3 months – you’re a morning person

5 weeks

You’re growing so quickly, and we’ve been enjoying every minute of having you in our lives. You’re such a sweet, calm baby. The only time you get really upset is when you’re hungry, gassy, or poopy. Once the problem is fixed, you go right back to your sweet, contemplative self.

You love napping with your Daddy…

And you’re also a fan of hanging out with your big sister.

You’re a great eater and champion cuddler, too.

We can’t wait to get to know you as see more of your personality comes out.

Drumroll, please

Say hello to Lucia Socorro Estevez.

Born on July 10 at 11:50pm.
7 lbs, 9 oz
19 1/2 inches long
Full head of beautiful, dark hair
She’s absolute perfection.

After the jump, our very long birth story. (I brought my laptop with me to the hospital so I could watch movies, but I ended up writing a ton, instead.) Hope you enjoy.

Doula-oblongotta

At 35 weeks, Daddy and I finally found a doula. Her name is Kat and she’s so down to earth and not at all a tree-hugging-hairy-armpit kind of woman that your Daddy feared. We’re very excited about this because a doula will help us get the most out of our laboring experience. I’d like to do this drug-free, like I did with your sister. While it helps to know that I was able to do a drug-free birth under less than ideal circumstances the first time, I’d like to have a more comfortable, less stressful experience this time. Hiring a doula (along with fighting for a midwife, taking birthing classes with Daddy, and taking care of myself this whole pregnancy) has been a huge part of helping us meet our goal. It’s more than just being able to say, “I did it without drugs.” We want to be able to say that it was the experience we were both looking for.

Next week is our shower to help welcome you into the world. Keep your fingers crossed that we get tons of great swag.

Here we are at 35 weeks…just a few more to go!

Catch-up

So, we’re nearing the 34-week mark…when we last left off, we were at 26 weeks. Wow, where did the past two months go? In the past 8 weeks, we ran in a relay marathon for my 30th birthday:

Here we are with Mommy’s gang of fellow running mommas.

We grew a little:

30 weeks

Then a little more:

33 weeks

We also moved into a bigger apartment so that Mommy and Daddy can both have all their junk under one roof. No pictures of the new apartment, but we do have a picture of you and my newly pedicured toes in the bedroom:

We’re down to seeing the midwife every two weeks, which is kind of a pain for mommy. The midwife says you’re looking great! I still need to gain a little more weight, though. Daddy has been good about ensuring that we eat big meals full of lots of cream and butter. He’s been such a good sport about packing on a few pounds in the interest of making sure that you and I are healthy.

We’re meeting with a potential doula on Thursday. She sounds nice, and I’m hoping the meeting goes well so we can stop looking for someone to help us out at the hospital.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention: some of mommy’s amazing friends got together and decided to welcome you in their own special way. Take a look. Look at how much love you’re already getting!

26 weeks

We’re 26 weeks along today. So far, I’ve gained a whopping 10 lbs, I think. Gaining weight has been a little bit of an issue due to my missing gallbladder. You’re measuring fine, and our ultrasounds all show that you’re actually a few days ahead. Seems you’re being greedy and keeping the food all to yourself.

Honestly, I think the slow weight gain has had one huge benefit – I’m still able to get around just fine. I do need to rest every afternoon (mmm, naps…), and I definitely run out of energy a lot quicker than before. Overall, though, I feel great. You are so incredibly active. So much that you’ve been known to wake up Daddy in the middle of the night, too. You’re very protective of your personal space, and are quick to bop and elbow if anything presses against my belly. I don’t blame you, though. I guess I’d be the same way if I lived in such a teeny, tiny apartment, too.

One thing I do ask, though – can you please quick punching my stomach? Please. It’s been giving me horrific heartburn, and that’s really no fun at all. Oh, and the nosebleeds. Not sure how much control you have over those, but can you try to cut back on those too, please? It’s not fun walking around all paranoid that you’re going to bleed all over yourself in public.

Here’s the bump at 26 weeks.

Heartbeats

I read somewhere on the Internet that at 25 weeks you can sometimes hear the baby’s heartbeat by placing your ear on the baby bump. Since I’m no contortionist, Daddy put his ear up to the bump and within a minute he was able to find your heartbeat. We were pretty amazed by that.

We laid there quietly, Daddy tapping out your heartbeat on my side, enjoying this amazing thing that’s going on….and then you kicked him squarely in the temple.

hiccups

We were sitting at the airport on the way home from our trip (stuck in Miami….when you get old enough to travel without us, do yourself a favor and avoid Miami Int’l Airport at all costs.) I noticed that you kept bump, bump, bumping me, over and over again. It was a steady thumping that lasted almost an hour. It wasn’t until it had been going on for almost 45 minutes that I realized you had the hiccups.

I believe that’s the first time you’ve had them hard enough for both me and daddy to feel them.

Babymoon

Your daddy and I took a trip last week. We lounged on the beach, went snorkeling, and spent our afternoons thinking up names for you and talking about how we’re looking forward to meeting you.

I took you out sunning in my bikini.

We also took a dip in the crystal clear ocean….

and went snorkeling along the coral reefs. Your daddy and I had a system where I wore a life vest and he pulled me along. Trying to float with you in my belly tired me out pretty quickly, but we still snorkeled for well over an hour.

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Daddy and I also spent our days walking along the beach enjoying the sunset. You were so well-behaved, dancing and kicking for daddy and me to let us know that, like Mommy, you seem to love the warm weather, too.

Just three more months until we get to meet you. We can’t wait!

Monkey’s turn

Last night, your sister and I were sitting on the sofa right discussing the importance of the tiara and how all princess must wear tiaras. Suddenly, you started kicking up a storm, so I put Monkey’s hand on your belly and we sat like that for several minutes while you bumped her hand. She watched me, her eyes huge and round, amazed that you were really in there, and you were saying hi just for her.