Jr. Has Arrived

Hello Peeps!


The remainder of Day 3 in The Joint turned out to be quite eventful. After receiving a visit from a staff massage therapist, I thought I would need to start calling this place the Country Club instead. Really went bananas after having delicious lamb chops for dinner. I thought, "Maybe 9 more weeks of this won't be too bad." Then all hell broke loose.


I once again endured trauma in the potty when I discovered the umbilical cord making its way out last night. I calmly asked Steve to get the nurse and the madness began. I was ushered back to bed and told upon examination I was 3 cm dilated. There was an intense, slient exchange of fear between Steve and me, but somehow, he was able to convey he was going to be strong for us. A nurse placed what felt like her whole hand up there to keep Jr. off the cord. The room filled up with people. It was utter chaos. Next thing I know, we were on the run.


We arrived in the delivery room and I was quickly prepped for surgery under general anesthesia. Steve couldn't get too close to the action, but kept a steady eye on me and kept telling me he was right there. Neither one of us have ever been so terrified. Then I woke up and was told our son had arrived at 9:08pm. I was pretty out of it, but managed to get a peek at him in the NICU before being transported to my new room. I couldn't see much of him, he was so tiny (a whopping 1lb 13oz). My heart has never felt so full.


We got to the NICU today just as the neonatologist was doing rounds. He said Jr is doing "remarkably well". Also said his lungs were doing great, all things considered. The support needed from the ventilator is minimal. We've got a little fighter on our hands!


At one point, he clutched my finger and his Daddy's at the same time. He also likes to do the "we're #1!!" thing a lot too, as you can see in the attached photo :) He is simply precious and we are smitten beyond words with our beautiful son. What a wild and wooly ride!
There are no words to accurately express how thankful we are for the tremendous outpouring of love and support. We are truly humbled. Also, I apologize for not being able to respond to every individual email and voicemail. I look forward to catching up with all of you once we are settled in. We've got quite a path ahead of us, but we are going to relish every moment with our sweet boy :)

With so much love,
Team Martz
P.S.- still negotiating on the name :-P

Day 3 in the Joint

First, I will fill you in on the rest of Day 2. I received the 2nd steroid shot for Jr's lungs yesterday afternoon. I've never been so happy to be stabbed in the butt. I hope it does its thing.

I'm sleeping a little better and not having crazy dreams. The other nite I dreamed one of my incisor teeth somehow got knocked out and Sandra Lee from the Food Network was my dentist!!! I was to receive a dental implant. She was refusing to bill my insurance and I went ballistic. Good times.
I also had my very first bed pan experience. Thrilling!! There's something unnerving about feeling the pee rise to butt level. I was sure I was gonna overflow it. Thankfully, I was spared that embarassment. Though the baby making process doesn't exactly leave room for modesty, so why start now?? Just making the list of folks that have seen or been up in my junk that much longer. Community cootchie for sure. Anyhoo, the whole thing was/is a bit demoralizing, but gotta do whatcha gotta do.

Steve went home for a shower and change yesterday. He returned with a batch of freshly cooked bacon. HUSBAND OF THE YEAR!!!!!! Prior to his arrival, I had pizza for lunch. It wasn't bad! With the exception of the gross turkey samich, the food has been pretty decent. Way to go Stanford! Dinner was some sort of marinaded beef with potatoes and those cube cut carrots your parents probably fed you as a kid. Meat good. Potatoes good. Carrots bleh. The lemon pudding for dessert tasted like hair conditioner. Ack! The food arrived after I'd gotten comfy on my side, so Steve fed it to me. Feeding AND bathing me! He's going to be an expert by the time Jr. arrives!

The neonatologist came by to discuss milestones and potential complications that come with an early arrival. Scary, but stuff we needed to hear so we can make decisions now instead of in the heat of the moment. So much to take in.

I was moved to ante partum yesterday evening and I will be in this room for the duration. I got to visit a friend who has been in the joint for 6 weeks. She's doing great and will welcome her prince this Friday. Her story is so inspiring to me.

I miss my L & D nurses, Shirley and Christina. The nurses here are great, but CNAs who are less skilled do all the fun stuff like BED PANS. It's already difficult, let alone when they have you sitting on it backwards and other fun stuff.  I remember grumbling about having to get up to pee so much. I'd give anything to be able to roll out of bed to pee on my own now.

So, on to Day 3. Jr. Continues to do beautifully. He's a hard-headed fighter like his Mama. His heart rate is strong and steady. I'm not having contractions, which is great. All things considered, we're doing great.

