My life

time flies

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:09:19 GMT

Gia is growing by leaps and bounds. If anyone out there knows how I can keep her my baby forever please let me know. I'm only kidding. Of course I want her to grow up but I will very much miss her baby days. She will be 6 months on Friday...SIX months!!! OMG!! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. It really doesn't feel like it's been that long since I had her. Then again, I can't remember what life was like before her. She fills up our world with such happiness it's like she's always been with us.

It was a long tough road but we have her on a great sleep schedule and bedtime routine. She is usually in bed by 8 and sleeps until at least 7. She still naps a lot during the day and I heard that around 6 months they go to having only two naps. She's not ready for that yet. It seems like the average amount of time she'll stay up for is an hour and a half to two hours. Then she starts sucking her thumb and pulling on her ear....and if I don't take that cue then she starts fussing. I put her in the crib, wind up her mobile and she sucks her thumb until she falls asleep. Back when she was first born it felt like we would forever have sleepless nights. Well, Neil slept since he couldn't help with feedings...but you know what I mean.

We took her for a walk last night. She was getting a little fussy so we decided a stroller ride would distract her. Worked like a charm. We took her to the park by the water and Neil had fun running in and out of the sprinklers with her. It was very cute to watch. I also managed to get some pictures of it.

We continue to struggle with the in laws in put and jokes about our routine. I don't expect that to ever stop though, so it's a matter of having to accept it and try to bite my tongue as best I can. Some days I'm not so good at that though.

Giovanna had her first professional pictures done a few weeks back. She did really well. Towards the end she started to not like it but she needed a nap so while we were going through the pictures on the computer that they had taken of her (picking out what we wanted) she fell asleep in my arms. We went to The Picture People at the Staten Island Mall...they did a great job. We spent about $400 on those pictures!! I'm sure we won't do that every time we have them done and these are pictures we'll always cherish so I'm still glad we got them. We have them hanging up all over the house and I smile every time I see them so it feels like money well spent to me. I'll do an update of those pictures soon. I scanned them into the computer and they actually still look really good.

She's still not crawling or sitting up on her own yet...but I think it will be very soon. She wiggles her way all around her crib at night and during naps. She always ends up in the back corner with her butt up in the air...too cute! She doesn't cry anymore when she rolls herself onto her belly...which is great. She's still teething and sucking on her hands (and anything else that gets near her mouth) like crazy. She drools like a puppy dog too. I keep wondering when exactly will those teeth finally pop out. You can see the little bumps in there...but they still have yet to break through.

I have to laugh at myself because before having Gia I used to feel like my days were so busy. Now I have a true idea of what a busy day is. I've been waking up at 5:30 almost every day because my body still thinks that is when Gia will be waking up even though it's been weeks since she did that. I don't bother trying to fight it and just get up to start my day. That doesn't mean I don't go back for a nice nap with Gia when she does her first morning nap...which is also the longest (anywhere from two to four hours). Chores around the house have to be spread out more because they have to be done while she is either sleeping or while Neil's mother is playing with her. Some nights I'm still doing them at 10 PM. Which is also right around the time I'm ready for bed. I still wouldn't change a thing!

Well, I guess that's it for now. I hope everyone is well and having a great summer!

xoxo, Heather

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:25:22 GMT

Life is so crazy these days I never find the time to write here. For those of you who still stop by I thought I'd let you know things are going great for us. Giovanna is such a joy to Neil and I, we can't even remember life before her...we don't want to, lol. It's the first time in my life that I can say that I ever woke up at 5 a.m. with a smile on my face, lol. For the first three and a half months I breast fed her so she was sleeping with me on my chest, I have an adjustable bed so I would sleep semi reclined with pillows on either side of us. Any little movement she made would wake me up...which is good. Then I slowly started to wean her to formula and during that time we found out she had acid reflux. When she was getting the breast milk it wasn't bothering her, but the formula did. Unfortunately by the time we realized what was wrong my milk supply was too low to sustain her again. She is now on prevacid in the morning and axid at night. She also had a formula change to Nutramigen ($48 a can!) which has the proteins already broken down for her which means she's also not in pain from the terrible gas she was having along with the acid reflux. She is a very happy and content baby now, thank god. We also got her into her crib right after her reflux issues were solved. It was rough those first couple of nights but now she goes to sleep like a pro. We start her bedtime routine around 7 (sometimes earlier depending on her) and she is almost always in bed by 8/8:30 at the latest. She sleeps until about 6 a.m. now. For a few weeks she was waking up at 5 a.m. but she finally went back to 6. She goes down for naps about three times a day. She is teething like crazy, she always has her hands in her mouth. I've decided her left hand tastes like cookies and her right one tastes like cake and that's why she's always eating them, lol. She is getting her ears pierced this Thursday...and I'm a bit torn about that. I know it will be easier in the long run if we do it now when she's little and will forget it quickly, but at the same time I hate tobe the cause of her having that pain. With the shots it's hard enough to know they hurt her, but I also know they are important...the ear piercing isn't really necessary, so that's why I'm feeling bad about it.

