Coming up for air...

OK, so trying to blog every month of E's life was an epic fail. I did not anticipate how difficult it would be to actually write a blog ONCE a month when I started working full time. So, the best I can do is this..random and sporadic updates.

So, about that job... I never actually blogged about it, but I started working full time as a lecturer in engineering at the same place as Lara, Penn State Altoona. I interviewed at the end of summer for a multi-year contract and started this fall semester. Thank goodness I was an adjunct the previous year and had 2 courses already prepped, because they gave me 3 different courses to teach with a few weeks notice - Statics, Strength of Materials, and Construction Management. It has been one busy semester...

Because we both work for the university AND our departments have been very considerate (as best they can) with scheduling our class schedules, we've been able to avoid daycare. This means when I'm at school, Lara's with E and vice versa. We've managed to dodge daycare again this spring because of schedule rearranging. To make something like this work, we both work late into the night when he sleeps, and then put hours in on the weekend to actually make it seem like a full work week. Regardless, there's always more to do, although I've learned that teaching means work comes home and is NOT like the cushy state job I once had.

Our life is chaotic in coordinating our work schedule with his sleep schedule, but we make it work. I'm not really sure how, but we manage to keep the house in order (even to our anal standards!), the baby healthy, and the pets alive. We're tired, over worked, but I think we're finding our stride. We've just started incorporating going to the gym (thank goodness it's a 24 hour gym because sometimes the only time to go is at 10pm on a Thursdsay when all the grading is done), put in place a date night on Fridays to Subway, and we try to enjoy the little time we have together like dinner, where Lara and I play Uno over dark chocolate Hershey Kisses while E goes ape shit over a mesh bag of frozen watermelon or cantaloupe as his dessert. Because we're so busy, it all seems like it's going by too fast, and it doesn't help that E changes every week, or so it seems. I think Lara and I are trying to focus on enjoying E and each other through the chaos.

As for Lara, she's doing very well although she doesn't feel like it. From day 1, it has surprised me how much she can get done with basically no time. How she manages to keep her lab busy, functioning, and growing (she's got like 5-8 lab students?!) while prepping her classes and being home with E half time is beyond me. She's pretty magical, and even when she's flat out exhausted, she still surprises me. The other day, I had a very rough day at work, E was not a happy camper, and Lara had a bad day at work too. While I was teaching my evening class, she wanted to give both of us a win for the day and made these cute PB dark chocolate chip cookies. I tell you, the day was basically shit, but those cookies actually made me feel better. She never feels like she gives everything on her plate what is needs or her desired level of attention, but in my opinion, she does incredible things at work and at home. Yes, always her #1 fan!

As for E, he is just incredible. He's growing and learning at an exponential rate! We think in a couple weeks, his first set of teeth will actually poke through those bulbous gums. So much is new with him, so I'll list some stuff.

Here are things he does: sits, rolls around, chewing on our hoodie strings, looks lovingly at Kona whenever possible, plays with his bottle (habit of letting the nipple drip while he catches drops in his mouth...a habit we try to break, but laugh at too, if that makes sense), plays with toys, occasionally mimics sounds we make, and sleeps well for the most part( it'll go one of two ways: 1) sleep through the night, like 8pm-6am or 2) wake 1-2 times and needs to breastfeed or throw down a full 4-6 oz bottle before going back to sleep).

He loves: riding his swing, being taken out for walks in his BOB stroller, eating copious amounts of frozen cantaloupe, laying in the tub after his bath is done with water up to ear level so he can kick and splash around, being around Kona, and sitting around with Lara and I doting on him (frequent occurrence).

He's just a happy baby, generally. It was sad a couple weeks ago, he got a virus that made him feel awful - little sleep for nearly a week, inconsolable, a few days of rashes all over, and a fever for a couple days. We thought it was teething until we finally went to his pediatrician who told us otherwise. Beyond that bad virus, he's been pretty easy going. He's got quite a forceful personality, and he will tell you what he likes and dislikes with his facial expressions and sounds. It's hilarious!

Oh, one new thing - we are starting swim lessons next weekend :) Pretty stoked to do a parent/child swim class with him through the YMCA, especially because this kid LOVES being immersed in water.

I have to be honest, we have been bad with photos and videos, which I think my sister will agree since she demands more. We have some on Lara's good camera, and some crappy ones on our crappy phones. It's weird, now that we can communicate and interact with him more, we tend to take less photos and videos of him... sad. I hope to upload some photos and videos in the near future for those interested. Right now, this is the most recent photo I have...

