Monthly Archives: September 2016

8 posts

Baby # 3, An Early Welcome to the World! Part 1.

Mom Life

If you follow me on social media, you were flooded with pictures of our tiny sweet princess last weekend, and I even did a quick post about her name. Now, that she’s here and we’ve had our first pediatrician appointment, I thought i’d take a moment and share the story of her arrival.

I guess you could say the story of her earlier than expected birthday started at our anatomy ultrasound. During the ultrasound it was noted that our baby was measuring in the 25 percentile for gestational age. Even though I have a history of small babies, the doctor at the ultrasound place was concerned about her size so I was scheduled for monthly ultrasounds to check growth.

Pregnancy continued, baby was still measuring small but we were both growing. The weekend of September 17, we dropped the girls off with family and had a little #disneyside baby moon. We stayed up late, watched movies, slept in, ate whenever and whatever we wanted… It was really a relaxing time. We also decided to go to a local park and snap some Disney inspired maternity photos.

On Monday, I went in for a routine ultrasound.

I was greeted with the ultrasound technician, and a medical student. I gave my consent to allow the medical student to stay for my ultrasound and meeting with the doctor, never thinking it could possibly be anything but a routine exam.

After she took what I had expected to be the final measurements, she started over again. This time she rechecked my placenta, took an extremely long time reviewing the umbilical cord and even measured the flow. Since this was something i’d never seen before, I started to have questions. I never claim to be an expert on anything, but after three pregnancies in three years, you start to know what to expect for a routine growth check.

I casually asked what she was measuring, and what it tells us about the health of the baby. She smiled, and calmly told me how it was just a way to see how the umbilical cord is working.

… (insert totally confused look here)…

Next she checked the brain. The Heart. The Kidneys…

“Don’t wipe all the gel off yet, we might need more pictures when the doctor arrives” is what she told me. Those few minutes waiting for the doctor felt like an eternity, my only comfort was feeling our little girl kick and stretch.

The doctor, medical student and technician came back in the room and without any hesitation, the doctor exclaims “we are going to go ahead and diagnose your baby now”

I’m not exactly sure what she may have said next because I instantly burst into ugly tears and said “DIAGNOSE?!!” “WHAT’S IS WRONG WITH MY CHILD!?!”

She backed down, got some tissues, gave me a minute and explained.

Our baby had dropped from the 25 percentile down to the 10 percentile, which is an automatic diagnoses of IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Restriction). Even though I have a history of small babies, this baby had dropped below the comfortable growth rate and it was recommended that we induce.

I sat in a private waiting room for a few minutes so I could gain my composure to call my husband and obstetrician to set up another ultrasound and a consultation prior to making the final decision to induce.

Everything was set up for an ultrasound and appointment, on Thursday, but my Obstetrician wanted to see me and my reports on Wednesday instead.

Tuesday I spent the day on google (BIG MISTAKE), repacking my bag, researching the NICU at my hospital, researching how to prepare for a potential stay in the NICU, and cleaning. I also called my pediatrician to talk about IUGR, and get his opinion on the induction.

Wednesday morning, my husband and I got up bright and early and headed over to the ultrasound. Thankfully the doctor wasn’t in yet, so I was able to just have them send the report over to my doctor and head over to appointment number 2 for the day.

During the appointment, my obstetrician agreed with me that the baby was probably measuring small due to genetics, but just in case there was an issue with my placenta or umbilical cord he recommended we induce the next day.

It is difficult to describe the range of motions, when deep down you know your baby is perfectly fine and healthy but there are these numbers that say we should prepare in case… I’m so thankful for our families. The support of our families both blood relatives, and those in our church family was amazing, and I am forever grateful to be part of the family of God.

Birth Story.

Welcome Baby # 3!

Mom Life

Just a short post to welcome Baby Risa to our family!

I will give a more detailed update on the days leading up to her birth, how we prepared and her birth story once we are home and settled.

