How about that belly!

Well... as you can see from the pictures below, Renee's belly has really exploded in the last couple of weeks. It all started right after thanksgiving. I imagine all the food may have helped to stretch those stomach muscles and bumped the belly out...

The pregnancy is getting pretty exciting now that the baby is clearly on its way. I love interacting with it (through the belly... hehehe!)

I cant wait to be able to feel some sort of movements in there... It will come soon! So awesome!

Renee is taking most of the pregnancy in stride... except for the tail bone pain... holy cow, she is really suffering it. I feel so bad, but there is very little I can do other than give her a few massages (more to distract her than to do anything medicinal I'm sure).

Starting the 18th week!

Would you look at this belly? It really did pop after Thanksgiving! I look at this picture and cannot believe it's me nor that there is something inside me growing that is part of Joao and I!

The latest thing with my pregnancy is that my tail bone has been killing me! Seriously, I can take a good amount of pain, but this was like a pinched nerve in your back. Each time I moved my right side I would feel a shooting pain. Joao has been the most wonderful husband. He rubs whatever hurts even if he doesn't know what he is rubbing :)

Speaking of Joao...this entry is devoted to him! I have the world's best husband. He is so patient with each my whines and cries! :) Everytime I start to get mad I need to come back to this post and remember how much Joao really does for baby and me! I am a lucky woman!

Well, at this stage I cannot button any of my work pants. Not sure why, but jeans are still fitting me quite well! I have been using the belly band but it can be a little annoying when you have to pull it up or down all day long.

Oh yeah, now most of the 3rd graders know I am pregnant b/c this girl Yasmin came up to me and asked, "is there a flower blooming in your belly?" Surprised by her question, I smiled and said yes...she was so happy. She kindly asked me if she could tell a 'few' people and I also agreed. Wow...does word get around fast. Most of the intermediate hall knew I was pregnant before lunch started...hahaha

Everyone was so cute. Makenzie, a former student, asked me if she could tell her mom...how considerate to ask, no? I just love my students! Anyhow, I am feeling well and looking forward to feeling baby start kicking in the next few weeks.

Starting the 16th week!

I know that we pretty much skipped a week for our pictures, but our lives have been pretty busy lately. Particularly with Joao finishing finals last week and organizing our huge yearly Thanksgiving dinner... but now we are back on track!

I think these pictures don't do justice to how my belly popped immediately after Thanksgiving... maybe all that food gave it a kick start!

We had a great thanksgiving with all our friends coming to Baltimore once again... awesome! It was particularly cool to have Claudia and Iliana pregnant here with me! I love it... The baby is supposed to be 3 inches now! The size of an apple... WOW!

November 17, 2010

Well today was really special because I found out that Claudia y Raul are having a boy! It really hit me that we are having babies...for a mili-sec I thought it would be fun to find out too, but then I remembered why I am waiting.

Anyhow, my belly sure is growing. People at work are starting to talk about my belly like: "I think she is having a girl" or " I think you are having twins", etc. BTW...having twins...what am I becoming that big of a fat ass that you think I would be carrying twins! Geez...Joao said, "well Renee, this is what you have always wanted; people to talk about your belly". I was like SHUT UP JOAO! :)

When I bend down now, I can feel my stomach stretching like crazy and I cannot keep my hands off it...which I am sure is annoying to people at school who see me everyday. The doctor said the NT test came back NORMAL and baby is doing well. She said that baby can hear me so I am starting to talk to baby. Joao said he would start talking too if I would not listen, but I find that hard to do...jajaja

During the last ultra sound, the lady was trying to take all these measurements but baby was bouncing around, dancing, turning upside-down...it was so funny. The lady made me turn, cough, pee, and turn again; still baby was not cooperating....it just wanted to play! It was awesome to watch the baby for 40 minutes just hanging out. I am so falling in love with this little human inside me. I cannot wait to meet it.

Starting 14th week! WOW....

So now there is now way around this... Renee is pregnant... people can tell outright (the fact that she can't button her pants anymore helps, hehehehe).

Look at that belly growing! and it has nothing to do with the tacos she ate last night!!!

Starting the 13th week... and a few days, hehehe...

Well, our life is getting truly complicated with my finals, so keeping up with the pictures on exact days has been a bit of a challenge, so this week's pics come a a few days late (I mean they were taken also a few days late) so it's a bit of a mid week situation... So here they are! There is no way around this folks... she is no longer a bit chubby... she is pregnant for the world to see!!!!!

I agree... it's not huge yet, but who is in a hurry??? It will get there soon enough... it's already getting in the way as it is!

Starting the 12th week!

 

Well, funny to say...but I kinda lost track of how far along I am....hahaha
Here we go baby brain!

