Baby Travis during his Initial Exam.

This is Baby Travis at 25-30 minutes year old looking around and wondering what the heck is going on.

This is Baby Travis at San Diego Childrens Hospital

I got to spend some time with Travis tonight after leaving Nicole. Wanted to post some video and pictures, before going to sleep. He is real strong and will need to be to get through his first surgery.

Baby Steps...

Nicole was able to get her epidural in at 12:07. Dr. Lathon was so very patient with her. He almost gave up (He dropped a Damn when he didn't get it), but he seemed determined to get it. After the hour it took to get it in, I saw Nicole cry good tears for the first time in quite a while. Finally something positive in this pregnancy.

Also, Nicole's water broke at 9:45 p.m. naturally.

Let's go Travis...

This is way too much fun..

...finally got some internet access here and thought I would send an update. After 30 hours in the hospital and six rounds of cervadil we still have not much to report. Around 5:45 they are going to start me on the pitocin. I am nervous about that because the anesthesiologist still isn't sure whether an epidural will work for my spine or not. Due to my spinal fushions, they only have two spaces on my spine that they can place an epidural and they are small spaces. It makes me really nervous because I know how hard pitocin can make the pain. I am getting more nervous and frustrated as the hours tick by. I want to get up and walk around but they want Travis to be continually monitored. Therefore, my time is spent flipping left to right and the most exciting part is getting up to walk to the restroom. Plus, they aren't feeding me and I'm starving. At this point, we're thinking Travis will have a birthday sometime on the 23rd. Hopefully early on the 23rd. Continue to pray for us and pray that the epidural will be successful...I'm pretty sure I'm a wimp.

It's all up to Travis.

We went in for an appointment today and my water level was low. They are inducing me today. Scary! Weren't ready for this.

Anxiety

5 days and counting until Travis is here with us. That alone is enough stress for me. Now, add that to the fact that our little newborn son will have a complex heart surgery on the 29th and then you can get the idea of the anxiety I have right now.

I am off from work this week and taking this time to get things ready for our journey ahead of us. Getting bills paid, chores done, things ready for a long hospital stay followed by a newborn coming home. It has been nice to nap at any time I want....however, It is NOT releasing any anxiety I have. I just can't get my body to relax and give it over to God. I am so scared. My fears are overwhelming. So many unknowns...

We have another appointment tomorrow with Dr. Piacquadio. She'll check me to see if I have had any progress towards labor and we'll go over the game plan for Sunday. I'll update tomorrow night.

Today was a Good Day....

We had another appointment with our perinatologist Dr. Paquiado. She was once again very patient and informative with us. She checked the water level inside the uterus and it was fine. She also moved up the induction date to Sunday October 25th in the morning.

Dr. Paquiado then measured the baby to see how much he approximately weighs and we got a shocker. According to her measurement he is now weighing in at 7 lbs 8 oz. He was just 6 lbs 14 oz. last Thursday. He is already a big boy and perfectly healthy and happy inside Nicole.

Dr. Paquiado also talked to the anesthesiologist about the epidural for Nicole (Nicole had spinal fusion as a teen) and it sounds like there is a great chance he will be able to give her one. Thank goodness. Let us pray that she can have one, because she will be under enough stress during this process.

The highlight of the appointment is that you could see Travis practicing breathing. You could see his chest shrink and expand. It was amazing.....He is almost ready to come on out.

The best news of the day was that we talked to Dr. Lamberti's secretary today and they have blocked out the day of the 29th for Travis' first surgery. This allows us to have both heart surgeons, Dr. Lamberti and Dr. Pastusko in town at the same time. We really feel like these our the two best people to work with Travis' heart regardless of his official diagnosis.

All of the planning for surgery is up to Travis. He has to be stable and healthy enough to go through these procedures.

The plan is starting to come along and it is both very exciting and scary at the same time.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers....