20 weeks

Another Day at the Beach :)

It's another BOY!

Javier, Mateo and I have just come from the appointment with Santa Barbara's premier perinatal doctor, Dr. Soffici. My memory of this appointment with the first pregnancy was wonderful. It's such a special time to see the 4 chambers of the baby's beating heart, the healthy spine and other healthy organs and also the baby's sex. I remembered that we were able to view all of this on a 40" LCD on the wall above our heads - a very magical memory. But, when we arrived in the room today, much to my surprise and disappointment, I found the monitor is actually quite small. Again, nothing as exciting as the first time. Also, I started to have some intuition that I have been carrying a baby girl around. When Dr. Soffici mentioned the sex as "obvious", I knew in an instant I was wrong. "Unmistakably another boy," he exclaimed of his discovery. It took a while to sink in .... okay, another boy. Well, that seems easy enough. We have the clothes, we have another boy - perfect. But why do I somehow feel a little strange and why has no other mother ever talked to me about this feeling that probably happens to a lot of mother's who learn that their second baby is the same sex as their first. Ideally, we would like three children, but obviously we'll need to re-evaluate after two for financial and other reasons, and at this point our odds are leaning heavily toward a one-sex family. Ultimately I believe very strongly that God always gets things perfectly and that having two boys is going to be really fantastic, I don't want to be misunderstood. I simply wanted to take some time to explore the feelings of learning that your second baby is the same sex as your first. ... If anything, I think it makes the case for 3 kids even stronger :)! Congratulations to the brothers Muslera! And congratulations to Javier, Mimi, Abu, Grandpa, Abuelo and all of the rest of our loving and supportive family and friends. A healthy baby is the ultimate blessing.

18 weeks

Wow, just reviewed my 18-week photo from my pregnancy with Mateo. I'm definitely bigger already this time around. The roundness looks more full. With Mateo at 18 weeks, my stomach looked kind of like it was fighting to come out, but this time I'm round and looking quite pregnant already. Hum, wonder if this baby is bigger or if one just shows differently the second time around.

Wednesday, April 6, is the big day. The day we will apparently find out if we are to have a baby boy or girl. The fact that I want to know disappoints me, but I cannot live with this level of curiosity for 4-5 more months knowing that we could know. I really admire those who do not find out. It's an amazing statement of character given the technological world in which we live.

Super Cute Photo - March 7th (15 weeks)

16 weeks - Take 2

My dad and his girlfriend, Chris, left our house on Friday after staying one week with us. It was so much fun to have them around. I especially loved that Mateo and his grandpa got to spend so much special time together. I love our life here in Santa Barbara, California, but now that Mateo is in the picture I find it very sad that we don't have any family nearby. But it's important to always see the bright side of things and that is we have a lot of wonderful friends and a really blessed life here in Santa Barbara and no family member is ever more than a flight (or two or three) away. We had a lovely visit and enjoyed the Saturday morning farmer's market, the annual SB Orchid Show, a Muslera BBQ and several local eating establishments. Javier and I eat out very rarely these days so I enjoyed all the meals prepared by others. Mateo did as well. I guess he's one of the main reasons we don't go out so much, but he was a super champ and did extremely well for a 15 1/2 month old toddler. The bread helps - he seems to be a carb loader and generally really enjoys eating.

In other news we got a new vehicle, more of a family vehicle. Javier sold his 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo and we purchased a 2010 Honda CR-V. We're hoping it will suffice with two kids. Now, Javier wants to trade in our other car (our 2006 Acura TSX) for a used Volvo station wagon. It's true, even with one child, a regular sedan can suddenly seem very small.

My pregnancy is going all swimmingly. In fact, I often forget that I'm pregnant. I feel great. We had an appointment with our midwife a couple of weeks ago and got to hear that great sound of the baby's heartbeat. I love it! We find out in a couple of short weeks if we are expecting a boy or a girl. I don't have a super strong intuition this time. Nothing like last time, but I do have a slight inclination. I'll be so happy either way, truly. A happy healthy baby is all I can request and to be given such is a HUGE blessing!

10-wk scan of Baby #2 (02/04/2011)

Take Two - 12 weeks

Here I am, back to the blog, and pregnant AGAIN :)! It certainly doesn't feel like all that long ago when I was here blogging about my experiences with pregnancy the first time around. Do not get me wrong, I am VERY excited, but being pregnant for the second time is a whole lot less exciting. For one, I am too busy to give it much thought. I have a 14-month old at home and am working 30+ hours a week. I don't have the same kind of time to devote to thinking about "pregnancy". The other thing is I kind of already know what to expect. No coffee, no alcohol, no sushi, etc all seems a little bit more harsh this time. The first time around I didn't mind any of that much, but it definitely seems like more of an inconvenience now. And wow, did I forgot about how draining and unmotivating pregnancy can be? My energy levels after Mateo was born (well, once he started sleeping through the night at 4-months) were incredible. I felt almost like super woman, so I'm keenly aware of how drained and unenergized this pregnancy is making me. I also forgot about the uncontrollable appetite thing ... Of course, I do my best to keep it under control, but being pregnant definitely sparks a mean appetite!

Now for the cool stuff: I'm so excited Mateo will have a sibling only 1 year and 9 months younger than him :)! I'm sure they will be the best of playmates at times and the worst of enemies at others, but they will always have each other in a way that only siblings can understand. I feel that aside from our unconditional love, there is no greater gift we could give Mateo. Mateo will be 21 months old when he becomes a big brother so I'm guessing he will never even remember a time of being an only child. I think he will be an amazing brother because he is so mellow and easy going. Also, it's just exciting to think about having another child. The birth of Mateo goes down, without a doubt as the best day of my life so having an opportunity to have that experience again is going to be fabulous! I can only hope the birth of baby #2 is as magical as the first!

We had an ultrasound at 10 weeks and I was amazed at the size and mobility of the baby even at this early time. It was amazing! The first scan we had with Mateo was at 8 weeks I believe, and the 10-week scan was so different! The 10-week scan looked like a baby and did not warrant a nickname such as "Patito". Once again, we've decided to forgo all genetic testing, etc. with the hopes that everything will be perfect. Last time this decision was a no-brainer, but now that we already have one child at home we thought about this decision a little more ... maybe about 5 minutes longer.