Oh Ipolito!

Ipolito asked me last night as we were having a snack, "Mama, does Captain America have a penis?"
Me: "What?!"
Ipo: "Does Captain America have a penis Mama?"
Me: "What do you think?"
Ipo: "Yes. He a boy."
Me: "Yes you are right."
Ipo: "But Mama where is it at?! Why don't I see him go pee pee?!"
Me: "Ipolito Captain America is a toy. He doesn't pee."
Ipo: "Oh.....silence....ok."

Seriously?! Where does he get this stuff?

On another note he saw an episode of Mario Bros. and Magic Johnson was on. He got so excited and said,
"He is going to sing and dance!" It took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about but he thought it was Michael Jackson. I guess to him the names sounded similar. It was so funny.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 15 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby F is the size of a navel orange

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still down 7 pounds

Maternity Clothes: I can still wear my normal clothes but I am hitting up maternity shorts. They are just more comfortable. Besides who doesn't want to wear elastic shorts all the time?!

Gender: ???

Movement: Not yet

Sleep: Not sleeping well at all. I wake up every time I change positions plus every time I change positions I have round ligament pain.

What I miss:  Eating whatever I want!! 

Cravings: Pickles....still.

Symptoms: I am having tons of back pain. It is hard to get comfortable. I am most uncomfortable when I am driving.

On a side note.....my stomach looks a tad bit more on the round side instead of the fat/pudgy side.  This week Ipolito is saying the baby's name is "Baby" which is better than "Dog"

Some random pics!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 14 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby F is the size of a lemon

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 8 lbs since being diagnosed with GD

Maternity Clothes: I can still wear my normal clothes but I am hitting up maternity shorts. They are just more comfortable. Besides who doesn't want to wear elastic shorts all the time?!

Gender: ???

Movement: Not yet

Sleep: Ok....I wake up less times to go potty but there are nights I wake up every hour to hour and and half still.

What I miss:  Eating whatever I want!

Cravings: Pickles!

Symptoms: I am tired, having back pain again, and feeling lots of abdominal/pelvic stretching these last few days.

On a side note, since taking the glyburide my sugars are way better. I feel good about eating and am not as hungry!

Thoughts on my mind...

• Pregnancy is going....I am thrilled to be pregnant....but this time it is way harder all the way around. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 11 weeks. That means diet changes, starving, headaches, and regular exercise. This is very controllable (hahaha) but has been so DARN challenging this time. I was over it the first time by the end of the pregnancy and I only dealt with it for 12 weeks. This time I am dealing with it for over 6 months!! I have tried and tried to control my diet eating way less carbs than I should but my sugars have been so high. Now my doc has started me on Glyburide. This has helped tremendously but I have bouts of hypoglycemia, which is NOT FUN! I carry a special "Coach" bag with my monitor, snacks, glucose tablets, and hand sanitizer in it at all times. I replenish it every night. Everything is all good but like I said....it is challenging. I am not as hungry as I was the first week. I am also going on regular walks 3-5 times a week for 30-45 minutes. I don't walk fast but I walk. I am terrified of over doing it.  
• As a result of all of the dietary changes I have lost a total of 8 pounds in the last two weeks. Pregnant people are supposed to gain weight not lose it. As long as I and the baby are healthy...that is all that matters. We are also eating many different delicious meals. Jose has been wonderful in looking up different yummy recipes.  Ipolito often looks at dinner and says, "I don't like it!" We have encouraged him to at least try it and he has loved it 10/10 times.  He now says, "This is different!"  
• Speaking of Ipolito, he has come to realize that Mama snacks quite often and is eating lots of fruit, cheese, and pickles. At first he wanted to eat when I did but now he realizes it is for me to be healthy and have a healthy baby.
• My son was so disturbed by our dinner choice one evening. Jose took him with him to the grocery store to buy fish. He kept repeating, "We don't eat fish. We eat food!" As soon as he walked in the door he immediately asked me, "We don't eat fish, we eat food, right Mama?" I explained to him what types you eat and what types you have as pets. He still wasn't buying it. Jose did a fine job breading his lightly and once he sat down he said, "Hmm...this kind of look like chicken!" He loved it but he had quite a bit of questions throughout dinner. It was so cute and he ate all of his food!
• When asked what he would like, a little brother or sister, Ipolito changes his mind so often. When asked what he would like to name a brother, imagine our surprise when he said, "Dog".....Uhh...dog?!! I have explained over and over that is an animal not a baby name! He wants to name a baby girl, "Baby dog." Ughh...at least we still have time to convince him of another name.  

A little of this....a little of that....

Quite a bit has been going on in the last year.  

