I wanted to write a quick update before I was off on vacay. I initially wanted to write a post on J's bday but never got to it. I honestly thought people were exaggerating when they said they were exhausted. Jokes on me! Although I can easily nap after work I choose not to because I know I wont sleep at night.

J's birthday was on June 1st, Happy 26th Birthday hun! Since we are going on a long vacation J decided on dinner and a little gathering afterwards at my brother's house. Of course they stayed up late drinking while this chick called it a night around 1:30 AM. Again exhaustion is my BFF lately.

My Baby Niece was also invited.

They enjoyed their seafood appetizers while I just watched and ate chips. Not really a fan of seafood anyways. Our actual dinners were Mexican food. You can bet I stuffed my face with that. The heartburn was well worth it. Prior to us going to dinner we attended a kids birthday party. It was a Frozen theme which my niece enjoyed very much. We arrived late but apparently the princesses were their and they were singing. I have never watched Frozen so I dont know these peeps by name.

She wanted a snowflake too but her face was too small.

Prior to J's birthday my family was coming down to visit us from Cali. I know I mention some came during Mother's Day weekend and attended my baby shower but there was also other family I never got around to posting about. Its always nice to spend time with family you haven't seen in a while. We attempted to show my cousin around while she was here as much as we could since it was pouring at times.

As you can tell we enjoy photo-bombing each others pictures and being silly. Definitely a memorable weekend for her and us. Another cool thing I got to do was watch my niece's first birthday photo shoot. I snapped my own pictures of her while I was there cause I thought she looked adorable. She wasn't too fond of her cake, it actually looked like she didn't like how it felt in her hands. Bahaha!

On to my favorite part of this post.....

DRUM ROLL PLEASE

We got see our sweet little boy on Saturday. Its oddly amazing on how much detail there is. He was of course smiling then instantly frowning as if he caught himself laughing. Very cute if u ask me! We decided to of course share this experience with our family. My mother, Grandparents, Brother, SIL, and two of my nieces. My father was not in town so I immediately sent him pictures when we got out. He will be watching the video once he gets home. We couldn't decide who he would look like the most and then I stumbled upon a picture of J when he was a toddler. Am I crazy to see a resemblance?? J and I both agreed he also looked a lot like his nephew. We will see what my SIL says when she sees the photos and video.

Well at last I will leave u with a bump pic. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Everyone who is still waiting on their miracle I am always praying for you. For those who are currently expecting you are also constantly in my prayers.

How far along? 29 weeks & 5 days

Baby Size: look at that tummy!!

Total weight gain: 13lbs but I wont know for sure until my next appointment which is on Tuesday.

Maternity clothes: YES! But on ocassions I can squeeze in to non maternity clothes. 

Stretch marks: Nope but we will see once my tummy goes back to its old self.

Sleep: I'm out as soon as I hit the bed but at times I wake up to pee. 

Food cravings: Everything horribly bad for me but I can't help it food is so delicious when ur constantly starving. (:

Best moment this week: I had a couple actually. 1) J finally finished the flooring in our little mans room so he built the crib. 2) We got my parents a getaway package to Vegas for their anniversary (they're currently creating new memories as we speak) 

Miss anything? No. I love being pregnant people are so catering to u its ridiculously funny that they feel the need to please a pregnant women. Can I be preggers forever?? 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Hehehe! No or else I wouldn't be stuffing my face 24/7

Gender: a lovely J look a like, but joke maybe on me if he looks exactly like me. 

Symptoms: Still dealing with acne but its definitely under control by now, hippo feet which I laugh at BTW... The other day I went from flats to converse and I realized I barely had enough shoe lace to tie them bahaha. Peeing frequently. Ravenous. 

Wedding rings on or off: Surprisingly still on. 

Happy or moody most of the time: I don't think I'll ever be moody. I feel so blessed to be here that I give God thanks every morning. 

Looking forward to: Our babymoon vacay!! Counting down the days til we're out of this crazy off and on raining. Plus Js family will get the biggest surprise ever!! 

I haven't been the greatest with blogging and I apologize. I always have ideas in my head of what I want to write about but never have the time to do it. Today was unexpected time off since I came home sick. Bleh!

This past weekend was wonderful and I couldn't have asked for anything more. When you are surrounded by family who is truly over the moon for you to finally be here, pregnant, after all our struggle is quite tearful. SHOCKED could not describe what I felt after everything we received during our baby shower. It made me realize that being so open about our struggle has not gone in vain. People were more than willing to celebrate Baby JR's arrival, since J and I cannot agree on a name everyone is referring to him as Baby Jr.

Here are a few pictures of the day I honestly never thought I would be able to experience.

My Aunt C made this for us

Before we found out the gender of our son I told my cousin I wanted a Dr Seuss theme if it was a boy. If it was a girl I didn't care just as long as it wasn't all pink. Little did I know it is extremely difficult to find Dr Seuss decorations at stores. My cousin was planning my shower that she became overwhelmed since she couldn't find anything. After my family announced they were flying in from California for Mother's Day weekend they wanted her to change the baby shower to that weekend. I could see she was at a lost so I took the wheel on the decorations since I wanted this particular theme. My mom, aunt, SIL, cousin, and I came together and made the decoration. The cake was decorated by my SIL as a surprise, my cousin made/ decorated the cupcakes, my SIL also made the diaper cake. Although I helped with the decorations I was not part of setting anything up so seeing it all put together made me extremely emotional.

