09-09-09

So while Kelly was pushing a kiddo out, Danny, Tonita, Izzy and I had our own little 09-09-09 combo Izzy's 6 month party!

We had 9 different dinner items from Emma's and followed that with 9 different ice creams for dessert!

2 Months Old!

Van is 2 months old today!

He is such a happy, easy baby and is getting more and more interactive each day. He is cooing and laughing and rolls over almost every time we put him on his tummy.

Look at how much he has grown since 1 month!

Over the falls in a barrel

Just a quick re-cap for you all on our latest little trip:

We left Sunday morning from San Diego Intl. to Dallas DFW and then to Newark, New Jersey. Van rocked it out on both flights - which were about 3 hours each. He was a huge hit with nearly every desk agent, TSA guard and flight attendant. Traveling with a 5 week old baby is the best. They let you board first, treat you nice. Best airline flying experience I have had in a while.

Van's First Plane Ride!

From Newark we grabbed a rental car to Morristown, NJ where CAE SimuFlite is located. Kenny did five days of training (M-F) while Jen and Van hanged out in the Homewood Suites hotel room. (ask Jen about how much she loves the Homewood). The second night we were in New Jersey, we were able to get in touch with some friends that we met on our China trip in January. They lived about an hour and a half south of were we staying. It was fun to get to see them again - and get a free dinner! John is a great cook and whipped out a tasty steak and potato dinner with apple pie and ice cream to finish.

We did manage to find some recreation time after Kenny's simulator sessions (6:30 am - 11:30 am Eastern) and managed to take Van for his first geocache and consequently his first FTF!


Friday was Kenny's check ride (which he passed with flying colors - pun intended) and then we headed south for Philadelphia. We had Pricelined a room for $62 and when we showed up, we were shocked because we had to pay another $30 to park. Oh well. We valeted the car, unpacked the stroller and hit the streets of Philly.

We saw Independence Hall, where they signed the Declaration of Independence, as well as the Liberty Bell and the US Mint. The best part was the level 5 thunderstorm that hit the city while we were walking around. We wanted to pass the time in a dry location and we were hungry, and so, thanks to Jolene, we found a great Philly cheese steak place and weathered out the storm there. The cheese steak was quite delicious as well as the Italian hoagie sandwich.






The storm broke and we headed home to the hotel. A quick stop in a bakery secured us a creme brulee and chocolate tort that were half priced due it being the end of the day, and then we were back.

Saturday morning - we grabbed a few geocaches, another cheese steak and then hit the road for, well, somewhere closer to Niagara Falls than Philly. We made a small, time consuming detour to Cabela's in Hamburg, PA and saw this lovely nature display.


After Cabela's, we made another stop, this one in Scranton, PA - where CBS's the Office is supposedly based. We tracked down Poor Richard's Pub where we grabbed a bacon cheeseburger, another Italian hoagie, fries and soda - all for only $12! Yeah, we spent more than on lunch at McDonalds earlier that day. From Scranton, we decided to press on and continue northbound.


Jolene gave us another helping hand, and we ended up Syracuse, NY for another Priceline hotel. We arrived about 10:30 pm, checked in, got our rooms keys and headed up to the 15th floor. We found room 1509, slid our card into the slot, opened the door and found ourselves in an occupied room! We promptly exited the room and headed back down to the front desk. The lady tried to give a room with one double bed - ah, no. We finally ended up with a room that was unoccupied, had a king bed and warm shower - good enough for us.

From Syracuse, we headed out Sunday morning to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, about a 2 1/2 hour drive. The drive went smoothly and we made it without incident.

We spent Sunday afternoon and Monday on the Canadian side of Niagara. On Tuesday, we left Canada, saw the American side of the falls and then drove to Buffalo near the airport for our 8 am Southwest Airlines departure on Wednesday.

A few highlights of Niagara Falls:

welcome to Las Vegas.
another rain storm and taxi cab.
a terrible Hampton Inn.
vomit attack at Tony Roma's "all-you-can-eat" ribs.
fireworks show over the Falls.
night lights on the Falls.
attack elevator at Hampton Inn.
Lake Ontario and Niagara on the Lake.
our first Canadian geocache.
Little Red Rooster Restaurant.
nature hikes.
the wonderful 27th floor "Falls View" room at the Embassy Suites.
Maid of the Mist.
Cave of Winds.

