Our trip to the hospital...for Matt that is.

Hey everyone,

So almost one week ago, back on September 21st, I was at work and started feeling some pains in my stomach. I know, I know, many fathers-to-be experience sympathy pains and it's completely natural but what I was feeling was not natural at all. After dealing with the pain all day on Monday I figured it would just go away with a good night sleep and some much needed rest. But when I woke up on Tuesday morning and it didn't get any better, I knew something was up. For those of you who know me well, you know that I'm not one to make a doctors appointment very easily but for some reason this day was different. When I was a kid, I swore that I had Appendicitis and my dad rushed me to the Urgent Care only for the pain to go away as soon as we got into the parking lot. So with that thought in my head, I went online on Tuesday morning and typed in "where is your appendix located?" into the search term. When the search results came back and said that the Appendix is located in your lower right abdomen, my heart kind of dropped because that is exactly where the pain that I had been experiencing was located.
With that, I made a doctors appointment immediately. When the doctor told me that I needed to go to the ER right away because he couldn't accurately diagnose my condition I was immediately worried.

So with that news, I headed to the emergency room and called Gemma to let her know. She was obviously very concerned and went to meet me at the hospital. It was a typical ER experience, a lot of waiting to even get into the hospital and then when my name was called they hooked me up to an IV and put us on a stretcher in the middle of the ER, not a great spot to be located as we were pretty much in the heart of all of the traffic. I thought that I would go in and they would be able to let me know what was going on immediately but I found out that I would have to drink a Crystal Light type mixture so that they could do the CT Scan. The only problem was that I was only allowed to drink one cup every 20 minutes and I had to drink about half a gallon, or at least it seemed that way. After about 2 hours, I finally was able to get the CT Scan done and after another hour of waiting, 5 hours in total at that point, the doctor came over to me and said, "yep, it's definitely appedicitis and we're going to have to get that thing out tonight." At that point, a part of me was relieved that it wasn't something more serious, but the other part of me was extremely nervous knowing that I would need surgery immediately.

They finally put us in a room in the ER and said that they would try and work me into the operating room schedule that evening but it would probably be a couple of hours. With that, Gemma asked the doctor if it was okay to go home and pick up some of my stuff and to take the dog out and the doctor said that she would have plenty of time. Yet, after she was gone for 15 minutes, one of the doctors came into my room and said okay it's time to go, we have an operating room ready to go. Of course, I was not happy at all because I really wanted to be with Gemma before I had to go into surgery. So I called Gemma to let her know, told her I loved her and did the the best job of stalling I could. They took me up to the operating floor and I spoke to the anesthesiologist and about 20 minutes later I asked what the deal was and if we were going to get this show on the road and the nurses said that they were waiting for my wife because I told them she was on her way back. So I bbm'ed Gemma and she was just outside the operating hallway, she was able to come in and that made all the difference in the world. It felt so good to be able to see her before I went under and I'm so happy I stalled and the nurses were so understanding. What came next wasn't my favorite but I don't remember a ton. I remember getting wheeled through the operating hallway and into the room, I scooting onto the operating table and they strapped my arms and legs down and put about 20 warm blankets all over me. They put a mask on my face and told me that it was oxygen and to breath deeply but there was no way that was exygen. The last thing I remember was telling them that I was still awake and then I was out.

When I woke up, I was in recovery and Gemma was there, I don't remember much of that conversation except she said I was officially drugged up and said some pretty hilarious things. From recovery, they took me up to my room and I went to bed for the night. Gemma came to see me in the morning and after a rough morning of pain and pain killers, I was able to leave the hospital around midday the next day. It's been about a week and the pain is getting better and I'm feeling stronger everyday but it definitely was a pretty tramatic experience. The good news is that it's over and it's taken care of.

So that's the long, drawn out story of why we made a trip to the hospital last week but not for the reason that everyone expected:) I just wanted to say thank you and I love you to my wife for being so supportive and so calm during the entire ordeal, she was by far the calm one out of the two of us and her strength really helped me get through the whole ordeal. Well I'm sorry for the novel of a blog but there was a lot to explain and it was a crazy situation. Hopefully the next time we make a trip to the hospital it's for a much more amazing reason:) Talk to you everyone soon.

Matt

Who's nose does he have? - 33 weeks

I think all signs point to the Filipino side of the family :)

We had an ultra sound at our 30 week mark and so far, all looks well. He was being very stubborn and shy with his arm covering his face - and had hiccups during our session. The good news is that he is facing the right direction - head down, back is lining up toward my left side and legs are projecting towards my right - thus the constant kicks and discomfort on my right side.

At the time of the ultra sound, Baby Boy Cox weighted 3 lbs 15 oz....which the doctor projected we were on track to have an 8 pounder at the time of 40 weeks! Holy smokes! Of course, I discussed with Dr. Walden my concerns of birthing an 8 pound baby - but we agreed that as we get closer to the time of delivery, if she finds that he continues to grow at this pace, we can discuss my options.

