Ramon

Hello Multiply! It's been two weeks since I gave birth! I must say, it has been the fastest recovery I've had thus far. I already have a small stash of milk in the freezer (I will get to watch you, Iron Man 2!) and I will be shopping in no time. But in the mean time, I've put myself on house arrest, never leaving unless absolutely necessary, for the latest, littlest love of my life.

Meet my son



Ramon Miguel Lapid Juan

I know, I know, he's supposed to be Neil Gaiman Juan, but my husband did the whole birth certificate filling-out thing while I was stuck recovering in a hospital bed and he strongly vetoed my choice of a name. Oh well, I was thinking I'd call him Moe, as his nickname, from Ramo-mo Ramon. But it's secretly short for Morpheus. Hahahaha!

I am such a mom cause I will say it now, and I'll say it forever, he is the pogiest little boy on the face of the planet! He has the most hair of all my kids, and he's the whitest too. He looks pretty orange in the photo, but that's just cause of the light and the slight jaundice. But really, he is so tisoy! We haven't figured out who he looks like yet. Mike thinks he looks like Lia. I think he looks like Desi. He will probably be a mix of the two. I guess that's only fair, if you agree that Lia looks like Mike and Desi looks like me. I suppose it's only right that Ramon is a mix of us two. Or us four! We should find out soon enough. If I'm consistent in my parenting, his photos will be flooding the internets for years to come.

I checked my old entries for when I introduced Lia and Desi to the internet and realized this one is relatively late. With my two girls, I posted something about them within a week of their birth. With Ramon it took two weeks. But I think I didn't feel too pressured to post an intro about him sooner because news of his birth and pics were all over facebook just hours after I gave birth. Plus I have something to say about him almost everyday on FB and twitter. In the past, people wouldn't know I've given birth until my LJ announcement so I do my best to blog about it as soon as I can. Particularly with Desi, cause my parents were abroad when I gave birth. Now everyone is on facebook and it's probable that no one will even bother to read this in my blog.

Nevertheless, and despite the fact that since this is my third child, everyone must be sick and tired of me blathering about new born baby after another, knowing that the experience is pretty much similar. The constant pooping, the nonstop nursing, the grotesque mummy tummy and the never ever sleeping again, Ramon will grow up and may someday read this blog. He will look for his introduction and so, here it is.

Even if he's only been around for two weeks it really truly feels as if he's always been part of the family. His sisters totally dote on him. If I let them, they will hang out with Ramon and me and tickle and kiss him all day. Right now, I'm too tired to really deal with taking care of three children all at once, so I like to have my one on one time with Ramon, just the two of us, nursing, lying around, sleeping... well, he's sleeping, I'm trying to sleep. Or when he's awake, I like to stare at him and talk to him. I tell him what I hope for him in the future, and the many things we will do when he gets big enough. And that I really really really love him. He just rolls his eyes. A preview of his teenage years, perhaps? At least he can't answer back yet. I'm totally taking advantage of this point in his life, where he's totally helpless and dependent on me for all his nourishment, to bond with the boy, who will soon enough try to escape my kisses and hugs and demand that I treat him like a man.

So far the only difference I've noticed about having a boy, as opposed to caring for my two girls when they were new born (aside from having no pink stuff at all, whatsoever), is you need to be much faster and more alert when changing a boy's diaper. All my kids have been known to pee or poop WHILE being changed. That, of course is an adventure in itself. But with girls, they just tend to wet everything around them. This boy has a sort of "fountain factor" that has caught me by surprise when I wasn't ready. You really have to be fast and on your toes when changing a boy, and prepared with a cloth diaper to protect yourself with. Right now I think Mike and I still need a bit of practice. And Ramon just has to be more patient with us. It's like learning an old skill all over again.

I would love to write about his birth story, and the baby blues I got the day after we got home from the hospital, but my boobs are telling me that Ramon will be up to nurse again pretty soon so I should stop here. Will do my best to update this blog more often, aside from my FB and Twitter one-liners. Let's hope that works out.

I have a son! I still can't get over that new word. Son. I feel so blessed.