But for now, I thought I’d share her name and the meaning behind it.

Risa Belle

Risa is pronounced like Lisa only with an R and Belle.

Risa is the Spanish word for “smile” or “laughter” and for all you Disney fans out there, you know it’s no wonder that her name means beauty…

So, Laughter Beautiful or Beautiful Laughter.

We are so excited to have her here with us, safe and sound and look forward to sharing more of her story soon.

For now, we appreciate all the kind words, texts, hugs and prayers for our family.

Little lady, obsessed with “Dede Risa” and her tiny feet. (Also, she thinks my dress is so pretty!)

Love bug is not impressed with mommys dress, or hospital room… Looking forward to being home and bonding there.

Preparing for Baby # 3 – Week 37 Update

Mom Life

Today marks week 37 of my pregnancy, and let me tell you… last week was a whirlwind of appointments, cleaning, packing, snuggling and long chats with my toddlers about becoming a BIG SISTER!!!

For this weeks appointments (Biophysical Profile Ultrasound) and obstetrician appointment, I had my husband go with me. Between our ultrasound appointment and OB appointment we made a quick trip to Jamba Juice. It was almost like when we were anticipating our first daughter, we used to treat ourselves to Jamba quite often after those appointments!

Kale + Apple without the Banana! (SO MUCH YUM!)

Weekly Stats

Weight Gain: 1 lb
Pregnancy Total: 16 lb
Blood Pressure: 90/60
Baby’s HR – 140’s

Cravings

Granola Bars
Ice-ICE-ICE cold water (so.much.ice!)

Big Sister Update

My oldest (2.5) never ceases to amaze me. She is so kind, and so loving, and I can’t wait to see how to does with another little sister. This week she’s spent a lot of time talking to her baby sister, and rubbing my belly. It’s very sweet to feel the baby respond to her voice with a gentle kick and then see my little lady giggle with excitement!

She takes her role as big sister very seriously, and is always looking out for our love-bug. In fact, something I was not expecting, was her attachment to the infant carseat. Ever since we washed, and installed the infant carseat she has cried and cried about it being for Zuzu, and not the new baby. I totally didn’t see that one coming, so we are working with her on those emotions.

Making “Happy Birthday” cards for baby sister!

Then there is my love-bug, she’s 17 months today. I simply adore her spirit, she is curious about everything and loves to keep me on my toes. Much like her sister, she is very sweet and loving. However, she is also nothing like her sister so I’m a little ~~excited~~ nervous to see how she reacts to the new baby.

“Happy Birthday” cards for sister!

This week we also made some Happy Birthday cards for baby sister. My hope and prayer is that when the baby arrives, she will have become such a household name that the transition is pretty smooth.

My thoughts on transitioning from 2 to 3

This might sound a bit naive, but… I am far less nervous about adding baby # 3, than I was about adding a second… When we welcomed our love-bug into the world it was a crazy time for us. My husband was offered a job 3 hours away from any support systems, and we moved to a town where I literally knew ONE person. It was hard, I was “home” in a new city with a 15 month old and a newborn, my husband worked hard all day with his new job and came home to help me with the girls all night. I’m not sure we ever slept, … it took us some time to build our little community in Fort Myers, but once we settled into a church and had some consistency things got easier.

Now, as we prepare to welcome baby number 3, we are back in Miami! My husband again just started a new job and will have very limited paternity leave BUT we have a much bigger support system. There are so many people who love and care for us, and more people than we even know praying for us in this new transition.

When my husband and I were preparing to get married, we came across a verse in Psalm 126. It was true in 2008 and it’s still true today, The LORD has done great things for US, and we are glad (Psalm 126:3).

We appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we welcome our baby into the world very soon.

Tips for a #disneyside Maternity Shoot

Disney

As promised, here are some of the photos from our #disneyside maternity shoot last Sunday. I will admit, I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t get to take one more photo of my baby bump at Disney, but sometimes we just have to accept that plans need to change.

