Mellow Yellow

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So, everything went pretty well at the hospital with one little set back on the day we were gonna be discharged. Brianna bilirubin levels were not where they should be at so we had to leave her there. Boy, we were SO SO SO SO sad. Anyways, we left the hospital on Sunday night, tried to stay as long as possible. They drew another blood level Monday morning and by 7AM we were given the ok to take her home! We go to the hospital by around 7:30am and fed her and took her home! YEAH!!!

First day home together went really well. Grandma stayed with us all day and Grandma/pa slept over should we have any problems. Mark and Bella and Bria went into the house and as I was walking in I just hear Bella laughing, then I see her hovering over the car seat on the ground and playing with Bria. Silly girl! She always wants to hold Bria by herself (a little scary), she's tried to feed her potato chips already, and she's even tried to breast feed Bria (she lifts up her own shirt and tried to move baby toward her chest). Here's a picture of my little tanner:

Brianna's Arrival - A Father's Point of View

I think I've contributed about less than a half percent of all the posts on this blog, but I wanted to share with everyone the arrival of my second daughter from my point of view.

We've been trying to get the house "Bria-ready" for the past month now and that meant getting some odds and ends things done at the house, such as seeing which of Bella's clothes we can reuse, getting the car seat ready for Bria, and doing things like installing (with the help of Mr. Handyman, aka my dad) the kids' new closet and hanging picture frames that we've accumulated over the years). So fast forward to Wednesday, March 19. I had a final at 6 PM so we're looking at less than 14 hours away from our scheduled delivery. We were scheduled to go in at 730 am on March 20, which meant checking in by 530 am to get the prep work done. Once the final was over and that stress complete, I head home around 9 PM to get ready for the home stretch. I come home and hear an emphatic "Daddy!!!" Instantly, Bella runs to me and gives her daddy a big hug and kiss. Since we had to get to the hospital by 530 am, we had to leave by the latest 430. We ended up not sleeping till about 1230 am because there was some last minute loads of laundry for the baby that we needed to get done.

So we drop off Bella at my parents will take Bella to the hospital to experience the arrival of being a big sister. Then we head to the hospital for the surgery. This was obviously different from Bella's birth. Bella was born via C-section as well, but that happened so fast - from the 31 hour labor by Tracy to the quick decision to go C-section. I was basically going from the delivery room to a pair of scrubs to the operating room in a short amount of time. This time, with everything scheduled, I had the mindset of what to expect and was able to mentally prepare for what was going to happen. I admit I was a little concerned of the possibilites of what could happen during surgery. Will Tracy and Bria be ok? So we check in around 545 am and Tracy gets monitored and prepped for the process. By about 645 am, Tracy's dad arrives with camera in hand and ready to preserve memories of the actual delivery. As we're waiting for the surgery, I can tell that Tracy was nervous and rightfully so. I tried cracking some jokes but they only seemed to crack a small chuckle out of her and nothing else. So around 715 am, my parents arrive with the little rascal Bella anticipating the arrival of the newest addition to the world.

So I get some scrubs to put on and get ready for the surgery. Tracy goes in ahead to get the anesthesia and the doctors also prepare for the surgery. I'm waiting with Tracy's dad and you can tell that we both were anxious, nervous, and excited. Then, we get the nod to go in. So, I enter the operating room and it's a fairly large room, well-lit, and I take a seat right next to Tracy's head, holding her hand, and trying to reassure her that everything will be ok. With my video camera around my neck and camera in hand, I felt like I was walking around Epcot in Disney World. 802 am was the official beginning of the surgery and 15 minutes later at 817 am, Brianna Rose Malvar Licudine introduced herself to the world with a loud cry. The nurses weighed her in at 7 lbs. 10 oz and at 19.5 inches. After I cut the cord and after they cleaned her up, the nurses showed Bria to her wonderful, happy mother. Once Bria heard Tracy's voice, she opened her little bitty eyes as if to say, "Thank you, Mommy. I love you."

I went with the nurses to take Bria to the nursery where they pretty much performed all the necessary tests. Let me tell you, I was there for about half an hour and she cried for at least half the time. I then held my new bundle of joy and rocked her back and forth and started telling her about her family, about her proud parents, her mischievous big sister, her ready to spoil grandparents, her happy aunts, proud uncles and her excited cousins. I then checked in on Tracy and noticed that she was in a lot better shape than the first delivery. She was enjoying the delicious tastes of ice chips and asked me how Bria was doing. I showed her the pictures I've had taken so far and we both agreed that the little bandit Bria looks like the litte rascal Bella - though a lot louder.

