I had posted Chelsea's pics the other day but didn't update the photo pages. Check under "baby" or "visuals" to check them out. I'm also working on getting video up soon but not tonight, it's frickin 3am and I should be in bed. I don't have a single good reason to be up this late. Especially since I'm going to weight watchers tomorrow after a 3 week hiatus of sorts.

A friend of mine today mentioned that I hadn't updated the homepage of my site since March. I guess I feel a little guilty about that so here I am. Not to much has been going on with me or this site. I've been falling off the weight watchers wagon horribly and as we speak I'm thinking of whether or not I'll be going tomorrow. I know I should but I don't know.

Work has been stressful but not to the point where it's not somewhat enjoyable. I love the people I work with and what I do, but it's been really stressful. It doesn't help matters much when I've got the most beautiful baby at home all day with my hubby. I truly wish I could stay home but it's just impossible for us. I miss them both horribly during the day and it sometimes depresses me.

My heart is doing well. The last echo I got in May had an EF of 50% and only mild enlargement. My valve is still leaky but they'll deal with it when they deal with it. I know what would REALLY help my heart would be to lose the 20bs I gained AFTER I had the baby, and the 20lbs I gained during the pregnancy, and the 20lbs I gained before I got pregnant. I'm really in a hole. My relationship with food sucks!

My life would not be complete without another ailment. I have surgery scheduled for November to remove a salivary gland. For those of you who have known me a long time IRL you might say "Bout effin time" but it wasn't giving me a problem for over 10 years until it flared up and got acutely infected this past July. It's got an 8mm stone in it so it's got to come out. Lets just hope my surgeon doesn't hit any nerves and mess up my face any more than it is! Last thing I need is a numb bottom lip. I'll be drooling all over the place. Real attractive. At least I've already nabbed myself a husband. ;)

On to the princess. I'm sure anyone that's been to this site or comes here on a regular basis, (You know who you 3 are) you're here to see pics of Chelsea, not hear me blather on about myself. I'm sure you've seen that she's absolutely HUGE now. As of August 15th, she's 19lbs 4oz and 28" long. Just recently she got her first 2 teeth, claps her hands (and claps Mommy's hand), began crawling, then sitting from a crawling position, and now she stands by pulling herself up from either a crawling or sitting position. Needless to say I've been baby proofing and letting her have the run of the house. Phoebe, the cat is in a panic. She can't get away from this handy little diaperbutt scooting about the house. She also babbles all sorts of stuff and has gotten a new nickname. She is Chelbacca. Once I upload the video, you'll hear why. =)

Basically, we 're all doing great, with the exception of my gland and my weight. Check my LJ for almost daily updates, blurbs or bs. Check Chelsea's pics under "baby" or "visuals" every month. August and September will be up shortly. I promise!

Well I've updated Chelsea's menu buttons and moved her pics menu to another page. I've also finally uploaded the page with the link to February's pics. I had edited but forgot to upload it. I'm completely fried and sleep deprived. =/

Chelsea had a doctor's appointment last Thusday for her monthly checkup and first shot. She's up over 4lbs since her birthweight of 6lbs, 10oz. She now weighs 10lbs, 11oz. She's also grown almost 2" and is now at 21 1/4". She's still fighting her bout with thrush but it doesn't seem to bother her as much as taking the medicine does. The doctor says it should clear up within a few weeks.

Chelsea turned a month on 2/27/05. She has been growing in leaps and bounds. She's gained over 3lbs since she was born and grown almost 2 inches in length. She's eating like a champ every 3 hours or so. She's a good baby who only fusses when she's hungry, tired or getting her diaper changed. She's starting to smile now and enjoys being played with and looking at her parents' faces and she LOVES to EAT.

I'm working on reorganizing the pregancy pages to make them Chelsea related pages now. It's going to take some time to do but it is in the works. As for now, my baby updates will be here and photo links can be found by clicking "baby" and "visuals".

Chelsea's new pictures are all for the month of February. I am going to try and update with a new album every month.

My health has been getting a little better despite me eating like a total pig. I had an echo done the end of February that showed my ejection fraction up to 38%. (it's up from my initial echo at diagnosis that showed an EF of 15%, normal is 55%-75%) My heart is still moderately enlarged but at least my function is improving with medicine and just the pregnancy strain being off my body. I rejoined weight watchers, lost 5lbs the first week, gained 1.4lbs back the 2nd. The 3rd week, we couldn't make the meeting and this week I know is going to be horrific. Wish me luck.

