The Countdown BEGINS

Three weeks left until my scheduled c-section date on March 31st! I'm 36 weeks now and by next week I'll be considered 'full term,' which basically means that the baby can safely arrive anytime between then and my delivery date. Everything is ready - including ME - to have this boy meet the world! Mira helped me re-arrange her room to make space for her baby's brother's clothes. We had the baby shower last weekend (thank you mom for hosting and to Carla, Brigitte, Maryan and Mommy Malu for helping organize!). Thank you to everyone who came to join in celebrating our new special arrival!

I attended a hospital tour since I will be delivering at a different hospital than where Mira was born. The hospital also had a sibling tour where I took Mira. They showed a video of being an older brother/sister and brought out dolls to have the kids carry, diaper change, feed and swaddle. I've been talking to Mira about Mama staying at the hospital for a few days while the nurses and doctors make sure that me and baby brother are ok before we come home. I think she is as prepared as she can be at this point. Of course, the real test will be when the baby actually arrives and how she will handle the shift in attention.

Mira also had her first real dental appt. She did great and loves her new light-up Barbie toothbrush. She even brought it to school to show it off to her friends and teachers!

She's still as girlie as ever and loves wearing her Belle dress when she comes home from school.

As for me, I've been on maternity leave as of last Friday, which was a big relief since I've gotten more and more uncomfortable with each passing week. At times, he sits on my sciatic nerve where the pain shoots from my lower back down my right leg when I go from sitting, or bending, to standing. I also get horrible, painful cramps in my calves (charley horse?) in the middle of the night. He sits on my bladder, so bathroom breaks are very frequent during the day, which I guess is better than having them that frequent at night. I've also discovered that the tightness I've been feeling on my belly are Braxton-Hicks contractions. I don't remember experiencing any of these symptoms with Mira, even though these are very normal during pregnancy. My pregnancy with her seemed much easier than this time around. Not sure if its just me, or maybe my age, or if its the difference between carrying a boy versus a girl. Or maybe I just feel like complaining... blame it on the hormones. :)

Less than 2 months and counting!

Mark and Mira came with me again this morning to my Week 31 OB appt since my doctor promised us another 3D picture and a DVD at this visit. He took measurements and said that baby boy is a good size! Around this time (~30 weeks) they're usually around 3 lbs or so. My doctor said baby boy Garcia is approx 4 lbs 5 oz! No wonder! I'm constantly in the restroom cuz he sits right on my bladder and there's no space in there! And every morning I wake up sore around my pelvic and pubic bone because he sits so low. My c-section is scheduled for March 31, but I have a feeling I may go into labor earlier cuz I may just run out of space in there for him! The doctor gave us a couple of 3D pictures, but they didn't turn out so good. Baby boy was hiding behind his hand and the cord so it was hard for the doctor to get a good angle. He was moving around a lot during the visit which the doctor said was "messing up his picture." haha. I don't know why baby boy was not in such a good mood today. Doesn't look like he was in such a good mood either, looking at the picture.

Don't know if you can make out his face, but looks like he may get Mark's nose too!

Mira explained to the doctor that when her baby brother comes she will show him how to brush his teeth and eat well. :)

Yesterday was Superbowl and we partied it up at Ray (Mark's cousin's house). After the game, we played Kinect Sports and Dance Central on Xbox. Even though Mira was the only kid there, she enjoyed herself so much she didn't want to leave! When we finally convinced her to leave (around 9pm), she knocked out in the car on the ride home. Mark and I didn't want to wake her to change her so we just put her in her bed. Around 2am she ended up in our bed and around 5am, Mark felt our bed was wet! :( The ONE night she has an accident is the ONE night we didn't change her into her pull-ups! Of course... Murphy's law...

Aside from the one accident, Mira is doing awesome! Still into princesses and sometimes refers to herself in the third person as "Princess": "The Princess is here!" "The Princess is eating!" Mark and I bought her a responsibilities chart that she completes everyday for the weeek. If she completes all her responsibilities for the week, she gets a suprise. We've done this for two weeks now and its working great. For her first suprise, she picked a Princess puzzle and it's kept her occupied EVERY day for the last two weeks! She loves doing puzzles, especially THIS one.

