Three makes a tribe.

“Tribe is a very general title for human groups who are based on blood relationships and they can be almost any number.”

My tribe consists of my three BOYS. My third baby is the true definition of BEAUTIFUL. He has a smile that is sooo infectious, and a laugh that makes you giggle. He has not only been the biggest eater thus far, but hes also the biggest mamas boy.

They say that the third time is a charm; I believe it. My third pregnancy was completely planned. (As planned as you can…) My husband and I both agreed that we wanted one maybe two more babies before we closed shop. For us three was the magic number. We felt complete with our three boys.

Pregnancy this time around was a whole lot easier than the first two times, purely because i had already done it. Every pregnancy brings its own symptoms and what not, but for the most part woman experience a lot of the same things. The begining of the pregnancy was rough because i did suffer from horrible “ALL DAY” sickness, but by the end of my first trimester it kinda went away.

With pregnancy number three, i had no down time during pregnancy, or after the baby was born because i had a toddler and 9 yr old to also take care of. Just because your pregnant doesn’t mean the world stops and caters to you, although it would be nice. 😁 I still had the normal day things i had to get done for the other kids on top of making sure i didnt over do it.

For my third i was determined to make sure i was the healthiest i could be. I gained minimal weight and excercised regularly all the way up until due date. I kept a healthy diet and focused on taking my vitamins. My kids were both very excited to be big brothers, and did all they could to help me out.

A few days before my due date i started to feel very puffy an my blood pressure was all over the place. Unfortunately i was told that the preeclampsia had showed back up and i would need to deliver baby that day. I had been through preeclampsia two times and new both times were dangerous so immediately i was scared again.

As i arrived at the hospital, i was greeted by my wonderful OBGYN. She was calm but i new she meant business. Ill never forget her walking down the hall all dressed up for surgery,in a pair of highheal shoes. It was at that moment i knew i was being takin care of by a BOSS!

Surgery went as surgery goes. After all the tugging,pulling,and huge amounts of pressure,baby was finally here. The doctor brought him to my chest to kiss him and smell him before wisking him away to give him a little oxygen. During the process of getting sewed up, my husband fallowed the nurse to watch our baby get his first bath.

About 45 minutes later i woke up in my recovery room to find out that my baby needed to be on oxygen for a few hours to help release some fluids in his lungs. Not gonna lie, i was upset. After some time passed they finally brought the baby in the room and all the worries went away. He was beautiful. He nursed right away and automatically new who his daddy was by his voice.

A couple days later we were released to go home. Baby was healthy and i was healing like a champ. When we got home we had a lot of family waiting to meet the baby and offer all their help during the first couple weeks. (Thank you Dad!!! and Gramma Dulce. You guys were great and sooo appreciated!!) It didnt take long for me to realize that three kids was about to be a whole new level of difficult. My c-section wound was not healing properly because i was not resting as much as i should have been, and i ended up getting an infection. I had to be put on very strong antibiotics and had to see the Doctor every day for 10 days for him to clean and cure my wound.

After 10 days of antibiotics and invasive wound care, my c-section was finally closing. I was now able to enjoy the new baby and really get to see the other kids interact with him. They were amazing with him. They were gentle and loving and the big brother instincts kicked in right away.

Like i said before, three makes a tribe. I love my tribe and my tribe loves me. ♥️
Thank you everyone who has been reading my post and following my stories. Keep an eye out for whats to come next.

Boymom³

Then there was two

They say one child is a lot…..so we had two. My second son is 4 now. He is my WILD child. Beautiful brown eyes and gorgeous curly hair,with perfect olive skin, thats my baby.

My pregnancy with my second was great. I felt great, i looked great, and all was going well up until about 37 weeks. Just like my first i was diagnosed with preeclampsia. I explained what preeclampsia was in my last post so i won’t explaine it again. Although i was diagnosed with preeclampsia, i did not feel as sick or look as puffy as i did the first pregnancy.

Through out my pregnancy i had made sure to watch my diet, and exercise as much as my body would allow. I only gained about 28lbs in my second pregnancy, which was a huge improvement from the first time. I was able to enjoy my second pregnancy a little bit more than the first only because i didn’t have to keep it a secret. I was able to share with family and friends from the very beginning that we were going to bring another baby boy into this world.

