The Marquez Family Chronicles

The Big News

2006-05-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

I must first start off by apologizing to everyone for being so remiss in my postings lately. Things have been extremely busy for the last month or so, as you will see as you continue to read this. Also, I have not wanted to say too much about our plans until things were “out in the open” with everyone, so to speak. Now that this is indeed the case, I can feel free to announce here, publicly, for anyone who may not already know, that we are moving back to Spokane. Kathleen will be transferring within Kindercare to a center on the South Hill. This was a decision that was not arrived at lightly by us. Kathleen and I spent several months discussing all the possible ramifications of moving back before deciding to actively pursue it. With most of our family in Spokane, the much lower cost of living, lower crime and traffic, lower home costs, affordable private school tuition for Taylor, and a host of other factors, we decided that we would move back. It was a tough decision, but ultimately we feel it will prove to be the right one for us. With that being said, there are definitely some sad aspects to leaving. We will miss our trips to the ocean, OMSI, Powell’s, Tara, and the Corbett’s. For me, not being able to hang out and play games with the Corbett’s is going to be the hardest part about leaving. Brian has been a great friend and it is always sad to say goodbye to a friend who shares so many of the same interests. I know we will see them again, but I will miss the time our two families spent together on so many weekends here in Portland.

I gave my notice to my sales manager and the President of Portland Bolt on Monday afternoon. It was extremely difficult as the group of people I have worked with here have been like a second family to me, Kathleen, and the kids. As with everything since I have been here, they were awesome about it. They are extremely sad to be losing me, but were understanding and helpful in easing a difficult and awkward conversation. They have offered to help me in any way possible including recommendations and some possible networking leads in the Spokane area if I am interested. I am currently pursuing a position with the State of Washington but I do not want to say too much more at this point. Suffice it to say that I have several different possibilities developing for me professionally at this point and a lot may change over the next 4-6 weeks. As always, I will post updates as things develop.

With the impending move, we have been trying to do all of the various and sundry things that come along with moving a household between states. This includes going through all of our possessions and deciding what items need to be kept (and hence packed and moved) and what items need to go to Goodwill, repainting Taylor’s room and Abigail’s nursery, determining what items will need to go with us for the month or two that we stay with Kathleen’s parents (while we figure out which part of town to look for a house in), boxing up everything else, cleaning, notifying utilities and bills of new our forwarding address, breaking our lease, preparing my resume and job hunting, etc., etc. In the midst of all this activity, we made a weekend trip to Tacoma to visit with my Dad, Margaret, and Will while we are still living close to them. Then the following weekend we drove up to Spokane for Easter and Abigail’s baptism. So both of those weekends were unavailable for moving activities. This weekend I am driving up to Spokane again in order to take the placement exam for the state job I am pursuing. Kathleen and the kids will stay in Portland and I will load the SUV up with as much of the baby’s stuff as I can haul up with me.

We will be leaving Portland on May 31st as Kathleen starts at the center in Spokane on June 5th. The plan is that we will only take what items we need while staying with Kathleen’s parents. The rest of our stuff will be put in storage in Portland. Once I get a job in Spokane we can decide where it makes sense for us to rent a house. Once we find a house we will rent a u-haul and take a weekend to haul everything that is in storage in Portland up to our new house. At least that is the plan right now. Things may change between now and then. So that is why I have been too busy to post lately. Things have not reached a fever pitch yet, but the clock is running down on getting everything done necessary to make this move happen.

On a totally unrelated note, my dad recently put a post on his own blog about some things he believes. After reading through it and reflecting on it several times in the past few weeks, I would have to say I agree with the rights and ideas he puts forth. If you have a moment, check it out at this web address:

http://dlmarquez.blogspot.com/

Anyway, that is all for now. I will try to post some photos to this shortly. Until next time, from all of us in the Marquez family, be well.

Post Op

2006-03-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

Greetings all! I have been rather lax about postings of late, but things are rather busy these days with a baby in the house. So, here is a quick catch up of the latest happenings in the Marquez household.

Last Wednesday, Abigail had her two month check up. On the negative side of things, she had an RSV infection, which is a respiratory infection that babies sometimes get. It can be very serious, but Abigail is very strong and it did not seem to slow her down too much. Basically, it was a nasty, phlegmy cough for a few days. We had to give her a few nebulizer treatments to help clear her airways. I am happy to report she is feeling better already and her cough is almost completely gone. The pediatrician also told us she has a mild case of thrush again. It is nowhere near as bad as the case she had when she first came home from the hospital, but we still have to give her the thrush medicine for a week or so until it goes away.