Here are my tips for accomplishing a semi-non-cheesey #disneyside maternity shoot!

1. Gather some Disney inspired props.

When I think about Disney world, and the Disney company, I think about attention to detail! From the sights, and smells at the theme parks, to the hidden similarities within the movies. The Disney company pays attention to detail.

Why wouldn’t you do the same for your Disney inspired shoot? I was tempted to put on some Minnie mouse earrings, but I didn’t think it would show up very well so I skipped it. Instead, my husband put on his Donald Duck shoes and Mickey watch.

2. Don’t have Disney accessories? Use your wedding bands to create a Mickey shape on your bump!

3. Have FUN!

“Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, dreams are forever.

(W. Disney)

Sliding down slides at 9 months pregnant, what could be more fun than that?

4. Embrace the bump!

“Even miracles take a little time.”
— Fairy Godmother (Cinderella)

No matter what size your bump is, the reality that you are supporting the life of another with your body is beautiful and a bump should be embraced and loved.

The question of the day: How do you show your #disneyside at home?

Our Disney Inspired Baby moon…

Disney Inspired Baby Moon – At Home

Disney Mom Life

Since our plans to travel to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival were totally thrown out the window, we spent the weekend at home. My doctor didn’t feel comfortable with me traveling from Miami to Orlando at 35 weeks pregnant.

I had every intention of just going to Disney for the day, even though my OB didn’t fully support the trip. However, on Thursday evening I started having some pretty strong contractions. It was enough to make me second guess our trip. So, we opted to have a #disneyside babymoon at home.

On Friday afternoon we dropped our girls off with their grandparents, and I went and got my eyebrows waxed. After a little bit of pampering, we had to go to the store and return an item. It’s in the same shopping plaza as our FAVORITE Pizza place in Miami, so obviously, we had to treat ourselves to dinner.

Looking for great Italian food in Miami? Go to Marinos!

After dinner, the baby decided she wanted a Coke Slurpee. Since the Slurpee’s are buy-one-get-one at 7-11 right now, we journeyed to 3 different 7-11’s called 2 and ended up at Burger King for our frozen coke (the craving was legit!).

When we returned home, we put on our jammie’s and watched a Disney Movie! I’d heard poor reviews about the movie Tomorrow Land, but I still wanted to see it. Without giving any spoilers, I’ll just say it was “okay”. Not my favorite Disney movie ever, but also didn’t hate it completely. It’s worth a watch if you are a Disney movie buff.

On Saturday morning, my husband got up and went for a run while I started cleaning the house.

Clean and ready for playtime!

After cleaning and his run, we enjoyed a home-made pancake breakfast (complete with beverages in Disney cups) and set off for a haircut and a little bit of retail therapy!

Farewell, long hair.

I’d had my eye on a specific doll for Baby Jimenez at Hollywood Studios. However, since we didn’t get to GO to Disney, we went to explore the Disney store.

After shopping, we came home and watched some college football (#FIUPANTHERS!) then headed out in search of pedicure supplies. We ended up having dinner at Taco Bell, and then headed back home so I could soak my feet, and watch another Disney Movie in our pajamas!

Does Spicey food really work to induce labor?

On Saturday evening we decided to watch Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Day!

I loved it!

Sunday morning, my husband went for another run while I did absolutely nothing… (I’m a little impressed with myself over that one!) When he got home, we got ready to go to the park and have a #disneyside Maternity shoot. The shoot was SO.MUCH.FUN. It’s going to get its own post, so check back to see more of the photos later in the week.

After our #disneyside Maternity shoot, we decided to do our groceries for the week, come home and watch some football! (#MIAMIDOLPHINS) and of course, catch up on the Amazing Race via Hulu.

In the evening we ate some Salsa Chicken and watched Soul Surfer. We watched Bethany on the Amazing Race, and since then we had Soul Surfer on our list of movies to watch. It was pretty inspiring to see her story.

