My Naked Truth About Pregnancy & Childbirth..

I can’t believe how long it’s been since my last post. Apologies for slacking…& to think I’ll be even busier when the little man arrives – I better get on it. The pregnancy has been pretty easy for me despite the stories I hear & read about from other women. I would consider myself pretty lucky to say the least, but now I’m nervous whether I’ll be punished with a long and painful delivery. It’s too good to be true - I keep thinking to myself.

I’ve been wondering what I would write for my next post, and couldn’t help but go back to Jenny McCarthy’s book, Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth. Every now and again I get an uncomfortable cramp up my leg or thigh, or I complain about my shortness of breath, or the constant trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but then I remember Jenny’s experiences throughout her 9 months of pregnancy and I feel lucky to have had it pretty easy overall - so far at least. She was such a trooper – big kudos to you JENNY!!! I don’t know how I would have handled it if I had gone through half of what she lived through.

I crack up every time I go back to a chapter in her book if I relate to a similar experience, so I figured I’d recap my last 7 months chapter by chapter (skipping a few that don’t relate), this way I can look back at this post and relive the wonderful 28 first weeks of my first pregnancy. While the book is an easy read, only 165 pages long, there are over 40 chapters she hi-lights, so I think I’ll break this up into different posts.

Here is my incredible journey –a belly journal of sorts and one of the best experiences of my life (yes men, I said one of the best, as in you don’t know what you’re missing).

So You Got Knocked Up? It’s amazing how you just know the day it happens. I had never bought a pregnancy test in the past (mom if you’re reading this, I swear that’s true), but for some reason I had a hunch that day in October. On my way to work that morning, I bought my first pregnancy test – well three of them just to be sure. Something was different –and I wasn’t having morning sickness or anything – but I just felt different. So I ran into the office bathroom and tested away…first test – positive, second test – positive, third test – positive. Woowee! It was true, I was pregnant! Now what do I do?

Barf-O-Rama (Morning Sickness) So this was one of the things I was dreading. I envisioned it feeling like a constant hangover every morning for 9 months of pregnancy and would dread every minute of it. My mother had the worst of it with all four of us, so I just figured that this would be one of those fabulous things I would inherit. But guess what? I didn’t! I began to have evening sickness and couldn’t understand why every night I went to bed, I felt nauseous. After the first month or so I realized that it happened after taking my prescription pre-natal vitamins, so I changed them to over the counter ones and the nauseous feeling went away instantly.

Psycho Chick (Hormonal Rage) …the only thing that comes to mind is sorry baby. You know I love you and this isn’t me. It’s my alter preggers ego which I cannot control. Just remember how much I love you every time she comes out & watch your back!

Granny Panties (Letting Go of the G-String) This was probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to endure. Now you’re thinking oh come on really?! BUT it’s true….I’ve never felt comfortable in anything other than a thong (it’s a Latin thing) – so when I realized pretty early in the pregnancy that my sexy lacy thongs just wouldn’t cut it, I made the decision to purchase my first pair of granny panties. I think that they purposely make these things look ugly and huge so that your partner can blame the low sex drive on your panties and not the fact that you look like a beautiful goliath!

I Can Either Pee on You or You Can Get the Hell Out of My Way! (Frequent Pee Breaks) This is the one symptom that I believe no woman can escape. Get ready ladies for the multiple trips to the bathroom and always at the worst moments. For me it’s at least 5-6 times in the middle of the night, just about the time when I get in the car to drive somewhere (and yes I pee before I leave) & often during long conference calls. Yes, I’ve run to the ladies room in the middle of conference calls and left the party on hold without them knowing. More than once – but a preggers lady must to do what a preggers lady must do!

