Growing and growing...

Every week, I look forward to the email that tells me how big baby is and what is happening as far as development, but I have to say that I thought the peach from last week was much bigger than this lemon!!!! At least in my mind it was!!!!! I'm definitely not complaining though, I feel great!!!! I have gotten some energy back but the tachycardia is starting to get a bit harder to control, but thankfully we see the cardiologist in a few weeks. My belly is definitely getting bigger (I think!) and itching at times so I've started to apply that Cocoa Butter to avoid stretch marks (fingers crossed). No more nausea, no more heartburn, occasional dizziness but I think it comes with the territory! 

This week the baby is sucking its thumb and wiggling its toes! Kidneys are making urine and liver and spleen are working full speed! Baby is also growing lanugo, which is peach-fuzz-like hair to keep him/her warm!!!  

Baby Bump's First Christmas!

A peach....I just cant believe it!!! We have made it to the last week of the first trimester!!! The baby is forming vocal cords in preparation for those giggles and pitiful cries, teeth for those upcoming sleepless nights and high fevers, and amazingly enough, the baby now has fingerprints!!

I've been looking forward to this week almost from the very beginning! I just knew that the baby would be this big (or small) during Christmas and I knew our families would make the baby a part of the celebrations...My mom definitely included "Baby" in her stockings this year!!! So cute!! The week started with the family going to celebrate Christmas with abuelita at her home, with a wonderful dinner and a live band made of a group of volunteers. My mom and Tato made it worth it!! They danced the evening away doing salsa and merengue moves to Christmas carols...hilarious!!! but people were cheering them on and clapping as if they were part of the show!!! Everything was beautiful and very festive and I think Abuelita had a blast!!! 

The rest of the week was extremely busy!! We decorated our cupcakes with Christmas sprinkles  all week and people loved them!!! Because of that, we got a ton of orders! Needless to say, Christmas shopping was left for LAST (and I mean LAST) minute!!!! On the night of the 23rd, I was running around town with my mom and aunts looking for our last minute gifts and of course traffic was insane and the mall was madness!!! The best surprise was for Isa, Shawn and the girls coming down from Memphis to spend the holidays with all of us!!! I still can't believe how BIG Sophia has gotten!!!!

Craig worked for 36 hours straight at the fire department and then another 8 hours the night of  Christmas Eve so he didn't get to spend it with us. I spent the evening at the Doreste's house surrounded by family and friends having a delicious dinner and opening gifts from under the imaginary tree (there was no tree, so we had the gifts sitting on the floor in a corner of the living room!) For dinner, Uncle Mario made black beans, pork, rice and my mom and Negra fried yuca...sooooo good!!!!!! The kids had a blast!...actually we all did!!! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family, everyone thought of the baby and he/she even got some gifts!!!! Right away I took pictures and sent them to Craig (who was at the hospital working) to make him feel included and to feel as excited about it as I was :) 

Loving our new owl!!

Wooohooo!!! Big box of wipes!!!!

My mom made this shirt for me!!! Best gift EVER!!!

...then it was Christmas morning and it was truly a beautiful day. Starting with the weather, it was sunny and low 60s as we headed to Craig's parents at about 830am. We always do Christmas breakfast with them and Craig's brother and wife and then my in-laws and us head to my parents for brunch!! 

The day went great and we were showered with gifts for ourselves as well as more toys and diapers for baby. It is amazing to imagine that this time next year, we will have a 6 month old enjoying the holidays and having fun with Christmas lights and sitting on Santa's lap.....I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#1 Done!!!

I'm a few days late posting this entry because for almost 1 week I've been fighting a terrible cold!!!! This past Monday, baby and I made it through a HUGE milestone (Craig also, of course, putting up with our pregnancy craziness), we are done with our first trimester and looking forward to the next 2.

