Ready to throw in the towel...

Only in the past month of my pregnancy have I really been feeling the symptoms of actually being pregnant... heartburn, indigestion, minor skin outbreaks, back pain, food cravings, increased appetite, fatigue, shortness of breath, dysgeusia, urinary incontinence and the worst of them all, edema.

In the past two weeks, edema has seriously kicked my ass. For those who don't know what it is, basically it's the swelling of your ankles and feet. My feet seriously look like Hulk feet minus the green tinge! I've accepted the fact that I've been very fortunate not to have to deal with many of the symptoms until pretty much the home stretch but the swelling is seriously the worst feeling ever! No matter what I do, such as, keeping my feet elevated, cutting salt from my diet, icing down my feet, wearing support socks (which look RIDICULOUS!) it has just been inevitable and full force!

Before shot of when I first noticed the swelling...

The morning after...

This morning, I reached my breaking point.I woke up like I always do, but noticed my feet had not gotten better overnight and my legs felt tingly. It was torture getting from the bed to the bathroom, a mere 8 feet away. I could help but break down and cry for a solid ten minutes. (Hell, I'm tearing up now just thinking about it.)

I've always hated my feet... I'm flat-footed and have a princess toe which has made me feel subconscious about wearing open-toed shoes and sandals. Now let's add the fact that my ankles have morphed into cankles and my toes are reminiscent of Jimmy Dean sausages. I only have two pairs of shoes that fit and that's only because I had to go out and buy them a size bigger and in wide. Thank you Payless for having these shoes on sale and I had an additional coupon! My other pair are size 9, silver flip flops from Target that I wear when I'm not at work.

I keep telling myself, "Only a few more weeks and it will all be over." I'm so ready for Emilia to make her debut and put me out of my misery.

Our (Hopefully) Musical Daughter

I know I said I would blog about the cool baby stuff we were given at the shower but I'm too lazy to take photos right now... that being said, I did have three particular items on the registry that I really wanted and I received all three:

Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions
Thanks to Jessica for Queen, Elaine for Journey and Henry for Weezer!

I found these albums on Amazon and thought my kid has to have these. Not only are they my favorite bands but they are kid friendly! I really do hope that my kid loves Queen, Journey and Weezer as much as I do. In fact, I hope she is very much interested in music as her dad is. I sing to her when I'm driving alone or in the shower and she seems to be dancing in utero when Johnny plays jazz saxophone...

We've recently been talking about our musical influences were growing up and how it's shaped us today. As for me, I remember my dad jamming out to Queen, The Beach Boys and other classic rock bands every time we were in the car. My mom would blast Vicente Fernandez, Ana Gabriel, Luis Miguel, Juan Gabriel, Selena, Gloria Trevi and mariachi classics every Saturday morning while cleaning the house. All of Johnny's siblings have know how to play one or more instruments and Johnny himself has 11 different instruments at home. Johnny really wants Emilia to play the violin or classical guitar. I, on the other hand, want her to play electric guitar or piano. I guess when the time comes, she'll favor her own instrument and want to play it on her terms.

In the mean time, I was thinking about some songs I hope she grows up with. I would really like to make her a mix tape in the future for her to actually listen to the lyrics. I'm sure I'll keep adding to the list, but the following songs have always brought a smile to my face and made me reflect about my life and how I've gotten to where I am now. I thought I would share it and if you have any you think I should add, leave a comment!

The Middle – Jimmy Eat World

Time of Your Life – Green Day

All I Wanna Do – Sheryl Crow

Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen

All You Need Is Love – The Beatles

What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong

Three Little Birds – Bob Marley and the Wailers

100 Years – Five for Fighting

I’ll Stand By You – The Pretenders

Don't Stop Believin' - Journey

Pork and Beans - Weezer

I Just Want to Celebrate - Rare Earth