#164 - Fun with Abuela Isa

Owen has been in heaven since Abuela Isa has been here. They play hard together all day long. Since she's gotten here, Owen has learned to count to ten in Spanish, he's getting close to being potty trained, and he's sleeping in his big brother bed some nights. And, our house has never been cleaner. Bed rest does have some advantages. ;-)

Here are a few videos from this week - Owen and Abuela blowing bubbles. Enjoy!

#163 - Update on Pregnancy

Well, some of you know the difficulties we've had recently, but I thought post the details since you have been so sweet and caring and worried about us.

Two Sundays ago (March 27), I woke up with a lot of contractions. I had been having contractions pretty often this pregnancy, and my doctor was well aware of them and had me tracking them. Well, that morning, they started coming every 2-5 minutes. I had 22 in one hour! So, I called the doctor and she said to go right into Labor & Delivery. Fortunately, our good friends the Herndons were able to be here in five minutes to watch Owen, and Lou and I headed to the hospital. Once there, they hooked me up to the monitors, and gave me an injection of Turbuteline to try to stop then. Over the next hour, I was still having them, so I got two more injections. Still not helping. So, I got admitted and hooked up to a magnesium sulfate drip. No fun at all, as it makes you nauseated, dizzy and flushed. But, it helped slow them to about every 5-10 minutes. I also started receiving some injections of steriods which are used to help the baby's lungs develop faster in the event I have an early delivery. Those hurt like hell.

I ended up being in the hospital for four days while they got the contractions under control. The good news is that the contractions were not causing me to go into labor. I was sent home from the hospital that Wednesday on strict bedrest and on a medication called Procardia, which helps slow down contractions.

We were so blessed to have the help and support of our friends and family when this happened. Maggie watched Owen for us on Sunday, and then he went over to Rebecca's house Sunday afternoon and stayed there for two days. My mom came in town on Monday and stayed with us until Wednesday. She was a godsend - taking care of Owen, cooking and cleaning and basically handling everything for us while Lou stayed with me in the hospital. Last Friday, Lou's mom, Isabel, flew down to Savannah and will stay with us for the month of April. Our good friend, Wendy picked her up from the airport for us. It's been wonderful having her here.

This past week has been up and down. I had a great check up at the doctor on Tuesday. Things seemed to be going well, and I was feeling great. Then, on Thursday, totally unexpectedly, I starting bleeding. Within five minutes, Isabel had me in the car on the way to the hospital. Lou was already there and was waiting for me in the parking lot with a wheelchair. It was pretty sweet in a very scary moment. They immediately admitted me, and I bought myself another two days in the hospital. Fortunately, everything ended up being okay. We'll probably never know what caused it, but my OB believes it was bleeding from my placenta.

I'm still having contractions, but the bleeding has stopped. The doctor has put me on even stricter bedrest and I'm seeing her at least once a week. I'm a little over 30 weeks pregnant, and it's extremely important that I get to at least 32 weeks. Once I get there, I will worry about getting to full-term (37-40 weeks).

Being on bedrest is tough. Fortunately, I'm able to do much of my job remotely, and my work has been very understanding and supportive. Being able to work at home helps make the days go by faster, and it keeps my mind moving, allowing me to stay connected. But, the hardest part is not being able to do pretty much anything for Owen or the house. It is so very hard to watch Lou and Isabel do everything. Every diaper change, bath, bedtime, meal and chore has to be done by them. There are times when I'm laying in bed and I hear Owen crying and screaming, and it's torture to lay here and not be able to get up and go comfort him, or give Lou a hand. It breaks my heart. And then, there are the little things, like when my water bottle is empty and I need a refill. I feel silly calling my mother-in-law to have her do a mundane task like that. It's tough to ask for help all day long. The last thing I want to be is a burden.

But, even if I have it hard, I know that Lou has it harder. Not only is he the primary caregiver for Owen at home, but he has to get up at 5:00 every day to go into work, and many days he doesn't get home until 8:00 at night. I know this is challenging for him. He's constantly worried about me and the baby, worried about Owen, and getting very little sleep. Thank God Abuela Isa is here.

Our baby is safe right now, and growing strong and healthy. Owen is a happy, outgoing little boy (who has started sleeping in his new bed!). So, we have a lot for which to be thankful.

We would appreciate your continued prayers for this little one that I'm carrying. And, from the bottom of our heart, we thank you for your kind words, your offers of help, and the support you've given us!

Love,

The Saez Family

#162 - Soccer Player

Owen started an Early Goals soccer program this week. He wasn't too excited about it before he went, but after he got there, he had so much fun. He was such a good listener to the coach, and loved playing with the other "boys and girls" (he said). He came home from soccer with the pinkest cheeks and the biggest smile on his face and already asking when the next practice would be.