I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying the fall. It's absolutely beautiful here. The fall colors are just amazing! Until next time...

Month 2

Highlights:

• Elias gets out of the bed by sleeping in a swing
• He got his first round of shots at his 2 month appointment, and it was more devastating to us than it was for him I'm sure
• Find out Elias has a couple tiny holes in his heart that will likely close up as he gets older; worried at first, but the doctors seemed to think he's going to be more than fine so it puts us at ease. We have regular checkups over time to make sure.
• We were feeling a little more human in the second month, but we were still really sleep deprived. Elias still fed every 2 hours, and NEVER took naps (we did not know at this point that you actually have to proactively put a baby down for a nap; they don't just naturally do it... huh, go FLIPPIN' figure)
• Elias is as attentive and serious as ever, still couldn't get him to smile outside of sleep

Posting pictures is easy... ;)

My photos -

2 Month

Lara's photos -

2 Month

Month 1

Ok, so being a new mother does not lend itself to writing blogs on the regular, and let's not forget to mention that I'm already bad at keeping this up to date... So, how to pick up on this? I don't want to just leap forward in time without giving some insight to the last four months. What I'm going to do is write about each month, and then hopefully at some point I'll be caught up to the present. Hope.

The Birth
We went in for an induction on 03/20/14 at 39 weeks and arrived at Mount Nittany Medical Center around 7:30am. Dr. Elizabeth Raquet was our OB that day, and she said I was basically nowhere near starting labor naturally. The doctor started me on Cytotec and the plan was to do 3 rounds of Cytotec: administer the dose, remain connected to the fetal heart rate and contraction monitors for a certain time to be sure everything was fine, disconnect from monitors and move around for an hour or so, then reconnect to the monitors and wait until the next dose.

Cytotec Dose 1 - we walked 1.5 miles around the maternity floor (the nurses were very impressed!), individually wrote letters to the baby about why we wanted to have him in this world, did some blood work for the cord blood collection, and settled into our room for L&D. Progress at end of dose 1: 3cm dilated, 50% effaced, -3 station, firm cervix.

Cytotec Dose 2 - we walked 1 mile around the maternity floor, and I started to get hungry because all I ate for breakfast was a bowl of cereal. I was given Jell-O, multiple juice cups, and a berry sorbet cup, but they were not satisfying. The wallpaper in our room started to look like an alternating pattern of chicken carcasses and potato wedges, and I told our doctor and nurse such. The doctor allowed me to have a break to move around, take a shower, and eat instead of administering the third dose. Sometime in there, we had done another 1.5 miles around the maternity floor, and heard a woman deliver her fourth baby within a few laps around the floor! I had not progressed much: +3 cm dilated, 60% effaced, -3 station, soft cervix. Around 6pm, the doctor ordered me chicken breast, mashed potatoes with gravy, steamed cauliflower, melon cup, and hot tea. Dr. Raquet wanted to be sure I had chicken and potatoes since I was fixated on the wallpaper of the room. Lara knew this was not going to fill me up, and brought in contraband: 2 rotisserie chicken thighs with wings and a strawberry shake. It was heavenly!

Cytotec Dose 3 - around 10:30pm, not much happened. Lara alternated in reading the Divergent book series and sleeping. I did the same, except read Neil Gaiman's new book 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane'. At some point, I started having a little back pain. My nurse checked my cervix and found little change, except effacement went up to 75%. Around 3:30am, Dr. Raquet felt my cervix had softened enough to start Pitocin at its lowest dosage. To relieve the back ache, I rocked on a yoga ball while Lara massaged my back.

Pitocin & Water Breaking - By 7:15am, a bunch of things started to happen. Our OB was changing rounds with Dr. Theodore Hovick. However, Dr. Raquet wanted to push us along before leaving, so she broke my water. Repeat, broke my water and started Pitocin in the same hour, say what?! Almost immediately, I could feel the time and intensity of each contraction. They started at five minutes apart then moved closer to three-minute intervals. I didn't want to move or try anything. I couldn't focus, and I felt like I could hear/feel/sense everything and nothing during my contractions...the pain disoriented me. At 9am. I couldn't do it anymore and received an epidural that helped immediately with the pain; there was pressure but nothing like being stabbed with a tree branch.

