Name Saga Continues

Isabel ( I put meaning up below)
Madeleine -
Madeleine - Origin and Meaning
Madeleine means from Magdala, "from strong tower" - like Mary Magdalene

Isabel Joel/Joelle
Isabel, -
Isabel - Origin and Meaning )
Joel -
Joel - Origin and Meaning

I don't mind a boy's name. Micah has a boy's name and Elisha (Gabi's middle name is a boy's name too).

Tawk amongst yourselves! Micah had moved on from Isabella to Lulu! Something she saw on TV. Rudy, Sam and I both preferred Isabel to Isabella.

Isabel(la) Madeleine?

Still stuck.

Feel Free to go into Labor Anytime. . .

is what the Dr. said.

I'll be 37 weeks on Monday. He doesn't feel the need to have to induce. Baby is not quite as big (still over 50%ile, but not at 90%ile, last weeks ultrasound) as thought to be. So just going to wait until she comes on her own. But will induce at 39 weeks because after that, she'll be estimated to be over 9 lbs.

I was 3 cm dilated 60% effaced on Fri, baby not very low. Could be this week, could be later. Never know. Going to read up. Halfway got my bag ready. Certainly my cord blood collection kit. (Because of Sam, there is a free sibling cord blood donor program that we get to be apart of with Via Cord. Please contact me, if you want to know more about this, or knows someone who needs it. After 5 years, we pay the storage fee, but collection, set up and storage for 1st 5 years are free. We were able to collect for the other 2 and now 4th Carrasco).

I hope I can get some of my family here in time. Now that I'm just a 2.5 hour plane ride away, I hope it is not so much trouble. Most of my team missed Gabi, with her being 3 weeks early and coming so quickly (4 hours), I hope they can reunite for one last community delivery. Been having some contactions this evening and night. Not regular, but certainly noticable.

Names

Florence told me take each name to the Lord. Well feeling strongly about the pattern we started with the children, First name, meaning something, giving honor to God, and a prophet name, that also has a positive meaning. Some of the biblical names- the characters are great, but actual meaning is "off"/

So at this point, Isabel(la) Madeleine is a choice. Sounds great together is Zoe Lisette, but doesn't quite go with the pattern.

Go to dr tomorrow. Another ultrasound, plans for amnio- been having contractions all week, not major long ones, but intense ones right at bottom of uterus, not the top. Those are the serious ones to me. So we'll see tomorrow.

Pray for Shelby

Shelby Perkins, whom many of you know, has had sickle cell. She has been extremely lucky where in all her 11 years, has never had a major sickling crisis. This week, I found out from Karyn, that they have been in urgent care numerous times and Shelby has been unable to go to school due to her sickle cell crisis. Karyn has been working with the school nurse as well as the doctors to help Shelby manage this. They also think there's some issue with the kidneys or gall bladder (not sure if related or not). I read alot about this when Shelby was born, but did not stay informed becasue she never had any issues. So I am behind and need to reeducate myself. But please pray for her and her family.

While you are praying, remember to check out caring bridge for Isaiah Medrano, another baby that needs intercession. ( I think his web site is to the right on this blog.)

But It's a Dry Heat in CA (the Cliche)

And it's true! I'd take 102 in CA with a fan than mid-80s with humidity in MI! It's that bad.

We rarely ran our air at night in CA, even when it was still in the 90s at night and it was cooler than it is now. It has rained and cooled off some. But with hormones and pregnancy, even thing I do, ends in me dripping in sweat (even laying still with the fan on high, right one me).

It's supposed to cool off and have lower humidity tonight and tomorrow. Can't wait.

Hot in MI????

It finally got hot here, if you can imagine it. It's high 80s and humid. For some strange reason most of the windows down stairs are painted or kept shut, so it's hard to get a breeze going. Upstairs we have most of the windows open, and put the fans on. I see why people have air conditioning here. But it's not too bad. We've been hot before (we rarely run our air at night in CA, even on those hot hot nights).

It's supposed to cool down tremendously next week.

A nightime visitor

Well Gabi has been waking up and walking into our room at night. She's only 19 mos. Our other two never did that until 3 years old. They all were in beds and waited for us to come and get them. But this is the 3rd night (we've been here for 4) and each night, Rudy tries to put her back to sleep but she refuses and then ends up in the bed with us to wake up with us. When we try to put her back in her bed after she falls asleep, she has a sensor and wakes up to fuss again. Being 9 mos preg with 3 children is not conducive to breaking this pattern. I can't really pick up up and put her to sleep, so it's up to Rudy, who has to do a lot of extra chores and work with the children anyway.

We'll see how this turns out.

Will Baby #4 show soon?

