Nina at 18 months

Yes...I am going to do a blog entry. Are you happy?

Here is Nina at 18 months.

She's 22.5 lbs and 33 inches tall(!).

Things she loves:
Blanky
Teddy
Sucking her left thumb
Elmo on Sesame Street (just that 20-minute segment, thank you very much)
Curious George (the tv show)
Playing with her hairbands and clips
Putting coins in her piggy bank
Reading books
Going to the Library for Baby Bounce: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/atlantic-city_pleasantville_brigantine/bouncing-babies-are-brainy-babies-in-a-c/article_b2f54577-4e5e-54f4-94f1-dc2d1b68e499.html

Foods she loves:
Anything sweet (M&Ms are tops)
Anything fruit

Her vocabulary has exploded lately in both languages:
agua
papa
mama
Nenna (Nina)
Titi (tia - Veronica)
Emm (Elmo)
tray (train)
avoo (avion - airplane)
appu (apple)
bo (bol - ball)
nana (banana)
peto (perro - dog)
pato (duck)
eye
She also recognizes a lot of words in both languages and obeys simple commands in both languages.

Sounds that animals make: I'm going to try to upload a video so you can all enjoy the cuteness!

Catching Up...maybe

Yeah...it's been a while. Weeding the garden, cutting the grass, cleaning bathrooms, as well as working full-time and helping my husband work full-time and taking care of a very active baby and running the Young Women's program at church has pretty much filled up my life. Plus, Dora (the computer) was so horribly slow that doing anything took eons. But now we have Della and internet life is a little faster. :)

I will attempt now to summarize the last 4 months by selecting one picture to represent each month:

February - lots of snow...lots.









March - Baby suddenly has 2 teeth. (She hasn't gotten any since then.)









April - Lots of outside work: We put in a garden, Papi cuts the grass for the first time in his life. Papi also starts to work the graveyard shift at the local hardware megastore. He sleeps a few hours here and there and watches Baby during the day. She is sitting and trying to crawl.









May - Vacation in VA is all about yummy food...crabcakes from the Eastern Shore, Cheese Shop (bread ends and house dressing), Sno to Go, Captain George's seafood, Cornell Chicken, wedding cake, and devil dogs were all enjoyed. Baby crawls and pulls up to standing.










Now that it's June, we're working a lot outside and realizing just how big our yard is. We're also getting ready to do some home improvement - the chimney has to come down (it's unstable) this weekend and the siding and roof near that will have to be replaced. We're also excited for summer and the beach and summer visitors and the Airshow.

Roll Over, roll over!

Nina's new talent...she prefers her belly, but will go both ways now.

And speaking of bellies, a few laughs to boot.

Don't you want to eat her up??

We are considering becoming cannibals. NinaBell's thighs and cheeks just invite you to gobble them up! She's 20 weeks old today, weighs at least 15 lbs, and measures in at 26 inches already. She's lots of fun, and has started screeching and "talking".

She was blessed by her papi on January 2, and her Gritty and Grampa and Aunt Amy and cousins visited. Gritty brought her a beautiful smocked dress with handmade tatting, and Nina was the belle of the of ball! We also had a nice Christmas at home...it was especially nice to have good news - 2 engagements (my sister-in-law, Vero and Henry, and my 82-year-old Papa and Ruth)! Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate these lovely milestones.

Having a Baby? Get health insurance.

Cost of room and board for 2 days at the local maternity ward - $8,560
Cost for labor and delivery of the baby - $2,303
Cost of lab services for mom and baby - $495
Cost of misc. "hospital services" - $568
Total cost of hospital bill for 2 days (August 27-29, 2009) - $11,926
Total payment by me - $0

Importance of having good health insurance - priceless

Nap Revolt

My 2.5 week old daughter has decided that naps were sooo last week. Over the past two days the only way we can get her to sleep longer than 10 minutes at time during the day is for her to be attached to me. As in attached like a calf to the milk cow. She's also really restless at night - when she sleeps she grunts and complains and cries out a lot.

Oh - gotta go, she's awake again and crying.

Congratulations!

Welcome to the world, Marija Kristina, and congratulations to Joe and Daina! We're so happy for you all. (But we're still bummed that you weren't Nina's birthday twin.) So what's better, Daina, a 3-hour labor and being 9 days overdue, or a 30-hour labor and being on the due date?? I'll let you decide!

Daina and me, in our skinnier, pre-pregnancy, pre-marital days.

Nina Xuxabell's Arrival

Our little Nina is already a week old and what a week it was! While I'll spare most of the gory details, here's a recap for those that are interested:

I started with contractions on Tuesday night (the 25th) around 10 pm. They were pretty consistent - about 15 minutes apart. On Wednesday morning, I called the doctor and they had me come in that afternoon to be checked. The doctor said we could go straight to the hospital at that point, but the midwife talked to us and said that if went to the hospital, I'd probably end up hooked up to an IV and on drugs. Because I wanted to avoid that, she suggested we go walk around, go home, do our breathing exercises, and wait until the contractions were closer together.

