Someone is not cooperating

Last weekend at the 3D Ultrasound shop, the tech informed us that the baby was breeched.  She actually said, " You know she is breeched, right?"  We did not know.  Since we had a set prenatal appointment for Thursday, we did not make phone calls to the doctor's office just waited until our appointment.  The baby is positioned with her bottom towards the "exit" and her head on the top right side of my belly.  

At my doctor's office there is a pool of seven doctors that may deliver the baby.  My doctor, Dr. Sanchez, is one of the seven.  If for whatever he cannot make it to the expected event for whatever reason (i.e., vacation, illness, multiple mothers giving birth a the same time, etc) I have at least met the other six doctors and there has been some sort connection established.  At first I was a bit weary about the set up, but after meeting all of the doctors and more than once, I'm comfortable with the set up.  All of my interactions with the doctors have been positive and they seem very knowledgeable.  I should know, I usually come in with a mile long list of questions.

Yesterday I met with Dr. Gray, (it was my third visit with him) and I explained what the tech expressed to us and he confirmed it.  First, the confirmation was with him feeling for the baby and then with an ultrasound.  His top recommendation was to try to turn the baby externally.  I was not quite on board with the experience at first.  He explained and slightly performed what the procedure entails.  It's as if I'm getting a deep massage on my belly, but trying to show the baby where to move.  I don't remember the medical term for the procedure, but it must be done in the hospital so they can monitor the baby.  Dr. Gray explained that if I felt pain they would stop.  There is a 50/50 chance that she will make that turn.  The pro is that we could avoid a C-Section.  The cons are that the placenta may detach or the cord may be pinched in the process.  If that were to happen, I would have an emergency C-Section.  The likelihood of that happening is low.  Dr. Gray explained that has not happened in his experience.  He asked us to think about it, but we needed to decide soon because I'm now 37 weeks (nine months) and the space for that turn is getting limited.  Dr. Gray did check if I had enough amniotic fluid and it checked out.  Mark and I decided at that time to go ahead with it.

Dr. Gray needed to figure out who was scheduled in the hospital for today and Saturday.  So today I called the office and my doctor will be the one implementing it.  I cannot eat or drink anything after 12AM tonight.  Tomorrow we are due in the hospital at 7:30AM.  We are asking for prayers, for everything to go well.  If she does not make the turn, we will not be disappointed, but at least we tried and most likely a C-Section will have to be scheduled.    

3D Ultrasound Experience

Mark really wanted to get a 3D ultrasound for the baby.  For me, it really did not matter.  Last week we got a postcard in the mail for a 3D ultrasound package and the pricing was reasonable so we decided to make an appointment for this past Saturday.  Miss Lopez seemed to be a bit shy and did not want to show her face.  The one short glimpse we got of her face, she had her arm over it.  It seemed as if she was sleeping and did not want to move from where she was at; actually her sleeping position was like Mark's.  When I saw that arm over her face, I turned to Mark and said, "Isn't that how you sleep?"  He smiled and nodded.  The tech who was helping us felt really horrible that she could not get a decent shot.  There was nothing we could do to budge her. I tried coughing, moving to different sides, candy, drinking cold water and nudging at the tummy and nada.  She was comfy how she was.  We went back yesterday, Sunday, to see if there was a better outcome.  Luckily, we did get to see her better, not what the tech would have preferred but at least we got some shots of her.  So here are some...

 For most of the shots she was up against the placenta.  Maybe she was keeping cozy.  You can see her two arms there.

That is the placenta on the left side.

Here is a shot of her sucking on her toe.  There was a lot of that :)  If you look closely, you can see her tongue.

It was really interesting feeling her move while simultaneously watching her on the screen and realizing what movement meant which body part was moving.

Baby Shower Part 2

I feel very blessed with friends and family.  I would never imagined having 4 showers for the pregnancy.  The first shower was with family and close friends, that I was aware of and involved in to an extent.  After that, there were three surprise showers which took place within weeks to come.  My Bunco group, who really surprised me; I thought it was a regular Bunco night, but they of course had something else in mind.  In addition, the Infant-Family crew (my dept) from work and as a whole, the school I work at, Leffingwell Elementary.  For those who made the extra effort, took time and money out of their day, Mark and I are both very appreciative.  Thank you!

Here some pictures of my Bunco group.  They were taken last week.

Teresa made this tu-tu for the baby.  It is sooo cute!