I had another huge breakfast. All the same goodies as yesterday. I ate just about everything. Jr weighed in at 1lb 9oz yesterday, which is spot on for this time, but I'm hoping these calories will make their way to him. This may only succeed in making my a** fat, but it's a chance I'm willing to take.
Steve went home to shower and returned with a cupcake from Sprinkles. Did I mention he's HUSBAND OF THE YEAR??!! Shortly thereafter, lunch arrived. Some kind of chicken curry in a pita that was quite tasty! Then they brought a snack!! Half an egg salad sandwich, a chocolate covered strawberry and a banana.

Here's the biggest news of the day. Since Jr is doing so well, I was allowed to get up to pee!! Woooo hooooo! Have a bit of PTSD regarding the toilet since that's where I was parked when all this madness began, but it was nice to skip the bed pan. It's the little things. Also, doc wants me to walk around a bit to ensure I don't get clots in my legs.

This morning Steve and I were discussing how grateful we are to have stellar insurance. Blue Shield should hate me. I can't imagine going through all this worrying about the fat bill coming at the end. We are so blessed.

I was enjoying the heck out of my pregnancy, but lately dreamed a lot about seeing Jr's face and imagining what he would look like. Guess he took my dreams to heart and tried to show me his beautiful little face too soon. He's been put on a 12 week time out.

I miss my kitties so much. I also miss Tivo. A LOT.

Here's to continued good reports on our little dude! Thanks again so much for keeping us in your prayers.

Day 2 in the Joint

My request for bacon with breffus was honored, so we're off to a good start. I also had eggs, a half bagel with cream cheese, half a scone, o.j. and 2 servings of milk. Trying to fatten up Jr!

Today's ultrasound shows Jr is right on target, but of course, he's still tiny, which brought me to tears. All his parts look properly developed and his heartbeat is still strong. Sounds like madly galloping horses. He is also in a better position today, which will help eliminate the possibility of the cord dangling down into my cervix. This could change at any moment though. I told him to stay put. We'll see if he's listening to Mom yet.

Steve is doing that thing he does, which is being outstanding during a crisis. He's displaying some seriously stellar husband skills and taking excellent care of me. Even gave me some kinda bath this morning. Good practice for wiping Jr's butt :) I couldn't ask for a better man to be by my side.
Because of my history of pulmonary embolus, I'm rockin' some super sexy compression hose. They're obscuring my freshly painted, beautiful toes. My hair? Not so beautiful. I did request Steve bring my night and eye cream. Its definitely not helping though. Fortunately, Steve seems to think I'm a beautiful, disheveled mess :)

My catheter was removed this afternoon. Woo hoo! Let the bed pan fun begin!

Our nurse rocks. She took Steve to see the NICU wall with lots of healthy kids that were born way early. Gives us hope our little guy will make it too. Btw, he's kicking me still and its much more pronounced without the cushion of all that fluid. Kick away, son!

Thank God (or Apple and Costco) for these fancy phones that keep us connected to all of you. We are so grateful for the outpouring of love and concern. Makes us feel a little less isolated. We love ya'll. I will post an update when there's more to tell, but no news is good news.

What Just Happened??

My water broke yesterday at 24w 4d. I was at work on the potty. Delightful. The medics got to me quickly (I work in the emergency dispatch center at SFO there are 3 firehouses on airport property). I was transported to a hospital 5 mins away. Steve got down from work in Marin so quickly, I thought he was choppered in. After some tests (I received the first of 2 steroid shots to mature Jr's lungs) and monitoring, I was transported to Packard Children's Hospital where they have a level 3 NICU. I arrived around 730.

Jr. is still going strong in there, though as Steve said, he's probably wondering why someone drained the pool! Greatest concern is risk of infection and major contractions. I've been pumped with antibiotics from the start. Also got a drug to stop the very mild contractions. It made me short of breath, heart raced and I shivered like I was in an igloo, but it passed.

I finally got something to eat at 1030. What did they give me? A turkey sandwich. A TURKEY SANDWICH!!! Per orders, I've been avoiding lunch meat like the plague. Oh well. I ate the hell out of it. Also sucked down 2 servings of cranberry juice like it was my favorite scotch (Lagavulin 16 in case you were wondering :)

We are, of course, fucking scared.  Excuse my French. And apologies to France for calling that French. We pray Jr. stays put for a good long while and has minimal complications when he does show himself. Between fearful bouts of crying and cursing the universe, we are trying to maintain our humor and determination. Its the moxy that kicked the asses of city government, a labor union, the IRS a couple of REs and various others. Surely, we can muster a little more to fight for our son.

I actually got a tiny bit of sleep while listening to the soothing sounds of Jrs heartbeat steady and strong on the monitor. Steve went home to get some of my things.