Delivery - Shortly after the epidural, the baby was showing signs of fetal heart rate decelerations, which caused them to stop increasing Pitocin. We were at a stand still, but at 11am, Dr. Shreya Patel spoke on behalf of Drs. Hovick and Raquet and said we were at a point where we have to progress labor. The baby had be delivered, and by pushing forward, we would know if we could have a vaginal birth or if we'd have to go with a Caesarian section. To do so, they pushed Pitocin again, placed an internal contraction monitor and attached a fetal scalp electrode to better monitor me and the baby. It scared us because he started having variable decelerations between 90 - 150 beats per minute every minute or so. At 11:45am, Dr. Hovick said there was no change: 5-6 cm dilated, 90% effaced, and -2 station. He then told Lara to take a break, get a shower, etc. while I napped so I could be ready to push. For whatever reason, at 12:30pm Dr. Hovick came to check on me again and said we were ready to push and deliver the baby! In less than an hour, I dilated 3-4cm and he dropped to a +2 station. I hollered to Lara as I'm getting my feet placed into the stirrups to get out of the shower quick because the baby was coming; Lara was incredibly shocked! By 12:45pm, the nurses were in place so I could push.  The lead nurse counted to 10 while I pushed less than a dozen times. Lara held my left leg and was so encouraging throughout the whole delivery. When he was crowning, Dr. Hovick came in to finish the delivery. It took about 5 minutes, and I pushed about 10 times total before Elias came into the world at 1:05pm! I can't remember much, only tidbits...tearing up when they put him on me; he didn't cry when he came out, which worried me; he was very alert and looking around to the surprise of everyone in the room; he came out with a full head of jet black hair; Lara cut his umbilical cord; we got to see the placenta in a 5 gallon bucket; I watched him take the cord blood sample; I watched myself get over 40 sutures, and eventually dry packed with 2 things of gauze because I wouldn't stop bleeding; he was eager and quick to breastfeed; and we were so happy to see him  delivered safely!

Elias in the first month
God, it'd hard to recall the minutia, so I'm going to bullet point things:

• Elias and I had a rough start to breast feeding, and he lost enough weight to where we had to supplement with formula. It took 10 days for my milk to come in, and being coerced by Lara into seeing a lactation consultant while the verge of tears in order to stay with breastfeeding.
• We co-slept the shit out of our recliner. Pretty much my outfit of choice the first month was a bra and some underwear, while Elias slept and nursed non...friggin'....stop. I look back and miss that time with him.
• When I got out of the recliner, Elias preferred to sleep on Lara's chest at night. 
• All he did month 1 was feed (try to survive), sleep, and cry. We really believe because my milk took forever to get in, he cried just because he was hungry.
• We did not start cloth diapers until the end of two weeks, because we were so ROCKED by having a baby. Disposables were just easier at that point.
• Thank God for friends and family... The Tartaglias ordered Pizza Hut for us one of our first few days home, and that was a life saver. Lara's department alternated bringing us dinner (sometimes lunch too!), and my parents came around week 3-4 and hooked us up with a freezer full of home cooked food. Even though we had food prepped for a month, it was nice to not have to prep anything, and just eat. We felt very very blessed!
• He didn't like his first sponge bath, but once we figured out how to keep him warm, he LOVED bath time and still does.
• When we would go out, the only way he would soothe was being carried inside Lara's jacket. I think there's a picture in one of the slideshows of it...
• Although we've never had a child before, overall Elias seemed like your standard model, just hungrier. He was really attentive to everything around him (although he probably couldn't see much) and loved to be snuggled up with us.

So the photos taken below are from our phones...quality questionable, but lots of memories captured with these phones!

My photos - 

1 Month

Lara's photos - 

1 Month

So, that's month 1. Stay tuned for month 2...mostly photos, because I can't tell you much about what happened precisely at 2 months!

Day before induction

So, I wanted to add pictures of some of the ultrasounds of the baby because I haven't shared very much of them (unless you happen to be one of those people I've been incessantly texting with while pregnant..=D). 

Here are my weekly belly photos starting from week 8 to week 38. We are doing week 39's photo at the hospital, since that is the day of our induction - March 20.

I also wanted to share some photos of his nursery and the the random things we have for him. I can't thank our family and friends enough for all of the amazing gifts we've received through the mail. Our little man is spoiled with love, clothes (3/4 of them are Oliver's!), toys, and baby accessories!

