wow! i got to see the BABY!

awww!! it was a GREAT experience!! i had the whole family there, dh and the boys and it went REALLY WELL!!! i think we were able to see about 30+ mins of baby!!! it was REALLY NICE!! i can't say i was not worried because I WAS!!! with my 2 bleeding episodes and not having ANY symptoms, i have been a bit nervous about it all....seeing the baby REALLY made me FEEL pg!!! it has been a GREAT PG with virtually NO SYPMPTOMS!! i have been saying if i didn't KNOW i was pg, i wouldn't have a CLUE! the 2 doctors that did the scan said that everything looked "normal" and no cause for concern! BABY G was asleep for a bit until i had to eat something to get the baby going!! it was sooooo awesome to see how BIG the baby IS!!! WOWOWOWOW!! this little one has GROWN sooooo much! and i actually don't have to go tomorrow for a dating scan because they did it this time around and my new due date is 9/6/07!!!! and i went from today being 11w6d to being 12w5d!! almost a WHOLE WEEK OLDER!!! hehehehehehe! i am sooooo excited to be moving onto the 2nd trimester in a couple of days and not even KNOWING IT!! and this due date actually coincides with my FIRST ultra sound done on 1/18....the one done on 2/5 had me a couple of days BEHIND the original one!! soooooo almost dead on with the first prediction!!! i think the first one had my due date at 9/9.....it was sooooo awesome to see this one suck their thumb and everything....wow, i am ALMOST out of the 1st trimester and i can OFFICALLY stop the progesterone!! good thing, i actually stopped last week (james was gone so i couldn't take them cause i get up several times a night with matthew)....


anyway, just had to share my GREAT news!!!

today, is a BIG DAY....

well, today we do our NT SCAN that i was soooooo excited to be getting!!! i wasn't sure if we would get it or not because i will not officially by 35 when i have baby g but i guess they made an EXCEPTION!!! :) anyway, it is a normal sono that you have BUT they are looking for a fold in the neck that will tell them if baby g has down syndrome or not and other defects....i will also be getting a QUAD SCREEN during this time....it will HOPEFULLY be fun since i will have the whole family there! yep, kids and all! just turned out that way! anyway, it should be nice!! i just PRAY that all turns out well and there is nothing "worrying" about the scan or the blood work!!! just PRAYING!!! i will have to write after i finish up today! also, i go tomorrow for a DATING ULTRASOUND....i hope to get some good pics from it all!! at least i will FINALLY know my DUE DATE!! hehehehe, going on 12 weeks without having a clear pic of it! funny!


well, unfortunatly, matthew had a seizure today during nap! it got me worried because he was NOT responding and i was SCARED that we would end up in the hospital!! but after about 2 mins, he FINALLY and i do mean FINALLY started to open his eyes and look at me!!! THANK YOU GOD!! it has been over 2 MONTHS (dec 16) since we have had A BIG ONE and i just keep thanking GOD everyday for it!! i think that has been THE LONGEST since MAY that we have gone without one!! just THANKING GOD over and over again!!!

got some GREAT news....

well, first, we are ALL DOING GREAT so that is always GREAT NEWS!!! :)

but i also got news that on tuesday 2/27, i will be getting the NT SCAN!! that is exciting because i was not sure they would actually get that for me or not!! so, we get to see our little one on that day!! and hard to believe but i am 11 weeks along now!!!! THANK YOU GOD!!! we are also having a DATING scan on 2/28!! sooo, TWICE is oooohhhh soooo nice!!! AND james gets to be there at both of them!!! acutally , the WHOLE FAMILY will be there for the one on tues!!!

then james gave me AWESOME news!! he has been out of town since tues and will be getting home tomorrow but he got to talk to his COMMANDER for his recruiting/retention area and he told him that he would NOT BE GETTING DEPLOYED this time around, not to worry!!!!! THANK YOU GOD!!! soooo, as of right now, JAMES SHOULD BE HOME FOR THE BABY BEING BORN, THANK YOU GOD!!!! of course, afterwards there is no guarente! i was REALLY worried about it because i will be having a scheduled c-section and that would mean i would not be able to carry MATTHEW for over 6 weeks!!! so, picture that, not being about to take care of your special needs boy!!! and although we have nurses, they are not 24 hours a day and they are not on during the weekend!!! we probably would have LIVED upstairs during the time i had no one and then he would have had to sleep with me on the futon, not his crib because i would not be able to pick him up!!! BUT THANK YOU GOD, WHO ANSWERS PRAYERS, james will be HOME, GOD WILLING during that time!!! i am sooooo happy!

