5 weeks and growing!

Mr. Luke is 5 weeks today. He had his 1 month check up last week and he is doing really well. He was 5lbs and 8.5 oz and 19inches long. He has been doing well and over the last few days he has been having what I think is a growth spurt. He is up longer periods of time and just wants to eat, eat, eat! He is a big smiler and loves to already try and talk about how things are going.

My friend Lisa flew in from Texas last week to come see us and sweet Luke and get a lil' bit of Panama as well. Below are pictures from Lisa's visit and photos of Luke... we had a wonderful time and hated to see Lisa go.

So I will try and be good about keeping an update at least every month about Mr. Luke!

Here comes baby!!!!

Ok, so a much needed update! As you all probably know baby bean is here and his name is Lukas Andres! He decided to arrive on February 13th, his Great Granny's 92nd birthday!! What a wonderful day for him to come.

Alex and I were very surprised on that Saturday. I had woke up around 4:30am that morning and just felt weird. I was uncomfortable and couldn't sleep. I paced the floors of our place for about an hour and then tried to lay back down, but nothing was comfortable. We headed to my doctors office around 9am to have him check me out. We then found out I was going to be heading to the hospital as I was already 4cm dilated. I think I was in shock at first when he said it.

I was all pretty much packed and ready to go ... Alex and I headed to our house and then packed me up and drove to the hospital. We had a bit of a detour as it was the start of Carnivals in Panama. They had streets closed and so we ended up on quite a tour of the streets just to make it to the hospital. We arrived around noon and all the excitement started. I felt really good and relaxed. I didn't have any extreme laboring pains. Around 2pm I was administered my pain medication. They told Alex they were only giving me a light dose as I was progressing quickly and they wanted to make sure I could feel my contractions and were able to push. So when I reached the full 10 cm, I felt EVERY bit of it. I was wheeled into delivery around 4:05pm and Lukas arrived at 4:28pm!! I did less than 20 minutes of pushing and ahhhh he was here.

EARLY and tiny!! Little man weighed 5lbs 20z. and was 18 inches long. But everything was perfect with him and the doctors said he is tiny but very strong.

We stayed in the hospital till Monday, Feb. 15th and then headed home with our new sweet boy!

We are both loving every minute of it and just adjusting to our new schedule. The transition has been going pretty smoothly. Kemah is in love with her new brother. She loves to give sweet kisses to his toes!! I know before we know it Luke will be chasing Kemah around the house.

Below our some photos of hospital, Lukas's birth and just being home!

33 weeks and growing!!!!

So baby boy is doing well!! We had our appointment on Thursday at my 32 weeks and 6 days and my goodness if this bean isn't much of a bean anymore. He almost gained 2 lbs since the December appointment! I was thrilled since I had gotten sick at the end of December with a sinus infection and well was afraid that I hadn't nourished this baby boy enough. Well he weighed in at 4lbs. and 2oz. And from this week on they gain approximatly 1/2lb. a week till birth. At this rate we are going to have a plump little man on our hands and I am wondering how I can stretch my belly much more to fit this chunker in there! :) So the doctor says that if I haven't given birth by Feb. 25th he will be inducing me. So of course we are thrilled and excited and also just anxious to have our little boy here all safe and sound. I have been still feeling pretty good other than my sinus infection at the end of December and well you know the HEARTBURN that is now a permanent fixture in my life! Oh well guess I'll have a hairy little monkey on my hands!

I am working on his bedroom.. at least I got Alex to get his crib, dresser and changing table all put together. We are also anxiously awaiting 3 boxes from Nana and PawPaw Bandy to arrive. Here is a look at his crib!


Kemah is also so excited and wondering why she can't play with the new squeaky bath toys or the stuffed animals in the baby's room. I also just know if she could talk she would be saying 'hey are you guys taking me for a ride in this new hot stroller thing?' Anyways she has been doing really good and listening so well to me. Also after sleeping almost 8 years with her momma she is officially a BIG girl now sleeping all by herself on my side of the bed in her dog beddie! She loves it and I love that it was so easy to adjust her!

Well I will be updating again in a few weeks after our next appointment AND will be taking a disk this time because the machine would still not save our sonogram pics to my flash drive. So we will have a good profile pic of our little man for next round.
Lots of love to everyone!

28 weeks

We had a great appointment! Based more so on the bean's measurements the Doctor is saying we are more so back on track with the March 9th due date. So I'm rolling back a few weeks and am at 28 weeks. But I think anywhere between the 19th of February and the 9th of March is a safe range! LET'S HOPE SO!

So baby boy bean is doing well. He is 2 lbs. 6 oz. and growing and moving up a storm. The only bad thing is we didn't get any good pictures of him. He was so stubborn (wonder where he gets that from) he would not move his hands or arms away from his face.. and then to top it off the machine wouldn't copy the pictures onto my flash card so I think something must have broke. We did get a few great views of his profile and Alex is convinced he has my chin. I think he has Alex's full lips and we could even see his little ear. Got some good shots of his little feet .. he had his ankles crossed and seemed to be most relaxed. I can really feel that he is getting bigger. I have already started to wake at night with kung fu type kicks to the ribs.

