Two Months With Baby Joaquin

My little baby is a whole two months old this week. I can't believe it's already two months, but I can't believe it's only been two months. Know what I mean? Joaquin is growing so fast and when I say fast, I mean chubby. We have his two month check up this week so we'll see how many pounds he's packed on. I'm guessing he's around 13-15 pounds. He's a chunkers and I just love his jiggly legs that look like they have rubber bands all up and down them and his chubby cheeks that I can't stop kissing. He's eating a whopping 4 oz of breast milk or formula each feeding and any less he screams like...well, a baby.

 

Another fav of mine is hearing him coo and ahh throughout the day. Sometimes I'll even get a loud ahh like he's trying to establish his roar as a human being. Primetime for chats and smiles is morning time and it really takes the edge off of my zombie-mommy state. He is a better conversationalist than a lot of people I've encountered and I can just googoo and gaagaa with him all day! It literally melts my heart every time.

And the question on every one's mind, how is baby boy sleeping? I feel so blessed that he is slowly but surely sleeping longer stretches of time during the nights. Since Week 2, we tried establishing a bedtime routine. I knew he wouldn't follow it just yet, but I wanted to create it early on so that all three of us could get used to some kind of bedtime routine.

His Bedtime Routine: We feed him his dinner anywhere from 7:00-9:00 pm depending on when he's hungry. On some nights, we will give him a warm bath and a lotion/baby oil massage. Most of the time he digs his baths but there are certainly those times where he screams his head off, particularly when it's time to rinse his hair. Then, I swaddle him tightly and rock him to sleep in the rocking chair while Hubby reads a bedtime story. We put on the sound machine (Joaquin enjoys the "crashing waves" channel) and he'll either fall right to sleep or he'll wiggle like a worm for about a minute and then fall asleep. He'll wake up around 1:00 or 2:00 am to eat, fall right to sleep and wake up again at around 4:00 or 5:00 am to eat again and try to chat it up, then fall asleep. I don't give in to playing with him at that hour because one, I'm half asleep, and two, I don't want him to think it's play time. He'll sleep again until about 7:00 am and that's when our day officially begins. He's a good napper as well, which has allowed me to nap, clean, or blog during the day. I'm one lucky momma! ::knock on wood::

As for me, the first month was definitely trying and was filled with hormone imbalances, c-section recovery, the lack of sleep, and my battle with breastfeeding. I felt so guilty that I wasn't "loving it" like people expected me to....like I expected to. My mommy friends reassured me that what I  was feeling was normal. The Baby Blues came and went.

But I'm so excited to report that most of that has passed and I truly, wholeheartedly love it. I love my little baby boy to pieces and I just love being a mother. Sure, there is still the lack of sleep (oh, how I miss sleep!), the hormone imbalances (sorry, Hubby), and my battle with breastfeeding pumping, but when I see my little Joaquin smile at me, my heart just melts to the floor. The good moments with my son outweigh the bad. I don't even mind poopy diapers...that has to say something!

As for my body, I am amazed at how resilient it truly is. I mean, don't get me wrong, I still have a few stretch marks, a very ugly c-section scar, and flab in some places I've never had before, but for the most part I am back to normal. My pre-pregnancy weight was about 130 lbs and while I was pregnant, I ate everything in sight and swelled so much from the summer heat that I gained 50+ lbs putting me at about 180 lbs. Right now, I am down to 145 lbs thanks to breastfeeding, my mother's genes, and not having much of an appetite. I've taken a few walks and plan to start some strength training soon. I don't care about losing all the weight, but I want to be fit and strong.

Before. During. After

     

Overall, things are amazing. My son is amazing. My husband is amazing. My dog is amazing. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

10 Months of Pregnancy?

So how come nobody told me that you can technically be  pregnant for 10 whole months? I think someone mentioned it to me but I thought they were cracking a joke.

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How come nobody told me NOT to be pregnant in the summer? I think there should be a law prohibiting women  from being in their third trimester during a heat wave. The swelling, the hot flashes, the uncomfortable belly band sticking to your outtie of the bellybutton....I am shocked I haven't killed someone by now.

How come nobody told me to stay away from the LA County fair? Between the ridiculously large and in charge corn dog I stuffed into my mouth and the kettle corn I shoveled into my pie hole, I would be flabbergasted if my poor baby didn't come out weighting enough to get us into the Guinness Book of World Records.

How come my fear of labor and delivery is taking over my life? Between the episiotomy talk and the risk of baby swallowing his or her own poop on the way out, I'm thinking that Baby will have to live inside Mama's womb for the rest of his life. I have a million other fears but for some reason those popped out first.

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I am in the stage of my pregnancy where I feel pretty miserable. I am the frazzled, waddling, swollen, angry pregnant woman who is crying in pain day after day. The only thing that cheers me up besides ice cream, is the thought of holding my sweet Baby in my arms and laughing at these days of uncomfortableness. I realize that I'm truly blessed and have a miracle inside of me. As I type this, all the feelings of fear, anger, and pain melt away. I can do this.

Look how much I've grown!!

How far along? 34 weeks which is about 8 1/2 months. Whoa.  

Maternity clothes? If I could, I would live in my yoga pants. I haven't mustard up the courage to wear them to work though.

Stretch marks? I am up to 3 whole squiggly lines on my ever growing hips. I feel like a woman.

Sleep: I'm knocking out hard at first then waking up several times during the night. This is making for hard mornings. Gotta get used to it right?

Best moment this week: Taking my maternity pictures with the AMAZING Eddie and one of my favorite people in the whole wide world Nancy! Can't wait to post their amazing work.

Miss Anything? Being able to move.

Movement: All day every day, Baby is on the move!

Food cravings: If it's bad for me... I'm craving it.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Eating all the bad food...yet it doesn't stop me. Shame.

Gender predictions: I'm getting more predictions that it's a girl. Hubby had another dream it was a girl, too.

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks are starting to roll in.

Symptoms: Swelling and itchy feet, fatigue, and mood swings.

Belly Button in or out? Out

Wedding rings on or off? Off

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody and stressed from work If you can't already tell, I was crying before I took this picture. Probably at something really stupid, too like..... I can't see my toes anymore.

Looking forward to: Our baby showers! So excited to spend time with friends and family and to Ooo and Ahhh and cute things for Baby.

30 Weeks and How I Broke the News to Family

Don't worry, we didn't wait until 30 weeks to tell our parentals. It just took me 30 weeks to tell this story. I'm so timely, aren't I?

When hubster and I found out we were expecting, many emotions swirled in my worried little head. For awhile there, all I could think about was the chance of miscarrying. I just thought this was too good to be true. I'm a worry wart in that way. This worrisome thought made me question how long I really wanted to wait to tell the people that were close to me. On one hand, I didn't want to tell my family the news just in case something were to go wrong, but on the other, I would need their support and I would WANT their support if something did. So, we decided to go ahead and tell them. I wanted all the love I could get at that moment.

The Set-up: Sergio and I decided we would tell our families over a fancy dinner at one of our favorite places, Panda Inn. (Their Honey Walnut Shrimp is Orgasmic.) It isn't uncommon for our families to meet together for dinner a few times a year, so they didn't really suspect much. We had to tell my brother on another night because he was working. Boo, responsibilities.

The Props: For our mothers, we placed two pacifiers in ring boxes. Who would ever think that anything but jewelry would be in those purdy velvety boxes? They sure didn't. For the dads and siblings, we found cute bibs to gift to them. For Sebby, we bought him a toy that he would later be able to play with his first cousin. We presented each gift in a fancy $1 Target gift bag.

The big happy moment: Before the wonton soup was served, we thanked our families for coming and began to thank our parents for all the love and support they gave us through the years. We told our families that to show our appreciation, we bought them gifts. To throw them for a loop, we told them that they couldn't say that the presents were too expensive and we said these gifts couldn't be returned.

Our moms opened their ring boxes first and to my surprise, my mom started jumping up and down and screamed like a little girl. (I didn't expect her to scream) My MIL cried sweet tears of joy.

Our dads and siblings all beamed with happiness and showered us with hugs.

And Sebby didn't know what to make of the scary fact that a baby was in my belly. We tried explaining it to him in all sorts of ways, then he got distracted with the toy.

Then the Honey Walnut Shrimp was served and I got distracted.... it was a perfect night.

About a month or two later, we told some of Sergio's family via prayer before a dinner one night. Hubby volunteered to say grace and slipped in a special shout out to the Man above for blessing us with a baby. Everyone was squealing with happiness. We couldn't be more blessed.

30 Weeks....Wowza

How far along? 30 weeks. 6-10 more weeks left! Maybe I should pack the hospital bag soon.

Total weight gain: 35+ pounds. I am shameful.

Maternity clothes? My work attire consists of the same 2 pair of work pants, leggings, and jeans with any top that is willing to fit my growing belly. I finally invested in some good work shoes, too.

Stretch marks? I Heart my Burt's Bees Belly Butter

Sleep: Backaches and heartburn is keeping me up all night.

Best moment this week: Getting my new shoes in the mail. I can wear something other than flip flops now. This is big news for my kankles!

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my back, having energy, my ankles, and NOT being swollen.

Movement: Some days Baby is active.

