40 weeks: Still here!

Daddy finished his last final today (yay!) and you're still in my belly...you're so considerate, sweetie pie!  Feel free to come out now. :)

40 weeks: Belly

You've gotten very big in my belly over these past 40 weeks...

40 weeks: Pregnancy photos

Hi sweetie!

You're 40 weeks old this week!!  We made it! :)

You're still in my belly and I don't feel any different so we'll see when you'll be making your entrance.  We had a midwife appointment this morning and I gained a pound from last week (good), blood pressure was 110/72 (good), my fundal height was 40 cm (good) your heartbeat was in the 150s (good), and Sarit (midwife) thought you were in a great position (yay!).  We set up an appointment for next week for an ultrasound and a fetal non-stress test.  If you're not out by 41 weeks then we'll have another non-stress test at 41 1/2 weeks and then if you're not out at that appointment we'll talk induction options for 42 weeks.  I can't believe I'll get to see you within 2 weeks...so soon!  Sarit asked if I wanted to get my cervix checked to check how dilated and effaced I am but I declined.  I think knowing how dilated I am messes with me too much psychologically so it was good that she was fine with me not doing it. 

Lela Carmen has been here for a week now and it's been great to have her around.  She's going to take care of O while we're at the hospital having you (poor Lela!).  Tonight Lela and I are going to take a tour of the hospital so she can see it before the big day.  I figured out the placenta situation (we're going to get it encapsulated in pill form), our hospital bags are in the car, we just still haven't figured out the diaper thing still, but we will.  Time to pick up O from the bus stop...love you sweetie pie!

What you're up to this week:

It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.

39 Weeks: Getting close

Ok so I've been an absent father and husband for the last week or so, but promise to not do this to you come my last round of finals, largely because I'll hopefully only have one final.  Anyhow, just wanted to let you know how lucky you are to have such a wonderful mother, that has spent countless hours preparing for you and preparing to make your entry/birth as great an experience as possible.  Being a father for the last 4 1/2 years has been amazing and I know having you in my life will just add to the great challenge parenting is.  Fortunately, I'm not in this by myself.

I had this talk with one of your grandmothers, Lela Carmen, as your brother calls her, about growing up with family.  I talked about how in my family we were real close to our cousins (my mother's sister's children) and how it would be nice for you to grow up in a similar environment.  With your uncle Jonathan having 2 children and your aunt Tatiana having one (likely another soon I bet) we already have part of the puzzle in place.  Now we just have to end up back east and get Tatiana to come back too (in Michigan now).  As for the getting out back east part, hoping to have a better picture of my job situation, and the likelihood of working back east, sometime in January.

This morning I was chatting with your brother in bed, and he asked me to get him some Garfield books since they were all out at the library.  Funny thing is I had a whole bunch of Garfield books when I was like 12 or so.  Just placed a call to my mother to see if those books are still around.  Anyways, got to do some studying so will run but hope to see you soon, healthy and promise to do the best job I can as your father.

Love,

Pa

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.

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.

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

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!

37 weeks: Midwife appointment

Hi sweetie. :)

We had our midwife appointment today.  Everything is looking good and good news, our group b strep test came back negative so no antibiotics for us!  Your heartbeat was still in the 140s and you're still head down.  Your brother made pretend he was a midwife at today's appointment.  He said he was Midwife Jackie and had been to 40 births.  He said his favorite part of being a midwife was getting the babies out of the mommies.  He's an interesting kid.  Love you!

37 weeks: Full term!

Your brother picked out a cake for your full term week birthday...Happy Cumplesemana, sweetie!

Yummies! (sorry that your brother looks possessed, he was waiting hours to have a slice)

37 weeks: Pregnancy Photos

Hi sweet pea!

You're 37 weeks and now FULL TERM!  Yay, yay, yay!  We still have up to 5 more weeks to go (our midwife practice forces babies out by week 42) but good job sticking it out sweetie pie.  They say second pregnancies usually fly by, but I feel like you've been around in my belly for a long time now.  It feels like it was a long time ago when we surprised Daddy with the news that you were coming and we've done so much in the past 9 months.  I hope you've enjoyed your surroundings so far and please, if you can, continue to enjoy them for a few more weeks so Daddy can be done with his finals and can actually hang out with you and function.  :)

Mama is still feeling really great.  I've been going on my walks in the mornings when your brother goes to school and I've been surprised that I haven't had to slow down just yet since you haven't dropped and things are still comfortable.  Last Thursday night I was having a lot of pressure waves, but since then I've only had a few a day and they're fine.