Is It a Penis or a Vagina? (Finding Out the Sex) The day I found out I was pregnant I was barely 6 weeks, and I was convinced it was a girl. Don’t ask me why…I just think that I wanted a girl so bad that if I concentrated hard enough and convinced everyone I was sure it was a girl, that she’d be born with a vagina. Around 4 months is when I really started to show, and it was pretty obvious to everyone that I was carrying it all upfront. A perfect round basketball – so everyone kept telling me it was a boy. I sorta knew it was too, but still kept hoping. I think that getting to my 5th month, when the doctor’s feel it’s safe to determine the babies’ sex, was the longest 4 weeks of my life. I wanted to know so bad. Gabe wanted his little man, so he was hoping everyone else was right. And so it was ladies and gentleman; on my 5th month OBGYN appointment we found out we were having a Lucas and not a Sofia. I can’t tell you how happy I was when I found out, and Gabe was jumping up and down. On St. Patrick’s Day a few weeks later, I was even happier it was a boy. I had never seen so many young teen girls in miniskirts, playing hooky and too drunk to stand straight on the 7 train heading to the St. Patty’s Day parade. If that was my daughter I’d be freaking out! Thank God you’re a boy…thank God you’re a boy.

Stay tuned! To be continued……..

Raising a Bilingual Child

With an ever growing number of interracial marriages, speaking another language in the home has become a very interesting and important topic of discussion. The question often comes up "What language should we use with our children?".

I immigrated to the States from Uruguay, South American when I was 7 years old, with my parents and 2 younger siblings. My mother was the daughter of a diplomat, so she was exposed to many languages growing up - and today speaks fluent English, Italian, French and Spanish. Impressive!! My father on the other hand grew up on a farm during most of his life, and didn't speak English at all when we moved to New York in 1986. We were really young, so learning the English language and gradually losing the accent was much easier for us than it was for my father. However, I have always appreciated the fact that while my mother spoke flawless English, both of my parents refused to speak English at home. Fortunately, over the last 23 years, I have managed to maintain my Uruguayan accent.

When I first entered the work force in the late 90s, it became even more apparent the importance of being able to speak another language - especially Spanish. I never once doubted that I would speak to my children in Spanish at home, no matter what my future husband's mother tongue was, because I was able to really understand the importance and value in speaking a second language.

I met my husband on one of my vacation trips back to Uruguay –so fortunately, there is no question that Spanish will be spoken at home when the little man arrives. However, it's easier said than done. My younger brother was born in the States 13 years ago, and while he understands Spanish perfectly, it was much more of a struggle to get him to speak Spanish at home growing up American. Fortunately, my parents continued to instill the importance of speaking the language at home, and for this, he will always have an advantage over many.

Granted it's tougher when the person you live with doesn't speak the language you use with your children at home, but I strongly believe that it's more important for your child to learn another language. Wouldn't you want to share your culture and experiences with your baby that is part of what made them who they are? It might even be an incentive for your spouse to want to learn another language as well. It's never too late - but depriving your child of that amazing advantage when they're young and developing, would be a great asset lost. Would you agree?

A si que, hablaremos Español con nustro hijo - sin duda.

Top Ten Tuesday

Thanks Oh Amanda for the little inspiration I needed in the middle of the week to get a quick and fun post up. I can dig the Top Ten Tuesday meme!

Here are the Top Ten Things I Love About Tuesdays:

1. It’s not Monday!
2. Eating hubby’s home cooked dinner
3. Watching American Idol (how the heck I got hooked this season, I don’t know)
4. Filling out the American Idol office pool (makes it much more fun to watch!)
5. Looking forward to Wednesday (2 work days down/3 to go)
6. Bonding with Lucas at 12:00AM – loves to move at exactly the point when I’m about to fall soundly asleep
7. It’s not Monday!
8. Reading my book – Just finished reading Jenny McCarthy's "Belly Laughs"... Hilarious & I highly recommend it if you're expecting and haven't read it!
9. Adding to my baby registry…fun to shop without spending
10.Catching up with little bro whose home for the week - a break from the NY Military Academy

Together, we can help save a life!

I couldn’t believe my ears the day I learned that maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT), a preventable disease, is claiming the lives of approximately 128,000 infants and 30,000 mothers in less industrialized nations each year. After having lived in Sweden for over a year, I’m the first to admit that the health care system in the U.S. is well behind other industrialized countries, and in many cases third world countries like Uruguay. However, it’s very easy to take for granted what things we do have in this country, like our access to adequate health care and the fact that we don’t have to walk 5.6 miles to reach the closest clinic.

What I do love about this country is that we are the world's most charitable nation, giving the most money to help the needy, either through public donations, private donations, or both. In 2007, Americans gave a record $295 billion to charity. So when I heard that within the capacity of my job I would have the opportunity to work on the “One Pack = One Vaccine” campaign, I was honored and felt privileged to be part of such an important initiative that helps to save lives.