Matt and I started our birthing classes early this week and let's just say that it freaked me out..A LOT! They showed us a birthing video of 3 live births. To say the least, my reaction was jaw dropping - while another women was laughing hysterically in one corner and another preggo (due to deliver in 3 weeks) was bawling...at least I am proud to say I wasn't the one crying.

7 more weeks to go....and No, names have yet to be determined.

26 1/2 Weeks

It's been a while... however, nothing really new to report on the baby front aside from stronger and bigger kicks. The belly has grown significantly since the last blog and the clothes have become very limiting. Mornings are a struggle and playing the "what fits today?" game has been a blow to the ego .

I must say the baby boy has been quite a traveler (this explains why we have been missing in action). Matt and I went to Palm Springs for our three year wedding anniversary and it was a scorching 120 degrees. Fortunately wading in the pool, coupled w/ my virgin miami vice and rocking my Liz Lange swim suit, kept the body temps manageable.

Last weekend we drove up to Monterey in honor of grandpa- to- be's milestone 60 years. A perfect weekend getaway full of family times, good food, golf & spa. Looking forward to a year from now where the baby will have the opportunity to watch Tiger Woods on daddy's shoulders at the US Open in Pebble Beach.

Tomorrow...we head to the Big Apple for my last market trip before the baby is born.

This boy is a kicker...23 weeks and growing

So over the past 4-5 weeks, the baby has started to kick, punch, squirm, and do all of the other funny things that babies do when they're hanging out in their mommy's belly. Well for the first couple of weeks, he either was getting bashful when I was around or I just couldn't pinpoint the feeling because I didn't feel him kicking.

However, over the past week I've started talking to him more and more often. I would talk about anything such as sports and how I think Ron Artest is going to ruin the Lakers...yay!!! and how Andy Roddick played the match of his life against Roger Federer and still lost, or I would read to him from the 45 baby books that currently reside at the Cox home, or I would talk to him about his crazy future big brother.

In any event, as soon as I started talking to him more and more, he started kicking like crazy and I was able to really feel it. It was the coolest feeling in the world...and then last night I was talking to him and I put my hand on Gem's belly and said "give me a kick little man" and the second after I said it, he kicked my hand...it was awesome. Anyway it's been really amazing feeling him grow and seeing Gem's belly grow.

And without further adieu, please see the first baby kick video, look to the left of Gemma's belly button, it happens quick...

The Name Game - 21 weeks

Coming up with boy names has been quite challenging.  We had a list of girl names ready to go - Ella (a combination of our mother's names) being our #1, followed by Sophia and Olivia. However, the boy names have not come easy.  

Our challenge stems from finding the right name that goes with 'Cox' as well as eliminating any chance of grade school teasing. For example, Harry Cox or Tanner Cox (I'll stop there to keep this G rated), but if you really think about this, the list is endless.

Anyhow, we do have a couple of names in mind, and will probably determine which name to go with once we meet him.  However, we are always open to feedback!

In the meantime, my 20-21 weeks have been pretty amazing. The baby's kicks and punches have been more frequent and pronounced. He's growing quickly and the bump is getting bigger and bigger by the day.  My pre-pregnant, deep innie belly button is right on the cusp of popping out. Dressing in the morning has been quite a challenge as some things just don't fit like they used to, and jean options are getting narrower by the week. Overall, I am happy to say that I have passed the half way mark - and we are elated to start the nursery decorating!

  

It's a...

So Gemma and I went to the Doctor's office yesterday to get the 2nd trimester screening and also where we were going to hopefully find out the sex of the baby if it cooperated. After getting there 25 minutes early, as usual for us:), we were in the waiting room for maybe 3 minutes when they called us in and we went into the exam room. Within another 2 minutes, the Doctor was there and we were off, the ultrasound was going and we were looking at the little one again. It was so amazing to see the growth spurt in just under 2 months since the last time we were at the Doctor. And then it happened, the Dr. looked at the screen and said that we were having a baby BOY:) It was such a surreal feeling because you wait to here those three little words but you completely underestimate the feeling and emotions you experience when you find out. More importantly, all of the measurements and pictures looked beautiful and as you can see from the picture of the little man up above, he's got a pretty good looking little right hand:) Gemma and I are so excited and want to thank everyone for all of the prayers and support. Although she's going to be outnumbered 3 to 1 in the Cox household now there's really nothing like the love between a baby boy and his mommy, believe me I've seen it with the mama's boy that is our beast Yorkie. So now it's time for the fun part, the shopping, the painting, the baby proofing, the registering, the teaching our dog how to not attack small plush animals or babies, the classes, and most importantly...what we're going to call this little man. I've been getting requests from many and there's a lot of great choices so stay tuned for the naming news coming shortly hopefully:)

19 1/2 weeks

On occasion, I can feel very faint taps from the baby. Especially after big and hearty meals, it feels like a goldfish is swimming in my belly...it's unreal! Unfortunately, Matt has yet to feel the baby kick - but I am really hoping in the next couple of weeks he will be able to feel 'TBD' Cox.  Speaking of which, we are scheduled for our 20 week ultrasound this week and hope to finally find what the sex of the baby is. I just pray and keep my fingers crossed for signs of good health. More to come later.....