Maternity Leave & eating

So on my last day of work, my coworkers threw me a little party and ordered cake and pizza and got me gifts and everything. I was really not expecting it!! Actually I was just thinking of quietly parting ways and not sure if I'd be coming back... but now it makes it hard not to go back. I really used to think the culture here was so cold and everyone is just so absorbed in their own work... but I guess I was wrong! I was actually feeling kinda upset though cause I had to deal with an unannounced audit on my birthday too, right before my leave. I was so happy I got pregnant around this time cause I thought for sure I'd miss this audit (and I was thankful cause I'd dealt with this auditor before at my previous workplace and I absolutely hated her guts) but little did I know she just decided to show up super early... Anyway I'm glad that's all over now!

I really had no idea that the team would do this for lil old me...and I had already finished my lunch! I mostly keep to myself at work. I didn't eat any of the cake and took it home for Fred, though I ended up eating most of it at home haha...

And I forgot to include a pic, but Fred surprised me by taking me out to dinner at Watercolour on my birthday in Unionville (where we went on our first date and where he proposed to me). It was such a delightful dining experience and was really memorable. It definitely made up for the shitty day I had dealing with the audit two days in a row! And I got to eat wagyu steak!! I'm feeding bb too well...

Speaking of feeding, this is kinda what my meals look like now... my diet food. We did learn how to make mac & cheese and properly cook chicken breasts now... but yeah so far I've been staying within my recommended ranges and bb is still gaining weight so I don't need to take insulin shots or anything, for now... She's measuring small in terms of percentile from the ultrasound measurements (I'm getting extra scans now cause of this so... yay?) but my OB says she's normal weight. I'm low key terrified of birthing a big baby though thanks to my MIL trauma dumping on me cause of how big Fred was at birth so... yeah.

My mom had some time off too finally so I took my parents to Linh Ahn for Vietnamese food. I ordered the vermicelli bowl for the first time (I usually just get a soup noodle) and was shocked at how big it was!! The pork had such a nice smoky flavour that I never experienced anywhere else before. I loved the texture of the vermicelli noodles too, they were thin and soft and soaked up all the meat juices. My only complaint was that it had too many bean sprouts... and that's why it looked big at first. We also ordered some spring rolls and damn, those were so good too! We came shortly after they opened on a week day and it definitely was the right time because they were packed by noon. Everyone was impressed and really enjoyed the food, so I'm glad.

Fred & I went out for brunch after running errands and before my ultrasound appointment. We wanted to try a new place that we had never been to and we somehow ended up back at Unionville at a cozy cafe called Espresso 21. Their drinks and brunch food were pretty decent! And it was really quiet and intimate. The chairs were really comfy. And that's all for this post... now it's crunch time before baby comes and I'm trying to get as much things done as I can!