Beyond the gifts, I want to thank everyone for all the texts, emails, phone calls, Voxers, FB messages, etc. since we've moved to PA and became pregnant. I've received so many warm wishes, check ups on how the pregnancy has been, how Lara and I are adjusting or have adjusted to living in Altoona, or just to say hello. It means a lot to a pregnant lady! Moreover, it definitely reminds me that distance and time do not dictate the strength of friendships or family. I feel very blessed to have our family and friends.

Before I go, I wanted to list some things I will miss about being pregnant: doing our morning shower routine where I sing to my belly and I can get him to stop kicking like crazy; putting my bare belly on Lara's back at night and he'll start kicking up a storm every single time; Lara and I sharing very eclectic music with him and seeing what his response was like; Lara telling him stories or about her day before we go to bed, and noticing that he really responds to her voice; being surprised by his changes in utero (preferred positions, change in hiccup frequency, and his sleep/mostly awake cycles). Man, we love this boy so much! We cannot wait to meet him :)

Anyway, wish us well tomorrow and hopefully the next post will be a ridiculous amounts of photos of our baby boy!

38 weeks

Some baby updates and photos...

Today we are at 38 weeks, and a lot has happened since my last pregnancy update in late January. Sorry it's been so long since my last post!

On 02/08 we had a pretty big scare. At 33 weeks and 2 days, I started to bleed profusely and Lara rushed me to the Altoona hospital (closer to us, but not where I am delivering or where my OB is located). I can't really recall how much blood there actually was, but it was running down my legs, and did not stop until I was lying down in the hospital bed. The amount of bleeding was enough to keep me there for 2 days of monitoring with plenty of tests - check if my water broke via dry speculum, fetal and uterine ultrasound, fetal heart rate and uterine contraction monitoring over two days, and getting a steroid shot to help the baby's lung development should he need to be delivered before the 34 week mark. They were not sure what exactly caused my bleeding and put me on a modified version of bed rest to try and prevent another profuse bleeding incident. The entire time, our baby was doing perfectly fine according the the fetal heart rate monitor and the ultrasound we had. In fact, he really enjoyed (or maybe he disliked) messing around with the two monitors placed on my belly. I think Lara and I were thoroughly traumatized by that event. I remember crying and panicking as we were driving to the hospital, and I remember Lara trying to keep it together and get me up to labor and delivery as fast as possible. I remember seeing the worry and distress on her face as I was going through tests and the baby was being monitored. It was heartbreaking. We got through it though, and we are all doing very well.

The following week, we received news from Altoona's hospital that they did blood work on me since they did not have any of my information when I checked into labor and delivery. On an antibody screen, I came up positive for anti-wra (Wright), which can cause issues with the baby, particularly fetal anemia. I was scheduled that week to see a maternal fetal specialist in Danville, PA to get a consult. Apparently, it is rare to have this antibody. We were about 34 weeks at this point, and his recommendation was to induce at 38 weeks, regardless of whether or not our baby showed signs of distress or carried the antigen. Until then, I was told to continue modified bed rest, have my blood drawn every other week to check for antibody levels, get weekly ultrasounds to check for fetal hydrops (which was convenient since apparently babies conceived via IVF+ICSI are monitored for the amount of amniotic fluid on a weekly basis), have weekly fetal non stress tests, and see my regular OB weekly as opposed to every other week.

Shortly after meeting with the specialist, our OB group in State College had a meeting mainly about my antibody issue and to a much lesser degree, my bleeding issue. This is what they concluded after reviewing my chart and taking the specialist's recommendation into consideration for the antibody issue:

• Bleeding Issue: it's being caused by a lot of veins on the lower portion of my cervix. The pressure of the baby on my cervix causes those veins to rupture and cause bleeding. They are hopeful that I will be able to deliver vaginally in spite of this, and that the baby's head will clamp down on those veins as he passes through the vaginal canal. They also believe that once he is out, the pressure on those veins will cease so the profuse bleeding will no longer be an issue.

