How far along? 37 weeks & 3 days

Baby Size: He is 6lbs 12 oz as of yesterdays estimated ultrasound measurements.

Total weight gain: I am officially up 25 lbs. I guess its true the last two months u really start gaining the pounds.

Maternity clothes: YES! Most of my clothes is maternity but I am still able to wear dresses and overalls that are non maternity.

Stretch marks: These little suckers finally made an appearance on my hips. I'm ok with it though I never thought I would even be here to experience life inside of me.

Sleep: If I do it doesn't feel like it. I wake up tired all the time.

Food cravings: VERY COLD FRUIT SMOOTHIES. Cant seem to get enough of cold fruit. (This hasn't changed. Good since they put me on a low fat diet)

Best moment this week: Getting released from the hospital to my own comfy little bed. Plus I feel a lot better and I felt bad for J he slept so uncomfortable in that sleeping pull out sofa. Told him he at least got a taste of the hospital life once baby boy arrives. Oh and seeing my baby boy one last time in 2D ultrasound.

Miss anything? After being put on a low fat diet I miss everything. Apparently my eating habits weren't as great as I thought.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Yes but idk what. My smelling senses have really kicked up a notch.

Gender: A handsome little fella

Symptoms: Braxton hicks, swelling of feet/legs, shortness of breath, headaches, loss of mucus plug, peeing every half an hour and strangely nausea.

Wedding rings on or off: They officially went into a safe spot when we were in California.

Happy or moody most of the time: Words cannot express the overwhelming joy I feel that we are so close to meeting our little guy.

Looking forward to: Receiving our homemade crib bedding from my aunt. I loved the one she made my cousin years ago and I asked her to please make one for my little man. Can't wait to put it all together. We're so close and I am not done with his nursery yet. Its  very usable of course just need some finishing touches.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Sunday I woke up with no energy. I asked J to bring me a bowl of cereal because I was hungry. After I ate I fell asleep again for a couple hours. Once again I woke up starving so J made us something to eat. We got some stuff done around the house and I became hungry soon after. I decided to grab a cup of milk with cookies so it can tame me before dinner time. My stomach started hurting as if I overate. J and I went walking for a good hour or slightly over. When we came back that stomach pain was getting worse. It was at the very pit of my rib opening. I consulted Dr Google and it led me to believe I probably wasn't eating enough. The pain was unbearable but I decided to just make an effort to eat. Little did I know I was making things worse. I couldn't finish eating because I started feeling nauseous and hot. For whatever reason I thought maybe it was the baby pushing up against my ribs so I went to lay down on my side. The pain became excruciatingly painful that fear started setting in. A part of me thought I was probably exaggerating and the contractions I was feeling were imaginary. Rang up my Drs on call services only to be told he wasn't reachable but another Dr was on call for him. Well that Dr didn't do on calls unless patients were at the hospital. We decided it was best to take a trip down to L&D.

On our way there J did an awesome job on calming down. I was in tears, huffing and puffing, sweating my ass off but he just kept caressing my hair and telling me to breath slower. He put me to sleep that when I woke up I was convinced we could go back home. He wasn't to convinced I was ok so he said he will pull over and I can walk around to see what happens. Well people I couldn't even walk without feeling pain and weakness. After arriving to the hospital the pain started to pick up again. At the receptionist desk I was in awe at how I was even able to speak. The nurse was in shock to find out I was 37 weeks pregnant. (Yes I know heard it a bunch of times get me to a room lady!) I managed to walk all the way to L&D from the ER floor. They hooked me up and confirmed I was in fact getting contractions. Strangely they were not labor contractions. My whole rib cage was hurting and I couldn't breath right. The nurse immediately said my contractions were either from dehydration or inflammation of my gallbladder.

Hooked me up to an IV and ordered some testing. An ultrasound technician confirmed I have a zillion gallstones. Lol ok not a zillion but its quite a few. They gave me an injection to help with the inflammation and told me no eating or drinking until my Dr gives the ok. J and I stayed overnight so they can monitor me closely. I was feeling contractions all night but they weren't painful. The last time they checked me I was only 1/2 cm dilated and basically determined my contractions weren't dilating me.