At around 37 1/2 weeks signs of my preeclampsia were starting to show up. I was puffy, my blood pressure was high, and i was having a hard time feeling my fingers and feet. My doctor monitored me for a day or so trying to hold out as long as possible, but by the second day she made the call to go ahead and delivery our baby boy.

To be honest i dont remember a whole lot from during the csection with my first son, only because it was an emergency and everything went so fast. This csection was so different because i remember the whole process. While you don’t feel pain,you do feel pressure. It is the craziest feeling. You know that you are pretty much being “gutted” but just feel like some tugging and jerking around. When the time comes to pull out baby,you feel a tremendous amount of pressure that takes your breath away. By the time they are done sewing you up and you are moved to your recovery room, you feel like you have been run over by a semi truck. But they put that baby on your chest and it all feels so worth it.

We spent about 3 days in the hospital. The afternoon of day three we were able to go home. The weather was horrible, and we were in the midst of a tropical storm. We aslo had to make a journey back home by getting on a small plane to get back to the island from the city. The struggle was real.

Now we’re home and we get to introduce big brother to the baby and he was sooooooo excited! We we’re able to settle in pretty quickly, and adjust to two kids now. Recovery went well and was a lot easier than the first time. Just a tip for you women out there who get a csection for the first, second, third or how ever many times, ALWAYS SAY YES TO HELP! The recovery process is so important for you to be able to care for your baby the way you will want to,but its also so important for baby that you recover well so you can carry and hold your baby as soon as possible.

I hope this was fun to read 🙂 oh and by the way HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY ♥️


Next post is jumping right into baby number 3 birth journey!

After pregnancy tips

1. Get plenty of rest. Get as much sleep as possible to cope with tiredness and fatigue. Your baby may wake up every two to three hours for feeding. To make sure you’re getting enough rest, sleep when your baby sleeps.

2. Seek help. Don’t hesitate to accept help from family and friends during the postpartum period, as well as after this period. Your body needs to heal, and practical help around the home can help you get much-needed rest. Friends or family can prepare meals, run errands, or help care for other children in the home.

3. Eat healthy meals. Maintain a healthy diet to promote healing. Increase your intake of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and protein. You should also increase your fluid intake, especially if you are breast-feeding.

4. Exercise. Your doctor will let you know when it’s OK to exercise. The activity should not be strenuous. Try taking a walk near your house. The change of scenery is refreshing and can increase your energy level.

These great tips came from:
https://www.healthline.com/health/postpartum-care

During pregnancy Tips

1.Keep your blood sugar level up by eating whole, healthy foods and plenty of protein. Do this in small, frequent meals throughout the day. Vary your diet as much as possible.

2.Keep yourself hydrated. Plain water is great. If you are nauseated and can’t keep water down, add a spoonful of sugar and a pinch of salt to it. This will rehydrate you quickly and ease much of your nausea.

3.Get plenty of rest. Pace yourself. Take a 10-minute break as often as you can. Take a nap before dinner. Take a nap around lunch time. Go to sleep early and rise as late as you can get away with. Get in the habit of grabbing bits of rest whenever you can-this will make parenting a newborn much easier!

4.Stay confident in your body! Look for positive information about birth and pregnancy. Avoid the birth horror stories people want to tell. Your body knows how to birth. Don’t let anyone try to tell you it will fail. If someone wants to tell you about her horrible birth, invite her to share it with you after you have had your baby. If someone has advice about what you absolutely have to do, take it with a grain of salt. There is no one best way to give birth for every woman. You can find your best way, and you will have an easier time doing so if you hear about positive experiences.

5.Hire a midwife. Even if you think you might not be a candidate for homebirth or midwife-attended birth in the hospital, it is good to start with a midwife first. Why? A midwife will spend more time with you early on, will give you more information about nutrition and taking care of yourself in pregnancy, and will give you a confident start to your pregnancy. If problems arise, your care can be transferred to an OB if necessary.

6.Hire a doula. No matter where you are planning on giving birth or who your caregiver is, it is a good idea to have someone on your birth team who is focused primarily on the emotional and comfort issues of birth and does not have the responsibility of clinical care. This way, if something happens that absorbs all of your primary caregiver’s attention, you’ve still got someone helping you to understand the process. A doula can also help everyone at the birth to be more comfortable, even if there is a midwife doing most of the labor support for mom.