And as she gets older, we add more responsibilities to her chart to make it a little more challenging. :)

Here's Mira with her responsibilities chart:

And her most recent favorite thing, her Princess puzzle:

So, now I'm down to visits to the OB every two weeks, instead of monthly. I may be posting more, depending on how I feel or how my visits go. We're counting down the days and getting ready in the house - re-arranging Mira's room to make room for her baby brother's stuff. And Mira has been great helping me with getting everything ready. She's very excited! :) Since my belly button popped out, it's been Mira's little obssession. She tells all her teachers and classmates how big my belly button is! haha.

Week 28

We're getting closer! I'm scheduled for my c-section at 7:00am March 31st (OB says we have to be at the hospital at 5:30am to prep for surgery). Mira was an unplanned c-section, so I will be doing a repeat. Mark's birthday is April 1st, so I'm hoping to go into labor a couple of days ealier to spread out their birthdays a little.

I had my OB appointment this past Monday. Mira and Mark came with me to see the baby on the 3-D ultrasound. Mira was very adamant about going since I had mentioned it to both her and Mark over the weekend. Mark has been very busy at work so he almost didn't go, but since Mira really wanted to come and see her baby brother in mama's tummy, Mark decided last minute to join. :)

I'm so glad that they both came to see little baby boy's smiling face. He looks so cozy. We're all so excited to meet him in person!


In the meantime, Mira's personality has really been shining lately. She loves the Disney princesses and LOVES to sing. Her latest favorite song is a Whole New World. I may consider enrolling her into theatre one of these days. :)


I've read that the baby can hear external sounds so I encourage Mira to keep singing to her baby brother and I tell her that he LOVES her singing. :)

That's it for now.

The Holidays

Ahh... the holidays are finally over! Not to say I don't LOVE the holidays, but it is kind of nice to get back to the regular routine.

We spent Christmas in San Jose, mainly with the Garcia side of the family. We stayed at Mark's brother's house and the whole immediate Garcia family was present. It was nice for the cousins to play and bond and to have a complete family Christmas photo.

Mira had a blast. It was so nice to see her really get into Christmas this year and interact so well with her cousins.

Christmas Eve the kids made a gingerbread man with grandmama in preparation for Santa's visit.

That evening we drove up to San Bruno for a late post-mass Christmas Eve Dinner at Uncle Dindo/Tita Emy's house. Santa showed up right at midnight!

Cousins (left to right) Jordyn, Zach and Mira LOVED Santa's visit, but I think they figured out it was Grandpapa Oids... :)

The next day (Christmas Day) Mark's sister and family, Nicole, Jason and baby Helena joined us to celebrate Jesus' birthday, exchange presents and open presents from Santa.

Grandmama and Grandpapa bought all the grandkids Laker outfits for the basketball season!

(left to right) Garcia cousins Jordyn, Helena, Mira and Zach

The day after Christmas, we drove to Christine's (Mark's cousin) house in Brentwood. Mira was in awe when she first saw Angelina in her Rapunzel dress and was giddy when Angelina offered to let Mira borrow her Ariel dress. They were practically best 'princess' buddies for the rest of the night!

Hope everyone also had a safe and wonderful holiday!!

Mira's 3-year check up; Week 23

I had my Week 23 check up on Monday. A little disappointing... and not because of anything bad, but just because I didn't get an ultrasound today, so no picture of Baby Boy to post this time. :( The OB just checked the heartbeat and that was it. His heartbeat was loud and strong, so good sign! :)

Aside from the visit, this month I've really started to feel Baby Boy moving around a lot. Mark was finally able to feel him earlier this week. Mira has yet to feel him. He's pretty active at night, just like his Papa and sister. As for me, my belly button is pretty flush and should be popping out any day. My allergy symptoms have improved significantly so I'm feeling much better, aside from feeling huge.

Christmas shopping has kicked in and I met Emma at The Grove last weekend for shopping and dinner. After that experience I've decided to avoid crowded malls as much as possible since my belly had accidentally brushed up against a couple of rear ends... LOL.

Mira had her 3-year check up early last month. She had 2 shots - Hep A and Flu. After the 1st shot, it was difficult to get the 2nd on in, but with a little distraction with a lollipop, it happened, although she was NOT happy. On the ride home, she said that her doctor was nice, but she didn't like the nurse lady, "that crazy lady, gave me shots..."

