Christmas Day

This morning, there was a present for me from Daddy. Since I'm still in Mommy's belly, Mommy opened it for me. Daddy gave me my first baseball and baseball glove! I can't wait to play ball with Daddy. Every day, Daddy talks to me and he tells me about playing baseball and football and all the other sports - I can't wait!

32 Weeks - 12/21/07 – 8 Months

I have been feeling good these days. Monday the 17th was my last day at work. I wanted to work that day to make sure I have a good set of notes on the status of my projects. It’s been difficult knowing that I need to drop all of my work to other people. But first things first; I need to concentrate on the health of my baby and do whatever is required of me to achieve that purpose. We visited Dr. Fan today and again, everything seems to be OK. I had gained 2 more lbs. That makes it a total of 19… amazing what eating healthier can do!!! I’m very happy about that. The baby’s heart was beating at 140bps and blood pressure was normal. I keep praying that the Little Guy keeps growing and waits for his grand debut a little longer…

12/16/07 – A Baby Shower for Baby Nalda

The weather forecast for the weekend was not looking good. Weathermen all over the news were calling for the worst weather, rain and ice mix, snow and ferocious winds. I was hesitant and I suggested re-scheduling the Baby Shower that was programmed to start Sunday at 2:00 PM – right in the middle of this nasty weather. But Grandma Georgina, who took the lead organizing this event wanted to move forward. Were we lucky or what!?!? The storms missed us completely and the day turned out to be perfect!!! Grandma Georgina went the extra mile on this… she did a fabulous job organizing and getting all the details in place for a beautiful party. I will always remember how special it was. The cake came from the same lady that made our wedding cake, Guava and Piňa Colada. It brought sweet memories from how this whole thing started… that was a lovely detail. The decorations were adorable. Great Grandma Aelita helped making some of these and we used them to decorate the main table. I could go on and on about every single detail, everything was perfect!!! We spent the afternoon with family and dear friends that came to celebrate with us and share the joy of this exciting journey we are about to embark.
Here are some pictures from the shower.

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31 Weeks – 12/14/07 – Bed Rest Until Baby Arrives…

The Terbutaline prescribed by Dr. Fan has helped some controlling the contractions. I have not noticed more than 4 or 5 an hour, which is good. Today our appointment with Dr. Hamersley went OK. The baby is getting bigger! He weighs 3lbs and 7oz. Dr. Hamersley wants me to keep this baby in the oven a little longer though. So she also wants me on bed rest, laying down on my side. So much for wanting to work until the last minute! She also prescribed another medication to take. It’s called Indocin – an anti-inflammatory drug that reduces pain and inflammation. The problem with the high amniotic fluid level now has a name: polyhydramnios and a measurement of 24.9cm. Uncle Freddy from Bolivia had already mentioned this condition a couple of weeks ago. He piqued my curiosity, so I did some research on it. According to what I read, the cause of this is not exactly known, particularly in mild cases like mine. A normal measure for the 3rd trimester is between 5 and 25cm. I will not go into the possible causes because -to be honest, they are kind of scary!!! But there is always a bright side to all this, all the internal organs and major bones measured normal AND get this… we confirmed one more time that the Little One is a BOY!!! Today we had another special guest come with us to our appointment, Grandpa Manolo.

30 Weeks - 12/7/07 - Braxton Hicks, Very Uncomfortable!!!

We had our first snow of the season on Wednesday, about 5 inches. It was beautiful outside, but as always it caused a lot of headaches out there on the roads. I was safe and warm at home. Good thing we had an appointment today because I was not feeling well.
I started feeling a lot of pressure in my belly since Wednesday night. I am assuming these are the Braxton Hicks contractions, more noticeable than normal. On Thursday, I sort of lost the count of these contractions. I might have had more than 5 or 6 an hour. Today I started feeling a dull pain on the left side of the belly. Dr. Fan checked to see if I was dilating, but the cervix was closed. He gave me medication to control the contractions. It’s called Terbutaline, 5mg 4 times a day and put me on bed rest. He also recommends I stop working. Since I’m working from home, I may try a few days and see how I do. On the bright side, the baby’s heart beat was pumping at 150 bpm, and I gained 3 ½ lbs. The GTT test came back normal. No gestational diabetes to worry about!!!