March BIG Buy

Steve and I went out on Wednesday and bought our BIG-ticket purchase for this month. We bought a crib mattress and a rocker/glider with ottoman. We really lucked out this month in that we got some good deals.


Now with that being said, let me just say doing research on all these items is as stressful as having a baby!! lol  Who would have thought that buying a crib mattress would be so difficult?? I started researching them and found out that there are quite of few things to be cautious of, who would have thought? For crying out loud, it's a mattress!! lol Anyway, we had to make sure that the mattress was firm enough, whether we wanted foam or innerspring, if we went with innerspring that it had at least 150 coil count, that is was flame retardant, that it had vents at the ends of the mattress so it didn't get all stinky and moldy, that is was toxin free and blah blah blah. lol With all that we found one of the top 3 crib mattresses recommended at Wal-Mart of all places and it was on sale!! We were thrilled or at least I was. Steve just laughed as I gave him a high-five in the aisle and a big WHOO HOO!! lol


Next was the Glider/Rocker, well forget about reading reviews online because you will never and I mean NEVER find a perfect one. Someone ALWAYS has something negative to say about them. So we found one that we both liked at Target that was on sale for $179. The woodwork matches the crib and we liked the style. That was all I needed!! lol Now, if Steve can just put it together without breaking it or his usual........have parts left over. lol Here's a picture.
On our way home Steve asked me if I was excited about getting the rocker/glider and I actually said that while I was, I was MORE excited about the crib mattress. He just laughed at me.


We have two doctor's appointments this month. First appointment is on March 16th and this is just a regular prenatal appointment. The second appointment is on March 28th and this is the BIG appointment for us...........we hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) get to find out the sex of the baby. lol  The appointment is really for an ultrasound of the baby to make sure its organs are functioning properly and are in the correct spots. We are really looking forward to this appointment. I know Steve is really looking forward to it as he missed the last ultrasound appointment so he hasn't seen the baby since it was a peanut (Week 7). Well time to get back to work. I'll post after each appointment to let you know how things are going. Ciao.

The Crib and Me

So we are at 16 weeks (4 months) today. Seems like the weeks are starting to go by faster now that we have gotten use to the idea of me being pregnant. We have been starting to think of all the things that we need to get to prepare for this little peanut and boy is that overwhelming!! lol Steve and I decided that once a month we would be a BIG-ticket items so this month we bought the crib.  We searched and searched and researched and researched for the perfect crib but nothing was feeling right. We eventually happen to be out and about this past Sunday and stumbled upon this beauty!

This crib actually was a $500 crib but we got it for $250. I am absolutely in love with it and its very sturdy. The crib is a convertible crib so it does go to the toddler bed and full size bed if we want it to. So our first "Parent" purchase is done. Needless to say we felt accomplished!! lol


Changes in me: Cravings and clothes are starting to get tight.


Strange cravings have begun for me (well these are at least strange for me). I cannot get enough peanut butter. I have been putting it on everything; however, I'm trying to be healthy about it so it goes on my apples, cinnamon raisin muffins and now my bananas. Plus I like a spoonful every now and then.  Last night's dinner was a Ham (made it on Wednesday), Swiss and jalapeno potato chip sandwich!! OMG, this was delish!! lol If the chips weren't a little on the hot side, I would have probably eaten two!! lol  The last thing that is strange for me is sweet things. I have never been one to like desserts, candy or anything that was really sweet, however, I could eat a whole bag of chips or crackers. The salt is what I liked. I'm really hoping this need for sweetness goes away after I have the baby. lol


So as of Monday I haven't gained any weight but I can tell my body is changing as my pants are fitting a little tighter around the waist these days!! I may have to go pant shopping here in a week or so as the discomfort is only going to get worse. I do have about 4 maternity shirts thanks to my Mama and by friend Connie. I can hardly wait to start wearing them, as they are all so cute. Hopefully, I will get a belly picture here soon for you all to see the growth.

Week 15

Went to my diagnostic ultrasound appointment on February 4th. Unfortunately, Steve was unable to make it. He ended up running out of gas and couldn't make it in time. We were both sad. This was somewhat of a scary appointment for us as we were going to find out the risk of our baby having Down Syndrome and one other genetic disorder. Thank goodness the results were in our favor and we are at low risk for the baby having either one of these disorders.

