Oh Boy!

Santiago is still growing and moving around more and more.  According to the websites and books he is 2.5 pounds this week and is as big as an eggplant.  I'm going to go get the 4D ultrasound in a few weeks so I can see what he looks like.  For sure he has a uni-brow.  I've gained 17 pounds in the last 25 weeks.  Now that the weather is cooler I'm walking again.  Woohoo!  And yoga is something that I practice everyday now.  I need to get down to business and buy some furniture for his room, write my birth plan and pack a suitcase while I still have the energy.
The hardest part of this pregnancy so far is the fact that my wardrobe options are crazy limited.  I went to a friends wedding over the weekend and ended up wearing a skirt as a dress.  Here is the proof:

Let's hope this belly doesn't get too much bigger or I won't have any clothes in my closet that would be acceptable. 
This weekend is my birthday and it's the first year that I won't be able to go out in a cute new outfit dancing.  Oh well, this is so much more worth it.  I'll celebrate at home or at a great restaurant with a huge cake and no guilt over the calories.  Yay!

Yep.. This is really happening

This is the time in the pregnancy that I like to call "holy sh*%, I'm having a baby".  It became real all of the sudden and I feel uninformed and ill-prepared to be a mom.  I'm terrified suddenly but excited at the same time!  For once in my life I actually welcome others advice (as long as it's positive).
So now I'm going to sign up for a million birthing classes and make sure that I have all of the information that I need.  Last night Rodrigo and I toured the maternity ward at the hospital.  I've been second guessing having Santiago at Emory so I was hoping that the tour would make me feel better.  The fact that the tour started 20 minutes late and we were the "cleanest" looking couple there made Rodrigo want to bolt for the door.  The great news is that Emory has a ton of security to make sure that no one steals your baby- which by the way I never knew that I actually needed to worry about.  The nurse was very sweet and the rooms were fairly nice.  They encourage a relaxing birthing process and allow you to have music, low lights and lay in a warm bath- pretty much sold me there folks!  My fancy husband was concerned about the small size of the mother/baby rooms (the birthing rooms were larger) so he wants to tour another hospital. 
I'm feeling a little better about the process but I'm anxious to start the birthing and lactation classes.  We still haven't bought much for the baby.  We go to Babies R Us almost every weekend and just stare at everything on the shelves. 
I'm still on track with my weight gain despite the horrible food decisions that I continue to make.  I'm concentrating more on eating fruit and veggies and other healthy foods every day.  The weather is getting cooler so I'm able to get outside and walk which makes me feel better.  There are some that are dying for me to get fat.  I'm realizing that those people have issues and I'm just ignoring them.  They are the same ones that like to share baby horror stories with me.
Here is a pic of Santiago for my sweet sister-in-law, I miss her very much and wish that she was in Atlanta with me.  I'm 24 weeks now and this pic was taken at 19 weeks. 

Nursery for our baby boy!

Even though we have no clue where we will be living when we bring Santiago home, we are buying little things here and there for his nursery.
We won't have his nursery set up until December but I thought that I would share some pics of a few of the items that will be in his nursery.  We wanted to add elements that he would be able to use in his room for many years to come so we decided on animals.  Here is an elephant ratan hamper that just got delivered today:

The main colors of the room will be yellow, gray and blue with little accents of other colors throughout the room.  I made yarn letters that will sit on a book shelf.  They are sitting on his new flokati rug that I got at Ikea:

We have his bumper finally and the fabric for the curtains.  The animal swatch is what his bumper is made from and the gray chevron swatch is what we will use for his curtains:

We ordered a few pictures for his wall and have them framed already.  Other than that, we are a little behind but he won't know the difference.  ; )
I'm still growing and have gained 15 pounds so far.  I hit 23 weeks yesterday- one more week until my 6 month milestone.
It's just started to hit me that I know nothing about babies so I'm signing up for birthing classes and trying to read more.   We finally registered at Babies R Us and Target but I fear that we had no idea what we should really be registering for.  I guess I'll learn as I go.  We will just give him lots of food and love and hope he grows up strong and healthy!

