Category: Backstories

So I guess it’s safe to say that it’s going to take me forever to “catch up” on my backed-up entries. I update almost daily, believe it or not, but I update to a super-long Word document since I’m trying to keep the entry numbers in order. Screw that, I say. I’m just going to update again starting from today and worry about adding the backed-up ones when I have a chance (which isn’t too often because of Emily and Alaethia LOL).

I guess I feel like I *have* to remember everything 1) because Emily’s my last baby and 2) because I was so caught up with work and life in general when Alaethia was a baby and I feel like I missed out on a lot, entry-wise and milestone-wise. I don’t even think I ever got to add the entry about her first birthday party! 🙁

So far, things are going really well. The boys are wonderful with Emily, especially Jaylen, who’s a really confident big brother. If she starts crying while she’s in her bassinet or swing and Jaylen notices that I’m busy, he’ll gladly unfasten her from the swing and carry her or pick her up out of the bassinet. It’s amazing watching him with her. Eenan’s good with her too, but he gets a little more nervous when she cries.

Alaethia’s also very good with her. She has her moments when she gets over-excited and starts patting her a little too enthusiastically on her head (ack, the soft spot!) but for the most part she’s great. I think she’s finally realized that Emily’s a real baby and not a dolly.

Emily’s pretty awesome at night. She has these little bouts of complete awakeness sometimes for about 2-3 hours straight, but she’s getting better. She’s my first baby to actually have a pattern. I know exactly when she’s going to be awake and asleep at night and during the day. She’s really happy and easy to care for for the most part.

The only problem we’ve been having is that, yes, a week after I stopped breastfeeding she started having trouble pooping. She’s 5 weeks old this week, as of yesterday, and she’s finally doing much better in that department.

Speaking of, she turned a month old on the 24th!

Isn’t she a beauty?? So far, everyone says she looks like me, but I don’t really see it except for maybe our noses LOL. And maybe the skin color, but she’s still lighter than me. She’s light like Mom and Gramma.

My dad-in-law was going to surprise us with a new addition to the house, a bigger living room! He decided to tell us about it because he thought we’d get a bit suspicious when new walls started going up LOL.

I’m so excited! Big Mario designed the room (it’s part of the old party porch, heh) and Mario’s designing the whole entertainment part of the room. That corner where Mario and his dad are standing in the photo is where the built-in entertainment shelf will be and there’ll be another on the opposite side (the south wall) for books and picture frames and whatnot. I really can’t wait to see it done, though there’s a lot to do, like leveling the floors, removing that darn tree stump:

and sanding the hardwood floors and varnishing them before the insulation and drywall goes up.

Mario and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary on the 27th. We didn’t get to do much because he was working tons of overtime (they were having this pain-in-the-ass show at the convention center that his boss waited till the last minute to tell them about) and of course we didn’t have much money. But we did go to one of our favorite restaurants, Kumori, for sushi.

As for yesterday, I took Alaethia and Eenan for check-ups at the doctor. Alaethia had her 2-year physical. She was such a good girl! She was excited about her appointment. She was very quiet and well-behaved when the doctor was checking her chest for her heart-murmur (she still has it so she’ll have another appointment with the specialist) and she didn’t even cry during her shot!

Eenan’s been having trouble with squinting at school so I took him in just in case and sure enough, he’ll be needing glasses again. He doesn’t want to wear them, I think mostly because there’s a class bully and he’s having enough trouble with him already. He hasn’t singled Eenan out; everyone has trouble with him. But still.

I got home and literally carried Emily around for about 2 hours. That’s the only thing about Emily: she’s a wonderful baby, but it’s hard to get things done because she wants to be held. And not just by anyone–it has to be me. It makes me feel great, that she knows when I’m holding her and that she wants to be with me all the time, but I do have to cook and clean the house once in a while!

I gave her to Mom to hold and started dinner. Jorge, Maggie and the kids were coming over so I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and deviled eggs. It was the first time in a long time that I actually got to make a nice meal.

We chilled out eating inside and then we went out to talk with Mom and Elda. We sat in the new living room–well, whatever’s built so far of the living room LOL. Then we joined the guys (Mario, Jorge and Adan) outside and talked and joked till around 12:30am.

I was supposed to go to the doctor this morning so Dr. C. can assess the cyst I need removed from my wrist, and I did, but I went late since I didn’t have anyone to watch the girls while I showered. Mom came over around 9:45 and I left around 10:30. The office was packed and they weren’t seeing patients anymore so I’d have to wait till after 2 and go to Mission. I figured I’d pack up the router we’d just gotten last week (that really, really sucks) and return it at Target while I was already in Mission.

*whew* This feels good. To post an entry on the actual day OF the entry. I hope to keep up from now on!