I met with a specialist talked about possible surgery after I deliver, which I think I'll decline for now. I was told pregnancy can cause issues with ur gallbladder and some women are lucky enough to have no issues after delivery. We spoke to my OB about my concerns and he said agreed on some of the issues I brought up. Told me unless I was in severe pain not to get the surgery. So for now its still up in the air. Hoping I won't need it and we can just call this an experience. I was told to stay away from fattening foods. Such as Mexican food, fried foods, dairy products, etc. Its been tough to completely change my eating habits. Although I rather be challenged than deal with that excruciating pain again. Bahaha! I am going to have lots of fun during labor. 

How far along? 36 weeks & 3 days

Baby Size: He's as big as my belly lol I would estimate around 6 lbs by now.

Total weight gain: 22 lbs according to my home scale

Maternity clothes: YES! But depending on the clothes I can squeeze in to a non maternity outfit. The dress above is non maternity as well.

Stretch marks: Not on my belly. Strangely where I had my PIO shots at I've been scratching there and I have tiny stretch marks.

Sleep: I get my sleep now that I am officially out of work. Still waking up numerous times in the middle of the night to pee. Sometimes i have backaches and i just toss and turn.

Food cravings: VERY COLD FRUIT SMOOTHIES. Cant seem to get enough of cold fruit.

Best moment this week: Unbelievably nesting has kicked in to full gear. I never believed in it or thought it was such a big deal until I became a freak clean since I've been home. I took every box out of the nursery and made a mess in one of our living rooms, my niece even questioned why I did that. Haha! I have to organize everything somehow there's just tooo much stuff.

Miss anything? Not yet. My doctor was even surprised when he asked if I was over being pregnant. Told him no that even with the pain on my legs/ feet I cant get enough of it. He apparently loved my answer. Am I not normal?

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope

Gender: A handsome little fella

Symptoms: Braxton hicks, swelling of feet/legs, shortness of breath, occasional headaches.

Wedding rings on or off: They officially went into a safe spot when we were in California.

Happy or moody most of the time: Overjoyed just thinking about how close we are to meeting our little guy.

Looking forward to: Finishing up some wall decor projects for the nursery. Feel bad that I constantly ask J to help since there's not a lot I can do on my own. I tell him its all worth it...and if u havent guess it the new walls on my bump pictures are a sneak peak of his nursery.

Well I have to say that I never would have imagined that the most difficult part of this journey would be agreeing on a name for a child. Hey if you had it easy then consider yourself lucky! Before I got pregnant we had a list of names we both liked, not equally but it was a list. Then once we found out the gender its like those names went out the window and we couldn't come to an agreement. My thoughts revolved around our journey therefor I wanted my son to have a meaningful name. J on the other hand wanted names that weren't significant to what we've been through or did not sit well with me.

It was a never ending disagreement that it got to the point that I refused to bring up the subject to avoid him getting all torn up about it. J's thoughts were since it's going to be a boy he should have the right to name him. If we were having a girl he would allow me to name her with no questions asked. After going back and forth I decided maybe this was a subject I should bring up a month prior to my due date in hopes we both had time to really think about it. People would ask us consistently if we had agreed on a name yet which sometimes sparked up the "Which name do u like best?" conversation. SMH

Then one day while we were enjoying a peaceful afternoon talking about what we still need for this little ones nursery, J calmly turned to me, looked me straight in the eyes and spoke the words I never thought I would hear.

"Our son's name will be ... because I made a promise to God. A promise while we were uncertain if you were going to miscarry again. I left everything in his hands and now I need to keep my promise to him."

So it was set! Our son had a name, a name I felt good about. A name with a meaning. Little did I know that his name had a greater meaning than we originally thought. In my previous post I mentioned that my mother in law had been praying for our little one since she found out about our struggles. She never lost her faith that God would answer her prayer even before she had heard/ seen the news herself. I left out a few details on my previous post because I felt like it deserved its own post in hopes that it would help someones weary faith.

He listens even if you feel like your prayer isn't being answered.

When my mother in law was pregnant with J she had a difficult first trimester like I did. Constant bleeding that doctors couldn't explain. She said her stress levels were through the roof until one day she got on her knees to pray to the Virgin Mary & God. She surrendered her worries to them and said whatever the outcome was she would get through them with their help. As you all know J made it into this world but not without a fight. My mother in law was told she would need a c-section due to her placenta blocking her cervix. They thought it was too dangerous for her to try and deliver vaginally I'm fear of her hemorrhaging on the delivery table. Her c section was scheduled already but once again left everything in God's hands. A couple days before her scheduled c section she started going into labor. When she arrived at the hospital they did one last ultrasound. To her surprise, as well as the doctors, her placenta had shifted up and J was ready to come out.