22 weeks and counting

Yes, I know- I haven't been keeping anyone up to date on the pregnancy.  I am making a promise to blog at least once a week from now on.  Here's the update since my last post:
1. 3 weeks ago we found out that my sweet baby is a little boy and we couldn't be happier!  He thinks he is a soccer player already.  This child kicks me day and night and I think it's the best feeling in the whole world!!!  A lot of moms-to-be don't feel the baby kicking for several more weeks but I've felt my baby boy for 3 weeks now.  The ultrasound tech says that he's just like me because during morning ultrasounds all he does is yawn.
2.  Early last week me and the little soccer player ended up in the hospital for a few hours.  I was admitted for dehydration and I will never let that happen again.  They put me in a labor and delivery room and us hooked up to machines for several hours.  Who knew that when you are dehydrated you start having contractions?!  The amount of water that you have to drink to rehydrate your self is obscene!  It took 5 days for us to be fully re-hydrated.  But everything is fine now and we are both just fine. 
3.  My belly popped out in the last couple of days.  I don't fit in many of my clothes any longer so I'm waiting for big sweater season to hit soon!  The good news is that since it's a baby boy I'm all stomach.  I've gained 13 pounds so far and I think it must be only in the belly- from the back I don't really look preggers.
4.  We are completely behind on the nursery but we're working on it.  We aren't really "theme nursery" people but we know that we want lots of colors and animals in his room.
Ok, if I give it all away now I won't have anything to blog about next week.  Here is a pic of my big belly- I know some of you are just dying to see how big I've gotten for some reason.  ; ) 

Today I Heard The Sweetest Sound...

I had my 2nd appointment with the doctor on Thursday and it was the first time that they listened to the heartbeat.  Baby Rios has a strong heartbeat for only 13 weeks and is ready to party.  When I finally heard the heartbeat I cried like a baby- I was so excited to be able to hear that precious sound! 
There was no ultrasound on that appointment, I won't have another one until 20 weeks when they are able to identify the sex of the baby. 
I'm pretty sure that the baby will be a rockstar- he/she has been to 3 concerts already- Foo Fighters, Def Leppard/Heart and Florence and the machine.
Now that I'm past the scary weeks, I will start working out again and I'm going back to hip hop classes.  Maybe the baby will come out with a little swagger.  Also, on my to-do list is to make a play list for the baby to listen to every night. 
The belly is getting bigger and bigger.  At the end of each day by belly is super swollen and I can only wear sweatpants around the house.  I'm going to breakdown and buy the belly-band this weekend.  It's my fault...  all those donuts and cupcakes that I've been craving.

I'm ready to announce it to the world!

I'm preggers!  I found out at 4.5 weeks and Rodrigo and I have been trying to keep it a secret.  As soon as we found out- we booked a long weekend away at the beach to celebrate.  We took off the day after my 8 week checkup with the doctor- it was the first time that we were able to see a picture of Baby Rios.  The picture to the left was taken on our vacation- me at 8 weeks after we went snorkeling and found a starfish.  
Our due date is January 3rd and we couldn't be more excited about the months to come!!!  I'm so thankful that we were able to get pregnant so quickly and without the stress that so many women have to go through. 
I'm almost 13 weeks pregnant now!  So far it's been the easiest pregnancy on record.  Other than tinkling every 20 minutes, my face breaking out and starting to get a fat belly it's been a breeze.  I've had very little morning sickness and I can't tell if my cravings are new or if they are just the same intensity of cravings that I've always had... hello cupcakes! 
I've only had one doctors appointment and I have the next one this Thursday.  The doctor thinks I'm totally nuts- when she asked what my biggest fear about labor and delivery is, I told her that I'm most scared about the thought of pooping on the table.  She just looked at Rodrigo and shook her head and tried not to laugh. I was being totally serious!
Rodrigo and I are starting to think about baby names (no I don't need everyone's opinion about this subject) and we are starting to visit the baby stores.  I've started reading a few baby books and trying to weed through all of the do's and don'ts of pregnancy.  Oy vey!  The don'ts are starting to be a little much. 
I'm looking to all of the (positive) advice that my friends and family have to share!!!