Love, Life and Appreciation

Today marks one week until Nia's delivery! I've actually be so anxious these last few days. I have my last pre-natal appointment on Thursday. Nia has been kicking and moving more at night, I know her space is getting smaller in there and she's getting more ready to enter the world. She'll be delivered at 39 weeks and 2 days. May was overdue and I had her at around 41 weeks and 4 days.

I'm supposed to go into the hospital a day early for lab work and monitoring. I don't think that will take long. It'll be on July 6th for that. The day of c-section Rex and I will drop May at her grandparents place and we'll go to the hospital so we can be there around 10:30 am. I will make sure I DO NOT eat or drink anything as I do not want to be sent home. I remember when I was pregnant with May. That was something I was avoiding then as well. I had to wait until the contractions where 4 to 5 minutes apart before we left for the hospital and even then I was worried they might send me back but I had to call the doctor too and they cleared me to go. Gosh that was hard waiting, especially when the pain started getting worse. This time around I am not currently experiencing contractions or water breaking or anything like that. There is still some pains from her pressing down on my pelvis and I definitely am going to the bathroom more frequently.

I am getting the house more clean every day. I know the time is coming but I am still slower because of how big and I and taking care of a very curious almost 3 year old. I have Nia's clothes laid out and I looked through most of the things we have. We actually have a lot of things that we saved when we had May and can use for Nia. I found my breast pump and it still works. I'm hoping I can breastfeed with Nia. It was hard at first with May but once I really had a natural way of being shown how to do it, it was smooth sailing. I did before that experience rock hard breasts and cracked nipples, oh it was fun but now that I am more aware it is such a healthy and natural way to feed a newborn and helps to develop such good bonds.

In the next few days Rex and I will be getting a few more things that we don't have currently, like Maxi pads, haven't had to use them in the last eight months. This time it doesn't look like we'll have a baby shower. We were iffy from the start about it. We knew we had a lot from May when she was a newborn and it's more just diapers and wipes that we'll need for Nia, plus the funds just aren't really there this time around. Our families and friends are all happily awaiting her birth though and May, her big sister, says "Sister, love sister," when placing her head on my belly. Half of me really can't believe that in 7 days we'll be a family of 4. Another part of me is ready to start taking care of Nia and May and take so many pictures and snuggle her.

May was a little sleepy this morning, so she used my belly as a pillow....

Yesterday was Father's Day. Happy be-lated Father's Day to all the fathers and fathers to be out there. It was also the first start of summer. Yesterday we spent more of the day at home but we went out to a nearby park to get some fresh air. It was nice at the park. It wasn't too hot and May loves picking up sticks and flowers. There is a playground at the park and she is getting better with going up the steps and she loves going down the slide, on her own. We decided to go to the park because of financial constraints. I had cooked pancakes earlier in the day and wished Rex a "Happy Father's Day." We both know that we need to conserve our funds at the moment and we were all happy we could spend time together.

Since we both use Facebook, I also wanted to share my some of my thoughts on the social site.  Here's what I posted:

"This Father's Day I wanted to do something different. I wanted to take a step into the past and fast forward to today. Little did I know the type of person you'd become when we first set eyes on one another. When I first saw you, when we were sitting in that parking lot I thought, "Who IS this guy trying to talk to me through the glass window of his car? Hmm well he's cute." You thought in today's terms, "Baby won't you come my wayyyyyyyy" but actually you thought "She's alright, I'm going to talk to her, no, she's still there, OK I'm going to talk to her." From there I learned more about myself than I ever thought I knew. Flash to the present. May screams with excitement of "Daddy!" when the door opens when you come home from work and Nia jumps at the touch of your hand on my belly and that deep voice. Soon two little girls will be calling you "Daddy," and I, I will be calling you "outnumbered", hehe. 

Here I am again a tad bit behind on the 30 Things My Kids Should Know About Me series. I may be behind but the timing of the entry is significant as Father's Day is tomorrow.

 This entry is based on: 3. Describe your relationship with your spouse.

The relationship with my husband (to my children, your father) is on a very connected and loyal level. Though we met randomly, we have much in common.  We both understand that money isn't everything in life and we enjoy the little things. My husband is a quiet man who is willing to give the shirt off his back to anyone who asks. He is also more of the type who likes to stay in at night and he loves to watch the news. I am a bit more vocal but not by much, as much as I watch the news I can not watch the news for hours and hours on end. I like spending time at home but sometimes I get the feeling to go out for the night, however since I am currently 37 weeks pregnant writing this with our second little girl and looking after our 2 and half year old, I'm more of a homebody. We are both very hardworking individuals who strive to do our best for the family.  We have seen much of the bottom together and we know we will rise to the top together. We don't get into many disagreements but if we do we can work them out and come to a compromise. We have a very caring, romantic and honest relationship as well. We are open about things and consult on another on purchases or plans. We believe strongly in keeping faith and we have the same values in raising our children with much well-roundness. We pick each other up. We make each other laugh and we are both so thankful of all we have been given, we take it as a learning experience and we know we will stay strong together in what we encounter in the future.