The other big negative was that she had to get her immunization shots. As much as I would have liked to have been there to comfort her (I was at work), a part of me was glad that I did not have to see her suffer through it. Kathleen said she screamed and screamed when they gave her the shots. The poor little muffin!

On the positive side of things, Abigail is definitely catching up on her weight gain. She isn't "so tiny" anymore. She is in the 80% for her weight and is now up to 12 and a half pounds! She is a good eater and a strong baby.

The other big news is my surgery. On Friday morning I went in and had Lasik eye surgery. There are several types of Lasik these days. The type I had is where they cut a small flap in your cornea. They then lift the flap and use a laser to resurface the part of your retina that focuses images in the eye. Then the flap is folded closed again and heals rapidly. I wont go into too much detail here, but I will say that the procedure is remarkably fast and effective. I had to spend most of Friday lying in a dark room and letting my eyes rest and heal. However, I went in for my first follow up appointment Saturday morning. 24 hours after the surgery I had better than 20/20 vision (20/15) in both eyes! It is really amazing! I have been wishing I could get this surgery for close to 15 years now and I am SO glad I did! It keeps shocking and surprising me in lots of little ways already. When I wake up in the morning and can read the alarm clock, when I can see clearly in the shower, when I reach up to adjust my glasses on my nose and then realize they are not there. It is truly amazing!

Today, Kathleen and I took the kids to Cannon Beach. It was Abigail's first trip to the ocean. It was also my first trip there with my new eyes. Granted, Abigail slept through most of the excursion, and I had to wear my protective sunglasses to prevent sand or dust blowing into my healing eyes, but it was still very nice. We went for a walk down the tideline and Taylor threw rocks into the water, then we went and had lunch at the Lazy Susan and warmed up for a bit, then we walked down the beach towards Haystack rock. We left just as the rain began to fall in earnest. It was a nice Sunday outing.

Tomorrow is also going to be a big day. Kathleen is returning to work for the first day back from her maternity leave. I will be staying home with Abigail for this week. It will be nice to have a little time to spend bonding with her and getting to have some dad-daughter time. Then next week, it will be the start of the new routine with everyone back to work and school, and Abigail being in the infant room at Kathleen's Kindercare center. It's going to be a big change!

Well, that's all the news for now. Until next time, from all the Marquez's, be well.

Update

2006-02-23T16:26:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Just a quick update to let everyone know that I have not forgotten about the blog. Kathleen and the kids are up in Spokane visiting with family so I have been stuck in Portland by myself without a whole lot new to report. Abigail is continuing to grow every day, judging by the photos that Kathleen emailed me today. I am going to drive up to Spokane for a visit this weekend, as I cannot stand to wait another week to see my family. Our house has been like a tomb with only me there rattling around by myself. Hopefully when I get back I will have some new information and pictures to post. Until then, be well.

GREAT NEWS!!

2006-02-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I apologize for the lack of posts lately, but we have been in a holding pattern for the last week and a half while we waited for Abigail's sweat test. Well, the results are in and she is fine!! Kathleen and I were both so overwhelmed with relief that we both got a little teary eyed. I did not want to admit it to myself, but it has felt like a shadow of doom has been hanging over my head for the last month. It was such an incredible feeling of relief and weight being lifted off of my shoulders when our prayers were answered by a phone call from Abigail's pediatrician at 6:00 pm last night and she told us the sweat test for cystic fibrosis was 100% negative.

Now, it feels like we can breathe a giant breath of relief and begin to move forward with our lives. After all the research that Kathleen and I did on CF over the past month, I thank God that Abigail does not have it and that she will get the oppotunity to have a full and healthy life! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each of you who expressed your thoughts and prayers to Kathleen and I over the past month. Your heartfelt support was appreciated and needed.

I will try and post some more pictures of my little jelly bean soon. Until then, from the whole Marquez family, be well.

Abigail's Bath

2006-01-25T11:58:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. Just a quick post to let everyone know that I have posted some pictures of Abigail's first real bath on shutterfly. I will post the link to the pictures at the bottom of this post. Taylor has had a touch of a cold but he is getting over it. He has been doing a great job of not spreading germs to his baby sister. What a good big brother.

