Tuesday, September 20, 2011

23 weeks plus Independence Day

Here is my post, late as usual...

How far along: 23 weeks and 1 day

Due date: 1/16/12

Gender: BOY!

Symptoms: Still just occasional sciatic nerve pain (lower back)

Total weight gain: About 13/14 pounds...I don´t have a scale here at my house, so the only time I get weighed is at my doctor´s appointments every few weeks...

Food cravings: Still missing yummy, fresh Charleston seafood...only a few more days till I get to have some!

Food aversions: None, really

Movement: Lots, especially in the morning and at night, I love feeling his kicks and Abe can feel them now too! And I like watching my belly move when he kicks :-)

Stretch marks: None so far, thank goodness...

Maternity clothes: Pants definitely, shirts, I´m still getting away with normal shirts that stretch

Sleep: Not nearly as great as it used to be :-( I´m a stomach sleeper, which is impossible at this point in the pregnancy, so I rotate between my two sides with tons of pillows surrounding me and between my knees. I also get up to use the bathroom anywhere from 3-5 times a night...

Belly button–in or out: Somewhere in the middle, definitely not in, but still hasn´t popped completely out yet, kind of just laying flat and stretched out for now

Best thing that happened this week: Feeling my little boy move around and putting together his crib...all by myself! :-)

Any baby-related purchases this week: Nope, nothing this week

Milestones reached: Everyday with this little miracle is a milestone!

What size is the baby: According to the Bump, he´s about the size of a papaya, weighing a little over 1 pound and about 9 inches from his head to his butt

What I miss: Wine, playing soccer, dancing Zumba, eating cold deli meat sandwiches, sleeping on my stomach

What I am looking forward to: Going home to Charleston in 3 days! I´m so excited!!! I´ll be home for 3weeks and having my baby shower on Oct. 1st...can´t wait! :-)

Belly picture:



Here is his crib!



Also, Friday September 16th was Independence Day here in Mexico. On Thursday night, we had a big dinner/celebration at church. Here are some pictures from that night.

Me and Abe



Me and Emily (I look really tired...)

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

22 Weeks (a little late)

I should have posted this on Monday but between going to the doctor and getting caught up on stuff around the house, I didn´t have a chance. So here it is, two days late...

How far along: 22 weeks and 2 days

Due date: 1/16/12

Gender: BOY!

Symptoms: Still just occasional sciatic nerve pain (lower back)

Total weight gain: About 13/14 pounds, more or less

Food cravings: BBQ Shrimp and Grits from my favorite local restaurant in Charleston...only 10 more days till I´m home and can eat all the yummy Charleston food that I´m craving and missing!

Food aversions: None, really

Movement: Lots, especially in the morning and at night, I love feeling his kicks and Abe can feel them now too! And I like watching my belly move when he kicks :-)

Stretch marks: None so far, thank goodness...

Maternity clothes: Pants, definitely, shirts, I´m still getting away with normal shirts that stretch

Sleep: Not nearly as great as it used to be :-( I´m a stomach sleeper, which is impossible at this point in the pregnancy, so I rotate between my two sides with tons of pillows surrounding me and between my knees. I also get up to use the bathroom anywhere from 3-5 times a night...

Belly button–in or out: Somewhere in the middle, definitely not in, but still hasn´t popped completely out yet, kind of just laying flat and stretched out for now

Best thing that happened this week: Seeing my handsome boy on Monday and knowing that he is alive, healthy, and well!

Any baby-related purchases this week: We picked up his crib, mattress, and a rug for his room!

Milestones reached: Everyday with this little miracle is a milestone!

What size is the baby: According to the Bump, he´s about the size of a papaya, weighing about 1 pound and about 8 inches from his head to his butt

What I miss: Wine, playing soccer, dancing Zumba, eating cold deli meat sandwiches, sleeping on my stomach

What I am looking forward to: Going home to Charleston in 10 days! I´ll be home for 3weeks and having my baby shower on Oct. 1st...can´t wait! :-)

Belly picture:

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Interesting Weekend

We had a stressful, interesting, busy weekend this past Sunday. We ordered our baby crib from Walmart online and they have the option that you can choose the store you want to ship it to and pick it up from the store (saves lots of money!) So we had it shipped to the Walmart in Nogales, AZ, it´s the closest one to us. On Sunday we woke up early, well for me it was early...8am, and drove all the way up to Nogales. We had no problems crossing the border, the guy was very nice and friendly and turns out he was actually stationed at the Naval base in Charleston many years ago so we were chatting for a while :-)

We left Hermosillo around 9am and crossed the border around 1pm, there was hardly any line, like maybe 4 cars in front of us to cross, it was so fast! We ate lunch at Taco Bell (yummy!) and then went to Walmart to pick up our stuff. Our car is a Dodge Neon, so pretty small and the crib was in this huge box, which of course wouldn´t fit in the car, so we had to take all the pieces out of the box and luckily everything just barely fit! Then we shopped some more at Walmart, Ross, ate dinner at McDonald´s and then headed home around 7pm. I won´t tell you how much money we spent, but we definitely got a lot of things we needed and enjoyed our day of shopping! :-)

