Nicole's Adventures

June 16, 2020 I figure I better date these entries from now on because I am sure I will start writing them and be interrupted often and maybe not finish a post until weeks after I started. Luke is 11 weeks old and is such a different little boy than he was when we brought him home from the hospital! He is really blossoming into his little personality, and into his body! He eats really well and very often, still like a clock almost every two hours during the day time. He enjoys his bicycle rides and rattle socks and being very active! He loves looking at curtains, and the shelves in the kitchen. As well as the red bus book from his Grammy Beth! Luke went on his first trip to Algarve last week and was a super traveler. He slept the whole time in the car, and adapted pretty easily to not being in his own home. He stayed with his Aunty by himself for the first time away from mom and dad and was a great boy, except he choose to do an explosive poo on his Aunt Cristina's leg! Sor...

Just a few short days after my last post, we had an early arrival! Before I forget the wild ride that was Luke's birthday and entrance into the world, I wanted to document those crazy hours! As I mentioned in the previous post, our local hospital was not allowing the father to attend the birth or enter the hospital at all, so we had been researching any alternative within an hours driving distance. We found a private hospital but had to have an appointment there if there were to let us deliver there. We woke up early on March 28th to arrive there for our 9am appointment. It was north of Porto so about an hours drive from our house. As we were getting in the car, I jokingly told Joel to grab my hospital bags, because you never know what might happen! And the nurses in our birth prep class also said you should always be prepared starting around 37 weeks! Entering the hospital, we were questioned to be sure we don't have Corona virus, then given masks. Joel was allowed into...

Before I start on this wild Corona virus, let's talk about the final part of Luke's journey inside the womb! I can't remember if we already had a name in my last post, but baby Luke is cooking, growing and moving constantly!   Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks pregnant, which I guess equates to like 8.5 months? As I discussed in the last post, I never know what to say because 40 weeks is not equal to 9 months! Anyways, at 37 weeks Luke can come on out and could be perfectly fine on his own. Of course, each week he gets a little stronger inside of the womb and gains a bit more weight. I was told around week 28 that my cervix was measuring short which meant I was at risk for early delivery and had to stop doing as much as I could. I was told to walk as little as possible and not do any lifting or activity. Normally our doctor is very nonchalant and casual and not worried with much.. however after he made this measurement Joel had a bit of a scare because he seemed very worried. ...