A few more photos from Honolulu

              Dinner at the Outrigger Canoe Club

Dinner with Tony's brother, sister-in-law, niece and friend.

Beach at sunset

Relaxing after dinner.

Honolulu Hawaii

Aloha from Hawaii!  A few pictures from Honolulu.

Unwed mother?

A few weeks ago I realized my wedding set was too small when we went to the jewelry store to get my earrings fixed.  I tried to take off the wedding set to get it cleaned, but the rings were stuck.  The rings would barely budge with soap and water.   Finally after a lot of effort I was able to get them off, but my knuckle and finger were red and swollen.   At that point, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to get the rings back on, so I've been wandering around ever sense without a wedding band.   I have to admit I was feeling quite self-conscience and wondering if people thought I was an unwed mother, especially at daily Mass.  So, I caved into my vanity and asked Tony to get me another band.   Tony and I went to Sears a few days ago and bought a simple, inexpensive band.  When the sales clerk sized my finger, my once petite 4 1/2 size ring finger is now a 7 and I could of even used a 7 1/2.  Yikes!   It feels nice though to have a wedding band on again.   God willing I will be able to wear this ring for future pregnancies.

My Mom's Visit

Here are few pictures from my mom's visit.

Chrissy Field, San Francisco

Busting up at Starbucks, Union St., San Francisco


Fisherman's Warf, San Francisco

Baby Q. Kicks for Grandma

What a lovely week!  My mom visited from Los Angeles.  She's extremely joyful with tons of energy.  Baby Q. is her first grandchild (on earth), and she can barely contain her excitement.  

Everyone knows we've been waiting with great anticipation for Baby Q. to kick.  I was lying down while my mom was rubbing lotion on my feet, and boom, my belly moved as Baby Q. kicked.   What a treat!  We both saw it, and were astonished.    Later that night Tony and my mom both felt Baby Q kick.  In fact, I actually think I felt Baby Q. kick last week, but just wasn't sure.   Go Baby Q.

To Bank or not to Bank!

Ok, we haven't exactly moved on from the Douala topic but we are onto our next topic, umbilical cord banking.

We are in the early stage of research, ok, well actually just one google search so far.  Basically, I have just read the "idea" in a baby magazine.

I actually had forgotten about it until I heard a story on 1260 Catholic Radio. There was a baby born with cerebral palsy and the doctors said the child would never walk and possibly never talk. The family had banked the cord, and the doctors were able to use it to help the baby.   Now she's 50% better.  Not exactly sure what 50%means, but now the girl is walking, running, and even talking.  Apparently, the cord can even be used for siblings. (I don't know if there's exceptions to this.)

Has anyone done any research on this?

Too Many Doulas

Birthing Doula, night doula, and recently Kasia told me about a postpartum doula.  My, there are lots of doulas!  

Tony and I have always been interested in a birthing doula, basically someone who will walk beside us during the birthing process.  This is new to us, but here are the details as I understand them.   She comes to our home when I begin labor.  Before this, we would have communicated our birthing plan to her.  She stays with us and advises when we should go to the hospital.  She comes with us to the hospital and stays with us until a couple hours after the birth when the baby is breast feeding successfully.  She will coach us through the process, bring us food, and help Tony help me through this wonderful but scary experience.   She will not deliver the baby, the doctor does that part.   she spends the time with us to coach and make us as comfortable as possible while we are waiting for the doctor to deliver the baby. 

 

Now Tony's parents offered a night doula.  Before that we never considered hiring someone for the night.   The night doula essentially stays with the baby during the night and brings the baby to mom to feed; the Duola then burbs, and put the baby to sleep.   She would leave in the morning when we wake up.   Of course the concern here is that we would not bond with the baby.

However, the postpartum doula,  now that's sounds ideal.  Her primary role is to provide help during the post-delivery recovery period and assist with all aspects of newborn care including feeding, changing, bathing, washing infant laundry, and helping Tony and I catch up on much needed rest during the day.

So much to consider!

Kick Baby Q. kick!

