Could it be a trifecta?

Yesterday we had our weekly appointment and Caitlin's heartbeat sounded great! She was sleeping most of the time so they had Toni hooked up to the machine for probably close to an hour. After that, the doctor went in to check her cervix and the look on his face was initially alarming. As he examined Toni, he continued to have a a very alarmed look on his face. Then he told us why - Toni has actually begun dilating and her cervix is starting to thin in preparation for going into labor! She is currently dilated to 2 Cm's. He explained that this is a little earlier than normal but there's no cause for alarm. Usually this means we're only a couple of weeks away from delivery. He actually thinks that there might be a chance that he'll still be here for the birth because it looks like it might happen around the 4th of July! Which brings us to the title of this post. If Caitlin is born on the 4th of July, we're looking at the 3 major parts of this pregnancy happening on holidays! We found out Toni was pregnant on Thanksgiving morning, found out Caitlin was a girl on February 29th (not a holiday but a unique day) and now she could be born on the 4th of July! Further evidence that the end is coming soon occurred after Toni got back to work - she lost her mucus plug! The doctor said that today's findings are actually very good news for Toni in that if the baby comes early, the labor should be easier and if they do have to induce labor later, it will go easier because her cervix is already ready to go. He described the situation as a win-win for Toni. :)

Yesterday's appointment was exciting but also worrisome for me.. After doing the exam on Toni, there was quite a bit of blood. As you all know, I don't handle blood well. I had started thinking that I was getting over my fear of blood because I haven't been bothered by giving Toni shots for her diabetes or seeing her prick her finger several times a day. While I didn't feel as bad as I have in the past, the clammy skin, sweating, light-headedness and nausea were proof that I'm not quite there yet. I'm hoping that I reacted this way because the bleeding was totally unexpected and I really wasn't prepared to see any blood at all, let alone the good amount that occurred. I'm going to do the best I can during the delivery but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to be in the room for. I'll deal with that bridge when I get to it...

So with the end in sight, I spent some time last night getting the car seat installed in my truck. With that ready, we've now just got to get the bag packed for the hospital and figure out what we're taking with us. It really doesn't seem possible that pretty soon we're going to have a baby in our family! We're both very excited and nervous at the same time.

On the job front, I heard back from Wachovia but they decided to go with someone who's "skill level and salary history were more in line with the job". The HR person told me that the reality is, the managers felt that I was "extremely over-qualified" and felt that I wouldn't stay long because of the pay. Oh well... For now, I'm going to focus on Toni and Caitlin and get ready for the big change that's about to happen in the Vargas household. :)

We're currently in week #36. Check out what's happening here - http://www.babiesonline.com/pregnancy/week-by-week/week36.asp

Countdown to Caitlin guesses. (Due date is 7/26)
Toni and Sarah - 7/4
Mike - 7/7
Me - 7/10
Karen - 7/11
Mom - 7/16
Lissette - 7/16
Cuqui - 7/18
Bella and Efrain - 7/20

The final sonogram

This week was a busy week for appointments. First, Toni had her weekly appointment with the OBGYN yesterday and everything checked out great on Caitlin's heart rate monitoring so that was good news. On a disappointing note though, we learned that her normal doctor is leaving the practice in 2 weeks.. For us, this means having to work with a different doctor for the next 3-4 weeks until Caitlin is born. Not exactly the news we wanted to hear but it seems like major change leading up to the delivery is getting to be old news in our house... The new doctor seems nice enough though and we have met with her a couple of times before when the normal doctor was on vacation so she's at least not a complete stranger to us. She has agreed to stay on track for inducing labor and right now that target date is 7/14. She also increased Toni's insulin levels a little more to help regulate her sugar levels. Instead of 2 units before lunch and dinner, she's now taking 4. Still not much and with the end in sight she should be able to get off the insulin after Caitlin is born.

Today we went in for our final sonogram and were very pleased. Everything looks great and Caitlin looks like she's ready to come out any day now. The shocking news was that the first technician who did the sonogram came back with a weight of 5 pounds 11 ounces. The doctor did it again and calculated that Caitlin is tipping the scales at a fairly stout 6 pounds 11 ounces! The doctor said that if they induce labor on the 14th, we're looking at around an 8 pound baby! Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Caitlin was born before the 4th of July weekend but we'll see..