The Nursery: Part 3

Here is an update of the nursery since the Baby Shower and also after a very long shopping trip to Target and Baby "R" Us.  You always hear how children are expensive, well, they weren't joking!  Even though, there was a great discount to our registry items from Baby "R" Us, it was kind of scary approaching the register.

Here are some pictures of the crib.  It finally has a mattress and bedding.  It is so nice to see it "come alive."

The changing table/dresser, now has a changing pad with cover and a cute bag to hold the diapers.

The baby's closet has finally become "the baby's closest."  All of the wonderful clothes and items that were received at the shower have been stored there.  But we still need to pull out that old computer.

It's so nice to see the room coming together.  

Baby Shower Part 1

This past Saturday was the Baby's shower.  It was given by Kimura, Lorena, Anne, Eunice, and Lizeth.  My mom and mother-in-law were "silent financial backers."  It was held at Palm Park's Rec. Room.  The "Baby Shower Ladies" did a great job and I am very appreciative of everything they did for us.  It was such an experience of being the "mom" in a baby shower. It was so different being on the other side of that, but it was a good type of different.  Lorena was the photographer for the event so I don't have pictures of the actual shower yet, but I do have pictures of the "aftermath."

I had asked for the theme to be The Very Hungry Caterpillar and here is the invitation made by Auntie Anne and the center pieces were designed by Eunice.

These were so cute; each table had one of each.  And again, she completely came up with concept herself.

Here's a picture of the presents rounded up at home in the nursery.

Here's the one that I thought had the best presentation.  It was given to the baby by (soon-to-be) Tio Jay and his girlfriend Delia.

The next picture is my favorite card.

The card was given to the baby by (soon-to-be) Uncle David and Auntie Anne.  The picture does not do it justice.

Once again, thanks to all who gave up time to attend the shower.  Mark and I appreciated everyone for being there and all the work that was put towards it from our close friends.

An unexpected hospital trip.

Yesterday I woke up and did not feel the baby.  More specifically, I didn't feel her weight.  I thought maybe she was towards my back and maybe when I started moving around she would "get into gear."  I had my breakfast and went for a walk before work.  I did feel her move, but the movements were subtle and not as frequent.

Throughout the day I felt her move here and there.  Also, I felt reassured because my hunger "needs" had not really changed.  The one thing that concerned me was the immediate change of movement from one day to the next, I was not sure if that was normal.  I did have my regular prenatal appointment later that afternoon so there was some relief to make sure that I would be "checked out."

At the doctor's office, my urine and blood pressure were perfect.  The baby's heart beat was strong and the beats per minute were right on target.  The nurse asked me to make sure to comment the difference in the baby's movement to the doctor.  I explained to Dr. Sanchez what was happening and he said, "I don't like the sound of that.  After you are done here, I want you to go to the hospital.  I'll call to let them know you will be arriving shortly."  He immediately went outside and made the call.  He came back in and I went through my list of questions and I was off to the hospital (it is two minutes away from the office).

The check-in was quick since we had pre-registered last month.  I was escorted in the triage room where Jello and ice water were already set next to my bed; I was the only one in the room (it was meant for 2).  My nurse was ready and waiting for me, she soon strapped into the monitor and all of the routine checks were made.   She explained that they wanted to monitor me for a while and the doctor on-call would be in to check on me.  The nurse came back three times within a 30 minute time span and everything was normal.  So much so, that the doctor was not needed to verify.  She explained that the change in movement(s) could very well be due to her change in weight/space.  There is probably less space for her to move and she needs to adapt to her new environment.  Later that night at home, the "tiny little dancer" was back to her old self again.  Today, everything "feels" back typical.  The movements are a bit different; they are not as fierce, but are constant. Thank God everything checked out and I was able to go home with a baby in my tummy.

Here's a pick of me during my hospital stay.

Look what Daddy is making!

On our trip to Ojai this summer we wondered into an art gallery that had very cute wooden art decor.  Like most are galleries, it was out of our price range, but we really liked them for the baby's room.  Mark turned to me and said, "I could make this."  Works for me, I thought.  For the past couple of weeks Mark was been creating his daughter's wall art.  It is the same concept as what we saw in Ojai, but the "art" if very different.  So here is Mark's first gift to his daughter...

Mark is not done with it, he would like to had more features to it.  Once it is done, he will proudly hang it up in her new room.