Life is Good

Wow, how can anything less than 10lbs make such a profound impact on your life? Having Susanna with us has been nothing short of incredible, exhausting, beautiful, inspiring, motivational, and absolutely life changing.

My ladies are doing well this week. We left the hospital yesterday afternoon and had a sleepless night last night. Susanna is feeding every 2 hours or so and can scream with the best of 'em. Jessie continues to heal and is moving around better and better each day. She is still sore, but each day is better than the last and we are working together around the clock to tend to baby and keep Jessie comfortable.

Susanna had her first pediatrician's appointment this morning!! By the grace of God and a lot of planning Jessie and I were somehow able to get dressed, feed susanna, dress her, feed ourselves breakfast and get to the Doctor's on time! Admittedly, Jessie and I had to eat part of our breakfast in the car, but we made it! The Doc said Susanna looked great and is passing all her tests with flying colors. She has added weight since we left the hospital and will have a follow up appt in 2 weeks.

I've managed to unpack all of our stuff and clean house in between feedings. Fewer things make me happier than a clean house. However, now I'm exhausted and need to sleep. As I am writing this, Susanna is next to me snoozing away, Jess is sleeping upstairs and the dog is snoring at my feet. I'll sleep after her next feeding I suppose. I fear I may be rambling now, so I will wrap things up by saying - Thank you for all the encouragement and for taking the time to view our blog. Jessie and I may not be able to update everyday, but we do try to read all the comments everyday. Enjoy the pics....
Miguel

Grandpa Joe, Uncle Joey, and Uncle Gabriel

Mom, Dad, and baby slept well last night and everyone is feeling good this morning. Susanna has started to nurse, but it is a lil touch and go right now. Mom and baby are learning to work together during the process.

Jess has gotten up today and walked around a little bit, but she is taking it easy and trying not to overdue it. I am amazed how well she is doing and how strong she has been during all of this. Baby Susanna is sleeping next to me right now and seems to love laying in my lap. I've been doing well and just trying to keep Mom and baby happy, as well as keep this small room tidy.

Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday with Grandpa Joe, Uncle Joey, Uncle Gabriel, and of course.....my lady.

Happy Birthday Susanna!!

Let's see if I can live up to the great blogging Jessie has been doing for the last 9 months. Susanna Fourie Gonzalez was born this morning, 3/25/08 at 10:30am via C-section. She weighed in at 8lbs 15 oz and measured 21.75" long.

It has been an incredible experience for Jessie, Susanna, and I. Everyone is doing well. Jessie has commented numerous times that it was so much easier than she thought it would be. She is a little sore, but has not really taken much pain medication so far.

Susanna is cute as a button and has been sleeping most of the day. However, she has been keeping me busy on diaper duty. She loves being swaddled but also enjoys stretching out her arms and legs and not curling up too much. I think you'll agree she got the best cap in the nursery. Some group of volunteer elderly ladies knit the caps for the hospital. I think they used all their left over yarn for this one, seeing how there are so many colors going on.

Enjoy the pics, I'm sure we'll post some more tomorrow. Mom, Dad, and Susanna are going to get some sleep as their first night together as a family.
Love, Miguel

Baby Oh Baby!!

My best friend Vicki had her baby today. Ava Loraine Rutkowski was welcomed to the world around 3:00 pm this afternoon. She weighed in at 9 pounds 6 ounces, another big baby girl!!! And today was her actual due date... can you believe it?!?!? Vicki had a doctors appt. yesterday where they estimated the baby's weight to be 8 pounds 2 ounces. Ya think they were a little off?!?!?! She was told at that time that if she didn't have the baby by Friday they would induce her. But Ava had a different plan and late Wednesday night Vicki and Rich went to Rex Hospital and after many hours and an attempt at pushing a C-section was the ultimate outcome due to the large size. Miguel and I visited with Vicki, Rich, big sister Claudia, and baby and all are doing well. Please keep their family in your prayers :)

Wow, we have come a long way!!!

Miguel and I have been taking "belly shots" for the past 9 months. He put together the pics going from August through our latest picture which we took last week. We tried to be consistent and wear the same pink shirt and black pants but a few times we must of forgotten! You really can see the progression as baby Susanna has grown into the chubster they are predicting. It is funny for me to look at these and see how big my belly looks now!!! It seems that since December my belly has grown soo much!! I guess the pictures are proof that baby grows and adds the most fat during the last 3 months huh?!?!
As you can see the hand on my hip is my signature pose :)

Waiting Game

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but we haven't had much to report. I am continuing to go to my weekly appointments and we are just waiting until baby decides it is time. I am officially 2 weeks from my due date so it really could be at any day now. All my check-ups have been going fine and baby is doing great. We have reason to believe she is going to be a chubby monkey but only time will tell how big she will really be. Miguel is happy to have a chunky baby... I am a little hesitant. Anyone want to make any guesses on how big she will really be???

In other news, I think my best friend Vicki may be having her baby TONIGHT!! She has been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks now but today has been a totally different experience. I talked to her husband about an hour ago and they were about to call the doctor to see if they should head to the hospital. I am very excited to get the call that baby Ava has arrived :)

UPDATE:
Baby Ava did not make her grand arrival! She decided it wasn't quite the right time yet and wants to make us all wait a little longer. So no baby for Vicki but I am convinced it will be soon though :)

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Miguel received his CITA exam scores today and we found out he passed all four sections!!!! We are soooo thankful this is behind us now and one more thing we can cross off the list as we get closer to baby and graduation. He is one more step closer to becoming Dr. Gonzalez :)

FINALLY!

It's official... baby has flipped over and she is head down. This is GREAT NEWS!!! I had my 36 week appointment this morning and they confirmed this via ultrasound. Her head is low and what I have continued to feel on my upper left belly is her butt, so cute! Everything else is going smoothly as well. My next appt is next Thursday. I have been having recurring morning headaches but my blood pressure and protein levels were alright so they are not concerned at this point. They gave me warning signs to look out for just in case. Honestly I think I just havent been drinking enough water and am waking up dehydrated. Miguel is going to help me keep up my water intake!! But for now it is just a waiting game. I will continue to go to my weekly appts until baby decides it is time to arrive :)

Tonight is our last "Preparing for Childbirth" class at Rex Hospital. Miguel and I have really enjoyed our weekly classes and it has been a wonderful bonding experience for us. Tonight we will get a chance to practice newborn care on dolls and I am REALLY excited. It has been sooooo long ago that I changed a diaper that I really feel I have forgotten everything. Plus they will teach us about bathing and all the other necessities to take care of baby. All along I have been most excited about this class because I really want to learn it all and be SUPER prepared for baby. Maybe after tonight's class I will go home and practice everything on the dog! Sissy would love it!!!