Hello World

Say hello to Naomi Janelle.

13:35. 6 lbs 6 oz. 19 inches. Alert. Inquisitive. And quiet as a church mouse. Mom is well and resting soundly. We are officially a family of 5. Praise God.

Progressive Energy

12:15 : No back pain. No headache. Feeling pretty good all around. Venesa's okay, too (ha!). 6 to 7 centimeters. We're getting there. Doc is guessing, "about two more hours." Mommy is still asleep. Rest up my love. We'll be pushing in no time.

Hold Still Please

10:30 : Epidural is a done deal



11:00 : Drugs kick in, and mommy begins to fade. Now that I look at the picture, she looks a little mad about it, actually. But I'm gonna go out on a limb and figure that she approves of the reduced pain levels. After 48 hours, her headache is also beginning to subside. Finally.



11:30 : New IV was put in. Blood was drawn for the umpteenth time. And mommy is still unaware of what planet she's on. Time for me to sneak away for a bite to eat.

Waiting on Baby

Wednesday

00:00 - 04:20 : Daddy is dead to the world. A pull-out sofa never felt so good before.

04:00 : Let the Pitocin Party begin. We also have a magnesium drip; something new for delivery number 2.

05:00 : 1 cm dilated. Pain medication delivered. Pitocin dosage increased for the second time in an hour. Time to get those contractions a little closer. 2.5 minutes apart.

05:30 : 2 - 4 minutes apart.Crank up the Pitocin.

07:30 : 3 cm

09:00 : Still battling the same headache from Monday. More pain meds. We'll see if it helps.

09:30 : Dr. Daniel breaks the water. Back labor kicks in like adidas. Epidural is on the way.

BellyWatch: 37 weeks

At 12:00am this morning, mommy was officially 37 weeks pregnant... but let's back up about 10 hours before then.

Tuesday

@ 2pm the 24 hour testing period ended.

@ 3pm Dr. Daniel shared the diagnosis.

The verdict: Preeclampsia

The Cure: Delivery

Projected birthdate: Tomorrow (as in today... Wednesday)

Daddy's Status: Delirious

@ 5pm Mommy moved from her temp room to the Labor & Delivery center.

@ 6pm The cervix softener was given and contractions started almost immediately. That's about when I got a text from mommy stating that I better get back to the hospital if I want to live... or something like that. Kids are cooling at home with Lela, and daddy's on the way.

@ 10pm we have a bit of a scare (well, at least I was scared). With baby girl's heart rate dipping after every contraction, Dr. Daniel starts tossing around the C word; and our nurse is suddenly frantic as she prepares for the possibility of immediate surgery. V stayed cool, but I pretty much almost lost my mind for about the 8th time in 5 days. In the end, they fiddled and tweaked medications and positions, and (voila) we dodged the bullet and stayed on course with the original vaginal birth plan. Exhale.

So, we are back to where we started: Midnight on Tuesday. By now, we've spent exactly 3.5 days in Hartsville as a family, and mommy has spent more time in the hospital than in our new home. On the surface, it's certainly an inauspicious start to our new southern lives, but God has a funny way of making a mockery of our best laid plans; doesn't He? In that regards, we have no complaints. Call it a hunch, but we've got this strange feeling that He knows what He's doing.

On to Wednesday.

BellyWatch: 36 weeks

I promise, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. And so the story begins...

On Monday morning, we all loaded up to return the moving trucks and meet with our OB for the first time. Busy morning ahead. Little did we know that returning the trucks would be about the last thing to go according to plan over the next 48 hours.

Drama instance numero uno: No kids allowed at the OB's office

Whaaaa? I'm doubtful that Justin ever missed an OB appointment during our pregnancy with Jasmine; and Justin and Jasmine have since become joint fixtures at V's appointments for baby number 3... but here we are... New state. New office. New rules. And most certainly, no kids. So off I go to find a place to stash our kids for 45 minutes in this town that we've been in for less than 2 days while we meet the new obstetrician. All I can say is, thank God for new neighbors and fast friends.

