A well overdue update

Last time I updated I was 14 weeks, I´ll be 30 weeks on Friday! Good gravy, how fast time flies!
And let me start with a quick recap: at 16 weeks I had a bleeding scare and thought everything was over, just as soon as I finally started to get excited about the pregnancy. There is no worse feeling than seeing that gush of blood. I was especially terrified because I had no signs with my first two losses. I was on strict bedrest for 3 days or so and thinking the worst possible thoughts. Turns out it was just caused by some harmless sex, my baby was fine and the bleeding was coming from little cups up under my uterus, nowhere even close to frijolito. My Dr. just upped my progesterone intake and in a couple days everything was normal again. But I was not allowed peen for a while. I might have broken that rule though.
Next came my fears of lack of movement. I swear I was the last person on earth to feel those little movements. I wanted so so bad for proof of life, to know there was a real baby in my belly. Everybody talks about flutters and butterflies and taps and popcorn sensations, some as early as like 15 weeks. My ¨big ultrasound¨ and gender reveal came before the movement did, right around 20 weeks. And I wouldn´t call them any of those above mentioned things, it was like little muscle spasms and jolts. Hands down, best/wierdest feeling ever.
On January 4th, 2010 at 19 weeks and 3 days we found out we were going to be blessed with a little boy. A son, wow! This came as a total shocker, my ¨mother´s instinct¨ had 100% convinced me it was a little girl. It didn´t help that my Dr. told me 90% of the time that feeling ends up being right. I was dreaming of laces and bows and pretty little dresses, already had her bedding picked out. Franco just knew it was a girl too and there were probably a good three weeks that went by with us calling her Toñita, short for Antonia Elise. After about 15 minutes of searching between the legs and triple checking, my doctor said it was a varon. A little man in there. Oh, sweet relief!!! haha. I just knew I was gonna have a little girl and she would give me back ten-fold all the trouble I gave my mom and dad. Self made Kharma. Love ya´ll, sorry about all that by the way! Now I know I will have a momma´s boy and raise him to be the sweetest gentleman to ever walk this planet.

Those are the main things that come to mind now. Other important dates/milestones:

01/08/2010 - I hit the half way mark, 20 weeks. A half baked frijolito!
01/16/2010 - Mom bought Gabriel´s bedding! (pictures to come in the next post)
01/11/2010 - Figured out what round ligament pain was. Ouch!
01/21/2010 - I got my first ever cameltoe due to tightening of maternity pants, SAD DAY
02/02/2010 - Ordered his furniture.
02/03/2010 - Realized I was having Braxton Hicks contractions Eeeek!
02/05/2010 - Made the decision to name my son after the greatest man I know, my dad. Gabriel David Franco, has a nice ring to it if you ask me : )
02/05/2010 - Was also Viability Day (24 weeks) A relief to know that his chances of survival are on our side. He is of course expected to stay in there until May.
02/19/2010 - 99 days left til my boy makes his grand entrance! Grandma and Grandpa also came in town to get his nursery started/finished.

Oh yeah, and my boobs started leaking colostrum a while back. Dr. says it´s a good thing. I am not impressed, they still haven´t grown.

14 weeks!

I have officially made it out of the first trimester! Thank you, big guy. And tonight is my screening ultrasound. They wanted me to come in yesterday at 12:00 but that was nearly impossible. I had to work from 10-2 then rush home and throw together my Thanksgiving feast, which turned out incredible! We had a total of 10, including us, and they wiped their plates clean! And even took some to-go : ) I made turkey, honey glazed ham, green bean casserole, twice baked cheesy bacon mashed potatoes, delicious mac and cheese (thanks for the recipe Martha) and carrot cake and pumpkin pie. Oh and rolls, lots of rolls. Everybody was pleased and went home full. Mission accomplished! One of Franco´s friends even wants me to cook the whole meal for him and his family again for New Years, except he would pay me of course. We´ll see. I definately won´t be sipping champagne so I can´t imagine what else I would have to do.
If all goes well with my appt. tonight I just might be ready to tell the entire world!



How far along? 14 weeks today! whoooo
Total weight gain: Not too sure, i´ll either find out tonight or on Dec. 9th at the next exam
Maternity clothes? Yes. They are more comfy. Still need to buy some pants though.
Sleep: Been getting plenty.
Best moment this week: My first Thanksgiving yesterday
Movement: Too early to feel it. But hopefully I see lots tonight!
Gender: 6 more weeks
Labor Signs: Not even close.
Belly Button in or out? Eww, in.
What I miss: A glass of wine suuuure woulda been nice with the Thanksgiving meal.
What I am looking forward to: My ultrasound tonight and finding out gender!
Weekly Wisdom: My baby can squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb now. Heyyyyy
Milestones: Making it out of first tri alive!

Stupid modern technology

So my appt. last night was a bust. My doctor´s computer is down. He said he still could have done the ultrasound, but wouldn´t be able to save it or put it on my USB. No thanks. I wanna take my baby with me when I leave. Supposedly the computer will be fixed and returned by today, but this is MEXICO and that is highly doubtful. He said Thursday at the latest and that the further along I am the better for the screening anyways since there will be more to measure and see. Well I was super freaking bummed and still am. I was so excited to see my frijolito again and get some reassurance and got nada.

