Under the Knife

She kissed her husband goodbye. The anesthesiologists wheeled her down the hall. The experienced surgeon walked into the OR. Got down to business. He sliced four incisions into the young mother's abdomen as she lay helpless on the operating table while under the miracles of modern day anaesthetics.

Slice . . . slice . . . slice . . . slice . . . poke . . . poke . . . poke . . . snip . . . snip . . . YANK . . . stitch . . . stitch . . . stitch . . . stitch . . . .

Yesterday Annie had laparoscopic gallbladder surgery. No complications were experienced. Recovery is going well. Her abdomen feels like she did a hundred million sit-ups.

Annie before her first surgery ever.

Annie in the "bear hug." It's this gown that a tube plugs into, it puffs up with air and you can control the temperature. Research shows patients that are warmer pre-surgery do better during surgery . . . take it as you will.

Barbie to the Rescue

Lucia is two months old today if you can believe it.

She had her two month check up today. She's up to 10lbs 1oz and is 21.5 inches long, right around the 50th percentile for both. She had three shots and her blood drawn, which took two attempts.

Our little girl had a rough day being poked and prodded. But some Tylenol, two Barbie band aids and a rest with her Papa did the trick to make her feel better.

Movin' On Up

The move is on.

On Wednesday the packers came. It only took two packers 6 hours to pack all our stuff up in boxes. A task that would have taken us weeks.

On Thursday a team of three came to load everything onto the truck, which took them a mere 5 hours to do. That would have been a full days worth of work for us.

On Friday they drove our treasures to the new house and unloaded in a record 3.5 hours. What would have been another days worth of work for us.

Our job was to sit back and stay out of the way. Moving like this was very convenient, especially with a newborn.From now on a prerequisite to any job acceptance is if they provide the relocation. Thank you NIH.

We will officially take up new residence on June 30, 2008.

Swingin' in the Trees

Lucia loves hangin' out in her Rain Forest swing . . . swinging with her animals, not to mention the great vestibular stimulation she's receiving.

Daddy Time

Daddy and Lucia spending some time together. Notice the tinge of jealously in the background.

Daddy and Lucia watching the Muppet Show on You Tube.

Rojelio told me Lucia said she wants a Fozzie Bear doll. Maybe she can hold off 'til Christmas.

Whoozit Among Us

Pretty much ever since she was born Lucia has been begging us for a Whoozit. So we took a trip to Maryland to look for housing and told her if she was a good girl we'd stop and get her a toy. Of course she complied and is now the owner of her very own Whoozit. I guess even baby dreams do come true!

Monumental Milestone

We celebrated some milestones yesterday.
Lucia turned 1-month old and her mom turned 360-months old.

The girls.

Tummy Time

WOW . . . three weeks old already. Lucia has been enjoying tummy time and exploring her toys the last couple days.

I Love Lucy

Lucia Estela

was born on

April 24, 2008

at

2:21am

weight: 5lbs 8oz length: 19 inches

Mommy & Lucia on her birthday

Our beautiful sleeping baby

Wide awake and ready for some action

Daddy & Lucia

Look at those big eyes & dark hair

Lucia in the NICU at UVA

Mommy & Lucia getting ready to leave the hospital

Daddy & Lucia coordinating nicely

The car ride home

Lucia finally made it home on April 30, 2008

Lucia in her swing

Lucia at home in her pack-in-play

The Power of Suggestion

The power of suggestion. Yawns can be contagious. Basically a visual response. Scientific studies have been done on this social phenomenon. Of course that is not the only reason we yawn, but I think most of us have experienced this at one time or another.

Ahh . . . the power of suggestion . . .

What else can be experience by the power of suggestion . . . hunger . . . laughter . . . fatigue . . .

We went to our Preparing for Childbirth class this past Saturday. We learned some new things to help prepare us for labor & delivery and for our life as a new family. We practiced some techniques, watched some videos, and met some other couples. It was a one day/all day class held at the hospital.

We were watching our last short video after lunch.
. . . wait a minute what was that!?
Annie shifted in her chair. Her attention was diverted away from the video. Another shift. Her attention was distracted inward. Rojelio was being a good student and watching the video.

Annie tapped Rojelio on the shoulder, in a whisper with a panicked face, " . . . I think my water just broke . . ."
Rojelio with a mirrored face reflecting Annie's, " . . . are you sure?"
She shifted again. Thinking about getting up, but realizing the plug of the chair was the only thing stopping the rush of fluid from within.
" . . . yes I'm pretty sure . . . "

As they made it the 25-feet from the birthing class to the labor and delivery desk the presence of fluid made itself known.

We are expecting our little one to make her debut this week. She sure has a way of making her presence known. Earlier than expected, though we are optimistic about the outcome. Maybe she'll even share a birthday with her Uncle Andrew.

Was this an event that stemmed from the power of suggestion? Seemingly different than a yawn. Wonder if there have ever been any studies done on women going into labor during childbirth classes . . . huh . . . very interesting . . .