39 weeks: Pregnancy photos

Hi sweet little one :)

I forgot to take preggers photos this week, but I'm still huge!  Midwife appointment went well, they still want me to call when my pressure waves (contractions) are five minutes apart, one minute each, for one hour since second babies tend to come out a little faster.  We'll see...hope it's an enjoyable experience for you.  :)  Everyone keeps asking me if I'm getting anxious about you not coming out yet.  I tell them one, that second time mommies gestational period average is 40 weeks, 3 days, and two, that my hubby has finals next week so I'm fine with you sticking it out for a little while longer if that's what you want.  I love you!

What you're up to this week:

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

4 years: Lela Carmen

My Mommie is here...my Mommie is here!!

4 years: Change

Hi little O. :)

The other night Daddy and I were on the couch watching the movie Bridesmaids and he looked over at me and I was silently crying.  I think it was at the part where one of the characters is telling another character how much has changed in their friendship since one of them got engaged.  For some reason, this made me think about you and how much your life is about to change.  People keep telling us about how you might regress when the little bambina/o comes out in the world.  How you might start acting like a baby, how you might resent the baby, how you might be really clingy or distant. 

About once a day you'll act like a baby and fake cry and ask me to change your diaper or ask for backa-backa and then you crack up and say, "I tricked you!!!"  Very cute, my love.  So far that's about it.  For the first 6 months I'd say you didn't even believe I was preggers so at least now you acknowledge that there's an actual baby in my belly.  A baby that you keep promising you'll help me with...."I'll rock him to sleep, Mama." "I'll rub his belly when he's sick."  "I'll sing him a song when he's crying." 

Anyhoo, I was crying because I thought about how you might feel neglected or left out or lonely when we can't do something with you because the baby needs us.  Just the thought of it makes me so sad because you've had us all to yourself for these past 4 years.  Daddy consoled me and said that it was good for you to not be the only child in the house and while I agree with him, I think that sometimes this change may be difficult for you.  I hope you know how much we love you and how much we'll try to keep your life as "normal" as possible even when we're exhausted and just want to sleep instead of go outside and play with you.  I also hope I can teach you how to change the baby's diapers and give him a bottle (of breastmilk).  :)

38 weeks: Names again

Hi sweetie...

I hope you're not into having a "girl" name, because Daddy and I have yet to find one we agree on.  We have plenty on the boys front, but nada much on the girl front.  I hope you don't mind being named Henry or Caleb (if you're a girl).   

38 weeks: Waiting for you

Hi little one. :)

You're still kicking around in there, hope you're having fun.  Your brother smacked you with a frisbee today (it was an accident) so I hope you're aokay.  As the day draws closer to when we get to meet you I thought I'd tell you about how happy I am that we waited to have you.  As soon as O was born, people asked me when we were going to have another child.  I mean, literally, at the hospital, people asked me when we were having another one. 

O's birth and newborn period was, like it is for many Mamas, a bit overwhelming.  I went back to work when O was 3 months old and it felt awful so I resigned a few months later to stay home with him.  Staying home with him made me feel much better, but it was still overwhelming, and in some ways, more so.  I went from being a very independent person with a very busy and rewarding work life to focusing on a little human being 24/7 which became a bit isolating.  Things got better as time passed and I enjoyed watching and felt very privileged to be able to watch O grow up.  I thought at the time that maybe O would be our only child (your Daddy, on the other hand, had a dream early on in our relationship that we would have 3 children, two boys, followed by a girl....we'll see if he's right) because he took all my attention and energy and I couldn't imagine another having another bambino.  I would see other Mamas with infants who were also preggers or had other children and many of them looked so exhausted (understandably), and some of them looked downright miserable.  

Many people told me to have children close together in age so they could play together and I could get through the newborn stage quickly with both.  I think and thought that it made a lot of sense to have kiddos close in age, but I just couldn't imagine getting preggers again so soon, if ever.  I was still nursing around the clock, O was sleeping with us, and I didn't know what my new life/role as Mama was all about. 