Chelsea was born on 1/27/2005 at 2:58pm. She weighed in at 6lbs, 10oz and was 19.5" long. I was scheduled to go in the day before but got bumped because they wanted me in the main operating room and the multiple doctors involved needed to meet to get a game plan together. I only had to be monitored in CCU for one night and was off to a regular postpartum room for the next 3 days. They did give me a private room because of my high risk status which was great! Randy was able to get a cot and stay with me while I was in the hospital. All and all, my c-section and my stay at the hospital were positive experiences. The doctors were great, the nurses great. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

We have a ton of pics from the hospital, and Chelsea's birth story uploaded. You can check them out by clicking the button marked "baby". The photos are up but the pages are still under construction so some might look different than the others, but the pics from the hospital are at least up for your viewing pleasure.

Randy and I have been adjusting to parenthood this week and I would say aside from sleep depravation, we're doing pretty well. Chelsea is a complete joy and absolutely beautiful. It's amazing how one can fall in love in a matter of seconds.

Well not much has changed other than that I'm getting HUGE. Baby Chelsea is weighing about 5lbs 7oz now and she's in perfect health. Nothing, as far as I know has changed with my condition really. I've been going to a perinatalogist every week as now I'm seeing my OB as well every week. She's starting internals on Saturday. (WHAT FUN). Yesterday, the perinatalogist sent me to LIJ for extended monitoring because they saw the baby's heart rate drop. The hospital monitoring went well and I was sent home. My OB thinks she's probably going to induce me in about 2-3 weeks. =)

As far as my cardiac issue, they know it's cardiomyopathy, but now they're not sure if it's peripartum cardiomyopathy. I think it is but I did start having symptoms at around the beginning of November, end of October. That would put me at around 25-26 weeks. That's a bit early for PPCM to rear it's ugly head. It's possible I've had cardiomyopathy but had been asymptomatic until the pregnancy added the strain to my heart. I go to a colleague of my cardiologist that is affiliated with Long Island Jewish on Thursday the 20th. He happens to be a heart failure specialist. I'm hoping this guy knows more than my cardiologist. He gave me paperwork to bring with me to the other doc when I go on Thursday. He says that the chances of anything happening after labor are low. I'm thinking because my response to medication has been good. My blood pressure has been fine, my pulse is usually under 100bpm and I've managed to keep fluid out of my lungs. I'm sure everything is going to be fine as I'm going into this labor with a diagnosis and they're already anticipating what might happen. I'm not going in there blind and neither are any of the doctors.

On a MUCH lighter note, we were thrown a shower by our great family and friends. It was really wonderful. We got alot of items we needed and ALOT of clothes for our baby girl. We had such a great time, it was truly perfect.

We also (well, Randy really) have almost finished the nursery. We still need to get a mattress for the crib and the shelves and her name have to be put up, but from what I understand, both are getting done tomorrow. =) You can check for updated pics by clicking the "baby" button and going to the nursery pics. Randy did a really beautiful job.

I'm still home from work, and the weeks are starting to fly by. I've got a little over a month till my due date. I'm so anxious to meet her and see the little fists and feet behind all the pokes and kicks going on. It's amazing how much you can love someone you haven't even met yet.

Well, it's been a rough few weeks. The weekend before Thanksgiving I was admitted into the hospital. I had gone there because I fell and wanted to make sure the baby was ok. The baby's fine, but mommy is not so fine. I was diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy as well as hypertension. Basically, the left ventricle of my heart is enlarged and my heart is weakened due to the extra blood volume, extra weight and the strain of the pregnancy on my body. This has also caused my aortic valve to leak or regurgitate. Apparently my valve is deformed and missing a leaflet and I've known nothing about it for 31 years. The doctors have put me on heart medication, blood pressure medication and a water pill to regulate everything. The cardiologist is anticipating that my heart will recover in the months after I give birth but did tell me that I would be monitored right after her birth because the strain on my heart with the shifiting of fluids will be worse before it gets better. As long as my princess is healthy, that's all that really matters to me right now. She's the most important as far as I'm concerned.

The doctors have taken me out of work until after the baby is born. I suppose it's for the best but I am getting a wee bit restless and I feel awful (and broke) being out of work.

On a lighter note though, we did get the nursery done. (well Randy did with some help from Jimmy, his friend Nicole and Frank, our landlord.) It's all painted, the rug is clean, the wallpaper border is up and most of the furniture is in. It looks beautiful and I'm hoping tonight I will get some pictures up of it. They really did a fantastic job. The colors were matched to the valance of the bedding set we're using so it's absolutely perfect.

Well, off for now. Check out the new sonogram pic and pics of the nursery by clicking on the "baby" button if you're interested. If you want more specifics on my pregnancy and my torrid day to day life of bed rest, check out my live journal. Thrills, spills and chills, I promise. ;)

10/24/2004 - We're having a GIRL!!

We're having a baby!! Check out my LiveJournal for more on my pregnancy and sonogram pics!

I've updated my weight watchers menu to include a "family" button. So far the only family member's progress being recorded here is my mom's. She's doing GREAT on Weight Watchers. She's down over 50lbs! Check her out!