Tuesday Baby Q. will be 22 weeks old.  When we had our 20 week appointment, Dr. Belton said we should feel a big kick soon, although it seems Baby Q. 's soon and Dr. B's soon are not on the same timeline. Initially, the anticipation was to feel baby's movements.  I am pretty sure I am feeling that now.  We also saw lots of movement in our last ultrasound.  Yesterday, resting on the couch, I felt a 1-2 movement (not punch) near the top of my belly and movement near the bottom of my belly.  That was cool!  The baby also seems to move when Tony does a raspberry on my belly (heard about this last night from friends and Tony couldn't wait to try it).  It works.

Now we can't wait for the baby to kick.  Kick baby Q. kick!

Papal Blessing!

More honeymoon pictures. Annie asked if we received the "Sposi Novelli" blessing during the Pope's Wednesday audience in Rome (Sposi Novelli means newlywed).  Annie, yes we did!  

Did I mention my Sweetie-Pie secretly planned the entire 3 week honeymoon.  This was one of the many surprises. 

Honeymoon Pictures

Tony downloaded our honeymoon pictures onto my mac.  Here are just a few pictures from Paris, Greece, and Italy.   More to come ...

Unexpected Visitor

Tonight an unexpected visitor showed up looking for Trisha and Ken.  Tony skeptically answered the door, and asked "With regards to what?"   Well it turns out she wasn't an unexpected visitor, but a candidate doula Michelle, recommended by Kasia.  Michelle also assisted with Eileen's birth.   I had just forgotten to check the calendar.  Oops!   With regards to Ken, she just made a little boo-boo.  The meeting was really educational since we don't know that much about birth.  Tony really likes the idea of having someone to coach him through the birth, especially since his brother described how great it was (Tony was skeptical previously).   Now we can't wait to go to our Bradley class to learn more about the birth plan we want to put together.   What an exciting time for us!

Night Doula?

Tony's parents graciously offered a night doula as a gift to make our lives easier.   I wasn't even sure the role of a night doula.  After some research, I found out, she brings you the baby in the middle of the night.  I feed the baby.  Then, she burps, changes, and gets the baby back to sleep. 

It sounds too good to be true.  There's part of me that loves the idea of getting the sleep of which new moms and dads are deprived, and when morning comes, we would be more refreshed and ready to go than if we had been up for hours in the middle of the night.

I still have mixed feelings though.  There's another part of me that thinks about missing out and bonding less with baby Q., holding, burping, rocking, singing and trying to get baby back to sleep.  I have a concern we may miss learning more about our baby during this time, and I won't be able to commiserate with my other girlfriends about the lack of sleep,  like I would be left out of some kind of club. 

Does anyone have thoughts about this?  

The Sweetness of Children

My friend's son celebrated his 7th birthday last Friday, August 1st, First Friday.  He had 2 wishes:  To receive Holy Communion on his 7th birthday and a spiderman costume.  Well, God granted him to receive our Lord on his special day.  What was beautiful was that it was from the same priest who married his parents.

My friend's son did his first confession a few days before his birthday.  He was so excited about his first confession that he insisted on wearing his new suit that his parents had bought for his First Holy Communion!  The simplicity of children. So sweet!

Baby Q. Visits the Doctor

Today we visited Dr. Belton, our new OBGYN.  I mentioned in another post how much I like this doctor; he's kind and warm.  

Dr. Belton checked each one of baby Q's body parts and organs with the ultrasound.  Thankfully everything seems fine and our baby looks healthy (heart functioning well, urine in bladder indicating kidneys functioning, both hemispheres of brain visible, and umbilical insertion point looks good).  Tony and I get nervous with every ultrasound, but Tony remembers to pray before each appointment.  I think we get nervous because it was in an ultrasound where we found out our little Joseph didn't have a heartbeat. 

We saw baby Q's heartbeat and it was strong and fast (we could actually see the chambers of the heart).  The highlight was when baby Q. reached its (it because we don't know whether baby Q. is  a boy or girl) hand and placed it right on his/her eye.  Baby Q's legs were moving too. So cute!  The doctor asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby?  Nope, we want to be surprised.  The doc also asked if our baby has given me any good kicks which it has not.  Dr. Belton assured us though that we would be feeling strong kicks soon.  Maybe in a week or two.  

I have felt something but nothing like butterflies or flutters as most people say.  Mostly, I have felt some movement, but more like something going through water really low and that would make sense because baby's feet are near my pelvis area.  The doctor also said the baby is kicking towards the back and that's harder to feel.  

So exciting!  Thank you for your prayers!