7.When telling people about your pregnancy, take the official due date and add two weeks to it. This serves two functions. One, it spares you a little of the post-due-date syndrome where your mother-in-law calls you the day after your due date and says, “Have you had that baby yet?” Two, it is more realistic! Normal pregnancy is between 38 and 42 weeks long. First-time moms, on average, go eight days past their “due” dates. This means that 50 percent of first time moms deliver more than a week late! Even with subsequent pregnancies, a majority of women go past the due date, with three days late being average, and up to 14 days late being normal. Even longer pregnancies are possible-different caregivers recommend handling “post due” in different ways.

8.Ask questions about your care. Whenever a test or procedure is recommended (such as ultrasound, blood test, amniocentesis, etc.) you have a right, even a responsibility, to ask questions. “What is this test?” “Why is it necessary?” “What will we learn?” “How will we use this information?” “Are there alternatives?” “What are the possible side effects of the test?” “What are the consequences of doing nothing?”
 
9.Keep in mind that there are potential side effects to any test, including ultrasound and blood tests. If you would not be willing to take the recommended action for a positive test, is there a good reason to take the test? There may be, or there may not. It is important to understand the concepts of informed choice and informed consent. You and your family are ultimately the ones who have to live with the consequences of choices about your care. Almost every test in the book has good reasons for either doing the test or avoiding the test, depending on your personal situation, priorities and choices. Every test carries risks, and there are some risks also in not knowing. The question ultimately boils down to “Which risks are you willing to take?”

10.Get educated, take classes and learn all you can so that you can make educated choices about the care you receive. But at the heart of what you learn remember this: You don’t have to be taught to birth successfully. When it comes to the nitty-gritty messy physical work of giving birth, the best thing you can do is put your intellect out the window and let your body do the work it knows down to the bone how to do. That doesn’t mean you have to be detached from the process—quite the opposite. It means that you don’t need to rely on a complicated technique to get through contractions well, and you don’t need to hold your breath and count to 10 to push your baby into the world. You’ve been breathing since you were born and you know how. You can do it in your sleep. Likewise, women are perfectly capable of giving birth without any conscious direction at all. What will help your baby be born? Your willingness to experience the process, pain and all, and to follow your body’s direction. Your body will tell you what you need to do, if you let it. And your body is the best expert on what it needs to birth.

Choose carefully the people who are with you in labor. Each person should be committed to helping you find your own best way through labor. Each should be willing to step back if needed, if you should decide you need more privacy or more focused time with just one of your support team. Do not consider birth a social occasion. A few hours or a day after the birth is a much better time to be social than during labor itself. You shouldn’t have to worry about taking care of anyone else’s needs during labor. You shouldn’t have to worry about unpleasant family dynamics, and you aren’t obligated to invite anyone to the birth of your baby whom you don’t specifically want to be there. Not even your mother. Not even your sister. Not even your best friend. If you want them there because you think they can actively help you have a more relaxed birth experience, great! Invite them. But don’t get caught in the trap of birth-as-family-social-event. You are not obligated to have your mother-in-law there while you are half-naked and pushing your baby into the world if you don’t really want her to be there. Particularly for first babies, it is a good idea to pare down the birth audience. Your partner should probably be there. A labor support person. Maybe one friend or family member who can fade into the background or be helpful and supportive without being intrusive. Why? Birth is an intensely personal, intimate experience. The state of mind that makes birth happen the easiest is similar to the state of mind that makes orgasm possible. Could you have an orgasm with 15 people in the room watching you? Similarly it will be easier to let go and let birth happen if you don’t have your entire extended family and circle of friends in the same room with you. It’s not impossible to birth with lots of people in the room, it’s just usually not as easy that way. You are queen for the day when you birth … you get to choose your entourage.


These great tips are from:
https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/ten-ways/

10 Years Ago

October 22 2009, also the birthday of his father. My oldest son has been my ride or die from the get go. During my pregnancy i realized early on that he was probably going to be my biggest joy and my biggest heartache in life. I say my biggest heartache because when a mother becomes pregnant she immediately has this unconditional love for this child, and she becomes so vulnerable and her heart becomes wide open to this human for so much potential heartache. At least thats how i felt.

My pregnancy wasnt quite what u would hope ur first pregnancy would be. I had many health complications along the way. For starters i gained a lot of weight. Like 60 pounds! That wasnt healthy for me,baby,or my self esteem. I struggled with being diagnosed with preeclampsia about 7 months in.

“Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the liver and kidneys. Preeclampsia usually begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy in women whose blood pressure had been normal.”