• Antibody Issue: They suggested we follow the specialists recommendations and induce at 38 weeks - March 13. We asked what would happen if we chose not to induce assuming all the monitoring showed the baby was doing fine? We were told that the specialist suggested increasing fetal non stress testing to 2 times a week and to maintain the same ultrasound and OB schedule as suggested. If everything was OK, we could even wait until labor occurred naturally. However, our OB group strongly suggests following the specialist's initial recommendation since there is likely a reason to draw the line at 38 weeks, where the risks begin to outweigh the benefits after that point. They said we should consult the specialist to give us peace of mind, and because they are not familiar with the risks of this specific antibody on the baby. We called the specialist and told him the antibody titers were actually stable and lower than when we saw him earlier in February, that the baby's ultrasounds had no signs of fetal hydrops, and the fetal non stress tests were very normal. He said based on that and the additional monitoring, it would be fine to wait until labor began naturally, which we intended to do...

However, we had another bleeding scare on 02/28, about 36 weeks along. It was no where near as traumatic nor did I bleed remotely as much as I did earlier in the month. I called my regular OB and he said because the bleeding was very light, that is would be fine to come up to labor and delivery at Mt. Nittany Medical Center in State College, where I will be delivering. Had I not had the bleed issue I had earlier that month, he probably wouldn't have even told me to come. However, because it was so bad, they just wanted to be sure everything was fine. I was only monitored for 4 hours before being discharged. Again, the baby was perfectly fine; he's a really active and seemingly happy fetus.
Because my bleeding has been unpredictable and our regular OB's STRONGLY suggest following the specialist's recommendation of inducing at 38 weeks, we made the decision to compromise and induce at 39 weeks - March 20. We decided on this for a few reasons, and looking back on the last couple weeks, partially on stress and worrying about the health of our baby and me. Our reasons: our baby is considered full term; we won't have to keep worrying that at some point, the antibody issue will harm him over the next 2-4 weeks; I can hopefully avoid another bleeding scare; and I'll have an additional week to HOPEFULLY show signs of dilation and effacement - basically, increase my chances of vaginal birth instead of having a C-section.


As of Monday, our baby is doing very well. He is approximately 6 lbs and 10 oz, very active in utero, and apparently has a good amount of hair, which pleases Lara to no end!  Today, I am 1 cm dilated and 25% effaced, which is not very much. It's not indicative that I will continue to progress at some known pace or just stay this way until I go into labor. Still, it's progress forward...Over this last week, I've started have notable Braxton Hicks contractions; every time I have one in the lower part of my uterus, I feel like I seriously have to poop, except I don't.

 Most recent ultrasound 03/10/14: such cute lips and nose!

 He has hair! 

Let's see, I've gained 22 lbs this pregnancy and it wasn't until this last week that I actually feel the weight and effects of pregnancy. I have all the usual symptoms - aching back, varicose veins in my calves, cramping in my left calf at night, difficulty sleeping through the night, quickly fatigued, emotional... I think the only thing I don't have is swelling. I seriously believe that if I were still allowed to workout, I wouldn't have as many issues as I recently developed, but who knows? That could all be in my head. Regardless of these new symptoms, it has been a pretty easy pregnancy for me symptom wise. I love being pregnant!

Around: August 22, 2013

 

 Around: January 4, 2014 - in Las Vegas for baby shower

This morning: March 14, 2014 - I'm going to POP!

So, that is where we are in pregnancy! We will be inducing on March 20 at 7:00am at Mount Nittany Medical Center. I will post one more time before we induce to write about how we're feeling, our prepping we've done for him to come home, and to show more photos of the nursery, my belly, and our baby's ultrasound pictures!

Hercule - ~2001 to 2014

If we're not connected via Facebook, then you haven't heard that we put our old dog Hercule to sleep a couple weeks ago - February 18, 2014. I couldn't write about him until now, but I wanted to make sure I shared his story on our family blog.

Hercule, or Herc, was a rescue dog, but many said he looked like a mix of Bull Mastiff, Rhodesian Ridgeback, and possibly a Boxer. I like to think he was mostly a Bull Mastiff, because his temperament and physical activity would indicate such. He has been part of my family since around 2001, which means he has been around for about half my life. I just wanted to share his story and who he was with you guys because he was very much part of our family.

Fall 2011

Christmas 2012

Herc originally was my brother and his ex's dog. Around 2001, they separated and my parents and I moved in with my brother to help him keep his home. Although he was my brother's dog, there was no one taking responsibility of having him - taking him to the vet, taking him on walks, giving him routine showers, nail cutting, etc. Herc was the same dog through and through from his infancy to old age - very tender, gentle, independent, and extremely loyal. He used to play with my niece and nephew when they were barely 5-years-old way into the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes it would be 2am, and I would wake up to hear Iolis and Teya chitchatting about nonsense while Herc would be their rag doll to play with; the way they played with him, it amazes me how much patience he had with them and how he played so delicately with the kids. With things like that, it's like he won me over; I couldn't ignore his lack of care, even if he slept indoors and ate like a human king. It just wasn't enough. I took it upon myself to take care of him as if he were my dog.

