Fever is gone! Happy New Year! :)

As of this morning, I felt back to my old self. Thank goodness! I hadn't been that drastically sick (well fever wise) in I don't know how many years. It really knocks you out! But now i'm up to speed with my little JoJo.  Thanks to my mom for being a key player! She stayed over for two nights and handed JoJo off to me for feedings and picked her up.  I was JoJo's drive through window in terms of her feedings :)  I'll take a large order of leche please with a few burps on the side.

I felt so much better that we decided to go for a quick walk at St. John's University.  It was in the high 50's temperature wise so we figured we could get out before the cold front comes in.  Here are a few photos.

Oh no! JoJo's left all alone.  What lousy parents!

 Just kidding!!! Testing out the jogging part of the jogging stroller.  Works quite well! Looking forward to the spring strolls in the park.

Daddy tried to wake Jo up, but of course she slept right through his tricks. 

Earlier today was JoJo's pediatrician's visit.  We weren't sure how much weight she gained.  After her birth, the pediatrician made us come back to see them 3 times, well actually 2 after the very first visit because she lost almost 10% of her weight, which is normal in newborns.  By the 3rd visit she upped her weight, and I didn't need to supplement with formula. woohoo!  Today's visit, I knew she gained, BUT I was kinda wondering if she lost some weight since I was only feeding her from one side for the past 2 days.  Well, she was a whopping 7 pounds 6 oz! Woohoo! Approximately an ounce a day.  She was 6 pounds 10 ounces last time we were there.  So keep it up JoJo! This is her face after a feeding.  I would say pretty satisfied, don't ya think?

Next visit is in a month!

Happy New Year everybody! Not sure if we will be up, but regardless 2011 was a great year and looking forward to the new year!

My first parenting lesson - mommy can't be sick

ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE BREASTFEEDING!

yesterday afternoon after i fed jojo, i felt quesy and got the chills. What the? Nelson took me to bed and we took my temperature. It was close to 103.  i haven't had a fever in years! boy, so my doc gave me antibiotics. Took motrin and tylenol and within the middle of the night it went down to 99.

i went to the doc today to confirm that i have Mastitis. Which i do. In my right side. So i have to pump and dump that milk bc my temp is above
101. i actually thought i was getting better this morning but the chills came back on the way home from the docs. Fever spiked! i have a feeling it was bc i waited too long between feedings. Drat.

So right now im in bed and im icing my right boob. Fun and exciting.

Thanks to my parents and of course nelson. Im demanding water all the time :)

oh and i have to feed jojo every 2 hours from my ok boobie. So really no downtime for me! keep your fingers crossed that we knock this thing!!

Jojo is doing great though :) that's what matters to me

She gave me a present for my bday!!!

She slept 4 hour clips between feedings!!! she could have gone longer if I didn't wake her up. What a good daughter!

now we just have to train her not to poopie every time we change her diaper. She poops EVERY TIME!

Happy Birthday Mama!

For your birthday today, I will change my own diapers.  

Merry Christmas

You all saw this card already but just for keepsake, wanted to post it on the blog

Clean as a Whistle!

JoJo's umbilical cord fell off on Monday and the doc gave us the clear that we can bathe her once there's no more discharge.  Guess who got a morning scrub?

I'm clean!!

Holiday outfit # 1 - Had to change it though.  She peed on it during a change.  It's ok JoJo!

Smile!!

Today we had a couple of friendly visitors from The Career Center.  Auntie Deanna and Auntie Danielle

Deanna will teach her how to eat very very healthy.  She's in a nutritional program.  So far, Deanna approves of her feedings :)

Danielle will teach JoJo how to dance!

In the afternoon, I took a long nap.  wooo, what a difference a nap makes.  We are going to try to go to bed a little earlier tonight.  JoJo didn't have the best sleep last night, so we didn't sleep well either.  We survived though!