Well, aside from having the weight watchers week from HELL, there was the Blackout of 2003 this week. On Thursday, August 14th, 2003, the lights went out around 4:15pm. We didn't get our power back till about 8:30am today. To top it off, August 14th was also my 30th birthday. What a way to go! If you want particulars on our ordeal and my birthday celebration, check out my live journal.

OK!! The pictures of Phoebe and Hazel for March are up so please take a looksee. I also posted another video. It's in .mov format but will play in quicktime and realplayer. It was from December and was done with my still digital cam. Find'em all at the visuals button. I Still have to get the blizzard pics up, maybe by summer!

My fellow WW'ers. I've posted my progress pic for April. I think I'm finally seeing a bit of a difference...lol...bout damn time! Thanks for all your support and motivational websites some of you have. You guys keep me inspired!

OK...so I stink! I still haven't gotten up a movie or a stinking blizzard pic. I'll get there...I did however, fix my site so that it's got frames instead of templates. (thank GOD). Every time I had to update the menu, I had to reload the template onto every page. Not any more! Glad that's over! Also notice my sleek new buttons...man do I rock.

I've also gotten some good pics of the kittys that will be up shortly, as will a film, I finally got some good footage of the cats so once I get it edited I'll slap that on up here. The blizzard pics will be up this summer. It will be winter somewhere in the world. ;) Nah, perhaps this weekend. I'm gettin to it.

For my weight watchers update, goto the weight watchers page. Find the nice shiny new button over to the left.

Ok, I haven't gotten the blizzard pics up yet nor have I gotten up a video...I stink! I did however get my webcam up and running again, why I don't know...lol..and February's pics are up. Also started taking March's. I got one reallllly good one that might not make it till March! I want to slap it up here today!

I went through my video yesterday, even taped some new footage of the kitties, I don't know, I'm just not satisfied. I'm going to look again today when I have some time to see if theres anything I can use. As far as the blizzard pics, they will definately be up today!

You may also notice some new stuff along the border over there. Randy and I have joined the Revlon Run/Walk for Women's Cancers. If you would like to sponsor either one of us or you would like to find out more about the event, click the links.

I'm also thinking of doing something else with this site. At first I thought that using templates would be better, because you can just slap the template onto the page and boom....lately I'm finding that this isn't good for me. When you have to apply templates to pages, you have to do them one at a time. I may start working with frames instead. We shall see when I actually get to that. Toodles for now...

I have been neglecting to post my changes I've been making. I've been mostly working on my weight watchers portion of this site as I've been making some real progress! I've lost 24lbs since starting 1/30/03! I still have a ways to go but at least I've got the ball rolling.

Some new cat pictures are up finally! These are for February. Also I'll be getting up a video of them tonight as well. There are also a few pics of the blizzard we just had in February. You can find all the new stuff, under "visuals".

Cat news...my kitten Phoebe was spayed on 3/7/03. Very very traumatic for all of us. They said she had trouble coming out of the anesthesia. When I got her home I swear I thought she was going to die. She was just laying there, no mewing, not eating, wearing that horrible lampshade thing. It was awful When she did get up it was to attempt to back out of the lampshade. So I had an injured cat trying to run around a room backwards. To top things off, when she did finally start feeling better, and we were able to take the lampshade off her neck for a bit, my other cat, Hazel treated Phoebe like she didn't even know her. She was hissing and growling at Phoebe. The poor thing didn't feel well to begin with and now she's getting shunned by her amnesiac sister. A week later now, and things are finally back to normal. (with the exception of Phoebe's shaved belly.)

Added a new button, in case you hadn't noticed. Not too sure about making a public announcement about it because I don't know how successful I will be but I joined Weight Watchers last week. For those of you interested in the journey I've just begun, click there and take a look.

Also, for my fellow cat lovers, I have some film I just need to go through. I should have a new video up by next week. I will keep you posted!

Been real busy with the camera but hadn't had a chance to post many pics, until NOW. December's pics of Phoebe and Hazel are finally up. Got some really cute shots of them sleeping with my Hubby. They're getting so big so fast. It seems like only yesterday that Phoebe was a 4 week old 1 lb fuzzball hopping around the house chasing after Hazel who at that time was 12 weeks or so. Now, at 5 lbs, she is a formidable opponent and playmate as she wrestles Hazel who is now only maybe a 1/3 bigger than she is. You can find their albums by clicking on "visuals" on the navagation bar. Hopefully I'll have January's up before March!

In other photo postings, my Christmas 2002 are finally up (like anyone cares about Christmas now). I was trigger happy with the cam because it was the first real white christmas we've had in awhile. These pictures can also be found under "visuals"

And lastly, took down my cat movie. The thing was 12MB, I'd be shocked if anyone even checked out. For now, until I get my bearings with digital video, there will be no movies, but stay tuned!