Lucas' First Month

Welcome baby Lucas!

More photos of Lucas Vincent Maurizio!!!(and birth story) We welcomed a beautiful baby boy to the world on Nov 5 around 4 PM, 6 lbs 10 oz. We're still contemplating the name but it will probably be Lucas Maurizio! We went to Duke University Hospital around 2 AM and were shocked to discover I was already dilated 7 cm, so we thought we would welcome our baby sometime in the morning. My contractions stalled at 8 cm and I decided to finally take meds around 7 AM. Paul and I got some well-deserved rest (Paul was a terrific support person and husband) and by noon we thought I would only have to push for a couple of hours and baby would be out! For whatever reason, baby would not come out after 4 hours of pushing (I thought maybe it was his big head). Once our doctor offered to vacuum him out after 4 hours, I accepted immediately and within 10 minutes or less baby was born!!! It was good we got him out quickly; his heart rate was increasing and when he was pulled out the cord was around his neck. Our doctor was awesome and cut the cord quickly. Paul was emotional. I was exhausted. Imagine pushing someone out while someone else pulling with a plumber/vacuum-like instrument!!! Truly an unforgettable experience for us all. Baby Maurizio is healthy, eating well, pooping, and sleeping well. Paul is doing wonderfully as a new parent and we're so blessed that our baby is finally here and doing well!

Baby Shower with ICS

I started working as a staff assistant at the International Comparative Studies program at Duke in October 2012. Our faculty and staff hosted a terrific baby shower with a monkey and zoo theme! So grateful for their generosity and friendship.

Baby is doing well!

Today I had another check-up and the baby's heart rate was 140 and my weight gain is on track! Only a few more weeks until we meet our little one! Over the weekend, I was feeling pretty anxious and 'cried' to Paul to that I was overwhelmed. The next day, I picked up my 'Natural Hospital Birth' book and read that crying was totally normal a few weeks before the due date AND during labor. Paul said it was fine just as long as I didn't cry for the whole 12 or more hours of labor. The author suggests that crying is sometimes more helpful in accelerating labor than any type of medicine. If this is the case, I'm all for it!!!

34 weeks!

More marigolds and photos at 34 weeks pregnant!

Olivia Grace Southerland!

Our friends, Cindy and Kevin, had their firstborn baby girl last Saturday. Pics are of one-week old Olivia Grace! SOOOOO CUTE!

30th Birthday Photo

Posting this even though it passed. Paul and I celebrated my 30th birthday on August 2 with my parents and brother in NJ.

33 weeks- Community Garden and Gifts

Over the past few months, Paul spent his evenings tending to our plot in the community garden. The marigolds bloomed! We make salad with the basil from the garden, and we're hoping to get a few tomatoes. Last week I was also having a rough time because of lack of sleep, but I picked up two packages in the mail from friends and they totally transformed my mood for the day. I love having friends who travel internationally! A good friend and amazing artist, Katherine, sent a rattle doll from France while my childhood and best friend, Carolyn, sent a locally made jacket from Ecuador!

Some 32 weeks photos!

My husband took some photos of me at 32 week. I finished making a crib mobile for our little one.

Two week visits

I started my 30th week of pregnancy this Sunday and visited the doctor's office yesterday and will continue to visit every two weeks. The baby's heart rate was around 140 and our nurse was able to tell me the position of the baby- head down, back in the center by my belly button, and legs at the top! I also had lost some weight and she warned me not to go overboard with watching my weight. In other words, I have nothing to worry about re: gestational diabetes. The idea of having the slightest risk of developing it made me cut out so much carb and sugar from my diet. Fortunately I can go back to eating regularly. My husband is taking a trip to NJ to bring all the baby shower gifts back to NC. We're almost done purging the apartment and will continue working on the nursery until baby arrives!

Aug 27- Our 2-year Anniversary!

Another reason to keep my blog title as '27' is because my husband and I got married on August 27, 2011 during hurricane Irene in NJ. On 8/27 of this year, I took my glucose screening test but didn't have the results, and so proceeded to indulge in a chocolate chess cake for dessert. My husband and I had a simple anniversary dinner and I cherished every moment. I appreciate how we can enjoy each other's company and exchange simple gifts. I gave my husband two books and he gifted me with a glass necklace and earrings (okaaaay, I admit, he did buy me a piano and reading chair earlier this summer). I am happy to report that I DO NOT have gestational diabetes, but understand that my numbers are close to the threshold and therefore am sticking to whole grains and limited quantities of sweets. My mother lit a candle and prayed for me every day so that I wouldn't have gestational diabetes. I have much to be thankful for.

