Time is Flying

Hi guys,

Well I'm happy to say the baseball season has started off great for the Giants. John went on opening day and they won! Wish I could have been there but Baby J is a little too young to go to places that crowded I think. I am not going to be an over cautious parent, but until he is 3 mos. I think its better to be safe than sorry :). He will, however, be sporting his Giants gear from afar. we were given some hand-me-down Giants outfits that are just a little bit loose on him but I'm still thinking a photo shoot is needed ;). I'll try to take some of those and load em up tomorrow. Haven't been feeling to good the past few days (bladder infection - bleh).

Wish me luck, the little dude goes for part 2 of his vaccines tomorrow morning (I had the dr. split them into 2 visits). Last time he screamed and screamed, it was so awful! I can't wait till he is a little older so I can take him for ice cream or something afterwards. I remember when I was little, my mom would take me to Longs and let me pick out a new Barbie or some other cheap toy to help "compensate" for the shots. I still hate getting them but its even worse when you grow up and there's no comfort toy afterwards! I could buy something for myself but it isnt the same haha.
Anywho, #5 is still continuing to be more and more active. He tries so hard to hold his head up everytime I pick him up now - before it was up and then bobbled and then went up again. He has gotten so much better at keeping it steady! He also smiles all the time, and last night when his dad was holding him I tickled his belly (in the manor of the Pillsbury dough boy) and he started smiling big and even laughed a little! So cute!
He is also growing like a weed and has almost outgrown all of the newborn clothes we got (and has outgrown the newborn diapers completely!) He isn't very "wide" but he is too long for most of the smaller clothes so he has been wearing the 3 mos. stuff. Of course it varies by brand so I've learned to just eye it.
Well its 11 pm and he is asleep..probably the earliest he has gone to bed in weeks. Usually at this time I am rocking him, dancing with him, flashing some lights against the wall, or dangling toys off the top of his bassinet to distract him into getting sleepy. I'm expecting him to wake up at 1 and be "ready to party" for 3 hours haha.
I still haven't had a chance to do the easter photos yet but maybe tomorrow. I've been an extension of the couch these past few days except for playtime, feeding time, and diaper time. Hopefully I'll feel more energetic before the weekend hits.

Incase I don't make it back, i hope you all have a Happy Easter!
xoxox

7 weeks! (well...almost)

Hi All!

I am excited to say that J-Cinco almost slept entirely through the night last night! I finally got him back to sleep around 1 am and he didnt stir again until past when it was light outside today. I would be very happy if he continued to follow this routine but I have a feeling tonight will be the usual short naps..but hey even once a week would be awesome!


Last Wed he had his 6 week checkup w/ Dr. Lu and he weighs 10 lbs 5 oz and is almost 24 inches long! The doc was pretty impressed with his growth and also his alertness. Unfortunately the visit had a downside for John, he had to get his first vaccines :(. Poor guy screamed and screamed after he got a shot in each thigh. I have to bring him back next week for another set of vaccines (I had the dr. split them up so John didn't have to get everything at once).

We are so happy with him and its so exciting to see his new changes each week. He is "talking" (cooing) a lot more now and it totally sounds like he is saying "hiiiiii" and "helllloooo" - so cute! He holds his head up a lot more now during tummy time and even longer after we burp him and he wants to take a look around. He loves trying to stare at lights and is in love with the lamp in our living room! Its hilarious to see him in his light trances but I try to avoid anything to bright since his stare lasts for so long.

He still hasn't been out to eat with us yet, Dr Lu said since its flu season we should be careful till he is 3 months. Well he will be 7 weeks on Monday so its not too far off. I have been taking him with me to places that arent super crowded like the post office and the bank and yesterday he even made it to rite aid for a few min. haha. I always make sure he is completely covered though (as long as its not too warm). So far its been fine and he loves the roar of the truck running and always falls into a deep sleep during the drive! extra plus!

Alright, hope you enjoy the pics from the past 2 days. I hope to have some easter ones up by next week. Hope everyone is doing well!

xo Pearl and J5

Six Weeks!

milk tongue!
i seeeeee yoooooou....





So the little stud is six weeks old today. Wow time does fly! i can't wait for his appt. on Wed. to see how much he weighs now. My arms say its a lot more than last time :).
Right now he is sitting in his swing (best invention ever!) and staring at the fish and turtle mobile above him. I love that he can have a good time out of my arms for a few minutes so I can eat a quick lunch and e-mail or post some new pics on here.
He has been doing so great so far - calm and relaxed most of the time unless he wakes up hungry or needs to be changed. I'm really happy because we've barely seen him cry since he came home from the hospital! Ok I better shut up before I jinx it but he definitely has a great temperament.
So Wednesday (April 1st) is his 6-week check-up and also his first appt. to have vaccines. Not looking forward to that at all, but hopefully it will be quick and I can comfort him enough afterwards. I hate watching him feel uncomfortable and the few tests/blood work they did at the hospital was hard enough! I'm going to have to toughen up since this is just the beginning!