Thanking you for all your kind posts and individual emails seems so inadequate, but Team Martz does indeed thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Even the tiniest little heart. It means the world to us. Whether you pray to God, Allah, Mohammed, bacon or anyone/thing else, we'll take all the prayers we can get.

I will post an update tomorrow. Nite nite.

The Not So Fun Part of 40

Two words:  pap and mammogram.  ON THE SAME DAY.  That was LOADS of fun!! First was fondled by the nice x-ray tech lady as my boobies were smashed flat like pancakes.  Then had pap with my primary care doc who also did a breast exam.  More fondling!  The good news is I got paid to get felt up!  My disability insurance gives 50 bucks a pop for paps and mammos, so I'll make out with a cool hundred.  Does that make me a dirty hooker?? :-P

I've been having lower back pain that makes me feel like a crumpled old lady at times. It comes and goes.  This time, it's come and won't go!  I mentioned it to my doc on Tuesday.  She asked if it was radiating and it wasn't.  The pain was lower, dead center.  However, on Thursday night when I went to bed, it had shifted to the left side and the pain was radiating into my left butt cheek and down my leg.  Seriously, do I have frickin' sciatica???  I'm just falling apart here! It really, really hurts.  Tylenol doesn't help.  Aleve helps a bit.  Aleve combined with vicodin really takes the edge off. The past couple of nights I've had a heating pad strapped on.  I sent a message to my doc to see what she suggests. I'm also going to see a chiropractor.  My insurance covers it, so what could it hurt?

Another part of being older in general.....I went to another funeral yesterday.  This one was for the father of my oldest friend. I remember thinking my friend's dad and his wife were oh so glamorous when I was a kid. As an adult, he, Jack, passed on sage advice.  Mostly to try to help me understand the male psyche.  I remember before HB, I was dating this knucklehead who had "issues". He kinda dropped off the radar for awhile.  I discussed the whole deal with Jack and he said, "He'll be back.  They ALWAYS come back." I remember laughing my head off, but sure enough, knucklehead resurfaced on multiple occasions.  Everything Jack ever told me about men turned out to be true.  So wise.

The service was wonderful.  So many people had so many great stories about Jack.  Mostly hilarious stories. He was an extremely funny guy.  There was so much laughter thru the tears. It was a packed house and the love in that room was palpable.  His daughter, my dear friend, did such a wonderful job putting everything together and the service really represented who her dad was. I am so incredibly proud of her, her strength and the dedication she had to her dad until the very end. She was his Angel of Mercy.  He told her so and truer words were never spoken.

Of course, this all got me thinking about my Dad.  My heart still aches when I think of him.  There have been some situations in the past couple of months where I would've gone to him for advice. I felt such emptiness, like I had nowhere to turn.  ::::sigh:::::  Okay, I gotta stop because I'm about to lose it. 
Keep you fingers crossed for me and hope this back issue doesn't end up interfering with the timing of round 2.

Birthday Wrap Up

I'm a week late with this update, but better late than never, right?

Last Saturday, I had plans with 4 of my nearest and dearest that weren't able to make it to the fabulous soiree Eija threw for me.  The plan was bubbly tasting at 2 different wine shops we frequent, then dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, The Village Pub in Woodside.

I developed a slight sore throat on Thursday that continued Friday.  By Saturday, I started to go down hill a bit.  Despite getting a decent night's sleep before going in to work a 1am til 2pm on Saturday, my body was not havin' it and punished me with a snotty nose.  I headed home after work to pick up HB.  The house was clean and a single red rose was waiting for me.  Awwwwww!  Then it was on to the bubbly!The first tasting at K&L was great and included my favorite, Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose'.  I managed to keep my nose from running into my Champagne.  Yippie!  I kept stepping away to wipe/blow my nose, as I didn't want to gross out the other customers.  After that tasting, we tailgated in the parking lot.  Soph made some DELICIOUS samiches.  So simple, yet so incredibly yummy.  Prosciutto and double cream brie on a baguette.  The idea was to have a bite between tastings so we wouldn't be hammered by dinner. Didn't want to fill up though.  I seriously wanted to inhale several sandwiches, but manged not to. 

On to tasting #2 at Beltramo's. Another great selection of bubbles.  Didn't think it was good as K&L's selections, but still quite tasty.  We wrapped it up and headed to The Village Pub.