anyway, just wanted to share my good news!

on a little weekend away.....

we don't say the "V" word in our home but we went away for a couple of days to austin....wow, who knew that AUSTIN is soooooo beautfiul!!!??? what i know of austin is only down 35 going into or out of san antonio....this city is just AMAZING!!! we are here because they are having a FLW fishing tournament here at LAKE TRAVIS and we got here yesterday and have just been enjoying our day. we were SUPPOSE to take the boat out today BUT the wind was KICKING!! seriously, there was WHITE CAPS on the lake!!! so there was no way we could go out there!! but as we were getting ready to leave the park, who should come out of the lake but JIMMY HOUSTON (if you don't follow fishing, he is a tv celeb that my hubby LOVES!!!!) anyway, so we stopped and james got out and went to talk to him, which i thought he would either run SCREAMING like a groupie at him or start stuttering when he was talking to him@!!! just kidding!! anyway, he talked to him for a bit then he went and got a picture of him with him....and then mr houston did a VERY nice thing and gave james 2 trading cards of himself and signed them for the boys!! awwww....

anyway, so far so good!! we are getting ready to leave to go to the WEIGH IN today!! :) it will be at the convention center! that should be really nice! they have a bunch of booths set up and everything!!

something i HAD to share that was kinda cute....when james backed the boat into a parking space here at the hotel, he went and put big rocks in front of the wheels so that it wouldn't roll...so alex, who was outside helping him, he grabbed some pebbles from the flower beds here and put a little pile in front of the tire and he said, "there, that will stop it!!" TOO CUTE!

MATTHEW WON'T EAT FOOD BUT HE WILL TRY TO EAT LEAVES!!! :)

sad day in my family....

this past week, my wonderful cousin and her family suffered a LOSS as no one should ever lose..they lost their almost 6 month old baby boy JOSIAH suddenly when he stopped breathing on Monday the 12th of feb....as i know it, it was in the middle of the day and she ended up having to peform CPR on the baby....i can't EVEN imagine what she must be feeling or going thru....this was her 2nd baby boy...her first little one is almost 3 years old...we went to the ROSARY on the 14th and to see the little casket there....just heart wrentching.....again, it makes you realize how FRAGILE and UNPREDICTABLE life really is!! how things can CHANGE in just a blink of an eye....where your perfect world can be just turned upside down and shattered....for us, this happened when matthew was born but we ALWAYS remember that things can ALWAYS happen to change things....you just NEVER know when....so we always live life to the FULLEST.....and THANK GOD everyday for being BLESSED that we had another day to live...

my cousin and her family need loads of prayers right now......any would be APPRECIATED!!

remembering a dream....

ok, this is funny because as james and i were driving to the RODEO yesterday, i VIVIDLY remembered a dream i had told HIM about a LONG time ago.....probably about a year ago or so. this same stretch of highway was were i told him too!!

the telling to james went:

i remember driving down this highway and telling james, "don't get mad, but i had this dream." james was like, "ok, what dream?" i said, "i had this VIVID dream where GOD told me that i was not thru having children and that he showed me i would have a total of 2 boys and a girl!!" by this time, james was VERY ADAMANT that we were THROUGH having CHILDREN!!! NO MORE NO MORE!! so, he laughed and said, "well, i don't know WHERE you will get this girl because we are NOT HAVING ANYMORE BABIES!!" and i remember saying, "i don't know, i still feel like we are MISSING someone." he just laughed and was just saying, we are THROUGH!!


SOOOOO HERE WE ARE!!! we ARE PREGNANT and it was thru NO way trying or our TRYING to get pg like all the other times....JUST GODS WILL! i just believe SOOO MUCH that GOD did tell me we were destined to have ONE MORE BABY....now we will see if my destiny is a GIRL or BOY (although in my dream GOD told me GIRL!)!! i would probably pass out if it was a GIRL because then it all came thru! after i reminded james about the dream he was kinda freaked out! he said, 'well, i guess it DID happen and you were RIGHT! BECAUSE we sure didn't "try" for this baby like all the others...."