Food cravings: Sees Chocolates and pancakes. Not together, but that's a great idea!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing at the moment
Gender predictions: Even though everyone says boy, I feel like it's a girl.

Labor Signs: Not yet

Symptoms: Major swelling in my legs still, constipation from my Iron supplements (whoo hoo.), moodiness, and major fatigue.

Belly Button in or out? Out

Wedding rings on or off? Off

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody and stressed from work

Looking forward to: This weekend. Hubby and I are going to stay with my parents and my mom said she'll pamper me so I can relax and de-stress. How awesome is she? She already took my order for what I want to eat!

Teacher Talk Tuesday: Back to Cool and Not So Cool School

It's that time of year again, the first day of school. Ahhh, the smell of new backpacks, freshly sharpened pencils, and fresh new kicks. It's exciting for both students and teachers.

Sure I am sad as hell that summer has come and gone, but it is nice to have a routine again. I've been a lazy lump of fat all summer and now it's time to get movin' and groovin'. Unfortunately, this does not agree with the swelling in my legs.

I tried to wear shoes but apparently my fat trunks don't fit anymore. So I am still rockin' my flip flops. Can you tell by the dirty tops that I've been wearing them too much? And are you judging me for being disgusting and showing you such a picture? Apologies.

Another enemy of mine is the heat. God help me. 104 degrees of butt ass heat all week. Hormones plus heat equals the death of me. Remind me to not to be pregnant during the hottest months of the year. Thank God for making these little tiny fans. I am so in love with this thing because it keeps me so comfy! And might I say yellow keeps a fellow happy at work!

Then there are these ants. Lots and lots of ants. My classroom is literally built on an ant mountain, freakin' The Andes of the ant colony I'm sure. All the classrooms in my building are infested. This is not pleasant. I especially love when they are crawling on my face while I'm trying to teach a lesson on the importance of being a responsible student. Luckily, I don't feel that bad for killing all of them and even wishing heartache to their little ant families at home.

As for my students, they are what we call Sweet and Lows. I teach the remedial math and reading class for the language learners so it was expected, but this year will definitely be a challenge. Nevertheless, they are darlings and nothing I can't handle. I showed em' who's boss.

And if all else fails, I'll just rub my belly and turn my pregnancy hormones up a notch or two and let them feel the wrath of a pregnant woman. I keed... I would never do that...play up my pain for sympathy....yes, but be a crazy biotch...no.

It's going to be a good year. I can feel it!

Yipee! Trimester Three!

Can my cheeks BE any bigger? Let's hope not.

How far along? 27 weeks. Some sites say I'm in my third trimester. WHOA!

Total weight gain: Not gonna tell!

Maternity clothes? Found some great work capris at Gap Maternity for $14. I will be wearing them everyday. Think my students will notice?

Stretch marks? Still rubbing on my Belly Butter and it's working like a charm.

Sleep: Sleep is good. Taking longer and deeper naps which is bad considering I go back to work next week. I will miss you, Naps!

Best moment this week: Getting my haircut. The heat is not my friend so getting the hair away from my neck is a dream!

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my back, sushi, and fitting into my old pants.

Movement: Baby is kicking, flipping, and hiccuping a lot still. 

Food cravings: Veggies! This is great. Hopefully I wont back on too much more weight.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing at the moment
Gender predictions: This week I've been getting a lot of people saying it's a boy.

Labor Signs: I think I had some Braxton Hicks this week. Not sure.

Symptoms: Major swelling in my legs. Had to go to the hospital. No fun.

Belly Button in or out? Half flat and half out. It's a Floutie!

Wedding rings on or off? Rockin' my 1.5 carat of fakeness. I miss my real rings.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy with a chance of moody. Depends on the day. 

Looking forward to: I'm not sure at the moment but I'm NOT looking forward to going back to work with this heat wave.

 

I've been swollen. Can you tell? No like REALLY swollen. This heat has caused my legs and ankles to swell up real good. This week it got pretty scary because only one leg decided to swell, which is dangerous sometimes. Apparently, this could mean I might have blood clots which is common in pregnancy. Did not know that.

 

Last Friday, I had enough. It was painful to walk and my friends and family were starting to notice, so I decided to call the Doctor. They told me to go into Labor and Delivery right away! I didn't think it was that serious until they admitted me, strapped my belly up to the monitors, and ordered a series of blood tests and ultrasounds.

I was there for almost 5 hours. The good thing was that I was strapped to a fetal monitor and got to hear my baby's heartbeat  the whole time. It was music to my ears. I could listen to that forever.

 

The bad thing was I was there for 4 hours WAITING on results, WAITING for them to do ultrasounds on my legs, and WAITING for my phone to get reception so I could call my hubby. He was so freaked out that he rushed to me from work because he hadn't heard from me since I was admitted. I was also very hungry. If I knew I was going to be waiting that long I would've packed a burger in my purse.