Van at Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls at night

Jen and Van at Lake Ontario

Little Red Rooster Restaurant

The view

Dad and son at Niagara Falls

Kenny and Van on Maid of the Mist

Jen on Maid of the Mist

View of the Cave of Winds walk

In Buffalo, we found by sheer dumb luck, a great little Italian restaurant called "Frank's Sunny Italy Family Restaurant." It was fantastic, plus the waitress made us a firm believer that anyone and everyone who lives in Buffalo is crazy.


After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel. After finally drifting off to sleep later than we really wanted (about 11:30), we were jerked awake by an alarm going off. Van actually let out a small scream. Kenny was beating the alarm clock and was one step away from yanking it of the wall when the alarm announced "bwwooop, bwwooop, this is an emergency. Please proceed to the designed meeting place. bwwooop bwwooop. This is an emergency..."

Kenny remained calm and phoned the the front desk.

"Front desk."
"Yeah, we have an alarm going off in our room. Is the alarm legitimate?"
"Sir, yes it is. Please leave your room immediately."

So, Jen and Kenny calmly get dressed, grab our back packs, a laptop, and Van, and proceed out. Unfortunately, we were on the 9th floor and had to hoof it down all those stairs. By the time we arrived at the designated meeting area, the fire trucks were already leaving. It was a false alarm. Jen was surprised at Kenny in that he took the time to check each door for heat before opening it. Dwight would have been proud.

Wednesday morning came way too early after our midnight fire drill, but we managed to make it to Buffalo Airport on time and then, just as we are about to check in for our flight, Van rocket vomits all over everything within a four foot radius. We manage to get everything mostly cleaned up and re-attempt to check-in only to get the RUDEST, MEANEST, UGLIEST (okay that last one took it too far, but the first two were completely true) Southwest Airlines gate agent ever. Just in case you were wondering, her name was Brenda and her badge ID is 37014. Brenda checked us and our baggage in and we were off to TSA screening. Fortunately, Brenda was the worst of the day and we actually had the best TSA agents, SWA gate agents (one guy actually bumped a person off the flight so we could have all three seats to ourselves) flight attendants and pilots ever. The pilots even wanted to meet Van. They saw us getting off the plane and thought he was the cutest kid ever. The pilots were also curious about Jen's unusually large neck pillow.

All in all, it was a great first family vacation and we cannot wait to drag Van on many more.

Van's first vacation

We left early yesterday morning and flew to New Jersey for Kenny's flight training. Van did so good on the planes and slept the entire time. We thought all that sleeping might keep him awake last night, but he did great.

Van and I are hanging out at the hotel for the next few days while Kenny is at the airport. It is pretty much just like being at home since we are staying at the Homewood Suites... it is so nice to have a kitchen and living room and not have to sit on bed all day long.

Van was so happy this morning, I thought I'd take a video. He is such a good traveler :)

Van Rolls Over

Van rolled over tonight for the first time from his tummy to his back! We watched him the first time then ran and grabbed the video camera and caught him rolling over again for the second time. Yeah Van!

Good Morning from Van

One Month Old!

Van is one month old today. He hit a growth spurt this week and is getting so big. On Monday he weighed in at 9 lbs 1 oz and after the crazy week he had, I am sure he gained a ton this week. I can't wait to weigh him in on Monday and see how much he has grown.

We decided to take his one month pictures today, it was an interesting experience. Babies don't always cooperate :)

First he was attacked by a giraffe...



Then we decided he might like the bear a bit more...



Van got tired half way through the photo shoot...



Finally a smile...



Happy One Month Van!!! We love you!!!

The extraordinary Tom Knapp

While I was suffering from Baby Van withdrawals in Colorado Springs for four days, I did manage to fill one of my days with something I had been wanting to see for a long time.

I got to see exhibition shooter, Tom Knapp. He has two shows of his own on the OLN as well regularly appearing on "Impossible Shots" show. It was a blast! He is a super nice guy and went through the crowd before the show introducing himself and shaking hands. He also stayed after the show for a good hour signing autographs on clay pigeons and taking pictures. A real class act.

I had unfortunately missed him the day before when he did a show about 20 minutes from my hotel. Instead, I had to drive almost three hours to Nunn, Colorado to see him. I took a major freeway to a small highway, to a one lane country road, to three dirt roads and viola, I was there (there being the middle of nowhere).

Anyways, if you ever have the chance to catch one of his shows, a three hour drive is totally worth it.

42 Weeks!

Van's First Week

Today Van is one week old!