AND something else, james use to just look at me whenever i would KEEP certain things (i personally think he was humoring me with it all)...i kept from my other pg some maternity jeans, shorts, a couple of outfits, a dress etc (and i had a garage sale and SOLD alot of the really old maternity stuff) and then i also kept some baby clothes (just everyday stuff nothing SPECIAL) and also some equipment that matthew was WAY TO OLD AND BIG to use but i just COULDN'T get rid of it!! just a feeling huh?

results are in for the sleep study....

well, we FINALLY go the results back from the sleep study done in jan!!!

well, let's see.....where should i BEGIN?!?!?! it WAS determined that he STOPPED BREATHING 33 TIMES during the 6 hours they measured!!! WOW!! but it was not BAD considering that his oxygen levels only dropped ONCE to 91% so they were ok with that (not putting him on bypap or oxygen at night)....soooo, then he had several episodes of SHALLOW BREATHING (which we figured cause sometimes you can't even tell if he is BREATHING or not!!) and once it lasted for MORE THAN A MINUTE!! THEN....he also has RESTLESS LEGS ALL DURING THE NIGHT....he moved his legs more than 200+ times during all that time!!! and then he said that it was probably caused by LOW IRON (we went to a WIC appt and they told me his iron was LOW and there you ARE) so we will be starting supplements SOON! he said that it was not that he didn't GET enough in his nutrition it was just that his body was not ABSORBING it! THEN he told me that he NEVER went into REM SLEEP(DREAMS).....i was concerned about that but he said that it was probably due to his meds....see and that was what got me that he was ALWAYS moving soooo much even DRUGGED the way he was!!! now we have a REASON(iron) for it! on the scale they use....a child normal is 1 and a adult normal is 5.....MATTHEW WAS 7!!! sooooo he was WAY OVER the "normal" limits which is NOT good! soooo, they dx him with OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA and will be sending him to an ENT really soon! don't know if it is his tonsils... they just told us to WATCH him and see how he does....


sooooo there you are!! and also matthew gave us a SCARE on wed during his nap when he had TWO seizures....one lasting 5 mins and the other 3 mins....LITTLE STINKER!! but we are NOT going to change his sz meds which are FINE BY ME!! i think he is at a GREAT dose! we just continue to WATCH HIM!!!

appointment today!!!

hello everyone!! well, i had my appt today and all went really well. i had my wonderful PAP smear that i have just looked forward to FOREVER (not!!!) and there was no more old blood there!!! and i had to get all my prenatal screen bloodwork done.....

well, as i was talking to the dr, i found out i was concidered ADVANCE MATERNAL AGE.....YIKES!!! i am not even 35 yet!! (ok, i miss it by like 2 weeks from when i am due)....so first we are going to do ANOTHER DATING scan (YAY!! ANOTHER chance at seeing this little one) and then, she said that she was going to go ahead and schedule me a for a nuchal translucency screening test BUT she was not sure if i would "qualify" for it under their guidlines since i am not TECHNICALLY going to be 35 when i have this baby!! but since we had matthew born with a CHD she might be able to get it!! :) then she said she would send me over for a quad blood work to go along with it....and should i NOT be able to get that screen, then she would put in for the triple screen test at my next appt and then do the level 2 ultrasound soon after. i told her i did not want an amnio done on the me and she said that was fine since regardless of the outcome i would be having this baby no matter what!! she said that they would probably be having the echo done at about 28 weeks or so....

sooooo, we are set!! i am just waiting for them to give me my date of the next sono and then i REALLY HOPE and PRAY that we get that Nuchal scan done!!! it would be reasuring if they were able to see if there was anything YET on heart defects....

so, my next offical appt will be 2/27 and still not sure when my US will be...probably next week sometime!!! thanks for reading!!

SCARY MORNING!!!

well, this morning at about 1230am, i got up to go pee and what do i see? PINK ON MY TP!!! wow, i kinda freaked!!! so i told james and just kinda just prayed the rest of the night away....well, at 6:00am, i get up to go to pee and this time i wipe and WOW, there was TONS of brownish discharge on my tp!!!! i was like, oh man!! what is going on?!?!?!?! so i immediately started to call and get an appointment and THANK GOD, i was able to get one asap!! so i went in at 0830 for blood work and then had my appt at 1030....it had started to taper off by that time....so when she did a vaginal, she SAW the brown blood (old) but said that the cervix was closed up tight and that it didn't seem like it was coming from there right now!!!! i was RELIEVED for that!!! then the dr came in and they did a sonogram...at first, he was really worring me because he was looking and looking and not saying anything...so i asked him "does the baby have a hb?" and he said, let me turn this around and you can see what i am seeing.....THAT ABOUT FREAKED ME OUT!!! so, i prepared myself and just prayed....well, then he turned it around and showed me the scan and said, that i was measuring 8w4d (and from my last sono at 6w1d i was suppose to be 8w5d but he said that other one was just an estimate) and then righ when i KNEW he was going to tell me they did not see a hb......THERE IT WAS!! he was like, 'oh, there it is!!" the baby turned a certain way and there it was!!! awwww....i was soooo happy!!! they couldn't measure or tell me what the rate was but he said it looked ok....he did say i was not out of the woods yet because he didn't know where that bleeding came from....then he put me on progesterone!!! yes, that one i have been TRYING to get on forever!! military is wierd! after i told him that i am USUALLY on it, he told me that if i had come to him at 6w then he would have put me on it ONLY FOR COMFORT MEASURE...i was like, HELLO!! i did come to you at that thime and i called dr s back to get them ordered and left TONS of messages and never recieved a call back!!! but he said, that he gave me enough thru 12 weeks.....