Christmas ~2001-2003

Herc and Teya - Winter 2003

When I went to college in Reno for undergrad, my mom (family lives in Las Vegas) increased the amount of table food Herc consumed to the point where he exclusively ate human food. We are talking full size ham steaks, rib eye steaks, leftover soup with rice that my parents made, etc. Already a big dog, he went from somewhere around 95# up to a whopping 125#. When I started graduate school, I coerced Lara into letting Herc live with us. Although he ate well, I knew he never got routine health and hygiene care, and he never was taken on walks or got to explore life outside the confines of a house. When he moved in with us, it was pretty fun times. I forgot so much about Herc's personality while I was in school - how much he loved small dog toys, how awfully lazy he was, his love of scratching his back on the carpet, his barking conversations he'd have with me if I egged him on, his love for rolling around in grass, his strong desire to chase rabbits...the list is endless.

Herc's first workout goes over...well - mid 2009

Herc playing on his back - late 2009

Herc telling me something - late 2009

We like to think Herc was happy in all these new experiences, but to be honest, he was such an easy going dog... I'm sure he was just happy in Las Vegas as he was in Reno. If anything, he traded his gourmet meals in for outdoor fun and a home where he was fully integrated into the daily life of our family. He spent some time acclimating to the snow, and a lot of warm days basking out in the sun. When he was more robust, we'd go on hikes and he'd chase rabbits for miles on the weekend and spend the rest of his days napping it out in the living room.

Herc's first snow - 2009

Basking in the sun - Summer 2012

Lazy weekends with Jake - ~2010

Obliging to eat the Watergate salad leftovers after the holidays - such a good boy! ~2009/2010

Doing what Herc does best - 2012

I said it earlier, but I truly mean it. I've never met a dog more gentle, unobtrusive, and patient as Herc... ever. With humans and with other animals, he was the same. He wasn't well socialized with other animals when he was a pup, but his kind and submissive nature would always win out after he was introduced to another pet.  In 2011, we rescued our dog Kona as a 3-4 month old puppy from the animal shelter in Lyon County. From the day she got home,  Herc became Kona's "person", and Herc took her under his wing. She had energy through the roof and bit at Herc's jowls and feet; she would sit on his face; and she'd try as an adult do to sit alongside and nuzzle into Herc as if she was still a puppy. He never fought back, and he was always so patient with her. In many ways, Herc tamed the naturally anxious and needy side of Kona, while she slowed Herc's mental decline. See, after Jake (Lara's lab) passed in 2010, we started to notice Herc staring aimlessly at walls and doing abnormal things that indicated his mind was slipping. When Kona came into the picture, it was as if his mental state improved, or at the very least, slowed to where it seemed like it stopped degrading.

Within the first week of bringing Kona home - 2011

Herc and Kona - 2013

When we made the move from Reno, NV to Altoona, PA, the move was very rough on Hercule, who was about 14 years old. Rapidly, his mind started to unravel where aimless staring shifted into panicked looks of not recognizing who me or Lara was; then, he eventually started barking through the entire evening until going hoarse, and nothing was capable of consoling him. Our sweet old boy was no longer living a happy life. It took a lot of back and forth decision making on my part, talking to my sister and Lara about it incessantly, but eventually, it was time to let Herc go.

Christmas 2012

The day Herc passed, it was the first sunny day Altoona had seen in weeks. I'm not religious, but the way the weather warmed and the sun came out, it made me feel like Herc was finally at peace. 

He was an extraordinary dog. Beyond reliving the joyful memories through pictures, videos, and talking about it with Lara and Jenny, the other thing I think about since that day is this: As amazing as he was, I hope we were able to give him the life he deserved. Our sweet old boy deserved the very best life had to offer.

We miss you everyday, Herc! 

Woof! Woof woof woof...x3

This is funny if you knew the cadence of Herc's bark <3 br="" nbsp="">

Holidays | Baby Shower

It's been a long time since the last post, but with the holidays... and the lack of prepping for this semester... time flies!