Even though I didn’t get to watch the Electrical light parade from start to finish one more time, or eat a Mickey ice cream bar all alone, or see the star wars fireworks without a toddler cleaning to me, it was a great weekend and I am so ready to have this baby!

Crafting with Toddlers: DIY Onesies and Week 36 Update

Mom Life

Hello friends!

We are approaching the finish line, and thankfully our name reveal outfit has arrived! I will be doing a dedicated post on what’s in my hospital bag very soon, so stay tuned! One of the things my husband and I feel very strongly about is making sure our girls (even at 2.5 and 16 months) are aware of the baby, and that the baby is coming to live with us very soon. When we welcomed baby Zuzu, our older daughter was SO excited! She had spent the last 6 months or so reading to the baby, giving kisses to my stomach and just bonding with her. I’ll never forget the moment she first saw her, I sat on my bed in amazement at the instant love they had for one another.

We’ve worked really hard to allow our girls opportunity to bond with their new sister, and one of the ways we decided to help them get excited for baby was to make a special gift for their sister.

Our girls are really into coloring right now, they just enjoy coloring so much. Since I had a 3 pack of white onesies, I decided to grab some iron-on letters and fabric markers for the girls to create a special outfit for their sister.

The girls were really into it, and even enjoyed Facetime with dad to show off their projects. It’s so much fun but if you plan to do something like this, here are my top two tips.

1) PREPARE.

Well fed toddlers are happier during craft time
Make sure your supplies are ready

If using paint, be sure you have plenty of wipes ready or direct access to the sink for cleaning those little hands

Have your camera ready
Make sure they are dressed in an outfit that can also get messy
Enlist another adult to help if you have more than 1 toddler you are crafting with

2) EMBRACE THE MESS.

We didn’t use paint this time, I opted for some fabric markers. I have painted many times with my girls before, and it was much more fun when I stopped thinking about the mess we were making and embraced the idea of making memories!

Pregnancy Update – Week 36

Week 35 Update here.

Total Weight Gain: 15 lbs

Blood Pressure: 105/65

Baby’s Heart Rate: 150’s

Cravings:

Ice Cream

Question of the day: What’s your favorite type of ice cream?

Simple Spaghetti Bake

Uncategorized

In the fall is 2013, I was anticipating the arrival of my first born daughter. I had NO idea what to expect, what to anticipate, how to prepare, nothing. Not.A.Clue. I had spent hours upon hours on pinterest trying to figure out how to prepare for life as a mom. One of the tips was to prepare meals for the freezer.

I think I got as far as a potential shopping list, and then got completely overwhelmed and didn’t make a single dish. In fact, I didn’t even have groceries in my house when I left for the hospital. Thankfully, my in laws lived down the street and were always stopping by with food.

When baby number 2 arrived in the Spring of 2015 we were in the middle of a move to a new city, my husband was starting a new job, we were selling our condo, and life was a little chaotic. Needless to say, I did NOT have any meals prepared in advance.

So, here we are… Baby 3 will be here somewhere between now and mid October. I have two toddlers, running around, I’m potty training, and still overwhelmed by the thought of cooking a bunch of meals at once, or even shopping for supplies to make the food.

So, what’s a girl preparing for life with three kids under the age of three to do? Follow the advice of Tim Gunn, and Make it Work!

I decided that a whole day of filling my freezer with meals just wasn’t going to work, but what I could do was cook in bulk while I was cooking dinner for my family. So far I’ve put three meals into my freezer in preparation for Baby Jimenez # 3 to arrive.

My girls LOVE Spaghetti, it’s probably a good thing, because it’s ridiculously easy to make and all the ingredients are pretty much always on sale. I’m sure there are real chef’s who have mastered the perfect Spaghetti bake, but this is my version. It’s simple, and my family enjoys eating it.

Question of the day: How do you make your spaghetti?