I woke up to the phone ringing. Yadira was calling to remind me about depositing before 2:30. I got washed up and dressed and went over there. I got back and Mario was eating cereal. I got his sandwiches ready for lunch and he left. I ate some leftover banana pancakes and started updating the Baby Log again. I chatted with Maggie and Mario on Yahoo and Myspace. Mario and I were talking about Valentine’s Day and how we didn’t do anything last year. I didn’t understand why he kept telling everyone that we didn’t really celebrate last year; I vividly remembered Alaethia being small and he surprised me with a box of chocolates, pink roses and 2 DVDs. He said no, we didn’t do anything and he didn’t buy me anything because we didn’t really have money. So, to refresh my memory I went back to my blog from last year and sure enough: we didn’t do anything. The Valentine’s I was remembering was 2007, when Alaethia was almost a month old. Valentine’s 2008 was so bad, in fact, that it was one of the worst Valentine’s we’ve ever had. I joked with him that it was one of the most awful memories that I must have repressed it, heh. It’s when we were having all these “talks” and I just felt so distant from Mario. This was around the time that I thought I was pregnant (before actually being pregnant with Emily), so we’d already had a tough month. Didn’t help it any that we got into an argument that night and he spent Valentine’s with Adan LOL.

Anyway, I washed dishes and swept and then sat down for a break. I’ve had to take those more often these days. Aly woke up and I gave her breakfast. She ate well, thank goodness. I started fixing my Baby Log again till around 2 and took a shower when Mom came over. I gave Aly and myself lunch and somewhat fixed my hair and left to pick up the boys from school.

I lectured them (poor things) about doing their homework and not giving Mom trouble while I was at my doctor’s appointment. I got to the doctor’s office and Dr. C. wasn’t there. The girls asked if I could go to the Mission office. I said sure; I kind of had no choice since I had to absolutely see him so he could get proper measurements of the baby.

I actually found the building. It’s such a nice building. I felt like such a noob, though, because I didn’t know where anything was. I couldn’t even find the door LOL.

I saw Dr. C. while I was waiting and reading Twilight and he waved. I hadn’t seen him in months now that he’s got his own office. I got pretty far with Twilight; I need just 1 more chapter now.

They called me in. I weighed 140.9. My blood pressure was good and they didn’t say anything about my urine so I’m assuming my sugar was behaving itself. Dr. C. saw me while I was having my blood pressure taken and he said, “Wow, Yajaira! That’s some belly you got there!”

When I was walking out of the bathroom with my urine sample Dr. C. extended his arm so I put it in his hand. He said, “Ha. Warm.” He always says something to make me feel weird LOL.

They had to check me “down under” so I removed my bottoms and sat with the paper gown tucked tightly around myself on the examination table. I read some more and make sure my camera was ready for video for the sono. When Dr. C. came in, he did the sono first and did his measurements. Everything looks good. I’m 37 weeks tomorrow and the baby’s head measured 36 weeks, so she’s where she should be.

He did the pelvic exam (God, I hate those things) and said I’m still not dilated or effaced, but the baby’s head is RIGHT THERE. He squeezed right above my, um, hoo-ha and my gosh, it hurt so bad. He said, “Yup, that’s where her head is.”

He asked if I’d done the Group B-strep test yet. I said yes, at the other doctor’s office last week. So he went to check my file. He comes in with a grim look on his face and says, “You tested positive.” I just stared at him, mouth agape. He stared in return. I said, “Well, what do I do? What does that mean?” He said he’d give me antibiotics and it should clear up. I was worried.

I got my prescriptions (he also gave me Prevacid for heartburn, but I won’t be taking it. It’s not that severe) and came home. I went over to Mary’s, where she was cooking, Mom was crocheting, Alaethia was eating a cup of yogurt in her high chair and the boys were playing their video games after completing their homework. We talked a while and I told them about the stupid GBS virus. No one really looked too concerned since I didn’t know exactly what it was.

I opened two more gifts for Emily that two co-workers of Mary’s sent for her. Little outfits, aww :).

I started doing my research on GBS as I was cooking and found out it can cause meningitis, pneumonia, or sepsis in newborns if it’s passed on to the baby during delivery. Then I read that antibiotics shouldn’t be given before labor because it’ll only clear the infection up for a while before it comes back. It said antibiotics should only be given intravenously during labor or after the water breaks. So what am I supposed to do now? Take the pills or not? I’m so scared. How did I even get this?!

Argh, anyway. Alaethia, my accident prone child, hit herself on the forehead this time. I don’t think I mentioned it when it happened, but a few days ago she smacked the corner of her eye on the ottoman. Well, that’s what Mom said. She was supposed to be watching her in the living room—which isn’t that far from the kitchen where I was washing dishes—and that’s what she said happened. I don’t think she hit herself on the ottoman; I think she tripped over Mom’s feet and hit herself on Mom’s knees, but she won’t admit it. They’re going to think we, God forbid, hit her or something.

Mario got home and we ate dinner. We talked about Noelia with Mary. I feel so bad for her. She’s so stressed out and it’s not going good for her at all.

Mario washed up and went to bed. I was up alone with Aly watching Noggin’, as usual. I was so tired and I’m feeling a soreness under my belly, probably from the pelvic exam. Owie.

I was just nodding off when Alaethia yells, “Open your eyes mom! It’s learning time again!” She’s hilarious.