Christmas decorating was lots of fun this year with my little helper Mira. She loved putting up decorations and is so into the Christmas lights. She still bugs me to put up more decorations.

This past weekend we went to see Santa Clause at Pierce College in Woodland Hills. Mira wished for "an orange princess dress." So specific... wish me luck!

Next week we will be heading to San Jose to spend Christmas with the Garcia's at Mark's brother's house. Mira has lots of cousins her age on the Garcia side so should be lots of fun for her!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holidays!

Week 19 Visit

I had my visit with my OB on Monday. Below is the latest picture of Baby Boy Garcia at 19 1/2 weeks. While my OB was doing the ultrasound, we caught him moving his hands around his face and then he yawned! He actually opened his mouth and yawned inside my belly and we caught it on camera! It was so cool. :) I actually didn't know they could open their mouths in the womb! Unfortunately, I don't have a video of it, but my MD gave me pictures, but it's hard to see so I didn't post them.

The last week I've had horrible sinus problems, which has lead to sleepless nights and miserable days since I can't breathe through my nose! It's hard to even eat or drink anything since I can only breathe through my mouth. Today and yesterday it's gotten better and I was actually able to sleep through the night last night (finally!). woo hoo!!!! :) You don't realize how difficult everything else becomes when you can't breathe!

Everything else is same as usual. It's been pretty quiet since Mira's bday and Halloween. Here are some pictures of Mira and her bday presents:

Princess scooter from her friend Natalie

Princess shoes from Tita InchikDisney castle from Ninang Carla

Notice the theme here? She's obviously into princesses and castles like almost every 3 year old girl!

Of course, not to mention all the other wonderful presents she's received from everyone else (sorry, I just didn't take pictures of all of them with my phone).

This weekend is Tita Med's one year death anniversary, so we will be joining all the Bello relatives at Carla's house for another gluttonous day of food, food and more food. Can't wait!

It's a (drum roll please)....................

Any more guesses??

We had our second trimester detailed ultrasound today. It went very well! Baby is doing great... growth, bloodflow, heartbeat, measurements, etc. Woohoo! :) Mira came with us to this appt and afterwards kept talking about going to the doctor and seeing the "baby in mommy's tummy." We drop her off at daycare and let her announce the news to her friends and teachers.

The past few days have been very eventful. Friday was Mira's birthday. We celebrated at her school with her classmates with Coldstone ice cream cupcakes (YUM) and party favors that she helped me put together. Her classmates made her birthday cards (so cute). Everyone was dressed up in their Halloween costumes and they went to the elementary school across the street for the Halloween parade.

Here's a pic of Mira and a few of her classmates, (left to right: Becca (Snow White), Mira (Belle), Scarlett (Sleeping Beauty), Sienna (Katara) and Preston (Fire Fighter)).

Saturday was Elle's (Mira's step cousin) birthday party. Her and Mira are only 3 days apart! Mira and I drove out to Arcadia for the party while Mark helped prepare for Mira's party the next day.

Sunday was Mira's bday party with family at the house. We ate, ate and ate some more! Thank you so much to all the family that came especially the Basu's for driving out from SD, the Garcia's for cooking almost all the food (not to mention bringing the Belle cake that Mira fell in LOVE with!) and Brig and Maryan as the clean-up crew! :)

Here's a pic of Mira's cousin in her home-made Yo Gabba-Gabba Foofa costume. So, not only did Nicole (Marks' sister) make amazing pinakbit for the party, but also managed to make this incredible costume for her daughter, Helena!

Then, of course, trick-or-treating... we met up with some of Mira's classmates and friends (Becca, Ben, Sienna, Liam, Evan and Lucas) and went trick-or-treating at Sienna and Liam's awesome Halloween-friendly neighborhood. The kids had a blast!

Picture of the a few of the trick-or-treating crew (left to right: Ben (Monkey), Becca (Snow White), Mira (Belle with sunglassess) and Sienna (Katara))

So... as you can tell, I'm stalling to keep you all on the edge of your seats (hope it worked)! Here is a picture from today's visit. A perfect side profile of our beautiful baby boy. :) Mira will soon have a baby brother!

Send us some names! Suggestions are welcome!