25 weeks

Somehow I am already 25 weeks along. How is this possible?! Every day I am getting more and more anxious about this baby coming... in good ways and bad. There are days that I can't contain my excitement about meeting this little person who is half me, half LoLo. Then there are other days when I can't seem to keep my eyes open and I think to myself, "I had 10 hours of sleep last night and this is how I feel?? How will I feel with 2 hours??"

Still, things are moving along and I am feeling good. I passed my glucose tolerance test. My belly has gotten rounder. My parents gave me a mother-to-be card on mother's day.

And my favorite moment this week? LoLo finally felt the baby kick. And the baby kicked him in the face as he put his cheek up against my stomach. Now I really can't wait to meet this baby!

The picture isn't great, but it shows how I'm looking these days.

And because I think this is the cutest thing, my mother made a bouquet of mini cupcakes for mother's day and brought them to my aunt's house for our celebration. She is so cute and creative.

Cinco de Mayo

Last year, I didn't have quite so many readers, so I figured in honor of Cinco de Mayo which is coming up this weekend, I would re-post my post from last year.

Every year around this time, I know I'm going to have to cringe at the many people who are "dressed like Mexicans". Every year I'm annoyed by the fake mustaches, the sombreros, and the ponchos.

This year, before you "celebrate" Cinco de Mayo, read my post and think about how you want to celebrate.

(stepping down from my soap box now.... happy weekend!!!)

Erin's thoughts on Cinco de Mayo

Everyone has an opinion

Since I started telling people that I am pregnant, everyone suddenly has an opinion. I had heard that it happens and that suddenly people think they should/can tell you what they think about the little life growing inside of you, but I have to say I didn't expect people to be so blunt about their opinions.

In the past few weeks, now that it is more obvious that I am pregnant, several people have asked me what the sex of the baby is. When I tell them that we have decided to have a surprise, I've gotten some surprising responses. Several people have told me that that is "stupid" or "lame".


Really??? Did I ask what you thought about it? Do you really want to piss off a pregnant woman?

Love this!! via

 We have our reasons for wanting it to be a surprise. We didn't just decide that out of nowhere. It doesn't mean we don't care. It's also not up for discussion so your opinion isn't going to change our decision.

When it comes to pregnancy, I am relatively conservative. I don't want to know the sex until the day I meet the baby. I don't want to name the baby until I see him/her. I don't want to share our ideas for names with people either because, well, people love expressing their opinions about name choices too.

At the same time though, if another couple wants to find out the sex of their baby and name the baby the day they find out and tell everyone the name, that's their choice. I wouldn't make that choice, but that doesn't mean it isn't right for them. Or that it's "stupid" or "lame".
 
What is it about pregnancy (and, my friend pointed out, weddings) that makes people think they can freely share their negative opinions about your choices?

Watermelon Skates

I'm very lucky to have a pretty amazing family. We're close and see each other at least once a week. We are close with our cousins, my mother's cousins, and even my grandmother's cousins. We're even close with the families who marry into our family. Just this weekend, my uncle by marriage was telling me that his family wanted to come up to Maine to celebrate my grandfather's birthday with us. We just feel like family is really important.

My grandparents especially have instilled this feeling in us. Despite the fact that they left Mexico for the last time almost 60 years ago, we are close with our family there. And part of the way we stay close is through stories. Anyone who knows our family knows we are storytellers.

This weekend while we were celebrating my dad's birthday (Happy birthday, P-Diddy!!), my grandfather was sitting with LoLo and me, telling us stories from his childhood. My grandfather is going to be 90 in October. Sitting there listening to him tell us a story about times he spent at his grandparents' house (my great, great grandparents), I couldn't help but think "Don't forget this story. Don't forget this moment."

But the best part was the story. He told us that when he was a little boy, his grandparents owned a fruit distribution company in his town. They would bring home lots of fruit for the family every night. His favorite was when his grandfather would bring home watermelons. His grandmother would cut them up and give them to the kids to eat, but when they were done, they would run to their grandfather who would tie the rinds to their shoes and they would skate across the shiny cement floor in their huge living room. He laughed as he told me how his grandmother would run out of the kitchen with a mop and try to shoo the kids off the floor.

I never forget how lucky I am to get to hear these stories. And I'm so happy I have a place like this one to document the moments that could easily be forgotten.

22 weeks

On Tuesday, I will be 23 weeks, but this past week while I was 22 weeks, I decided to take a picture of myself to send to my mother in law. She has been in the Dominican Republic for a while and just got back to New York so we haven't seen her for a few months. She always checks in with me to see how I'm feeling and how my belly is doing. (She always says, "Como esta la barriga?")

This week, not a whole lot has changed. I'm still feeling good. I would definitely say I've been more hungry lately (the baby is officially over 1 pound!) and I've got a little bit of pain in my back, but otherwise I'm doing well. Next week, I'll go to the doctor again for a check up and I'm sure I will have gained some weight this time. We'll see!!