Oh gosh. I have to get on the ball and get all the last minute things ready. My room’s a mess. So’s Aly’s. I really hope her toddler bed comes in soon. I need to get my hospital and diaper bag ready. And boil the bottles and chupies. And wash the bassinet stuff and cover it so it doesn’t get dusty again. Oh yes, and I need to get the car seat ready, too. She needs to wait at least another week! But then again…I’m worried about that darn GBS virus. I just hope everything’ll be okay. That she’ll be okay.

Sun., Feb 2nd – I woke up and had some breakfast, then started opening all the gift bags, taking pictures of everything, and separating by color so that I could start washing Emily’s tiny clothes. I still needed to go buy some Dreft, but I’d do that later.

I literally piled everything up in a corner of my room till we need it, like the tiny bassinet you can put between yourself and your spouse to keep from rolling over the baby if she sleeps with you and tons of diapers and wipees.

I started making a list of all the stuff we needed, which wasn’t much and we didn’t really need anything, it’s more wanting things for convenience. I’d go to Target and Walmart the next day while the boys were in school. Maybe John would go with me.

Mon., Feb. 3rd – I wanted to go to town all day. John never answered my texts. I was going to go to town on my own (Mom was watching Alaethia and about to give her lunch) but it was already 1pm and I only got to go to the bank. I came back home and totally busted Mom eating on sofa. And she says she’s not the one teaching Alaethia bad habits! Grr. Anyway, Alaethia was eating and I made myself some lunch, too. I took a shower and picked up the boys. I dropped them off and went straight to the doctor.

I got to read about 2-3 chapters from Twilight while I waited. Mario texts me that he and Jorge just had Kumori. He does it on purpose! I told him I was mad and he told me not to be. I told him I wouldn’t be mad if he went to town with me that evening. Ha! I got myself a shopping buddy!

I was laughing with Laura, my nurse, when I got called in. I weighed 140.1 lbs. I got a sono done: her head is HUGE. They’ll start seeing me weekly from now on and Dr. C. needs to check me the next time. I needed to get the Group B-strep culture done and Laura was going to be the one to do it LOL. She and I both felt embarrassed about it so she handed the swab to me, explained what to do and so I did it. As I’m walking out of the room Erica takes the culture from me and Laura puts her arm around me and starts telling Elizabeth and Erica how she just couldn’t get herself to do it because we’re good friends. I got my next appointment card from Elvira and then went home to pick up the Walmart and Target bags of stuff to exchange.

I picked up Mario and we went to Target first. I exchanged the white/gray head support for the pink/gray one and we got everything we needed from there. As we were walking I told Mario how, the week before Alaethia was born, John and I were running around everywhere looking for her stroller and Boppy and everything else I needed for her. It was super cold and drizzly that whole week.

We went to Walmart next. We got all the baby stuff we needed and even got the girls matching dresses! We exchanged the dress Sally had gotten for Alaethia on her birthday for a smaller size and found the exact same one in Newborn for Emily! Too cute. I can’t wait to see them in the dresses together :). I was surprised that Mario was actually being a good sport. He wasn’t annoyed or rushing me at all. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he’s a bit excited picking things out for his new baby daughter ;).

We got a new crib mattress for Emily, since the one that ‘s currently in the crib is Alaethia’s and she’ll need it for when her toddler bed comes in. I’d ordered it online from Walmart and it should be coming in from Feb. 13th to the 20th sometime. I still wish I hadn’t gotten rid of the boys’ cute white plastic bed. But we didn’t think we’d have anymore kids and Alaethia’s crib turns into a day/toddler bed and then a full-size bed. But oh well. I’m glad we found a nice, white wooden bed for Aly—and that it was under $65!

Oh the way home we went to Jorge and Maggie’s for a while. We sat around the table laughing with them and watching Jorge put up his new TV stand, then came home after an hour or so. We told them we’d go back. I had been hinting at Mario that we should leave quickly so I could get home, put everything away, make dinner and get Alaethia ready but no. He wanted to stay for an hour. Ok. So we get home and he’s moping around, not talking to me because he’s already in a mood. Too bad; I needed to eat and so did Aly. While he was sitting there moping I told him to please get up and help me to speed things along, so he got Alaethia ready. We finally got to leave after an hour.

Aly was well-behaved. She just sat on the sofa watching the fruits of Jorge’s labor: mounting his 50″ Hitachi on the new stand. It looks really nice! They’re doing amazing things in that house (Jorge’s Mom’s house). They removed this huge picture off the wall that was well, sort of 80’s, and now the place looks even bigger. I can’t wait to see how the house’ll look when they remove all the dark wood paneling.

I think that was also the night the guys started working on the new laminate wood floor they were installing in Jorgie and Justin’s bedroom. They’d already had new drywall and paint done, all the needed was the flooring and painting the trim white. It looked really nice and pretty easy to do. I wish we could put that type of flooring in our house, but the floors need to be re-leveled badly

Maggie didn’t think we were going back so she’d gone to sleep, so Aly and I just watched the guys working on the floor. We got home rather late, around 2am and we were beat.