Anya’s growing; mommy’s getting sick…

As our little daughter growing and gaining weight oh so rapidly for the last few days, I managed to get UTI for some unknown reason to me.  Nick and I went to the urgent care today to confirm it.  I have no idea how I could get it, but I did.  I have to stop breastfeeding for at least three to five days, because they prescribed me antibiotics.  Even though the doctor says it’s okay to take those pills while breastfeeding, I feel bad giving our little baby antibiotics at her young age.  I guess we are switching to formula for the period of this week.  :(  I am going to miss our little feeding times. 

Nick is getting used to being the daddy slowly but steadily.  When I ask him to change Anya’s diaper at night, I often have to remind him about it several times because for some reason he either forgets or falls asleep right after I ask him. ;)  Well, since we are switching to formula this week, he will probably participate a lot more often in Anya’s feedings but we will see.  Anya seems to love her daddy the most.  :)  She often looks at him with such love and curiosity, especially when he puts he on his lap and plays with her.  We also got some baby videos and Anya adores watching those, while we are changing her diapers. 

My mom often take Anya for a walk in our back yard; the baby tends to sleep much better outside and sometimes it is so impossible to wake her up after we bring her home.  She can sleep up to five hours outside without even waking up!  If only she would do the same at night when mommy and daddy want to sleep so much too.  :)  Even though we are extremely tired, we are very happy we have our little angel with us. 

 

 

Welcome home, my baby!

Anya has finally arrived and I don’t know if there is anybody more precious to us than her.  She arrived perfectly on time, June 1^st.  On Saturday morning Nick woke up at 5:30am to go to work.  I started feeling strange and told Nick that he should be on the call, because maybe that was it.  When Nick left for work, I started feeling mild contractions at about 6:29am.  They were coming every six minutes apart but because they were very mild, I was not sure if they were real or, again, just Braxton-Hicks.  Contractions continued for the next two hours and I decided that it was time to call the doctor.  My doctor was not there but another doctor advised me to go to the hospital right away.  I called Nick and he came home in less than 15 minutes (even though it’s a long drive from his work)!  For some reason, I thought that my mom would be more nervous than Nick or me, but it turned out to be the other way around.  Nick was freaking out a lot and was very nervous, which I did not expect that from him.  We finished packing all our belongings and headed for the hospital.  When we arrived, the nurses checked me and said that I am having early labor but not even dilated at all and only 60% effaced.  Nothing changed within the next two hours and they sent us home.  A few hours after we came home, my contractions increased and soon after the pain became almost impossible to bear but still coming on a irregular timing.  I called the doctor several times and he assured me that that was not labor because labor is predictable.  If only he knew that my contractions actually were irregular on timing up to the very last minute!   Eventually the pain was so huge that I asked Nick to get me to the hospital as soon as possible, even though I was extremely scared that they would send me back home again.  There was a concert on the way and that caused a huge traffic, so it took us a while to get to the hospital.  Once there, they brought a wheel chair for me and took me all the way upstairs.  Contractions were coming every 2 -3 minutes at that time.  When they checked me, I was five centimeters dilated and everyone was really happy to hear that, because that meant that I was not going home that night.  They gave me an IV and prepared me for an epidural.  Nick told me afterwards how scary the procedure for epidural looked with approximately 20 centimeters needle sticking out of my back, but I guess I got so much adrenaline running in my body that I did not feel it.  I progressed really fast to 7, then 9, 9.5 centimeters and than contractions slowed down a lot.  They broke my amniotic fluid at 8 centimeters and it showed that the baby had meconium, her first bowel movement inside of me.  That meant that they would need to clean her up once she comes out very fast.  It took me 3 hours to push; the baby would not want to come out.  When my main doctor had finally arrived and the end was close, she noticed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around baby’s neck twice!  Her only concern was to get rid of the cord as soon as possible, so Nick did not get to cut the cord but the health of the baby was more important.  Anya was born and took her to get cleaned right away instead of putting her on my tummy.  Nick looked really excited and my mom almost started crying.  While they were finishing up with me (stitching and all), they took the baby to the nursery.  Nick and my mom went there with them and when they came back, my mom kept saying that we should not leave the baby alone like that, because she was just too cute and somebody could steal her.   Silly mommy. J 

The first night was intense: lots of crying, not much sleep (almost none for me), but everyone was very excited.  When they finally brought the baby, she was crying a lot and my mom would refuse to give the baby back to nurses.  She would say that when Anya was born, she smiled so much and that the nurses scared her too much.  She would even refuse to give the baby to me, so I sent her home to get some rest and realize “who’s the boss.”  J 

Breastfeeding started out a bit difficult for me for some reason but it’s getting better now with every day.  Tonight Anya almost slept through the entire night and I got even worried that she did not want to wake, feed, or even pee.  We got an electric pump, so now Anya should have plenty of people to feed her.  She is still eating only a bit though.