Let's see, we spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in DeKalb with Lara's parents and had a good time. The farm is pretty picturesque for a winter scene! We also got to go to Chicago both times. The first time we saw Lara's good friend Carl and walked around Chicago and had lunch at this awesome place called The Walnut Room. The second time we went into Chicago, we got to hang out with Cerj and check out the Museum of Science and Industry as well as see a comedy show at The Second City. Both times were crazy fun with great attractions and even better company. I can see why people love Chicago so much :)

We're ice skating...or are we ice skating?!

The Bean :)

Lunch at the Walnut Room with handsome Carl

At the German Christkindl Market

Christmas at the Srajers

Cerj and me at the Museum of Science and Industry - Ahoy!

Lara and me working the farm look at the Museum of Science and Industry

Front of The Second City

We are cold, but not too cold to get a picture :)

The show we saw - SO FUNNY!

Inside The Second City - 2nd row, center :)

Cerj and I stuck in the snow in a golf cart on the farm (Lara taking photo) - Lara's mom had to come pull us out!

New Year's Day, we flew out to Las Vegas for our baby shower and so I could see my family while I'm still pregnant. Beyond the shower, we spent a lot of time eating at places we desperately missed (EVEN Port of Subs), hanging out with our friends who came in from Reno for the shower, and after the shower, spending ample time with my family and our friends living in LV. 

As for the baby shower, it was more than amazing. My mom put a lot of effort into making it a great shower for Lara and me, and we couldn't be more thankful. The help she had from my sister (invites), dad (decorating the cake), Nalleli (getting the reveal cake and helping us get ready ;)), and Mel (games and emceeing)...it just made everything perfect for us. Not only did our good friends from Reno come down to show support, I think every person I've known since I was in diapers and who is currently living in LV was at the baby shower - my godparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family/family friends, and co-workers of my mom's.  It was overwhelming for me, but we felt blessed to have so much support at our shower. There are too many pictures, and what I'm going to share doesn't really capture the full night, but these are some of my faves:

Dessert bar and gender reveal cake

Dad's cake decoration

Table setup

Drink cups

Some of our Reno friends :)

The ladies and my lady!

My godmothers and their families

My uncles and aunties...and cousin JR

Wow, a photo where I'm sitting down...not how I spent the evening

Teya breaking it down for everyone

Onesie decoration game - it got crazy!

Joe and Amanda's son Oliver - he's really that cute all the time and my family gushes over him

Mom surprising dad...that's nice after 43 years. LOL!

My love and me :)

Actually, the morning of the baby shower, we also did a 3D ultrasound at Miracle in Progress, my sister's gift to us. It was awesome! We were allowed to bring family and friends into the ultrasound, and it was great to share the experience with everyone. They got to listen to the heartbeat, watch the baby move around, and I even saw a grin! It was pretty funny hearing the commentary as I was lying on the table - "Look at the nose!" "Oh wow, it looks like Lyn!" "I think it's a boy!" "That is a very Filipino nose!" "The baby moves a lot!" Anyway, here are photos:

Heartbeat chart

Very Filipino Nose

See the grin?

Breakfast at Omelet House before the ultrasound - Oliver is right next to Amanda :)

Prepping for the show

:) Love Lara

The audience - so fun having everyone there!

The Vallejera Ladies

For those who don't know, it was a gender reveal baby shower. We had no idea what the baby's gender was! I think the video was posted multiple times on FB, but just in case you didn't see it (forgive me, I'm not good with any kind of media):

It's a boy!

I was beyond shock to find out we are having a boy! I was anticipating a girl...God, I've been calling him a girl since about 4 months into my pregnancy! What's crazy is that I actually wanted a boy since I could fathom having kids, but I just felt like it was a girl. I got used to the fact that I would have a girl. It took me a week to realize that the baby is in fact a boy, and we are having a son! :)

So, the baby shower and LV trip in general was almost a month ago! Since then, we have started decorating his nursery, had a growth ultrasound (he's right on track!), and just getting ready to welcome him home! 

He's sucking his thumb!

Lara painted the walls gray and it came out great!

Rocking chair - it was the same rocking chair in Lara's nursery!

At some point, I will update about how Lara and I are doing, but for now, it's been all about baby for the most part! I leave you with a marker of where we were and where we are now - baby bump alert!

Just Moved to Altoona - 8 Weeks

Days After the Baby Shower - 28 Weeks

About a Week Ago - 31 Weeks