• I finished graduate school this past year. This time last year I was in the middle of my primary care practicum thinking will I ever get through this?! Then in the fall I completed my acute care practicum and started searching for a job.
• I found a new job as a Cardiothoracic Surgery Nurse Practitioner at Cook Children's in Fort Worth. While I was extremely sad to leave Children's Medical Center, I really enjoy working in the town I grew up in, the hours, and having weekends off.  
• I passed my primary care boards 12/6/11 and my acute care boards 5/19/12.
• We found out in February after many visits to the doctor that I was suffering from secondary infertility. We were truly devastated. Apparently Ipolito was a miracle too. We were told our only chances of having another child were to try IVF or fertility drugs. It is something we agreed to to dwell on until I passed my second set of boards in May. 
• My nephew Jack had a lawnmower accident on April 13, 2012. This. Broke. My. Heart. I remember, and probably will never forget, my sister calling me while I was in Albertson's. She was hysterical and I couldn't get her to calm down. I was getting broken pieces and I all I got was "an accident" "the boys" "careflight" "cooks"  I took off out of the store and ran home to change and grab my bag. That was one of the longest nights of my life. I remember pulling off of the highway and seeing people get out of he helicopter.I knew in my heart that was Jack. I remember the doctor telling us he couldn't save his foot. I remember actually not being able to eat because I was so worked up. I remember the pain, the fear, and the love in the eyes of my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew.  I remember trying to keep it together and think logically. I remember crying myself to sleep that night and numerous times in the weeks to come. I remember being in awe of that little boy. I am amazed by his progress, strength, and the love and generosity of people.

My Ipolito is quite the big boy these days. 

• He LOVES to talk, sing, dance, and did I mention he LOVES to talk.
• Ipolito wears size 4-5T, Size 11-11.5 shoes, and underwear!!
• His favorite things to say these days are: "Is _______ a bad word?" "Hey Shorty!" "You pitty (pretty) Mama!" "No this is a boy's song" 
• He is so affectionate! He loves to give hugs and kisses!
• He loves Sonic, Mario, Pocoyo, Avengers, Spiderman, Dora, Diego, and many other cartoons.
• He is a night owl. He stays up until 11-1 am.  Way past Mama & Papi. I am convinced he doesn't need his nap anymore but it is harder to convince his sitter. The days he is there, he is up late. The days he isn't and doesn't have a 2.5-3 hour nap he goes to bed at a reasonable time (before 11). 
• He loves his girlfriends Sofia & Marisa (Patty & Jacob's little girls) and Genesis (Cowboy Keenan's little girl).  He can marry any of them. 
• He loves to read and is super duper smart.
• He can spell 20+ words.
• He loves to sing and dance.

Well, I think this is all for now and all that has happened the past year in a nutshell.

The day my baby became a big boy!

I guess I only blog about once a year, but hey I guess it is better late than never. I have so many thoughts I have jotted down in my email. Now I just have to post them. One of them is this....


About two months ago we bought Ipo a pet....a fish. He was so excited that day. The fish was a prize for him becoming potty trained. He named him Nemo. He loved Nemo. Well Nemo was never very active and wasn't the best eater. We noticed these last few days he had been laying on the floor of the aquarium. Well Jose went to change/clean his water today and when I saw Nemo I was shocked. He was visibly emaciated. He barely moved and only breathed every few seconds. He didn't look right. We knew we would have to have the "talk" with Ipolito this afternoon. It wasn't something either one of us was ooking forward to.  But, it had to be done.

After dinner we called him over to talk to him. I think he knew what was going to happen because all he said was "My fish died. Look at him." But I don't think he got it. I explained the fish was sick and Jesus needed him in heaven. Of course he wanted to know why. I tried to keep it simple & repeat sometimes things we love die & he was going to keep Jesus company and be ok in heaven. I told him Nemo would have fun there. He kind of got mad at that. He said we need to take him to the doctor or hospital to get well. I told him they don't make hospitals for fish. He said, "Yes they do. There is the one Jack live in." I told him that hospital is for little boys and girls. They have some for grown ups too but not fish. He just didn't understand. He said, "I just want my fish to get well again." Then, "I don't care about my fish" & he stormed off to his room. We just looked at each other.

We went after him and as we got closer to his room we heard him crying. He was in his bed face down crying....hard with his pillow over his face. It. Broke. My. Heart. I started crying and held him in my arms. I tried consoling &  calming him down. He said he didn't want his fish to die. He wanted him to get well again. We tried telling him it was ok and Jesus was going to take are of him in heaven & he would be healed. We told him we would get him another one and he said he didn't care and he didn't want another one. Finally he said he would take another one. Tomorrow we will buy him another.

This experience broke my heart. It also showed me how smart our little guy is. He truly understood and was in pain. We decided it was best Jose took care of the fish (flush him) while he and I were gone. We thought it would be too traumatic for him to see it going through the toilet since it is so close to him being fully potty trained. We think it would scare him.

Most of the time as this was going on Jose and I kept looking at each other. We didn't know what to do or think. At points we kept looking at each other and smiling not because it was funny but because he was cute & we were amazed at his level of thinking. Or.... We are like Claire in Modern Family.  Either or we have made it through another parenting challenge/crisis/first together. Whew....