MNT causes approximately one death every 4 minutes, and all it takes to save the lives of thousands of newborns and moms is a vaccination which costs 7 cents...7 cents!! That would mean that a Starbucks latte is equal to approximately 46 vaccinations – just thinking about it in those terms makes me sick to my stomach.

So hear me out moms, dads, family & friends…I know how expensive diapers can be, and I’m not looking forward to spending over $60 a month on poopie diapers when the little man arrives – but knowing that I’m doing something to help a good cause simply by purchasing something I have to buy anyway, there is no question that I’ll be buying that brand of diapers.

From February 5 through May 1, 2009, parents in the U.S. and Canada have the opportunity to help UNICEF protect moms and babies around the world against tetanus by simply purchasing specially-marked packages of Pampers diapers and wipes. Each product you buy triggers one life-saving vaccine. These specially marked packages of diapers and wipes cost the same as traditional products and are available wherever Pampers products are sold.

For more information about the campaign visit: http://www.pampers.com/en_US/unicefhome

Introducing Baby to Isabel

We need to learn how best to help our first “baby” adjust to the new one that we will be bringing home very soon. Isabel came into our lives at 4 weeks old, a rescue from an ailing mother’s litter of six, and she has run the household since. We were told during her first year of struggle with separation anxiety that she was an alpha female, and required A LOT of attention. I had no idea the responsibility that laid ahead, the number of remote controls and furniture we would have to replace and the expenses that came along with having a pet. Despite all these obstacles, she’s become a part of this family, and it will be important in the coming months to help her cope with the big change that’s to come. We’re not really sure what the best approach is, and would love advice and tips if any of you have experienced this in the past. Should we begin introducing baby fragrances to the home? Should we start taking her for walks alongside a baby carriage? Should we gradually accustom her to spending less time with us?
My godson was born 8 months ago, and we slowly began introducing him to Isabel. They get along beautifully, except for Isabel’s desire to constantly lick his face. He giggles and laughs, which only encourages her to continue – so I’m certain that it will take some effort to get her to stop. While she is much more gentle and sensitive with Nicola than she is with adults, she doesn’t like when he’s the center of attention. She subtly gets in the middle if I’m playing with him, and insists, in her own obvious ways, to focus on her instead.

We're looking to begin preparing Isabel before our baby arrives with a few first steps. Please leave a comment if you have any other tips:
• Enroll her in a training class, and practice training techniques
• Introduce her to baby-related noises
• Introduce a baby doll to help her get used to the real thing
• Sprinkle familiar baby smells around the house, like baby powder or baby oil
• A few other tips from Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisper

#BlissDom09 Rocked!

I had the opportunity to attend BlissDom ’09 in Nashville, TN over the weekend, with over 250 fun and energetic women (mostly moms) who blog. It was refreshing to see that many of the moms decided to bring their babies, who behaved beautifully and contentedly accompanied their mommies throughout the conference in their cozy slings.

As an apprentice blogger attending her first blogger conference, I thought I’d feel out of place, but then quickly felt that I might actually fit in and also get the opportunity to meet some of the amazing bloggers who've inspired me over the years.

After a warm welcome by Beth from TheMidlifeWife, Erin from CouponCravings (who was also expecting) and Liz from SuccessfulAndOustandingBlog on my way to Hotel Preston, I couldn’t wait to experience the next couple of days. It was also great to see that I wasn’t the only one carrying a baby bump. Esther from FaintStarLite was already on her 7th month, and clearly empathized with another new future mom.

With a full schedule ahead of us, the event kicked off with a fun “Opening Holla”, and I had the privilege to finally meet in person some of the blogger friends I made over the years; Shannon from RocksInMyDryer, Allie from FussyPants, Michelle from WhiteTrashMom, Leighann from TheFullMommy and my one and only fellow Latina blogger, Carrie from BilingualintheBoonies, which I grew to adore during my short stay. It was great to also meet up with 3 of my favorite mommy bloggers, 2 which I met at the Sony Mommy Blogger Event last year, Jenny from MomminItUp and Deanna from DomesticChicky, and the fabulous Amanda from Ohamanda from the Pampers Mommy Blogger Event.