Abigail continues to eat and grow steadily. Every night when I get home from work, she has gotten noticeably bigger to me. It is really amazing how fast they grow and change! Other than that, not a whole lot new to report in this post. Until next time, be well.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMWrZu4bOGKN

Monday, January 23rd, 2006

2006-01-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Not a lot of new information this time, just a small update. Abigail had her two week checkup on Friday and it went very well. She was 19-3/4" long and weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces. That means she gained nearly a pound and grew an inch since we brought her home from the hospital! We were very happy about this and took it as a very good sign since a baby is merely expected to get back to their birth weight (Abigail was 6 lbs, 5 ozs. at birth) by the two week mark. For those of you who dont know, babies lose weight in the first few days after being born. So this is an encouraging sign that she is feeding and growing well. Her jaundice has also gone away now and her thrush is just about gone as well. Yesterday (Sunday) was the last day she had to take her thrush medicine. So she is doing great. She is low on the size percentages chart, but this is understandable since those averages are based on full term babies that are three weeks further along in their development than she is. I think she is growing like crazy and is still a perfect little jelly bean! Her umbilical cord remnant also fell off the other day, which is nice because now she does not have that scratchy black stump irritating her anymore. It's really cute looking at her little "outie" belly button. It's also a little funny since neither Kathleen, Taylor, nor I have "outies." She's such a sweet little muffin!

So our next big hurdle is the sweat test at OHSU on February 6th. For those of you who are not already doing so, please keep us in your prayers. From all the Marquez's, until next time, be well.

Abigail's Birth pt. 2

2006-01-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

Abigail's Birth pt. 2

Day 3 (continued) - So, we left off with Abigail’s birth and her first bath. After her bath, Abigail had her footprints taken onto her "fancy" birth certificate. Kathleen tried to nurse her for the first time and then it was time for us to move into our post partum room on the 9th floor. We got settled into our new room, which was much smaller than the delivery room, and everyone left so Kathleen, Abigail, and I could lay down and get some much needed sleep. The three of us slept pretty much undisturbed until dinner time. The nurses checked in several times on Kathleen and the baby but we were so tired that we barely noticed. In fact, Angie and Danny stopped by briefly but Kathleen and I were both so tired that we barely remember them being there. Around dinner time we woke up and had some dinner. That was really nice for Kathleen as she had not been allowed to eat for the past two days while she was laboring.

That evening, the Corbetts came by for a visit and Taylor was able to hold his baby sister for the first time. It was so adorable. We all visited for a little while before our guests left again so we could get some more sleep. Or so we thought. Little Abigail would wake up every two hours or so and want to nurse. Kathleen’s milk was not in yet and Abigail was acting like she did not want to drink. Several times she spit up a small amount of bile. Her cry was so small it was almost like the mewling of a tiny puppy. That was our routine through the night. Sleep for an hour or so, wake to Abbie’s cry, try to nurse her, check her diaper, re-swaddle her, lay her back down, and try to get another hour of sleep. Of course the nurses were coming in every couple of hours to check Kathleen’s and the baby’s vitals, temperature, and blood pressure as well. Not a very restful night, but we could have cared less.

Day 4. (Saturday, January 7th) This is the day that things took a scary turn. It will go down as one of the hardest days in my life to this point. It began when the nurse came in at around 5:30 am for her check of Abigail. At this point she was 24 hours old and had not had a bowel movement yet. For those of you who don’t already know, this is a big deal. A baby is supposed to have it’s first meconium bowel movement within 24 hours of birth. Meconium is the black, tar-like stool that results from the baby passing the amniotic fluid through it’s system. The meconium bowel movements typically last for several days. The nurse told us that the doctor wanted to take Abigail down to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for "some observation." The nurse made it sound as if it was no big deal and they just wanted to keep an eye on her for a little while because she had not had a bowel movement and her temperature had been low a few times during the night. Kathleen and I were not excited about it, but neither were we worried about it. The nurse took Abigail and we went back to sleep for a few hours.