Other than the appointments things are going well. I still haven't heard an answer from Wachovia but was told earlier this week that the answer is coming soon. I've talked to another company as well but decided to pass on the job because the pay wasn't all that great. The problem I seem to be running into is that I'm overqualified for a lot of jobs and not qualified enough for others. There's not a lot in the middle. At this point, I'm not too worried about it though. I'm waiting for the Post Office exam to be offered in San Antonio and have also been thinking about going back to school and changing careers. Problem is, I really don't know what I want to do. I'm considering everything from accounting and financial planning to Pharmacist. I'm really burned out with the IT field. The problem with the IT field is that no matter what, you're always only viewed as an expense to a company. If you don't have people in charge who are intelligent enough to know the importance of IT, you end up with layoffs and/or jobs being sent to India. (Or sometimes a combination of the 2). Add on that with a few notable exceptions most IT managers aren't very good managers and you end up with a career field that doesn't have the best outlook for the next 20 years.

Depending on the chart that we look at, we'll either hit week #35 today or Saturday. Check out what's going on here! http://www.babiesonline.com/pregnancy/week-by-week/week35.asp

Countdown to Caitlin guesses:
Toni and Sarah - 7/4
Mike - 7/7
Me - 7/10
Karen - 7/11
Mom - 7/16
Lissette - 7/16
Cuqui - 7/18
Bella and Efrain - 7/20

The weekly appointment - Week 33

Not much to report about today's appointment. As we get closer to the due date, we have an appointment every week to check on Caitlin's heartbeat. These appointments take a few hours each time but it's comforting to know that Caitlin is doing alright. Her heart rate looked good and at one point she was sleeping so they used a small device on Toni's stomach that made a buzzing sound to wake her up. She did not like that at all. Toni's stomach turned into a quivering mass and I fully expected an arm to come tearing through her stomach at any minute. Luckily that didn't happen. :) Everything with the heartbeat looked great so we were both very happy about that.

We spent some time talking to the Doctor about the due date and Toni's sugar levels. The current injection that she's taking nightly seems to be stabilizing her sugars early in the day but by lunch and dinner they are creeping back up. The doctor is going to put her on an extremely low dosage of fast acting insulin before lunch and dinner to see if that takes care of those levels. To give you an idea of just how low a dosage they are giving her, the smallest needles we have hold 30 units of insulin. Her night time dosage is 10 units. Her new before meal dosage - 2 units. Essentially very little so that was good news. He said we may have to increase it in the coming weeks but it's a good sign that they are only putting her on such a low dosage. As for the due date, the Doctor said we will actually hit week #34 this Saturday and not Thursday like we thought. So anytime after 4 weeks from this Saturday is when they are thinking they will induce labor. That puts the induction happening anytime after 7/13. Keep in mind, this is a moving target and by no means set in stone. Caitlin could decide to come earlier or they might decide to wait a little longer. Right now though, we're looking at her being born during the week of 7/13. It's coming fast.... We have another appointment next week with the OBGYN and then next Thursday we have what will probably be our last sonogram.

Countdown to Caitlin guesses:
Toni and Sarah - 7/4
Mike - 7/7
Me - 7/10
Karen - 7/11
Mom - 7/16
Lissette - 7/16
Cuqui - 7/18
Bella and Efrain - 7/20

The 9 hour class

Yesterday we had our 9 hour class at the hospital. While I wouldn't call sitting in a classroom for 9 hours fun, I will say that the class was informative and worth the time. We learned about everything from the stages to labor, when to go to the hospital, where to go once we get there, and what the process will be like. Overall, there was a lot of good information.

To start, we began by learning about the 3 stages of labor and how labor is seldom if ever like it is in the movies. We also learned some breathing techniques and some ways to help alleviate pain during the labor. Then the videos started.... Surprisingly, the videos weren't nearly as graphic as I was expecting which was a good thing. The last thing we needed was to have Toni having a panic attack and me unconscious on the floor. :) Speaking of which, I'm convinced that I was the only honest man in the room. At one point, the instructor asked if any of the men were worried that they would pass out during the delivery and I was the only one who raised their hand. All of the macho, manly-men sure were listening attentively though while the instructor talked about things that men should do to avoid passing out so I think they were all full of it. :) Interestingly, the main reason men pass out is because throughout the lengthy labor process, men usually forget to eat or drink because they are so concerned about their wife's well being. With some labors lasting over 20 hours, they just run out of fuel. We'll see what happens....

