The Revelations of Today's Doctor's Appointment...

This morning, Tony and I had a routine visit with my OB-GYN, Dr Yang. At the advice of the ultrasound technician and our perinatologist, we are moving up my due date. Dr Yang is doing so hesitantly because he did an ultrasound at our first visit and he feels that there is no way I was further along than 7-8 weeks. Well, on 12/7 Dr Catanzarite, my perinatal specialist says that according to the bone density tests that the baby was weighing approximately 3 pounds and they can't blame me for what I eat because at that point, I had only gained a total of 8 pounds. So today, Dr Yang told Tony and I that he is moving the due date up but not to panic about it because he's going to let me go as long 10-14 days over before he would induce. This makes my new due date February 22nd (it was 3/13). OK, now I'm starting to panic as my father in law still hasn't bought our crib, I need Tony to get a few days off so we can get the baby's room put together, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know that's only 3 weeks earlier, but I had everything timed out and my anal retentive nature isn't handling this well.

Meanwhile, I was able to sweet talk the lady at the hospital in charge of scheduling classes to fit us into the child birth education classes and me into the breast feeding class as well for January. Whew! Ok, that's one thing off my list.

Ultrasound Photos from week 26

These were taken at the perinatologist's office on 12/7. They are supposed to be face shots but this child would not hold still long enough to get a clear picture. I think that is a San Nicolas trait. From this appointment, all looks pretty good but we are going to have monthly visits with him and our regular ob-gyn to keep an eye on things. Although they look very similar, they are 2 different shots.

Ultrasound Photos from week 23

We apologize now for these taking so long to get up. These are from my Doctor's appointment on 11/21 (the day before Thanksgiving). The photo on top is a special 4D image they threw in there for us without charge. I think it was supposed to be a teaser for us to come back and get more done. As cool as they are, the thought of lying flat on my back with the back pain I already have isn't that enticing. Meanwhile, the new scanner I got for Christmas is hooked up and ready to roll so I'm catching up on everything.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm having more ultrasounds than the average pregnant woman. There are some reasons behind this that Tony and I wanted to keep private until we were ready to share them. In October, I mentioned that there was some slight dilation of the kidneys and it was nothing to worry about. Well as of this particular appointment, its become something to KINDA worry about. The dilation has not reduced, nor has it increased but we are seeing a perinatologist with San Diego Children's Hospital to keep a closer eye on things. Tony and I have done our research on this medical condition ( called fetal hydronephrosis) and on our doctor. We are blessed to be working the best perinatal specialists in Southern California...and even more blessed they have a Murietta office! From our medical research, we have found that this is nothing to panic about (so if you feel the need to panic, please refrain from doing so in front of Tony, myself or our parents as we kept this quiet just for that purpose). This is something that doctors are seeing in 5-10% of pregnancies these days due to the advancement in technology- they are able to pick things up on an ultrasound that they were not able to do even 5 years ago. In most cases of this situation, it corrects itself by birth or shortly after. Worst case scenario, they will have to perform a minor surgery to open the baby's ureters to allow the fluid to drain more efficiently. Although that sounds like a traumatic experience for both parents and baby, I've had a dear friend who has had to deal with her newborn daughter having open heart surgery and in comparison, this is nowhere near what she and her husband had to deal with. Another friend of mine happened to mention to me that her son had the same issue and when they did the tests a few days after his birth, all was well. To be honest, we feel very optimistic about everything and we are at peace with everything and are putting it in God's hands.

My mom still hasn't told my dad anything about this as with the loss of their first grandchild last year, he's been a little nutty about my pregnancy because he can't handle the heartbreak again. So let's just not bring this up to him if we can help it. He already has heart problems, no need to exacerbate them. On the same note, we have not mentioned this to Tony's father either in order to control the level of panic around us.

Meanwhile, with the possibility of the baby needing surgery, we have been advised not to have many visitors to the hospital and to limit it to immediate family( yes, Jenn and Shannen, you are considered family) and under no circumstances are we to have children under 16 years old visit within the first 2 weeks post-natal for obvious reasons. We are going to follow the doctors' advice on this and the hospital will be given explicit instructions to enforce this. Oh yeah, no cameras in the delivery room. Period. That has more to do with your health than mine. :)

A Blessed Christmas Season

Christmas was so wonderful this year, probably because I was off work and truly had the time to enjoy it. Also because of Tony's work schedule, it stretches out over a few days so it doesn't seem to come and go in the blink of an eye. Last weekend we were in Big Bear and then we had a few days in between and then celebrate the actual day of. Christmas Eve, I made Tony and I a batch of homemade spaghetti and meatballs from scratch and the next morning we got up and opened our gifts to each other and attended Christmas Mass before he had to leave to go to work. The mass was beautiful and we are blessed with a great group of priests that always deliver a poignant message in their homilies. Luckily, they made a huge turkey dinner for all the guys on base so Tony didn't miss out on a good hot Christmas meal. I spent the day w/ the Galyean family (my friend Jennifer's family) so I got to see them and of course, Jenn and Dan and Gabriel (our Godson). That would be Gabriel in the above pictures. Jenn made us tamales again this year and Tony is already staking his claim on those for tonight!

I spoke with my Grandma Bev that lives in Portland and they got Christmas snow! Apparentally they were just big, fat snowflakes. I called Belinda next and she said all she could do is stare out the window at the snow all day. It usually doesn't snow in Christmas there. They do get their fair share of snow but it doesn't stick to the ground very long.

My cousin Kalynn got engaged. I'm really excited for her and she is so happy she can barely contain herself. She just called me and asked me to be her maid of honor and I'm so excited. She'll be getting married over the summer so I told my parents they have to go too so we can all take turns with the baby. I guess that's the motivation I'll need to get Weight Watchers rolling for me once the baby is about 6 weeks old.

Tony and I are hoping to connect with his family this coming weekend when he has a few days off. Its tough with his schedule and I know he misses his family.

One of my gifts yesterday was a new all in one printer/scanner/etc so once I get that hooked up, I will post ultrasound photos and all the updates on the baby. There's alot to update so I intend to have that going in the next 24 hours or so. Hopefully sooner.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love Christmas, especially when we get to go to the mountains and there is a blanket of snow on the ground. We went up to my parents for an "early Christmas" since Tony will be working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We got to spend 3 days in Big Bear and just have fun with the family and play in the snow with the dogs. On Saturday night, Mom made an awesome prime rib dinner and afterwards we opened gifts. Since Tony will be working Christmas Day, I'm going to have a quiet day with the Galyean family out in the Dido. Luckily with Tony's schedule, we will still be able to go to church together and have a Christmas morning together. We have so much to be thankful for this year, so many blessings have bestowed us as we celebrate the birth of Christ and relish in the true meaning of the season.

PartyLite Christmas Clearance and Open House

As many of you know, at least those of you who are local- my PartyLite leaders and I were trying to clear out some old product so we did a week long open house. I took some pictures to show all the work we did on displays to give people an idea of what we had to offer and as a reminder for myself when we do this next year. We are moving the product to Moreno Valley for another open house on Tuesday. Then I am happy to say I am done for the year!