Anyhoo, we waited and waited, seeing if there would be a "good" time to have another child.  The last few years have involved a lot of moving around and change.  The first few years of O's life we have lived in 4 different cities.  We also had your Daddy's school schedule to contend with.  Meaning it would be good to have a baby during his winter break or summer break so he'd be able to spend some time with you.  It finally felt like the "right" time earlier this year, for me anyway.  I'm sure Daddy would have had you a long time ago. :)  Thank you for waiting around until we were both ready, little one.  

Along with that, I would also like to say how lucky you are to be our second child.  I am a second child and Daddy sorta is as well (he's the second child of his Mama & Daddy, but has two older half-siblings).  You've lucked out because I'm not as crazy as I was when I had your brother.  I was also 26 when I had your brother and now I'm 31, I am more mature and relaxed in general (just don't ask your Daddy about that).  Anyway, you'll probably get away with all kinds of stuff, lucky you!  Love you, see you soon.

4 years: Blog Anniversary

Today is the blog's 5 year anniversary!

We started the blog five years ago, on November 27, 2006, with a post about wonderful Mister Snoogle.  This post marks the 1150th post on the blog.  It's been fun (and sometimes stressful) to document some of the moments of your life for the past 5 years.  Originally the blog was octorisa.blogspot.com because we didn't know if you'd be Octavio or Isabella (our girl name at the time).

Originally we started the blog because Daddy was living in North Carolina and Mama was living in Massachusetts and we wanted to start a little journal for you, but it was hard to do it together on paper since we were so far apart.  Both of us actually have written journals we started for you as well, but it was easier to post little things for you on the blog when it came to us.  At first we didn't let anyone know about it, but shortly afterwards we let family and friends know about it so that they could keep tabs on you.  They even wrote to you themselves on the blog which was very sweet.  Now five years later, the blog is written for you and your little baby sibling too.

A funny thing about the blog is that I obsessively searched for baby books for you.  You know, the kind where you document the baby's first five years--things like developmental milestones, height and weight, etc.  I searched and searched for the perfect book, driving your Daddy crazy, but I finally found what I thought was the perfect book a few weeks before you were born.  That book is completely empty though, I have yet to write in it, and you're 4 and half years old now.  I guess I didn't feel a need to write in it since we had the little blog to write to you.  So when you ask for your baby book, I will just give you a printed copy of the blog.  I hope you'll be able to look back at the blog (in printed form) when you're older to see all the amazing little things you did and your spectacular growth into a sweet, compassionate and cute little person in such a short period of time.  Thank you for giving me so much to blog about, sweetie pie.

4 years: Medal

For some reason you thought that Daddy was going to win the Turkey Trot on Thursday and get a "shiny medal."  Little do you know the type of running competition we have in these parts.  Anyhoo, when we got back home, Daddy let you borrow the medal he got when he ran a half-marathon in May 2009. 

For the record, I'd just like to say that I was very IMPRESSED that Daddy ran a half-marathon and ran a sub 2:00 hour half-marathon with very little training.  He never believes me because the thing is, when we went to meet him at the finish line, he acted like he had just gone for a walk around the block, like it was no big deal, even though he had ran over 13 miles at a super fast pace.  I was and still am very proud of him. :)

Back to you though, Daddy let you borrow the medal and you've been carrying it around the house since then.  You love it.  When you saw your friend Nasar outside today, you ran outside with the medal... 

"This is my Daddy's medal, he got it when he won a big race.  Be careful, don't break it."

4 years: Picture Post

From the 38 week midwife appointment...

You're the cutest!

Getting my Celestial Seasonings' Tension Tamer tea on before the midwife came in

Rolling around the cafe at Daddy's school

Such a weird kid

4 years: Sexy and I Know It

We spent about a half hour dancing to LMFAO's Sexy and I Know It on repeat this morning and now you're walking around the house saying, "I'm sexy and I know it" nonstop.  I created a little monster.

38 weeks: Turkey Trot

Happy Thanksgiving!

We started our Thanksgiving morning with the Louisville Turkey Trot 5k.  Your poor Daddy, I don't think he really wanted to do it.  He just wanted to chillax at home, but he didn't want us to go alone so he joined us.  Thanks, Daddy!  Daddy ran the course while you and me walked the course.  You walked the first mile and then got into the baby's stroller for the rest of it.  Good job, O!