He has had a full week all full of firsts... first bath, first doctor's visit, first time on tv... you know, all the normal stuff :)

He is a great baby and sleeps all the time. He even slept all through the night last night. Hopefully that will continue!

He is eating great and is plumping up. We went to the doctor yesterday and Van is almost back up to his birth weight.

I am recovering and am feeling almost back to normal, except for the fact that it still hurts to bend over. The only hard thing is remembering to take it easy and relax so I don't hurt myself. Thankfully my mom and Kenny are both here to pamper me and help out around the house.

Here is a quick slideshow of some of Van's firsts during his first week of life.

Meet the family

Van's Photo Shoot Preview

A friend of ours from college, Jennifer Jabbour, is a natural light photographer and offered to come over yesterday to take newborn shoots of Van.

The photo shoot went really well even though Van was awake for most of the shoot. It took a while to get him to fall asleep so we could get a few of the shots, but overall he did amazing.

Check out the sneak peak of the photo shoot. We will post the link to all the pictures once they are finished.

http://jenniferjabbour.com/blog/?p=82

P.S. If you are looking for a photographer, I would totally recommend Jen. She has a great eye and is super patient and fun to work with!

How appropriate...

Our horoscope for today:

If possible, make time to take a nice nap this weekend. You need a bit more sleep.

:)

Van is Famous!

Van is here!

Van arrived at 4:56pm on 07-08-09! He is 7lbs 8 oz. and 19 inches long. We are at the hospital now and should be released on Saturday morning. Lots of stories to tell, but for now, here are some pictures :)

Car seats and rocket science

Should have been posted on June 21, 2009

Come on people, this is not rocket science.

PART ONE

We are t-minus two weeks to the baby launch and we are finalizing all the small stuff (and some big stuff too). On the baby launch agenda was a car seat. The government in all its wisdom feels the need to protect the youth of the nation by mandating that all children be hopelessly strapped into your vehicle when it is in motion. They will not let you even leave the hospital if you cannot satisfactorily demonstrate your ability to correctly fasten the seat to your car and then insert the child into said seat.

Of course, Jen and I over research, price check, compare and analyze everything. We finally had it down to one car seat but the tough decision was now between the cloth pattern of “Tango in the Tongo” or “Jungle Adventure.” To be fair, we had reached our breaking point in the child related decision making process. Let’s review them shall we:

1. Decide to have a child
2. Take an early peak at the child’s, uh, stuff
3. Having seen the child’s, uh, stuff, pick a name that will forever determine his destiny
4. Breech baby – choose his arrival into this world

That last one did us in.

Now we are forced to decide between the “Tango in the Tongo” or “Jungle Adventure”, which our team of psychoanalysts, statisticians and soothsayers have informed us that a misstep here will permanently and irrevocably screw up our child if the wrong one is chosen.

After many consultations and worry-filled nights we settle on “Tango in the Tongo” and hope for the best.

Three days later, Jen finds another brand of car seat that had been in the running on sale for $25 (original price $80). ARG!

We decide to roll with it and take the bargain car seat and run. Now we need a second adapter base for our other car (please don’t ask about car seat adapter bases – it is a scam for the baby accessory companies). We can get one from the manufacturer for forty bucks, but why pay forty when I can get one off craigslist (and how I love craigslist) for fifteen bucks.

Jen finds one on craigslist lickety-split and we go to check it out. Now, they are actually selling the seat and the adapter base but we really only need the base, but for fifteen bucks we’ll take the adapter and pitch the seat into the nearest Goodwill we can find.

After confirming with the seller twice that she has the base, we hit the road to go pick up our bargain find.

Anyone familiar with the term white trash? No relevance to the story, just a question.
We pull up to a mobile home (does not imply white trash), and find Bubba in the carport working on his four wheel drive truck on a Friday afternoon (does not imply white trash), without a shirt on (does not imply white trash), with a lady in the back of the truck in a lawn chair with her laptop (does not imply white trash) borrowing someone’s wi-fi. A second lady comes of the trailer looking like Juliette Lewis in Too Young to Die (does not imply white trash) with the car seat.

I ask, “Do you have the base?”

“Uh, I lost it.”

“Okay.”

I turn around, walk back to the car and leave. Jen follows.


