August 1995: Aida, J and A enjoy a night out on the town. With J behind the wheel, the girls drive around Orange County, listen to Biz Markie and Technotronic, get a bite to eat at a local sushi joint, and gossip about boys and fashion.
August 2008: Aida, J and A enjoy a night out on the town. With J behind the wheel, the girls drive around Orange County, listen to Biz Markie and Technotronic, get a bite and martinis at a local sushi joint, and gossip about husbands, kids, and fashion.
Everytime I go back to Southern California I find a new food addiction. Last year it was Pinkberry frozen yogurt. This year it's red velvety deliciousness.
I've come to accept that my blog will now consist of random photos and a few phrases here and there. This little one takes up waaaay too much of my time, but I'll gladly give it all to her!
It still seems like she was just born yesterday, and now she's smiling, squealing with happiness, and reaching for her toys! She even yells at you when she's pissed off. It's quite hilarious!
Note to self and all new mommies...savor and enjoy every single moment with your infant. They really do grow up way too fast.
I went back to work a couple of weeks ago, and now I have no free time! This explains why I haven't been blogging. Luckily, my mom is in town to help me and hubby out with the baby and the household chores, but she's going back to California next week. I'm absolutely dreading this. Life will turn from busy (but manageable) to chaotic.
It's so amazing how time flies. It seems like yesterday that I just gave birth, and now my little one is nearly three months old. Maternity leave felt like no time at all. For the past couple of weeks I've been moving at 100 miles an hour, juggling my two jobs, the girls, and the house. All I want is one hour to curl up in the sofa with my daughter and watch Hanna Montana, or play peek-a-boo with my baby.
Luckily it's the weekend and I have some free time, so I think I'll go do those things now. Before I start on that mountain load of laundry.
The little one greeted me this morning with her first smile! It was probably gas or post-meal bliss, but it doesn't matter. It was the most precious thing and it totally made my day!
Every year I make mental New Year's Resolutions, but I always forget what they are, and ultimately I don't follow through on them. I figure I should write them down so I can remind myself regularly and make these changes for the better! I also decided to make it realistic and not to make too many resolutions so I can accomplish them.
1) Exercise more patience, especially with the hubby and the kid.
2) Work off the postpartum belly! I'm making the mistake of eating like I'm still pregnant, and I had the baby over a month ago!
3) Be wiser with my money...i.e. start saving more, pay off my debts faster, don't shop for things that are unneccessary.
I tried to rub my nose with Alyssa's nose, and she began to root. Her mouth landed on my nose, and she began to suck on it! Eww! I pulled away, and she immediately began shrieking. I guess she's hungry, so I should go feed her now.
Many moms say that giving birth the second time around is usually easier, and Alyssa's birth was no exception. The day before she was born I was having my normal Braxton Hicks contractions, and I didn't think much about them. I even went to the mall that day and did some Christmas shopping, trying to get as much done as possible before the little one came. In the evening I started getting more regular contractions, about every five to ten minutes or so, but they were not painful at all. Hubby and I decided to drop off the kid to my mother-in-law just in case. It's a good thing we did that, because in the twenty minutes it took to get to my mother-in-law's house, the contractions went from every seven minutes with no pain to every three to four minutes and painful.
We got to the hospital around eleven o'clock in the evening. According to the resident I was 7cm dilated. The L&D nurse was amazed because I was still fairly comfortable at this point. The contractions were painful, but tolerable (with my first pregnancy I was tearful and belligerent at 5cm). Even though I wasn't in excrutiating pain I still opted for the epidural just in case.
Labor progressed pretty quickly. Once the epidural kicked in I was already at 9cm. My doc ruptured my bag of waters, and within minutes I was ready to push. Even though I didn't need the epidural for the earlier stage of labor, I was glad I got it because I had the worst back pain with each contraction once I was at the pushing stage. After about fifteen minutes of pushing Alyssa was born at a little after two in the morning. My doctor said that my awful back pain was due to the fact that Alyssa was born face up, and the back of her head was putting a lot of pressure on my back as she was coming out. Overall, it was a fairly easy and quick labor and birth. Of course, I'd also go through a difficult labor for the end result of my beautiful daughter.
Right now I'm just enjoying my maternity leave, taking care of the little one, and trying to get some rest whenever possible. It's amazing to me that after carrying her for nine months, and wondering all that time about her appearance and her personality, she is finally here. It's also amazing to me that from the moment I met her I loved her so much it hurt, and now I can't imagine how my life was like without her. It's funny how motherhood (and post-pregnancy hormones) can stir up all these emotions in you. Or perhaps it's lack of sleep.
Speaking of sleep, the little fell just fell asleep in her swing, so I should catch a nap also!
Alyssa was born November 26th, at 2:17 in the morning. The whole family, mostly her big sis, is beyond ecstatic. I may post soon about the details of her birth, but right now I have to get some sleep!
