night, I barely made it home without tears in my eyes.  I barely lifted myself out of the car and into the house.  I thought a shower and Tylenol would make a difference.  I tried simethicone and docusate to see if it would help kickstart things.  I knew it would take a few hours before I felt any different, so I told my husband we’d try to make it through the night.

  I got out of the shower and couldn’t stand up straight.  I cried, and I cried hard. The pain had become so unbearable that I had my husband stop everything he was doing so we could go to the hospital.  I was running through all the things it could be, right lower quadrant pain, guarding, tenderness… Appendicitis? Cholecystitis?  Where were my organs anyway now that my uterus was an inch above my navel? Do these normal signs and symptoms still apply to a pregnant lady?!  (You can see how nurses think, I guess.  Our minds are basically our own WebMD.)

If you have anything in your gut telling you to go get checked to make sure baby is okay, GO GET CHECKED. Don’t try to be strong because that’s how you were before you got pregnant. You’re not just thinking about you anymore, you have to think about baby. Follow your intuition as a mother and be safe!

  When I got to the Labor & Delivery unit, I was seen by an OBGYN and general surgery.  They wanted to rule out the two things I thought it could be.  They admitted me for observation and further testing.   They tried to get an MRI on me, but I couldn’t stand the procedure due to the pain.  I was so afraid of what the outcome could be, especially since I’m pregnant.  The worst possible scenarios kept playing through my mind.  Until we came to a conclusion after seeing an ultrasound showing that I have hydronephrosis.  Totally normal in pregnancy around this time due to the growth of the uterus and displacement of the ureters.  Unluckily for me, I had a little sprinkle of kidney stones.

  I’ve had kidney stones before.  They’re awful.  There’s some belief that passing kidney stones is just as painful as giving birth, just not as rewarding at the end.  I spent four days in the hospital for pain management and hydration to try and flush out the stones.  Nothing.  Just sediment accompanied by a lot of pain.  I asked to be discharged because I didn’t want to do the invasive procedures they were talking about, especially with baby on board.  So I’ve been on convalescent leave and I’ve been struggling with managing pain at home.  Being on oral pain medications, I’ve had to maintain a very strict schedule so I don’t become overwhelmed with pain.  I thought that I could wean myself off of my discharge medications, and that was the worst idea.  I didn’t sleep and neither did my husband.  The pain is still hard to control.  I can’t walk very far without my right flank feeling like I’m being shanked from the inside.

  As long as there’s nothing else wrong with me, I’ll power through this for baby.  We’re exhausted all of the time.  My movements throughout the house are very short and always take the breath out of me.  As if pregnancy wasn’t already getting harder with my growing belly.  But hey, I’m just taking it one pain pill at a time.

Trip To Busan | Our escape from the hustle and bustle of Seoul

Back in May, Sean and I decided to take a spontaneous weekend trip to Busan.  Busan is a city located on the southeastern part of the Korean peninsula.  It’s been popularly known for the zombie film Train to Busan, which I still have not seen.  We were going to take the train, but we like traveling with our car since it gives us a little more freedom with where we want to visit.  It’s about a 5-6 hour drive from Seoul, which isn’t bad considering the traffic getting out of Seoul.

  We stayed at Lotte hotel, which wasn’t bad because it was near so much stuff in the city already.  Outside of the hotel was two streets lined with street food carts.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try any because by the time we went out, everything was so busy.  We ended up eating Korean BBQ at a place near the hotel, and it was still so delicious.

  Honestly, it’s pretty hard to remember what we actually did in Busan since it’s been so long.  Our first stop was Taejongdae Cliffs. We didn’t spend too much time there because it was extremely hot, and I was no in the attire to climb any type of cliff. We took a walk along the pier, and then moved on with our tour of the city. Most of our morning we spent baking at Haeundae Beach.  It was a little strange for us at first because everyone that was there was covered head to toe.  We were a little hesitant to strip down to our bathing suits because we would be the only ones, but we did it anyways.  Asians are quite the opposite of Americans when it comes to tanning.  They admire porcelain white skin because it shows that you’ve got enough money not to work in the field all day (where you would get dark).  We’re obviously very Americanized Asians, haha.

  After trying to withstand the Korean heat, we packed up our things and went to Gamcheon Culture Village.  It’s a colorful village that sits on top of a hill where everyone goes to see the colorful houses of Busan that overlook the sea.  It was relatively crowded at the time that we went, but not so much where you were constantly bumping into people.  There are a few hidden alleyways that you can go up to get better views from the rooftops of the houses. Then for dinner, we decided to check out their massive fish market! We had absolutely no idea what we were looking for, so we chose a few fish and a live octopus and had it cooked for us. It took me a VERY long time to eat the octopus because it was still squirming on the plate! The crowd around us at the fish market was fun to watch. They ate everything. They ordered so much food, and they had A LOT of soju going around. It’s funny because it’s always groups of old people that go hiking, and then by mid-afternoon, they’re all drunk.

  We were extremely lucky that it didn’t rain on us during the one full day we had there.  Driving there and driving back to Seoul, we were traveling in downpour rain.  It definitely is a trip worth making if you have a free weekend in Korea and want to escape the hustle and bustle of Seoul!