PART TWO

Not to be broken, we head home and hit craigslist again. We get another hot lead the next day and we are in the car. We pull up to a small home in a quiet neighborhood and give the door a knock. A young Russian girl answers the door and presents the car seat to us for inspection. It is in “god condition” (her words not mine), but, as we have seen already, her English is poor. The car seat is a completely different brand than what she advertised.

I guess it is hard to match the letters on the car seat with the letters on a keyboard when you list a car seat on craigslist.

I turn around, walk back to the car and prepare to leave.

“You don’t like?” she asks confusedly.

All I can do is shake my head.



PART THREE

Having two strikes against it, we take the new car seat over Tonita’s to borrow her baby and do a hands-on test between the bargain seat and the “Tango in the Tongo” seat. After pulling poor Gwizzie in and out of both car seats about a dozen times, Gwizzie decides enough is enough and pukes on my shirt (see puke story).

With its two strikes and a poor showing in the hands-on test, we decide to return the bargain seat and go with “Tango in the Tongo.” But we are still stuck with looking for base. Fortunately, the TT seat is far more common and Jen promises me that there are hundreds of these bases available on craigslist for next to nothing.

Craigslist again provides and we hit the road once again. This is another combo sale, she has a seat and a base for only $10.

As we pull up, my mind is decided. The house is “those neighbors.” Cute house on the left, cute house on the right, drug house in the middle.

We drove all that way, so I knock. A middle-aged Hispanic lady answers the door; she and her six year old son and five year old daughter lead us to the back yard shed.
The kids suddenly feel the need for a pick-up game of baseball. Some how Jen ends up being the catcher as the girl wings a fast ball past the boy’s slow swing of the bat, both the ball and bat missing Jen by inches.

The lady extricates the correct brand of seat and a base out of the shed (success so far) only to show us a filthy, old, disgusting, well you get the point, seat and base.
I turn around, walk back to the car and prepare to leave.

“You don’t want it?” she asks confusedly.

“I’ll pass.”



PART FOUR

Can anyone say full price at Target? I think we have a winner.

Arg!

Should have been posted on June 19, 2009

I got puked on by a baby for the first time today. Sucky thing is that it was not even my kid. Oh come on now.

We borrowed a baby to try out on car seats and somewhere in there she decided to hurl. I was just a second too slow. She smiled, she grimaced and then whamo! Puke out the pie hole. I managed to turn the vomiting child just in time to make sure that I took a hit as well as Jen and the couch.

Is this the start of long road? (deep breath) I think so.

Mugworts....?

Should have been posted on June 12, 2009

Mugworts it is!

Jen did some research and found that there is an herb called mugwort which is used to help breech babies turn. As it turns out, mugwort leaves are dried and rolled in to sticks that you burn like incense in a process called moxibustion. Jen tracked some down at a place called Nam-Bac Hang Chinese Herbs in the college area. It was great!




Jen actually said, “It must be safe, they are selling it from a store.” Yeah, they only spoke Chinese, they only took cash and the box mentions nothing about the FDA, but sure, it must be safe because we were allowed to purchase it ☺

So we set up our mugwort moxibustion station last night in the gazebo and went at it. I cannot say that I definitively know what pot smells like, but this mugwort herb does has a suspicious smell to it. We propped up Jen, her feet and two burning rolls of mugwort. It seemed to do something because once we started smoking out Jen’s pinky toes Van started turning and rolling. Now we will keep our fingers crossed and hope something turns him.

Head in the clouds

Should have been posted on June 9, 2009

The people at The Ultrasound Experience are the coolest. They did our 4D ultrasound several weeks ago and now let us come back for free to scan Jen and see if Van is still breech.

Yesterday, Jen went to the doctor (under a slightly over-exagerated emergency guise) to have them check. The cool nurse Joanne said that he had flipped! Who-hoo! But she did only an external inspection.

I am sure you can see where this is going: yep, the ultrasound proved otherwise and Van is still holding his head high. Arg. Now we have to wait a week to go to the doctor for our next appointment and possibly schedule the CS then.
The ultrasound people are still cool though; she spend like half an hour trying to find some herb called mugwort or something – she even looked up hogswart (she’s now a big Harry Potter fan and had no clue). Oh well, we will see!

Aside from the breech thing, all is well. He has stopped kicking per se and now just kind of rolls back and forth. Jen’s belly get a big lump and he turns and rolls… kinda creepy.

We are getting close now and he could really pop out at any time (BTW – do not use the phrase “pop out” when speaking to an EDD lady. I was sternly corrected with “you mean when the baby is born.” Uh, yeah sure whatever lady. Have you ever seen a CS? I think pop out is way more descriptive.

