36-Week Bumpdate (Drama Included)

Yesterday morning started off like any other Thursday morning - I woke up, got ready for work, and then got Owen ready and dropped him off at my parents' house. I even stopped by Starbucks to get coffee because I knew we had a busy schedule. Within 10 minutes of clocking in at work, I started having painful contractions. I kind of ignored them because I had similar contractions a few days ago, and they went away after a couple of hours. And no, these weren't the regular Braxton Hicks contractions that I've been feeling for the last month or so - these were painful to the point that I couldn't move or talk.

Still, my stubborn ass (pardon my French) was determined to push through and continue working. After two hours of consistent contractions, I finally had one that was a 7/10 on the pain scale; I couldn't even breathe. At that moment, I snuck into one of the patient rooms and called Ralph to come and get me. At the same time, I called the hospital to let them know what was going on - the triage nurse on the line instructed me to drink a bunch of water and check in at the hospital.

(Honestly, if it wasn't at the urging of my fellow nurses, doctors, and managers, I probably would've stayed just a liiittle bit longer...but that painful contraction worried me, and I wanted to make sure the baby was okay.)

Within an hour, I was hooked up to a fetal monitor, and a nurse was checking the frequency of my contractions. At first, they were every 5 to 6 minutes, and I rated them being low in pain (they were so much worse when I was standing up and walking around). The on-call doctor came in a little later and examined me and said I was only about 1 cm dilated. 

He fell asleep to the cool room and soothing sounds of the baby's heartbeat LOL!

I was monitored for an additional hour then had a repeat exam - my contractions weren't getting worse/more frequent, and I wasn't dilating any further. So, just as I had suspected and hoped, the doctor said the baby isn't coming just yet, and Ralph and I were sent home.

Currently, I'm still having contractions (about 4 an hour), but I was told that this is my new "baseline". If it starts to get worse, then I need to drink a bunch of cold water, lie on my left side, and wait...and if the symptoms don't go away, then I give the hospital a call.

Needless to say, this was a huge wake-up call for me and Ralph. I went to the hospital without a hospital bag. Our infant carseat is not yet installed. The baby's clothes still need to be washed. I need a pedicure (lol, I'm kidding...sort of). I could go on and on. This baby is coming in 20 days IF I can make it to my c-section date. At this point, I'm really just hoping to make it to 37 weeks.

Hang in there, Rerun. Just wait 6 more days...pretty please!

Here's my 36-week bumpdate:

Dress is from PinkBlush - exact dress can be found here!

How far along?: 36 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +16 lbs

Sleep: Waking up more frequently to use the restroom.
Best moment this week: Having breakfast at Off Street Cafe where my buddy Jacqueline works...best cinnamon roll I ever had.
Movement: All the time. In fact, I had my 35-week check-up this past Monday, and the doctor said the baby flipped and is breech again...which explains why I'm constantly feeling the baby kick my bladder, haha.
Symptoms: Back pain, BHC, fatigue, frequent urination (day and night)...the usual.
Symptoms I DON'T have: GERD, swollen feet/legs.
Food cravings: Cinnamon anything. Also, I really wanted chocolate cake while I was at the hospital. 

Food aversions: Nothing at the moment.

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: Read story above.
Belly Button in or out?: Out.
What I miss: Sushi.
What I am looking forward to: My "Sprinkle" tomorrow that Ralph's aunts and cousins were veeerrry determined to throw. :) 

**Disclaimer: The clothing showcased above was gifted to me by PinkBlush in exchange for a review/social media post.**

33-Week Bumpdate

Yikes...take a look at those stretch marks from my pregnancy with Owen!

How far along?: 33 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +14 lbs

Sleep: I must wake up 3 or 4 times at night to change which side I'm lying on. And more than half the time, my lower back cracks, and it feels sooo goood.
Best moment this week: Honestly, it was yesterday morning when Owen woke up (he asked to sleep in our bed the night before, and we let him because he almost NEVER asks to sleep with us anymore), and the first thing he did was reach for my belly.
Movement: Baby Boy is running out of room. He has been kicking towards my bladder and my back area...and I'm afraid I just might spontaneously pee my pants or fart, hahaha.
Symptoms: Back/hip/right buttock pain, fatigue (I take a nap every chance I get, usually when Owen naps), Braxton-Hicks contractions, and, weirdly enough, nausea! Some mornings, I'll be eating breakfast, and I'll just lose my appetite.
Symptoms I DON'T have: GERD, swollen feet/legs, nocturia.
Food cravings: Cinnamon anything. The other day, I ate 3 (SMALL...ish) churros. 