We awoke when breakfast was brought and proceeded to eat. Still no Abigail. We asked the nurse what was going on. The nurse said that the doctor in the NICU had given Abigail a suppository to try and stimulate a bowel movement. She said once we were ready, we could go down to the NICU and visit her. I bundled Kathleen into a wheelchair and we headed down to the 3rd floor of the hospital where the NICU was. After going through security and scrubbing in we were admitted to the NICU. My first look at my daughter just about tore my heart out. She was lying in an incubator under heat lights. She had an IV in her hand that was nearly as big as her whole hand. She had a tube down her throat. She had wires and monitors attached to her body in numerous places. This is a sight that no parent ever wants to see. After the joy of the birth and the previous day and night spent with our baby, it was doubly shocking to see her like this. The NICU doctor introduced himself to us and explained the situation. He said that Abigail had passed a "meconium plug." When she was born, she was backed up with meconium in her bowels that for whatever reason, she could not pass. Because of this, she could not nurse because there was no room for anything to pass beyond her stomach. This was the reason that she had kept spitting up bile during the night. Consequently, the doctor had intubated her to suck this bile out of her stomach. There was a collection jar attached to the hose that had pulled out about a half ounce of bile so far. The IV was to keep her hydrated since she could not eat with the tube down her throat. So, to this point what the doctor had said seemed to be good news that Abigail was getting better. What followed was like a punch in the gut to me. The doctor said that he needed to make us aware of something. Many times, children who are born with a meconium plug, like Abigail, are perfectly healthy, and for whatever reason, just have some trouble getting started. However, there were two other possibilities. The first was that there might be something structurally wrong with her digestive system that would have to be repaired surgically. To rule this out, the doctor wanted to do a barium study. This is a procedure where barium dye is injected through the rectum and then x-rays are taken of the lower intestinal tract and bowel. He said that he had a barium study scheduled for Abigail in about an hour. The second possibility was that Abigail might have cystic fibrosis. While not every child born with a meconium plug has cystic fibrosis, almost all children born with cystic fibrosis present a meconium plug at birth. To rule this out, he said we would have to take Abigail into OHSU in about a month for a "sweat test." This is a procedure where a small cloth patch is put on the baby’s arm and then heated up to make her sweat into it. Then they measure the amount of sodium present in the sweat. If the sodium level is too high it indicates cystic fibrosis is present. At this point the doctor could see the despair in my face and tried to reassure us by saying "The medical technology they have today is amazing and people with cystic fibrosis can, with proper treatment, live into their thirties, and in some cases even their forties." It was at this point that I lost it. I could not hold in my emotions or tears. Here is my daughter, this tiny little thing that I love more than I have ever loved anything in my life before. She is so small and innocent and beautiful and all I want to do is protect her and nurture her and give her all the opportunities in the world. And this doctor is telling me that she may not live past her thirties and I am completely powerless to do anything to protect her. It was the most sickening, heart wrenching, gut churning, take your breath away feeling that I have ever experienced. I hope none of you ever have to feel this. If you have been through an experience like this, my heart truly goes out to you. I would do anything for my daughter and I would gladly give up my own health, or life is necessary, if it could take this pain away from her.

I pulled myself together and we gave Abigail all the hugs and kisses we could before we had to leave so she could undergo her barium study. We went back up to our room on the 9th floor and made some calls to family. I spoke with my dad and he said he would drive down from Tacoma for the day. My aunt Naomi called and prayed with Kathleen and I individually on the phone. This was a great help to us and really helped me calm down and pull myself together.

At this point, Kathleen and I switched our thinking from the big picture to small hurdles. It was just too hard to think about all the bad possibilities. You could drive yourself mad like that. So instead, we stopped thinking about what was coming down the road and just focused on the next, immediate hurdle that Abigail needed to get past. The first hurdle was the barium study.

After about an hour the NICU doctor called to let us know the the barium study showed that everything in Abigail looked great structurally. No need for any surgery. This was obviously great news! First hurdle cleared. The doctor also apologized for upsetting us in the NICU. He told us that he was just making us aware of the possibilities and that he could understand how it would be upsetting, but just because they were possibilities did not mean that Abigail necessarily had any of the problems he had spelled out for us. By now it was early afternoon. Kathleen's parents and my mom were at the hospital again and my dad had arrived from Tacoma. My dad took me to the cafeteria for some lunch although I really couldn't each much. Afterwards, we went to the hospital chapel so I could say a few prayers for Abigail. Lo and behold, my mom and Kathleen's parents were already there doing the same thing. We all spent a few minutes in prayer and reflection before returning to the room.

Now that we knew that all of Abigail's internal organs were working properly, the next hurdle was for the doctor to okay removing her tube and letting her eat. We spent that evening visiting her and taking turns bringing the grandparents in to see her for brief visits. It was a long, sleepless evening for all of us.

Day 5. (Sunday, January 8th) The day starts with good news. The doctor in the NICU approves removing Abbie's tube and letting her eat normally. 2nd hurdle cleared! Kathleen and I immediately go down to see her and let Kathleen breastfeed Abigail. This will be our routine for the next 24 hours. Going back and forth to the NICU to feed and spend time with Abigail every 3 hours in a continuous circle from our room on the 9th floor. Throughout the day she keeps improving, eating a little more at each feeding, temperature stabilizing, having a steady stream of wet and dirty diapers. Our next hurdle becomes getting the IV removed from Abigail's little hand. Throuhgout the day, all of the various grandparents leave to go home (although they all wished they could stay longer) so by the evening it is just Kathleen and I making our continuous circuit to Abigail's incubator. We continue our routine throughout the night.

