Dear Charlie (!),

You are about 17 1/2 weeks along now, almost the size of a sweet potato. 🙂 It’s been a very busy summer for us, as this time of year is for any family with kids, but I have found some time to start working on your nursery. At the same time, I’ve been working on Alex’s “big boy” room… so both projects are at an awkward, incomplete stage at the moment. Still, I’ll share with you what I’ve got so far:

I picked out this animal/forest themed set for your room because it is so fun & colorful! Several people have asked me if I was going to just re-use Alex’s nursery set for you, but I don’t want to. Nursery linens are relatively inexpensive, and seeing as you are your own little person with your own identity, I wanted you to have your own unique nursery. 🙂 We may re-use the branch from Alex’s nursery though, but if we do I’ll jazz it up a bit to make it look different. I’m thinking your walls will be some shade of green, or possibly gray or a darker blue…. still in debate on that. I do also have curtains, which are orange. I think green, blue & orange will be the main colors we use in here. Hoping to make more progress in the next few months!

I’ve also been randomly purchasing the few little things we need for you, as I’ve had time to shop. I got a new chair for Alex’s room so that we could move the comfy recliner into your room (I imagine you & I will be spending a LOT of time in it together come January/February 😉 ), and also purchased a couple lots of gently used newborn-sized clothes off of the yardsale sites. I discovered these online yardsales about 6 months or so ago… they’re a GREAT place to find good deals on gently used stuff, particularly baby/kid stuff. We were told not to get newborn sized clothes for Alex, and I always regretted that because, even at 8lb 3oz, he was still in newborn clothes for quite awhile. I’d say for the first month or so he just wore the size 0-3month clothes that totally swallowed him. LOL. Anyway, I suspect you’ll be around the same size as Alex & therefore I will need some newborn sized clothes. I might have gone overboard though….

What can I say, they were good deals! There’s about 80 outfits in this box. :-X Oh well, at least we’re prepared on that front now. Haha! The only other thing on my list is a nicer changing pad and covers for it– I never liked the thin, cheap one that came with our changing table. Other than that, I plan to start stocking up on diapers and possibly formula as we get closer to your due date.

[Yes, I said formula– I’m not planning to breastfeed for very long, if at all. It was NOT a good experience the first go-round, and although there’s a ton of pressure on mothers to breastfeed their babies these days, it is NOT something that comes naturally to me & I refuse to let the stress of it ruin those precious, fleeting days of the “newborn phase” like it did with Alex…. that is one of my biggest regrets with him. So, to me it’s not worth it, knowing that formula also does a fantastic job of nourishing babies– Alex was quite healthy & thriving on formula. If by some miracle the breastmilk overfloweth this time around I’ll certainly run with it, but I don’t want to assume or anticipate that scenario the way I stupidly did last time. As this is a public blog, I know there are moms reading this who will probably judge me for it, but I don’t care– it’s my choice. That’s all I have to say about that.]

Anywho, I haven’t posted a picture of you in quite awhile… I should have put one up in my last letter, but there was so much else going on that I just plain forgot! Here’s my “bump pic” from 15 weeks:

And here’s my most recent bump pic, at almost 18 weeks:

It’s hard to see in the pictures, but I can feel it with the increasing weight/discomfort in my midsection– you sure are growing fast in there! In fact, you are just about to embark on a major growth spurt, typical for the second trimester. Hopefully I’m at a point now where when people see me, it’s clear that I’m pregnant and not just fat. LOL. I really hate that “in-between” phase where it’s questionable. About a week or so ago, I admitted defeat and broke out my stash of maternity clothes. I forgot how comfy maternity clothes are! 😀 Plus I picked up a few more maternity things on the yardsale sites. I also got a really great deal on one of those baby fetal heart rate monitors, and Dad & I have really enjoyed listening to your heartbeat whenever we want at home. Okay, I might be addicted to those yardsales… Whoops!

That’s about all for now. I will probably wait to write again until after my next OB appointment, which is the 20 week check-up & anatomy scan. Dad & I can’t wait to get another glimpse of you! Hopefully we’ll have nothing but good news to report from that appointment. Until then, keep growing little guy!

All my love,
Mom

Dear Baby Pacheco,

Almost 15 weeks along already! I can’t believe we’re already approaching the 4 month mark; this pregnancy has been REALLY flying by. Still feeling really good, finally starting to get some energy back now that we’re well into second trimester. And yes, after a couple of harassing phone calls to both the doctor’s office and the lab they contract with to do the blood DNA test– we FINALLY got the results back, the week after I last wrote you. WIthout further ado….

You are a BOY! 😀 The test confirmed what the ultrasound tech had predicted– she said she could clearly see on the ultrasound the “frank and beans,” as it were. Once she pointed it out, Dad & I could see it too.

I’m not gonna lie, I was shocked… and a little sad. For some reason, I’d felt so sure that you were going to be a girl. I didn’t have those sorts of feelings with Alex, I honestly didn’t have any “sense” about it one way or the other. But this time…. well, the best way to describe it is that I had to mourn the baby girl I thought was growing inside me, and get accustomed to the baby boy I found to be there instead. I just needed to some time to wrap my mind around it, is all.

Not that I’m any less excited about your impending arrival, mind you! 😉 In a lot of ways it is a bit of a relief, because we already have just about everything we need for a baby boy. I already have plenty of experience with all the special little nuances that go with little boys. Dad is insanely excited (I think the idea of a little girl makes him nervous, which of course is so silly), and proud as a peacock — when we walked out of the ultrasound, the first thing he said was “Heck yeah, this baby factory (referring to his “frank and beans,” ha) only makes BOYS!” 😉 LMAO

Above all else, I know you & Alex are going to enjoy each other SO much. More than I think you would have, honestly, if you had been a girl. Many people have asked me why we decided to have another baby so soon after Alex. In this day & age, two years is pretty close together.. mostly because the cost of babies– daycare, etc– is so high, but also because it going to be much more demanding on us as parents (both of whom work full-time) to have two kids that are both SO young. The truth of it is that we’re really doing this because we think it is the best thing for you guys. Having that partner-in-crime, best buddy, etc. to grow up with is the one of the best gifts we can give you as parents. And so, it is my greatest hope & wish that you two cherish that. I know that you won’t always– Dad & I both had siblings that were two years older, and there were MANY times where we fought with them like cats and dogs– but all in all having a sibling so close in age was a huge blessing to us throughout our childhood, and beyond. 🙂 You guys have SO much to look forward to!

Anywho, once we found out you were a boy we decided it was a good time to make our big “announcement” on the Interwebs. Because as we all know, nothing is official until you’ve posted it on Facebook. 😉 Alex helped me with the announcement…

As the “eviction notice” says, Dad & I decided that we’re going to name you Charles John Pacheco. We’ll call you Charlie for short. 🙂 I’m so glad that we finally have something more concrete to call you, besides whatever fruit you happen to be that week (this week it’s an orange, BTW). The other great thing about knowing that you’re a boy is that I’ve been able to start working more on your nursery! But I think I’ll save that for my next letter, as I’m running short on time at the moment. Until then, my littlest love! :-*

All my love,
Mom