Oh before I forget, I figured out how to enable comments on my postings to non-members so you no longer have to be a blogger member to leave a comment on the posts!

Alright thats it for now, I think its about feeding time again. Enjoy the photos, I will try to put new pics up each week since he is growing so much and his face is constantly changing! Take care until next time...

photos!!!

hi everyone,

you have all been so patient waiting for photos! im sorry i have taken so long, its been a crazy wonderful (yet tiring) month :). John Joseph Riddell V arrived in mid Feb. and is doing wonderful!! He is now 5 weeks old (wow time flies!) and so sweet. Here are some photos, i will try to get as many uploaded as i can before he wakes up ;).

2 (about) weeks left!

Hey guys, So as it gets closer to the big day i find myself feeling more and more uncomfortable..hence why i havent been on here much -sorry about that! I'm glad I posted as much as I did at the beginning because its cool to look back on now. It seemed like time went by soooo slow then and now its like 'wait..im 38 weeks already!?' I have seen 3 friends have beautiful babies in recent months and each one gets me more excited to spend time with my own..I can't believe he is almost here! Anyway, hope everyone had a nice christmas and new years eve. Happy 2009! I leave you with a few belly photos that John took a couple days ago. See you again soon! xo.

Hi Everyone,

So its 2 days until Christmas and I am finally writing an update! First I would like to say congrats to Adrienne for having her baby..it looks like she is the first in the local baby boom. I now know of 7 other girls/women besides myself (and new mom Adrienne) that live in Half Moon Bay and are expecting in 2009! Crazy!

Second, sorry to those of you who actually check this thing as i think its been a couple months since I posted anything. I will try to give a good update without being too detailed. So much has happened but I don't want to bore you either! All I can say for sure is that I am 33 and a half weeks and baby boy is probably weighing about 4 lbs now. I've gained a total of about 25 lbs so far (2.5 of those in the last couple weeks!) but I haven't had any swelling yet and most of the weight seems to be in the belly (fine by me!).

Okay so since my last post... I started having heart palpitations (they also called it a flow murmur) which apparently is pretty common in pregnancies due to the major increase in blood volume. Basically, I was at work one day and started feeling these "thuds" in my chest. I felt my pulse and it seemed irregular, as if a beat was beaing skipped every few seconds. I made an appt. with my dr. immediately and she referred me to a cardiologist. So I went to see Dr. Millhouse in Daly City and he told me not to worry, that I had a flow murmur because my body was pumping a lot more blood than its used to and that when I felt the THUD it was my heart trying to beat again too quickly (before the excess blood had a chance to flow out from the last beat). Still, it was scary at first, I never thought I would be sitting in a cardiologist's office! To make sure it wasn't something more serious they did some blood tests, an exercise/stress test (they put a monitoring harness on you and have you go on the treadmill for an hour and a half at different speeds), and even had me wear a 24 hr. harness (which was a little uncomfortable to sleep in!).

Since the tests showed everything was "normal" he asked me to come in every 4 weeks (assuming nothing changed) and told me that I would probably stop feeling the palpitations in a few weeks after my body adjusted. Luckily he was right and they eventually went away after about a month, but i was so dizzy and short of breath at work when I could feel them that it made it almost impossible to finish my shifts. Ugh.

As I went into the beginning of the 3rd trimester, waitressing became harder and harder for me. I had planned on staying until tomorrow (Christmas Eve) because i thought tips right before the holidays would be best (especially with a belly finally showing!), but then i pinched my sciatic nerve and could barely walk. That did it, I told my dr. that I was having an even worse time working and she said that she didn't want me waitressing anymore. So my last day was the day before Thanksgiving. I filed my paperwork for disability and won't be going back until after the baby is born.

Last month also brought housing changes as we moved into a new place in Montara with John's friend Christina. I love the new house, its much more baby friendly then the last place and its nice having a home instead of just a room that John was renting (no matter how big its not quite enough for us and a baby!). I've got most of the nursery set up, although my decorating has been slow since my back is messed up. On "good" days I try to get as much done as I can but I have to be careful or I'll be paying for it the next day! : D

At the beginning of this month I had my first baby shower! John's mom and sisters threw it for me at his parent's place. I felt like royalty, they did such an amazing job. Got lots of fun and cute (and SOFT!) things for baby :D.

Alright, well I'm getting tired so time to go. I have some new pics but they're not on my camera so I have to wait for my friend to put them on a cd so I can post em. Until then,

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!!