Day 6. (Monday, January 9th) Again, the day starts with good news. When Kathleen and I make our 6:00 am trip down to the NICU to feed Abbie we are pleased to find that not only has the doctor okayed removing her IV, she has been upgraded and sent to the level I area of the NICU which is where the most stable babies are kept. Two more hurdles cleared! After speaking to the doctor, it sounds as if Abigail will be allowed to come home with us soon! We are obviously overjoyed! We continue our circuit throughout the day until, in the afternoon, the discharge Abigail and let us go home!! What a wonderful feeling. After 6 long days, we are all coming home together.

So that is the second half of our time in the hospital. The week and a half since we have been home has been quite a journey as well. However, since this is already a lengthy post I will recap it ever so briefly. Abigail developed jaundice rather badly as soon as we came home. This necessitated us putting her on a "photo blanket" and getting daily blood draws to check her bilirubin levels for about 6 days. The UV light put off by the blanket helps the baby's body breakdown the bilirubin that causes jaundice. Abigail also developed thrush in her mouth on the second day home. This is basically a type of yeast infection in the mouth. Luckily, we caught it fast and got her on an oral antibiotic. I am happy to report that now, on day 13 of the Abigail era, she is jaundice free, off the photo blanket, her thrush is almost gone, she is eating, sleeping, and making diapers like a perfectly healthy young baby, and looks bigger and better every day.

The last hurdle we have is the sweat test. We will be taking Abigail into OHSU on February 6th for the test for cycstic fibrosis. I am trying not to think about it too much as it is something I have no control over. I am doing lots of praying and taking a "cross that bridge when we come to it" attitude. Obviously, I will let everyone know the results as soon as we do. For now, I will love and enjoy my daughter for the precious gift she is. Until next time, from all the Marquez's, best wishes and be well.

2006-01-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

Abigail's Birth pt. 1

Greetings all! There is so much to tell, where do I begin? Being that there is so much, I think I will tackle this in two entries, one for the lead up to the birth and one covering from the birth until now. I better start with where my last blog entry left off. When I last checked in, Kathleen was very pregnant and her feet were miserably swollen, but we still had no idea when the baby would come. That all changed very rapidly at Kathleen’s last OB appointment. We came in to meet with the doctor and after checking everything out with Kathleen, he said "So when are we going to get this baby out?" Well doc, that’s what we were hoping you could tell us. Dr. Overbeck then went on to discuss some options with us. What he was leaning towards (and what we ultimately decided on) was to check and make sure Abigail’s lungs were mature, and then to induce. He set us an appointment for the following Tuesday to check Abigail’s lung maturity and set an appointment for induction the following day, Wednesday, January 4th. This was surprising and exciting news for us as we went into the appointment fully expecting to have to go through another two or three weeks of pregnancy. So we scrambled to make some last minute arrangements and prepared for Abigail’s birth.

The next step was the amniocentesis. On Tuesday, January 3rd, we went into the hospital for this procedure. Basically, the doctor sticks a long, thin needle into the uterus and withdraws a small amount of amniotic fluid. Once a fetus’s lungs are mature, there is a specific hormone that will be present in the amniotic fluid. The amniocentesis checks for the presence of this hormone. The doctor wanted to make sure Abigail’s lungs were mature due to the fact that her induction was scheduled for the next day and she would only be 36 and 6/7ths weeks mature at that time. Technically, this is premature. While 40 weeks is the old standard for a full term pregnancy, the current standard in the medical community is that any baby born after 37 weeks is considered "full term." However, if the baby is born even one day prior to the 37 week date, they are considered premature and all sorts of additional protocols have to be followed to ensure the baby’s health. So, after this very uncomfortable procedure, Kathleen and I went home to sweat out the afternoon waiting to hear if everything was still a go for the induction. Finally, around 4 pm, the hospital called to say everything looked good and to come on in the following morning at 7:30 am for the induction. The birth was on!