My Parents & I

My Dad's parents & I

My aunt V & I

My aunt E & I

I was extremely surprised to see someone got us a crib!! Who does that??!

Yes there was even Volleyball at my shower

My cousin's youngest son

Can u see how disgusted their faces look? How do babies eat this stuff?

My Fam Bam that I love so much!
Seeing everyone come together to celebrate our little man was wonderful. J was shocked to see that we got almost everything in our baby registry. (He said I was wasting my time creating one. SMH) Now all we have to do is get his nursery put together and organize all his belongings. I can't believe there's only 12 weeks left until I meet this little one.

How far along? 25 weeks & 3 days

Baby Size: Cauliflower

Total weight gain: 10 lbs but I wont know for sure until my next appointment which is on Monday.

Maternity clothes: YES! Maternity clothing is extremely comfortable. Although I tried going up a size with regular clothing that did not happen and it got me upset. LOL!

Stretch marks: Nope just an old stretch mark but if I do get some I will welcome them with pride. Heck once this little man is out I will have a memory forever.

Sleep: Still hit or miss

Food cravings: Fruit with lemon and chilli powder. Especially now with this weather getting warmer.

Best moment this week: Possibly passing my glucose test. They said no call means good results either way I'll know for sure on May 7th.

Miss anything? HA! No! After everything I am embracing this pregnancy while it last.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not lately. Woohoo!

Gender: A little future NFL player (mommy dreaming)

Symptoms: Acne (surprisingly its clearing up thanks to a new product Im using. Post about it later.) Swollen ankles. Ravenous. Exhausted by the end of the day.

Wedding rings on or off: On but I am sure with the heat coming around they wont stay on much longer.

Happy or moody most of the time: Extremely overjoyed that I'm even in this position and I thank God everyday for sending our miracle our way.

Looking forward to: My first BABY SHOWER!! I know its fairly early but family is flying down from Cali & possibly driving to see my grandparents who are going to be here from Mexico. Perfect time to have it plus weather is beautiful.(Hoping it doesn't rain since it tends to just pour at random.)

I never imagined that I would be writing a post on NIAW while expecting my first child. After 5 long years of trying naturally plus fertility treatments, it was hard to believe that I would finally be a step closer to becoming a mother. We are 1 and 8! I am not ashamed to say it or speak about it with strangers. Being open about our struggle has given me the opportunity to spread the word that if you are struggling you are never alone. Infertility is such a taboo in human society that everyone seems to act oblivious to what's going on around them. I encourage you to be open about your struggle even if its anonymous. Someone will find comfort in your story giving them the strength to keep fighting to achieve their goal.

Throughout our journey I have met so many wonderful, amazing women who understand the pain, confusion, frustration, and weirdly the excitement that comes with infertility. These women have helped me get through every obstacle that was thrown our way. Even after they achieved the ultimate goal, becoming pregnant & having a healthy bundle of joy(s), they continued to provide support and encouragement. As odd as it seems I see infertility as a blessing in disguise. Its hard to imagine when you are first starting this prolonged journey but trust me when I say this journey will shape you into a different person. You just have to make the decision if it will be a positive or negative change.

Infertility will always be a great part of me even if I have a successful outcome. I'm not the same person I was before I started this journey. Its easier to see true beauty all around us. Yes you are going to run into people who don't know what to say or say all the wrong things! Be their advocate educate them and move on. Hoping that the next person that crosses their path struggling with infertility will be treated differently. If we don't speak about it out of embarrassment or fear then who will?

WE ARE NOT ALONE!

How far along? 23 Weeks & 5 days (when picture was taken)

Baby Size: GrapeFruit

Total weight gain: 7 lbs (according to my last appt)

Maternity clothes: YES! Although i still fit into some of my pre-pregnancy tops I prefer to wear maternity clothes because shirts are longer.

Stretch marks: Nope besides an old stretch mark on my right hip. J seems to think i will end up with stretch marks. It will be interesting to see if I do since both my mother and grandmother didn't get any.

Sleep: Hit or miss. Depending how my bladder acts.

Food cravings: Lately its been pastries in the morning. (sigh) When everything seems bleh! I seem to enjoy cut up apples with lemon.

Best moment this week: J finally feeling our son kick away. He still finds it odd that I'm growing a little person inside of me but thinks its amazing what our bodies can do.

Miss anything? Absolutely nothing! I love being pregnant and I enjoy all the symptoms that come with it.

Anything making you queasy or sick? No, I have food aversions here and there but nothing to major.

Gender: A little future NFL player (mommy dreaming)

Symptoms: Acne (all over forehead, chest, and some on my back.) Exhaustion. Swollen ankles (this symptom depends on how much I walked during the day and what shoes I'm wearing. I tend to walk around at every break & my lunch to get some activity and if I dont drink enough water my feet swell up. Ravenous.

Belly button in or out: In. My mother said her belly button never popped out so she doesnt think mine would either. So far its just becoming stretched.

Wedding rings on or off: On but I am sure with the heat coming around they wont stay on much longer.

Happy or moody most of the time: Extremely overjoyed that I'm even in this position and I thank God everyday for sending our miracle our way.

Looking forward to: J finally painting the nursery. He has been working on the old guest bedroom little by little. Yesterday I helped him tape everything up so he can start painting.