Friday, December 27, 2013

Pregnant with Pea...

Now that Mama’s pregnant again, it brings me back a lot of memories of when I was pregnant with both my little boys.  Here’s a little tid-bit of what it was like being pregnant with my Paul Evan…

Month We Found Out:
January 7th…It was Dada’s first day as a Pricing Analyst. Mama was in school full time.

Common Symptoms:
Morning sickness – from 6 weeks through the WHOLE PREGNANCY!

Heartburn – even with just a drink of water

Pure Joy – I was the happiest when pregnant with my baby.  I was nice and not once had a mood-swing.

Appetite – non-existent…I could only eat cold folds and desserts.  I had tons of cereal and salads.  Guess what baby boy loves to eat now…YEP! Salads and cereal and plenty of desserts!

Unfortunately, because I was scared of not getting enough nutrients with my diet of cereal and salads, I would eat tons of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Before I was pregnant with baby, I took a nutrition class in college that said peanut butter was a substitute for meat so I took that information and ran with it!  Well…little did we know our baby boy was going to be sooooo sick of peanut butter, literally.  Paul Evan is so allergic to peanut butter even a brush on the cheek will inflame the area.

I remember Dada would have to get sooo mad at me for me to eat.  He would monitor the bank account to make sure I bought food before going to school.  I remember I would buy it, and then hand it out to someone at school.  The smell of food was enough for me.

Movement: 
I carried my Paul Evan for 42 weeks!  I knew when he was falling asleep because his leg would twitch twice right when he dozed off…just like Dada!  I also know he likes his space!  When I would lean in – like if I was eating – he would go bonkers!  He didn’t like Mama crushing his little space.  Paul Evan would also rock my whole body with as much as he moved.  I remember staring at my belly and my manager (who sat across the room from me) even noticed him having a tantrum in my belly!  But…he was cozy in there.  We had to go in there and get him out!

Special Characteristics of Baby: 
I remember wishing you were a boy.  I wanted a boy soooo bad that I remember praying for a boy.  I wasn’t really much of a prayer type person but I remember sitting in my car after a doctor appointment.  As I was walking back to our apartment, I saw a cardinal.  And ever since then, I spot them whenever I’m praying outside.  God’s definitely with us my baby boy!

Picking out your name was the easiest/hardest decision we had to make.  I know I did not want a Paul junior but yet I wanted Dada to feel like you and him had a special bond.  So after Dada’s “No”s to Giani, Sebastian, Paolo and so on and so on, I wanted Paul.  But not just Paul.  I wanted you to have a unique name like me.  So when Dada and I were going to sleep we were brainstorming what names would go good with Paul.  So we started with the letter A – Paul Aaron?  No.  Move on to B – Paul Brian?  No.  Moved on to C, then D and finally E…Paul Evan!  Yes!  It was official.

We watched you grow!  We took weekly pictures of Mama’s growing belly.  We also had a baby shower and pregnancy portraits taken. 

Events During Pregnancy:
Mama’s grandma passed away 5 days before you were born.  We went to go visit grandma on labor day (September 1) and grandma was doing great!  I remember asking her if she’s ready for your arrival.  She nodded.  Well everyone else in the room knew grandma was very sick except for Mama.  I really thought she would meet you and I would be able to see that smile and look she gave every other grandchild. 


Mama/Dada were building/purchasing their first house!  AND you had everything to do with it!  I remember being in our apartment and thinking to myself, “I do not want to give our baby boy a bath in this bathtub.  We don’t even know what kinds of people have been in here and what kind of germs there are and even with a good scrub, I still wouldn’t feel like it’s clean!”  So house-shopping we went.