Sun - Feb 26th - "A Good Weekend"

We had a good weekend, hope you did too!

Solymar got her first bath Saturday morning as she lost her umbilical cord on Thursday. Mommy was very happy not to have to deal with it anymore. Sol didn't cry as much as Mommy expected, she seemed to enjoy the warm water. We spent Saturday afternoon visiting the girl's great grandparents. They got to meet Solymar for the first time.

Sunday we stayed home and had a great day of potty training. Sofia decided to abuse the reward system for using the potty and went from not wanting to use the potty the day before to using it at least 8 times just to get chocolate or marshmallows.

These pictures show how my days start and end ... At the end of the day Sofia falls asleep on my lap as I feed Solymar. Around 6am Sofia gets up and cuddles in bed for at least an hour with Mommy and Sol.

Fri - Feb 24th - "One Week Old"

We are so in love with our little bundle of joy. Solymar is a demanding little one but, she has gotten better as the days pass.

She doesn't like to lay on the play pen during the day or in the basinet at night. However, she doesn't need to be held all the time like the first day/night. She is content with the car-seat and the co-sleeper. She also enjoys the baby sling carrier.

Big sister Sofia had a good week too. Mommy is taking advantage of the leave to potty train and we were successful for the first time ever with peeing in the potty!!! ... Good first step.

Sofia loves the baby. She likes to hold her, pet her and even signs to her to calm her when she cries... Loving the baby however doesn't stop her from being as honest as a 3 year old can be... Mommy and Daddy where smelling the baby enjoying the newborn smell. Daddy turns to Sofia and asked her to smell the baby's head. Then he asks, what does she smells like?

Sofia's answer; "Sucio, hay que lavarlo" (dirty, needs to be washed).

Wed - Feb 22 - "Dr Visits"

Solymar is doing well; she has had two checks with the Pediatrician since she came home on Sunday.

We had to go on Monday to check her bilirubin levels (jaundice) ; they took a blood sample and her levels were lower than when she left the Hospital, on the right track there.

We went today for a follow up ... bilirubin levels were lower again.

She left the Hospital weighting 5 pounds 10 ounces. Its normal for babies to lose some weight when they are born. They are expected to gain it back by days 10-14. Today Solymar weighted 6 pounds 0.5 ounces; she is gaining weight nicely.

Mommy is not surprise, Sol is on the breast every two hours minimum. Sometimes she wants a snack in between too!!!

Feb 19th - Solymar's First Car Ride

After 58 hours at the Hospital we were ready to go home!

Solymar is not a quiet baby ... she cries very loud and has a good high pitch scream too. If you are around us when she is hungry, being change or simple when something bothers her, you will know.

Because she is so vocal, Mommy was interested in her reaction to the car seat... Overall she did well and went through four normal stages...

1 - "Analyzing the Surroundings" - What are all these sounds?

2 - "Feels Good" - I am liking the rocking feeling here

3- "Nooo" - Why in the world did you stop?!!!!!

4 - "Back on Track" - That's better, keep it moving Daddy

Sat-Feb 18th - "Sofia Turns 3 & Baby SMunoz #2 Arrives"

It has been 2 yrs since the last time I posted... Sofia turned 3 today and got a little sister as a gift; Mommy thought family and friends would enjoy following another year of firsts with our little girls....

On February 17th Solymar Aurora Munoz (yes, we have another SAM) was born, 6 days before her due date, considered full term. She weighted 6 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 19 inches. .. She weighted exactly double, what Sofia weighted at birth and decided, she will be the second girl in the house with a February birthday, but hers would be one day before her sister's...

Since Sofia was born early (31 weeks) and via a C-section (she was breeched), I had two goals with this pregnancy; make it full term and deliver vaginally...

On Thursday 2/16th at 9:26pm I started to track my contractions, they were coming 15 minutes apart and continued that way for 3 hours. Around 12:26am on 2/17th my contractions started to come every 5 minutes. By the bottom of the required hour to call my Dr. the contractions started to come 3 minutes apart. I called the Dr, woke up my husband and headed to the hospital.

I lost track of the time, at this point, I was having contractions every 3 minutes and constant abdominal and lower back pain. I couldn't wait to get to the Hospital and get an epidural, the only pain medication I wanted.

We reached the hospital sometime around 2:00am. I was quickly taken to a delivery room and checked by a nurse, I was 4cm dilated. The Dr. returned the call and was updated.

Within 30 minutes (~2:45 am) the Dr arrived and checked me, I was 8cm dilated, he gives me the news, I won't be getting an epidural the baby is coming way too fast!!! I was in so much pain, I really wanted a VBAC, I didn't ask for a completely natural delivery!!!

As the Dr and nurses seemed to be able to track labor by seeing the pain on my face, the Dr checked me again

~10 mins later. I was completely dilated and ready to push... and push I did with every contraction as it was the only way I could relief some of the pain....at 3:26am Sol was born, crying at the top of her lungs, I was so happy.... the pain was gone.

I got more than I wanted, it was not easy but it was a great experience.