Raising Gia in a house with Neil's family is quite difficult. Yes, it is nice to have his mother around to watch her if I need the help...but it's not so great constantly having them tell us that what we are doing is wrong. It's mostly Neil's Dad that makes comments and makes fun of us. He thinks all the new information that's out there is silly because back in the day they used to just carry their kids on their laps while driving. Honestly I think he sounds silly. Yes, a lot of kids survived that era and that's great...but now that they know more things about child safety I would rather be cautious and go along with the experts. Just because they didn't tell them to lay a baby on it's back when they had kids doesn't mean we aren't going to do it with Gia if they say it's safer for her to be that way. We knew it was going to be hard, but I guess I wasn't quite prepared for their constant comments making us feel like we are bad parents. His father is mad at us for having her on a bedtime routine because he gets home so late and only gets to see her for maybe twenty minutes...one night he didn't get to see her at all because she was tired early that day and he was home late. He doesn't make any effort to get home early to see her (and he can, he chooses to stay late...technically he could be home a whole hour and a half earlier but stays anyway). Gia is a much happier baby since we've gotten her on this bedtime routine so we know it's working for her. We aren't going to stop doing what's right for her just because his Dad wants to see her. They still ask us to wake her up around 10 p.m. so they can play with her (yes, they are serious). I think they are ridiculous and there is no way I would disturb her sleep. So...basically it's an uphill battle here most days between us and his parents...but we stick to what Gia needs and put up with the nonsense to make sure she gets it.

Gotta go for now...she's waking up from her nap. Hope you all are doing great!!

xoxo, Heather

more Giovanna pics

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:29:44 GMT

Daddy & his little girl

belly time...with some drool (teething already!), lol

gotta love the hats,lol

she has such a tough life

she found her thumb about a month ago...so cute!

Gia's christening day

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:21:11 GMT

The lovely Lynn requested an update so here are some recent pic's of Giovanna's christening.

Gia's 5 months old here

getting comfy after getting her christening dress off

Happy family

Mommy loves her so much!

Uncle Andrew

Auntie Sharmi

the little princess

the godparents

pictures of Giovanna

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:51:01 GMT

Here they are...It's taken me a while to do this because I'm lucky to get a shower every day, lol. I love this first pic because she was first born and screaming her head off, what an amazing experience it was for us when she was born and we first heard her cry, nothing will top that.

I love this next one because it was one of the first smiles captured on camera.

baby Giovanna is here!!!

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:38:26 GMT

My water broke (what an experience that was!) in the middle of the night (1:30 am on the 7th) and headed to the hospital. I was in labor for 30 hours total before the took the baby by c-section. They were inducing me the whole time with oxytocin but it didn't do anything, I only dilated to 2-3 centimeters and the doctor said I could end up with an infection if we waited any longer. I didn't get my epidural until about 20 hours into the whole thing, and it had to be done 3 times before it worked...not an easy thing to sit still through while having contractions!! I will be singing the praises of epidurals the rest of my life, lol. What a difference it made and all that time I'd been trying to hold out on having it because my husband preferred that I didn't...he was afraid of the possible side effects. The c-section was pretty scary..at least for me, to be wheeled into the operating room and never having needed to even be in a hospital before and there I was going in for a c-section. It was a good thing they did the c-section because the cord was wrapped around Giovanna's neck twice. Both Neil and I cried our eyes out when she was born and I will NEVER forget that moment...it was just an absolutely amazing feeling. She weighed less than they predicted...she was 7 pounds 7 ounces and 21 inches long. She has dark blond hair and blue eyes. She is gorgeous!! As soon as I can I will post pictures. I was in the hospital a day longer than most c-sections because my incision kept bleeding. I went home but only 2-3 days later after seeing my doctor to have the staples taken out he sent me right away to the ER because I was bleeding heavily from the wound. What a nightmare that was. I was in the ER 24 hours...most of it waiting to have blood taken and then a CAT scan done to see where the bleeding was coming from. Then I had to have a procedure where the opened up the incision and (WARNING...TMI coming) had about 25 blood clots pulled out of the wound while I screamed my head off. They'd given me two doses of morphine but it didn't keep me from feeling the pain...I can't imagine what it would have been like without it!! They admitted me to the hospital for another few days and I had to be away from my baby...it was awful. My incision is now open about 4 inches deep and has to heal from the inside out. I have a special machine hooked up to the wound that I have to carry around with me at all times that sucks out all the drainage and promotes faster healing. I am supposed to be healed in one months time with the help of this machine...but what a hassle to carry it around and hold the baby in the other hand. I have a nurse that comes to the house three times a week to change the dressing and tubing etc. I cannot wait for this whole thing to be over so I can fully enjoy my baby girl and be able to care for her by myself. I've been so lucky that Neil got a whole month off...he was supposed to go back on Monday but got another week after explaining the situation to his boss.

