idylic spring

idylic spring, originally uploaded by rvelez127.

Doctor Visit

Ramon weighs about double Veronica...he's 36 lbs and she's 17lbs 13 ounces. He is 41.25 inches tall and she is 27 inches. He is well above 95% in height and around 75% in weight. She is 75% for both height and weight. Vaccinations knocked Veronica out at first but then gave her a fever and diarrhea last night and into today. It is only a mild fever but made her really cranky last night. She is happier today but still pooping a lot.

We go back in two months for another Veronica visit. 

I learned two new things. The reason bananas sometimes cause constipation is that they are high in pectin...the stuff that makes jelly and thickens fruit pies also thickens poo :). Until about age 6 kids stand arched. So Ramon measured 41.25 inches lying down but 39 inches standing. Around 6 they straighten out a bit. Our doctor loves facts and figures and reading research. He is a talker and a teacher...Doctor Charles Gordon, MD on Cabrini Blvd in Manhattan in case you are looking :).

Untitled, originally uploaded by rvelez127.

Six months?!?!

I can't believe it has been over six months since my last post. The parents who told us that 2 kids mean more than twice the work are right :). I think I kept waiting to post until after I wrote our birth story but that is requiring more time than I thought so I'll skip it and come back to it. The punchline...it went well and recovery was way easier than the first time around :).

So Veronica Rae Velez is growing so fast and is so excited to catch her big brother that she is sitting really strongly and insisting that we walk her around by holding her hands pretty much all the time now. She already has two cute bottom teeth and is a voracious eater. She got so clearly insulted when we ate in front of her that we started feeding her avocado at 4 months instead of 6 months as we did with Ramon (though for him it was blueberries to start).

She is also quite the talker (and screamer...just check out this video):


I also swear that she is a very clear sleep talker. In the middle of the night I once woke to hear her say very clearly, "Veronica!" Then she rolled over and went back to sleep.

Ramon is very sweet to her as well. When she first came out and was crying he went to get his Spiderman toy and tried to give it to her. "This will make her happier," he said. One of his favorite things to do is to make her smile and laugh.


The sweetness is balanced out by the occasional, "Can you put her back in your belly?" Especially when she is crying while he wants attention.

Home birth still a go

Ultrasound on Monday shows the placenta is much further away from the cervix than its 8 mm at 20 weeks. So we are still low risk enough to continue with our home birth plans. Of course to find that out the doctor had to coax the baby to move his/ her head off of the cervix...s/ he was already well lodged into pelvis...a little sore after that :-) . The ultrasound tech was also surprised to announce that baby is already around 7 pounds. I wasn't so surprised....Ramon was 8 lbs 15 oz. At projected half a pound per two weeks growth that still makes this baby smaller while I was counting on at least a 9 pounder. I am still confused about why birth weight still seems to scare folks when research has shown it has little to do with birth complications...seems like head circumference would be a better indicator of possible concern...but only if we could get a better handle on pelvic room during labor. Our bodies continue to surprise the doctors in their ability to make room for babies :-) . The medical community default freak out about babies nearing the 9 pound mark is one of the reasons I'd like to avoid the hospital this time around if at all possible.

Getting closer! Almost at 37 week full gestation mark! Yay!

Any day now, huh?

Seems like I am hearing "any day now, huh?" a lot as I wander the neighborhood with Ramon. So it made me wonder how my 32 week belly compares to my Ramon labor day belly. Here are pictures of both:


So even though I feel 8 weeks more pregnant now than I did with Ramon. These photos show that I am not...I was definitely bigger on Ramon's labor day. :)

"any day now, huh?" is not the best greeting for a pregnant woman, btw....especially one with 8 more weeks left. My favorite was the random woman who passed Ramon and I on the way to the Natural History Museum a few weeks ago, "Looking gorgeous, mama!" Now even if she was lying through her teeth it made me grin and glow in response :). Another one for a good chuckle was the daddy yesterday who looked at me, gasped, pointed at my belly and said, "Is that new?"

Little Brudder or Seester

The other night as Ramon talked himself to sleep I heard him say,
Hey down there...I didn't mean to scare you!!
pause
My little brudder or seester.

I asked him the next morning if he had been talking to the baby in the belly and he said, "Yes!" and pointed to his own belly.

Here are pictures of the baby in mommy's belly


This is at 21 weeks


This one is more like 9 weeks