Drama instance numero dos: No Insurance

To say that V had done her homework on transferring her medical records and our insurance coverage from Virginia to SC would be the understatement of the year. But here we stood at the check-in counter listening to the insurance clerk explain that our coverage did not extend to this practice. Mind you, V had been told (on multiple occasions) that there was only ONE DOCTOR in all of Hartsville that took our Virginia insurance. That's exactly where we were... except that he suddenly wasn't seeming very accepting. So, to make a long story short, after I convinced Venesa that she should could NOT jump through the phone and strangle the life out of the insurance representative... we finally got straight (about an hour later) and were cleared to see the doctor.

Numero Tres? Overbooked

Of course, we missed our appointment time. "Can you come back on Thursday?"... Um... no. Hello?! High risk pregnancy. Kids at a one-time sitter. Daddy with only but-so-much time to slip away from work. Not happening. Fast Forward. Fast Forward. Bicker. Plea. Smile. Nod. And we're in to see the doctor.

Cuatro? Where's Mommy?

So much for just going to say hello to the new OB. We finally got through triage, met the doctor, and promptly got the wonderful news that he was keeping Venesa overnight due to high blood pressure (amongst other things). Okay... how did we just go from "we can't see you" to "come back Thursday" ... to "I'm sorry, but we'll have to admit you immediately"?

24 hours of testing. Good grief.

See you later mommy. Oh... and welcome to Hartsville.

To be continued

BellyWatch3: 35 Weeks

[This entry was absolutely positively stolen from V's sent mail folder]

35 weeks, and yep, I'm still pretty miserable. Things seem to only go from bad to worse with this 3rd BellyWatch. But God's giving me strength to get through each day - really. I've been sleeping in a recliner now for about 5 weeks because getting in and out of bed is excruciatingly painful... but that's getting old, too. I tried the floor the other night, but didn't fair any better there either; and getting in and out of the bed is out of the question with this crazy groin injury. So I'm back on the recliner. Anyway, I went to a few weeks of physical therapy and now I do some of those exercises at home. These things just help minimize the pain, but are not a real fix. But, every little bit helps, of course.

As far as the Gestational Diabetes goes, well although I was able to control my blood sugars with my diet alone during the previous pregnancy, apparently this time that hasn't been enough, so I am on medication twice a day for that. The medication wasn't really improving my blood sugar readings, so I ended up on a new type of meds last week. Still not much difference, but the doctors seem content with my numbers. We'll see. Good news is that I am not stressed about that at all. I just want to do whatever is going to keep me and the baby healthy. The more I address this issue and get things under control, the greater the chance of me not having a super big baby that will result in a c-section. That's really my goal at this point. I would hate to have survived 2 pregnancies naturally and have to get a c-section on the last. And yes, I did say last (smile). Jerome and I both agree that my body is making it crystal clear that my baby making days are over! So, if we add to our family as we talked about before then it will most definitely be through adoption - which is something we've always talked about anyway.

The good news about the pregnancy is that I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I turned 35 weeks yesterday, so I have 4 or 5 weeks to go. Yay! We are almost there. I am really excited about welcoming Baby #3 into the world! Things are falling into place in Hartsville in terms of the house and the new OB, etc., so we continue to have peace about everything even in the midst of my discomfort and pain. The excitement of a new home, new job, new baby has been compensating for all of the prego related set backs. Oh, and I contacted the MOPs person down in Hartsville and got an immediate sense of peace about having a circle of mommies to connect to down there. They sound like a good tight-knit group like the one here in Virginia. I am really excited about that, too. It's comforting to know that I am not going to be alone while Jerome is working.

[The End]

BabyWatch3: 27 wks

Although I wish I could say that I am without any discomforts, I am happy to say that I'm feeling pretty good overall. The last couple of weeks have probably been the best days of the pregnancy so far.

I only have 2 or 3 days per week where something that I eat will leave me feeling a little queazy/nauseous, but most of the time it is mild and doesn't require medication. Migraines are down to around once a week (yippee!). My biggest complaint is that the baby weight is making it difficult to be as mobile as I want to be. Getting up and down from playing on the floor with the kids is a challenge, as is getting in and out of car, etc. In general, I am feel pretty achey, but I'll take achey over feeling nauseous around the clock any day. My energy level is pretty high - although not high enough to give me the motivation to get out the house on these recent 90+ degree days (LOL). Thank God that Daddy is around this summer to give the kids some outdoor activity on days that I can't stand the heat.

