Adal and D have a baby! Part II

We have decided we want to share with you all the fun we are having with the baby. So we created another blog:

You can find it at:

http://iibcg.blogspot.com/

See you there!

-D.

It's only just begun... B-day is here

Inarú Isabel Beatriz Correa has been born. December 15, 2005, weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz and measuring 19 inches.

As you can see, since we couldn't agree completely on the name, we threw them all in there. What the heck, she can pick which one she likes later on. She has the most beautiful jet black hair I have ever seen, and she even needs a trim!

So here are some proud parents:
Mommy is in love with her little girl. She's breastfeeding (still learning) and still a little sore. The c-section went well, and the diabetes has surprisingly been controlled without insulin. Although getting no sleep whatsoever, she seems to be running on the adrenaline of having a new toy to play with.

Daddy is really in love with his little girl. He has already spoiled her by holding her all the time. His favorite pastime is looking at her and remarking on what a good looking kid she is because she looks just like him. He has (not voluntarily) taken the night shift since Mom is half deaf and doesn't hear the baby cry.

Yeah, you hear from everybody how incredible the experience is when you first see them, and how it changes your whole life. But you think, well, that's just THEM. THEY were ready for this, and are family-oriented, or maybe just people who still cry when they watch Bambi. Well, I've been converted. It's incredible how you can 1) love a thing that small 2) love a person you never met 3) love a person that much.

I was very scared going into the hospital. I didn't know what would would hurt and how much. But the epidural needle wasn't too bad, and the catheter for the folley was placed after the anesthesia, so it wasn't too uncomfortable. I did feel all the pulling and tugging and I swear I could feel a hand in my rib cage. I was so scared I was frozen, for once speechless. They gave me morphine, which helped calm me down and not feel any pain till the next day. The next night though, I had incredibly painful chest and abdominal pain. I was screaming in my room for 2 hours! Two cardiologists came down to check and made sure it wasn't my heart. They finally gave me morphine. They think it was either severe gas pain (from the operation, where air can get trapped in the body) or some kind of uterine pain reflected higher above. But that was it. I was so overwhelmed with Inarú that it made the time and pain pass a lot faster.

I guess this blog will now mutate into how we now HAVE a baby, and everything about her. But for that I will create a new one. I want to preserve our experience here just the way it is.

Not Yet!

For those of you wondering... No, not yet. I'm scheduled for this Thursday, and I may just make it to my 8 am scheduled C-Section. My mom came in today to help and last week my best friend Lidia showed up to give me a hand. I've been extremely busy with all the last minute details, appointments, and the rest of the time I've been napping, since I've gotten so very tired lately.

Three more days and that's it! I can't wait. My mom still can't believe how huge my belly is, since it's better appreciated in person than in photos.

So this may be the last post before B-day, but don't worry, I'll post photos as soon as I have them!

15 days and counting...

So this is me and my big belly. Or rather, my big belly and I in proper English. And this was a few weeks ago. I swear it keeps growing overnight.

I'm in surprising good spirits for being so close to the zero hour. I think it's because I know the end is near. I'm between wanting it to be over now and trying to hold the baby in until the 15th. I'm really no good anymore to anybody the way I am right now. I can barely take it on my feet long enought to cook. I do things in spurts. For example, I do a few dishes and then sit down. Then I cook myself lunch and take a 1-hour nap. I put a load of clothes in the machine, then watch tv for a while. Every mother out there is screaming at me right now to take advantage of the rest and my time alone, as I will be sorely missing it soon.

But to tell you the truth, rest does not come easily. I twist and turn all night till about 4 am, where I'm so tired I really just drop into a coma. Then I sleep until like 9:30, where I wake myself up to have breakfast (per Dr's orders), check e-mail, pay bills online, check how badly my Fantasy Football team is doing, etc. I find it easy to take short 1 hour naps throughout the day, but nighttime is a nightmare. What I wouldn't give for a good Chinese massage!!!

I can't believe it's almost over. I'll keep you guys posted...

Painting: Befores and Afters

Since I've made such a big deal about the painting, I figured I owed you guys some photos.

Kitchen:
Before

After

Bedroom:

Before

After

And last but not least, the living and dining room colors, very neutral.

Plumbers, dates, and other exciting events

Let's see. Last time we saw each other I had a mild stomach flu and my house was upside down being painted. I got over the flu after lots of bed rest and none the worse. The painting is D-U-N, DONE! And it looks fabulous! Since every wall and ceiling is freshly painted, everything looks so clean. And it really gives the house a warm feeling. I'll be posting before and after photos soon.

So finally, we have a new roof, new paint, and as of this week, a new very expensive toilet.

Yes, toilet. Let me tell you a funny story...