So 7 months into my pregnancy ive gained about 55 to 60 lbs and have preeclampsia and im told i will need to be on bed rest or the potential for early dilivery would be a real risk. Along with early delivery being not so great for baby, the risk becomes very high for mother and it becomes a life and death situation very quickly.

The very next day im rushed to the local clinic and my OBGYN tells me that i need to get to a “nearby” hospital as quickly as possible because my preeclampsia has become a danger. Now a “nearby” hospital was in a different country about 2 hours away. So my mother, and my bestfriend friend got all their stuff together and off we were on a small plane + a 45 min car ride to Mexico.

We get to the Mexico hospital, and im immediately put into a gown and taken into the operating room before my mom and bf can even get their things unloaded. Immediately im scared an panicked because this “hospital” was really just a clinic that was dark and dirty, and just not an overall great experience. My mom and bestfriend took turns sleeping on the worlds most horrible “love seat”? Kinda. While one was sleeping on that the other was sleeping in the waiting room right outside the door.

When my son was born he immediately needed oxygen and to be tube fed for the first 24 hours because he was in rough condition. After about day 3 i was able to finally hold him and feed him. I was having a hard time recovering from the C-section and was so ready to be home and to see my own doctor.

The morning of day of 3 my sons father and my stepdad show up to the hospital in Mexico, anxious and eager to meet the baby. Once we were are clear to go,we got on the next flight home. It wasn’t until i got home that it sunk in. YOU ARE A MOM NOW. Everything was different now.

So we made it home now and baby is doing well, and i am recovering slowly. We had to get in the flow of things and figure what worked for us and what didnt. It was a process and the first couple months were the hardest.

That is how the pregnancy and delivery of my first son happened. I hope you enjoyed. I will be doing a little follow up to this post with some pre/post pregnancy tips. An welcome anyone who wants to share any tips as well.

BoyMom³

19 and Pregnant

So i was 19 when i had my first son. It was hard. I thought that i new everything there was to know about pregnancy and being a mom. BOY was i wrong. My pregnancy was not what you want your first pregnancy experience to be like. I was very worried of disappointing my parents, therefore i kept my pregnancy a secret from them for the first five months. That alone was very stressfull and not very healthy. On top of keeping it a secret i was also traveling with my sons father to the United states from Belize to look at colleges to attend the upcoming school year, still with my parents having know idea i was pregnant. Come the end of the summer the “beans” are spilt, my parents know im pregnant, and everything changes!

So i ended having my son in October of 2009, And enrolled in College in June of that year in Washington State. Now going to college meant that my sons father and i would have to move from our small island. College and a new baby is not easy, but moving to a whole new country on top of it was double hard.Trying to manage new mommy life to a little baby boy and trying to do well in my college classes was difficult. If it wasn’t for my husband and family’s support it wouldn’t have been able to make it as far as i did. Home sick is a real thing.

Being a mother to baby at 19 is a young age to hold that much responsibility. Not only was i know a mother but i was a mother to a baby BOY. There is just something about being a mother to boys that is so amazing. My first son has taught me so much. He made me the woman that i had to become at the time but even more importantly the woman i want him to be for him and now his brothers.


Now i know i said i would tell you guys my birth stories,but i feel as if i need a whole post for each kids story. They were all different and very unique in there own ways. So my next post will be the story of my oldest sons birth and my pregnancy.

#boymom³

Growing up salty.

First off i want to start by saying hello and welcome to my page. Im very excited to start this year with a new adventure of blogging, and being able to share my life as a mother of 3 boys.

My story is relatable on many levels, and not so relatable on others. See i have three wonderful boys ages, 10,4,and 18 months. While they do the normal things kids these ages do, they just happen to do it living on a very small island. We are from San Pedro Belize. A beautiful island full of wonderful people. My boys get to live a life most people dream of.

In my blog i would love to share with all of you what its like rasing boys on an island. Ill be sharing my pregnancies and what its like to be pregnant in a third world country. Ill being giving you guys a brief run down on what my experiences were with giving birth three times on an island, and the complications that came with that.

Ill be sharing all my knowledge on what i know about raising boys and welcoming all the advice you may have for me as well. Kids are blessings, but boys are extra special.

Cant wait to start getting in touch with all of you guys and i have really enjoyed reading some stuff out there so far.

Thanks again for stopping by. I will be posting every other day in the evening time.