Well I woke u at 3:30 am this morning in the mood to clean. Baby's room is NOT together. I moved furniture, organized clothes and diapers (thanks, Sis. Kaia) and unpacked some things we purchased earlier that day from Babies 'R Us. Woke up and started cleaning the bathroom. Didi the kitchen after the Farmer's market. It might mean a baby. But also I am an orderly nut and having the kids here have added lots of clutter, plus the stuff I never really found a place for yet. We are needing some other pieces of furniture (not everything made it to GR) to help organize, but have no funds for that. So am trying to find places for everything, get ready for baby, school for kids, and pack for the hospital, in case that is imminent. But I've certainly had spurts of serious energy!

We'll see if it's a baby or just me :)

It's been a while

Well, we made it to NY in one piece and back. It's a 17 hour drive (both ways!) Don't plan on doing that again. Pray we can afford 2.5 hour plane tickets!

Anyway, kids did great on the trip, it just got very long.

Ears are OK, half way through the trip, the other ear started aching, so I just diagnosed myself and gave myself the same ear drops.

Baby is growing. Having contractions. If I'm not induced by the end of August, I'm sure I will deliver by the end of August. Having on-going contractions. Starting to feel like the the last week before Gabi was born. So we will see. Dr will do another ultrasound next week to see size and rate of baby's growth, schedule amnio for lung development and then induce by 37 weeks if all is good.

SOOOOO, lots of work to still do in house to prepare and A NAME TO CHOOSE! We are starting form scratch. I like Isabel(la), but don't LOVE it.

Kids are adjusting well. My energy is just waining so there is not much right now I can do with them. I just save my energy for getting them up and dressed, doing a bit of house work, and getting them fed and cleaned during the day and at night. Rudy does help out, but he is focusing on the job stuff and is limited at times. So Sam has been a tremendous help in making sure no one is getting into anything unsafe.

Emergency Room Again!

Well, I was back this week in the ER. I had an excruciating pain in my ear Monday and Tuesday night was the worst. I don't have a primary physician yet. I wanted to try to convince my OB to take a look, but then decided against it. What if it needed draining or something? Would the nurses know how to do that?

So then I was going to urgent care. In CA, Urgent care is open all evening and night so you don't clog up emergency. Well here, urgent is open during the day. So I was waiting until 8am. I was tired and cranky. I hadn't been able to sleep more than 45 min at a time, and only on the left side, and my right ear was in pain, when I laid on the right. Come to find out, the urgent cares are all far away and I guess ar for people not near the hospital. So I went to emergency (again).

Turns out I have an outer ear infection. It hurts. There is an abcess, too. They didn't think they needed to drain it, but gave me liquid antibiotics to put on the site and some stuff that numbs the ear (yeah!). That with Tylenol does the trick.

The great thing, was that within 3 minutes in Emergency, I had been placed in a room, and within another 40 minutes, had seen the nurse, the resident, and the attending and had gotten my numbing medicine - Never in LA (even in a small hospital like my, favorite, Verdugo Hills)!
I ended up waiting for the antibiotics. So in all, I spent about 2.5 hours there. It was one of the best hospital visits ever, just because of the efficiency.

In any event, I laid down mid-day and got some great sleep and pain was gone. Woke up energetic and finished a lot of work at the house. I even made homemade pesto: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/print/001570.html.

We are leaving in the early AM to NY (driving) to spend a few days and pick up the children.

Keith is almost here from his eventful car dive from LA and he will drive with us in the van to NY.

Always Something!

So Keith got the brakes fixed for about $400 something. Then while still in CO, the brake lights are not working. It is dangerous anyway, but he was definitely planning to drive late into the night. So, he had to stop and get a mechanic to take a look at that. Thankfully, wasn't a big prob, and easy cheap fix. He is is Nebraska somewhere about now.

Keith is Awesome!

The mechanic is fixing it for about $500! Great going! He is leaving this afternoon and if he pushes, will be in GR Wed morning. But I said no rush. We are leaving for NY on Thurs AM early. Rudy has some great work leads/proposals, etc. that came up today. We'll spend tomorrow finishing a few things to ready the house for the children, then we'll head out to NYC on Thurs.

Car Update

Well, the Cadillac dealer wants $1300 to fix the car's breaks. We balked at that, even thought of selling it to the dealer at that point. Keith, who is awesome, was calling around to other shops and found a guy down the street who used to be a mechanic at the Cadillac dealer who would do the work and guarantee it for $800. Keith is spending another night in Denver. They are fixing the car and the rest of the drive should be fine. Lots of flat land.

Grateful for big box stores that put everyone out of business (i.e. Walmart)!