Two days ago, as Adal was flushing the toilet and putting on deodorant (he's a talented guy) he dropped the deodorant in the toilet as the water was going down. Needless to say, the deodorant got stuck somewhere in the deep porcelain bowels of the toilet. He tried coat hangers, his hand (eeewww) and still no deodorant. So I broke down and called a plumber, figuring he can't charge me THAT much to use a snake (also known as an "auger") to get the deodorant out. Well, he showed up with his snake and informs me that just for the visit and use of his trusty snake it will cost me $201. !!! But I figure, I don't have much of a choice, unless I never use that toilet again. So he tries for about 45 minutes and no luck. So then, he informs me he has to remove the toilet from the floor in order to try using the snake from the bottom of the toilet up (apparently there's about 2 ft of plumbing just in the porcelain portion of the toilet alone, and many twists and bends). My friends, to pull the toilet is an additional $217. !!! So now I'm pissed, I don't see how there's a choice, and I'm thinking this is $418 that Adal will be working off from now till next year. Three hours later, still no deodorant! He's tried the snake forward, backward, and sideways. He even got the snake all the way through, which only made it worse, because what he ended up doing was turning the deodorant around vertically, making it impossible to budge. We could see it, we could touch it, but we couldn't get it out! I even stuck my hand in the toilet, we were so desperate. Finally he tells me it's just not getting out (and I believe him because I had to hear him grunt and cuss for 3 hours) and that I will need a new toilet!!! Of course, he has one in his truck ready to be installed, and after trying to convince me that a white toilet looked fine in my bone colored bathroom (!) I drew the line. A new toilet and the installation was $649, plus $50 bucks for trying to get the deodorant out (versus the $418) for a total of $700. And for a white toilet when my old one was bone. I told him politely that would not do, scooted him out of my house, said "I'll be right back", jumped into my Jeep with my house clothes, not bathed, combed, or even makeup on, and made it to Home Depot in 7 minutes. I ran (okay, waddled) in to the bathroom section, found an employee, asked him what toilets he had in bone, and listened as he went on and on about ordering a bone toilet since most were white. In the mean time, I found a plain old American Standard bone tank and said, "hey, there's one! Do you have the bowl that goes with it?" He had exactly one set left, which i swiftly manuevered to the cashier and out to the parking lot. And I was home within 20 minutes! I had the plumber put in the new toilet, but as he was doing so, the hose that is connected to the toilet valve broke. It was old and brittle, so I can understand that, but that was an additional $55! At this point, I didn't care. I wanted my toilet working, the plumber out of my house, and my bathroom cleaned up and smelling of clorox (he left such a mess!). So the final total came out to new toilet at Home Depot ($98), installation ($329), labor of using snake unsuccessfully ($55) and new 8" hose that costs $2 ($55) for a total of $537.

All for one deodorant.

But let me give you some pregnancy news... Remember that really bad back pain, sciatica? I rarely get it any more since the baby has kind of made her way down. She seems to be off my nerve now, which is great. It just makes it hard to walk around. I've been feeling pretty good lately, except it's getting harder and harder to sleep and get some good rest. It seems every position is uncomfortable, and just turning around requires a crane.

I had an OB appointment Monday. He says that because my sugar is under such good control and my blood pressure is good, I might make it to the 38th week! He has scheduled me for a C-section on December 15th, at 8 am. But he and I know that nature could always play a joke and have me go into labor before then. So you can be sure I will NOT be straining myself, or exercising, or ANYTHING to induce this labor before the 15th! At least I know the latest the baby will be born will be Dec 15. So I have a date!! Four more weeks to go and I get to meet our daughter!

A little scare...

I've been under the weather the last few days. Although we were a bit shaken when I awoke in a cold sweat and a little nauseous. The first thing that ran through my mind was "Uh oh. This is it. And I haven't even packed a hospital bag or even shaved my legs!!"

Not to mention th crib still unassembled, stroller and car seat still in a box, dresser in a box INSIDE the car, and no hospital bag yet.

I felt so crummy and we were so startled, I asked Adal to check my blood pressure with his machine. I was totally normal. So he suggested we check my sugar, and sure enough, I was at 50! That's the lowest I ever remember being. So he got up and made me drink juice and a banana and crackers with cheese and even a small chocolate. I felt better, but still nauseous and with a tummy ache.

Come to find out, a lot of pregnant women have been calling the doctor with the same symptoms. Apparently, there's some sort of stomach flu going around in the DC area. Whew! I was so glad, even though I was bedridden for a while.

The painting is going great! The house looks habitable now! It looks so CLEAN. The painters still have about 2 or 3 more days left. It's a pain in the neck, but I rather get it done now before the baby and family and friends start stopping by. Besides, it gives me something else to think about and talk about.

I owe everybody the latest 32 weeks Ultrasound photos, but I'm still working on getting them scanned in. Since I'm not working, I don't have easy access to a scanner, except at CVS.

Ahhhh. Not working. I could soooo get used to this. The first few days were hard, but I'm so uncomfortable walking around, it feels good to take it easy.

I'm having a hard time telling relatives and friends what I need for the baby. So if any of you have useful advice (I already put the baby wipe warmer down!) as to what I need and you don't see it in the Babies R'Us registry (see link to the left), let me know.

Four more weeks! I'm at week 33 now!