Not willing to let a good opportunity pass us by, we promised him his very own soccer ball if he started sleeping in his big brother bed in his new room, and sure enough, he's slept in there two nights this week! He was promptly rewarded with a cool silver soccer ball.

I wasn't able to attend the practice (more on that in an upcoming post), but Lou and Abuela Isa were there. We love having Abuela Isa here!

#161 - More Disney Pictures

The highlight of the trip was definitely the chance to meet all Owen's favorite Disney characters. Here are those pictures:

#160 - Walt Disney World!

We just got back from our first family vacation to Walt Disney World! We had a wonderful time! Before we left, I was beginning to get worried about the trip because so many people were giving us a hard time about going when Owen was 2 1/2 and I was nearly seven months pregnant. But, it was a blast and the perfect family trip.

We met my mom and Leighton there, as well as Jenifer and Kaylin, all of whom stayed for the first two days. It was so nice spending this time with them. Owen and Kaylin are so good around each other, and Mom and Leighton were a big help, as always!

On Sunday, after checking into our hotel room at the Wilderness Lodge (beautiful!), we headed over to Animal Kingdom. The weather was really nice - not too hot - and we got to see a lot of the park. Because I'm pregnant, I didn't go on the Safari ride, but went on pretty much everything else. Owen's favorite was the elephant ride in Dinoland:

Jenifer and Lou braved the Mount Everest ride. Somehow I was able to time the camera just right to get this hilarious picture of them coming down the mountain!

That night, we went to Boma for dinner, which is a really great African restaurant located inside the Animal Kingdom lodge. We stuffed ourselves full, but were pretty exhausted at the end of the day.

Monday morning, bright and early, we took the boat from our hotel to the Magic Kingdom. Before we left, we snapped these two pictures at our hotel.

Once at Magic Kingdom, we headed straight to Fantasyland, were we rode Dumbo, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, the Tea Cups, Buzz Lightyear and Winnie the Pooh. Winnie was definitely Owen's favorite. Aunt Jen and Kaylin met up with us mid-morning, and Owen and Kaylin loved riding the Tea Cups together.

That afternoon, after attempting to get in a quick afternoon nap, we headed over to Epcot, where Owen rode the Nemo ride and met a ton of Disney characters. We had dinner at the Coral Reef restaurant and had a great table where we overlooked the big aquarium. We saw all kinds of sharks, fish and string rays during dinner. We were able to catch the Epcot fireworks on our way out too.

Tuesday morning, we went back to Magic Kingdom.

We got there early enough to ride six rides in about an hour. Owen loved the Magic Carpets of Aladdin so much that we had to ride it three times in a row.

We caught another one of the parades on Main Street, and Owen got out there in the street and danced with the characters. I have a video of this too, and will post it soon.

That afternoon, we went back to the hotel for naps, then had dinner at the Whispering Canyon, then headed back over to Magic Kingdom.

Owen got to ride the race cars with Lou and even drove his! Such a big boy!

After another ride on the Tea Cups, we tried to catch the Electrical Parade and Fireworks, but Owen ended up getting an ear infection and begged to go back to the hotel. Poor little guy!

Wednesday morning, he felt better, so we stopped at the Animal Kingdom on our way out for a few hours. It was so much hotter and more crowded on Wednesday versus Sunday.

Overall, a really, really fun vacation! There's very little that we would do differently or eliminate. We kept talking about what we want to do and where we want to stay at our next Disney trip.

Many thanks to Nana, Pop Pop, Aunt Jen and Kaylin for making it extra special!

I'll post pictures of Owen with all the Disney characters soon.

Love,

The Saez Family

#159 - Tara Feis

This weekend was the official kickoff of St.Patrick's Day celebrations in Savannah. Friday night, we cheered Lou on in the Shamrock 5K. He ran a great race and had an awesome time. On Saturday, we went to Tara Feis, an Irish Festival here for families. It was a beautiful day, and a great time! Owen enjoyed dancing to some of the live music:

This video is really hard to see, but you can hear plenty. Owen absolutely loves to sing, and his favorite time to sing is at night, when Lou is rocking him. I caught them on video last week:

When Owen sleeps through the night and doesn't get out of bed, he gets rewarded with M&Ms, his favorite treat. I get rewarded with an M&M moustache and a mess to clean up! :)

Green Eggs and Ham is a favorite around here. Owen has adapted the book and requires us to say "Owen I am" instead of "Sam I am". Here's a little video of him reading the book:

#158 - Little Cowboy

This past weekend, we celebrated Peyton's 3rd birthday at a horse farm. Owen had fun being a little cowboy!

Happy Birthday, Peyton!