Quick Update...

Okay, so a lot has happened since my last blog entry. It's true that having a baby changes everything...including any small down time you have. You just don't have much of it at all.

Here's the break down and a couple of photos of what lead up to having our sweet baby boy on June 2, 2009.

Saturday, May 23rd:

Tony and I took maternity pictures at the Arboredum and our house. The pictures were taken by a friend of mine, Heather, with Chunky Monkey Photography. She did an awesome job. We are just so fortunate that she has shared her talent with us. Here are just a few of so many great pictures she took of us.

(Check out her website at http://www.chunkymonkeyphotography.com/)

Wednesday, May 27th:
We had our last sonogram of Mason. The picture didn't turn out that great because of his size. Not that he was huge, its just harder to see the full view of a baby at 36 weeks. They predicted that he weighed 6 lbs 12 oz at this visit. They also said that the sonogram can read 1 lb give or take off. This kind of worried me. I knew we had at least 3 more weeks to go and that they grow 1/2 lb each week from this point in the pregnancy. So I was thinking that I could potientially have a 9 lb baby. Yikes...

Friday, May 29th:

In the nick of time, Tony and I toured the Labor and Delivery & Post Pardum wings of Baylor Grapevine Hospital. See Tony and I decided against taking any birthing classes while we were pregnant. Since the hospital tour is part of those classes we at least thought we should know where we needed to go and ask the nurse any last minute questions about that big day. I thought I'd feel better about being familiar with where we needed to go and taking the tour. It actually did the opposite. I kind of freaked out on Tony and balled my eyes out all the way home. All I could think of is how unprepared we were and that we should have taken birthing classes. Tony eventually calmed me down but of course that was after many many tears later. I attribute that to the pregnancy hormones. Oh well...

Sunday, May 31st:

At 5:30 am, I was woken up by my youngest dog, Molly. Sure enough, I felt my water break. Its weird, but they do say that your pets can sense things and she was right on to sense that there was something wrong with me. Well, I woke Tony up and we called the doctor. She told us to go ahead and get to the hospital. All I could think of was how thankful I was that we took that last minute tour. When we got there I was 1 cm dialated but it turns out that my water hadn't broken yet. I started to get some pretty strong contractions that were around 2-3 minutes apart. To help with the pain, they gave me pain meds. Waiting to see if I would dialate any further, the doctors noticed that my blood pressure had spiked. This was a concern because I'd had been experiencing major feet and ankle swelling through out the end of the pregnancy. They call this pre-clampsia (sp?). Around 3:30pm, the measured me again to see if I had progressed but I had only dialated to 2cm. The doctor decided that she would not induce labor at this point since I was only at 36 weeks. She wanted to make sure that he stayed as long as he could so his lung would have time to develop properly. Even one more week would be better than taking him then at that point. So she put me on bed rest because of the pre-clampsia and we went home. Here are some pictures from our FALSE ALARM DAY!

Soon to be Daddy waiting patiently thinking, "Is today the BIG day?"

And here's a picture of my dreaded ankles and feet. I decided to let Tony take a picture of them so we could look back at how big they got. I called them my "Flintstone" feet. And always told Tony that if my car ever broken down not to worry. I would be able to use my feet to paddle my way home like Fred Flintstone would do. By the way, I did everything possible to cover those bad boys too. I managed to wear pants and jeans every day of my pregnancy. Thank goodness it didn't get too terribly hot there towards the end.

36 Weeks - May 23, 2009

Memorial Day weekend marks the 36th week of pregnancy. We are only 4 weeks away from meeting our little boy. This weekend was pretty eventful for us too. Tony and I made a big trip to BabiesRUs to pick up some of the bigger items left on our registry. Our biggest concern was the stroller and car seat. I kept having anxiety that we'd go into labor and not be able to take him home since we were without a car seat up until now. Of course, there wasn't too much anxiety because my sister and mom live within 10 minutes of us and have plenty of car seats to go around. That's the plus side of having nephews who have lead the way.

We were also fortunate enough to meet up with two of my college friends.

Here are a couple pics from our visit. Jennifer and I are sorrority sisters and were roommates throughout college. She now lives in Washington state with her husband, Kal, and 3 month old little girl, Ava Grace. Her husband, wasn't able to make it down this time. We did miss visiting with him though. Her parents and sister meet us for lunch as well. It was great catching up after all this time.

Here are pictures from our visit with Kelly, Robby and little Anthony DeSanto. Kelly and I were Interior Design classmates. We labored many hours without sleep designing projects for four years at Stephen F. Austin State University. I figure if we can go without sleep for four years getting through design school, we can both make it through the infant years of no sleep as well.

The Crib is DONE!

Tony finished the crib just in time for Mother's Day - May 10, 2009. This was the best gift he could give me...and his little boy. He was also able to show it off to his mom and pops who flew down for Mother's Day and a baby shower that weekend. I know they were just as impressed.