So- this weekend Joao and I went to Mexico for a wedding. As we were dancing Joao stopped and looked at me....he said, "holy cow babe, I can feel your belly against mine." I just started laughing so hard because it was true. My new discovery this week is the overwhelming feeling of the stretching of my tummy. It's crazy, my stomach is always sticking out and I can feel the stretching pain. :)

So, I guess you can say I am starting to show now. At least I can see it. My clothes still fit, my naps are slowing down, and I am beginning to become interested in food again. I already like the 2nd trimester!

If the rest of my pregnancy goes as fast as the first trimeseter...it will be May before I know it!

Starting Week 11th!

I dont know how much you can see it in these pics, but I can totally feel a belly coming!  It's round and hard!!! hehehe... by the way, she refused to wear the white shirt...

Renee's first ultrasound!

I know I should have published these earlier, but I had some computer issues... but better late than never!

This is Renee being very excited about her trip to her first appointment with Dr. Hoffman... Look at her dreamy eyes!

By the way, the awesome Dr. Hoffman ( a woman...) said what will now be one of my favorite quotes of all time... "It has been scientifically proven that women's brains shrink during pregnancy... so you have to be extra nice to Renee", hehehehehehehe.... I wonder if a male doctor would be allowed to say the same thing??? In any case... I love it!

1st ultrasound

So we went to get the first ultrasound done today... very exciting!!! I took a video where you can see the heart beat. The baby is 27 mm long and it is 9 weeks and 3 days old, so now the new official due date is May 25th, crazy close to our original estimate! I will let Renee type in the more emotional details, hehehe...

Renee starts her 10th week...

I figured I had as much right to post here as Renee... so I will stop by from time to time to give a little bit of a male perspective into this situation...
So Renee at this point has completed her 9th week and has entered the 10th as of yesterday. I think in medical terms they would say that she is 9 weeks pregnant... I would say she has already completed 10 weeks of pregnancy and is on the way to the 11th,  but maybe I'm too much of an engineer... it's like January, is it the 0th month or the 1st? Should the year 50 A.C. be the 1st century or the 0th? In both these cases you are in the 1st one, but you haven't quite completed it... so... medically speaking they are using the inverse concept... whilst in February you would say that it is January until you finished February, in which case you would say that you are in it but only once you are in March... hehehehe....Who the hell cares anyway...

Back to what's important, here are her latest bump pictures. Not much of it yet but after having dinner with Raul and Claudia last night, I think she will be starting to show more in the next few weeks... there should definitively be something obvious by Papita's wedding on Nov 6th...

She does still sleep a lot (every afternoon after arriving from school), and if she doesn't have a chance to nap, she gets a bit cranky... yes she does... oh oh oh, Im gonna get it!!! the cat is out of the bag!!!
hehehehe, nah... its all cool.. I can see the exhaustion in her eyes... poor baby! I would be cranky too if I were so tired all the time... plus, she is sweet cranky, like a four year old that wants to stay up all night with the adults, not nasty cranky like a school secretary that hasn't had sex in a long time...

Who's a cutie pie????

October 20, 2010

Today at yoga, as I was stretching into my downward dog I felt really connected with BABY. I could feel that everything I was doing was good for not only me but baby too. We also end each class with a 5-10 minutes of meditation and this was another time that I felt the baby really part of me. I could actually visualize the baby living inside me...crazy, right?

Then, as I came out of yoga Joao was waiting for me with Fina. We walked through the park together hand-in-hand talking about my inability to straighten my legs completely. Joao mentioned that on his was to pick me up he was thinking about where we live, how we walk each Wednesday to the community center while the late night kickball leagues yell and scream, and how he will get to share this memory with our baby. He was saying how he cannot wait to tell our baby about how he would pick "mommy" up from yoga when she was pregnant, Fina would walk happily aside, and the fall air was crisp and fresh....I LOVE JOAO!

Anyhow, today's blog is really about becoming more emotional about the pregnancy and I want to always remember this moment.

I started my 9th week today!

Today I enter my ninth week! Which I just learned is just considered 8 weeks and 1 day in doctor terms... why do they make this so complicated??? The baby is so many weeks old based on conception, but count it from the first day of your last period just the same... but only count the week number once you complete the week... damn! Ninth sounds so much better!

Im starting to feel soft and bloated all the time now... soft and fat... bloated, not sexy! Like Stay Puff the marsh mellow man! I just did Yoga, I should feel ab muscles...

Baby is getting webbed fingers and toes according to my book... Ten days to ultrasound!

Yoga!

Just got done with Yoga... trying to stay fit and flexible... haha
12 more days until the ultrasound!

At 8 weeks!

So we finally got our act together and with the help of an awesome camera that we got from my mom (Vicky... this is Joao writing) we will start recording the weekly progress of Renee's love mountain, well hill at this time...)

Who is getting a teeny tiny bump???

Here we go, I think I can see something in there!

 

At 6 weeks!

Somebody is Glowing!!!