Have a great night!

happy 1 week JoJo!

i just sang happy birthday to JoJo when it hit 2:01.

i can't believe she's already a week old. it feels like labor was only 2 days ago. in a week, we noticed that her neck muscles are so strong, she latches on very well during feedings, and she knows our voices so well.  she's a genius in our eyes!

Jocelyn's Birthday Party (aka Labor!)

its been a while but im sure you understand why i havent posted. the majority of my time is spent in a rocking chair feeding our little cutie.  when im feeding her the most access i have to the outside is through my phone so it keeps me occupied.

I started writing this blog at some point during an AM feeding, but then stopped probably because I needed to shift her or something.  Can't write much now because I need to shower, feed her, then head out with Nelson.  Oh and maybe eat something for myself.  I wanted to share a few photos prior to heading to the hospital during a walk through contractions while at Hofstra.  Walking helped, but it was tough and you can tell that I was just focusing on the breath.  That was absolutely key during every contraction.  Breathing deeply and slowly.  I kept on saying in my head "relax, natural anastesia flowing throughout the body."  That I actually picked up from listening to a Hypnobabies playlist.  It was like guided meditation for pregnancy and birthing.  It helped a lot as well.  So here are some photos.

Trying to relax on the couch in my office. I will never look at that couch the same

Taking a walk on the meditation labyrinth.  I did this during the summer while listening to soothing music and guided meditation.  It helped during contractions.  

Breathing Breathing Breathing

This stance helped a lot, and moving my hips.  I didn't care if anyone saw me.

There's a slight smile there :)

In the hospital delivery room.  We brought flamess candles, dimmed the lights and posted some photos from our honeymoon and Turks and Caicos trip for focusing.  It was difficult for me to focus on the photos for some reason.  I closed my eyes a lot.

This was me waiting for the epidural.  I threw in the towel, sucked it up and got the meds.  

After the epidural - can you tell the difference?

ok definitely not the most flattering shot and I wasn't sure if I should even put this pic in because its a little bloody, BUT it is really the very first photo of JoJo outside of the womb.  I don't remember this photo AT ALL.  I was truly relieved from her coming out.  There was A LOT of pressure.  I told the Doctor I loved him when she came out.  He said "Kathleen, your husband and my wife are both in the room."  I didn't care! I loved him!!! lol

Daddy chatting with JoJo.  Check out her conehead!!!!!

Our 2nd family portrait

Grandma and Grandpa Tula visiting at 2am!!!

JoJo getting her first sponge bath! Wahoo!

Ok off to a feeding! then heading out with Nelson for a bit! Grandma is babysitting, which I'm sure she doesn't mind!!!

our labor story

So let me just start off saying that i could not be any happier and in love with our little girl, Jocelyn

she is perfect and she is funny. she already gave me the middle finger while i was breatfeeding her this am. so yesterday our day started off with me somewhat getting my water broke. it was mostly the mucus plug in the am but with other fun pregnancy stuff that you don't really.know about :) went to the doc at noon and got hooked up to the monitors and sono. i was 4cm dilated and having very minor contractions that i didn't feel. during the exam, my water ended up breaking. at 2, i had more contractions that i could bear with. ended up going to hofstra to relax in my office bc if we went home i would come back in the height of rush hour. we walked around the campus as i would stop and breathe through contractions. zoned out a lot. got to the hospital at 5 and i was 5 cm dilated. didn't get the epidural until i was 7 cm. that was nice! however it slowed down contractions and within 2 hrs i went only up to 7.5. pitocin was ordered and i wasn't all that happy about it but i was already open so i figured it would just help with the progression. But lets just say that the epidural ends up wearing off. i had the option of getting another shot of epidural but instead of having the 2 meds battle each other i decided against it and besides when the doc checked me, i went from 7 1/2 to 9 within an hour slot. she also moved farther down so we were almost there. now i kept my cool with the help of Nelson and labor coach throughout the whole time. we had music and flameless candles for a great ambience. when it came time to push, it was 12 am. and at this point the epi was pretty much 75% warn off. i was fine with it bc i thought i can do a couple of pushes and she would be out . boy i was wrong. fast forward 2 hours later, i was at a point where i was asking the doctor where his forceps were. i wanted him to go in there and pull her out. her head was right there. nelson saw it and im proud that he pretty much watched the whole thing. God bless him for not fainting. it was the most exhausting experience I've ever had. i almost gave up. said "i can't" about 20 times and all in the room refused that and kept pushing me. awesome coaches but still it was so so so hard. labor with contractions is one thing but the delivery part, woo another. at 2:01am she came out. i did get an episiotomy but honestly i was thinking that i would need a section when i was "giving up." her head was all cone shaped and she was purple all over. and she's definitely a cryer/screamer. right now she's tucked in under my gown getting some z's. Daddy is napping too. gonna try to wake.her up for a feeding! thanks for all your support. we are so happy :)