On a lighter note, I got to see Baby Arana doing its thing at Week 14. The baby was at first pretty quite but once the doctor starting pushing around on my belly the baby got more mobile. I saw so many pictures of it from all different angles. It really was awesome and wished Steve had been there to share this moment with me. The pictures aren't the best but the first picture is just a profile of Baby Arana. Boy, does it look like it has Steve's head!! BIG!! lol Hopefully, our little peanut grows into that head for his sake and mine!! lol The second picture shows Baby Arana with its hand in his mouth. Can't really tell if it's sucking its thumb or just nomming on its hand. The last picture is another profile pic from a further distance. You can see the profile and its torso.

Upcoming appointments for me are:

February 25th - Blood work for the second trimester. This blood work will be compared with my first trimester's blood work and will tell us if the baby is at risk for any defects. I swear the scare of having an unhealthy baby sure is tiring!! This here should be the last tests that we have to take so from then on I should be able to enjoy the pregnancy.

March 16th - 20 week prenatal exam.

March 28th - Ultrasound. This ultrasound will view the baby’s organs and make sure that they are all growing and functioning properly. We also should be able to find out the sex of Baby Arana. This will be a very exciting day for us!!

As for me, I've been feeling really well. I have been running 5K's (3.1 miles) with Porthos two to three times a week and attending Crossfit. I am doing everything in my power to make sure this birth goes easy, well much as I can do on my end. Baby Arana might have another story to tell. lol I'm still not wearing any maternity clothes and don't really have the "baby bump" yet but I'm sure it will be here all too soon.

In my spare time, if I'm not sleeping (lol), I am online researching and researching all the different products we are going to need for Baby Arana. Who knew there were so many things for the baby to look for? I am so frustrated and have no idea what to buy!! Everytime you find something you like and you read the reviews there's always that one review that just sticks out like a sore thumb and you can't get past it.  Reviews are bitter/sweet I tell ya!! Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions on anything please let me know!!!

Heartbeat!!

So on Monday we had a prenatal appointment and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat!! It was really surreal to me because all this time I know I'm pregnant but I don't look pregnant and I don't feel pregnant so a part of me was like "is anything still in there?" lol  I know it's silly but I'm just at that stage in my pregnancy where I really need the reassurance that our little peanut was still in there. The sound of baby Arana's heartbeat is exactly what I needed!!!  Now, I'm in love all over again and I haven't even met the little peanut. What a great feeling.

Friday, Steve and I have another doctor's appointment. This one is for a diagnostic ultrasound that will measure the back of the baby's neck and tell you your risks of your baby having down syndrome or not. A friend of mine, who is at the same stage in her pregnancy just had this done on Monday and said it was awesome. She got to see her baby blowing bubbles, stretching and sucking its thumb!! How cool is that?? I can hardly wait to see our ultrasound and see what our little baby is up to!! I'll post next week and let you all know how it went.

Week 13

Well not too much has been going on the past three weeks. Steve and I attended a 4-hour pregnancy class through Kaiser. The class pretty much went over a brief explanation of what us first time mothers will be experiencing. The next part of the class was a discussion on all the genetic testing that you can do to find out if your baby is at a high risk for birth defects.  Boy, if this doesn’t scare you to death. The last thing you want to hear about is all the things that could go wrong to your baby and that there really isn’t anything you can do to prevent it. All screening and genetic testing is optional so Steve and I decided that we would do the blood screening and genetic ultrasound. These procedures are the least invasive to the baby so we opted to do them. With these procedures it will detect up to 90% if the baby has a defect. If something comes back not in our favor, we may be at high risk and there are other procedures that can be done to tell you for sure or not, but these procedures are a little more invasive to the baby so we'll have to decide if this is something we want to do if and when that times comes.  We just pray that all tests come back in our favor.

We’ve had to do a few additional tests as Steve is a carrier for the sickle cell trait and I am a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis. I got tested for the sickle cell trait prior to being pregnant and found our that I’m not a carrier so we are good there and yesterday we found out that I am a carrier for the Cystic Fibrosis, so Steve went and got the test done and now it’s just the waiting game. It takes 10 to 14 days to get results. Both these gene defects are common amongst our ethnicity and so we have a very good chance of both of us not being carries of the same gene defect.

On a less scary note, Steve and I are planning on eloping to Tahoe on April 27^th to get married. We decided that this would be the best option for us as we have been together for 13 years now and a big wedding has never really been in our interests. We have talked about having a wedding in the past but it was more or less that we were going to do it for everyone else and it should be about us since this is our BIG day. We plan on staying the night in Tahoe and then going onto Mammoth for our annual fishing/camping trip. We are both really excited.

Well we have my week 13 appointment on Monday so stay turned for an update and hopefully another ultrasound picture of baby Arana!!