I think we are finally building our schedule and routine.  Nick looks like a proud daddy a lot now.  My mom is trying to take over, but I am not letting her.  I want to do everything myself and it seems I simply can’t leave the baby alone.  She is just so precious, especially when she smiles!  JJJ

 

 

Half Way There!

I had my doctor’s appointment on Monday and she happily informed me that I am 50% effaced, which means I am half way there to our main event.  Once I am 100% thinned out or effaced, I will be in labor.  So, practically, I am ready to give birth almost anytime now.  Nick and I have done some serious baby stuff shopping this weekend and we are slowly preparing our “hospital needs” bag to be ready when needed.  I was a little concerned which clothes’ size to buy and I am a bit scared of them not fitting the baby properly.  Right now, I am just hoping that Anya would be less than 8 pounds or I will have to do some more clothes shopping. ;)  For some reason, it’s more difficult to shop for baby stuff than I could ever imagine!

On wed we are having an interview to pick up a pediatrician for our baby.  My mom and I are preparing all the questions for the doctor to see if she or he is qualified.  I prefer that the doctor speaks both English and Russian, so that my mom could take the baby to the doctor herself, if needed.  We found a few of such doctors and we are interviewing them before Anya’s born 

It has become almost intolerable to be pregnant anymore, especially in such weather (97 degrees!!!), but I am coping with Nick’s and mom’s help.  I don’t know what I would do without them!  It has also become difficult to drive, since my back is killing me and I often get Braxton-Hicks contractions (that’s the way my body is preparing for labor.)  I have one more visit to the doctor’s unless Anya wants to come out earlier and then I am ready to go.

We are also trying to get my mom on Medicare/Medical, so that she could acquire insurance and have some normal doctors’ appointments.  We had an evaluation check up and the doctor said that my mom’s blood pressure is more than normal.  So, hopefully we will get the insurance soon.  For some reason, it’s difficult to sign her up for any other insurance; they have so many requirements that she does not pass, such as to visit American doctors and specific weight amount.  Anyway, we will see.

Nick is slowly getting used to driving in traffic, but he still comes home very tired.  It takes him at least an hour to get home from work now.  We have to go to sleep now early and wake up very early as well.  But everytime I am asking Nick if he still thinks we did the right thing and bought this condo, he surely tells me “yes.”  He seems very happy to live here, even though he has to drive so far away.  He often tells me that Van Nuys reminds him of Austin a lot and everything feels more familar here than it was in West Hollywood.  So, to celebrate our new condo, we had a barbeque on our lovely patio and we made some new pictures.  Check them out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yulenk/

 

 

 

A Message to Virginia & Marcello

Dear Parents,

 

No one is ever born into Life alone. Everyone has shared the bond of family, at least at birth, and for many people it is a bond that will follow them throughout life. For many people it is the most important bond of all.  For us, it’s a golden treasure that we are so lucky to have and cherish.  Thank you for being our parents and for your enormous love that you have given to us so often.

 

Happy Birthday to Marcello and Happy Mother’s Day to Virginia!

 

Nick & Yuliya

 

 

Big Move

We finally and officially moved into our new condo!  It was very not easy to move this time for some reason, even though we did hire from “Starving Students” company to help us out with our move.  Also, we tried to pack a lot beforehand, somehow, it turned to be the last two days before the “Big Monday Move” that we put almost all our stuff in boxes and ready for the movers.  When we were hiring movers, I was sure that Nick checked all their prices and he gave me a rough estimate of $300 or so for the guys to come and move all our stuff.  Not only it turned to be four times more than that, but also we got two traffic tickets on that day.  The movers were really slow and it took them 8 hours to do the work.  We were trying to help carrying out the boxes to only angry the movers.  He hated us being on his truck and trying to move the boxes.  I am still not sure why.  They came early at 9 and parked on the Monday cleaning side (that side gets cleaned every Monday from 9 to 11 am an dif you are parked on that side, you’ll get a ticket).  So, we did get a ticket because they parked on the Monday side and he made us pay for it.  In addition, the truck is considered oversized for that street and we had to get permission from the City Hall, in order to park such a vehicle on our street!  Who knew?