so now i PRAY!! i am still shaken by it all and just sad that it has happen because all was going soooo well!! GOD WILLING nothing else will happen and the baby will STAY PUT!!

well....

the SRP is over....he did really well and got thru it pretty quick...he was able to come home late last night, YIPPEEE!!! matthew was up waiting for him, he was soooo excited and happy to see his daddy!

well, right now, BOTH of the guys that were up to go, james and the other sgt were "nondeployable"!!! for james, it is a problem with his teeth....he has to get his WISDOM TEETH PULLED (and he has needed to for ooooohhhhh a WHOLE bunch of YEARS!!) and he has been procrastinating EVER SINCE....so that is pretty much going to happen probably pretty QUICKLY, something he he is DREADING!!! POOR GUY!! he hates needles and dentist in that order!!! soooo, be ready to hear about my hubby being pretty sad upset and SCARED!!! he had to get a shot and some blood work while he was up there an he was REALLY NERVOUS!! i just told him to remember matthew (he had blood work done on thurs)....anyway, the other guy has some minor things too and is suppose to get them cleared up quickly also and THEN we will know who is going!!! soooooo....we still wait.........now it is just to see whether he goes THIS time or the NEXT time......oh well....*sigh*

today, we are going to do SOMETHING for superbowl!! what, i don't know!! but as long as it is family related, i am ALL FOR IT!!! james had to go back to work today but just here in SA so he just called and is ON HIS WAY!!! YIPPEE!!!

well....pretty much he WILL be going....

yep, i just spoke to james and he just informed me that his big boss basically said, if the other person, for some reason, does NOT get chosen to go on this feb orders (it was between him and another person) then JAMES WILL BE GOING OVERSEAS....and if the other person DOES go, then james WILL BE GOING IN THE MARCH/APRIL/MAY DEPLOYMENT....so, one way or another, he WILL be going overseas sometime in the NEAR FUTURE....wow, what do i feel? numbness and just....emptyness?! i am really scared for him to go....but we always KNEW that because the war in ON GOING, he was going to be going SOMETIME in the future!! i always remember that i am not the FIRST or ONLY wife left behind that was pg, had 2 kiddos (even if one was special needs) that their hubby had to deploy to iraq....

sooooo, i PRAY....


i didn't know i needed to talk to someone and a VERY GOOD FRIEND OF MINE, came by unexpectedly to the house and we talked and we prayed.......she is a friend that has a special needs kiddo that is also a miracle and she reminded me how powerful prayer is and if we ASK GOD for something, it can happen...so, i will PRAY like i prayed for my son who is a miracle.....and just pray that my husband does not have to go...but i also understand and ACCEPT if it is meant for him to go....i WILL be strong and i AM strong for my husband and my kiddos and for ME!!!

we will find out at the end of this weekend if he will go or not....

OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! :)

Make an online slideshow at onetruemedia.com

****IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE MONTAGE VIDEO HERE, YOU CAN STOP THE VIDEO ON THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG (MARTINA MCBRIDE) SO YOU CAN HEAR THE SONG ON THE MONTAGE!! ENJOY!**********

Hello friends and family!



We hope everyone is having a GREAT START to the NEW YEAR!! It has been a great start for us so far….full of surpises and just family time!!!



