Marquez's Baby Blog: April 2009

Saturday, April 25, 2009

It's Saturday night, I'm working on homework and decided I needed to update my blog. Sorry, no pictures yet. I finally converted my Study into the new Nursery for the baby. I painted the room in 2 shades of pink, the crib is assembled as well as the changing table. It's looking really cute and I'm driving Steve crazy because he claims that I'm "nesting." Just last week I received a schedule for Lamaze classes. I'm a little over 7 months now and better take those classes soon. Between work, school and homework, I can't seem to find any free nights to begin the classes. I'll share how it goes after I take the classes. Not only was the clock ticking to get pregnant, the clock is ticking to take these Lamaze classes, finish the nursery before the baby arrives and get myself on a Baby Registry. My family and friends have been pressuring me to register at Target and Babies R Us. So, yesterday after a homework break Steve, my Mom and I went to Target to register. I seem to need everything. Steve had a ball scanning stuff. The first thing he scanned was a First-Aid kit with a thermometer and the second thing was a baby scale. Not quite sure why we need a scale, but he insisted. We will head out to Babies R Us tomorrow to get registered. It's fun but a little frustrating, not sure what is really necessary to have.

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WELCOME

It's December 15th, I am starting to feel a little better now, no more cramps, not as sleepy and tired, just a little random morning sickness every few days. I am not very hungry lately and when I do eat, I don't feel well. Doctor said I still haven't put on any weight at all, so I need to work on that.
Cravings? I have not had any cravings yet, although it may be early. Steve's been craving cheesecake, strange for someone who doesn't really eat sweets. The good news is that the baby is doing better and my next ultrasound is December 22nd.
I CAN'T WAIT!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We had a winter white Christmas. It snowed on Christmas Eve and Day. It was beautiful. We had a little scare while we were up in Big Bear. Just after midnight on December 25th I ended up in the emergency room with a fever and an infection in my kidney. Not a happy time. Again, with great help from Steve, my sister Margaret and my mother, they kept my fever down in order to keep me out of the hospital. They checked the baby, who was a little distressed but doing well. I was instructed to see my doctor once we came down the mountain. So, we had an appointment to see my doctor on Monday, December 29th to make sure all was well.

Today is January 8, 2009. I am suffering from morning sickness more now than before (throughout the day). Also, the smell of different food makes me nauseous and nothing looks good to eat. I just can't find my appetite. My bust is getting fuller, but I wish my bottom would get fuller instead. I think it's time to go out and shop for some new roomy brassieres. At my doctors appointment on January 22nd, he will tell me if I can increase my work schedule hours. I currently only work 2 days a week and have to rest the other days. I registered for school again and I'm ready to go back to work. Other than a loss of appetite, I am feeling much better.
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE DOCTORS DECISION!

On Thursday, January 22nd I went in for my doctor appointment. Sadly, Steve was not able to be there. The appointment was short, there was no time for an ultrasound. (Unfortunately, no new picture of the baby this time). But, I did get to hear the baby's heartbeat through this gadget called a Doppler. I could hear lots of movement and a very fast heartbeat. My weight is the same (101 lbs). The doctor was a little concerned. They gave me a new cocktail of prenatals. These won't only provide more vitamins for the baby and I, but will help me with the nausea as well as increase my appetite. The doctor has given me a note to return to work for no more than 32 hours a week. This is great! My new work schedule is Tuesday through Friday and I am back at USC as I planned.

I had my doctors appointment on Thursday, February 12th. It went great! My husband and my nephew Johnny were both there. My belly is beginning to grow and I put on 1 pound. The baby is growing quickly and actually weighs about 12 oz. Here's the news: The doctor said that he's 90% sure that we are having a GIRL! We saw the ultrasound and I think he is right. We are both just glad to hear that the baby is healthy. Well, it's Valentine's weekend and Steve and I are on our way to Cambria for the long weekend. This might be the last peaceful getaway for a long time. Happy Valentine's Day!!

On Thursday, March 12th, I went to my doctor appointment. I had another ultrasound and the baby has grown quite a bit since our last visit on 2/12/09. My mother and Steve both went in with me. My mother was amazed. When she had us they didn’t have technology like this. When my sister had the boys, she only saw the still ultrasound pictures but not the moving footage. She was pretty excited to see the baby moving around. About 1 week prior to this appointment, I woke up after some severe backache and realized that my belly had just popped out. I put on some weight this time, 4 lbs since my last visit. It was time to go shopping for maternity clothes. It was fun to see the ultrasound this time, the baby looked big. According to Steve, she looked like Tweety Bird. To me, the baby looked like the M&M with legs. She has a large head and these skinny little legs. The doctor said that the baby is a little snug inside, but doing well. My next appointment is April 9th. They will not do an ultrasound but they will do a glucose test. It doesn’t sound very tasty. Sorry for the delay in updating my blog, I just finished my midterms at school. Happy Easter!!