 

My mom and I cleaned the old apartment and the owner seemed to be happy with it, so we are hoping that he will return our deposit that we paid when we moved in.  Having lots of boxes lying around, we are slowly unpacking them.  All of us are extremely tired and exhausted from moving.  The bedrooms are smaller than at our old apartment, so it’s a tight fit but it feels incredibly nice to live here.  We gave the bigger room to my mom, since she is going to be the one, who is going to take over the baby once I am able to work again.  We also bought a bassinet for our little one for at least the first months that I am going to be with her all the time.  It looks so cute and matches our room oh so well! J

 

From now on, I am seeing the doctor every week until the baby’s born. Everything seems to be okay, except that my legs and feet are very swollen and feel like they are on fire a lot lately.  She is moving less but each her move is very strong.  It’s funny to see my stomach make all kinds of shapes, when she moves.  Nick and I are also attending prenatal classes to prepare for the baby.  Next week we have four of them in a row!  Last Sunday we had one, where they showed us a film about giving birth…OMG!  I wish I did not see it now.  The only thing I can say is that it was very descriptive and graphical.  They did not miss anything to show us.  Okay…I think I can do it…Not really, can we go back in time, so that I could change my mind?   

 

Last Three Weeks

Starting today is going to be our last three weeks appointment at the doctor’s.  After these three weeks, we will have to visit the doctor every week until the baby’s born.  My weight still fluctuates a lot.  I was 141 my last visit and today I am down to 136lbs.  I keep puzzling my doctor with my weight changes every time I come there.  Everything is good with the baby, which the most important.  I managed to drink some of the flavored coffee milk in the morning and the baby’s heart rate was faster than usual.  When I told the doctor that it was probably because of that little caffeine drink I had earlier, she got really mad at me and said that I should not drink anything caffeinated whatsoever.  She assumed that I actually drink it every day and this is why my weight changes so much, goes up and down.  I tried to explain to her that I never actually have coffee; it’s just, for some reason, I really wanted a little bit today and put just a few drops in my hot milk.  I am not sure that she believed me, but from now on, I am going to stay away from coffee for at least until the baby’s born. 

 

We got the keys for our new condo on Sunday 6th!  It was a really great feeling to finally get the keys and know that we have our own place here.   We are planning on buying a new fridge but we can’t decide on colors: my mom wants black, Nick insists on stainless, and I wouldn’t mind having a nice white one… anyway, we will have to decide soon.   We have already hired movers to come and help us move.  Unfortunately, I feel like I am not going to be a huge help when moving but at least I will try as much as I can.

 

 

Goodbye to March-Hello to April

What a week!!!  I got really sick with flu.  I had to go to my family doctor only to hear the answer that at my state, 31 weeks, I am not allowed to take any medicine whatsoever.  So, pretty much I have to just suffer through my illness.  My mom is trying all the natural remedies on me.  She’s been cooking and making lots of juices, using lemons, limes, and cranberries.  So, I am getting better with every day.  I still can’t breathe much and cough a lot, though.  For some reason, not that I am not happy about it, neither Nick nor my mom got even a little bit of my sickness.  Strange, but I am happy that both of them are okay.

The baby has been more active than ever!  It feels like she changed her position with her head down and she is really low, but I will have to ask my doctor about that on April 7^th.  Kind of getting scared now, as I am having only a few weeks left till the baby comes.  Now, Anya not only responds to the music, but she also tries to kick to the beat of the music.  It’s so funny sometimes.  She also kicks for 20-30 minutes straight non-stop, as if she has nothing better to do but to torture her mommy (especially while I am working and need to concentrate really hard on something).  It’s also getting harder to do stuff around the house.  Bending became so difficult and moving too much causes me to be sick, so Nick is helping me a lot.  I think he finally realizes it that he is going to be a dad.  Today, while driving from the grocery shopping, I was telling him about the baby’s movements and he was listening so much to me (which rarely happens! ) that he missed our street by several blocks! 

 

Brand new condo in Los Angeles is finally ours!