Day 1. Wednesday morning started at about 6:00am as we got up to go to the hospital. My mom stayed at the house and waited for Aunt Jackie to show up and pick her and Taylor up. Kathleen and I got into the car with our bags and headed to St. Vincents. Upon arrival, we checked into the maternity ward and were brought back into our birthing suite. It was a very nice room that had a labor bed for Kathleen, a long couch for me to sleep on, an entertainment center, and a mini-fridge. The first two hours were spent doing mostly paperwork. By the time my mom and Jackie got to the hospital after dropping off Taylor to stay with his uncle Brian, it was 10:00 am and we were just starting the actual induction process. Kathleen and I went into this thinking that we would be holding Abigail in our arms before dinner time that night. Boy were we wrong! Word to the wise, births rarely go the way you expect or plan. Abigail has definitely shown me that. So, back to the action. The doctors gave Kathleen an induction pill that is placed onto the cervix. Things began to happen and some contractions started shortly afterwards. About an hour and a half after the pill was inserted, things took a scary turn. The fetal heart monitor took a couple of plummets and the doctors were very concerned and began to talk about the possibility of doing an emergency c-section. They kept a very close watch on Abbie’s vitals for a couple of hours to ensure that she was stable before they began to look again at pursuing the induction once more. Because of the scare, the doctors decided to switch to a milder induction drug. They gave Kathleen an intra-vaginal mesh that time releases progesterone gel onto the cervix. The positive to this mesh was that it was much milder, and therefore safer to Abigail. The downside is that it takes 12 hours to be effective. So, we waited and waited and waited through the afternoon and the night.

Thursday. Day 2. We arise from our broken, listless sleep to greet another day and another vaginal exam by the doctor. Status? Unchanged. At this point, we ask the doctor about trying the stronger pill again. Because 24 hours of solid, stable fetal readings have now passed, the doctor deems it safe and we try the pill again. The pill takes a few hours to run its full course. The doctor comes in again and checks Kathleen’s cervix. 3 centimeters! We have movement folks! This is a very positive sign. The doctor now decides it is time to up the ante, so early in the afternoon they hook up Kathleen to a pitocin drip and really get the contractions going. The waiting game continues through the afternoon and into the evening. By 8:00 pm there has still been no change so we send the visitors home for the evening and settle in for what we think will be another long, slow night of very slow cervical progress.

Around 10:00 pm Kathleen got her epidural. It took three tries to get it in correctly but it was a relief to Kathleen when it was finally in place. Well, somewhat of a relief. The epidural was only partially effective. Even during the delivery there was still a part of Kathleen’s lower body that had sensation in it. Despite that though, it did ease Kathleen’s pain considerably. Enough so that I thought both of us would be able to get some rest that night before the active labor that I anticipated to be coming sometime late the next morning. Wrong again. I laid down on my couch and tried to catch some sleep between each of the doctors or nurses coming in to check on Kathleen periodically.

Day 3. I have been drifting in and out of sleep for the past several hours. At around 5:00 am I awake at the end of another doctor's exam of Kathleen. In my groggy, half awake state I think I hear the doctor say that Kathleen is at six centimeters. I think to myself, well, I guess I better get up and start calling people and letting them know that Kathleen will be going into active labor in the next few hours. I was in for yet another surprise. I bent over Kathleen’s bed and said "Did I hear the doctor correctly that you are at six?" Gritting her teeth between contractions and squeezing my hand she panted "No, I’m at eight." "Eight?" I stammered. This was immediately followed by Kathleen trying to squish my hand flat as she frantically screamed that it felt like the baby’s head was coming out and to get the nurse. I turned to run out into the hall and flag down a nurse but there was no way my wife was letting me leave that bedside now. So I hit the emergency call button on her bed. A nurse came in, took one look under the sheet at Kathleen, and went running out into the hall. It was only a moment before two doctors and three nurses came running into the room, wheeling in trays, donning gowns and gloves, cranking up all the lights, and throwing Kathleen’s legs into the stirrups. Kathleen was screaming that she needed to push. The doctor was telling her to hold on so she could get her gloves on. That is how fast this was all going down. As soon as the doctor got her gloves on she told Kathleen to go ahead and push. Kathleen literally pushed three times (this is no exaggeration) and Abigail was out and on her chest. Abigail Margaret Marquez was born on January 6th, 2006 at 5:32 am. It was the strangest, happiest, and most surreal moment of my life. I cut Abigail’s umbilical cord and they cleaned her off. She weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces and was 18-3/4 inches long. Her personality was evident from the minute she was born. She is such a sweet, calm baby. She laid on Kathleen’s chest with hardly a cry and just looked at us with her little eyes as if to say "I know you. You’re my mom and dad." She was healthy and beautiful and perfect.

Shortly afterwards, Kathleen’s parents, my mom, Tara, and Taylor arrived at the hospital. Taylor had the biggest grin on his face when he saw his little sister and he said "I just can't stop smiling!" It was very sweet. Abigail got her first bath and was bundled up so we could all cradle her and enjoy her. So that takes us through Abigail’s birth. My next post will take us from her birth to the present. Until then, be well.