We finally took a pic with the top layer of our wedding cake, which survived hurricane Irene and Sandy!

I was "sugar and spice and everything nice" until...

...I received my first glucose screening test results on Wednesday, which showed that I was "abnormal" and had an elevated glucose level. Goodbye waffles, potatoes, milkshakes, and cravings. Today I took a three-hour glucose tolerance test, which is a test administered to determine if you have type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes. After reading several articles, I learned that I have a predisposition for gestational diabetes because my family members had type 2 diabetes and I'm Asian. I will find out the test results sometime next week. It's frustrating to receive this news since I had only gained three pounds, or one pound per week, in the last three weeks, and I have continued to exercise regularly. Somewhere online I read that if I have gestational diabetes, I have a 50% chance of developing type 2 diabetes later on...just great. I should just be really thinking about baby's health, I know. If you're a thin, fit person (except for being pregnant now) like me and wondering why you might be pre-diabetic, you can click on this article. To send you off in a better mood, just imagine Mary Lagdameo carrying a 13-lb baby and click on this article

28 weeks!

We did it, baby and I are into our 3rd trimester! Yesterday after Mass, Paul and I ate at the Ye Old Waffle Shop in Chapel Hill. After a day of yoga and detox, I was hungry for some carbohydrates! I had a lazy Sunday and spent my time selecting photos from our baby shower and weekend trips to print before baby arrives. I hope I can keep up with printing photos since I know that these keepsakes will last a lifetime. My best bud, Julianna, who spent her summer in Mongolia, called in the evening to catch up. The pic of her & me was taken in an apple orchard in MN, 2012.

Yoga mama

Today is around the 6th year anniversary of the opening of Franklin Street Yoga. Lori, the owner, taught 14 of the 20 classes when she opened the studio; she now teaches 6 of 30+ classes, such an inspiration to start your own business and become successful! After my class this morning, she offered fresh fruit and cupcakes to her students! Hope baby didn't get too tied up in there, or should I say 'tired out'?

Don't drink the water...

if you live in Baity Hill and do not want to have kids. Last night, Paul and I volunteered in a "Playing Out" event in our university housing neighborhood, Baity Hill. Paul donned a bright orange vest and assisted with re-routing traffic away from the designated play area, while I handed out bags of popcorn to babies, kids and adults (who doesn't love freshly popped popcorn?). While chatting with another volunteer, he mentioned that if you lived at Baity Hill and were thinking about having kids, you'd have them-- it's "in the water." I couldn't believe the sheer number of babies and kids at the event and introduced myself to a few parents, who were all excited for our pregnancy. From bubbles to balls to bicycles, our little one will have plenty of activities and kids to play with at Baity Hill!

Typing is easier than handwriting

My husband mentioned a few months ago that students can barely write in cursive anymore. I tried to handwrite my experiences as a first-time pregnant women in a journal he gave me, but I no longer have the hand strength to continue. At least I have a few pages of reflections in cursive that I can look back on after baby is born. While coming to the end of my second trimester, I feel the little that baby and I have accomplished is worth documenting. Since we learned about our pregnancy in early March, our picture of our little one has gone from a Sourpatch kid/Pac-man kid to a third of his final size, about 2 lbs. If baby M. were a Pac-man, he'd finish the whole board and more. Between waking up in the middle of the night hungry and feeling unsatiated every three or four hours, we've eaten through boxes of crackers, bushels of fruit, and tons of other fibrous materials. To keep myself from deteriorating and instead strive for a Duchess of Cambridge-like appearance, I've continued to walk and practice yoga, and I even threw in a few stair repeats and a Vinyasa class to keep things fresh. Truthfully, though, this has been a trying time for me. Many have been fortunate and haven't had nausea and vomiting or tailbone pain, but these are some of the not-so-pretty symptoms that I had in the 1st and 2nd trimesters. I find myself out of breath after a 30 minute walk. I can't sleep through the whole night without having to get up and pee. And, sometimes I just worry, will baby be ok??? (Should I change the title of my blog? I searched bizarre numerology websites to find any special meaning behind '27' then realized, I am 27 weeks pregnant!!! I guess I'll keep it '27'!)