What an astonishing miracle but her worries weren't over yet. J was born not breathing he actually suffered with severe asthma growing up. It was more than one occasion that he stopped breathing. Not only as a baby but as a toddler too. I'm happy to report his asthma is completely gone now. I believe he's only used his inhaler for less than a month since we've been dating. Woohoo! J is also a miracle baby how cool is that? When J was around 2 or 3 my mother in law was pregnant again. She didn't go much into detail about this pregnancy since I would imagine the pain it brings her to remember. My mother in law delivered her second son stillborn at 6 months. They never found a reason as to why this happened which made things even more difficult for her. I've always known of these two events in her life, so why am I bringing this up now? When we told my mother in law the name of our son she smiled. I figured she liked it and understood the reason as to why we chose that name. Until my sister in law looked at her mom and smiled as well. She then told J, "That was the name that was given to our brother." J was a bit shocked to hear but what surprised me the most was that our son is actually named after his great grandfather. How could J not know his own grandfather's name??

My MIL went on to tell us that she named both her sons after their grandfather. She gave J his first name and his brother the middle name. Hearing these words truly warmed my heart. It made me realize my son has many angels looking over him. His uncle, his great grandfather, and his siblings. From that moment on I knew in my heart his name was meant to be.

We sometimes feel like we pray endlessly with no answers. It can get tiring, frustrating, etc but if u take a moment to listen to what is around u he might just be answering. I know my son is not in my arms yet and anything can happen in the last four weeks BUT I believe this was his way of telling us our son is here to stay.

Don't worry I am revealing the name of our son....

Ismael means God Listens

I love his first name for many reasons. The meaning behind it is my favorite. It's also a unique name I don't see it often. Although someone did give me a coke that said share a coke with Ismael. Don't worry I didn't drink it.

Jesus we all know who he is. As mentioned above it was also J's brothers name.

Always seek him even if you feel like he is not listening. When he finally answers it will bring great emotions.

How far along? 34 weeks & 5 days

Baby Size: According to the ultrasound estimate he is 5lbs 1oz as of Tuesday

Total weight gain: 20lbs since Tuesday

Maternity clothes: YES! But depending on the clothes I can squeeze in to a non maternity outfit. Week 32 picture is non maternity clothes.

Stretch marks: Not on my belly. Strangely where I had my PIO shots at I've been scratching there and I have tiny stretch marks. 

Sleep: Hit or miss. There's days where I can't get comfortable. I even go as far as to ask J to let Me try his side of bed. Lol it works.

Food cravings: Sugary things. With this hot weather I tend to crave cold fruit. 

Best moment this week: Finally being able to start organizing his clothes, socks, bibs, etc.

Miss anything? Absolutely not even with the swelling on my feet I still forget at times that I'm pregnant. Either the mirror reminds me or I feel him trying to get comfortable. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope

Gender: a precious boy! I tell J all the time he is probably going to look like me since everyone says it will be a mini him. Lol

Symptoms: Occasional braxton hicks, swelling of feet/legs, shortness of breath, and always hungry.

Wedding rings on or off: They officially went into a safe spot when we were in California.

Happy or moody most of the time: Excited when I think about how close we are. Moody when J still expects me to be able to do everything I use to do. 

Looking forward to: Spending 4th of July with my family. Might be the last holiday without this little one at our side. 

How are we in July already? It feels like yesterday that I was writing my post about our upcoming vacation. Yikes! Well that vacay came and went rather quickly. Boo! Why is it that your actual vacation is gone in a blink of an eye but when your waiting for vacay to come around it seems like a long wait? U need to slow your horses 2015 I am not ready!

We officially got back from our mini vacation last week but it has taken me this long to get back into the groove of reality. It was fun while it lasted, like always, although this time around I was more than ready to come back home. Let's just say I will never take my a/c for granted nor will my pregnant body! Before arriving J and I started talking about how his family might possibly react to my pregnancy. Would they cry? Would they be overjoyed? Or would they just brush it off and say congratulations out of respect? My mind was racing as we got closer to our destination. The only person I truly cared to see a reaction out of was my mother in law. As we happily crossed into California from Arizona I received a text from one of J's sisters. My jaw dropped as I read her text and then repeated it back to J. She didn't start off with small talk either just BAM straight to the point.