Just an update on my doctor visit on April 9th. My glucose test results were good. No problems there. Also, no ultrasound, but they did measure my belly and it has grown quite a bit. I have also put on a couple more pounds. I'm looking and feeling huge. My next doctor appointment is May 7th. Again they don't plan on doing another ultrasound but just a check up. I'll post an update again then. I'm feeling a lot of movement now. Just after I eat, the baby begins to move around a lot. Also, when I'm sitting in class she goes crazy, sometimes I look down at my tummy and can see my top move. It makes me want to laugh but I don't because I don't want to look like a crazy person laughing to myself. Anyway, Steve still does a tummy inspection everyday and talks to the baby every night before we go to bed. He's glad that my belly is finally showing.

On June 2nd I had my doctor appointment as scheduled. He again measured my stomach and just really wanted to check to see if the baby was moving downward. She was actually laying across. It was pretty painful having her in that position. My stomach looked lop-sided. It was bigger on my left side because it was her head resting there and I felt lots of kicking on the right side of my stomach. The doctor estimated that she again had grown and she was probably very close to 5 1/2 lbs. At this point, my stomach was getting really big. I was told to elevate my bottom and legs for about 20 minutes twice a day to help the baby move downward. My weight was up another 2 lbs. My next doctor appointment was scheduled for June 9th. I now have to go to the doctor once a week.

On June 9th, I went to the doctor again. My feet were a little swollen. That was the first time that I had ever seen my feet look like that. It wasn't painful but sure looked weird. I was also feeling a little tired. The doctor finally told me that it was time to start my maternity leave. I suggested that it didn't start until the last day of school at Alhambra High. Therefore, my last day at work was Friday, June 12th and my nephew John was graduating from high school that evening. It worked out great. I am so proud of him. He's now off to college and I'm now having a baby of my own to send off to college one day. My next doctor appointment is June 16th.

On June 16th I went to the doctor again. The baby seems to be getting into position. Her head is downward but not quite ready. The doctor measured my stomach again and it is huge. I have gained a total of about 14 lbs. I feel huge. My stomach looks like a basketball. According to the doctor, I have dilated only 1/2 a cm but that doesn't mean much at this point. It's pretty much a waiting game right now. The doctor is concerned because the baby is getting a little too big for me to have natural. He's going to do another ultrasound on June 24th to determine the exact position and size of the baby, that is if I don't have the baby before that. I'm getting scared!

So, here we are on Tuesday, June 23rd (one day before my next doctor appointment where they were going to do an ultrasound to see how big the baby had gotten). It's about 2:00am and I notice some spotting with little cramps (nothing major). At about 4:00am there is more spotting and stronger cramps. (still unsure what contractions are supposed to feel like) At about 5:ooam the spotting and cramps get worse and Steve wakes up. He asks me what is wrong and I wasn't sure what to say. I was not in extreme pain, just worried about the heavy spotting. I decided to shower and clean up before I called the doctor or had Steve take me to the hospital. I was not sure what to do, so I told Steve to go ahead and go to work. At about 6:30am I called my sister Margaret for advice. She suggested I call my doctor about the spotting. The doctor said that those were all signs of labor and to check myself in at Labor & Delivery at Huntington Memorial Hospital A.S.A.P., so I called my sister to take me. They examine me, monitor the baby and the contractions and I am definitely in labor but only dialated 1 cm (9 cm to go). They call my doctor and he requests an ultrasound at 1:45pm in his office to check the position and size of the baby. Steve shows up at the hospital as I am getting released. The nurse suggests that I do some walking and get something to eat because I may return by the end of the night. My sister, Steve and I head to COCO's for breakfast and they force me to do some walking, so we go to Ross.

At 1:45pm on June 23rd Steve takes me to my ultrasound appointment to see how the baby is doing and to check if I had dilated any more. By this time the cramps had decreased and were not so close together, but the baby was moving like crazy inside. She seemed anxious to get out. I finally went in for my ultrasound at about 2:30pm and Dr. Matsuda notices that the baby is breech. He tells me that he needs to take her out that same day. I begin to cry. He sends me directly to the hospital to check myself in for a cesarean to be performed at 7:00pm but possibly moved up to 5:45pm due to it's urgency after further tests. It was definitely an urgent situation, so they preped me for the next surgery. It was the most painful experience of my life. The surgery was complicated but she is in perfect health and cute as a button. I am currently recovering.