Christmas 2005

2005-12-26T18:26:00.000-08:00

First off, I would like to say to all of our freinds and family "Merry Christmas!" I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. For us it was a rather low key affair. With Kathleen being so close to her due date we were forced to stay here in Portland for the holidays. We drove over to the Corbett's house (Taylor's cousins) in Gresham and spent Christmas Eve with them. It was very nice to have some fellowship and games with friends during the holiday weekend. After playing some board games and having a very nice dinner, we drove around their neighborhood and looked at Christmas lights. By the time we got home, it was getting pretty close to "Santa time." Taylor put out milk and cookies for Santa and wrote him this cute little note. Taylor was very excited to come down Christmas morning and find that Santa had drunk all the milk and eaten almost all of the cookies! We would have liked to go to midnight mass, but Kathleen is doing a lot of sleeping these days because of the baby, and it is nigh impossible for her to make it past 10:00 pm.

We tried to have a very modest Christmas with the baby coming so soon, but despite our best efforts, Taylor was still loaded with gifts! He got so many cool gifts that he is still working on trying each of them out the day after Christmas! He has been spending about 2 hours of dedicated time with each toy before he moves on to the next one for a while. Kathleen and I got a few nice gifts each, which was nice. A common theme to my gifts was "get writing buddy!" I got three different books about writing along with a kit of writing exercises and imagination starters. I think people might be trying to tell me something. I think my personal favorite, however, was the mug that Taylor made for me. It is very nice as you can see.

We spent today tying up some loose ends in preparation for the baby's arrival. We drove down to Babies R' Us and purchased our travel system. After much struggling and fighting I managed to get the car seat base securely installed into the car. I also practiced getting the baby into and out of the carseat (using a teddy bear as Abigail's stand-in) so that I wont have to struggle with it for the first time when we leave the hospital. After that Kathleen and I both packed our bags for the hospital and got them loaded in the trunk. So, as of right now, we are ready to go. All we have to do is throw on some clothes, grab a few things off the counter on our way out, and we can be on our way to the hospital. We also packed Taylor an overnight bag that is standing at the ready by our front door in case he needs to spend the night at the Corbett's or with his Auntie Tara, depending on how this whole thing goes down. I also did a timed run to the hospital today, just so I can have a frame of reference. It is really beginning to hit me that there will be a tiny baby in our lives very, very soon!

Kathleen has both an NST and an appointment with our regular O.B. on Thursday. She will be 36 weeks at that point and this will be the appointment where she gets her strep B screening. We should have some more information after the appointment as we are planning on discussing things with Dr. Overbeck at the appointment. Specifically, if he is thinking of inducement for the pregnancy, and if so, when. It may be a moot point if Kathleen goes into labor before whatever date they may set for inducement, however, which is why we packed for the hospital today. Oh yes, did I mention that she had her first real contraction today? I'm not talking about Braxton-Hicks (which she has been having for about 2 months now) but a real, actual, "my uterus is contracting like a balled fist" contraction. My gut is still telling me somewhere around January 8th to 15th is when we are going to be going to the hospital. I could be wrong, but my gut also told me that the baby was going to be a girl from day one, even when Kathleen and Taylor were convinved it was a boy. So we'll see what the doc says on Thursday and keep you all posted.
Well, it's time to read some new Dr. Seuss books to the children (thanks for the Barnes & Noble gift card Jen!) before we put Taylor to bed. Until next time, be well.

Sunday night

2005-12-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

Well, hello again all. It's Sunday night and the weather here in Portland is horrible. The wind has been howling all weekend and it's been snowing off and on all day. More on that later.

Friday night Kathleen and I rented a new documentary about Wal-mart. Wow! It was very thought provoking. I have never been a fan of Wal-mart, but after watching this movie I think it is safe to say that no one in our household will ever shop there again. The way in which Wal-mart is destroying the lives of people not only in this country, but around the world is just disgusting. I would recommend you all watch this film. We rented it at Hollywood video so you should be able to find copies available for rent without too much trouble.

Yesterday was annual inventory for my work so I had to get up at 5:00 am and drive into work (in very windy conditions) and get started counting every nut, bolt, washer, and widget we inventory. It was very cold but we made good time this year and were finished by around noon. After coming home and taking a short nap and getting showered up, we all headed out for Kathleen's work Christmas party. It was a nice little gathering and we enjoyed some nice food and conversation. With Kathleen being as miserably pregnant as she is right now, that is about all we can ask for from an evening these days.