This cold has definitely slowed us down a little....it started with a dry cough that turned into what truly felt like my lungs bursting, body aches, fever, chills and a bit of a bad mood!!! I called my OB to find out what I could take (as my nursing knowledge has clearly vanished!!), and after getting the do's and don'ts from the nurse, my mom went out and got me Tylenol Cold Syrup. I took it as directed for a whole day before I came to the conclusion that it wasn't working AT ALL!!!! The following day, I rested all day in between cough spells. The following day, after not seeing any improvement, Craig insisted on going to the ER for a quick Xray, antibiotics and a "work note" (just kidding!). We mainly wanted to make sure that it wasn't bronchitis, pneumonia or the flu that could hurt the baby, so we waited patiently for our doctor and nurse. Got settled in our room and after letting Chris (our nurse) know about our pregnancy, she ran out and grabbed the doppler. "We are finally going to hear the baby's heart beat!!" I thought as I coughed!...and there it was, the most beautiful sound in the world, boom boom boom at 155 beats per minute! Craig's eyes filled with tears as he leaned down to kiss me. It was the highlight of the sickness and it made all the body aches and sleepless nights worthwhile.  Our doctor decided that he wasn't going to do xrays, or give out antibiotics but he was going to try 2 saline breathing treatments to loosen up the junk in my lungs.  After a couple of hours and no relief, he called the OB. Unfortunately they suggested narcotics (which I refused), steroids (which given my history with them, I refused), and a Lidocaine breathing treatment, which I gladly accepted when I figured it would at least numb my throat which was burning like crazy from the constant cough!!! The relief lasted only a few minutes and we were discharged from the hospital with a Vicodin script and orders to rest and drink fluids.  The next couple of days thats exactly what I did, as my mom worked at the shop, and finally tonight I see the light at the end of this mucous-filled tunnel. Im not coughing as often as I was, although it continues to be nasty, temp seems to be running normal to low grade and my whole body still hurts but I like to think I'm improving :) Tomorrow will be another day and we shall see.....

As for the baby, things are changing fast!!! Baby is almost done developing important systems and body parts, which means, it's mostly about getting bigger and more mature from here on out. Baby's brain is developing fast, developing reflexes, and now baby is opening and closing fingers and curling toes!!!

Stay tuned for an updated baby bump picture.....

Love At First Sight

December 6th, a day that I will never forget! 6 weeks ago, Craig and I started a countdown to the day when we would see our baby on the screen for the first time, and honestly today couldn't get here fast enough!!! I woke up this morning and went to the shop. I spent a couple of hours making cupcakes and decorating them until Craig got there to pick me up.  I think we were both a little anxious heading to the doctor's office but our excitement was definitely palpable. While waiting in the waiting room, I couldn't help but look around at all these pregnant women with their big bellies and think about my little bump that right now looks more like a beer gut than anything else!!! I kept thinking will this baby be a boy or a girl???. 

A lady sitting across the room from us was almost 9 months pregnant, mentioned she couldn't wait to have this "9lb. baby" and at the same time, was taking care of her other son, 14 month old Elijah. This little boy was amazing!, he was so funny, so sweet and had the most beautiful blue eyes. He kept walking towards us, putting his arms out, always smiling, and even wanted to share his Oreo with us. Craig's eyes lit up just watching this little boy and my heart  smiled at the thought of us becoming parents soon! 

Baby Pitt is the size of a lime already! Almost 2 inches long and looking more and more like a baby everyday! Tooth buds, hair follicles and nail beds continue forming! Skin is still pretty translucent but the baby is swimming gracefully even though is a bit too early for me to feel it yet!                                                        We went into the room and the nurse instructed us to take relax and enjoy the view....and what a view!!! Definitely love at first sight. Our baby looked beautiful. The nurse started clicking her machine and saving pictures for us to bring home. She caught a good picture of the arm and the leg (soccer leg, of course!) and my favorite picture of our baby almost sucking its thumb! "Everything looks great!" the nurse said with a big smile and then Anna, the nurse practitioner, reassured us.  The only change is that I need to "Eat More!!!" she said because I have barely gained a pound!! Now, we will have fun sharing these pictures and start a countdown to our ultrasound on January 31st, when we will learn the sex of the baby!!!!!!