FUGAZZA Diaries

On Tuesday, November 10th, I was scheduled for yet another Non-Stress Test, weight ultrasound, and a check up with the good old OB. Little did Rob and I know, that we would be meeting our little girl less than 24 hours from then. We went through the ultrasound where the doctor determined that the baby weighed around 7 lbs. 5 oz. He said that we should probably have the baby within the next week. After the ultrasound, we had the non-stress test, where the baby’s movements and activity were a little off. After a half an hour of determining whether things were good or not, the nurses finally called over to my OB to see what needed to be done. Since I was scheduled to meet with my OB right afterwards, we were handed the print off of the latest NST results, and sent to see my OB in person. After doing the usual weighing in, etc, my doctor announced that after looking over my NST results, she had decided to induce me that very night! Rob and I were ecstatic! She went on to explain that the irregularities on the NST’s were probably due to the placenta starting to give out; it was tired of doing its job. She then explained that they were probably going to have me check in that night to start ripening my cervix to get dilation going, and then induce me. We were all ready to go with that plan, when she said that she was going to check me right then to determine what time I should check in to Labor and Delivery that night.

Surprise Dilation:
After checking me, the doctor was surprised to find that I was dilated to a 4 and 70% effaced! She exclaimed that she was really surprised about that thinking that I was probably not dilated at all. And then told she us that instead of waiting until that night to admit us, she was going to call Labor and Delivery to see if they had any rooms available for us right then! She stepped out of the office to make the call, and I called my parents to tell them that things were going to happen that day. When the doctor came back, she said that they were full in Labor and Delivery for a few more hours, so she sent us home to get things in order, and then we were to report to the hospital around 3 pm.

A Frantic Frenzy:
Nothing can describe how we were when we were driving home from the hospital to wait. We hurried around and straightened up the house, did the dishes, and Rob vacuumed. We fed the cat and headed out to grab a light meal, and drove back to the hospital. After checking into Labor and Delivery, I was then hooked up to numerous machines; the usual fetal monitors, fluids, and an insulin drip for my blood sugars. After starting the fluids for induction, and the waves of contractions began, other things were added to my list of IV bags; a catheter for my poor bladder, an internal fetal monitor, and other things I cannot even remember. From the time they broke my water to delivery, I was in labor for 12 hours, and actively pushed for nearly 4 hours.

Finally! She’s here!
Giada Kristen Fugazza was born at 3:27 am on November 11, 2009, weighing seven pounds, 11 ounces, and 20.5 inches in length. It was a significant day for us; our first baby’s birth date, the same date eight years ago that Rob proposed to me, and my in-laws wedding anniversary. To better explain Giada’s middle name, my cousin and best friend Kristen that was killed in an accident over twenty years ago, also was born on November 11th. We felt it was all meant to be. Giada was born the day she was meant to be here, and it’s been a wild ride (and exhausting one) ever since. She was born healthy and active, and then two days later we discovered that her bilirubin levels were really high. They started her on treatments where we needed to stay in the hospital for another day, and then we went home with her on Friday, November 13th. She had to be kept in a bilibed for a day at home, so that her jaundice would go down. After a couple of days of waiting and getting Gia’s heel pricked for blood samples, the doctor declared that her jaundice levels were low risk enough to stop using light therapy. Though her numbers are still a little high, after a good week of feeding and rest, our little girl should be in the clear from being a ‘yellow baby’.

An overwhelming ‘Thank You’
We are so grateful for her presence in our lives, and are in awe of the amazing and overwhelming love that we feel for her. Though she most definitely is the most beautiful girl in the world, her sweet spirit has been the greatest blessing to us here at home. It makes all of the sleeplessness completely worthwhile.

We will keep this blog going as an update on the baby and our lives as we continue to raise our little girl. Thank you for reading, and thanks for all of the texts, meals, and countless phone calls and facebook postings. We appreciate every single one.

So, in short explanation of my status, this baby should be arriving anytime between now and the week before Thanksgiving! I can’t believe it! The poor girl is just getting bigger and bigger! We have an ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday, November 10th, where they will weigh and measure the baby. If she’s just HUGE, which I guess she will be, I will be induced either that week or in the beginning of the following week. Since my mom is flying in on the 17th, I am going to try and wait for her to come, but if the baby needs to come earlier, mom will have to figure out how to get here before then.

I have literally bought everything that I need to prepare me for absolutely everything baby. At least what every book, magazine and associate has told me that I need. All I need to do now is find a good pediatrician. I got a great recommendation from a friend; I just need to make the call. That will be my priority this week. After that is in order, I guess I will literally be at home, waiting for this little girl to arrive.