I've been using the Innogie eLite Series 32000mAh Aluminum Portable Charger for the past couple of days now and it has been working very well. The shipment of this product was very fast and came in a large envelope. The product itself was in a small cardboard package:


The first picture of this post shows the contents in the package.  Upon first touch of the portable charger I felt that the product has a bit of weight to it but it's not much. The product is very sturdy and fits nicely in the palm of one hand.

According to the product details:

"Innogie technology maximizes compatibility with Android, Apple and other devices by enabling charge speeds of up to 1 amp.

Add more than a full charge or over 7 hours talk time to an iPhone, almost a full charge to a Galaxy S5 or 1 full charge (70+ hours of audio playback) with most other phones--Stylish, lipstick-shaped, aluminum design (3.5 × 0.9 × 0.9in, 2.7oz) fits easily into any pocket or bag."

The cable that the charger came with fits into any port or at least the wall and car port that I tried it with. The charger lets you know it's charging by 3 LED blue lights. When the charger is charging the blue lights blink, it's actually pretty calming to watch. When the blue lights are solid, it doesn't necessarily mean the charger is fully charged but that it has at least 70% charge it.  I left the charger to charge about 4 hours before I saw that led lights were solid upon initially receiving the product.   Even with a 70% charge the charger is very powerful.  I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and it was easy to connect my Samsung cable to my phone and the charger by use of the USB port. My phone was at 5% and within 2  hours I had more than a 40% charge on my phone. The charger was not hot to the touch. My phone was fully charged 3 hours later.

I like that this charger works with many different types of devices. I also tried the Apple Ipad 2 that we have and the Ipad charged quickly in a span of a couple hours. I can certainly see the portable charger for use when we are on the go. Soon our children will be getting older and with all the technology we have nowadays, the battery life for the most part runs low with more use of the device. This portable charger will help to get that charge back up in a very stylish way.

Overall I'm very happy with this device and also found that it seems to charge faster when the device is in Airplane mode. I'll definitely be keeping this portable charger in my purse, along with a spare cable for my phone. It'll also come in handy when there's no power. The temperatures are getting warmer and it seems like at least once during the summer, the power is out for a day or two.

The portable charger is currently on retail on Amazon for $49.99. Innogie also offers 2 other colors, pink and silver, for the same model, at a lower price.

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above in exchange for review from Giveaway Service website. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. Reference ID: pm39b7696525c15ab11f34386e3ae943ae

We have little less than a month before Nia is born!!! I got the call today that my time for my scheduled C-Section is at 12:45 pm at the same hospital I delivered May. That hospital is Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD. Rex and I decided on the C-Section because we weren't sure if I would be overdue like I was with May. In a previous post, I was wondering whether to do the repeat C-Section or the VBAC. When I delivered May I initially thought I'd be having a vaginal birth but later on after the epidural and I had dilated to 6 cm, May was in fetal distress and I had to have an emergency C-Section. I was worried that this might be the same with Nia. If I said OK to the vaginal birth and then if there is fetal distress, Nia would have to be born by emergency C-Section and that actually poses greater risks than a scheduled C-Section.

I'll learn more about what to do the day of the C-Section. I was told so far that I have to come in 2 hours before my scheduled time and that I can't eat anything pass midnight the night prior to surgery. With the scheduled C-Section it definitely seems much more planned. I told my doctor about the length of recovery too and he was saying that it actually might be less for the recovery. I know I wouldn't be jumping and skipping within 5 days of the surgery but it's nice to know that I might feel a little bit better than the first one. My recovery wasn't the worse but it also wasn't the best. For months after the surgery, I felt pains here and there when I laughed or sneezed. I remember I was told not to drive for 2 weeks and not to lift more than the weight of my child. I had help from Rex, Rex's family and my own family and friends the first time. This time might be a little different because we do live farther than Laurel and that some circumstances with the family might be harder to come by. I didn't saw what day we chose. Well Nia's estimated due date is July 12th. For the C-Section I was given any day from July 6 to the 10th. Yup no July 4th, well unless she decides to come on her own accord earlier. So given that week to chose from, Rex and I decided on July 7th. Yup 7-7-15. Apparently 12:45 pm was the only time to schedule me that day too, so maybe more people had the same idea. I was also thinking about 7-8-15, if the 7th wasn't available. The math part of me liked that date because 7 +8 = 15. Hehe.

We are getting more prepared at home for the birth. We already have a lot of baby supplies that we saved from having May and those are in a storage/panty section of the house. We are planning to go back to NJ sooner than later to pick up the car seat that we had for May. May has been forward facing since she was around 20 months, she was of the weight requirement to be forward facing for the seat. May is getting more aware of "mommy's big belly" as she calls it. She has her tantrums and I know she's not going to get completely over them in the next couple of months. Nia is doing fine in the womb, I can feel her space is getting less in there because she is pushing out more. Her heart rate has been more at a range 131 to 141 beats per minute, while I remember May's being 141 to 163. My next doctor's appointment is on Wednesday. I have to go every week now. Apparently too if you are going to have a C-section, the doctors don't check to see if you are dilated or effaced during those last few weeks.

The homestretch is here and I know the night leg cramps and acid reflux will be subsiding soon. We have our baby girl Nia!