So normally baby boy is very active when I first wake up, lots of kicks and jabs, and at night when I am laying down in bed. Well all that day he had not been moving much at all, which had me very worried, but I figured it was just from the traveling and me being exhausted and just not feeling well. We got back home around 11pm and when I was laying down that night he still wasn´t moving like normal. I figured he and I both just needed some sleep and then he would get back to his normal routine. Well, yesterday, even after getting 12 hours of sleep, when I woke up, still not much movement at all. So now I was very concerned. The doctor had told me at my last appointment that his movements were very important and that if he wasn´t active during his normal times to call him. So when Abe came home for lunch we called. Of course by this time I was very emotional and stressed out, which probably just made things worse.

Anyways, the doctor told us to come in last night at 5pm just to check and make sure everything is ok. Baby boy is fine and perfect, heartbeat was good, and we could see him moving around on the ultrasound. The doctor just said he was probably very tired because I was so tired and that he can feel all of my stress and worry which makes him less active. So I´m glad that he and I are both ok! He´s a little porker too, he was weighing 1.1 pounds!!!! Which is way ahead of what he should be measuring! And his head is still ahead also, and his stomach. Needless to say, I´m a big worrywart and this little man likes to make me worry! I just need to stay calm and relaxed if this every happens again and not get so stressed. But hey, what else was I supposed to do? This is my first baby that we tried so long and hard for, so of course I´m gonna be a little worried :-)

So that was our weekend! We now have a baby crib, crib mattress, mattress pad cover, and a rug for his room! :-) This is all starting to get very real!!!

Here is a picture of his adorable profile from yesterday. I think he looks like his Daddy in this picture:



Showing off his man parts...he´s definitely still a boy!



His crib, mattress, and new rug just hanging out in the living room waiting to be put together (who knows when that will get done!)



22 week pregnancy post to come later tonight!

Friday, September 9, 2011

3 years

3 years ago yesterday, I came down to Mexico. I was completely alone when I flew out to Phoenix and then took a long bus ride down here. I´m sure a lot of people thought that I was out of my mind for coming down to Mexico alone. I mean really, who moves to Mexico? As a single female? Dangerous much? Haha I know my parents, family, and friends were a little concerned. I didn´t know anyone here and I didn´t really know anything about Hermosillo. My plan was just to teach English for 1 year and then go back to Charleston. And yet I´m still here 3 years later...God had better plans for me than I had for myself! Little did I know when I came down here that I would meet my husband and start a family down here, meet two of my best friends, find an amazing church, reignite my passion for Jesus and become involved in so many church activities. The Lord has blessed me so tremendously here and I´m so grateful! Although Hermosillo definitely has it´s faults (hotter than imaginable weather, no rain, no water, crazy drivers, etc.) overall, it is a fantastic place to live and start a family with my wonderful husband. I don´t know how long we will be here or what God´s plan for us is, but all I know is that I trust Him and I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey of the last 3 years. So, I will be listening closely to see what He has in store for us for the next 3 years! :-)

Monday, September 5, 2011

21 weeks

Each week I will try to do a pregnancy post with some general questions and a picture of my bump.

Symptoms?: Aside from some back pain, not too much else. Feeling really good!

Weight gain?: Up 12 pounds so far this whole pregnancy

Movement?: Yep, I get little kicks and jabs throughout the day, but he is the most active when I first wake up and at night when I´m laying down in the bed :-)

Stretch marks?: Not yet (knocking on wood)

Belly button–in or out?: Hmmm, well it´s kind of flat right now, it´s stretching and it´s starting to move out some but not all the way there yet.

Best thing that happened this week?: Going out to eat yummy wings for lunch yesterday! :-)

Any baby-related purchases this week?: I don´t think I´ve bought anything this week, but I have already made LOTS of purchases for this little boy :-)

Nursery progress?: Haha, nothing has been done to the actual room yet. The crib and mattress have been purchased and will be picked up this weekend. The paint color has been chosen just not purchased or painted yet. Still need to buy the rest of the furniture and all the decorations.

Milestones reached?: 21 weeks! Each day is a milestone for me!

What size is the baby?: About the size of a banana, length is about 7.5 inches and weight is about 350 grams or 11 ounces more or less...which is funny because 1 week ago at my appointment this baby was already weighing 400 grams, which is 14 ounces! We have a little porker on our hands! :-)

Belly picture:

6 months later...

I´m back! After taking a break from the blogging world for 6 months, I decided it´s time to get back into the swing of it again! :-) I´m not sure if anyone even reads this or not, but anyways, here goes...

Let´s see...what´s been happening in our lives since March?

Well Abe is still working full time as a civil engineer. They are currently building a new hospital here in Hermosillo, so he probably puts in about 10-12 hours every day Mon.-Sat. He´s a very busy, hard-working man!