__________________

Daddy's Note: In truth this post was written 5 days ago @ 26 wks... which is probably a good thing since mommy is most definitely back on the nausea roller coaster. And judging from her grunts, strains, and the angle of wobble, getting around has seemingly gotten about 3 times tougher in just a week. So sorry, my love. Hang in there, mommy. Do you see that light at the end of the tunnel? It's your OB/GYN's headlamp! We're almost home.

BabyWatch3: It's a...

On Wednesday we had V's 20 week check-up, which (as I mentioned 2 entries ago) marked our grand opportunity to find out the baby's gender. What I didn't mention was that, this time around we decided to actually find out... but not on that day. With everyone being sick, and me having a rough workweek, we just weren't ready to give the potential news the amount of excitement that it deserved. Plus, psychologically, I'm not 100% sure we were ready to break our 2-for-2 trend of not finding out (because once you know, you can't "unknow")... but we were close. So instead, we had the nurse write down the baby's gender on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. Surprisingly, she didn't look at us like we were crazy (though she might have been thinking it). So we took the envelope home, keeping it tucked away in mommy's pocketbook. And there it stayed... taunting her like a little kid with a secret every time she opened it... screaming in silence, "I know something that you don't know"... (not really... but it sounds good)... until this weekend... until we called the kids in the room, handed Justin the envelope, braced ourselves, and sat in giddy suspense until he opened it and read it to us aloud...

It's a.... in the words of Justin, "I dunno".... And he honestly didn't... because although he knew how to spell both "boy" and "girl"; we overlooked that he wouldn't be able to read either word in cursive script (d'oh!). And so he handed the envelope to daddy, and with great joy (and a dash of trepidation) I was able to announce....

(Click on the photo to find out the verdict). So now we can look at the last 20 weeks of this pregnancy and say bring it on... because if nothing else, now we can name this hurricane. But seriously, here's to a fun-filled life as a family of five. This time in our lives is truly something special.

BabyWatch3: 20 Wks II

Daddy's Turn:

1. What sex do you think the baby is, and why?
I'd bet the house that it's a girl, and here's my reason: Suppose that being pregnant could be equated to a sunny day. Then along those lines, being pregnant with Justin was like a light rain for V; perhaps with an occasional thunderstorm. Being pregnant with Jasmine? Now we're up to hurricane winds and torrential rain. This 3rd pregnancy? Picture a tsunami wrapped in a tornado on the eve of a volcanic eruption. And that was just the first 10 weeks. The earthquakes didn't start until week 11. Landslides were week 15. So with that, I've come up with the theory that carrying a girl is that much more difficult for V than carrying a boy. With the hormones of two women living in one body, I picture chemical warfare of epic proportions going on in V's body right now; which explains everything she has been going through. Like I said, it's just a theory. It's either that, or I have to blame the fact that the pregnancies have gotten progressively more difficult on the reality of us not getting any younger. And if I do that, then hopes of baby #4 are out the window for sure. So I'm sticking with the hormone theory. A girl it is.

2. What do you hope it is, and why? I have four 4 different perspectives on this one.

• Angle one is the purely testosterone part of me that says having sons is totally cool. What guy doesn't want his own little crew of knuckleheads to train up in the way of the Jedi. That's just awesome... even though I've got a feeling that Jasmine would handle a light saber better than any of my existing or hypothetical sons would… but that's a different blog entry.

• Angle two comes from the part of me that simply says having more girls is scary. I guess it boils down to simply being more fearful of the "raising a teenage girl" experience than the equivalent experience with a boy. I could spend 10 more paragraphs there, but I'll move on.

