8 Months....really?

8 months already? I can't believe how fast time is going by, I know I've said it before but wow! we are LITERALLY almost there!!!! and I'm truly trying to take it all in and slow down time in my mind so I can cherish every second before the "craziness" begins! Every kick and every pain, I'm loving it!

I know our little man is getting cramped in there as I feel him kick and stretch and hiccuping more often, plus he leaves me short of breath at times and sleeping is getting more and more uncomfortable!!! However, I can honestly say that all the intensifying symptoms are definitely not slowing me down!!!!

At 32 weeks, Lucas continues to grow and he's getting stronger and more and more ready everyday! I feel like we have hit another milestone because if he decides to come as early as now, he would have great chances!!! The weekly email says he is probably in the head-down position by now preparing for the trip down the birth canal, but we will know for sure in 1 week when we get our last ultrasound that will check not only his position, but his growth (since my belly measures a little smaller than it should be), and also the placenta to make sure it has moved up and away from the cervix!....we'll see :)

Today we had our hospital tour. We visited Norfolk General and although Craig and I have been there many times, this trip of course had a special meaning! We got to see from where to park to which elevators to use, to turn by turn directions for the whole birthing cycle! (labor and delivery suites, operating rooms, nursery, recovery rooms, post-partum rooms) We got to meet other couples and the whole experience made it THAT much more real for both of us!.......again, 8 months already??....wow can't believe it!!!!

Words cannot express....

Words truly cannot express our gratitude. Craig and I have always felt so lucky and supported by our family and friends, but with the much anticipated arrival of our little man, the warm wishes and everyone's  encouragement and love has been overwhelming! Thanks to everyone, we feel more prepared than ever to welcome Lucas into our lives, not only with all the "essentials" that have been gifted to us, but all the words of wisdom, advice, faith and support that we have received, making us believe that we truly will make wonderful parents.

Saturday night, we had an espectacular night. Our friends Ciara and Lisa planned a beautiful baby shower and we spent the evening surrounded by our "bestest" at Plaza Azteca. Dinner was amazing, margaritas LOOKED great and Ciara even made delicious cupcakes for dessert!! We had a great time writing "wishes for Lucas", laughing at a magician that showed up to entertain us, sharing stories, and getting advice from all the "pros"!!!

Sunday afternoon, we also had an espectacular time! Our wonderful friends Traci and Sherry put together a gorgeous baby shower to celebrate our little Lucas and we were surrounded by our amazing, generous and loving coworkers!  The afternoon was SO much fun! we ate delicious food, played a trivia game and everyone made a "baby" out of playdough which was later judged by the 2 hostesses and myself, the cake was to die for (both in looks and taste!) and we were very lucky to get so many wonderful things for Lucas!!

 

Now we look forward to the finishing touches in his room, organizing all the goodies and we are "patiently" waiting for his arrival....c'mon little man! mommy and daddy (and everyone else!) can't wait to see you!!!

31 Weeks....and counting!

How far along am I? 31 weeks and I can't believe how fast this whole thing is going!

Total weight gain? Well, went to the doctor's today and I have gained a whooping 20 pounds!!!!

Sleep? I should probably be sleeping right now because even though I fall asleep fairly easy, I toss and turn all night!!!!

How am I feeling? I feel great and I can't complain! Back pain is pretty uncomfortable and there's the occasional heart burn and the unwelcome Braxton Hicks at times, but knowing that we are getting closer and closer makes it ALL worth it :)

Best moments this week? Yesterday was our first baby shower, hosted by my mom (Grandma Manis) and thanks to wonderful family and friends we got some amazing baby essentials!!!

Movement? Little man seems to move A LOT! but he's a little shy at showing other people his moves because every time I put somebody's hand on my belly he stops! He does however love to leave me breathless at times as he stretches pretty far up in my chest! 

Belly Button? It's still in although pretty flat! I really thought it would be an outie by now for sure!

Food cravings? Nothing specific! But I can go for guacamole and Cadbury eggs anytime!

What am I looking forward to? I'm looking forward to organizing Lucas's room with all the wonderful things received at our baby shower and can hardly wait for this weekend when we get to spend more time with friends celebrating our little man!