Baby's official due date is today, but I'm still waiting. I honestly thought I was going to deliver earlier than the due date. A couple of weeks ago the baby had dropped, and I was getting frequent Braxton Hicks contractions. My mom-in-law, my resource and expert at giving birth (she's had seven kids, including hubby), swore I was going to give birth two weeks ago. My sis-in-law made a bet that it would happen the following week.
But they were both wrong...I'm still here, pregnant and waiting! Baby must be cozy and comfy in there. As of last Thursday I wasn't even dilated at all. The Braxton Hicks have become less frequent. My back and my pelvis are killing me, and I can't sleep more than two hours straight. My first daughter was born on her due date, and my OB/gyne thinks this one will do the same. Now I have the feeling she'll be coming later.
Even though I'm totally uncomfortable and anxious to meet the baby, I guess this is best for now. I'm going to try to use this time to clean the house a little more, put away more the baby's stuff (at least half of her stuff is still in boxes), and finish up my Christmas shopping. (Side note: I'm so proud of my Christmas shopping skills! I made it through the chaos known as "Black Friday" and actually went to the mall at eight in the morning. Now I am nearly done with everyone on my shopping list, and I saved about 50% in discounts at the same time!) Even hubby is telling my belly to "hold on for a couple of days!" because he's finishing up on the nursery furniture.
Now that I'm on maternity leave, I can use this opportunity to get what seems like millions of errands done, and at the same time the energy spent will hopefully get the ball rolling on labor. I don't think I'll ever be completely ready with the house and the nursery and the baby items, but as of right now I'm totally ready to meet my baby and hold her in my arms.
This early morning I'm enjoying some quiet time, some well deserved "me" time until the hectic weekend begins. I've got a full day ahead of me...working a few hours at the office, taking the kid to balllet class and a birthday party, grocery shopping and running a few errands. Normally these activities are quite easy to handle, but lately my back hurts and I get short of breath easily, so I'm just trying to take it easy right now before my long day begins.
There's nothing better than waking up early in the morning and having time to lounge on the sofa with your favorite fleece blanket, sip your vanilla coffee (decaf for me nowadays), and watch the morning news or browse the internet. The sunrise creeps in through the blinds. The hubby and the kid are still sound asleep upstairs, and they probably won't wake up for a couple more hours. It's heavenly.
I'm anxious to see my little munchkin. On top of that, I'm totally uncomfortable and would like to pop her out soon. But I'm also enjoying mornings like this, when I have several hours to myself of untinterupted bliss and quiet. This will be a luxury once the little one is born, so I'm taking in all the calmness and solitude while I have it. Because in several weeks I won't have time to even take a shower, let alone enjoy an early morning cup of coffee and celebrity gossip blogs.
Oops, the landscapers are here early today! I hope their lawnmowers don't wake up the hubby and kid just yet. I want to savour this morning for just a little while longer. Happy Saturday, everyone!
Today marks one month before my due date! A month sounds like a lot of time, but I have a feeling that I won't have everything done and ready before the baby comes. Slowly but surely I'm gathering the absolute necessities. The bassinet is set up, the infant car seat is ready to go, and the newborn clothes, towels and blankets are washed and folded. I've also got several necessities that are still in their boxes and packages, like the stroller, bouncer, monitor, diapers and bottles. The crib frame and baby's dresser have arrived, but are not assembled yet. My hospital bag is halfway packed and I still need to do a few things before it's complete (like buy comfy slippers and nursing PJs, load my ipod shuffle, find my Juicy sweats). I'm getting there, but I feel like I have a billion things left to do. And my energy level is decreasing more and more every day!
The physical readiness is not what makes me nervous, however...it's the mental readiness. I'll admit it, I'm totally nervous about the idea of taking care of a newborn all over again. It's been a LONG time since I've had to deal with the neediness of a young child. My seven-year-old is fairly independent and I don't have to watch her 24-7. She expresses what she needs and can get it, or least figure out how to get it. She makes her own judgements and acts appropriately, with some guidance, of course. Hearing stories from friends and bloggers who are moms of infants makes me wonder if I can really handle it again. I'm talking about handling the sleepless nights, the incessant crying, and susceptibility to colds and ear infections, the breastfeeding and weaning...and the pooping! The extra expenses for things like formula, diapers and day care are also stressing me out. And as she gets older there's potty training, trying new foods, keeping her fingers out of electrical sockets and Draino...it's all so overwhelming just thinking about it!
A friend, who has both a five-year-old and a newborn, told me not to worry, and that indeed all the maternal instincts do come back. She also said that her older child is great at lending an extra hand for caring for the baby. I can't wait to meet my little one, but I think I'll relish my last month of "freedom" before she makes her debut. Instead of driving myself crazy with all the thinking and worrying I should take a leisurely stroll at the mall, go to the movies, or enjoy a nice dinner at a restaurant with the hubby. The last month sounds like a long time, but I know it will fly by fast.
The practical mom in me is saying, "Are you crazy? You can buy a stroller and diapers and bottles with the money you'd spend on that one item!" But the fashionista is me is screaming "Get it!! Get it!! Get it!!"
I think the fashionista is winning. I'm in such trouble.
