it's official

Baby Serg you are officially a member of 24 Linden Ave. The mail says so. 


You got your very first packaged baby gift today! Thats right, a lovely little brown box, addressed to mommy, intended for you. Look at it's adorableness. 

All the yummies needed for a nice bath! And mmmm did it smell good. The box smelt like delicious baby. Cherrio was going nuts smelling the basket, this was a whole new smell for him that he did not recognize. I told him though to get use to it because this is what little babies smell like. 

The basket comes complete with medicine for your little baby butt and cream for soft skin and even a fun little hippie to occupy you while you get your bath. 

Isn't he so cute!?

You have the wonderfully thoughtful Stacey to thank for your new little basket. It was very sweet and we thank her! Thanks Stacey!!!

xoxo

the mom

4am is the new 8am

One of the hardest parts of the first trimester is the exhaustion. So ridiculously tired that you actually go lay down on the bathroom floor in the handicap stall at work kind of exhausted (don't judge!). It was always made better though when I would return home at 630 and promptly go up to bed. I could sleep for almost 12 wonderful hours. 

There was a very real point in the first trimester where you were so mean to me baby sergio that I promised you that you would end up an only child! But then around week 12 or 13 a glorious thing happened where I actually remembered who I was again. I felt normal. I wasn't sneaking away to bathrooms to shut my eyes for 10 minutes. Your dad appreciated this because I was spending time with him at night instead of going up to bed. 

It seemed to be a mean joke though. Are you laughing little baby? It's not funny. The exhaustion is back, but this time around I can't get those 12 glorious hours of sleep, I can barley get 5. I usually fall asleep around 11, then I'm up at 2 and again at 4. When 4 comes around I am WIDE awake. Which confuses pancake and cherrio and they think its time to play, which disrupts daddy, which makes him toss and turn. Ultimately making it impossible for me to fall back asleep. When I am able to doze back off around 530/6 your father's alarm goes off. 

This is making for a very cranky mommie. 

Yes, this is how I feel. 

Your dad seems to be putting up with it and trying not to notice or take offensive when I ask him to do things like breath quieter! Yes, I have made such unreasonable requests.

So how about we make a deal, lets give me back my energy so I am not so tired and cranky and I will buy you a pony! Sounds good? Okay then!

xoxo

the mom

Working Mama'

Belly Bumps

11 week belly bump

15 week belly bump

Are you sure there is just one of you in there? Really- just one, not 10? Cause that's what it looks like. Although I'm certain 10% off that belly is you and the other 90% is g.a.s. yuck. 

I seem to be in a pregnancy belly limbo. My belly is growing and growing and I know it's you but to the rest of the world it probably looks like i've been drinking too much beer and indulging in nacho platters! (mmm, which actually sounds pretty good right now)

In other news I had my doctor's appointment this morning. They are rather uneventful. I am down 10lbs but probably because you make all food seem utterly horrifying. I'm sure it will catch up with me and I will miss those days of decreasing numbers on the scale. 

I can already tell you are going to be a stubborn child. Every time we found your heartbeat this morning you decided, "nope, i want to roll the other way". You made things quite difficult my wild child. Enjoy the room and all the wiggling while you can because it's soon to get tight in there!

I apologize once again for all the poking and pushing lately but it is driving me crazy that I know you are in there swimming around with all your movement and I cannot feel it yet. Kick harder! 

xoxo

the mom

Epis, Pitocin and IVs oh my!

The great debate. What to do about labor...

This is a tough subject simply because EVERYONE has an opinion, and usually they are super passionate about their side. People get pretty crazy about the whole birthing process. 


I first realized this when my chiropractor offered a natural birthing class to me. My immediate response was- no thanks! He then went on to lecture about how horrible drugs are, complications, blah blah. Then he said to me "this is what your body was made for". This really pissed me off, this dude doesn't have to pass a watermelon through something the size of his butt hole! Please don't lecture me.


I had always kind of assumed "duh, I want the drugs" but now that I'm faced with it I'm not so sure. 