Baby milestones? I can't believe this, but ALL five of his senses are fully developed!!!! This week though, Lucas is going through major brain and nerve development, but already the irises in his eyes react to light and he can actually blink!

So Blessed!

Today my mom hosted the most beautiful baby shower in honor of Lucas! I spent the evening surrounded by family and friends that celebrated my happiness, answered my "mommy-to-be" questions and encouraged me in moments of anxiety and doubt by reassuring me that Craig and I would be wonderful parents :) It was an amazing afternoon! 

The theme of the shower was "We can BEAR-ly wait", so my mom started by making the invitations using the bear from the bedding that Craig and I picked out for the nursery, then she searched in the attic for my stuffed animals (all my bears), washed them and had them displayed around the house! She also made cards for people to fill out with "Wishes for Baby Lucas", made an espectacular dinner that everyone loved and dessert was my favorite homemade ice cream with little Teddy Grahams climbing up! Too cute!! She also made little "pacifiers" with some ribbon, life saver mints and jelly beans!, surprised me with a HUGE teddy bear for Lucas's room that she purchased with Tere and named him "Mote" (since it was from MOna and TEre!) and at the end of the night surprised me one last time with my great-grandmother's ring as a symbol that I would be "The Best Mom".....yes I cried!

Craig and I feel truly blessed!!! and want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for the support, love and wonderful baby essentials we received....we are ready for our little man :) !!!!!!!!!(almost)!!!!!!!!

Lucas will one day have a great time reading what everyone wrote 

This bear is almost as old as I am! 

More of my bears!!!

Pacifiers!!!, Grandma Manis is SO creative

With Abuelita and soon-to-be great grandmother for the first time!!!

With Abuela and the tias.....missing Isita :(

         With Grandma Pitt (we are still coming up with a name!)

Dessert :)

"Hi Lucas, my name is Mote"

Firefighter Onesie.....my little hero :)

Getting On My Nerve!

As we have reached 30 weeks, I think I can speak for Lucas and I when I say that it is definitely getting harder and harder to get comfy! We fall asleep at night fairly fast but we toss and turn all night trying to find a comfortable position to rest, so although we get up with energy, we loose it pretty fast and find ourselves needing (more like wanting) multiple naps a day!!! As far as symptoms go, I do have occasional vivid dreams like I had in the beginning but nothing too scary yet although I think as my anxiety level keeps rising as we get closer to delivery, those dreams may change! Heartburn does happen occasionally, but I have to say that the most painful symptom up until now is that crazy back pain! I think Lucas finds it VERY comfortable to get on my nerve (sciatic nerve, that is!)

This week, our little man's eyesight continues to develop although even at this point he can distinguish between light and dark. His skin is getting smoother, he is now strong enough to grasp a finger and his little brain is getting wrinklier to make way for all that essential brain tissue he'll need as we attempt to teach him both languages from the start!!!

...And finally, after days of waiting and anticipation, we got the news today that the 3 hour glucose test came back normal....so we celebrated with a delicious ice cream! Of course!!!!

Pictures!

This week I have tried so hard to stay busy and focused on many things so my mind doesn't go back to that crappy doctor's appointment that I had Monday.  Although Im trying to take it easy, I find that it is distracting and pretty wonderful to be at the shop with my mom when Craig is at work so that I don't have time to sit and think about all of the "what ifs"....So this past Wednesday, I spent 4 hours at Labcorp getting my glucose test done and although my veins didn't fully cooperate (and I have the bruises to prove it!), I was lucky enough to be sitting in this small waiting area with another girl who was also pregnant, having a boy and her due date was the same exact as ours!!!!! Even though I went prepared to listen to music and read (I packed 5 Parenting magazines to take with me), I spent most of the time talking to this girl about a little bit of everything! She was so nice! She gave me a couple of pointers since this was her third boy and I welcomed her advice with open arms.  On Friday, I called the doctor's office to see if the results were in but unfortunately they weren't so I can hardly wait until Monday to start harassing them for answers!!!