The best part is that the baby is perfect. I'm breast feeding and that is quite a draining process...I don't even remember what sleep feels like. The only time I get at least 3 hours straight is when I supplement with a bottle so I can get some rest. I will try to keep everyone updated as often as I can. Neil and I are beyond happy (tired, but happy, lol) and can't wait to watch this little miracle of ours grow.

xoxo, Heather

3D pic's of Giovanna

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:35:10 GMT

in the above pic she is sucking on the big toe of her foot, my Mom got such a kick out it when she was doing this during the ultrasound

our little girl

38 weeks today

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:20:44 GMT

Wow…it has been forever since I updated in here. The baby isn’t even here yet and we’re so busy running around getting ready for her arrival. We’ve met with two pediatricians and think we know which one we are going to go with. This weekend we are picking up all the last minute things for the baby that we forgot to get

I can’t believe there is only 2 weeks and 2 days until my due date is here. At the last doctors visit (I go weekly now) he said he wouldn’t let me go any more than 2-3 days past my due date because of my blood pressure. So far it’s been holding steady, but I guess as a precaution he’ll induce me if I don’t go naturally by then. Giovanna weighs about 7 pounds now…I wonder how much she'll weigh in the end.

Everything has been going great and the whole pregnancy has been wonderful. I really can’t complain. I’m still feeling great. I know a lot of women at this point are so ready to get the baby out but I’m not at that point just yet. I’m still sleeping good, hardly any back pain (only if I do too much)…no major discomforts.

I am getting anxious though, wondering when labor is going to happen, how it’s going to start, and how I’m going to handle the pain of it. I’ve been feeling crampy a lot lately, but I don’t know if I’m having Braxton hicks contractions or not…unless those are what the cramps are. I’m so clueless.

We finally had the 3D ultrasound done about a month ago. My Mom and step Dad were visiting that weekend and we planned it so they could go. She loved being there, and I was thrilled that she could participate in even that small part of the pregnancy with her living 5 hours away. I’ll post those pictures next.

So, that’s it for now. Just waiting on little Gia to decide when she wants to come out and meet us…we can’t wait!!!

33 weeks

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:44:39 GMT

I’m 33 weeks and counting!! I can’t believe how quickly it has gone by. Other times it feels as if we have known about Giovanna for forever and that she is already so much a part of our lives when we haven’t even met her face to face. What an amazing journey this has been for me, Neil and our families. I still feel so very lucky to be able to have this life growing within me when I really thought it would never happen for us. It had been going on almost two years of trying and I was worried enough to talk to my gyn about fertility testing. Obviously we didn’t end up going through with it because that very month Gia was conceived.

So far the pregnancy really has been going well for me. I have had very minor issues with back pain, almost non existent which is surprising. I’m still sleeping through the night with no problems (besides frequent trips to the bathroom). I’m still able to get quite comfortable in bed with all my pillows stuffed all around me. My migraines have been gone for most of the pregnancy. There was only one month where they returned and were worse than usual. Once I hit 20 weeks though they went away altogether. The only problem really has been my blood pressure and the acne. I’m grateful that there have been no signs of pre eclampsia. The last visit to the doctors found my pressure to be 110/80 which is considerably lower than it has been for a while. Usually it is 130/90. It would be nice if it stayed in the lower range. The weight gain had been ok for most of the pregnancy as well. By 30 weeks I’d only gained 19lbs which by normal estimates I was on the lower end of what they would expect by that week. The next visit (only 2 weeks later) I gained 7 more pounds (so a total now of 26lbs)!! I have no idea how that happened, but the doctor told me that more than likely it was fluid retention and fully expected it at that point in the pregnancy.

Last estimate of baby Gia’s weight was 5 and ½ pounds. They say she is still measuring in a week ahead of schedule and that she is quite healthy and active. I’m wondering how big she is going to get within the next 7 weeks!! Typically they say a baby gains 1 pound every two weeks but that towards the end it can be as much as ¾ ounce a week. Unless she comes early she is going to be a good size little girl!! Which is making me second guess my wishes for a natural birth (non c-section)…with tons of medication, ha.

I’m in love with all her little movements inside of me. I could lay in bed for hours with my hands on my stomach feeling her wiggling in there. On the last ultrasound she was in the position she needed to be for birth(head down) so that’s excellent news. There is getting to be less room for her to move around so it’s unlikely that she will change position at this point.