Ready to get his race on

It was super warm and sunny this morning

Way too big for the stroller but I didn't think you'd walk the entire 3 miles, I was right

And we're off!  We stayed in the back since we were going to walk it, lots of doggies and jogging strollers everywhere

Running away from me

Mama trying to keep up

I love your bib number

We were less than a mile in and the elite runners were already on their way back...ahh!

You needed a little water break

I love this face

Waiting to get back on the trail

Close to a mile in we saw Daddy on his way back!

Run, Daddy, run!

2 miles to go!

You got back in to the stroller

We looped around and then only one more mile to go!

Daddy finished the race and then walked back to finish with us, thanks Daddy!

He even pushed you for me

.1 miles to go!

You wanted to sprint at the end

We actually did it in 1 hour, we started way after the gun

Getting our hot chocolate on after the race

Name             Bib #  Overall    Time Back   Chip Time    Gun Time     Pace

Chester F        993       163      11:28.0          28:32.7        28:32.7         5:42/K 

Johanna RF     994        385      49:29.1         1:05:47.5     1:05:47.5      13:09/K 

Octavio RF      1050      384      48:54.6         1:05:45.4      1:05:45.4     13:09/K

38 weeks: Pregnancy Photos

Hi sweetie pie!

You're 38 weeks old!  Things are still going really well.  At this week's midwife appointment your heartbeat was in the 150s and Mama's blood pressure and everything else is good (my blood pressure got a little high towards the end of my pregnancy with O).  I asked the midwife to help me figure out your positioning at the appointment.  She felt around and she thought you were right occiput posterior (with your back on my right side) so you just need to spin around a little bit more, feel free to do so. :)  We talked with the midwife more about hospital procedures (the midwives' practices are a little different than the standard hospital policies) and I said I don't want a saline lock put in (they put one in case of an emergency where they would need quick access to an IV) and I told her last week about not wanting to know how many centimeters I'm dilated when she does internal exams, only to let me know when it's aokay to push.  

I'm still working through my hypnobirthing materials (glad you haven't come yet!) and you should know that my special place is with us wading through a lake, I'm holding you in a wrap, it's late at night and there's a full moon and I'm holding Octavio with my other hand.  That's where we'll be going during your birth, hypnosis-wise, si Dios quiere.

Daddy and O are both out of school this week so we've been spending lots of time together.  Well, we've been spending a lot of time with O because Daddy has been busy studying, but Daddy's school is closed the next two days so we have him all to ourselves...mwahaha!  Love you sweetie!

I didn't take pregnancy photos yesterday so these are from today, 38 weeks, 1 day (look who decided to join us):

What you're up to this week:

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

37 Weeks: Busy Mommy

Hi little one,

Getting close to seeing you.  Hope all is well.  I've just been busy doing school stuff, the normal stuff, writing briefs, memos, and a seminar paper.  Wish you could see how busy your Mommy has been trying to get things ready for you.  If she isn't buying you clothes or other things, she's cleaning the WHOLE house.  I feel bad because I get home tired and she, at 37 weeks pregnant, is still going nonstop.  Never mind she's been watching your brother all day, which is no easy task in itself.  

Anyhow,  I've been thinking a lot not just about what job I might have but where it might be, and think I've said this before but it would be nice to go back to Northampton where your brother was born and we lived as a family for a year.  Funny, there are some similarities between Northampton and Boulder, Boulder actually looks nicer with flatirons, but Boulder neither is nor feels like the little town Northampton was/felt like.  Did I mention it's 6:49am and I'm already at my law school!  Crazy, but I'm obsessed with studying in only one room in the whole law school, so get here when the school opens (6:30 am today) to claim it.  While I don't dispute I'm crazy, for what it's worth I normally get a dozen or so people coming by to check if "my room" is free and they always are upset I'm here, oh well.  What's so great about the room you ask?  Well it has a window and is small enough that one person can study by themselves, yet has a decent size table (can accommodate 4 people) which gives me plenty of space to spread out.  Also, think because of window get better cell phone reception to talk to your Mommy, as a side-note think Sprint service is horrible. 