Today Craig and I decided to go to the Lion's Bridge and take a couple of pictures. We really wanted to get maternity pictures professionally done but decided to see if we could do it on our own with the help of our little tiny tripod.....After changing my outfit about 6 times this morning and driving to our selected location with excitement, I don't really like any of the 50 pictures we took, so we'll have to try again.....stay tuned!

Stress Rising!

As we have reached yet another week and as the countdown to the due date narrows (77 days left!), I've noticed my energy level decreasing as little man gets busier and busier in there!! His kicks and jabs keep getting stronger and more often and every now and then a rhythmic twitch makes me think he has the hiccups!!! I know I've said this before, but it is definitely the best feeling in the world, to feel him move :) As he keeps getting bigger and his "room" smaller, I'm occasionally feeling the effects, for example at night it is getting harder to sleep and the acid reflux has officially began...again!

Today Craig accompanied me to the OB. The nurse took us back and checked the baby's heart rate (which is one of my favorite things!) and today he was at 133bpm....I got a worried look on my face because he has always been in the mid 150's but I held my anxiety until the nurse practitioner walked in. Anna then came in with a medical student who proceeded to measure my belly. He said I was measuring 25 weeks, which needless to say it brought my stress to a whole new level since I'm 29 and 2 weeks ago I was measuring bigger.....can my stomach be getting smaller?? No freaking way!!! I'm eating like a pig, gaining weight steadily and feeling much bigger by the minute! (I thought)....I think Anna saw the look in my face and proceeded to schedule an ultrasound to make sure Lucas is growing appropriately, however the ultrasound is in 4 weeks!!! (I may die of anticipation!). I spoke to her about the heart rate and she told me not to worry, "baby's heart rate should be between 120-170bpm, so 130's is ok!", "but it is so much slower than ever!" I said, she reassured me about 3-4 more times that it was normal. To top things off, at the end of this appointment, Anna mentioned my sugar level had come back "a little high" (keep in mind this test was done A MONTH AGO!!!), I was so surprised, my eyes got big and again I had this puzzled look on my face! She then gave me an order to go to a lab and get the 3 hour sugar test done to check and see if I have gestational diabetes!.............we left the office and when I got to the elevator, I lost it!, I started crying, felt so frustrated!, thank God Craig was there, he hugged me and reassured me that "everything is going to be ok"

Like Father Like Son

I'm a lucky girl....I LOVE MY BOYS!!!!

Ruta-what???

NO clue what a Rutabaga is but little man has reached its size!!! Starting to develop more fat so his skin won't be so wrinkly when he makes his appearance and just finishing up his final touches before the big debut!

We have entered the third and last trimester, we are in the home stretch, the last little bit and it is truly unbelievable how fast time has passed. It seems only yesterday I was planning a sneaky way of letting Craig know we had a "bun in the oven"!!!!

This trimester is known for "lack of sleep" and my body is following the book to the T! I'm exhausted when I go to bed and can usually fall asleep fairly fast but then the tossing and turning begins, then sudden insomnia at about 4-430am....I guess its part of the process, hormones and nerves get the best of new moms-to-be...right??? Craig sleeps like a rock which I hope this will change when our little man needs to eat at the wee hours of the night!!! We are not planning to breastfeed due to my heart condition and the side effects of the medicine I have to take, which will actually give me a bit of a break knowing that Craig will be there to support me and lend me a hand.

Bedrest is not going as planned but I'm doing the best that I can with the best that I have. The shop is busy and picking up some steam and since this "bedrest" came sooner than we expected, I've been getting up early and helping my mom, although I have to say she does go behind me every step and makes sure I have a place to sit at all times, take plenty of breaks (sit in the glider and elevate my feet), and drink plenty of water! The abdominal pain and back pain are not going away and they are pretty uncomfortable but knowing that the doctors know about them and that they truly don't last but a few seconds at a time, I've tried really hard to breathe through them and not complain so that I don't freak out!!! I've had a few conversations with the belly and have told Lucas to stay put and enjoy his time in there and not rush out, and I hope he's listening and he's not as stubborn as his dad.........and mom :)