We are having a...

We confirmed last week that we are having a BOY!!!!  We are beyond excited, even though we would have been as excited with a girl. But in my family a boy means that he will be the KING of the house, as he will be the first boy in two generations! 

As for my pregnancy this week, I am not happy to say that I experienced my first leg cramp or charlie horse as I was waking up and let me tell you, I did NOT miss those at all!! I had them quite a few times during my first pregnancy and I though that maybe this time it would be different: oh I was so wrong! Those leg cramps are the worst, plus E was sleeping on her crib in the same room so I had to gather all my strength to not scream from the pain. 

According to Baby Center there is no real explanation as to why pregnant women get them. These may start during the second trimester and may get worse as the pregnancy progresses (which in my experience, it was true for me). To alleviate the pain from a leg cramp, some suggest flexing your toes back or massaging the muscle. What works for me is to quickly stand up and put the foot flat on the floor. 

As for E, her vocabulary keeps expanding. The other day I was counting to her and all of a sudden she would say "two" after I said "one". She also did it in Spanish, "dos" after "uno". We are all so impressed with the level of knowledge that she has been developing at such a young age. She is only 15 months old!! At this rate she will be reading by the age of 2! 


-themomthelawyerthehousewife

...and then there were FOUR!

I know, I have been MIA for a while but with the move back home, starting a new job and readjusting our lifestyle, it has been hard to log in during the past few months!

Also we have some exciting news to share... the family is growing by TWO FEET!! Our daughter will get to be a Big Sister soon! During the next few months, I will attempt to share my experiences being pregnant along with E's milestones.

What a proud big sis!

During the time I have been MIA, many things have happened. After 12+ months of breastfeeding, we had to stop due to a varicella (chicken pox) scare since I was already pregnant and never had them before. But I am glad to say that we made it that far.

As for hitting milestones, E (who turns 15 months tomorrow) started talking and signing: she now signs milk, more, all done and eat. She also says both milk and daddy, both in English and Spanish! We try to incorporate both languages as much as we can and it seems to be working. She also had more Spanish words incorporated in her expanding vocabulary, such as: mamá, más, leche, agua, jugo and others. In addition, she learned how to wave and say bye bye!

Other milestones she has reached are learning to dance, sometimes sings and just recently, started walking. Now, she walks everywhere!

She also played with sand for the first time!

As for my pregnancy, I am happy to be in the second trimester. The first trimester was tough on me, though not as tough as pregnancy number 1 was. I felt completely tired all the time and was nauseous almost all my awake time every day. Also I have had more acid reflux and heartburn...Tums (which are safe during pregnancy) have been my best friend. As for food aversions, I could not drink water or coffee, which are the only two things that I normally drink. Thankfully, that is all gone now and I am back to drinking my 8+ glasses of water and morning cup of coffee.

Did you know that you are supposed to drink more water than you normally do during pregnancy? The lack of hydration can cause contractions. I know that all too well as I ended in the hospital at 30 weeks during my first pregnancy with contractions caused by dehydration.

Also did you know that you can still drink caffeine, but you need to limit your amount? According to doctors, you can drink up to 200-250 mg a day which translates into 2 maximum cups of coffee a day. So there is no need to go cold turkey on this one if you need it. I drank 1 cup of coffee daily while pregnant with E and I did not notice any change on her. In fact, she started sleeping through the night at around 2 months and at 15 months she still sleeps 10-11 hours at night and takes 2 naps.

I will keep updating during my pregnancy with more experiences and fun facts!

- themomthelawyerthehousewife