Did I mention it has been cold and windy this weekend? Well, the wind knocked out the power to our house last night not too long after we went to bed. Luckily our natural gas still worked so I cranked up our fireplace to keep it warm in the house. The power was restored by this morning, but as we looked out our windows we realized why the power had gone out. The wind was whipping trees around, the streets were littered with tree limbs, and it was COLD!

So, with the weather being cruddy, we decided to take Taylor to see The Chronicles of Narnia. We all really enjoyed it and as Taylor informed me as we exited the theatre, it was the "greatest movie ever." I dont know if I would go that far, but it is a good film.

As we exited the theatre we were a little disconcerted to see it was snowing. For those of you who dont know, Portland does not normally get much, if any, snow, and when we do, it is generally a problem. We curtailed our afternoon plans and immediatley went home. The roads have gotten progressively worse and the storm of ice, sleet, and snow is supposed to continue through the night and into tomorrow. There are currently 9,500 people without power in the metro area (thankfully not us at the moment) and several stretches of I-5 have been shut and re-opened due to the ice and the multiple car accidents. Kathleen had an NST tomorrow but we will be resceduling it in light of the horrible road conditions. Right now I am playing a little bit of "wait and see" about the road conditions because if they deteriorate much more, it might mean I dont go to work tomorrow. We'll see what happens overnight.

Mom was asking to see how big Kathleen's belly is getting so I took a photo of her belly this afternoon. She is getting so big and miserable, it is hard to imagine her going another 4 weeks. Again, we'll see what happens. Well, thats all for now. From all of us, take care and be well.

Introduction

2005-12-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

Hello all! After my dad set up his blog it really got me thinking about the idea of a blog for my family. For those of you who know me (and I assume if you are reading this blog you probably do) you know I am not very good at keeping in touch, whether by phone, email, or snail mail. It has never been my strong suit, and is, quite frankly, something I am horribly negligent about. With the impending arrival of baby Abigail, I am sure that I am going to have even more demands on my time, while conversely, there will be even more demands from friends and family to know the latest news and photos from our growing family. So, after giving the idea planted in my head by my dad some thought, I came to the conclusion that this blog could be a very good solution to my situation. In this blog, I can post photos and stories of the latest exploits and adventures of Kathleen, Taylor, and I (and soon little Abigail) and all our friends and family can have access to it at any time. Once little Abby arrives I will make a concerted effort to post frequent photos of the baby and make entries about our lives.

On that note, Kathleen had another OB appointment today. Things are looking good and little Abigail looks healthy and well developed. Kathleen had to undergo an NST (non stress test) after her exam. For those of you who dont know, an NST is basically where the mom lays down on a table for 20-30 minutes while a nurse monitors the babys heart rate and movement. They look to see 3 episodes of elevated movement and heart rate in that time. Basically, they are checking to see that the baby is active but not under too much stress. Unfortunately, Abigail was napping when Kathleen did her NST today so after about 15 minutes the nurse had to put "the buzzer" to Kathleen's belly. "The buzzer" is basically a microphone that makes a loud buzzing sound and acts as a baby alarm clock, waking them up and spurning them to move around. Let me tell you, Abigail did NOT like that! She was moving all over and her heart rate stayed elevated for quite some time afterwards. Anyway, things looked good and Abigail and Kathleen are both doing fine. Kathleen will have NST every week from here on out and will be going from bi-monthly to weekly OB appointments in a few weeks. We'll keep you posted as things develop.

Taylor is doing great in school and is starting to really become quite a reader and artist! His reading skills are really coming along and his drawings are beginning to progress beyond stick figures to actual recognizable forms. We are thinking about taking him to see Chronicles of Narnia this weekend. I think he will really enjoy it. A few months back, Kindercare corporate had some photographers at Taylor's school (he goes to kindergarten at Kindercare) taking some photos of kids for their holiday gift book. It is a holiday recipe book that they give out to parents who have their children enrolled at Kindercare. They did this at various Kindercare centers across the nation this past year looking for cute photos of kids cooking to put in this gift book. Keep in mind that this photo search went on in their centers in 40 different states and the gift book is being distributed to every one of their hundreds of centers nationwide. Well imagine our extreme delight when the gift books arrived today and we saw that not only did a photo of Taylor wind up in the book, he actually shows up twice! In fact, he is the only child who shows up in the book more than once!! We will try and get some extra copies to send to everyone. I scanned the two pictures onto this post so you can all see. Enjoy!

Well, that's all for now. For Kathleen, Taylor and myself, take care and be well.