The Holidays

Well since my last post nothing much has really happened. Christmas was a little lonely, as Steve had to work a double shift, so I just went to a friend’s house for dinner. She was having a bunch of people over and it ended up being a pretty good night. I went home around 8:00 pm, as I was pretty pooped. Boy, I guess the days of being out until all hours of the night are over for me!! Lol 

That following Monday we were to head to NY to spend a week with Steve’s family but Mother Nature had other plans. The Northeast was getting slammed with a blizzard so we weren’t able to leave until Thursday morning. When we finally got into NY it was about 3:00 pm and we went straight to Steve’s mami’s house. I was dying to get there because I know Colombian goodness (food) was waiting for me!!! And I was right; as soon as we literally walked in the door there were plates of food being served up just for me!! I was going to be spoiled the whole time we were there…this was heaven!! Soon after, it was nappy time for me. Imagine that!! Lol  After laying down for an hour or so Steve’s niece, Nia arrived. We hadn’t seen her since last Christmas and it was a great joy to hang with her. 

Friday was New Year’s Eve and as most of you know (from me) that Steve’s family usually has a party that lasts until the wee hours and I’m talking like 7 am the next morning. So it was time for me to sleep in and get as many Z’s as possible just so I could stay up until midnight. Later that afternoon Steve’s sister Sharon showed up with her other daughter and boyfriend and we finally had a Christmas. We opened gifts and had some good laughs. It was a good time.

Later that night we all got gussied up and were ready to party, well I was gussied up but was already starting to struggle to stay up. For crying out loud, it was only 9:30 or 10:00 and I was already to go to bed!! Lol  This was going to be a LONG night. People slowly started coming over and drinking and dancing. Everyone was having a good time. About a minute to midnight we all turned to the TV to watch the ball drop from NY Time Square. As we all shouted 3….2…. 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR  I turned to my beloved to give him a big smooch and to my surprise he was getting down on his knee with a ring in hand. I was completely and utterly shocked as he asked me to marry him. Of course I started crying, being the big bawl baby that I am and accepted his proposal.

I won’t go into details of the rest of the night but lets just say it got a little out of hand and I didn’t end up going to bed until 4:30 am!!!  Needless to say, this mama was T-I-R-E-D.

The rest of the trip was great. We got out into the city a few times and were able to enjoy some quality time with Steve’s family. We can hardly wait to see them all again.

As for the way I felt the whole time, I felt pretty good for the most part except the tiredness and SEVERE constipation. Also, I think the morning sickness is finally starting to subside which is great!!!

First Doctor's Appointment

Friday Steve and I went for our first prenatal doctor’s appointment. Boy what a wave of emotions this created for me. At first I was so excited, then nervous, then excited, then nervous. This was crazy! Lol  Anyway, once I got registered and Steve and I were in the waiting room the emotions subsided. When the nurse called me name, I felt as though I had been waiting an eternity but in reality it was only 10 minutes. Steve and I both got up but the nurse told him that I was the only one to go in but that she would come get him when it was ok. I thought that was kind of weird but quickly realized why, they ask you questions about feeling safe in your home and if your being threatened or hurt by anyone. I kind of had to chuckle to myself but I understood. I couldn’t wait to tell Steve this, as he would get a chuckle at it too.

Once I was in the room ,the nurse went and got Steve. He walked in like a lost dog with his tail in between his legs. You could just see the uncertainty and terror in his eyes of what was about to happen. I told him what the doctor was going to do (vaginal ultrasound) and I think he about pooped his pants! Lol  I had to laugh at him but I told him he wasn’t going to be down in that view and that all he had to do was look at the monitor. He was ok with that but still a little nervous.

About five minutes later the doctor came in and asked us questions and talked about any concerns we had. She put us at ease on the questions we asked and by the way I think first time parents are so neurotic and ask every stupid question there is, us included!! Lol  But it feels good to hear the answers from a profession instead of many contradicting responses on the Internet. Well the vaginal ultrasound was about to start and Steve’s eyes were like the size of sand dollars when he saw the wand come out and how big it was. I could only imagine the thoughts going through his head. ;-)  Anyway, the doctor began to look around for the baby and at first we could find it and I thought, “oh crap! Where is the baby? Am I not really pregnant?” lol  Just as I was about to go into a panic, a little peanut size image came into view with a flickering heart beat. It was absolutely beautiful. I think it really put things into prospective for Steve and I. We were having a baby!

The picture above is our peanut at 7 weeks. It’s almost too small for you to see but it’s there. It's where the two little cursor marks are (hard to see), I promise. Also, the picture shows our expected due date is August 8, 2011 but the doctor says the due date is August 5, 2011. Let the fun begin!