We did that. I went to the hospital at 12:30 on Thursday morning (the 27th), was directly admitted to the maternity ward, and we were hooked up to the monitors. The nurses left Fredy and I alone pretty much and let us work through the process. By 4 AM, I announced that I was ready to push, but that I was sure it wasn't time yet. Fredy called the nurse (Mia), who announced that "Oh! We need to get the midwife here. She's at 10." She then told me to wait...that I needed to keep breathing. (Aargh! The longest minutes of my life...Fredy actually lost his temper and yelled at the nurse, "She doesn't want to wait. She wants to push! Where is Donna??" Mia calmly responded: "She's not here yet, she's at home, but she's on her way.") My water broke around 4:05.


Donna, the midwife, was at home asleep, but got there very quickly. As soon as she walked in the door, we were pushing. Nina Xuxabell Perez was born at 4:28 AM on Thursday, August 27, was 20 inches long and weighed 7.5 lbs. She inhaled quite a bit of fluid on her way out - 14 CCs, according to the peds nurse, the most she's ever suctioned out of a newborn! But she's healthy and strong and beautiful.

Donna, Nina, and Heather

She's definitely Papi's girl, with a head full of dark, wavy hair (Mami hopes it will be curly) and a round, cinnamon-colored face with dark eyes. Her ears are pixie-pointed and lay flat against her head (hopefully not Halpin ears), but she has long fingers and toes like her Mami. (Perfect for violin or piano!) We think she's beautiful, and hope you do too!

Her name was a bit of an evolutionary process. Ever since Mami and Papi were dating, Papi talked about having a daughter named Xuxabel [pronounced "Shooshabell"]. (He knew a girl in school in Guatemala with this name and always liked the name.) Mami liked the name, but didn't want the baby to have a name that would always have to be explained and spelled constantly and mispronounced. So we had been bouncing names back and forth and finally found "Nina" in a book of names. It worked with Xuxabel. And when she was born, she just seemed to look like a "Nina"...even more than a Bella, which was what we were planning to call her. So she's our little Nina Xuxabell, or Nina Bell or just Nina or occasionally Bella.

She's very sweet and rarely cries. So far, she's a gifted baby, passing all of the marks on the first week's tracking record (pees, poops, feedings) and she sleeps 4-5 hours at a time at night! :) We are enjoying her so much and are excited for everyone to meet her soon!

Public Service Announcement #1

WHY do people (read, strangers in public settings) feel the need to comment on pregnant ladies? Have we really lost all sense of decency and privacy in this day and age? Usually I don't mind the occasional, good-natured comment or ribbing from people I know, but this is crossing the line:

Teenage male walking down the street yells out:
Him: "Hey is it a boy?"
Me: "Excuse me?"
Him: "Yo' baby. Is it a boy? Is it a girl?"
Me: "I don't know." Keep walking.

Customer at work who I helped previously a few months back in very loud accusing voice:
Her: "What happened to YOU?!"
Me: "Excuse me?"
Her, pointing at my belly: "You're huge! WHO did that to you?"
Me: "My husband!"

Another customer, in his greeting to me:
Him: "Hi Little Mama...oh wait, no it's Big Mama now."

Yet another customer, talking to my boss as I walk by:
Him: "Wow. She's big!"
Her: "What?"
Him: "She was pregnant last time I saw her! Is she pregnant again?!"
Her: "Let me finish helping you here..."

Random man in the City Office when I went to pay a bill:
Him: "You look like you're going to pop!"
Me: "No. 6 more weeks."
Him: "Hm. Ladies don't get as big as they used to."
Me: "????"

Note that most of the offenders here are male. Let this be a warning to all you males: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COMMENT ON A WOMAN'S WEIGHT/BELLY. In fact, you should not comment on her weight or belly unless you are personally responsible for said condition. Pregnancy hormones are funny things - you may end up with a fist to your face. You have been warned.

End of public service announcement.

Our Guinea Pig

...is a bear, actually.

Poor Teddy is getting the brunt of the bad parenting, as Papi and I practice diapering, dressing, car seat placement, and strolling in preparation for the "real thing". Teddy is also the practice "dummy" for our childbirth class on breastfeeding in two weeks (NO pictures to follow).

We are taking childbirth classes at the hospital where B will be born, along with 14 other expectant couples. That's a lot of pregnant hormones in one room! We learn lovely things like how to breathe ("breathe in...and out"), what pain medications are available (whodda thunk there were so many options?!), and what to do if your water breaks in the grocery store ("clean up on aisle 5"). We will also have a tour next week, which is the main reason we signed up for this class, as opposed to the one offered by the OB's office.

PS - Check out my birthday present...the cool new ride for B! :) Just what I wanted. (Really!)