After some really interesting sessions and panel discussions by a few distinguished bloggers, we headed to the cocktail party and a great chat with some really fun and vibrant women; Renee from CutieBootyCakes & Joy and Kate from HappyToBeAtHome. The day ended with a fun PJ & Mamma Mia movie party, where I shared many laughs with Tara from IQuitForLijit and one of my favorite mommy bloggers, Jill from TheDiaperDiaries, while indulging in bite size Snickers and painfully watching Pierce Brosnan attempting to sing a tune to some of my favorite ABBA songs.

The workshops were inspiring, and the energy in the room left me wanting more. I was glad we still had tomorrow, a full day of sessions and an unrevealed surprise after breakfast.

The “two” of us slept like babies. Who doesn’t love hotel beds? I had a healthy breakfast and shared great discussions with Debba from Girlfriendology and the wonderful and inspiring Amber from TheRunAMuck. Barbara Jones, our delightful and comical event moderator, introduced the morning surprise; a short preview of a PBS special of Yanni Voices, followed by a surprise appearance from two of the artists. Brazilian Nathan Pacheco and Venezuelan Ender Thomas managed to leave all the married ladies in the room, including me, flabbergasted and flustered.

A productive and informative 2 full days of blogging and PR sessions, with inspirational women and devoted moms, further reinforced my decision to start my first blog. More to come, so stay tuned!




Featured Photo Credits: Secret Agent Mama

Destination Maternity Rocks!

I finally realized that wearing my favorite jeans was just not going to work much longer. I tried the rubber band technique and wearing it zippered but unbuttoned, and that was not going to fly, especially at client meetings. Sixteen weeks and 3 days pregnant, I finally came to terms with the fact that I had to begin investing in maternity clothes. A colleague mentioned that I should check out this place on 57th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City, Destination Maternity. When I walked in, I couldn't believe how excited I was to be shopping for maternity clothes. They had a few levels, a spa, floors/racks of great clothes, amazing service and a supply of free water and juice. Even more amazing was the selection they carried and variation in prices. They carried collections like A Pea in the Pod, Mimi Maternity & Motherhood and just about any outfit to fit your personal taste. The service was really what stood out in my option. Granted, you're much cuter with a belly, so naturally the staff wanted to see how the clothes fit. They were so helpful, energetic and fun to be around. They also offered me a credit card (who doesn't these days?), but what was interesting was that a percentage (3-10%) of your purchase at many retail stores would go towards a 529 college savings plan. How smart is that? Right there and then, they were able to set me up with a 529 plan. "These plans allow you to save as much as a quarter of a million dollars for your child’s higher education expenses every year—and you won’t owe any capital gains taxes on the appreciation. The major drawback to this type of plan is that it covers only college and graduate school expenses—so private high school, for example, doesn’t count."

I bought the cutest button front maternity jacket for $43.99 and the cutest jeans for way below designer brand prices - which in my opinion, fit just as good. I also purchased a sleeveless faux wrap maternity shirt for only $19.98. You should definitely check it out. It's worth the trip.

A Potential Lifeline for My Peanut

It’s become more common for expectant moms today to consider saving their newborns cord for stem cell transplants. However, I don’t recall seeing so many advertisements or brochures when my sister was expecting 8 months ago. I think I’ve had a private cord bank representative call me 5 times in the last 2 weeks. I can’t make up my mind and that’s why I’m posting about this, to hear your thoughts on umbilical cord blood banking.

Basically, the cord or placental blood that comes from a newborn baby has all the elements of normal blood, plus a rich supply of stem cells, which are usually found in bone marrow. More and more, cord blood stem cells are increasingly replacing bone marrow in stem cell experimentation. It’s a powerful and potentially life-saving resource for treating a growing number of ailments, including cancer, leukemia, blood, and immune disorders. It has already been used for transplantation in more than 14,000 patients with over 70 life-threatening diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma, thalassemia, and sickle cell anemia. Amazing!!

There are both public cord blood bank facilities (they accept donations that go into a general inventory) & private facilities (banks that store your baby’s cord for family’s own personal use).