Food aversions: Nothing at the moment.

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: None.
Belly Button in or out?: Poking out a little bit.
What I miss: Being comfortable.
What I am looking forward to: Eating very well on Sunday. :)

Until next time!

30-Week Bumpdate

You guys! We are 63 days AWAY from meeting Baby Boy! Ahhh! It's unbelievable how fast this pregnancy has flown by, but we've still got a ways to go. Also, I haven't done a bumpdate in 5 weeks? Oops. Well...here's my 30-week preggo bump in all its glory.

Maternity/Nursing robe is from ShopPinkBlush.com.

You can find this exact robe here.

How far along?: 30 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +14 lbs

Sleep: Surprisingly, pretty good! Been sleeping soundly this week.
Best moment this week: Owen sleeping in his new bed for the first time. 
Movement: All the time.
Symptoms: The typical back pain that comes with pregnancy, but I've been having sharp lower back pain when I change positions - usually from a sitting to standing position - but only sometimes. I'm also having GERD (yuck), and I'm getting nocturia again. 
Symptoms I DON'T have: I don't know...I feel like I have them all, hahaha.
Food cravings: It varies from day to day, but they're never SERIOUS cravings where I'd have to leave my house to go get it at that exact moment. But if I'm being totally honest right now, I could eat a whole plate of Hawaiian macaroni salad. Or a classic roast beef and cheddar sandwich from Arby's. Ugh.

Food aversions: Nothing at the moment.

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: None.
Belly Button in or out?: Flat.
What I miss: Being comfortable. Heh.
What I am looking forward to: Going to IKEA (yes, AGAIN) this weekend to get more stuff for the boys' room!


And in honor of Throwback Thursday, here was my 30-week bump picture when I was pregnant with Owen!

Eeek! I was a whopping 21 pounds heavier in this photo!!! I definitely learned a thing or two from my first pregnancy.

Until next time!

**Disclaimer: The clothing showcased above was gifted to me by PinkBlush in exchange for a review/social media post.**

Welcoming the 3rd Trimester

Summer is here, and last Thursday marked the start of the third trimester! *Throws confetti!* And BECAUSE it's Summer and BECAUSE I'm approximately the size of a baby whale, I've had no desire to leave the cool and comfort of my own home.

Here's what's been happening since I last blogged...

At the end of June, I had my 26-week check-up, and so far, so good! I passed my Glucose test (Woo!), and my doctor and I talked about delivery options. After going back and forth, Ralph and I decided that it would be best to do a repeat C-section. We already scheduled it for Thursday, September 21st, and we are SO excited!

For 4th of July, we - you guessed it - stayed home, haha; however, I tried my best to make the most of it.

For breakfast, I made star-shaped Nutella-filled French toast topped with blueberry sauce with strawberries and whipped cream on the side *WHEW*.

For lunch, we just had leftovers; and for dinner, we had carne asada tacos and cheese quesadillas (Ralph's request).

And after that, I put together this super easy S'mores recipe that I saw on Instagram just a day or two prior.

S'mores Dip Recipe:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Layer the bottom of an oven-safe dish with Hershey's chocolate bars.
3. Dip some marshmallows in water and cover them in blue sprinkles.
4. Repeat step 3 but with red sprinkles.
5. Cut the dipped and non-dipped marshmallows in half, and arrange them sticky side down on the chocolate to look like the American flag.
6. Cut a non-dipped marshmallow into tiny pieces and scatter them on the blue marshmallows (these will be the "stars").
7. Bake for 8 minutes.
8. Serve with graham crackers!

Needless to say, Owen enjoyed dessert immensely.

While we were having our dessert outside, we let Owen throw Pop-Its on the ground. He was pretty terrible at it at first (throwing them too softly, or throwing them at our feet/legs), but he got the hang of it later on. These were our "fireworks" this year, since Owen has never really had a huge liking for fireworks (not yet anyway). Perhaps next year.

And during all of this, I've been nesting...like, reeeeeeeaaaaaally bad. I think finding out the baby's delivery date has put things in motion. Obviously, since we live in a 2-bedroom townhome apartment, the boys will have a shared room/nursery, and that means we'll need ALL the room we can get. And, naturally, I want to redo Owen's room entirely (much to Ralph's chagrin, HAHA, just kidding...sort of) instead of just tossing a toddler bed in there and calling it a day.

