5 GRANDKIDS FOR THE GARDNERS

On Saturday afternoon we got together with my Brother Dave, his wife Michelle and their two boys Nicholas and Christian. Of course, a family get together is always a reason to take another 50 pictures. . . (okay, 51 pictures to be exact) Here are some cute pictures of the kids meeting Lauren for the first time as well as Michelle & Dave too.

THE 3RD TIME'S A CHARM

We've made it past the one week mark in the Dugorepec household and we're still here to talk about it. It's actually not all that bad. I was expecting the worse but we've been pretty fortunate for the most part. Today was Milenko's first day back at work. We were both dreading this day because of the withdrawals that the kids would have from not having him here, the pressure of getting 3 girls dressed, fed and functioning for the day, and the pile of work that Milenko has waiting for him in the office. So far it's been a good day. The baby woke me up at 4am, Lexie was up and awake at 6am and Bella was up at 7am. No sleep for the weary here! Considering I should be out of my mind by now, it's been okay. The girls wanted to spend most of the morning with the baby and when they started getting antsy, it was time to take them out for a walk to the park. We spent an hour out there and when we came home they both went upstairs and climbed into bed for a nap - without me insisting that it was that time. How did I luck out on that one?? It's only 2pm - there's still time to have a nervous breakdown and send me to a mental ward

Bella has become Mommy's little helper. Her favorite thing to do in the morning is come into my room, find the baby and give the baby a kiss and hug Good Morning. Forget anyone else, it's the baby that matters now. Lexie is starting to warm up a little with the baby. She holds the baby from time to time, likes to pat her head, poke at her eyes and kiss her cheeks. However, when it's her time and the baby fusses, she lets everyone know that she disapproves of us giving the baby attention instead of her. She's fighting more with Bella and even bit Bella this morning on the tummy - a pretty major bite at that. Bella is wearing a Band-Aid and is feeling better though. We're just extremely careful NEVER to leave the baby and Lexie alone together. Who knows what might happen with that scenario.

Lauren has been an awesome baby. We've noticed that she has the same temperment as Bella. Just a very easy baby so far. She eats on schedule, poops like there's no tomorrow and doesn't fuss much at all. With Bella & Lexie screaming and playing all the time in the house, it's a wonder she actually sleeps. Milenko calls it "white noise." I call it a bunch of noise.

We gave Lauren her first bath yesterday. She small enough to take her bubble bath in the kitchen sink. For the most part she loved it - until her body came out of the water and the chilly air hit her. Doesn't like anything to do with the cold. After we got her all shampooed and soaped up we took her out to dry her off. She was saving a little present for me....she crapped all over the towel. Fortunately I didn't empty the water yet so I just dunked her back into the sink and cleaned her off. What a memorable event though. She's already making great memories for my scrapbooking habit!

OUR NEWEST FAMILY MEMBER

WELCOME LAUREN GRACE DUGOREPEC

Lauren Grace Dugorepec was born on Tuesday, February 14th, 2006 at 10:47am. She is our little Valentine's Day baby. She weighed 7 lbs. 5 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. A very easy delivery after a very ....shall we say: "dramatic" pregnancy.

Here's the WHOLE story:
As you already may know from the previous blog, my water broke about 2:45 on Tuesday morning. At 3:30am we called my mom who came from Modesto to watch the girls for us. What we didn't expect was traffic at that time. It took Mom almost 2 hours to get here because of a traffic accident that closed down much of the freeway. She finally arrived and at 5:30am we were on the road to John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek. Only a few contractions were unbearable - the kind that makes you want to jump out of the car while it's moving. Most were just a lot of heavy breathing and some discomfort.

By 6am we were checked in and had the monitors plugged in and recording all the vitals they needed to. I didn't opt for an epidural right away because the contractions weren't that painful. However, after they checked me and found I was only 3 1/2 centimeters dilated and about 80% effaced, the pain started coming on and we opted for an immediate epidural. When the anesthesiologist came in bare chested with the golden tan and in the Baywatch bathing suit...oh wait, I was dreaming of him in something else...When the extremely good looking anesthesiologist, wearing his scrubs and mask, gave me the 1st epidural, it only took on one side. After about 45 minutes he took out the epidural catheter and replaced it with a new one that numbed me up extremely well. At 9:45am the nurse checked me and I was completely dilated. She called Dr. Klein and told me not to push until he got there 35 minutes later.