The pictures posted for this week are from my ward’s baby shower. My good friends Tineke, Amanda, and my sister Erin and sister-in-law Stephanie all came with me to the church to celebrate the birth of my baby girl with my cute River 4th ward ladies. You should have seen the outfits they gave my baby! My goodness! This little girl is going to be so well dressed; she’s going to make her parents look bad :) I have an entire closet just stuffed full of darling little outfits. The ladies in the ward have been so giving and sweet; I really do appreciate their generosity.

As the birth of this baby gets closer and closer, I have been thinking and reflecting on these past nine months. I have gone through a lot of medical issues these past six years, and every previous moment of discouragement and stress has seemed like nothing every time that I feel my little girl moving inside of me. I don’t know how many kids I will have, but I do know that I have enjoyed every ache, pain and potty break (which have been NUMEROUS) that this pregnancy has given me. Rob and I thank the Lord every day for the blessing and opportunity to be parents. I am grateful that I have had the insight to enjoy what life has given me one day at a time.

I hope that you all have a great week, and thanks again for reading!

This past week, Rob and I learned the plans that my doctor had for our little girl’s arrival. My blood sugars have been stabilized; however, she’s still bigger right now than normal. Her growth should be at a normal pace from now on, but since she started early, my doctor said she will absolutely not let the baby come at week 40. We are going to have another ultrasound at week 38 (November 9th-15th), and depending on her weight, my doctor will decide to induce me that week, or the following week. SO, the good news is that we are going to have this baby before the week of Thanksgiving! The bad news is that I can’t go and see the New Moon movie until after the little girl is born. Yet, if that’s the worst thing, then I am perfect!

Rob and I spent a good part of our Saturday yesterday getting last minute baby items, and organizing the nursery. I washed the baby’s clothes and linens (Gain detergent, by the way, smells the best), and put most of her stuff away. Tonight for F.H.E. we ‘packed my bag’, and we feel that we are mostly ready. The only other thing that I have to do as soon as possible is locate a pediatrician. My friends have recommended a good one, but I have yet to make the actual phone call and conduct the ‘interview’ to see if the doctor is good enough for our little princess!

I have resorted to wearing slippers to work; shoes do not seem to fit as well as they used to before, and thanks to my amazing boss, I don’t get any flack for wearing fluffy black shoes while waddling back and forth across the bank lobby. It’s nice to have understanding women co-workers that have been through this all before.

So, in short, I am looking forward to getting through another week of surviving nearly nine months of pregnancy! I have a paper chain in the nursery that counts down the working days that I have until maternity leave (16 more days, just in case anyone was wondering). Life here is good; just waiting for the little bug to show her beautiful face!

Again, thanks for tuning in!!

Well this past week has flown by, at least with the growth and development of our baby girl. Other than weighing a bit more than what she should be at this point (thanks to the gestational diabetes), she’s been fairly cooperative with the doctors. Other than making antenatal nurses madly chase her around my belly with fetal monitors to just check and see if she’s active, she is passing her tests with flying colors.

I have been very impressed with the medical care that I’ve received over these past few weeks. These doctors and nurses don’t mess around; they get me the help that I need before I even know that I am in need of something. I have a few assignments; fax in my blood sugars every three days and start a bout of insulin shots, which is, ironically, a blessing. The best thing about all of the blood sugar hoopla is that it’s not my fault! I have been doing my job, but apparently the placenta is not making me look good. At least doctors are blaming something other than me!

Rob and I are now graduates of the Third Trimester Class course that we did at the hospital over the past two Saturdays. Last week, we discussed, from the beginning to the end, the initial expectations of labor, all of the way through to birth. Yesterday, we completed our course by discussing post labor and recovery, and baby care. Rob’s highlight of the class was to see an actual placenta, which the instructor showed to the entire class just because of Rob’s request (we might have made some enemies over this, as some of the future dads were already squirmy over the old school video footage of women in labor that we had to watch). We also took a tour of the labor and delivery rooms and recovery rooms. It was a very informative class, and it did its job to dispel the myths of labor, and to make us feel more prepared for the unexpected.

I just have a breastfeeding class Tuesday night, and then I will be as prepared as can be for the big event. We are getting more and more excited with each passing day. I also keep on thinking of things that need to get done before the baby comes. It just seems like when nine months is too long, the last few weeks tease you with getting nothing done at all. At least the nursery is completed!

Enjoy this week’s picture! Rob was the only courageous dad that volunteered to ‘try out the labor bed’ from our class. He joked afterwards that now he can relate to what I was going to go through, just by sitting in the bed. I am sure that his mind will be changed when the real thing happens. At least he had his moment!

