Its Grandma Beverly's 80th Birthday!

Here's a salute to the awesomest Grandma to ever walk the planet. She loves to have a good time and has the best sense of humor. Wish we could be up in Portland to help her celebrate but hopefully we can make it up there soon!

Padres Opening Night 3/31/08

Part of our season tickets package included tickets to Opening Night and I was really nervous because this kid can squawk when he's over stimulated and too many people are around. Tony wouldn't take no for an answer so we went. Matthew did great! Tony put him in the Baby Bjorn with his Padres cap (courteousy of Auntie Shannen) on backwards and away we went. He made it to the 6th inning (about 9pm) when he started to fuss and you really couldn't hear him anyways. He basically slept through it all. We went ahead and took off because it was getting cold in the nosebleed seats we were in (we don't get to sit in our normal seats until Friday) and he needed to eat anyways, easier to do in a warm car.

Weekend Visitors

On Saturday, my cousin Susie drove my Great-Aunt Barbara out to Temecula from Huntington Beach to see Matthew. That would make her Matthew's Great Great Aunt. On Sunday, Becky and Sandy Jensen came over to see him. Then on Monday, Auntie Shannen came out to visit and cut Mommy's hair.

Happy Easter!

I know Matthew will probably hate me for this one day, but I can't help but share them. Wishing everyone a blessed Easter.

Matthew's Newborn Portrait

I was on alot of Demerol when this was taken but I remember he wasn't happy about it!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I'm 3 weeks old today!

Can you believe its been 2 weeks?

I've been good about emailing pics and even posting them on Myspace but I haven't had the energy to write a blog. There's so much to say and so little sleep. Actually, he is sleeping for longer stretches in the night, we had a rough couple of days about a week ago when he hit his growth spurt and all he wanted to do was eat but that has calmed back down now. Matthew had his 2 week check up on Monday and he gained almost a pound already so the doctor suggested I put him on a schedule of eating no less than every 3 hours to make sure he doesn't gain too much weight and eats out of hunger and not for comfort. As for the kidney issues, everything is looking positive. He has bladder reflux but it is on a small enough scale the dr's are confident he will outgrow it. He had his kidney ultrasound this week as well and they are not as enlarged as once predicted, so the news is very promising. We see the urologist next week to go over all test results, meanwhile he has to take amoxicilin every day for a year. That's easy enough. Meanwhile, Matthew's already camera happy parents are snapping pictures up a storm! Here are some photos we took yesterday afternoon.

Introducing Matthew Anthony San Nicolas

He's here! Its a boy. We're home from the hospital now. So much to say and no energy! We'll post more soon.

Nope, I'm not in labor....

Tony and I got home a little bit ago from the doctor's office. Since I had 7 messages on my answering machine, I figured I should update my blog. Staying off the phone and just being mellow has actually lowered my blood pressure since Tuesday by several points and I lost several pounds too. I was so tense on Tuesday that my BP had increased and I was retaining a ton of water.

I'm still showing no signs what so ever of going into labor. NST came back great, heart rate is perfect and there are more fetal movements this week than I can remember in awhile. No contractions though. From the ultrasounds, cord is still around the neck so we are going to induce on Monday. I check into the hospital Sunday night. I'm supposed to call before I go in to make sure there are beds available but I can tell you with all certainty that there is no way I'm going in prior to the end of the Oscars!

Meanwhile, I'm going to relax with Tony over the next few days and see if I can induce labor by eating spicy food and exercising. My doctor is hesitant that pitocin will even work at this point but I appreciate that he is not rushing me into a C-section even though it is the most likely outcome.

The hospital and my doctor have instructed me today that I cannot have vistors until Monday and even then they are not going to allow more than 2 people in with me at a time and that will be my mom and Tony. If I do deliver on my own, they will not allow anyone in the room with us for the first few hours and if I go C section, Tony will go with baby to the nursery and people can see baby through the window and then once I'm all sewn up, they will not allow visitors for bonding and breast feeding purposes. I probably won't be up for a lot of social interaction before Tuesday anyways, so I would advise anyone who wants to visit to wait until then. I know I can't keep family away even if I wanted to.... The security at this hosptial rivals Ft Knox so there is no way to sneak around it. I'd hate for anyone to drive all that way only to sit there for no reason.

As for this weekend, we plan to keep the phones off and enjoy the last weekend we will have alone and quiet for the next 18 years. Unless something changes from the above, we probably won't make any calls until after the baby comes. Thank you all for your well wishes and support.

T Minus 3 Days and Counting

Soooo... I just got back from my NST and seeing Dr Yang this morning. At this point, the baby still has a double nuchal cord but he/she is active as ever and the heart rate is still perfect. In fact, baby is so active that he/she would kick the heart monitor every time we found the freakin heart beat. That prolonged the morning to say the least.

I am still not physically progressing and am considered high risk for a C section. Dr Yang doesn't want to go that route until we are 100% sure since this is my first baby and he doesn't do VBACs with the current state of malpractice insurance. I go back in on Friday for another NST and if I'm still not progressing then we are going to schedule for me to go into the hospital on Monday either to induce or perform C section. With the double nuchal cord, we don't want to prolong delivery as to prevent putting too much stress on baby.

As for Tony and I, we feel calm and ready. We are enjoying our last days of peace and quiet and time together. Tony is working until Thursday and then he's out on FMLA for the next 6-8 weeks. I am just using this time of solitude to finish a few things around the house and relax. I have turned the ringers off on my phones and am luxuriating in solitude. I know several people have been calling us out of concern but please keep in mind that we will call if I go into labor or if there are any changes. Its fine if you want to call, but please do not be offended if we do not return calls right now. Its nothing personal. We thank you all in advance for respecting our desire for quiet and alone time.