having phantom contractions

update! at the docs ofc for my 38th week check up. hooked up to the monitor and apparently im having small contractions. don't feel a thing.  there's a little tmi information that happened this morning but lets just say that this baby is coming sooner! here i am hooked up. will update you soon!

We are prepared for our permanent house guest!

Seeing that this weekend we were under doctor's "orders" to stay near by in the case I would go into labor, we took full advantage of all the time we had.  LITERALLY!  I didn't realize how much work it would be to put together a small room for a tiny person.  On top of all that, Nelson and I came to a few conclusions:

- Batteries - we will always use batteries for all baby/kid stuff (Luckily, Nelson being the tech guy that he is, pretty much has any type of battery you can think of.  Need some C's?? Nelson got them.  D's, well not a problem here! We have a plethora of double and triple A's. Hey I wouldn't be surprised if we had hearing aid batteries)
- Warnings on all baby stuff will make you paranoid
- When pack and plays say they just "snap" right open, they are wrong
- We could probably make a home out of all the cardboard we broke down
- We love our baby's new room and hope she loves it too :)

Here are some photos:

The walls are currently bare, but will have some decorations on it soon.  Since the walls were painted last week, we need to wait a little before we start putting stuff up.

Nelson's homemade closet.  We were going to put up a curtain, but I like it open for easy access to baby diaper stuff and towels.

Crib all set up with it's bedding! Yes I know, no blankets/stuffed animals in the crib when baby is in there!

Diaper bag is ready to go!

The frame has a picture of the baby's sonogram in there. 

Big brother is watching BGC.  The video monitor is pretty awesome and it just arrived yesterday!

Rocking chair ready for the late nights!

Pack and play/bassinet ready for BGC!

We also installed the car seat.  Bags are all packed.  We will be putting the bags in the car tonight.  So when we go to our appointment on Tuesday, we will be all ready in the case we need to head to the hospital, BUT I believe that the more you are FULLY prepared, the less likely you will need it right away, right? So I'm assuming that after my doc's appointment I will be heading right to work :)

Hope you all had a great weekend! Have a great work week

What to Expect when you're expecting trailer

Video Blog!

Boy, I'm big! Or maybe the camera adds on 40 pounds? :)

Nelson testing out the closet

Yep, the shelves can hold up a 150 pound man... Now me on the other hand, not sure if it would hold my weight! Great job building a closet Nelson! Now get out so I can start putting the baby's stuff in there!

Nursery is ready for its furniture

After all the hard work that Nelson and my parents put into the nursery, it is now a blank slate and tomorrow we will be picking up the furniture in the afternoon.  My parents have been our saving grace these past few days.  They painted, cleaned, painted and cleaned some more.  I think the news yesterday from the doc just put a flame under all of our bums :)  Here's what it looks like tonight and tomorrow we will have 2 dressers and 1 crib (which needs to be put together, just the crib not the dressers)

Nelson re did this closet with wainscoting and made the shelves (which are not seen here bc they are drying in the garage)

 Looking out to the hallway

Soon there will be a Turtle Valance, need to get a curtain rod.