It was a busy night and the place was packed.  We were seated at a large round table in what is usually the private dining room. They had the doors all opened up to the main dining room to accomodate the crowd.  We considered having our wedding dinner here if we ended up doing a family only thing for 12-14 people.  I remarked to HB that we didn't need to request a tour now that we were able to get a peek.
 Our waitress looked like she was pushing 6ft. and I thought she was mean!  She seemed peeved that we weren't interested in ordering cocktails and didn't seem amused by my comment about being full of Champagne already.  She lightened up a bit once we started ordering and turned out to be delightful! Once she dropped the mean act, I noticed she was actually quite pretty in a Raphaelite sorta way. The service was impeccable and we ended up enjoying her.

The food was, as always, DIVINE!!  I started off with a mini cassoulet. This is rustic French bean dish that's all full of sausage and duck confit.  Meat and beans good.  It wasn't as good as HB's cassoulet, but it was damn good. For my main course, I had a steak that was perfectly cooked and served with a side of chard that was so flavorful. I picked off HB's plate, skate with some terrific vegetables.  It was delicious as well.
For dessert, I was serenaded along with a chocolate souflee.  It was soooo good!  Though I was feeling sicker by the hour, I was so feeling the love and felt so lucky to have such wonderful, caring and crazy generous friends. Seriously, how does a girl get so lucky??

We bid one another adieu and were home by 9ish.  We ended the evening the way we end most evenings, with a set of Rock Band.  Then I took some Nyquil and hit the hay.  Fortunately, I could breathe outta one side of my nose, so I was able to get a good night's rest. I think I rolled outta bed around 11:30 or so.
We had a mellow V Day/official birthday at home.  We lazed around in our matching pajamas and watched shows on the Food Network.  Does a day get better than that? LOL!!  We made a fabulous dinner based on a French Laundry recipe. HB had to dash out to pick up a few things.  While he did, I decorated the place and wrapped his gift, a t-shirt with the logo I created for our Rock Band, Burning Xmas.  I'll post a pic sometime in the near future.

All in all, it was a lovely weekend.  I think this is going to be a splendid year and an even more splendid decade! So far, my 40's have kicked ass!!

Where Ya Been?

It's been awhile since I've spilled, so here it goes....The quest for parenthood continues.  Hunny bunny and I continue to do a litany of tests to make sure everything is in working order.  It's been interesting at the new clinic.  They're requiring alot more tests than the old clinic did.  At first, I thought maybe it was a way to jack up the already steep bill, but the more research I did, the more I realized these additional tests make alot of sense.  Many of them determine if I have weird antibodies that might make my body reject the embryos.  Kind of surprising that Stanford didn't require these tests.  I mean, when people are shelling out thousands of dollars, shouldn't every precaution be taken to make sure they're given the best possible shot? :::sigh:::
 I was suppose to go in for some bloodwork week before last, but my primary care doc forgot to order 2 of the tests.  I waited for her to get those orders in so I didn't have to get stuck twice.  So, she orders the tests.  I go in last week and get stuck.  On my way out, the lab calls to say they forgot one of the tests so I had to go back to get stuck again in the other arm.  BLIMEY!  So much for efficiency.

 I continue to go to acupuncture twice a week.  I had to give up Beth though.  She rocks, but she's not covered by my insurance.  $90/week was getting pretty steep. Especially when I needed to go 4 times in one week right around egg retrieval and transfer.  So, now I'm paying $15/visit to see a nice gal who's covered by my insurance. 

On another note, my dear friend, Eija, threw a fantastic party for my upcoming 40th birthday! We had such a great time!  Eija really did it up.  The food was AMAZING!  She decorated the house beautifully.  I was so blown away and totally feeling the love.  It was so cool that friends from different circles were able to meet and get to know one another.  My heart was positively overflowing and I felt so lucky and blessed.  I have the best friends EVER!

We brought the Rock Band set up and truly, it was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen.  It's amazing how people are willing to make absolute fools of themselves in the name of fun. We were the WORST singers in the world, but did we care?? NO!!!  Matter o' fact, when we managed to completely mutilate a song (which we did often), we'd play it over and over until we got it right.  I'm sure the neighbors were soooooo thrilled with us. If I never hear "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash again, that will be perfectly fine with me. Also, believe it or not, Eija's cat, Conrad, wasn't completely freaked out.  He hung out on the couch and watched us act like maniac, wanna be rock stars.  I think he thought we were dorks :-P
 Oh, hey, this is pretty cool....Someone actually PAID me to advertise on my lil ol' blog!!!! Can you believe it?!  Check out the Post Turkey Day Update and see if you notice anything different.  Who knows?  Maybe one of these days I can make a livin' off this blog thing!

Now, I'm getting ready to watch my guilty pleasure, The Bachelor!! I thought watching this season's bachelor would be more boring than watching paint dry, but he's actually grown a pair and made the show interesting. If any of you are watching, who's your front runner?? Peace out for now, from the mommy to be.