Maybe it seems normal to think that I am this far along already, but I am in total denial. It’s so crazy telling people that I’m eight months pregnant! It seems so surreal! I am totally to the point of exhaustion now. I wasn’t entirely energetic until this point anyway, but I am definitely not doing much extra lately. My days literally consist of working, coming home, sitting on my comfortable recliner, and dozing off until Rob gets home and wants to eat something. The best weekends are like this past one, where we literally stayed home nearly all day long both on Saturday and Sunday (other than Church and grocery shopping). It was great!

The nursery is near completion; we still have to hang some curtains, and get some bedding for the crib. Also, we have to seriously clean out the closet and shelving to actually create some storage space for the baby’s things. She needs to put her 8 pairs of shoes (so far) somewhere, doesn’t she?

I have a question to put out there for my blog followers! I have been keeping my ears open towards ideas of what things parents do with their kids. You know, like special traditions? I have heard some pretty cute things; special date nights with each kid, birthday sugar cereal, going on certain trips to certain destinations at certain ages, etc. I have loved collecting these ideas and hope to use many of them on my own. So, with that explanation in place, what kinds of fun and ‘traditional’ things did you do with your parents while growing up? Or, what have you loved to do with your kids now that you are a parent? I would love to hear the great ideas that you have.

Once again, thanks for tuning in this week! We have some fun things coming up; General Conference, where I can literally sit on my couch and watch Church while in my PJ’s, another baby shower with the ladies from my ward, and the cooler weather (which I am welcoming with open arms at this point)!

So on Saturday, my friend Shereen, from the bank, threw me the most incredible baby shower. She made incredible food; like curry chicken salad sandwiches, veggies, fruits, lime rickeys, lil’ smokies, and Leslee’s most famous carrot cake with that dreamy cream cheese frosting that I’m pretty sure I would die for. Several of my good friends from work showed up and gave my little girl some darling gifts. I am afraid, though (and I fully admit that this is my fault), that my daughter might think that there exists only one color in the world. Since her nursery is purple, and my favorite color is purple, I received a lot of great looking purple items, along with darling pink outfits, blankets, etc.


Baby girl is also going to look like me, as she already has several cute little pairs of shoes for her little feet. If you were to ask Daddy which pair he likes best? He would definitely claim that the two pairs of baby Air Jordan booties definitely win over all other shoes. Thanks, Latai!

If I were to choose the best gift that I received? I would say that the friends that I have made while working at the bank are the best presents that money could never buy. They have all been so supportive and so excited for me! I have waited a long time to get pregnant, and the road has been long and hard. It’s funny that family and close friends are there for me and happy with the excitement of my life. However, most things in life occur during the working days, so my co-workers have seen me go through most everything, good or bad, over the past six years. I appreciate and value their friendships and generosity.

I am still doing well; tired as usual, but I can still sleep through the night, with the usual three potty breaks during my rest. Picking up things that I have clumsily dropped on the floor no longer happens. I usually ask my sweet husband to do it for me. I probably should just stop trying to be graceful at this point.
Rob and I have been very fortunate and blessed thus far in our lives. We look forward to another week of adventures as our baby ‘princess’ continues to ‘bake’ for another week.

After two very long weekends of laborious painting and drawing, my darling hubby has created a very sweet and very purple (though in the pictures it looks blue, because of the lighting) nursery for our soon to be born princess.

Included in this posting are some pics of his work; he did everything freehand; no stencils are required or needed for my man! He also put together the baby’s crib, and conducted a test drive of the stroller. I guess we’re ready to roll on the set up for the nursery! My friend Megan and I are going to make some curtains for the windows, and then the ‘baby sanctuary’ will be complete.
Other updates for the pregnancy? My new journey is called ‘gestational diabetes’. Did you know that the secret to eating sweets when you are diabetic is to double up on the protein? So, instead of ordering a Diet Coke with that gigantic slice of chocolate fudge cake, order a slab of meat on the side, and voila. Your sugars should be just fine.

My little bundle of joy is now measuring two weeks ahead of schedule. Is she getting too big? No, say the doctors. I could just be one of those women who are blessed with larger babies, nonetheless. You gotta love the genetic predisposition.

But the nurses and ultrasound techs do a great job of agitating my nerves. They get me all worked up and worried about things, only for the doctors to come in and tell me that I’m just ‘normal’. Ask me, though, for those of you that know me, have I ever been considered ‘normal’?

Other than a baby that weighs three pounds a couple of weeks early, everything else are ‘all systems go’. I am just starting to have slight contractions; I remember during the good old days when menstrual cramps were the most painful thing that I could imagine. It’s amazing how much more pain can occur when your uterus is the size of a watermelon, and your baby is vying for the first ever karate black belt in utero. I’d like to think that it’s her father’s influence ;)