But… yes there is always a but… Here are a few catches or downsides and reasons why I’m debating this:
• A 12 million dollar industry, the average cost for saving the baby’s cord is over $2000 to process the cord blood, plus $125 a year for storage. Ouch….In these tough economic and unstable times, it’s A LOT of money to dish out. It’s almost like a biological insurance plan or safety security box.
• 1 cord blood = one transplant. There is a low cell count available through the cord blood, which is about 10% of the cells that an adult bone marrow stem cell collection would have.
• Experts also claim that chances of using the child’s own cord blood are slim and if the child has a genetic disease, it is very likely that traces of that “sick” gene are in the cord blood.

One expert questioned, with a national health insurance plan and stem cell agenda being 2 of the primary topics from the new administration, what if insurance companies possibly considered paying for stem cell storage in the future? Yeah right, maybe in the way distant future, and I wouldn't want to wait around for that to happen.

Of course, there are many upsides to saving your babies cord, and the reason why I’m having such a difficult time making a decision.

1) If my child (the donor) did in fact need a stem cell transplant, he/she wouldn’t have to wait for a donor match.
2) Even more incredible is the fact that the cord blood from the baby can extend beyond the donor, and potentially save the life of a sibling, mom, dad and potentially that of a cousin.
3) The cord blood is rich in stem cells, and for this reason research is showing promise in treatment of brain injury, diabetes, heart failure, spinal cord injuries, stroke, among other...Not to mention that stem cell research is constantly evolving.
4) There are only 16 operating cord bank facilities in the US, so the supply is short –which means a long waiting list.
5) Oh and did I mention that the public banks have an underrepresented cord blood supply for ethnic minorities? As a Hispanic-American, that’s another concern I have as well.

What are your thoughts on this? Would love to hear from parents who have chosen to or against saving their newborn's cord.

Here is an interesting video I thought I’d share with you as well: http://kdka.com/video/?id=30033@kyw.dayport.com

Some links to private banks as well, in case you’re looking into it:
http://www.cordblood-america.com/
http://www.corcell.com/
http://www.familycordbloodservices.com/
www.CordBlood.com
www.miblood.org

Advice for Expectant Moms

It’s true that when you announce you’re pregnant, everyone has advice for you. They all mean well of course, but after reading too many books, magazines and getting tons of advice from friends and family, you start to go a little crazy.

I was just about 4 weeks pregnant when I drove myself to the emergency room thinking I had all the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy. The ER doctor’s orders were exactly this, “if you continue to read too much into things, you will find you have every possible symptom, so STOP and listen to your doctor instead”. My younger sister, who gave birth to her first son Nicola 7 months ago, had the most to say – but I love her for it and I know she means well. “You cannot eat spicy foods, stay away from fish, forget the NY hotdog and your sushi cravings – don’t run, don’t exercise – if you start to spot and get menstrual cramps, that’s a BAD sign.” Yes, those were definitely the doctor’s orders in her special case, having gone through a scary and difficult first trimester, bedridden for nearly 2 months. I’m seeing the same obstetrician actually, but in my case the doctor said that I could eat pretty much everything, limit my caffeine intake to one cup a day, and do everything I want in moderation of course. The NO skiing orders where the hardest to accept, with 4 months of winter ahead of me.

I guess the best advice to new moms out there, is to listen to your doctor and what your body tells you. Every woman is different and will have different experiences throughout her pregnancy, some of which all women experience and others many women don’t. I fortunately had a pretty mild first trimester and feel pretty pumped nearing my 4^th month.

I’m really enjoying being pregnant. I haven’t been this healthy in years and getting the extra special attention from my husband is something I can definitely get used to, at least for 5 more months. It’s also probably the only time in your life when you actually welcome a stranger’s stare. The stare is often accompanied by a smile, as if they are giving you their appreciation for taking on such an important job, the job of a future “office mom” in the home.

First Blog Post

This is my first blog post, and I'm looking forward to blogging more in the weeks to come. This is our little bundle of joy at exactly 12 weeks and 3 days old. It was on this day that we heard the heartbeat for the first time, and I can honestly say we were lost for words. It was truly an emotional moment for both Gabe and I. Now we anxiously await to find out whether we prepare for the arrival of a beautiful baby boy or girl.