I went outside to the waiting area to greet the newest big sister, Bella and my parents. We then went in and dropped our things off in room 424 and then proceeded to Tracy where Bria was. The first encounter between Bella and Bria - OK at best. Bella looked hesitant and cautious probably becuase Tracy was hooked up on wires or the fact that she was holding ANOTHER baby!! About fifteen minutes and a few ice chips (Bella has a thing for ice), Bella warmed up and even kissed Bria's head a couple of times and saying, "Breea" and sang a wonderful rendition of "Appy Birfday" to her little sister.

Needless to say, this process has gone really well. Bria is eating really well and Tracy's able to breastfeed and walk aroudn. Bella has all the signs of being a wonderful big sister. We want to thank everyone for all the well wishes and for visiting us in the hospital. It really means a lot to us. Here are a few pics so far:

Meet our newest baby girl, Brianna Rose!

Meet Brianna:
Born March 20 at 8:17am
7 lbs and 10 oz.
19.5 inches

Details to come, too tired to type!

We're officially scheduled!!!

I don't remember if I already mentioned this, but we found out last week that my doctor already scheduled my c-section for March 20, 2008 (Holy Thursday). So unless baby decides to come early (which I have been feeling a LOT of contractions lately), March 20 will be her birthday since the surgery should take less than an hour. I know I posted the date on Facebook, but then I realize the people who probably read this are not on facebook. We're all definitely exhausted, running around to work, up to 3 doctor appointments a week, and whatever else there is to do. Plus I haven't been driving anymore, so my poor husband and my dad have been working extra hard driving me here and there (so thank goodness I moved to a store closer to home!). And with all the doctor appointments and other things, Bella has been spending a lot of time with Grandma/pa and Ninong Gil and family. So thanks to everyone for all the support! I think if Mark and I are able to go for a third kid one day, I'll definitely have to stop working toward the end. Working a 10 hour shift, and driving out to the city for all my appointments right after the shift, is not healthy. I probably get MAYBE 2 to 4 hours of sleep on those days. Anyways, so all this craziness if almost done, then we'll move to the next phase of craziness.... raising 2 kids!!! Yikes!!! It's funny, when people ask me if I know what I'm having, I always respond, "Another girl!" and if Mark is around, he always chuckles unknowingly out loud. It's kind of funny. Anyways, so our house is almost put together. It definitely needs a cleaning, so I'm excited to say the maids and the carpet cleaners will finally be here this weekend!!! YEAH!!! And Sami gets to visit Igor, her hairstylist... finally, stinky dog be gone!!!
Exciting highlights this week:
So Happy Birthday to my brother and to Ashley! March 9 and 10! My dad went to visit them in PA, and I was so jealous because I wanted to go too. So sad. I miss Max and LT. But they'll be here in a couple of weeks for the baby. We went out to dinner at Red Robin for Ashley's bday and her party will be this Saturday at the bowling lanes. I can't believe she's 10 years old!!!

Anyways, keep you all posted... 8 more days! Can you believe I'm still going to go to work next week? I actually debated going to work the night before the c-section, but my shift ends at 7am and I have to check in at the hospital at 5:30am. That's dedication!

Wicked & Monarch Ball 2008

We had a busy busy weekend... On top of all the cleaning and organizing we've been doing at home in preparation for Brianna, we squeezed in Wicked on Friday night and my dad took us to the Monarch Ball at Hilton Towers on Saturday night, and to top it off, on Sunday Grandpa Marvin helped us install the girls awesome new closet that Grandpa Tom bought from the Container store!
So on Friday, Wicked was pretty good. Mark got me the tickets for Valentine's Day. We had tickets before, but that was around the time Bella was just born and I wasn't ready to leave her yet. So we decided to sneak it in before Brianna arrived or we would never be able to see the show. The only thing is I should not have read the book because the book and musical are TOTALLY different and that kinda made it frustrating to watch. But overall the muscial was really good. My favorite character was not Elphaba though, it definitely was Glinda, she was hysterical!
On Saturday, we had a bunch of errands to run in the morning, and also had to stop by the hospital for baby monitoring, so Uncle Gil and family watched Bella for the 3rd time of her life (I think it's 3). Thanks guys!!! Then Mark and I headed off to the hotel to change in dad's room and head off to cocktails.

My very sensitive husband called me a blimp!

The live fountain! Yup, that's a real person!

She had water coming out of her finger tips and sometimes out of her head! So cool!



John Lithgow was the entertainment for the night!

Lots of food and dancing, although we danced a slow dance and then I was tired... give me a break, I'm 9 months pregnant! After, we went back to Mark's parents house to pick up our darling Bella. Everyone was tired, but our little one kept on going going going!!! I think she tired everyone out!!! hahahaha!!!
The next day we put together the closet, I'll take a picture and show you how awesome this thing is! I increased my hanging space from 9ft to 17 ft!!! It's called the Elfa system from the container store. Definitely important when 2 little girls share a closet!
Post those later!