Baby Bump and all...

We're now about to end the 10th week of the pregnancy. My pants no longer fit or are uncomfortable for me to use. There is an obvious tummy now. Folks who haven't seen me in a couple of weeks are surprised of the size of my stomach. It's common to hear, "You look like you're in your 4th or 5th month....twins?" I honestly don't know, but this coming week we have a doctor's visit and I'm sure we will get a better idea. It is so exciting, strange and a natural feeling to see my stomach and body change so rapidly. My mind has to catch up to what is physically happening to me.

My symptoms? A couple of weeks ago a started gagging. I could be having a conversation and then an "episode." Mark was kind of concerned because it would sometimes come out of no where and quite frequently. I definitely know that if I don't eat when I get hungry the gagging starts. The nausea comes and goes but it is starting to taper off somewhat. Some days I feel great and others not so hot. I am finding myself with spurts of energy, which is nice to feel again. At night is when I usually feel the worst. I did throw up twice last week and thank goodness that's all it has been. It is still a bit odd to me that I may feel hungry and crave a particular food, but as soon as I start biting into it make me sick.

Mark and I have started to look into baby items. We now venture into the baby/kids floor to see what's out there. Who knew a mobil was $5o.00 and cribs can later become beds. I know we are such novices at this. I saw the cutest little bikini set for an infant. It was pink with brown poke-a-dots. It was maybe for a 6 month old. I showed it to Mark with all of my excitement, he closed his eye and shook his head. At least he didn't storm out of there.

Will we find out the sex of the baby? My initial thoughts have been no. I completely understand the practicality of knowing before hand, but it is my opinion that, this type of "surprise" does not happen often and it would be nice to do it the old fashion way. On the other hand, Mark would like to know. He said the doctor could slip him the envelope and I don't have to worry about finding out. I really don't think it's going to last too long. So the answer is yes, we'll find out the sex of the baby.

Until next time!

Hormones!!

This is tough to get use to. I'm riding along in my car and I hear a commercial or a song that does not have any significance to me and BOOM! The eyes get watery and here come a few tears. Better yet, the change in my taste buds, smell and hearing.

The taste buds have got to be the weirdest. I bite into something one minute and I have no taste, then within the next bite it appears.

....And then there were three.

We're pregnant! I am in my 7th week. Since all of the grandparents and aunts/uncles to-be have been informed we are now letting our little secret out of the bag. Some of them were shocked and others had their suspicions, but all are very excited, especially the grandparents to-be.

On my side of the family this will be the first nieto. On Mark's side, this will be grandchild number 8, but the youngest grandchild is currently 13 years old, so for the moment "Baby Lopez" will be the only baby in the family.

The baby was planned; some folks aren't surprised others are. For those who know me best and my neurotic ways, I wanted a 2010 baby. Why? It's easier to remember the age... God has been really good to us in this journey. We only started trying for a baby in early April; it took two weeks and BAM! Mark and I were REALLY surprised about becoming pregnant so soon. On Thursday we went for our first visit to the doctor. Our due date is January 7, 2010.....so it may be a 2010 or 2009 baby. Everything looks good. An ultrasound was done and we got to see the heart beat and the tiny little "pea-pod!" As some of you know, I had food poisoning a few weeks ago. The doctor did say there were no concerns regarding that, especially since it was so early on in the pregnancy, I was 4 weeks along at the time.

For the past two weeks the pregnancy has been in full gear. Thankfully I have not been throwing up, just a lot of nausea. It has tapered off these past couple of days. I'm eating constantly. Usually after 3:00 PM I eat every hour and I wake up in the middle of the night for a feeding, sometimes twice. They are not meals per say, but snacks. What I'm mainly eating now are fruits and red meat. The baby is picky that way. Having to cook dinner or shop at the grocery store is a thing of the past for now. It makes me sick to my stomach. I've become a napper and have to take things much slower.

I'll be blogging about once a week or so to keep folks up to date. Stop on by anytime! If you would like to be alerted when a new post is up, let me know and you'll get an email.

On April 4, 2009, I ran my first 5K. It was either a run or a walk. A friend told me about it a week before the event so I did not train for it. Since it was a walk/run I thought I'll do what I can. It turned out to be a good experience. A had a few stops along the way, but I ran most of it. It has made me want to take part in another marathon.

PhD vs EdD

I'm looking into going back to school for my PhD and came across an EdD. So what's the difference? I've been asking colleagues and friends, but there has been no real answer. Can anyone help with this?

Baking Soda for cleaning around the house?

Here's a thought....where does baking soda come from? As I was watching Oprah with Dr. Oz, he stated that baking soda is the best cleaning agent. The reason being that it is all natural; there are no chemicals, which in turn is great for the environment. I thought I'd give it a try, the box only cost me $0.87.
To my surprise it works great! But as I was cleaning with this little gem, I thought to myself, "Where does baking soda come from?" I really don't have any idea, but just wondering if anyone knew.

The Mailman

Is the Mailman the new Milkman?

As I was looking through my mail the other day and realizing how much junk mail I receive versus something that is worthwhile; I starting thinking about the "extinction" of the mailman. Will the mailman be eliminated as the milkman was? Please don't get me wrong, I don't want to see the loss of any jobs. The fact is that a lot of our bills can go paperless and I would not be surprised that the utility companies will one day (soon) have that option. I don't believe that the US Postal service will be eliminated completely, but it's service(s) will change.

This is our "milkbox."