36 Weeks – 01/18/08 – The Prediction

Did I mention that I’m feeling VERY heavy these days??? Boy oh boy, the joys of being 9 months pregnant!!! And after spending most of the day in bed, it’s been very difficult to find a good comfortable position at night. Consequently, I’ve been having a lot of back pain and many sleepless nights. I feel exhausted! To help with the back pain, I decided to see a chiropractor. Of course, the doctor had to approve that first. We’ll see how that goes…

Yesterday we visited Dr. Fan and it sounds like everything is good. The baby has moved in the head-down position and is ready for D-day. The heart beat was very fast - 168 bmp - but that was because the baby was in the mood to dance at that moment. The doctor kept moving the heart monitor all around my belly trying to keep up with the baby!. “The baby is very active, and this is a good sign” – he said. The doctor checked the cervix and it is still closed. He predicted that the baby would wait to make his big entrance until his due date!

Noli’s prediction is February 13th. This came about in a funny/crazy way…

One night, while fixing dinner, we heard the song “Leila” by Clapton, playing on the radio. Over dinner, Noli mentioned that the song reminded him of his maternal grandmother because one of her many nicknames is “Lela”. I argued that “Leila” and “Lela” were not the same. Noli convinced me that it was close enough. Later that evening we were watching the TV show “Deal or no Deal” – with host Howie Mandel (who happens to be bald like Noli). The contestant that evening started the show by choosing case # 5 (Noli’s favorite number) as his lucky case. During the middle of the show, the contestant shaved his goatee for bonus money (I want Noli to shave his goatee). We later learned that the contestant is from Hawaii (Carlos and Richie had just returned from Hawaii). When this contestant got around to opening case #13 (the day Noli was born in October), Howie asked “Lucky Leila” to open her case. Noli thinks that the entire evening was a sign that the baby will be born on the 13th – HAHAHA!!!

My prediction??? How about any time AFTER my mom gets here!!!
I lost 1lb since my last appointment, which was 2 weeks ago… cutting down on sweets did the trick! Here are more pictures of me and the gigantic belly (good thing the belly button hasn’t popped out, or else I would be sleeping in the guest room) Noli freaks out just thinking about a popped belly button!!!

35 Weeks – 01/11/08 – My New Bassinet

My Daddy is so excited about me coming home. He put together my bassinet last night. This is where I will be sleeping and spending a lot of time on my first few months of life.

Daddy made a recording for the Baby to see later on! Here are some pictures and the video…

34 Weeks – 01/04/08 – Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year and best wishes!!! It’s certainly going to be a very happy and busy year in the Nalda household. We are very glad that the baby waited this long to make his debut and sounds like he will be right on target for his birth day.

This was one of the busiest weekends we had so far. On Friday, we had our appointment with Dr. Hamersley. It is always very exciting for us, because we get to see the ultrasound pictures of the baby and we get an update on his growth. All we heard was good news. The baby was very active, moving all over the place! That is why his heart rate was the highest recorded, 162bpm. As always, I had a little chat with him before our appointment. I usually ask him to be good and cooperate so that we get good shots for the blog! He was not cooperating at first; he decided to turn around and not look at the camera… little stinker!!! But then when HE decided to be good, he turned around and gave us a break. We saw him swallow fluid!!! He was moving his lips like a little fish. It was the coolest thing. You’ll see in one of the pictures, he looks like he’s blowing kisses. In another frame, he looks like he’s smiling!!! What a cute little baby he is! He’s grown so much in the last couple of weeks. He now weighs 5lbs 2oz. The amniotic fluid measured at 24.6cm, which is good. Everything else is within the normal range.






Saturday we had our appointment with Dr. Fan. We also had a very good report from him. Although, I’m not too happy with the weight I gained during the holidays. I put on 6lbs in 2 weeks!!! My fault though. I have been indulging on sweet treats as if I’m trying to catch up on lost time. I need to get back to my healthy habits!!! Noli just laughs at me… The baby’s heart rate was 142bpm and mommy’s blood pressure checked normal. The doctor did the Beta Strep Test, a very common test done on pregnant women between 35 and 37 weeks of gestation. The Beta Strep is a naturally occurring bacterium in the body of both men and women. About 25% of women carry without even knowing about it. If not treated, the baby can get infected during birth and this infection can cause inflammation on the baby’s lungs, spinal cord or brain. Very scary!!!

On Sunday, we had an appointment at Shady Grove Hospital for the Maternity Tour. It was not a very good day for me. Early in the morning I started feeling some pain down my left leg. By the time we got to the hospital, the pain got worse and I could not even walk!!! I was trying to remember if I did something and maybe pulled a muscle, but I could not think of anything, unless… Noli decided that I deserved a good kick in the butt in the middle of the night!!! Noli had to push me around in a wheelchair –it helped, but it was not comfortable sitting there for a couple of hours. One of the nurses mentioned the sciatic nerve; well… maybe that is the answer after all!!! On the bright side, the new tower at the hospital is nice. All the rooms are private suits and Noli will have a bed to spend the night with us. The delivery room brought REALITY to mind. I am freaking out about the D-day. I have not been too open about this and I try not to talk about it. But in all honesty, I am scared to death!!! I need to keep focus and think that after all the pain and scary time my life will be filled with the immense happiness of having a baby boy in my arms.