2.1.00 Doctor says "Enough is Enough!"

Liz went to the doctor this afternoon to get examined. The doctor said if the baby doesn't come by Friday - they will induce labor. So if this little girl is not going to come out on her own, the doc is gonna get her out! This will happen at 6 am on Friday. Bummer, how come 6 am? What about 10 am? I guess the sooner the better. So, I've set up a count down timer to let you know exactly how much time we are giving this little girl to come out! Doc said this little girl may still come out before Friday, but I ain't holding my breath.

Liz is counting down the minutes...

1.31.00 Sneeze almost worked

About the only excitement was Liz's sneeze today. She was reading Joaquin a bedtime story and then she sneezed. She thought she was going to have the baby right there. But as stated countless times...no joy. I will update this page tomorrow after we hear what the doctor says. Her appointment is at 1:30 p.m..

1.30.00 Joaquin was wrong too.

As I mentioned earlier, our son Joaquin had made a bold prediction. He said the baby would come on Sat. So, I waited to to update the webpage. But when the clock struck midnight on Sun. no baby. You see I figured that he was right, I would have him pick the winning lottery numbers as well. Well, no baby. Liz's next doctor appointment is on Tues. Feb 1st.

1.28.00 Joaquin makes his own prediction.

Our son Joaquin surprised us this morning. We were getting ready for work this morning and he was sitting at the table eating his breakfast. He called Liz over and told her he had a secret that he wanted to share with her. He wanted to whisper it to her so she bent down near his face. Joaquin placed his little hand on her cheek, looked right in her eyes and whispered, "The baby is coming tomorrow." That made Liz smile and she came to tell me. I got chills just as you did. So, our little man has made the prediction. If he's right, I'm going to have him pick the lottery numbers for Saturday as well. I will keep you all posted.

1.27.00 New due date?

We are coming up on the "due date." Remember earlier that the doctor said maybe the 28th or Feb. 2nd? Well, the 28th is tomorrow. We'll see... two outta three guess ain't bad I guess.

1.26.00 Nothing new to report.

We took Liz's van to get the body damaged repaired today. We got another van for a rental.
Sorry, nothing new to report.

1.25.00 Okay, I'm running out of things to say.

Still waiting.

1.24.00 Due date has come and gone, this baby is locked in.
Sorry for the late update.

Liz went to the doctor today. This was one of her scheduled visits. They checked her out and found that she had not dilated anymore than she was already. She is still at 2 cms. The doctor gave her the same song, "She'll come out sometime this week." Liz was bummed. You would have thought with all of her activity yesterday that something would have changed. But no dice. This baby is pretty comfortable in her right now. The baby is moving around and all - just not out. So, the waiting game begins...speaking of games...OH MY GOD! SuperBowl is this weekend! Gotta find a small TV, just in case.

1.22.00 Nothing. No pain, no contractions, just a little pressure.

Joaquin and I took Liz for a long walk today. We walked about 1 mile. I thought about having her carry Joaquin (just kidding!) but Joaquin rode his bike. She goes to the doctor again tomorrow morning to see what's going on! Her due date was Sunday and no baby. In the meantime Liz was a busy beaver today! Said she was "bored." So she cleaned the kitchen, cleaned her bathroom, made some banana pudding, went grocery shopping and folded all of the laundry! She said she was feeling a little bit hot and that the cool weather outside was nice. I was cold and she wanted the windows open. Guess I'm changing into sweats! Well, that's it for now. I will update again tomorrow! Unless something happens tonight.....

1.21.00 Joaquin does his "Charlie Brown" and we have a dry run.
Click on the pictures for larger views.

What a day we had Friday! Liz had taken Joaquin to get his hair cut at the mall around 5 p.m. I was meeting them there and when I showed up Liz was having a sharp pain on her left side. Naturally we were concerned because of the accident she had earlier this week. So I left my truck at the mall and we all drove home in the van. Liz went inside to rest and I walked with Joaquin while he rode his bike. He also wanted to play outside in the alley with one of the neighborhood kids. He took his basketball and I sat out on the deck reading my magazine. About 20 minutes later I hear him scream and start to cry. I go running to the alley and find him walking to me holding his head. When I went to examine him I put my hand on back of his head and there was alot of blood. I scooped him and ran inside. Liz heard him crying but I didn't want her to worry, so I didn't answer her calls. As I'm applying pressure to the cut on the back of his head, Liz comes in, sees the blood and her eyes get real big. This didn't help Joaquin either. He saw his mom worried so he started crying even louder. Finally I calmed both of them down. He had cut his head when he fell in the alley. But not too bad - head cuts bleed alot. I finally got the bleeding stopped and gave him some juice. When we asked him what happened, he said he was kicking his ball and slipped like "Charlie Brown." Both Liz and I could not contain our laughter! I was exhausted from the ruckus, I sat down on the sofa and drifted off for a brief nap.

Around 10 p.m., my sister-in-law Julie took me to get my truck. When I got back, the first thing Liz said to me was, "Write this number down...<breath>...10:12 p.m...<breath>...the contractions are starting again." So for the next hour we timed her contractions. She was still having that sharp pain on her side and we were worried about what the doctor had said might happen because of the accident. Since Liz took a hard jolt the doctor warned us that there might be a very slim chance that the placenta could detach itself from the uterus. That would cause Liz great pain and it would not be good for the baby. We waited and timed the contractions for another hour until they got more painful. We decided it decided to play it safe and go to the hospital. I got our things into the van, got Joaquin out of bed and even had time to send off an update to this page, all the while Liz telling me to slow down and relax. We dropped Joaquin off at my sister-in-law Julie (Plan B) and continued to the hospital. At the hospital they hooked Liz up to a monitor to make sure she and the baby were okay. They checked if she had dilated anymore and she was still at 2 cms, but she was still having contractions. At around 2:30 am the contractions subsided and we came home. We slept until 9:15 am when the exterminator woke us up. We forgot that we had made the appointment for this weekend.