We head back to the doctor on the 14th of January... Hope to report all is well and that he is on track! Have a wonderful weekend! Here are two baby pics of Alex and I! Getting so anxious to see what our little man will look like.

On the road again...

So this is a long over due blog entry. Since last month I have been in 3 states, two countries and a lil here and there in between.

First off I had a wonderful trip to Los Angeles. I love and miss my wonderful friends there.. they are really a second family to me. Thank you so much for all the great visits and wonderful things for the bean and I!!

Next we made a little trip with Alex, his mom and grandfather to Miami on the 15th of November. It was a wonderfully fun trip as well and we did lots of shopping and more shopping for this soon to be baby boy and our new home. YES.. I said NEW HOME. We have arrived. All our stuff was moved and dropped off at the new place before we headed North to Miami. Alex returned to Panama to help get stuff settled and of course that boy had to be flying. I need him to have as much vacation as possible when we have this baby!
From Miami we flew West to Texas to be with family for the Thanksgiving holidays. (WE meaning the BEAN and I):) Amy and family was in from CT and we all had a wonderful time at our Thanksgiving that we do in Christine with my mom's side of the family. A smaller group this year and we missed a lot of the folks but overall a wonderful time. I was given two wonderful baby showers while I was in Texas and things just couldn't have been better. Visits with friends and family are so missed and loved!!!!! Bean and I also got our fill of Momma Bandy's cooking (which is by far the BEST) and my beloved South Texas Mexican food. I also loaded up on some good ol' BBQ.. thank you McBee's for making that happen!
On Dec. 2nd the bean and I headed back to Panama...with summer in full force we were welcomed back with that bright Panama sun and warm heat! And the day I left Texas.. Dallas area got snow! Ahhh gotta love that Texas Weather!

Our home is really starting to look and feel like HOME. We have been unpacking and settling as much as possible. Still have some tasks of blind and curtain buying as well as getting some photos up and pictures hung. Walls in Panama are made of cement.. so hanging a photo is a bit more involved then just with a hammer and nail.

Baby bean and I are doing well. He is growing and growing I tell ya!!!!!! Which in turn means I am growing. I really feel like I have a basketball in my belly! He is quite a mover and shaker... although I knew that even a month ago. BUT now he is quite the puncher and kicker! Nana Bandy says he may be a kick boxer. We have our appointment on Tuesday and hope to give all around good updates.

Here are some photos from Texas and our new home. The baby calf is dad's. His name is Bruno and he is so cute. He's was a twin calf and the mother only took to his sister.. so Dad took to Bruno and has been bottle feeding him since. He is more like a dog than a cow I tell ya. Anyways him and Sadie are quite the pals as well. Hope you ENJOY!

Us with Granny


Sadie and Bruno, pure love

Me & the Padres

Thanksgiving Crew

25 weeks!

So I am off on a little trip to the West Coast.. my beloved Los Angeles!!!!!!! Baby and I will set flight later tonight. So I will make this short and sweet and we will update next week after our Doctor's appointment and with some photos from Cali!

Everything is going well though.. I have been feeling good. No heartburn, No leg cramps... I feel so lucky. Maybe I actually shouldn't even talk about it. LOL.

A little bad news in that there is a delay in our new place. But it should be all resolved in the next 8 to 10 days. Very excited about that and looking forward to all the unpacking and settling in..... ahhhh moving!! Who doesn't love it!

Well have a wonderful weekend and look for a better update next week! This baby should be approaching the 2lb mark! He has been very active and I swear I will have a dancer on my hands. Lots of love!!

23 Weeks and moving.....

this baby in my belly that is. My friend Rachel and I went to a play here in Panama on Friday night and with all the music this baby was having a ball in my belly! It's actually quite amusing for me. I just will laugh out loud at times. I do hear that it can get quite uncomfortable as the baby grows and gets bigger. For now I am loving feeling the movements!!

I can tell the baby moves a lot more too when he is enjoying something. He and MOMMA were very happy last weekend when we drove out to the Atlantic Caribbean side of Panama to feast on fresh Lobster and sit looking out at the ocean! It was fantastic!! I am only mad that I forgot to take a picture.. Alex was happy because he said we finally didn't look like tourists with my camera out.

The heartburn seems to be slowly getting better. Not gone, but better. As long as it isn't severe, that is all I am concerned about. I have started to have some leg cramps now. I had a pretty bad one in my left calf earlier this week and it left me sore for days. It is getting better now and I am trying to do stretches before bed to see if that seems to help.

Otherwise things have been great. Our place is almost finished and we will receive the keys this coming Friday. So that is wonderful and exciting news. But the moving of things is always a pain, but we'll get it done.
I also have less than a month now till my Texas trip! Wooo Whooo! Very excited about that!

Well my next update will probably be in a few weeks after we go to the doctor again. Hopefully this time we'll get a better photo of the little bean!
Hope you all had a great weekend. Miss and love you!!