I'm still ravenously hungry all the time and this week I've moved on from wanting lime juice all the time to wanting Malta all the time.  I try to limit myself to one Malta a day since they're not good for you or me for that matter, but it's so hard since they now carry Malta (both Malta Goya AND Malta India) at the Target in town so it's not like I have to drive 30 minutes to get it anymore.  Ahh!  

We're still doing our hypnobirthing practices and Daddy has now joined us.  He read a relaxing hypno thing to me last night that was nice.  He also read the Bubble of Peace script to me earlier this week and got through it with only 2 million stops to laugh, your Daddy is so silly.  We got a hand out at last week's midwife appointment about things to do to get my body ready for birthing.  I haven't done much on the list yet...I'm drinking my pregnancy tea, we've been doing a little bit of perineal massage, and I've been doing a few other prenatal exercises but that's it.  I think I'll start taking evening primrose oil this week though.

We still have to work on the name thing and also the diaper situation, and I have to pack our hospital bag (was supposed to do that last week, oops!), oh and check the breast pump to make sure I have all the parts to it still, but otherwise all is looking good.  We usually have our midwife appointment on Tuesdays, but I changed this week's appointment to Friday so we could meet with one of the other midwives that we have only seen once (she's my favorite!).  Daddy will be in Denver at his externship with the Supreme Court so he can't make it, but your brother will be joining us for the appointment and making interesting comments, I'm sure.  I can't wait to hear your little heartbeat again, it never gets old!  Love you sweetie!

What Mama is looking like this week (photos taken by Mister Octavio in his room):

What you're up to this week:

Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time, though. So if you're planning to have a repeat c-section, for example, your practitioner will schedule it for no earlier than 39 weeks unless there's a medical reason to intervene earlier.)

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

37 weeks: Bassinet

Baby carrot is holding down your fort, no worries...

36 weeks: Names

Desperate times call for desperate measures...guess what your parentals are doing tonight?

We've been having a hard time agreeing on names...I suggested Sofia/Sophia to Daddy and he said it reminded him of a "loose woman"...I said it doesn't remind you of Sophia from the Golden Girls?

Daddy is taking this very seriously & Mama is wishing she hadn't read the name portion of Freakonomics a few years ago

36 weeks: Clothes

Thanks to today's Goodwill 50% off sale, your newborn/0-3 months clothes collection is now complete!  All your super tiny newborn clothes have been washed and put away.

The two chest of drawers...perfect fit!  We're going to be using the built in desk as a changing table, thus the changing pad

Onesies and side-snap shirts

Pants and one-piece outfits

Shoes, socks, hats, bibs, washcloths, burp cloths

I hope you don't mind, but I took one of the drawers for my nursing stuff and for some slings

Sleepers

Swaddling blankets

36 weeks: Nesting

I'm eating this delicious cremita (I'd prefer harina de maiz, but we're out), I don't want to leave the house, and all I want to do is clean and organize nonstop. 

Nesting 2011 is in full effect!

36 weeks: Guest Post from Titi Lisa

Guest Post from Titi Lisa:

Hello Octavio and Little One:

I wanted to say a quick hello from the Baxter-Rincon clan and let you know that it is great being able to read about you guys. Although we live far apart, the blog keeps you guys in hands reach. In saying that, I am anxiously awaiting your arrival little one.  We have the same anticipation as we had for Octavio, for you. Speaking of Octavio, I found a little poem for you Octavio that I thought you might like, it is about being a Big Brother! Being a Big Brother is Big task but I know you will be great at it because you are so loving and caring. Just remember to always protect your sibling, that was the number rule I was told since I am the oldest of my siblings, and I believe it to be a good rule.

Well I must get going...many blessings to you all and we love you guys very much!

Titi Lisa

- -

"Big Brother!"

Mommy had a baby, 

what does that make me?

A Big Brother for all to see!

Cute, little baby 

so tiny and sweet,

being a Big Brother,

 is really neat!

There's a lot of things

  I can do,

I know mommy needs me to,

be a Big Boy and help her out.

That's what being a Big Brother...

is all about!

Copyright 2003 

Christine Michaels

www.WelcomeBaby.com

36 weeks: Awkward Midwife Moment

At the last midwife appointment, after the midwife measured my fundal height she looked at my linea negra and said, "wow, your line is stunning, it's just so beautiful."  I had no idea what to say to that so I just said..."umm, thanks!" 

36 weeks: Mama's favorite meal

I could seriously live off of this and honeycrisp apples.  You're going to come out wanting some rice and beans, I know it.