22 weeks, 5 days

One thing I have noticed though, is that if it is possible (and my family may not think this is possible), but I've definitely gotten more irritable. There have been times when the tiniest thing annoys me so much. I'm especially sensitive to noises and smells.

The other day, LoLo and I were in the car and had gotten bagels at Dunkin Donuts. When he was taking the bagels out of the bag, I got upset because the noise was too loud. LoLo just looked at me like "Woman, you've lost your mind."

We also figured out a possible reason why Bronxy was angry last week. We think he's getting pretty protective and also that he's really starting to know something is up. LoLo was sitting right next to me (he usually sits on the other couch) when Bronx stared at us and I don't think he liked that. But also, in my weekly emails I get from various pregnancy sites, they said that this week would be the week we could hear the baby's heartbeat with just a stethoscope. We're wondering if maybe Bronx can hear the heartbeat in there. It seems like such a weird thing to think about!

Things are starting to get more real, but I'm definitely still not ready to make a registry or think about paint colors for a nursery... hopefully I'll feel like it soon!

Critical Listening

So today, I have a bunch of random stuff for you. This past week has been pretty crazy at work, so I've been pretty quiet around here, but there have definitely been some funny moments that I want to share.

First off, we have a hilarious moment from when I was visiting a college north of here. I was making a presentation to a group of faculty at the college and we were in a classroom on campus. After my presentation was done, there were a bunch of guys hanging out in the hallway waiting to come into the classroom. They started to make their way into the classroom and find their seats as I packed up my stuff. When I looked up, I realized the whole class was men. As I walked out, I asked one of them, "What class is this??" His answer was priceless. With a completely straight face he said...

"Critical Listening"

To which I said, "I'm sorry, what?? A classroom full of men in a 'critical listening' class?" And I laughed.

He clearly didn't see the same humor in it that I did, but one of his friends did. That guy said to me, "Oh yeah, it's not what it seems. We're all audio engineering majors."

I still couldn't get over the fact that there were 20 men in a class called "Critical Listening". I can think of a few other men who might need to take that class. Well, and a few women too.



Second off, we have some interesting behavior from Bronx. This week, he has been acting a little funny. Monday night, LoLo and I were sitting on the couch watching tv together when Bronx walked up to us and proceeded to sit in front of us and stare. And I don't mean an innocent stare...it was more of a glare. Some of you may have seen the picture I put on instagram.

Very angry puppy...but still cute

I gave him his toys to play with, I gave him a treat, I put him on my lap and he jumped down. I couldn't figure out what could be wrong with him. Some people speculated that he maybe just figured out that I'm pregnant and he's expressing his anger. First child disappointment is a real thing. Just ask me.

So finally, LoLo grabbed Bronx's bed and brought it in. Bronx immediately went under his blanket and hid from us.

Drama queen under the covers

Either Bronx has a case of the Terrible Two's (he'll be 2 in July) or he's truly growing into his teenage years... Because each year for a dog is like 7 people years right? If so, he's almost 14. Sounds about right.

Maybe he needs to take a Critical Listening course. I know just where he can find one!

21 week update (with pics!)

The other night, my sister and I were talking on the phone and she said "Erin, you said that your blog wasn't going to turn into a pregnancy blog, but... it's kind of turning into that." So of course I reminded her about my puppy sleepover post, but still, she was kind of right.

I guess I didn't know that this whole pregnancy thing was going to take over my life the way it has. I mean, obviously I knew my life was going to change, but I thought I'd still have lots of things to talk about other than the little stowaway holding me hostage.

But honestly, it's hard to think of anything else lately. My body is not mine anymore, my stomach continues to grow, and I'm not in control of very much. I finally decided to take a picture this weekend after a stranger asked when I was due. I figured I must look pregnant enough that I don't just look fat anymore. I sent my sister the picture first and she said that I definitely look pregnant.

So far, I've only gained 1 pound. I had gained 3, but then I lost 2 so I'm back to 1. Some people have asked whether that's ok considering I'm already halfway through the pregnancy. My doctor has said that it's fine that I haven't gained weight because I started with too much weight as it was. My body is well equipped to handle the baby and the baby is growing right on schedule. Last week at our 20 week scan, the baby was 12 ounces which was right where it should be.

And let me tell you, that baby was cute. If you saw my instagram, you saw that I thought maybe the baby was starting to get nervous about his/her parents. I mean, it can hear our voices now... and it probably thinks we're prettty crazy.

Doesn't it look like the baby is saying "OH NO... What have I gotten myself into?!"

Being more than halfway through the pregnancy seems crazy to me, but at the same time, it feels like I have a long way to go. However, I received some great news...

I CAN GO TO PARIS!!!!!!!!!!!!