What Would You Do?

I have 6 days left. My C section is scheduled for the 22nd of March (this Thursday). Hopefully I'll make it till then. According to my doctor, he thinks I may deliver sooner than that. There’s a feisty child in there making it known that space is limited. At times, I feel like a foot is about to pop out of my mouth. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Nella, Rich and Vito were here for a week. They’re heading back up to the great white north Friday. My sister will be arriving Saturday and soon after my mom will also make her way down. So exciting! All the visits from our loved ones is a simple reminder that our big day is nearing. We will no longer be just a family of three!

I’m physically ready to have this baby. Emotionally, I’m not so sure. I am panicked – a bit – actually – a lot. Many scenarios are going through my head to which I’m having a hard time coming up with solutions.

Scenario #1
I finally fall asleep. Baby wakes up crying for his/her feeding. C decides he wants to get up also. A symphony of ‘waa’ and ‘mami’ is going off in the house.

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Scenario #2
I am sitting on my chair breastfeeding baby. C is playing and notices baby sucking on my boob. As memories start going through his head, he becomes nostalgic and decides he wants a little nibble too.

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Scenario #3
I am home alone tending to both my babies when C decides he also wants to be carried around in the baby Bjorn (after all, it was his first.)

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WHAT DO I DO?

Side by Side or Front to Back

I’ve always thought from behind is better. Much more comfortable with easier access, sideways just looks awkward. I don’t think I could handle the width. Though I’ve never actually tried it, it looks harder to manage and maneuver.

I’m talking about strollers – that is!

So, now that we have baby #2 only weeks away from joining our crazy clan, we’re considering purchasing a double stroller. I never thought I would actually be using one of those, but with a newborn baby and a tiny man who’ll only be a year-and-a-half old next month – I’m seriously considering it.

Double Stroller vs. Local Mall Stores

I’ve gone online and shopped around. However, before I continue, I must decide which is better.

A) Having my kids sitting side by side – sharing snacks, toys and entertaining each other. (Possibly followed by hair pulling and screaming matches?!)

B) Having my kids sitting front to back – unable to share toys, snacks, hair pulling and allowing their mom easy access to shopping malls and her favorite shoe stores without knocking over displays etc…

I think I know the answer…..but audience – I need your help.
I’ve decided to use a ‘life-line’ for this matter….what's your opinion or advice?

Dealin' Wit Da Bomba*Blood*Clot

Im stubborn. We all think we are invincible to some degree. But we’re really not. Things happen in life and sometimes the easiest way out is to blame ourselves for the outcome.

That’s my position right now.

November is when I found out I had a problem with the circulation in my right leg. Insufficient Venous is what they called it. The pressure of the baby is what caused my leg to feel the need to keep blood in one place and not pump it back to where it should be going – a minor setback which has turned into something far more serious.

December came around, and of course, our ever so busy travel schedule begun. We flew to and from Toronto. Then, we headed off to Cancun to celebrate New Year’s, just the three of us, before baby #2 comes along. It was fun. We had a blast. But the consequences have made me question my judgment given my situation. I was told by my doctors it would be ok to fly, just as long as I wore my ‘super-sexy-granny-stocking’ on the plane rides, and took an herbal vitamin that would assist in circulating blood flow in my leg. Well, clearly that failed....

Upon our return home is when we discovered I had developed a blood clot. Superficial Thrombosis. I was devastated. Just hearing those words had me hating myself for not taking matters more seriously. After a weekend of crying and feeling sorry for myself, I did what any of us would do – yet shouldn’t. I went online to research my condition. And, sure enough, the words ‘Blood clots are the leading cause of death among pregnant women’ popped up right before my very eyes. Oh my God! I COUD DIE! That’s all I kept thinking. Ok, I know some of you are thinking “There she goes, Miss Melodrama!” But FOR REAL. Aneurism. Stroke. All these words were flashing brightly in my head. Not cool.

After many visits with several doctors and specialists, I have been reassured that my case is under control and not as serious as I once thought. Again….not AS serious…but serious enough that I have to be injected daily with something called Clexane (a blood thinner) to prevent the clot from getting bigger and traveling elsewhere.

At this point….I am 35 weeks preggo and the baby (believe it or not) is doing just fine. Apparently, Thrombosis is more dangerous to the mother than it is to the baby. Great…so it’s alright that I die and my child survive without a mother?? (Violins in the background please, let the music begin.) Oh the drama!

Ok. Ok. Really. Things are great…..and I will be just fine. Just have to repeat that to myself over and over….cause the mere thought of anything worse happening just breaks my heart every time I look at Cristian. I can’t even imagine it. UGH.

Happy thoughts…Happy thoughts!

My C-section is scheduled for March 22 (my mom’s birthday!)…and I’m counting down the seconds...hours….days…weeks...to meet my little…….oops, I almost slipped!

Can’t wait!!!

On Friday December 15th, my beloved sista and my littlest Li threw a mini baby shower in my honour along with some of my closest friends!

Our annual Girls Kris Kringle Gift exchange was hosted by my friend Cathy this year...GO CATH for your feature drinks and star fruit garnishings!

And Baby Makes...

Four!

We had no satellite for a month – which means no TV, nothing to do but ‘snuggle’ *wink* *wink* (no wonder why in the old ages, sans electricity, families had more children than they could keep track of). We traveled to several fun spots on our road trip, and had an amazing vacation for two additional weeks by the ocean. Upon our return to Hermosillo is when I learned….we’re having another baby! Viva Mexico! Viva Mexico! I guess it’s something in the water? The quesadillas? The coyotas? Whatever it is, we are totally thrilled. And so the fun begins, yet again. Now that Cristian is crawling, climbing and communicating in such a way that constantly makes me want to take a bite out of his cheeks – I am confident that baby #2 will also be a blast. Cristian will be a big brother and I will be a mother of two.
WHAT THE F!#%?

So, with this comes a whole new chapter of ‘change’. We’re moving again. No, not back to Toronto (thank God for that, not sure if I’m ready to come back just yet – that’s a whole other entry I will write about soon.) Rather, we are moving to another house 15 minutes away from where we currently are. It’s a beautiful area surrounded by mountains. The new house is all on one floor – which means chasing Cristian up and down marble steps will be a thing of the past - has a gorgeous pool, a Jacuzzi, a workout room and a billiard room with a big screen TV.
And so the packing has begun! I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of unnecessary junk that has compiled in our house in just over two years.

I’m excited. Although nervous about the change, I know it will be nice.

I feel like I’m a pro by now. I’ve mastered the art of:

- Moving away from home
- Making a whole new group of friends from around the world
- Learning an entire new language
- Raising my first child away from what used to be familiar

….and now, I will be changing homes and carrying my SECOND child – but this time it's all in MY 'familiar' surroundings!

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It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, and embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.