In the beginning, I had all these plans of selling old furniture and buying new ones; but throughout the process, I decided to just move certain things around, which, in the end, will save us a couple hundred dollars and a LOT of work. So far, we've done the following:

• Cleaned out Owen's closet, which consisted mostly of Owen's toys and Ralph's collectibles (most went into storage).
• Moved Owen's dresser/changing table into our bedroom, which is now OUR dresser/current TV stand.
• Moved our old TV stand to the right side of Owen's closet, which will house Rerun's clothes and serve as the new changing table.
• Moved Owen's bookcase to the left side of his closet, which will house Owen's clothes and miscellaneous things (diapers, wipes, etc.). 
• Moved our small shoe cabinet (which we found out was only holding 2 pairs of shoes we didn't know we still had, LOL!) from the downstairs closet to Owen's room. We'll be turning it into a toy storage unit of some sort (I just love IKEA products...so versatile).
• Moved Owen's crib to where his changing table/dresser used to be.
• Organized the crap out of our own closets to simply make more room.
• Went to our storage unit to bring back Owen's old baby things (clothes, rocker, swaddles, etc.).

It's hard to picture all of that right now, but I'll definitely post before and after photos in the future. This weekend, we'll be buying Owen's big boy bed (AHHHH!!) and getting started on THAT transition - his bed will be where his bookcase and crib used to be.

So that's what we've been up to! Just cleaning and re-organizing. Later today, we'll be meeting up with the amazing Christina Cho for our maternity photo shoot. :)

Until next time!

OH, BOY!

One of my coworkers surprised me with these Bundtinis after we found out we were having a boy! Thanks, Uncle Jon!

When I was pregnant with Owen, Ralph and I had no intentions of waiting to find out the sex of the baby. The moment the ultrasound technician asked us if we wanted to know if it was a boy or a girl, I don't think I could have said "YES" fast enough. (I know I told everyone that I did not care if it was a boy or a girl, but I really did want a boy to keep the "Herrera" name going...and that's why I needed to know right away; HOWEVER, if it was a girl, God knows I would have loved her just as much.)

This time around, I honestly did not care. I even wanted to wait until the baby was born to find out the sex, but Ralph simply could not. He was sure it was another boy; and when I realized my pregnancy symptoms mirrored those of when I was pregnant with Owen, I was sure it was a boy also.

This past Monday, we got our answer. I saw Dr. L for my 17-week check-up, and he said everything was looking great. When he asked if I wanted to know the sex, I could have easily said "no" because Ralph wasn't there (haha!); but my own curiosity got the better of me. With a turn of the ultrasound probe, I saw the baby's you-know-what on the screen. The doctor didn't even have to say anything; I was already pointing at Baby #2's boy parts and squealing with excitement. I turned to Owen (who had never left my side during the entire ultrasound) and said, "You're going to have a baby brother!"

Yup! It's a boy, alright!

As my appointment was finishing up, I was thinking of ways to surprise Ralph with the news. And since Ralph wasn't supposed to be home for at least another hour or two, I was thinking of making a pull-string piñata, baking cupcakes filled with blue frosting, or filling up a black balloon with blue confetti. Buuuut...Ralph texted me a few seconds later and said his training class ended early and was already headed home. So, scratch all THOSE ideas. I made a quick stop to Party City and picked up a can of silly string.

As soon as I got home, I quickly covered the can's label with white paper (so Ralph couldn't read "BLUE SILLY STRING" across it) and ushered the boys outside so Ralph could spray it all over Owen.

It was a mistake giving him the can...he almost gave it away!

The silly string could have been pink, yellow, green, black, all the colors of the rainbow, and Owen would have had the same reaction, lol! To be honest, I kind of expected him to get a little upset. This is the same kid that gets weird with sand and freaks out if one of my stray hairs gets on his hands.

Don't feel too bad. He now loves watching the video over and over again.

And we know Owen well enough to just give him Pooh Bear, and all life's problems are solved.

So that's that! I'm waaaay outnumbered now! Ralph and I are super excited to have two boys, and we're already talking about future Halloween costumes, bunk beds, and (of course) names! We've had a first name picked for a few weeks now but haven't been able to think of a second name. This morning, my dad sent me a list of second name ideas, and I actually ended up liking the first name he suggested (even though it was a name that I NEVER thought I would like). I did not think Ralph would approve, but after I texted him the whole name, he responded with, "Haha, lock it in!"

You're probably expecting me to reveal the name at this point, but we've decided to withhold it until the baby is born. I know, I know! What stinkers we are! Until then, we'll be referring to Baby Boy #2 as "Rerun", just like Linus' little brother in the Peanuts comics.

Until next time!