So this is why they call it "barefoot and pregnant"!

Cuz you can't possibly put shoes on feet like these. Pregnancy has given me kankles that even Hillary Clinton would be proud of.

39 Weeks and More Drama Than Your Mama!

Well, this has been an interesting week. On Tuesday, I went to the peri-natologist for an ultrasound. The good news is that there is slightly less fluid in the baby's kidneys than the month before. Not a major change but its a good thing as it is better than there being an increase. The more challenging news is that we now have a double cord around baby's neck. My peri-natologist decides I need to be induced right away and he calls my OB-GYN and tells him this. Since I was at the end of my 38th week and baby is weighing in around 7 pounds, we should just go for it. That doesn't work for me so much. First of all, my gut feeling (no pun intended) is that there is plenty of movement that I know the baby is doing ok in there. Second, I had too much to do this week that I couldn't do the week before because Tony was gone and I need a little more freedom before all is said and done.

Anyways, we go to the doctor (luckily Tony had the day off) and he checks me and I'm not dilated and baby is still up too high. My body is in no condition to induce labor. Basically from here on out, I have to go in for Non-Stress Tests (NSTs) every 4 days until the baby is born. Basically, I get to lay on a spa table with a fetal monitor and a uterine monitor to check baby's heart beat and me for contractions. I've had 2 NSTs now and baby's heartrate is strong and exactly where it should be. As for me, I'm not contracting at all. I also found out I have a "narrow pelvis". This isn't news to me in the least but apparently I'm most likely going to need to have a C-section. We aren't going so far as to schedule one just so we can see if nature will overcome this but we are preparing ourselves mentally for it. Luckily Tony's job will give him 8 weeks off for this instead of just 6 weeks.

Wednesday Tony was off again and he came with me to the Pediatric Urologist at Children's Hospital in San Diego. We are seeing the director of urology and I did a little research and found that she is a published author of several articles in major medical journals on the condition our baby has so we know we are in good hands. We don't know anymore than we did before, she went over possible scenarios with us, but we won't know more until baby is here and we do an ultrasound on him/her to see where the blockage is. Since there was a slight decrease in fluid levels, the condition may still correct itself but she said 80% of the time, there is no need for surgery. Whew!

So all and all, that is our week in a nutshell. I was a little stressed but apparently it wasn't enough to put me into labor. I feel good and have been staying busy most of the week. The nursery is coming along and am having fun organizing and decorating.

Happy Birthday Claire

Today is Tony's sister Claire's birthday. Have a great one, sis!

A Few More Shower Pics

My Cup Runneth Over

Our little one is being born into so much love! Jenn Castro and Shannen Ebert threw me a baby shower over the weekend that was so amazing I was choking back tears from time to time. The poems on the favors, the handmade invitations, the diaper cake. There is too much to even list here but it was just amazing. Jenn's creativity was inconceivable. She made Tony the diaper belt in the blog below but she also made the Noah's Ark quilt by hand and that is a cross stitch pattern too. Shannen thought up some great games and did an awesome job on decorations. The balloon arrangement was so huge that I think I nearly got into a couple of accidents on the way home because I couldn't see behind me. She also acted as the resident photographer and she got some great pics of everything!

The generosity of the guests was so touching. We got a great mix of the necessities and the fun stuff too. We won't be without diapers anytime soon! It took me nearly 2 hours just to open gifts, that's crazy! A special shout out to the Galyean Family (Jenn's parents) for opening their homes and hearts to myself and the uberdysfunction better known as my family.

Daddy's "Diaper Dooty" Tool Belt

My shower was yesterday and it was awesome. I'm waiting for Shannen to take a refresher course in computer literacy as she is trying to remember how to upload photos. She took more than I did so when I get those I will post more on the shower. I will say this, Jenn and Shannen outdid themselves and I'm touched by how amazing it was!

Tony came home last night and I barely let him in the door before I made him open the gift Jenn made him. Its perfect for a first time dad who has NEVER changed a diaper before. Jenn took an ordinary toolbelt and added rubber gloves, a drop cloth, gas mask, tongs, air freshener, sanitizer, etc.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today The Debster turns 55! Have a good one, Mom.

37 Weeks 5 Days

I have never known what real fatigue is until now. I can't believe how tired I am. Tony is gone on a training assignment with the Air Force so I'm on "modified bed rest" so I don't knock myself into labor while he's gone. Not to mention, my shower is this weekend and I have to be there! I think I'm bored and that is why I feel so tired. I'm going to run a few minor errands tomorrow just to see if it will help me feel a little better. I'm not going to push it but one can only sleep so much!

I went to the Dr today and all is well. Just a routine check up. I have 3 appointments next week as I'm seeing the perinatologist, pediatric urologist and the ob-gyn. I'm sure I'll be sick of doctors when that is all said and done.

On a personal note, my Great-Great Aunt Angie passed away on Sunday. She was the younger sister of my Great Grandmother. She lived to be 96 and I feel like her life should be celebrated rather than mourned. I haven't seen her in a number of years but I remember her visiting us when we lived in Valley Center and she always sent me $2 bills for my birthday and Christmas every year, She was a strong and opionated German woman...qualities I always find endearing!

My First baby Shower

Today was my baby shower brunch at Rickey's townhome in La Jolla. It was an intimate get together amongst friends and it was a lot of fun! The decorations and detail he went to were tremendous and I can't believe all the ideas he came up with. (He is a professional event planner and I do recommend his services if you are ever looking for someone.)