• Angle three involves the different type of bond I have with Justin and Jasmine. I don't know if it's because he's a boy, or because he was the first born; but for some reason I feel as if having another boy would take away more from what I have with him more than having another girl would take away from what I share with Jasmine. I've thought about this multiple times, and don't quite understand it myself; but that's just the feeling I get. Granted, I know that whatever we have, all of these things that we worry about "in theory" will work themselves out. It's not like we have to take love away from the first two children to share it with the third. Love for our kids is somehow more like this bottomless jar that a parent always manages to reach into a pull out enough for everyone… and I get that. But these are the thoughts I have. And these thoughts say girl. And finally…

• Angle four: The get along factor. For Justin, I don't think it matters a single bit. But for Jasmine, I think having a little sister would be the greatest thing in the world. Jasmine is just so hardcore sometimes (yes, we secretly call her a thug around the house). She is the consummate tomboy by virtue of having (a) an older brother that loves to thrash and (b) a dad that throws them both around like beanbags. And she loves every minute of it. But I think a little sister would give her the balance that she needs to feed that inner girlie girl that comes out from time to time. She loves babies (she'll change a diaper in a heartbeat… even if the kid is older than she is) and she's an incredible help. And I could just see her bonding with a little sister for life from day one. Given a little brother, on the other hand, she might punt him like a football.

So with that… I've got two "emotional" votes for boy, and two "logical" votes for girl. Take away the labels, and we're tied at two apiece. Which means I'm going the politically correct route and calling it… a tie. What a cop out!

BabyWatch3: 20 Wks

The halfway mark. I wish I could say that it'll be smooth sailing from here, but things just haven't seemed to let up for my deliciously pregnant wife. As I mentioned earlier, her ever-present pregnancy ailments are currently having a tea party with bronchitis; and the misery-go-round just keeps on spinning. At 20 weeks, we've also come upon the great question that we had to answer twice already concerning the baby's gender: To find out... Or not to find out. As you know, we've played the "not finding out" role twice already; and before we went one way or another with this baby, I asked her two questions about the gender. Here are her answers.

1. What sex do you think the baby is, and why?

Assuming that the patterns we've observed about my pregnancies are correct, it's probably a girl because of how miserable I have been. My pregnancy with Jasmine was considerably more uncomfortable than my pregnancy with Justin (which had its own set of discomforts, some the same, but not nearly as intense). Of course, I could just be more miserable because I am older now and it has nothing to do with the sex of the baby - who knows?! LOL!!

2. What do you hope it is, and why?

For the last several weeks I've been saying that I wanted a boy because I don't know if I could handle another strong-willed, independent girl. However, as of the last week or so, I can honestly say that it doesn't matter. I had to be reminded that God knows best and would not give us more than we could handle - but that's a blog entry all by itself! So, once again, I'll take another healthy baby - boy OR girl. Can I put in an order for an early, but full-term delivery? That would be a request I would not pass up!

__________

Stay tuned to my responses to the same two questions.

The Last Dance

... well, hopefully not the last dance... but V and I did wrap up our private dance lessons last week. We had 3 lessons compliments of a Groupon deal that I scored for our anniversary back in December. It was fun while it lasted and, as V likes to point out, it at least guaranteed that we had a date without kids every other week for about a month and a half. I can't say that we're ready for primetime just yet, but I did enjoy sharing in something with her that I know she loves to do but got away from. Now we just have to find a Groupon that'll force us to practice at home before I forget all of my new fancy footwork.

Oh, by the way, check out the 17-week baby bump in full effect. V has officially broken out the maternity gear.

BabyWatch3 | 16 wks

Baby? What Baby?