At around 10:35 he arrived. After chatting away, getting into his scrubs and telling a few jokes he told me to push that baby out. I started pushing at 10:44 and by 10:47 Dr. Klein was telling me to reach down and pull the baby out. Talk about slippery! Wow! That was pretty cool. The first look was amazing - she looked just like Bella did on the day she was born.

Just after birth: Milenko with Lauren and Debbie & Dr. Klein with Lauren

Our first visitors came at 7pm. Milenko went home and got Bella & Lexie and Grammy. Grampa Bob came a few minutes before they arrived. Lauren didn't stay awake for their visit although Bella & Lexie were the loudest visitors in the hospital. Bella was so excited about Baby Lauren. She kept patting her and petting the top of her head. She even held the baby a few times. Lexie on the other hand didn't want anything to do with the baby - as long as Mommy paid attention to her she was okay with the baby being in the room. If I held the baby though, she threw a tantrum. That's terrible twos for you!

Sleeping Lauren and Bella & Lexie & Lauren

Lauren's blood type was tested yesterday and she has the same type as Milenko. Bella had this same situation and there was an ABO incompatibility with mommy and baby's blood. Bella was Combs positive and so is Lauren. Bella's condition was a little worse because she didn't latch well on when breastfeeding and required 48 hours in the photo-therapy booth. We lucked out with Lauren. Because she is a very good eater, she didn't need any photo-therapy and we were able to take her home today (Thursday).

Lauren and I are now safely at home with the rest of the family. Bella is being a super big helper and just wants to hold the baby, change the baby, burp the baby, touch the baby....anything to do with the baby. It's precious to see her reaction. Lexie on the other hand waves at "Baby Lolo" from a distance.

Well back to the "girls." Poor Milenko - the only other bit of testosterone in the house is one of the dogs. Haha! We'll adjust the taxes to start planning for all the weddings now!

TUESDAY - IT'S BABY TIME!

I'm only sending this now because Milenko was teasing me about sending a "blog" about this before we left for the hospital.

My water broke in my sleep at 2:45 this morning. After taking a shower and climbing back into bed thinking I just had a loose bladder and peed the bed, the contractions started. After the 6th contraction we thought we better call Mom to get her out just in case the contractions got stronger - which they have. As soon as she gets here we're on our way to John Muir in Walnut Creek. Contractions are about 7-9 minutes apart right now.

Obviously - gotta' go! Will update you next time with baby news!!!

MONDAY - NO BABY STILL - THIS ONE IS STUCK!

UPDATE: NO BABY AS OF MIDNIGHT ON MONDAY

GREAT WEATHER DAY AGAIN- IN THE 70'S AGAIN!

I'M STILL PREGNANT! THE DOCTOR SAID THIS BABY WOULD BE BORN BY THE 12TH. HE LIED! :-) NO PAINS (KNOCK ON WOOD) LATELY AND FEELING FINE. A LITTLE SLUGGISH BUT THAT'S TO BE EXPECTED.

DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT TOMORROW MORNING (TUESDAY - VALENTINE'S DAY). I THINK THE REAL REASON MILENKO IS COMING WITH ME TO THIS APPT. IS TO MAKE SURE I DON'T ASK FOR AN INDUCEMENT. HE DOES NOT WANT THIS BABY TO BE BORN ON VALENTINE'S DAY UNLESS IT'S A NATURAL BIRTH. BESIDES THAT, WE DON'T WANT TO HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY AS ALYSSA (DONNA'S DAUGHTER). SHE TURNS THE BIG #3 TOMORROW!

BELLA & LEXIE ARE EXCITED BECAUSE DEANNA (OUR OLD NEIGHBOR) CAME DOWN FROM BEND, OREGON WITH DAUGHTERS GRACIE & CHLOE. THEY HAD A PICNIC IN THE PARK AND PLAYED TO THEIR HEARTS CONTENT TODAY. DEANNA'S GOING TO STAY UNTIL BABY MAKES AN ENTRANCE. SHE'LL EVEN MISS HER ANNIVERSARY TO STAY IN TOWN. WISH THEY STILL LIVED HERE!!

WILL WRITE MORE WHEN THERE'S SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU ALL!