So excited to get the furniture.  There's 100% chance of rain tomorrow, but hey it wouldn't be interesting if it wasn't raining, right? 

Oh and it's supposed to snow going into Thursday... Hmmm could that be a sign for our baby's debut?  Everyone at work thinks that she'll be out on the 10th, because it's a full moon.  Let's see who can win this bet!  Tonight I actually went to a Pediatrician for a consultation.  The group seemed great and I was happy with the place.  Honestly it was the quickest and easiest thing so far this week.  

So far I'm feeling great, no contractions, or at least I don't think I'm feeling contractions.  My stomach does tighten up a bit here and there, but it doesn't feel uncomfortable.  I'll update ya if I feel anything!

We are watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  Night!

my first labor dream

I actually dreamt that last night I gave birth to our baby while i was only 3 cm dilated.  Everyone was surprised in the dream and asked me how I did it.  I had no idea, but I just did.  They couldn't let me go out of the hospital though because I still had to fully dilate even after the baby was born.  Oh and the baby had Nelson's eyes, so she looked a little Asian :) she was a cute little one!

Good News and Bad News

Let's start off with the bad news... So this weekend we were supposed to head up to connecticut for the Annual Holiday Party. Guess what? We are not going. Wahhhh wahhhh...

No 3 french hens for me...

The good news is... I'm 3 cm dilated.  Last week I was closed and tonight we had our 37th week check up.  Nelson came to this one because we met with the labor coach, Sandy, who is also my doc's wife.  Before our appointment, she asked us if we had our tree up, christmas shopping done, etc etc.  I felt like the nerd "A" student by saying "Check! Check! Check!"  We have a lot of our stuff in order.  Then we went into the examining room, where both Nelson and Sandy were at.  The doctor did his internal exam, then had this surprised look on his face and 3 fingers up, 3 cm dilated! What? Looked over at Nelson, and we were both surprised, bc right before we went in, I said to Nelson "How much you want to bet that I'm 0 Cm dilated?"  He didn't want to bet me bc he thought I was right.  Ha! Of course, I was wrong!  

This little girl is trying to prove me wrong already. :)  From a snowstorm in October to a possible early birth!  So immediately I asked the doctor, can we go to a holiday party on Sunday in CT.  He and his wife pretty much said no.  He actually said, "Look I can't forbid you to go, but I highly do not recommend it."  "Even though my father is a doctor?"  "How many babies has he delivered?"  "Hmm I'm not sure, but maybe a few hundred?"  Then I just said Ok ok, we will stay put.  

We then ended up meeting with Sandy after to schedule our next appointment, which is next Tuesday Dec 13th at 11am.  She told us to bring our bag then because the doctor had mentioned that my internal exam was that good, that next week there's a chance my water might break at the next exam.  YIKES!  

Ok that's all for now.  We ended up coming home, finished packing the bag, and straightened up a bit.  Maybe, just MAYBE since we did all this, she will decide to stay put inside for another couple of weeks.

Oh btw, the nursery construction is done.  We are picking up the furniture on Wednesday.  I couldn't be more excited and frightened at the same time!

Night Night! 

SNL Commercial

As a pregnant woman, I appreciated this SNL commercial. Nelson and I both could not stop laughing

Officially Full Term!

So yesterday marked our 37th week, well at least the start of it and you know what that means? Our baby is full term! Wahooo!

There she is, nestled in there, waiting to come out.  I still feel her moving around, but only at certain parts of the day.  Happens usually after I eat, drink water, or lie in bed.  