One of the secretaries at Neil’s work was two weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy and Neil found out today that she had her baby over the weekend. She was 5 weeks early, which has Neil completely freaked out. Right after dinner tonight he went into the shed to pull out a bag for us to start packing for the hospital. He’s a nervous wreak already, lol. I have to say that I am getting rather nervous as well now that the pregnancy is nearing the end. I’m so excited to be closer to meeting Giovanna and holding her…but I’m getting more and more nervous about the actual birth. I worry that I won’t know the first signs of labor since I don’t know what a contraction feels like. If my water breaks that would be a pretty clear sign…but I read that you’re more likely to have contractions first and later on in the labor process the water will break. I’m worried about how well I will deal with the pain. I know I can do it because so many millions of women have done it before me so I know my body will do what it needs to, or there is always the option of a c-section if necessary. I guess it’s just scary because it’s an unknown process for me. I’ve also never had any kind of hospital stay, never even been to the ER for any reason…well, at least not as an adult. So hospitals are a bit intimidating to me on their own. I’m sure everything will be fine; I’m just really good at worrying, lol.

I have to apologize once again to everyone for not keeping up with you all as well as I should. I just have not been up to being on the computer very long. I’m in some tagging groups so I’ll make tags, but that’s about all the energy I have to keep up with those. I’m in bed earlier and earlier lately. I just hope everyone is doing well and one of these days maybe I will get around to stopping by your journal before the baby is born…because once she’s here I imagine it will be a long time before I get back into the swing of things online.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday with their loved ones!!!

xoxo, Heather

26 weeks

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:15:17 GMT

I can't believe how long I go between updates and I don't even realize the time is flying by. So far everything is going really good with the baby and pregnancy. Giovanna weighs 2 pounds now!! I know that isn't a lot, but it seemed like a major milestone to me when she left the 1 lb whatever ounces phase and went up to 2 whole pounds!! I also went and had my glucose test done to check if I might have gestational diabetes, it's a standard test they do to all pregnant women between 24-28 weeks. I'm happy to say my levels came back in the normal range!! Huge relief for me because I've already drastically changed my eating habits and couldn't imagine having to put even more restrictions on what I eat if I did end up having it.

I feel Gia move much more often than I had been 4-6 weeks ago. And it seems like she is getting stronger with those kicks of hers! I love feeling them though. I don't even mind when it's 4 a.m. and she's wide awake kicking away, I just lie there with a big smile on my face just knowing she is ok.

The living situation is pretty much the same, but I think I'm coping with it much better. The two trouble making Aunts are still here. We were hoping the one from Vegas would be leaving soon, but it looks like she is quite comfortable here and won't be leaving anytime soon. I just hope like crazy that they are gone by the time Gia comes home from the hospital. It breaks my heart to know I have to bring her home to this kind of environment. Counting the basement (which was remodeled years ago and is the main living area for us) we have 4 floors (Neil and I are in the attic, which was also remodeled about 2 years ago). Neil's Aunt has the ground floor apartment which leads down to the basement. So, every day I will have to dress Gia warmly so we can get down to the basement so I can cook and clean for the day because I have to go outside to get there. Before this whole thing blew up we would just walk through his Aunts to get to the basement. But now that she is angry with Neil's parents we can't go through her apartment...which is why we have to go outside the house to get downstairs. It's such a hassle. I wish it wasn't this way.

On a happier note, my baby shower is in two weeks. It's the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I cannot wait to see my Mom and Aunts!! It has been a long time and I miss my family terribly. It will be so nice to get a big hug from my mother. She hasn't seen me since I started to show. I'm excited and nervous about the shower at the same time. I really don't do well with being the center of attention. They wanted to set me up at a separate table from the rest of the guests but I begged them to just let me sit with everyone else. They are going to sit me at the head of the table...but it's still better than sitting at a separate one. I'm also rather shy, so I'm not great at social functions. Just knowing my Mom is there will make it so much easier. Most of the guests are from Neil's family and their friends, only about 5 out of the 35 that are coming are my family. Luckily I know everyone that is coming fairly well so that will make it easier too.

So far I've gained 16 pounds. I'm kind of bummed about that because I've been trying so hard not to gain much since I'm already overweight. The doctor doesn't want me to gain any more than 25 lbs....and I still have about 3 months left to go!!!

The Monday after the shower is our first birth preparation class. It will be for 3 Monday's in a row. The next time they were offering the class was the beginning of January and the lady doing the class said that may be cutting it a little too close to my due date of February 17th. Especially if one or more of the classes had to be postponed due to bad weather. I'm very curious to see what this class will be about seeing as this is my first time going through all of this.

Last week Neil took me to have a prenatal massage. He had a massage done at the same time in the same room as I, which was really nice. We both loved it so much that we are going back in another month to get it done again. I think Giovanna liked it too because she spent a lot of the massage kicking away.

I guess that's all for now. Hope everyone is doing great out there in J-land!!

xoxo, Heather