I certainly don't want pain, that's for sure. About a month ago I experience some sever nerve pain in one of my molars. An infection had been brewing that I did not know about and somehow it totally pissed off the nerves in my molar. The pain was so horrific I literally wanted to die. It was an intense, on the floor crying, hour of severe pain. All I wanted was for it to either go away, or someone to kill me so it would stop. While I was in pain I tried concentrating on one object in the room, tried to breath through the pain. The thought then crossed my mind, omg is this going to be what labor will be like!?


I'm not so against the drugs because of what people say they will do to you baby Serg. Honestly I think the whole " the baby can't bond with you, they won't be able to breastfeed" blah blah is silly. I have known plenty of people who have done epidurals and their babies are just fine. 


The thing that makes me wonder about drugs are those rare stories where something goes wrong. They are sticking a giant needle in your spine after all! The spine is not something to be messed with. I totally understand that there are far more stories told about the horrors then about the wonders. People repeat negativity more then positive things. I'm a worrier though, what if the meds do go the wrong way and paralyze my lungs, what if that tingling sensation never goes away, what if I have chronic back pain forever, what if I'm paralyzed! These are all the horrible things that are out there to scare you. 


I honestly don't know what to do. I don't want the pain, and I figure why not take advantage of modern medicine. It's there to help you after all. Everything comes with a risk though, nothing is fool proof. It's just a matter of weighing in on those pros and cons to see which comes out on top. Either way, this thing is gonna hurt! Ouch!


xoxo
the mom

Cry Baby

Okay so i know this picture is going to be you in a few months but currently it is me. all. the. time!


I'm not really a crier. Doesn't happen that often. Sappy movies rarely get to me (with the exception of marley & me when poor marley dies). Commercials and songs certainly don't do a thing for me. Lately though EVERYTHING makes me cry. 


It all started with a folgers commercial. The one where the brother comes home from africa and his sister waits up all night for him to get there. It's really not as sappy as it sounds but i started crying every time it came on. (loser!)


Now it's everything. A song, the news, reading other people's blogs, thinking about how i am at work and pancake and cherrio are home alone (i mostly cry about how i miss our dogs- they are just so stinkin cute). I must say baby sergio, i feel like a crazy lady!


Fortunately though for your dad and everyone else its just sappy crying all the time, it could be much worse. So i hear. I have yet to become a raging lunatic. Let's hope it stays that way!


xoxo
the mom 

Bum Business

Who knew diapers could be so overwhelming!? 


All I keep hearing is how darn expensive diapers are and how many you go through each week. So the thought of cloth diapers popped into my head. Financially they are much easier, and bonus (!) they're better for the environment. But really? Cloths and pins and poop, ew no thanks. 


Once I started looking into it though it's not at all what I thought. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there is no pinning and it's more then just a cloth. They seem to have come a long way and a lot of them are pretty darn cute. Then I started looking into it some more, uy. So much information, so many different contraptions, too many different options. Diaper overload! It's a lot to try and understand, and it all seems so complicated. I certainly don't have anyone I know who has done it, or is doing it, so there's no one to even ask. 


I found my answer today though. There is this wonderful woman who did a cloth diaper week where she totally explained the whole thing for all of us dumbies. I found a store over in PA that carries a few brands and contacted the woman there. I'm going to go this weekend and check it all out. 


I'm still not 100% sure as to what I'm going to do but I'm started to feel a little better about it all. Before all of you relatives freak out about the thought of maybe having to deal with a cloth diaper don't worry. Regardless of whether or not we decide to use them we will also have a nice stack of disposables on hand as well. Simply because there will certainly be situations where they will make life much easier. I've even started stocking up! Thanks to auntie e and her awesome deal finding skills I was able to buy a normally $12.99 jumbo pack of earth friendly disposables for $1.50! Thats right one and a half whole dollars. Check out the stack (and this isn't even all of them). 

They were on sale, babies r' us had a coupon, and on top of that they were offering a manufacturers coupon. A total deal that I could not resist. 


Rest assured baby. I've got your bum covered!


xoxo
the mom




* Photo by Aimee

You already have best friends and you don't even know it...

I would like you to meet your two best friends, Pancake & Cherrio. Two dirty little dogs who needed a bath! Before you came along they were "the babies". 