 



Thank God everything turned out to be ok. The ultrasounds and blood tests came out fine. The doctor said it might be a combination of the heat and the way the baby is sitting. I also have Scoliosis which could have something to do with it. The pressure of all the weight is no good for my sensitive back.

 

I've made a few changes since then that seem to help the swelling situation.

1. Wearing compression socks- They are supposed to help with the circulation  in your legs and help prevent fatigue.

 2. Belly Support- This is going to be a lifesaver since I'll be on my feet all day. It very much relieves the pressure on my back and legs.



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3. More Water, Less Salt- I've really been watching my sodium intake. No more fries or chips for this preggo. I've been guzzling water like a fish, too and it's been working wonders for my new kankles. I hate my new kankles.


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 Hope none of you are experiencing this, but if you do, hope this helps.

25 Weeks!

How far along? 25 weeks

Total weight gain: 20+lbs. Trying to eat a bit healthier these days. Chocolate is healthy right?

Maternity clothes? Chillin' at home this week so workout gear and bathing suits are my uniforms

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Waking up to pee ALOT! *Note to self: Remind hubby to put toliet seat DOWN!*

Best moment this week: Letting my mom and my nephew feel Baby kick. So exciting to see their faces.

Miss Anything? Running and sleeping on my back.

Movement: I'm pretty sure I felt Baby punch me. It was more of a sharp jab. I also think Baby wants me to keep moving because Baby was kicking my back to get up off the couch yesterday!

Food cravings: Sweets. CHOCOLATE!! See's chocolate to be exact. Hubby bought me a lot of it. It's dangerous to have around.

Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of Sonic's doggy treats. This is a new thing. 

Gender predictions: Still feeling like it's a girl. Lots of girl predictions from others this week.

Labor Signs: Not yet

Symptoms: Acid reflux. After scarfing dinner, I feel like I'm going to explode. Need to eat less.

Belly Button in or out? It's still half in and out. Freaky.

Wedding rings on or off? I bought myself a fake ring because sadly mine do not fit anymore. I feel like it's too early for me to be pulling my rings off. :(

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and oh so blessed!

Looking forward to: Letting more people feel Baby's kicks. I actually enjoy when friends and family touch my belly. I have yet to have a stranger touch it though. I don't think I would like that.

29, 24, 6 and 5

Yesterday was my 29th birthday. It's a weird age to be. I'm on the cusp of letting go of my 20's...oh those glorious 20's and grasping on to my 30's.....Holy crap I'm going to be 30. I feel 29, which is weird. When people ask you "How does it feel to be _____?" I think many of us respond with...meh. However, I really feel 29. Maybe it's because I'm coming on to my 7th year as a teacher, 2nd year of marriage, and first child. Good Lord! I'm an adult. I also love looking at paint colors at Home Depot and spending too much time organizing my kitchen cabinets. Adult biz. I never thought I'd see the day.

Coconut Chocolate Cupcake from Sprinkles. OH MY!

Sonic also had a birthday this month. He is 5 years old. I don't want to count in dog years because that will make it a lot older. He is my puppy forever.

Puppy Cupcake from Sprinkles. Don't judge.

Yesterday also marked 24 weeks pregnant which is 6 whole months pregnant. Cra-zee.

How far along? 24 weeks, which is a whopping 6 months pregnant!

Total weight gain: 20 lbs. I am ashamed.

Maternity clothes? The stretchier the better. However, those elastic bands are starting to be a little more uncomfortable. I want to just be naked all the time but apparently there are laws against this?

Stretch marks? Nada

Sleep: Sleep is good. I wake up every morning with leg cramps but I am a ninja and I stop them before they get worse. The trick it to flex the foot and point the toes to the sky. Works like a ninja charm.

Best moment this week: Celebrating my birthday at the beach, stuffing my face with snacks. It was a great day!

Miss Anything? Sushi and being able to wear flip flops without dying of pain.

Movement: Baby is kicking, flipping, and hiccuping a lot still. 

Food cravings: Sweets. Cakes, cupcakes, pumpkin pie, ice cream....all those fat loading treats!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing at the moment
Gender predictions: Still feeling like it's a girl.

Labor Signs: Not yet

Symptoms: More weight gain...booo. Water retention....hisss. Swollen feet...RAWR!! Those are angry sounds, by the way.

Belly Button in or out? It's almost out. It's kinda gross.

Wedding rings on or off? My wedding band is the only thing that barely fits. You think hubby will buy me a spare?

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and excited!!

Looking forward to: More birthday celebrating this weekend!