Exactly One Week To Go!

I feel like this has been the longest pregnancy in history...and I know I'm not alone on this thought. I announced my pregnancy last December!

Well, I am typing this blog through tears, both from sleep deprivation and guilt. This has not been an easy pregnancy, to say the least. I have so many people telling me how bad they feel for me, that I realized I must complain way too much. I should just feel blessed to be able to carry a life! I want to focus these last 7 days before having my beautiful son, on how lucky I know I am. What a miracle it is to be able to create a life. There are so many that aren't able to have children, the physical things I've gone through this pregnancy shouldn't be what I'm focusing on. I know since I only have a week to go this may seem like an "opportune" time to come to this realization...better late than never?

Next Wednesday I will go to bed with the excitement of knowing I will get to hold and kiss my baby boy the very next morning! Thursday, August 19th at 7:30 am I'll appreciate all the prayers I can get during my c-section.

God Bless,

One Very Blessed Mommy

Taking it day by day...

"Relax, get lots of rest while you still can, the day will be here soon enough, enjoy this time before your baby comes"...this is all much easier said than done. The baby arrival anxiety is really getting to me, bad! Everything on my body hurts and I'm not sleeping at night, so I just want to be up with COOPER already. I want to see him, hold him, kiss him, feed him...and EVEN CHANGE HIM! But despite the VERY strong and even painful contractions I've been having, he's just not ready. As of yesterday I am still only 1cm dilated - so the wait for my scheduled c-section (August 19th) continues.

I don't know if I've explained why the scheduled C...which seems to be a popular topic on baby blogs and websites these days. No, I'm not doing it to "fit in my schedule" or to "pick the baby's birthday", or because "I don't want to go through labor". 5 1/2 years ago I went in to labor 2 weeks before my due date. It was around midnight and contractions were NOT very strong and NOT painful at all, but they were timed at 3-5 minutes apart so after walking around, sipping cold water, and taking a warm bath, my mother-in-law (also a nurse) said GO TO L&D! So I did...totally thinking I would be sent home. The L&D nurses thought I was crazy that I wasn't in pain because the contractions were in fact very close together and strong (by the monitor's standards of course). They admitted me around 12:30am and at 3am my water broke. I went through 14 hours of labor and two full Pitocin drips and only dilated 3cm...ending up in an emergency c-section. SO, when asked if I wanted to try a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After C-Section) I actually thought very long and hard about it. The only thing I had missed out on was actually pushing the baby out...everything else was LABOR. I had not made up my mind, and then mid this pregnancy had to have a minor surgery in a "not so fun area" that helped my decision to schedule a c-section. You see, I'm still "recovering" and have scar tissue that shouldn't be strained (by pushing a baby).

Things to do to "take it day by day": I've caught up on all my recorded shows, but I still look forward to Maury Povich...only this morning I woke up to DirecTV not working! So I entertain myself with Facebook and now updating this Blog - oh and crossword puzzles! They are kind of addicting! Soon that will all be replaced with staring at my beautiful baby boy (and feeding, changing, etc.).

I can't take away from my 5 year old, Jayson, though. He DOES keep me entertained. He stays at his Godmother's during the day - she'll take him to swim lessons and watch him for me so that I can remain "resting" on bedrest. But once he's around me, he keeps me laughing and constantly surprises me with his knowledge (of everything). He is a MAJOR baseball fan...seriously, ask him what team ANY current major league baseball player is on and he can tell you. Not only that, he'll probably know what team they USED to be on! And he is a master imitator - he loves to mock MLB player's batting stances! I've really got to get all that on video, I'm bad about that. He has been playing baseball and soccer since he was 2 (still in diapers), and recently started basketball and now football. He is a lover of all sports. I'll post a couple pics from his first practice at Fullerton Pop Warner - GO TITANS!

So it's been awhile huh?

Okay so a friend suggested I take advantage of time on bed rest and create a blog...I really enjoy reading hers so I thought it was a great idea - BUT as I was trying to create one I realized I already had!!! I'ts been almost 2 years though...guess I fell off the blogging bandwagon and have been spending all my time on Facebook. I'm hoping I can get the hang of this though and keep it up - though I don't think I'll be able to cut the cord on Facebook...speaking of cutting the cord, we'll be doing that once again very soon! Thus the bed rest...

Yep, we are expecting another boy (I'm destined to be the only girl in this household); Cooper Riley Hughes is due August 22nd, but we have a c-section scheduled for August 19th. This pregnancy has been one I should be writing a book about...seriously, with Jayson (who is now 5 1/2) I barely felt pregnant; but with this one I've had all sorts of pains, discomforts, not so fun symptoms, and now Pre-Eclampsia. I've been in Labor & Delivery twice now and sent home...I'm approaching 36 weeks, I've dilated 1cm, lost my MP, and have counted contractions all day 1-5 minutes apart BUT NO BABY!!! All it means is he can come any day from this point until the 19th - and I'm keeping myself entertained with my shows on DVR, Maury Povich, Facebook, Crossword Puzzles, and now blogging...

Hopefully the first of many!

Okay, I've finally done it - I've started blogging! I thought Facebook and MySpace would suffice but the more friends that started blogging, the more I wanted to do one too - peer pressure...works everytime.

So I'll do a brief catch you up - after 9 years working for SKB Corporation, Danny was part of a layoff. He was only out of work for a couple months before finding a position with Collector's Universe in Irvine (they professionally grade and certify authentic collectibles like sports cards, coins, and stamps). He has now been there since March and is really liking it! October of 2007 I had left the corporate world and joined that of the Non-Profit; working for an organization called THINK Together in Santa Ana. While at a luncheon for THINK in April of this year I met the recruiter for St. Michael's Abbey - she was recruiting for a position in their Development Office that I was perfect for!


I have been at St. Michael's in Laguna Woods now since April and while the job and the people are amazing, I dread my commute each day...almost an hour in the morning and at least an hour to an hour and a half going home...a couple times it has taken me 2 hours to get home! While at church one Sunday I noticed a job opening at Servite High School (8 minutes from our house) and a couple interviews later I was offered the position as their Relationship Coordinator in Advancement - I start next week (12/11) and couldn't be more excited!!! I think I've finally found my "home" :)


Matt is a freshman at Sunny Hills High School and played football this season, and is now playing basketball. He has his first girlfriend - her name is Sammi and she is a total sweetheart (cute and smart too). Jayson will be 4 years old at the end of January (going on 14 though I swear) - he is in preschool now (Emmanuel Episcopal) and plays tee-ball (he lives for baseball).


So that's it for now I guess - I'll try to keep this updated (with pictures) as much as possible!