::sigh::

Sigh of relief

My house is all mine again! My mother in law finally left yesterday so I can breathe a little easier. Franco is still pretty upset, or was yesterday, but things will be much better for us now that she´s gone. It felt so good to wash my own dishes and clothes this morning before work. Yeah, it was nice having someone else do it for a month+ but it feels way better to do it myself. I also had to nurish my flowers back to health this morning. I hadn´t watered them in a long time because so much rain came the last week with that hurricane that never hit. They already look better. My buganvillia in the backyard is getting huge! It is already growing up over the top of the fence. I will post a pic soon.
I am also getting excited about Christmas. I can´t wait for the trees to go on sale! My mom brought me gorgeous angels and crosses and I can´t wait to hang them on a tree.
And below we have the latest belly pic, taken Sunday on the ferry on our way to Isla Mujeres.



How far along? 12 weeks, 4 days
Total weight gain: I was down 2 pounds at the last appt, but I will find out next Monday.
Maternity clothes? I did go back and buy the pretty maternity shirts. I have one on today and one in the picture above. I don´t really need them, but it makes me feel prettier and pregnanter : )
Sleep: Sleeping good, just more drool than ever involved.
Best moment this week: The trip to Isla Mujeres and my mother in law leaving yesterday!
Movement: Too early to feel it.
Gender: 8 more weeks til I find out, but I have changed my mind. I want a girl now!
Labor Signs: Not even close.
Belly Button in or out? Eww, in.
What I miss: ? Still beer.
What I am looking forward to: Baby bedding and decorating the nursery!
Weekly Wisdom: Baby is almost 3 inches long now!
Milestones: Coming to the end of the first trimester!

Jumping bean footage

Here is the video of my frijolito! At first he is looking at us head on. You can kinda make out the head and little nubs for arms/legs. Then he turns on the heartbeat and you can here it right before the 2 minute mark. Then he starts jumping around 2:30 to 3 minutes. That may be off a little cause I uploaded it to youtube and that kinda tweaked it. Hope this works : )

I have a real baby in my belly!!!

And seeing him jump and kick and move and stretch last night was hands down the most amazing thing to date. This is such a huge milestone. I know I still have another couple of weeks til I am completely out of the danger zone, but I feel like I can finally get excited. Like it´s really happening. So I busted out and started filling in the pregnancy journal mom brought me this weekend. And I am gonna start these little things below. When I get my video back of my little frijolito, I will be posting : )

The beginning of a bump:




How far along? 11 weeks, 4 days
Total weight gain: Down 2 more pounds, score!
Maternity clothes? Almost bought 3 shirts yesterday, might go back tonight. Althought I don´t NEED them yet.
Sleep: Not last night.
Best moment this week: Seeing frijolito last night and knowing he´s okay!
Movement: Not that I can feel : ) Just gas.
Gender: Don´t know. But I am gonna keep saying he til told otherwise.
Labor Signs: Not even close.
Belly Button in or out? Eww, in.
What I miss: Beer.
What I am looking forward to: Finally getting excited about this baby!
Weekly Wisdom: Don´t drink coke. It only makes you vomit, Katie.
Milestones: Hitting 11 weeks with a heartbeat!

10 and a half weeks

Look at me go! I haven´t updated in a while, mainly because for the last month I have been dealing with my in-laws living in my house. I won´t go into details, but I have been stressed and annoyed to say the least. Good news is MY momma is coming to town on Friday!!! I need her and am so excited. She is also bringing me lots of goodies and some things to make it through pregnancy. Ya know, like Gas X and Colace, things I can´t find here. It´s like Christmas is coming early because she´s also bringing me lots of candy and things for my sewing machine too! And a new digital camera. I had an accident at the beach a while back. So, belly pics coming soon!

I forgot how much I like to sew. You should have seen how much dust I had to clean off of the machine. I guess when I was forced to stay up all night (I am the best procastinator you will ever meet) to finish dresses and garments for fashion school kinda sucked the fun out of it. I´m assuming that´s why I haven´t touched it in the past two years. My virtual friends (lol) started a sewing club. Our first project were baby blocks that double as toys and decorations. I did a total of four and have to say I was thoroughly impressed with the outcome. Soon as that digital camera shows up I will post them too. It really gave me a way to connect to the baby and I felt like such a mom making things for my offspring. It inspired me to make a whole lot more things. Could this be early nesting?

Also, I was dead set on having a boy. I have always imagined having a boy first to protect his little sister I will have later. Plus I kinda want a momma´s boy and I hear they are a bit easier to take care of as far as attitudes go. Of course with my past pregnancy history, all I am shooting for is healthy. Gender doesn´t matter. BUT I am kinda leaning towards a girl now. I already love bows, ever seen my tattoo? Can you imagine the possibilites? I guess I can´t wait to have a little girl to play dress up with and have little tea parties. Yay for pretty little dresses and lace and bows : ) Plus, I have this gut feeling I am gonna get a girl and she is gonna give me all the karma I deserve and all the things I did to my mom growing up are gonna come back at me ten-fold. I deserve it : )

My next appointment is Monday. I will be 11 weeks and some days. I feel like it will be the scariest appt. so far. Last week and this week are critical to me because it´s when my angel babies stopped growing and beating their sweet hearts. I just don´t think I could handle seeing that on the ultrasound again. It´s good mom will be here to hold my hand, but I hope just as much as she does that she gets a sneak peak at her first grandbaby and it is big and strong. It will finally look like a real baby too, not a shrimp.

And that´s all I´ve got.