Yesterday morning I had a burst of energy.  I made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, prepared egg salad for lunch, then started another meal for later that day (mixed bean cassoulet).  Then after all that, I opened the fridge and decided to clean it thoroughly.  Now I hate cleaning out the fridge, but I just felt like I had to do it.  Hmmm I think the nesting bug kicked in for just a few moments.  I even organized the freezer, so that I could fit meats on one side and veggies on the other! phewww what a back breaking task.  Oh btw, every time our refrigerator door is open, it beeps after it's been open for a few seconds because it's one of the green fridges.  I can't tell you how annoying that was.  I was actually talking back to the fridge.  

Then later that morning, my parents came over and my mom came with me to BJs.  As I mentioned in my earlier post, my list looked as if I was never going to leave my house.  Ranging from Toilet paper to lotions, to chicken broths and other plenty of frozen food items.  I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of the cart.  It looked like it was going to burst wide open.  

I saved a lot of money with coupons (Thanks mom) and honestly I didn't know what the final cost at the registry would be.  I didn't plan on it being too crazy, but then again, I didn't think twice about it.  Until she said it was a little over $400 bucks.  GASP! Well honestly we have A LOT of stuff, that will last us for a very long time.  Our pantries and closets are set! Party at the Castros!

It took me a good hour to put everything away and then I finished my mixed bean cassoulet which in my opinion came out OK.  Nelson liked it but it didn't really do much for me.  At least it's healthy.   My mother and I wrapped up christmas gifts so we should be all set for Santa.  

My parents and brother are coming over today to hopefully finish up the nursery, then next week we will get the furniture.  I am actually going to get a hair cut today and then head over to babies r us, again! I'm tired already but at least I'll get some pampering :)  Happy Sunday to you!

I feel like I'm preparing for a black out

So this upcoming weekend, I'm going to BJ's to stock up on food.  I haven't gone grocery shopping in a week, just picked up the necessary things here and there but not a full blown shopping spree.

You should see my list for BJ's.  It seems as though that I'm preparing for the end of the world or something.  I don't feel like I'm in nesting mode but certainly  I would like to be somewhat prepared with food in our freezer when BGC arrives.  We literally have a supermarket from our house that is 3 blocks away and I'm sure I can send Nelson over there when we need something, but still it makes me feel at ease knowing that we have a full stocked fridge/freezer and pantry.

I avoided packing my bag for the hospital for quite some time, until the other day when I went to the docs.  Before the doctor, I just had this weird feeling that he was gonna tell me that she will be here any day now.  It must have been the crampings I've been feeling.  So in order to avoid going to the hospital, I figured if I packed a bag, then according to Murphy's law, I wouldn't really need it right away.  Cha Ching! I was right, well for now.

I can't believe it's December 2nd today.  Where did 2011 go? Soon Barbara Walters will have her special on the 10 most fascinating people of 2011.  I can't understand how time flew so fast!

36 week check up

Went to the Doc today and good news! Everything looks "perfect," according to Dr. Byrne.  This past week I've been feeling very crampy, very similar to what the time of the month would be like.  So I knew something was up.  It's totally normally, apparently my body is preparing for this birth.  The cervix is still closed but it is closer and softened a bit.  Right on track.  When he told me that I'm not dilated, I was THRILLED! We need a little more time (I know a little selfish) but we need the time!!! Either way we will be ready for her, but it would be amazing if we were 100% ready for her.

So not only did I have great news from this morning's appointment, but I was also surprised with a beautiful brunch baby shower at work today.  It was so sweet.  For those of you who have been reading the blog, you know exactly how the Career Center is my 2nd family.  They are awesome and I have to say they really know how to put on a party.  We are all about celebrations and food! Here are some photos (courtesy of Deanna) from today's celebration.

Waiting for the party to start!

YOU GUYS ARE CRAZY!

Yay to Mani and Pedi's!

Yummy desserts! Hello Sugar!

Baskets of gifts!

Spa love!

Baby books!

Martini mixers! CAN NOT WAIT!

Delicious Cake

The best stress relief ever - a candle! Chaundra needs it in this photo apparently!