Today I'm applying to the Public Defender's Office in Massachusetts, which I'm not optimistic about because I haven't previously done PD work.  This spring I'll be in the criminal defense clinic, but that probably won't matter, too little too late.  Your brother has been growing so much lately.  He doesn't gain any weight just grows, wish I could say the same about myself!  He loves video games, no shocker there since I'm sure I wasted away several thousand hours of my life playing video games myself.  He also likes reading, which I can't say I did growing up.  Hope he can keep a healthy balance of the two.  Oh, it's been a couple months since I became a veggie, and it's been easier than I expected.  Granted your Mommy cooks yummy food most of the time, so there isn't a whole lot of time where I don't have some veggie option.  And I've still been eating my fair share of french fries!  Think it's good for our family to be veggie, not only for humane reasons but for our health.  My family doesn't have the best track record healthwise, so can't hurt to be veggie growing up, with any luck you'll stay veggie for life.  What I have to kick is my diet coke habit.  Drink about 3 or 4 12 oz. cans a day.  Acts as my stimulant, like coffee for many of my classmates.  I know it's bad for me, but like Mommy says it's probably not a good idea to try kicking a drug while trying to garner enough energy to finish the semester.  Last summer I went a good solid 3 months without drinking a sip of Diet Coke, then school started up and a week later I was back on the juice.  Got to try to kick it in 3 weeks, when I hope to be done with my work for the semester as well as when you join us.  Would love to say your whole life I haven't drank anything but water.  We'll see.

I watched this cool movie the other night, called The Exam.  I love my movies, and like many different types.  This one was about 8 people taking an exam for a job they don't know much about.  The are put into a room with 8 desks and each one has a blank piece of paper on it and they are told "there is one question on this exam, only one answer is required, any questions?"  So the whole movie the people are trying to figure out the question and it's pretty interesting.  Think it says a lot about people and what they are willing to do for things like a job.  Wish one's work wouldn't define us as much.  Had this attorney come speak at one of my classes and he talked about how many attorneys are not happy with their work and so resort to doing things that fulfill them at other times.  Sounds crazy, working 50+ hours to have the privilege of a few hours to be able to do what you really want.  I probably shouldn't end on a sad note but have to say how saddened I am that your Grandma Mayela is getting worn out taking care of her mother, your great grandmother.  Wish I would have known her more when I was younger, as I don't have a lot of feelings for her having grown up so far away from her.  But I know she was a worker that did whatever she needed to do to take care of her family, including my mother, so have to respect her for that.  Don't think she was very touchy feely, but your great grandfather was, which makes sense.  Wish I could help my mother more but try to chat with her every day and offer my sympathy for what I'm sure is a very stressful time for her.

In other sad news, seems your brother didn't take to basketball like he did soccer, but who knows when that might change.  I want to get him a basketball this week, mine is kinda big/heavy for him.  And got to try to remember you will be your person, like your brother and have to be open to encouraging anything that makes you happy.  Love you tons and chat later.


Pa

4 years: Picture Post

Some photos...

You look too cute with a mustache

In this one you actually remind me of my old boss, Dana

Daddy got me this beautiful print..."Mi Semillita" by Melanie Cervantes!

Daddy waiting outside of the law school before it opened so he could get his favorite study room

What a good estudiante

4 years: Pizza party

Today was the end of the season Palermo soccer team pizza party.  Your last two soccer games were cancelled due to snow so we hadn't seen your teammates in about a month.  It was good to see everyone and eat some yummie pizza.  You even got a cute little trophy.

Getting your pizza on...in the back is that girl Jayden that you called a "pretty girl" and chased around one practice

Getting your trophy from Coach Annie

You weren't sure about the trophy at first

But you warmed up to it

37 weeks: Bags packed!

Today was spent doing more cleaning and organizing getting ready for your arrival.

Two things were crossed of the to-do list today...

Breast pump stuff all cleaned, sterilized and put away

Hospital bag packed!