Sorry, I digress. Van is right around the corner and every so often when we put actual numbers and dates to it, like hey he could be only two weeks away, my head starts to swim a bit. I am not scared – the first few years are like raising a dog right? Keep him clean, well feed, basically just keep him alive without any more bodily harm and you are doing okay…. right? I suppose I am 31 years old, but really I feel like I should be closer to 24 or so. Maybe I should go buy a Corvette ☺

40 Weeks!

From Baby Center:

It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.

After months of anticipation, your due date rolls around, and... you're still pregnant. It's a frustrating, but common, situation in which to find yourself.

You still have a couple of weeks before you'll be considered "post-term." But to be sure your baby is still thriving, your practitioner will schedule you for testing to keep an eye on him if your pregnancy continues.

Note from Jen:

I cannot believe I made it to 40 weeks and that Van will be here tomorrow!

We had our last doctor's appointment yesterday and Van was still breech and riding way high up. He is not in any hurry to come, which works out perfectly... no emergency c-section for us!

He is still moving around inside and has a strong heartbeat, so he should be healthy and happy after he arrives tomorrow.

I am having major lower back pain and cramping, but not enough to be considered true contractions or labor. It is weird to know that I won't have to really feel any contractions at all and I still get a baby!

So, the plan for tomorrow is:
wake up...
eat something before 8:30 am that hopefully will tide me over for the rest of the day...
avoid thinking about food for the rest of the day (I can't even have water!)...
finish up any last minute cleaning before everyone arrives...
hang out with everyone once they get here...
go to the hospital at 2:20pm...
go to the operating room at 4:30pm...
Van arrives about 20 minutes later!

39 Weeks

From Baby Center:

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.


While you're waiting, it's important to continue to pay attention to your baby's movements and let your caregiver know right away if they seem to decrease. Your baby should remain active right up to delivery, and a noticeable slowdown in activity could be a sign of a problem. Also call if you think your water may have broken. Membranes rupture before the beginning of labor in about 8 percent of term pregnancies. Sometimes there's a big gush of fluid, but sometimes there's only a small gush or a slow leak. (Don't try to make the diagnosis yourself. Call even if you only suspect you have a leak.)

Note from Jen:

8 days away! It is getting so close to Van's birthday!

Yesterday we went to the doctor for my appointment and things were very rushed. We were seen by the midwife and she said that Van looked great and that I am hardly dilated at all so I should be able to make it to the 8th. She also guessed that he is under 7lbs. right now and is measuring right on. After the exam she was about to send me out the door and I had to remind her that I was 39 weeks and had a c-section scheduled for the next week so I was pretty sure we needed to see the doctor.

The doctor came in and asked if we had the c-section scheduled. We said that we told her the date last week and she just stared at us blankly and said that it must have never been scheduled. How can you forget to do something like that?!? Anyway, the nurse called the hospital and then told us that there were "no good times" for that date and we would just have to take any time they could give us. Arg! I wonder if we could have gotten a better time had they called last week when they should have?!? Anyway, I didn't hear from them for the rest of the day, so I called around 4:00pm and asked if it was scheduled. They told me that we do have a time... 4:30pm on July 8th! I won't be able to eat all day that day, but at least we have a time scheduled. And who knows, he might just pop out at 4:56pm, making his birthday 4-5-6-7-8-9 :)

I am definitely getting ready to not be pregnant anymore. It is getting harder to move around and I am exhausted. I am going to miss feeling him and watching him move inside of me though...

I am taking it really easy this week so I don't go into labor before the 8th. I haven't had too many contractions and only a little bit of lower back pain, so I think resting is working. Pray that our little guy doesn't do anything rash and try to come before the scheduled time!

Can you believe Van will be here in a week?!?

38 Weeks

From Baby Center:

Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and he's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). He has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time! His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If he's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If he's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time he's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after he's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

For many women, the next couple of weeks are a waiting game. Use this time to prepare your baby's nursery or to take care of necessary tasks you may not get around to for a while after your baby's born. Take naps, catch up on your reading, and spend uninterrupted time with your partner while you can.