FRIDAY, NO BABY YET

UPDATE: NO BABY AS OF 4:15PM ON FRIDAY

ANOTHER GREAT WEATHER DAY - IN THE 70'S AGAIN!

HAD A SCARE YESTERDAY WHEN THE PAIN GOT TOUGH. MY BROTHER DAN STAYED WITH ME ALL DAY "JUST IN CASE." TODAY I WENT TO MY MOTHER-IN-LAW'S HOUSE TO LET THE KIDS PLAY AND CHECK ON JASNA, MY SISTER-IN-LAW, SINCE SHE JUST HAD SURGERY ON MONDAY. SHE'S DOING WELL, BAKA IS HAPPY THAT SHE GOT HER GRANDBABY FIX IN AND I'M STILL PREGNANT!

THE PAINS ARE STILL HERE BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND THEM AND KNOW THAT IT'S JUST ANOTHER ANNOYING PART OF THE PREGNANCY. HOWEVER, WHEN IT CAME TO BELLA & LEXIE'S BIRTHS, THIS PAIN WAS THE LAST THING I FELT BEFORE GOING INTO LABOR. I GUESS THAT MEANS - ANY TIME NOW. WOULD GIVE ANYTHING TO SLEEP AGAIN SINCE THE SLEEPING PILLS AREN'T AS STRONG AS THE SOCCER PLAYER INSIDE OF ME.

WEDNESDAY - NO BABY YET

UPDATE:

GREAT WEATHER - IT WAS IN THE 70'S TODAY!

FOR THOSE OF YOU ITCHING TO KNOW IF I ACTUALLY HAD THE BABY - AS OF 10:15PM on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH, I'M STILL PREGNANT

SIGH!

WALKING DISASTER / BABY MAKER

Boy, this pregnancy sure is fun! NOT!! Well if you've been following my "saga" over the past month, you're probably clenching your knees together or slapping your hand against your forehead wondering "What the hell is wrong with this girl!"

If you're thinking that - just imagine what I'm thinking!!!

This week we went in on Monday with horrible contractions - that ended up not being contractions at all. Fortunately, the Ambien (the sleeping pills) were the answer to that problem. From that night on I've been sleeping great, feeling great and moving just a little sluggish. Here comes the ice breaker....

Saturday we went to the Mall to get some last minute shopping things done. Hey, a little encouragement for labor wasn't a bad thought either. No go though. After taking a really long stroll I ended up with some light aches and just plain tired. No baby - obvioulsy. However, last night I started cleaning up Lexie's room while Milenko worked on Bella's disaster area. I stepped on one of her toys that found it's way under my foot and I did the splits. It wouldn't be that bad if I weren't 38+ weeks pregnant. An hour later I was in misery. I couldn't move from side to side or even get out of bed without Milenko's help. When we woke up this morning I figured I might as well be dead - it would be less painful and easier on my body. Milenko gave me the Tylenol to start the day and I started walking around the house as much as I could - even down to the corner of the court. My thoughts were I sprained a muscle and I just needed to break it in again like you would do a normal ache. Not the case here. Dad - don't read this. How on earth do you exercise your crotch so the pain subsides?? I haven't figured this one out yet so getting up and down is pretty impossible unless Milenko's lifting me up and down. I swear, I' m a walking basket case right now.

Enough whining - Here's the fun stuff. Theoretically we should be going into labor sometime tonight. Bella and Lexie were born on the 4th and 5th of the month. I always went into labor on Sunday and had the baby just after midnight (or within a few hours after midnight). I've always delivered early too. There's actually a possibility that we may have a little Dugo if things go the way they've worked in the past. Wait a second! Who am I kidding? This kid is probably going to be a week late with all it's problems it's been causing. Ha Ha Ha!

Well, next post should be an introduction to the Baby. If not, I'm certain it will be another choatic fiasco that's going on in our home. :-) Have a good week!

Baby Registry - For those who are asking....

Debbie Dugorepec has created a Baby Registry. Here are the Dugorepec's Baby Registry details: I thought you might like to know that I have created a Baby Registry in preparation for our impending arrival! You can view my registry at any Babies"R"Us, Toys"R"Us, or Geoffrey retail store. Or, see it online by copying the below URL and pasting it into your browser: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/babyreg/1IPIM5WG9DI7Z Thank you, Debbie and Milenko Dugorepec