They have been good preparation for your dad and I. We've already gone through 

"baby was up all night crying"

"oops I dropped the baby"

"baby pooped, somebody go clean it up"

"babies are fighting again"

"babies unwrapped all the presents under the tree before christmas"

"babies got into a pill bottle"

"baby is sick, let's take them to the vet a million times for testing" ....

And yet they have survived. Not only have they survived but they are happy and healthy and love us just the same! I'm sure there will be many other things we will go through with you but these guys have helped us expect a bit of what's coming. 

The first time your dad had to clean up poop he gagged and wretched and almost cried! Not saying that there will not be times when this happens during a diaper change, but trust me, he has drastically improved! Now most times he can get through a poop pick up just fine, which will make diaper changes a bit easier on the both of you.

I will warn you, Pancake is a brat and Cherrio is a giant baby who needs attention to be on him at all times. They will probably wonder who the heck you are when you come home, and will certainly be jealous of the time you will take away from them. But once you guys get to know each other I know they will be your very best friends. 

When you are sick Pancake will stay by your side and refuse to leave you like she did with your dad after his surgery. And when you are sad Cherrio will worry and snuggle up to comfort you. They will give you kisses constantly and run around in the yard with you. They will definitely steal your toys but maybe they will share from time to time (sharing is caring after all). 

They will always be there for you though and you will learn to love them as much as we do. I look at them and am sometimes overwhelmed by how much I love them and I can't wait to see you and experience that same rush. 

xoxo

the mom

Pretty Presents!

I love little baby clothes. They are so small and darling. I have been very good at resisting the urge to buy anything. At first because I was still in disbelief that there was a little baby in there, then I decided to wait because I have no idea if I should buy cute little pink outfits or blue. 

Grandma was bad though. We were in babies r' us the other day and she saw all the little outfits on sale and could not help herself. Of course she is certain you will be coming out as a little girl so she got you the cutest little outfits. (how i LOVE that fleece with the little pom pom hood). To be fair though she did get two little boy outfits. And adorable gender neutral sleepy sacks! 

So now my once baby-free guest room is being overtaken with teeny tiny little things (that are starting to take up more then a teeny tiny bit of room). I suppose this means I will have to empty out the closet for you!

I'm still trying to hold firm on not filling your closet up too soon, especially since it looks like other people will do it for me! I of course could not resist these little shoes though. They were just too cute and I'm really hoping that I will get to put them on your tiny little baby girl feet. 

xoxo

the mom

Wild Thang

The first time we got to see you was on November 21st. I thought it was so cool that there was this tiny dot on the screen with a flickering heartbeat. I was rather impressed by you and so of course I made copies of your picture thinking- who would not want to see this awesome dot! I could not really understand how people were not as impressed by your wonderful little picture as I was. But that was okay, I had it hanging at my desk anyway. 


We saw you again last Monday. WOW! You're not a dot anymore, you're a person. We saw your little head and fingers, your little nose and legs. You little Sergio (this is what we call you btw) were a wild thang! You were kicking yourself around and throwing little punches. Non-stop movement. Your dad thinks for sure you are destined to be a boxer, your punching actions impressed him! 


I could not believe there you were, all 2.5 inches, kicking up a storm inside me, yet I can't feel any of it. I apologize for all the poking I've been doing to you since then, I keep thinking for sure there has to be a way I can feel all that wildness. But not yet. 


Here you are:

xoxo 
the mom

Welcome to your second trimester

Way to go little baby.

You made it to the second trimester, and you're finally starting to be a bit nicer to me. When we first found out about you I almost didn't believe it, in fact I went out to buy a new test because for sure the first one was lying! I felt totally normal, even bragged about how wonderful I was doing.

Apparently you didn't like my boasting because you started being very fresh. I felt crappy all the time, I couldn't eat anything and I was so very tired. I honestly questioned why anyone would go through this a second or third time! It sucked. Your dad would get upset with me for going to bed at 630 (I think sometimes he forgot you were there inside me, sucking me dry!).

But I think we are getting use to each other, I am feeding you more and you are giving me back some of the energy I thought was lost forever. Lets hope the next 6 months go nicer then the last 3!

xoxo

the mom