Some swelling in your feet and ankles is normal during these last weeks, but call your practitioner without delay if you notice excessive or sudden swelling of your feet or ankles, more than slight swelling of your hands, any swelling in your face or puffiness around your eyes, or have a sudden weight gain. Also let her know immediately if have severe or persistent headaches; visual changes (such as double or blurred vision, seeing spots or flashing lights, light sensitivity, or a temporary loss of vision), intense upper abdominal pain or tenderness, or nausea and vomiting. These are symptoms of a serious condition called preeclampsia.

Note from Jen:


Well, we are two weeks out from seeing our little guy. Our c-section is scheduled for 07-08-09, hopefully at 10:11 :) The doctor said that since I am not dilated at all at this point, we should make it to the due date no problem. We are just hoping that Van decides to stay in until then and not give us any surprises.

This week was our 9th anniversary and we celebrated by going to the Del Mar Fair, riding an elephant and getting a prenatal massage! (Yes, I said riding an elephant... I am sure Kenny will write a post about that later this week!) Last night I had my first massage ever and it was very relaxing. I still am having upper back pain and swollen/ painful feet, but at least the massage felt great for a while. I wish I could go every day!

I am enjoying my time off here at home and we pretty much have Van's room all ready and our bags packed for the hospital. I still feel like there is a ton to do, but am trying to take it easy so I don't accidentally go into labor!

38 weeks.. only 2 more to go!

9 Years!

Then:



Now:

Smartest dog ever

I woke up this morning and Pilot was sitting at my feet reading Tolstoy's "War and Peace". I asked if he wanted to go for a walk. His answer: well, I think his look says it all.

Don't Judge Me

I had a trip today for a friend of mine in his Bonanza. The passengers were some of his employees checking out a job site. I have flown them several times now and we have gone to Thermal Airport in Palm Springs every time. On my first visit I was directed to a small Indian Casino as the nearest "decent" restaraunt around.

I took the crew car and followed the directions to a small single story building that looked more like an light commercial/industrial building than a casino. I thought twice about it and decided to go ahead and try it out. Turns out that they have an extraordinarily tasty turkey club sandwich (which comes with avocado - yum!) and a reasonable batch of iced tea. And budget priced as well.

Unfortunately, you have to fight your way through a smoke-filled casino to find this hidden treasure of tasty turkey. I have managed my way through every time sans any temptation whatsoever. To put it plainly, I hate gambling. I enjoy the numbers and odds and cards and all, but not when it comes to giving them my hard earned money.

Thrice have I cruised through the den of inquity without nary a tinge of temptation to drop a few coins into a slot machine or plunk down a buck or two on the black jack table.

Today ended that streak.

How in the world did it happen you ask? I know not.

I had finished my tasty-as-ever club sandwich and was on my way out, when Satan's temptor reached out from a penny slot machine and grabbed me. I felt instantly ashamed and remorseful as the machine cooly wisked my ten dollar bill into its ever starving mouth.

I thought, "Just push the cash-out button and walk over to the desk and leave" but something about those blinking frogs would not let me go. I punched in my bet and gave the handle a pull. Another wave of guilt and remorse washed over me. A bigger one hit when I did not win "the big one."

Suffice it say, I played it for several more minutes, basically losing more than I won. Fortunately it was only penny slots so winning and losing was really a matter of nickles and dimes.

Then it happened. Jeremiah the Bull Frog came over the speakers. I thought to myself, "This is it, I am gonna hit it big now." Just in case you missed it above, I was playing some machine that featured "kiss the magic frog" and win! Why did I choose that one? Only Satan's temptor knows.

I punched in my bet and pulled the handle. Flashing lights, loud noises and ding... nothing!

I punched in my bet and pulled the handle. Flashing lights, loud noises and ding... nothing!

I punched in my bet and pulled the handle. Flashing lights, loud noises and ding... nothing!

I punched in my bet and pulled the handle. Flashing lights, loud noises and ding... winner winner chicken dinner!

I hit the big one with Jeremiah the Bull Frog and Mr. Magical Frog. Whoohoooo!

I was up $13.88. And I ran. Take the money and run, I always say.

All in all, I hated the entire experience. Even the winning moment was fleeting as I took my sad little paper ticket to the pit, got my cash and walked my way back out the smoke house.

Probably the last time for me for a while. Sorry Las Vegas, no high stakes roller here.

37 Weeks

From Baby Center:

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Braxton Hicks contractions may be coming more frequently now and may last longer and be more uncomfortable.

It may be harder than ever to get comfortable enough to sleep well at night. If you can, take it easy through the day — this may be your last chance to do so for quite a while. Keep monitoring your baby's movements, too, and let your caregiver know immediately if you notice a decrease. Though his quarters are getting cozy, he should still be as active as before.