From M:

Are you pregnant? I'm asking because I had a dream about you being five months pregnant and my dreams are never wrong?

Me:

That's so weird. When did you have this dream because you aren't the first to tell me this?"

HAHAHA! Did you see what I did there? J said it was best not to answer yes or no to her question and maybe she would drop it. She eventually did but it took some back and forth to convince her I had no idea if I was pregnant or not. I wasn't going to spill the beans now after waiting eight months to tell my mother in law in person. After that we had assumed someone spilled the beans little did I know J had something to do with it. (More on that later, promise) Finally we pull up to my MIL's house and the nerves started kicking in. I had made a present for her incase she waa upset we didn't tell her sooner. It was a frame with two pictures of our son, 4D ones, and one of J & I from our first baby shower. I used that frame to cover my belly as we walked in everyone was in different places so we got the opportunity to see their reaction. The first people we saw were our nephews, his brother, and his cousin. We gave everyone a hug, keep in mind i still had the frame in front of my belly. His brother looked over at J and made a comment about him walking in recording. Then he looks at me and ask why I'm covering my stomach. I removed the frame and his face went from confusion to being shocked then a smile. Right when I revealed our little secret to him my SIL walked out of her room hugged J and quickly turned to me. It took her a bit to realize what was going on then when she finally saw the bump her eyes filled up with tears. She gave me one of the biggest hugs ever and quickly asked if her mom knew. My mother in law was in her room. When she finally came out I was the first person in her sight so I covered my bump again with the frame and when she got closer I handed it to her, she looked down with a big smile on her face. "I knew it! Something told me my prayer had been answered. I assumed this was the surprise my son was talking about." I quickly looked at J and he gave me that stare of oops i might of messed up. LOL! He apparently told his sister he had a surprise for his mom and everyone automatically assumed I was finally pregnant. Regardless that moment was something I would never forget. 

After the surprise was out of the way we all sat down and talked about how the pregnancy has been going etc. They were even more surprise to find out I was already 8 months pregnant. My bump can fool some people, what can I say? My MIL said that during her bible study she asked for everyone to pray for us and for God to protect us on the road. When the man leading the prayer was finishing up he said both of our names then at the very end said "Please protect their baby as well". Hearing those words come out of his mouth she said she knew God had answered her prayer. I immediately got goose bumps when I heard her testament. She's been praying for us for years and never lost faith that He would finally bless us with our miracle. This is actually going to be my MIL's 20th grandchild. YES 20th! Whoa! Although it is her 20th she admitted this little guy is extremely special to her because she has never prayed so much for a child like she has for our son. He is truly a miracle and a great blessing.

As you can imagine this must mean J has a lot of siblings. A total of five sisters, we have one down four to go! On the first Saturday we were there we attended a family BBQ. My attire made everyone question themselves before assuming I was with child. When I was sitting you can obviously tell it was a baby bump but as soon as I stood it was more of a guessing game. One by one greeted me and people would just stare to see if they noticed. Some quickly admitted they were scared to ask in case they were wrong. Then towards the end his sister M arrived she greeted me and was about to walk away when i held her hand and placed it on my belly. Her face lit up like a child receiving candy. She started screaming of joy and said I knew it my dreams have never been wrong! With a big smile I told her "Well...it was slightly wrong since I'm not 5 months I am 8." As always I get the "but ur so tiny comment".

I felt like I could finally breath when everyone officially knew. I was anxious to tell everyone I was FINALLY PREGNANT! Everyone in our families knew about our struggle and the route we had taken to conceive this child. Eventually they stopped asking since they realize it wasnt happening. Dont get me wrong even though people knew we still got those unnecessary comments.

- Its about time!
- Might as well have the next one after this one pops out
- I was beginning to think you two didnt want kids

All I could do is brush those comments off because I knew it was pointless to try and explain our situation. J on the other hand did not hold back he immediately reminded people of my miscarriages and that we are grateful to be at the point we are today. That's why I love that man! 

We all gathered for some family photos. First picture is of all of Js siblings and my MIL except for one sister. Second picture is of everyone as u can see lots and lots of grandkids! 

There's more I want to share about our vacation but this post is long enough. I'll separate them so they won't be so boring.