Anyway, things are quiet again. I am actually kind of glad we were able to have a dry run. It shook all of the cobwebs out of our plans for getting Joaquin to someone and then heading for the hospital. I know how to smooth things out now.

But Liz is getting some more contractions this evening. Stay tuned.

1.21.00 This baby is stubborn...

Well, we waited and waited. I even dragged Liz outside in the cold last night hoping to get the baby to feel the effects of the Lunar eclipse and nothing. I must have walked Liz out side 7 or 8 times, but this little girl is being stubborn. She likes mama's warm belly. No contractions, nothing, just peaceful sleep all night. There is some good news...the longer we get past the full moon phase, the less chance of fangs (read below).

1.19 10 p.m. - Full Lunar eclipse may provide "extra pulling power".

No contractions, just baby hiccups. My mother has been telling me all along that the baby will be born on the first day of the full moon. Something about the moon helping her along. Thursday the 20th is the first day of the full moon and to top that off, there will be a FULL LUNAR ECLIPSE starting at 10:22 p.m. to 11:05 p.m. CST on Thursday night. The doctors have set the due date back to the original date of Sunday the 23rd and Liz won't be going back to see the doctor until Monday the 24th. That means we won't have another status update from the docs. We'll see who's right...

If our little girl is born on the full moon...I hope she doesn't have alot of hair and fangs!

1.19.00 7 am - False alarm no baby.

Just a quick update - no baby. We stayed up until 1 am this morning and the contractions have subsided.

1.18.00 Demolition Derby Mama.

A bit of excitement today. Liz had just dropped off Joaquin at the Daycare and was heading home. She was turning left and some guy in a black cadillac broadsided her in her van! Then he took off! Don't worry - the baby and Liz are fine but Liz was shaken up, but always the protective mom she thought of the baby first. You can click on the image to see the damage. She called me and I was there pretty quick. I helped the cop interrogate Liz. And I must say she had no respect for the cop's sidekick - me! I almost asked the cop to cuff her but her belly would have gotten in the way. After the cop took the report I parked my truck (the van was drivable) and we took off to the doctor, just to make sure everyone was okay. At the doctors office, the doctor checked her out and said that she had dilated 2 cms and was 50% effaced! When I called my boss to give him a status update, he said, "Hell, I'd be dilated too!" Afterwards the doctor put her on a fetal monitor to make sure the baby was okay as well. Everything was fine until Liz started to have mild contractions. "No, I can't have the baby yet!" Liz says. " I don't have her bag with me! After about an hour and a half the contractions subsided and I was able to take her home. She was given strict orders (by the doc, not me - of course) to rest all day.

1.18.00 10pm The contractions are starting...(breathe...breathe....) Jeez who needs pitocin when you've got a hit and run jerk!
(pitocin is the hormone that gets the labor going...almost like spicy foods or pizza?)

More to come. (and for those of you wishing for constant updates on the Internet, Liz has threatened me with bodily harm if I broadcast the birth!)

1.14.00 Liz went to the doctor today.

Liz has packed her bag and the baby's. She's written down the "emergency phone" numbers I'm supposed to call on the board near the phone. The car seat is in the van and the Cupboard is stocked - Ravioli and stuff for me to cook Joaquin while Liz is in the hospital. And the swelling of Liz's feet has begun. But still no baby yet.

Liz went to the doctor today and was told that "nothing is happening." She hasn't dilated at all. Her cervix has not effaced? All these terms that I forgot from our first pregnancy. Basically what this means is that the baby is not ready to come out yet. The baby has "turned down" - she is now upside down. But until Liz begins to dilate, they may have to push back the delivery date. The original delivery date was Feb. 2nd but when Liz went to have an amniocentesis done, the doctor said the date should be moved up to around Jan. 28th. Then when Liz had the sonogram, the technician said the baby was bigger and moved the date up to Jan. 23rd. Now it' back to Feb. 2nd! My mother has a theory that Liz will have the baby during the new moon phase coming up. With the swelling Liz is experiencing right now, let's hope my mom is right!

1.8.00 Liz and Joaquin give me a heart attack.

Joaquin and Liz were out in the alley on Saturday while I was fixing a hose on the kitchen sink. Liz was sitting in a white lawn chair while she made sure that Joaquin didn't ride too far. The alley intersects into a street. About fifteen minutes later I hear Joaquin calling me. "What does that boy want now?" I said to myself. I get up and see Joaquin walking up to the back door. I could also see behind him that the chair Liz was sitting on is empty. I don't see Liz anywhere and I don't see Joaquin's bike. I immediately turn my attention to Joaquin and ask, "Where is mommy?"

"She needs you," he says. By now I'm bolting out of the house looking and calling for Liz. I get to the alley and don't see her, I'm already thinking I have to find a clean trash can lid to scoop up the baby - MY GOD she's having our baby in the alley! Finally, she comes around the corner - five houses down by the street. She's holding her stomach and pointing. Now I'm sprinting down the alley towards Liz, Joaquin trying to keep up. "What's wrong!" I scream trying not to trip in my flip flops. The only answer I get is her holding her pointing away down the street. When I finally get to her, she's says, "Tasha got out, I was trying to keep her in sight and sent Joaquin after you." Tasha is my Siberian Husky who was let out by Joaquin. Relieved that my wife was not going to have our little girl behind houses, I sprint toward Tasha and get her back. Jeez!

I don't need more of those! I know, I know it gets worse from here...

Anyway, I'm including some "pre-birth" pictures until our little girl is born. You can click on the picture to get a larger view of the picture.