So here's the story behind this picture. Tony had been questioned whether or not the crib would support the baby or not. He was told that he should test it out by putting a couple cement blocks in it to see if it would withstand the weight. Of course he met the challenge and took it even further. He decided that he would get in it and sure enough it held him. I will say its a relief to know that it will hold our baby. If it can hold a 200 pound grown man, then our baby will be just fine.

Look how excited he was. He's so adorable!

And then of course, he had to test whether or not it would sleep comfortably. I think it passed with flying colors! We'll have to compare these pictures to when Mason gets here. I wonder if he'll look anything like his daddy in the crib. Hopefully he'll look like his daddy...just not as big as his daddy. :)

And in closing, I'd like to leave you with words from the Author / Editor of this blog to my loving husband.

Tony,

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You did a fabulous job making the crib. I couldn't be more impressed with your craftsmanship. I am so proud of all your hard work, determination and effort you put into making this wonderful creation happen. Thank you for being patient with me and for letting me assist you as "Quality Control Manager". I know sometimes you wanted to throw the QCM out of the garage (workshop) a couple of times. But through it all, I think we made a great team. Hopefully you thought so too. I can't wait to share this wonderful piece with our children and may be even our grandchildren. You're the best husband and I just know you'll be the best father!

- Love always and forever

Melissa (aka you're loving QCM)

May 9, 2009 - 34 Weeks

So I am now 34 weeks into my pregnancy. Wow, I still can't believe how fast its gone by. He will be here before we know it.

At my last appointment on May 4th, I talked to the doctor about our due date. I was curious how long she would wait and whether or not she would induce me at a certain time. She said that she typically will wait for the due date to come along before inducing and that she wouldn't let me go a week past. She said that after a week the baby tends grow larger and makes it harder on the mother to deliever. She also said that there are higher risks of still born births the longer you wait. So we agreed that if he hasn't come by June 20th, that we would schedule to be induce on June 20th. I am excited about that. For some reason I've really been stuck on that date and would really like him to be born that day. I know that it's really not up to me but you know...I can only wish right?

Happy 4th Birthday Ryder - May 2, 2009

Our nephew, Ryder, turned 4 on May 2nd. I can't believe where the time has gone. I feel like we were just at the hospital waiting for his arrival. I guess what they say is true. Time flies when you're having fun.

Well, this year for his birthday we went to Bonkers. It's an indoor playground that also has arcades and serves food. I guess its kind of Chucky Cheese except no scary mouse running around and there are huge jungle gyms to climb on. Even adults can play in. Of course, this year I had to hold myself back...seeing as though I was 33 weeks pregnant. Oh well, next year for sure.

Here are some pictures of Ryder playing games, opening presents, blowing out his candles (Sponge Bob Squarepants Cake compliments of his Aunt Mel), and dinner with the fam.

Tony the "Caveman" Triathlete

Tony competed in his first triathlon on April 26th called the Cave Man Triathlon. It was hosted at the new Flower Mound Community Center which was within 5 minutes from our house. The race consisted of a 275 yard (11 lap) Swim, 11 mile Bike ride and 3.1 mile Run.

The day started out very early. We got up around 5:00 am so we could be at the community center for check in and set up at 6:00 am. The race started at 7:00 am. The picture below is evidence of how early we got there. It was still dark outside when he was setting up his bike and gear in the transition area.

The first portion of the race was the swim. Here's Tony swimming his heart out. He actually made great time. He mentioned that swimming in salt water seemed to be a little easier then the swimming in chlorine (that's what he trained in). His time was 6:00.5 which was a great improvement from his practice run which was around 8 minutes. His next goal is to learn how to do a "flip turn" so he can quickly kick off from wall to wall.

After the swim, he moved to the transition area and changed for his bike ride. The course was a bit challenging as it was super windy. It rained earlier that morning but luckily it stopped for the race. We were just left with high winds afterwards though.

Waving good bye as he crossed over the time blocks for his bike ride.

And he was off! Now all I could do was wait for him to return. I wish I could have seen more of the course in this portion of the race.

And he made it back. He said it was tougher for him since he was on a mountain bike and others were on road bikes. Apparently, the road bikes move quicker because of their sleek and slender tires. He did have a little bit of an advantage with his mountain bike since it was so windy it made the hill climbs tougher for the road bikes. He said that his gears and bigger tires really worked for him. His time was 53:25.2.

Now he's moving back the transition area to change for his run. Go Tony!

He ended up getting a slight cramp in his legs during the bike ride. Time to stretch them out!

You can't forget the energy boosters! Tony said they tasted HORRIBLE...but they helped.

And he's off again for the last leg of the race. 3.1 miles to go! He looked great!

Here's a shot of him running. He said he passed up a lot of people that passed him during the bike ride. He was definitely excited about that.

On the home stretch! #290 is about to cross the FINISH LINE!

And he's FINISH! His run time was 27:59.9.

WAY TO GO TONY!
They gave out Cave Man Triathlon medals for finishing the race. Here's Tony with his. I am so proud of him!

Tony and his pregnant, picture-taking wife. I was the proudest wife there! Great Job, Babe...You did it!