I´m still teaching English as a Second Language part time at Abe´s family´s school. I enjoy it and it´s nice working with family :-)

Aside from working, we both stay pretty busy with church. We love being involved there. The past few months, I have been playing the keyboard in our praise/worship band on Sundays and I love it! I have also been giving piano classes to some of the teenagers from the church on Saturdays. I´m also taking a disciplship class on Sunday mornings before church. And Abe and I both serve as Ushers.

That´s pretty much our lives right now...work and church! We´re kind of boring people :-) Oh, and of course our cat Mona. She is 1 year old now and so hilarious! She makes us smile and laugh every day and we love having her as part of our family :-) The other kitten that we had, Lucy, unfortunately died. We only had her for less than a week. She was too little and could not survive without her mom´s milk :-(

In April, for Holy Week, I drove up to Tucson, AZ, met my family there and we drove up to Las Vegas to spend the week and go to my cousin´s wedding. We had an amazing time! It was so nice to spend time with my mom, dad, and brother and see other family for the wedding! While we were there, we also drove over to Utah one day and spend the day snow skiing! In April! It was awesome! And as most of you probably know, snow skiing is our favorite family activity. I started when I was 5 years old, as did my brother and it´s something we love doing as a family. Here we are with my cousin and his new wife.



At the end of April, Abe and I traveled to Obregon, which is about 2 hours south of Hermosillo, with his mom and brother for their cousin´s wedding. Here we are at the reception:



May had it´s ups and downs. On May 5th, it was one year since we lost our first baby. It was very tough for me, especially being so close to Mother´s Day :-( But fortunately our up came a few days later on May 10th (which happens to be Mother´s Day here in Mexico) when I found out that I was pregnant for the 3rd time!!!! :-) A week later we had our first doctor´s appointment and we got our first glimpse at our new little bebe. The test that changed everything:



Here is the gestational sac at 5 weeks:



In June, we went back to the doctor to see that our baby had a heartbeat and that all was well so far! Here is the baby at 8 weeks and 2 days:



At 10 weeks, I started taking weekly pictures of my belly to document this amazing journey and all the physical changes that come with it. Here I am at 10 weeks:



11 weeks:



12 weeks (3 months!):



In July, we saw our baby moving for the first time and heard it´s heartbeat! Everything looked perfect and healthy! Here is the baby at 12 weeks:



13 weeks:



14 weeks:



15 weeks:



16 weeks (4 months!):



The baby at 16 weeks:



17 weeks:



In August, I decided to switch OBGYNs after having lots of frustrations with my previous doctor. So we saw our baby again and this is when we found out we are having a healthy baby BOY!!!! Here is our little man at 17 weeks proudly showing off his man parts:



His precious face at 17 weeks:



Me at 18 weeks:



19 weeks:



And here he is again at 20 weeks:



His handsome face:



Me at 20 weeks (5 months and half way through the pregnancy!):





I personally think he looks like me! :-) The doctor and my mother-in-law agree. I think he is the most handsome, adorable, precious little guy I´ve ever seen in my life and I love him so much already!

Today I am 21 weeks pregnant with our little boy (due January 16th 2012) and I just feel so thankful, blessed, and fortunate to have made it this far with this pregnancy. Every day that I can feel him moving and kicking, I just thank my Heavenly Father for blessing us with this child. He is such a miracle and I know that he is a gift from God. It has been a long, difficult journey to get to where we are now, but I never for a second doubted or lost my faith in God. It´s so amazing because back in November (I think) after I had my second miscarriage, we were at church on a Wednesday night for prayer and an older women from the congregation, whom we normally don´t really talk to that much, came up to us. She told us that God had spoken to her and given her a message to give to us. He told her that He would give us healthy, beautiful children and for me not to worry, that He would place them inside of me in His time. I bawled my eyes out when I heard this becuase I just knew it was true. I knew that God would give me a chance to be a mother one day and that I just had to keep trusting Him. Well, as you can clearly see, God has indeed kept His promise to us. He is faithful, generous, and so good. Several months later, actually I think it was right after I had just found out I was pregnant in May, we were at church again for prayer on a Wednesday night and a woman (again, someone that we don´t normally talk to all that often) came up to me afterwards and told me that the Holy Spirit had told her that He was working on a miracle inside of me. Again, cue the tears, as I already knew that I had a little miracle growing inside of me. So anyways, this is my testimony, that although it was a long, painful, difficult journey to get here, God was by our side every second and has now blessed us so tremendously. After all of our prayin, wishing, and hoping, our dream has finally come true. I know that God is blessing and protecting both myself and the baby each and every day. If there is something in your life that you are longing for, please don´t give up. God hears your prayers and He wants to bless you. It´s just not always when we want it. It´s in His time. So just be patient, have faith, and trust in Him. He will come through, He always does!

Thanks for letting me share and for reading this! Hope everyone is having a happy, safe Labor Day! :-)

(21 weeks picture and pregnancy post to come later tonight!)