While you're sleeping, you're likely to have some intense dreams. Anxiety both about labor and about becoming a parent can fuel a lot of strange flights of unconscious fancy.

Note from Jen:

Wow! I can't believe that I am full term and that he could really come at any time!

On Monday I had my doctor's appointment and we waited in the room for over 2 hours before we found out that she was at the hospital doing an emergency c-section and wouldn't make it. They tried to tell us just to come back next week, but I reminded them that we needed to find out if Van was still breech and they rescheduled us for later that day at 2:00 pm.

Despite our best efforts to turn the little guy, which even included going to a Chinese herbal shop last week and picking up Moxi Sticks (dried & rolled mugwort plant), he is still head up and the doctor said he is so far up it doesn't look like he will turn.



We are still doing the acupressure treatment of moxibustion (burning the moxi sticks by my toes for 20 minutes each night... they STINK! I have pictures I'll post later... moxibustion is too funny!) as well as other exercises, but it looks like we need to pick a birthday for our little guy. The doctor suggested 7-10 days before the due date. We are torn between scheduling the c-section before the due date or waiting it out until 07-08-09 and seeing if he decides to turn at the last moment. The only problem with waiting is that I could go into labor and then risk more of an emergency c-section than if we have it planned earlier. We need to figure this out soon!

Anyway, on Sunday we went to La Jolla and Sheree took pregnancy pictures of us. They turned out great and I am so glad that we have some good pictures of the pregnncy and not just our every two week photos.

Monday was my last day of work and because of the doctor fiasco, I ended up only working about 3 hours that day! I am now off on maternity leave/ disability. It is nice to be able to get things done at home during the day and not have to try to fit it all in after work. We are pretty ready for Van to arrive... we have the car seat and stroller, his room is pretty much all set up and all his clothes are washed, folded and organized. Now all we need to do is pick a date for our little guy to arrive :)

Here are a few pictures from our photo shoot on Sunday... I still need to edit them, but hopefully I will get the rest posted soon!

36 Weeks

From Baby Center:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.

Most likely he's in a head-down position. But if he isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating him from the outside of your belly.

Now that your baby is taking up so much room, you may have trouble eating a normal-size meal. Smaller, more frequent meals are often easier to handle at this point.

On the other hand, you may have less heartburn and have an easier time breathing when your baby starts to "drop" down into your pelvis. This process — called lightening — often happens a few weeks before labor if this is your first baby. If your baby drops, you may also feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen, which may make walking increasingly uncomfortable.

You might also notice that your Braxton Hicks contractions are more frequent now. Be sure to review the signs of labor with your practitioner and find out when she wants to hear from you. As a general rule, if you're full-term, your pregnancy is uncomplicated, and your water hasn't broken, she'll probably have you wait to come in until you've been having contractions that last for about a minute each, coming every five minutes for an hour. Of course, you'll want to call right away if you notice a decrease in your baby's activity or think you're leaking amniotic fluid, or if you have any bleeding, fever, a severe or persistent headache, constant abdominal pain, or vision changes.

Even if you're enjoying an uncomplicated pregnancy, it's best to avoid flying (or any travel far from home) during your final month because you can go into labor at any time. In fact, some airlines won't let women on board who are due to deliver within 30 days of the flight.

Note from Jen:

Feeling pretty good this week other than some back pain. I am pretty sure that is mostly being caused by sitting at my desk all day, so hopefully by next week it will go away since Monday is my last day of work!!!

I went into the doctor on Monday to have her fill out my disability paperwork and asked her to check to see if Van was still breech so I could know if I need to continue to do my exercises (you are supposed to stop if he has turned or risk flipping him back to breech). She felt around and said she was pretty sure that his head was down low since it seemed a bit harder down there and since she could hear his heartbeat better down lower. Needless to say I was so relieved and excited.

During the appointment I received a call from the lady who did our 4D ultrasound saying that we could come in on Tuesday and she would do a quick ultrasound to see what positions he was in... for FREE! We had called her up over the weekend to see if she could do a 5 minute ultrasound for us to see if he was breech and totally planned on paying for it. She is so nice and didn't want to charge us anything... she wouldn't even take the Starbucks gift cards we offered!