Everything has been signed and the condo is ours!  All of us can’t wait to move into our new place; however, none of us actually want to pack and move all the stuff. ;)  I’ll make some pictures to upload on Flickr for y’all to see soon.  We are really happy about this big event, especially since it came up to be right on my mom’s and Nick’s birthdays!  We are planning on moving out by the end of April.  It came up so nicely that we don’t have to make any payments until May, which is so perfect, since we have to pay rent for our old apartment in April.

I also uploaded a new video on our youtube channel.  See how big I am now, being 7 months pregnant.  I am officially 30 weeks now! 

click here to see the video

 

Spring is for babies, time is for changes.

Website: I made some significant changes to our main website.  My work has been challenging me with various tasks about web design and I try to implement into our main web everything that I learn.  The idea is that I have several accounts for photos, videos, blogs and I want a little single news feed on my main page that shows all the recent updates that I have done.  Say, if I upload a photo on my Flickr account or a video on our youtube channel, I want people to see that change and even get notified by e-mail via subscription.  So, instead of having one subscription for my blog, like I used to have, I have one for all my sources, videos, photos, and blog.  That was quite a bit of programming to learn, which I never even thought I could do!  So, if you feel like it, I would suggest unsubscribing from previous news feeds that was on my news page and resubscribing on my main page to all of our news.

Baby: Spring is certainly time for babies to be delivered!  My doctor says that she has to take on several babies a day now.  My appointment on Monday was rescheduled several times because of that, but I finally saw my doctor after 5pm (my poor doctor, she was so tired!)  So, I am officially 141 pounds now (more than I’ve ever been in my entire life!)  and approaching my 30th week of pregnancy.  That means that only about 10 weeks to go till the end!  Anya is really active now and with every new day she becomes more and more eager to get out.  Nothing makes me happier than Nick, every time before going to bed, cuddling me and my big tommy and saying, “Yep, she is moving a lot all right,” then kissing me and falling asleep.  :) 

Anya loves music so much!  Every time she hears a melody, she starts moving like crazy.  I now have to count her movements.  My doctor gave me a form to fill out: every evening after meal, I have to lie down on my left or right side for an hour and see that she moves about ten times.  The doctor says that it usually takes about 20 minutes for the baby to start moving and it has to be no less than 10 times in one hour or something is wrong.  Yeah, sure, Anya starts moving immediately after I lie down and she finishes the “10 times kicks” in just about 3 to 5 minutes (and I count only her biggest kicks!) 

The only thing that was not normal during my visit to the doctor is that she noticed that I have more than normal amount of protein in my system.  This means that I might have a bladder infection, so they ran some tests and should let me know soon if I do have it or not.  It’s all this constant going to the bathroom, I think!  I hate doing it and I try not to sometimes, but it’s not good evidently.  I also have some signs of premature labor, so the doctor told me to rest a lot and watch for more signs and limit my stress.  Oh, well, we will see… so far so good. 

New home:  We are closing today at 4:30pm!!!  Well, kind of… We are signing all the documents that entitle us to call the condo, that we’ve been trying to get for so long, ours.  A few more things have to be done, but the condo is finally going to be ours! 

 

Upcoming Birthdays

Both my mom and Nick are having their birthdays on the same day!  It’s on the 22nd of March.  Nick and I have been trying to set the closing date for our new apartment in Van Nuys and it seems that the date will be next week.  I could not have thought of a better present for them!  But I still think that I will need to pick out some little things for them as well; I have no clue what to get them just yet.

Even though we are probably closing next week, we are planning on moving out there only by the end of April.  It seems that here in CA, it is quite difficult to negotiate with your lender to ease out on your lease terms.  So, since we will have to pay rent for the April on our old apt, we are staying till the last day here then.  It will save up us some gas and my mom would continue going to her ESL classes as well. 

My baby and I are doing good.  I woke up today at 5 or 6 in the morning, thinking I was having contractions, because my stomach felt like it was on fire and the baby girl was moving so much!  I woke Nick up and told him that I was in pain.  Still being sleepy he got scared and started thinking that we don’t have anything ready for the baby if we had to go to the hospital.  That idea crossed my mind as well, but, thank goodness, it did not have to go that way.  It seems that since I slept on my left side for so long (I am limited to only left or right side for sleeping now ;( ), she pushed on some of my nerves and that caused me pain.  The baby also was hungry and this is why it moved so much.  Right after I ate a banana, she calmed down and I was able to sleep more.  This next Monday we are having our three week appointment with the doctor, Carole Jordan-Harris.  I will make sure to mention this little accident to her and see what she can advise me.  I so can’t wait 2 and a half more months!