Well, I know it has been a while since I last updated you, unless you keep up with us on our blog…..you can say, no news is good news!! J matthew is doing really GREAT with everything right now….after having seizures EVERYDAY for over 2 weeks, we started him on one of his meds, FOUR times a day and that seemed to do the trick….just the last couple of days he has had very mild ones during nap?! GOD WILLING it will go away! Anyway, he is doing REALLY WELL, and he has been really HEALTHY too! THANK YOU GOD! The only thing we have noticed is that within 30 mins of us leaving the house, he gets REALLY JUNKY, CONGESTED, COUGHING ETC where at home, he was CLEAR AS A BELL!!! I finally called the pulmonologist and she said because of the mulch fire and him being use to our home (which I told her was FAR from dust free!!), he just needed a treatment before we leave!!! Fun! He HATES treatments! We also had a sleep study done a couple of weeks ago and I am awaiting some news about that….we were wondering if he had sleep apnea or having seizures during the night….when I find out, I will post it on my blog…Anyway, he has been doing really great and just GROWING!!! He is 30 lbs and is about 35” long! He is soooo big! He just amazes us everyday! He is also starting to TALK more now! When asked to repeat a word he will!! The other day, I gave him something he wanted and I said, “matthew, what do you say?” and he said, “thank you!” well, there you go!!! Little by little! He is also getting a bit steadier and stronger in his trunk area. He also is getting a personality! He is still the sweet happy boy but sometimes with a BIT of attitude!!! Stinker! And he can problem solve VERY WELL!! Just on Tuesday, I had a cap screwed on to a baby bottle and he learned to UNSCREW IT!! Wow!! He also has some new equipment! He got a RIFTON GAIT TRAINER, which he is still not sure of but he FINALLY started moving FORWARD in it!! He doesn’t get the turning yet so he gets stuck in places….think of it as a BIG walker for bigger kids!! With tons of bells and whistles! And then he also got his LADYBUG KORNER CHAIR…basically a little chair that helps with his balance and gives him a place to sit with a desk…VERY NICE!!! He LOVES that!



Alex is doing GREAT too!! He is such a wonderful SMART kiddo! I am just in awe of him! And what a great big brother he is too!! He has really started to Play with matthew and include him when he starts to do things too! He doesn’t want to go ANYWHERE with out his little brother! Soooo cute! And wow, his learning is just BEYOND anything! He has really started to want to read and he is already writing all his numbers and letter and his phonics is just wonderful! We are working on him getting to recognize and sound out words to read! Very nice! The other day, I could hear him saying something and when I got a jist of what he was doing, he was COUNTING BACKWARDS!!! I have not taught him that!! And he has gone as far as 30 and gone down to 1!! He also uses these BIG words!!!! He is just such a SPONGE!!! He also still loves his school!!! I can’t wait to get him to his sports (we are signing him up for t-ball). He is just our BIG BOY!!!



James is doing really great! This weekend, he is doing his SRP for pre-deployment…basically, he is going to do all his paperwork, will and such JUST IN CASE he goes over seas….we just pray he does not have to go….they are FIRST taking those that have NEVER been activated (james was activated in 2001) then they go from there…..if he goes, GOD WILLING HE DOES NOT, but if he does, we will just do what other families have done and just pray for him and all the other soldiers….and now he is getting a VERY BAD FEELING that he will be going after all….they just got told YESTERDAY some rumors going around so he is pretty sure he is going to be picked up, as is ALL his fellow soldiers…..please just say a prayer for all our soldiers….



As for me, I am going just fine…just hanging in there with my boys!!! We are enjoying our family time together and just being us….



Soooo, today is our 10 YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!! Yep, that was the reason this email was sent today!! James and I have been married for 10 WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL AND HAPPY YEARS!! And I can HONESTLY say that!! We have just been soooooo BLESSED in our lives together and we are soooo happy!! We have 2 beautiful AMAZING kiddos and we both are just so in love with each other…soooo, I made a montage of our 10+ years of our lives together…..i hope you enjoy and watch for the surprise ending!!! just click ABOVE on the pic of our montage:


anyway, GOD BLESS ya’ll and thanks again for always keeping my family & ESPECIALLY our little miracle man MATTHEW in thoughts and prayers!!! They have DEFINETLY worked!!! He is just GROWING and getting BIGGER and STRONGER, THANK YOU GOD!!



ok, i hope you like the surprise at the end of the montage!! ENJOY!!



ok, take care and GOD BLESS!!! thanks for reading!



tons of love,

JAMES, MARIA, ALEX & MATTHEW

www.babiesonline.com/babies/b/babyalexii

www.babiesonline.com/babies/m/miraclematthew

www.blessingsinmylife.blogspot.com