Anyway, yesterday afternoon Kenny and I went down to the ultrasound office and within a few seconds found out that Van was still snuggled into the exact same position he has been in for weeks... head still up with his feet in front of his face! All our hopes that we had built up the day before were dashed. He is still breech.

The good thing is that now I know for sure that I have a few days to get this kid to turn, so I will be doing anything I can. The other good news is that our 4D ultrasound lady said that if we do schedule a c-section, to come in to see her a few days before it is scheduled and she would do another quick peek for us just to make sure they aren't operating on me unnecessarily. She is so nice!

Other than the whole breech craziness this week, not too much other baby stuff has happened. We managed to go to Babies R Us last night without killing anyone, so that is a positive :) Only a few more things left to stock up on and then I think we are just about ready for Van to show up... well... as ready as we will ever be :)

The Baby Alert System

We have set up a Baby Alert System. We found a site that has an amazing feature that lets you send call blasts to members, so we figured we can set up different groups to alert friends and family abut any baby popping out news.

If you would like to be added to the Baby Alert System, leave a comment with your name, alert level desired and phone number or just email me and I'll add you.

We are thinking of having 5 Alert Levels:

Red- Call with any and all baby news. This means you will get a call when we are on our way to the hospital (whether it ends up being false labor or not). Please remember that this call could come at any time... day or night. Don't say we didn't warn you!

Orange- Call when we are admitted to the hospital. No false labor here, but still could be any time, day or night.

Yellow- Call when we are in the hospital, but at a reasonable time. We won't call you before 8:00AM or after 9:00PM. If we get admitted during the nighttime hours, we'll just schedule the call to be sent to your phone at 8:00AM.

Blue- Call once Van is born with all the normal baby details... weight, height, apgar, if he is a crazy hairy monster or not... Could be any time, day or night.

Green- Call once Van is born with all the normal baby details, but at a reasonable time. We won't call you before 8:00AM or after 9:00PM. If he is born during the nighttime hours, we'll just schedule the call to be sent to your phone at 8:00AM.

35 Weeks

From Baby Center:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress. If you're not grappling with these annoyances, you're one of the lucky few.

From here on out, you'll start seeing your practitioner every week. Sometime between now and 37 weeks, she'll do a culture to check for bacteria called Group B streptococci (GBS). GBS is usually harmless in adults, but if you have it and pass it on to your baby during birth, it can cause serious complications, such as pneumonia, meningitis, or a blood infection. Because 10 to 30 percent of pregnant women have the bacteria and don't know it, it's vital to be screened. (The bacteria come and go on their own — that's why you weren't screened earlier in pregnancy.) If you're a GBS carrier, you'll get IV antibiotics during labor, which will greatly reduce your baby's risk of infection.

This is also a good time to create a birth plan. Using our form will help you focus on specifics — like who'll be present, what pain management techniques you want to try, and where you want your baby to stay after you deliver. It will give you a starting point to discuss your preferences with your medical team. Childbirth is unpredictable, and chances are you won't follow your plan to the letter, but thinking about your choices ahead of time — and sharing your preferences with your caregiver — should take some of the anxiety out of the process.

Note from Jen:

Well, 5 more weeks to go! Overall I feel great although my feet are getting pretty swollen by the end of the day and I am starting to waddle a bit :) Mylanta and Rolaids seem to be doing the trick at managing all the heartburn.

I went to my doctor's appointment yesterday and although it was really rushed, I did find out that I do not have Group B strep... so no antibiotics needed for me at delivery. Yeah! I also found out that my doctor will be here when I deliver and is going on vacation a few weeks after my due date, so we are good. She is going to Peru and is going to hike the Inca Trail, so most of the appointment ended up being us talking about the trip and giving her advice about the hike.

Van is still breech and I was given a few more exercises to do to encourage him to turn. If he decides to stay upright until my next appointment at 27 weeks, we have to schedule that c-section. He must like things planned as much as we do! Still hoping he turns, but whatever happens, happens. I am just thankful that we live in a time where c-sections aren't as big of a deal and it is not a risk to either of our lives that he is breech.

Anyway, our trip to Yosemite last week was a blast! I even made the hike up the Mist Trail all the way to Vernal Falls. Yep, I rock :) I'll post pictures and a rundown of our trip later this week or next.

As for baby stuff, this week I plan on packing up my hospital bag and finish up on my birthing plan. I am also getting together all the disability paperwork and finishing up everything here at work. The plan right now is to work until June 15th which just so happens to be my next doctor's appointment.