Grateful for Walmart. We are between insurances, not quite sure what will happen with that and Rudy needs his diabetes medication. We cannot afford to pay regular costs for that. In comes Walmart and their $4 prescriptions. His medication is available in the generic for $4 each, $8. In light of the Cadillac breaking down, the van needing brakes, and still no work for Rudy, we can afford that!

Thanks Walmart!

One Wild Ride (maybe not)

As you may know, our friend, Keith Lee (and Rudy's former assistant) is driving the Cadillac from Pasadena to MI. All was going well, until just outside of Denver, when the breaks go out and Keith could not stop the car. In order to stop, he had to pull the emergency break! Very scary! Praise God, Keith was not hurt in anyway!

My guess is all that Rocky mountain driving was just too much for that 20 yr old car. In any event, the breaks are out. Keith finally got towed to a Cadillac dealer (to make sure he wasn't stuck in a small town, waiting on the part) last night. Not sure exactly what is happening next, but hopefully, the mechanic can look at it, fix it (inexpensively) and send him on his way. Denver is about 1/2 way to MI.

As this is extremely unexpected, please continue to pray about our finances. We've already had to leave behind furniture (if you remember, most of our stuff got here, but not everything, and some were necessities, like the kids' mattresses). We were hoping to just rent a small trailer and hitch it too the Caddy and bring the last items from Pasadena. Well that was turning out to be a major unaffordable expense. So now, we just have to purchase some necessary items (been looking on Craig's list).

And we have to get the van fixed for a 12 hour drive to NY on Wed to pick up the kids! Now I see why some people rely only on public transpo!

All in all, in hind sight, and in reading all the blogs and info about moving cross-country, most people say it is best the just sell what you have and figure out how to purchase it when you get to your new city. So this would have been a nightmare for us either way!

#4

Here is the update for #4 (see name poll on the side).

It is definitely a girl! Rudy and Sam were both hoping there was an error and they would find out this was a boy. No such luck, guys.

She is very cute. They took lots of face photos. She reminds me of Sam when he was a baby. I am 34 weeks (just about), but she is measuring at 36 weeks+. She is already about 6 lbs. I will be closely monitored so that she doesn't get too big and get her shoulder stuck (which is what happened with Sam). That is dangerous because you can contract around the neck and kill the baby. So when that happened with Sam (who was 9lbs. 13 oz, 23 in long), the nurse had to jump on the table and push on my belly and Sam slid out. But I remember the doctor saying, "Get this baby out now!)

So, my next visit will prob be another ultrasound (more insurance issues) and an amniosentisis to check the development of the lungs. If the lungs are developed and baby is big (she is already), the doctor will induce me early. If I go into early labor, that's fine too.

The doctor did clear me to drive to NY and pick up Sam, Micah, and Gabi, who have been with their grandparents, aunites, and uncles since beg. of July. So when Keith get's here, Keith, Rudy, and I will drive (well, I will be the passenger, no driving for me) to NY, about 12 hours away.

We are testing out how easy it will be for us to get back and forth to our family, now that we are all in the same time zone!

Prayer Requests

Please keep these prayer concerns / requests in mind:

1) My health insurance: I had to go to the emergency room on Tuesday. Rudy had to spend his birthday with me in the observation room in Labor and Delivery. I had not been feeling well all day. I felt extremely faint at one point, and took a long nap. When I woke up, I was covered is sweat (even though I sleep with the fan going). I took a temperature, it was 101.2. The doctor told me to come in and get observed. I thought that was a great idea. When I delivered Gabi and entered the hospital for check in, the nurse asked me "how long did I this have a fever?" Imagine my surprise. They gave me tylenol, but no blankets or water, only IV and ice chip because I was in active labor. So I had to deliver with a fever. Gabi came out with an elevated temp as well. They had to monitor her.

Anyhow, I was concerned this time too. But all is good. After about 3 hours, they could not find anything. No major contractions. No nothing. So I went home. I technically do not have insurance right now. I am trying to deal with COBRA and make sure it is funded. Please pray for both of those.

I have always (since Sam was sick) understood how good insurance has become a luxury in the USA. Not making a political statement, but it is a moral shame for people to go with out and try to figure out how they will get basic services. We have failed in this regard to be righteous toward the poor and working people. I hope the Gov't and Insurance giants, remedy this very soon! (No political comments allowed!)

2) Please check out the link for Caring Bridge for Isaiah Medrano. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/isaiahmedrano
He is a friends infant who has been through some major health challenges already in his young life. He's not yet one year old. Join us in praying for him and his family.

3) Keith Lee is bringing our car out from LA to Grand Rapids. He sent me this great schedule. He is awesome! He used to be Rudy's executive assistant ans was very good at it. So I should not be surprised with his organizational skills. But he will be driving by himself and a few of the legs seem long to me. Pray for his safety.