No... we haven't forgotten that we're expecting a baby. In truth, there just hasn't been a whole lot to say. Baby number 3 isn't developing any differently than the first two, and we feel like we're pretty much experts on that part now. With that said, however, we do still check out the babycenter.com updates on occasion, not to mention checking out old blog entries to see if we have a grape, banana or a lemon. As for mom... Physically, things are finally starting to change. Still very minimal weight gain (2 pounds?) but her tummy shape is definitely starting to change (become firmer and rise a bit). Emotionally, I think that it was admittedly a bit depressing for her when the 2nd trimester officially hit and the nauseau and other annoying symptoms didn't disappear like they did the first two times around. If anything, the headaches seem to have amplified in strength and frequency. But everyday is still just a tad bit better (well... for the most part... because then she'll have days like today where the misery all comes back 10-fold)... and so I'm thankful that she's been able to do what she can to still maintain her sanity and endure... because lord knows that I'm no help. I learned two pregnancies ago that now is not the time for cliche rally speeches like, hang in there kiddo, you're doing great. Yep, that'll get a frying pan hurled at you in a heartbeat as she screams, "easy for you to say!" at the top of her lungs. Okay... so she didn't scream at me and she didn't throw a frying pan... it was just a small kettle... and the water inside wasn't totally boiling yet... but that's not the point! The point is that we are indeed hanging in there and still in hope that things will get better for my lovely wife sooner than later.

We have our 3rd doctor's appointment today, so we'll see what they have to say about it all.

BabyWatch3 | 13 wks

Mommy sez:

I have had very mixed feelings during this pregnancy. When I am feeling the symptoms in full effect (nausea, headaches, extreme fatigue, yuckiness) I feel like I never want to be pregnant again! I keep telling Jerome to get ready to adopt the rest of our children and I really do mean that. However, women at work keep telling me to hang in there. They say that the second trimester is better (energy comes back, nausea goes away) and that once the baby is born, the pure joy will make me want another... We'll see. I am taking it one day at a time, but this has to be the longest 3 months of my life!

____

Daddy sez:

Even though she is feeling the same way today, lucky for us, mommy wrote that journal entry while she was pregnant... with Justin. Hang in there mommy. The light at the end of that tunnel may not be a train after all.

BellyWatch3 | 12 Wks

Mommy & the crew


@ the doctor's office

Nausea, migraines, and fatigue... oh joy. We're almost out of the woods, though. The first trimester is quickly coming to a close. Evidently, every pregnancy goes by about 3 times faster than the last one. I'm guessing that has more to do with our preoccupation with the 2 kids already here than anything else. If Justin & Jasmine don't know anything else, they know how to keep us busy. As for the baby, according to babycenter.com, it's the size of a lime... but already has the heartbeat of a lion (see audio clip). Just as it always does, hearing the baby just made everything 10 times "more real" for us. With V not showing yet (and with zero weight gain so far) it's easy to forget from one moment to the next that we'll be asking for a table of 5 by the end of the year (cRaZy! we just upped our wait time at any restaurant by 15 to 20 minutes). But once you hear that heartbeat, it's like... wow... this is really happening. And it becomes exciting all over again.



Two other things to say about this audio clip...

1. Jasmine was pulling up her shirt because she wanted the doctor to check out the heartbeat in her belly, too. Slow down, Jasmine. It'll be a while.

2. Justin took the picture that accompanies the audio clip. My first reaction when I realized that he snuck in a press of the shutter button was to knock him upside the head... and then I glanced at the photo and thought, hey... that ain't too shabby. I also forgot to give him his props on the last entry. He took the picture of V and I on her birthday, too... He didn't do much to compose it, but he's the one that squeezed the shutter button. That obviously makes me proud for no good reason. It was certainly nothing more than two lucky clicks of the finger... but I still can't wait to get him his own camera for his birthday this year. The boy might need his own blog by then. Showboat.

BellyWatch3 | 10 Wks

Okay, so... can you still call it morning sickness if it lasts 23 hours a day? The truth is, V's current miserable state has pretty much been par for the course for all 3 pregnancies. The first two times around, the nausea and related symptoms all pretty much turned off like a light switch the second the first trimester ended. So at least she has something to look forward to. 10 weeks down... 3 more week of earl to go. Aside from that, I guess things are okay. Mom's making it. Dad's doing what he can. Justin still wants to name the child Big Bird... or Cookie Monster if it's a girl. And Jasmine is pretty much clueless... but taking classes nonetheless on how to be a good big sister.



As for the baby on the way, here's the big dilemma that I'd like you to share in:

To Jay... or not to Jay... that is the question.

Here's what I mean:

For those who haven't heard, V and I pretty much decided prior to this pregnancy that if we were going to do 3, then we'd most likely shoot for 4. Something about even numbers, and V's no-so-fond memories of being the middle child herself. So with that, it's time to start choosing names. First we have...

Option 1: Go with another J name. Now, I'll be the first to tell you that the J thing seems like it could get old. There are, after all, 25 other letters in the alphabet just waiting to be used. And every now and then, I just think... that's just silly. I mean, if we pulled a J sweep, I'm not really sure how many steps away that would be from pulling a George Foreman (which is universally agreed to be absurd). Exactly where is that blurry line between cute and ridiculous? With two kids, the same letter thing is kinda cute... Justin and Jasmine... nice ring... but at what point is it overkill? Hmmm. Tough one. Which brings us to...

Option 2: Abandon the J-mobile while there's still time and pull a first-letter-switcharoo. The thinking is, if there are two non-jays in the mix, kids 3 & 4 won't seem so much like the odd-men out. It won't be like, Justin, Jasmine... and Bob. Child #3 would have company in his or her non-jay-osity. Justin, Jasmine, Bob, and Betty... (okay, so in case you missed it, we are so not going with Bob and Betty... examples, people. Just examples). Anyhow, here'e the issue: What if we go with option 2 and then we stop at 3 kids for whatever reason? Maybe we run out of money... or better, maybe we run out of time (we're not exactly spring chickens here). The point is, nothing is promised. So then we'd be back to the Justin, Jasmine and Bob show... with Bob feeling like the proverbial oops child who came after we ran out of J names.

Decisions, decisions.

Your thoughts, good fellows?

BellyWatch3 | 8 Weeks

I guess they don't call it Labor Day for nothing. Come September, we'll be a family of five. Welcome to BellyWatch3.

It's A Girl!

Jasmine Olivia Reyes. 2:36pm. 8 lbs 3 ozs. 20 inches. And a lifetime of blog entries to come.

Splash!

10:41: Progress! V's water was broken and the doc put her at 3 to 4cm dilated. The water breakage didn't go so well... For a week V has been asking me if I thought the water breaking process would be painful... we now have a very definitive answer to that question. And so does anyone else within screaming distance of our room. But hearing right afterward that the cervix had gone from 1cm to 3 or 4cm made all the difference in the world. Pain is one thing, but pain with a purpose is a whole lot easier to bear.

10:42: V forgave the doctor for what she just did.

11:04: The request for an epidural. Once the water was broken, the contractions went bananas. Our guess is about a minute apart with the intensity almost up 50 to 100%. Whatever they were, they were intense, and I think we all got our first collective sense that it wouldn't be long from here. Yipee Skipee!

11:12: Enter stage left the anesthesiologist.

11:33: The epidural procedure begins. "Hold still..."
11:51: Epidural is a done deal.


12:45: 5 centimeters and counting.
13:26 : 8 - 9 centimeters.
14:11: Dilation complete.
14:16: 1... 2... 3... and PUSH!

Rise and Shine

3:25: Woken up by contractions. "Hi, this is Reyes in room 2. Bring on the drugs. Thanks."

3:50: Medicated.

4:00: Relief sets in. More sleep follows. The drugs only lasted about an hour or two, but mommy says that it was the best hour of sleep that money could buy.

6:00: Wake up call. Unfortunately the cervidil made no noticeable improvement in dilation, as we are still at 1 cm (been there for weeks, actually) despite contractions continuing to intensify at 2 to 4 minutes apart.



7:12: Induction Stage 2: Pitocin connected. Scrabble game resumed.



8:40: Crank up the Pitocin.

9:00: Mom-in-Law makes a cameo (and brings dad's breakfast. Hooray for mom!!).

9:39: Pitocin increase numero dos.

9:53: Visits from Dr. Puritz, Mom, and Popsicle number 2.



Overall, V is in good shape. Sleepy still, but enduring the contractions better over time. Every trip to bathroom has been an adventure with all of the cords, wires, and i.v. bags in tow. But it does ad for comic relief and helps break the monotony. For what it's worth, the weather outside seems gorgeous (not that we can enjoy it). Going up to 80 degrees with few clouds to speak of. Perfect day for having babies. Now if we can just get some dilation going.