After lunch, we took our tour of the hospital. We were shown where we could sign in and told that we could sign in ahead of time if we'd like. We got to see the labor and delivery rooms which I can describe in 1 word - SWEET! All the rooms at Northcentral Baptist are private and extremely nice. The rooms were roomy and had everything from a flat panel TV with a DVD player to a private full bathroom. Very nice... The post-partum room was the next stop on the trip (and will be where Toni is taken after delivery to recover) and those rooms were just as nice, only a bit smaller. Next, we went to see the nursery and got to watch through the glass at the new babies. Overall, the hospital tour we very nice and I think it helped to have the tour and put our minds at ease. One very nice feature that they have is that to go from one area to another, you have to click an intercom and be buzzed in. They told us that when a baby is born, the baby, mother and father all get wrist straps to identify to hospital staff and to themselves that they have the right baby. The thing that really impressed me though was their safeguard for the babies - a security device is attached to the baby so that if someone tries to take a baby out of the maternity ward, the entire hospital is placed on lock down and alarms go off throughout the hospital. It definitely helped put my mind at ease.

After the tour, we watched a couple more videos about C-sections and post-partum and the class concluded. Overall, we both left feeling a lot more comfortable about the process and the class helped answer a lot of questions and ease a lot of fears. While it was incredibly long and uncomfortable to be sitting in a class for that long, it was worth it in the end.

So far, here's the guesses for Caitlin's due date. As always, if you'd like to guess, just submit your guess in the comments for this post. The doctors have said that her due date is 7/26 but here's the guesses we have so far:

Toni and Sarah - 7/4
Mike - 7/7
Me - 7/10
Cuqui - 7/18

And the belly continues to grow...

Many of you have been requesting pictures of Toni's belly so here you go! :) This picture was taken last week at the Brownsville baby shower. I think it's actually getting bigger by the day! :)

Today we had an appointment with the OBGYN and there's quite a bit to report on that. First, due to Toni's escalating sugar levels, we're going to have to double her nightly insulin (still a very low dosage) and add on some fast acting insulin before meals. Not great news, but not terrible either. With the end in sight, we're alright with whatever needs to be done. She should be able to get off the insulin after Caitlin is born so that's a good thing. We also had a long discussion about the delivery process. Both of us are a little nervous about it and the Doctor helped put our minds at ease a little by answering all kinds of questions that we had. After our discussion, they strapped a couple of heart rate monitors on Toni and monitored Caitlin's heart beat for about 30 minutes looking for any abnormalities. After reviewing the information, the doctor had only one word - "beautiful!". Everything with Caitlin's heartbeat looked great and she was extremely active during the monitoring. For the rest of the pregnancy, this monitoring will happen every week.

We also got some other surprising news. Because Toni is now on insulin, it is all but certain that they are going to induce labor early! It's really more of a question of "when" at this point. Pretty much any time after week 38 is what they are looking at. We'll hit week 33 this Thursday so it's coming very fast. The reason they want to do this is because there is a slight risk when a woman is taking insulin that the baby could be a still born the longer you wait. Although it's an extremely low risk, if the baby is ready to come out at week 38, then inducing labor is preferred.

So with roughly 5 or so weeks to go, I anticipate that time is really going to speed up. On the job front, I am still looking but I think that if I haven't found one in the next 3 weeks, I'll probably hold off on looking until after Caitlin is born. I'd hate to get hired somewhere and immediately have to take time off. I've interviewed with 2 different companies so far. I should hear back about the first job sometime this week but I'm not really too interested in it. It's a 6 month contract so essentially I'll be out of work again in 6 months. Yesterday I had my 2nd interview with Wachovia and I'm extremely hopeful about that job. I interviewed with the Manager and the Vice President of the department and I thought it went very well. The job is only 5 miles from the house, has a perfect schedule for us once Caitlin arrives (10am-7pm) and sounds like it has great benefits. I asked the Vice President about the recent change in CEO and if he thought that it would have any impact on his department and he said absolutely not. He said that in his 30+ years with the company he has never laid anyone off and doesn't plan to start. He blames layoffs on poor management and poor planning. Interesting take on the subject.. I should find out about the Wachovia job early next week so keep your fingers crossed.

This Saturday we have our mandatory 9 hour birthing class which should be interesting to say the least... The Doctor told us today that the class is really more for me than for Toni. Toni will actually have something to do and focus on during the delivery while the husband is simply an observer. He said this class will help prepare me for the situation so I'm hopefully a little more comfortable once it actually happens. We'll see....

So far we've had 3 people guess Caitlin's birthday. Feel free to add your guess to the comments at the end of this post:

Toni and Sarah - 7/4

Me - 7/10

Cuqui - 7/18

This Thursday marks week #33. Check out what's happening here - http://www.babiesonline.com/pregnancy/week-by-week/week33.asp