Lots of pics!!

Ok I got the pics back. Here are a few of my favorites. Well actually they are all my favorites!!! How can I not love these?? Anyways, I hope you enjoy them.

These are a little older. We took them before Easter but because of computer problems I wasn't able to get them til now. And no, my hair isn't that red now!! But I do like it. :)

Our new family of 5!!

We are now the proud parents of 3!! Zachary Robert was born April 21, 2010 at 1:36 am, weighing in at 7lb 8 oz and 20.7 in long. He is doing great so far. He's actually on a pretty good schedule already. He may not be exactly consistent but he is very close to what he was when I was pregnant. It's so amazing that I already knew what his schedule would be before he was born.

I had a GREAT experience with this delivery. After having Ricky and Cynthia and getting epidurals with both of them I wanted to try something different and just see if I could do it by going natural. I never got to feel anything with them, heck I didn't even know when I was having a contraction because my epidurals were so good and heavy. So I decided a long time ago that I would do something different with my third, not knowing if it would be my last. Once I started working in Labor and Delivery it just reaffirmed my decision to try and go natural. I will be honest and say that I didn't make it all the way through the birth with no pain relief, but I did make it pretty close.

Months before getting pregnant I started talking to a friend at work, Melissa, about what I wanted and she was behind me the whole way encouraging me. We decided that she would be my nurse and help me get through it. So when I was admitted she came in and we went to work!! Without Melissa I never would have made it as far and as long as I did. She was so extremely patient with me. I will never forget one point where I was sitting up to get some epidural pain relief and she just looked at me and said "Jen! Focus, you can do it. You're doing great!" I immediately looked at her and calmed down from where I was. It was so incredible. She was great!! There is definitely something to be said about your nurse when you are going through something as wonderful as child birth.

So enough about that... Here are a couple of pics from right after delivery.

The next day Ricky and Cynthia came over to see us and meet their new brother. They have been very excited about baby Zach coming and just wanted to hold him. It was such a tear jerking experience to see how much they cared for him.

The next day when we were released from the hospital, my parents brought Ricky and Cynthia home after Rick and I got there with Zach. And yes, Zach did get his very own Diamondbacks outfit to come home in, continuing our D-backs theme in the family. (Remember our reception?? :) ) So all three kids have come home in their own D-backs clothes. So cool!!

Then Saturday we got a surprise phone call from Patti saying that she was in town and wanted to stop by and meet Zach too!! That was a great surprise since we don't see each other too often.

We just had gotten home from taking newborn pictures as well as all three together. So as soon as I get those back, I'll be posting those as well. (Thanks Krista!!)

Lots on my mind

So just to fill everyone in as to what is going on with me in the last few days I thought I'd update my blog.
Last week Thursday I went to a dermatologist to have a mole looked that which was on the side of my face by my ear. I assumed he would take it off and find out that there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. He mention that it could be a mole that appears during pregnancy or it could be melanoma. The doctor did mention about how depending on if it was melanoma and the severity of it what the next step was going to be. So I left the office not expecting to hear anything until late this week. Well Monday morning, today, the doctor calls me personally, which is Never a good sign, and tells me that I do have melanoma, it is very aggressive and the lab isn't sure that he got all of it. The lab says that it's 1.1mm deep and it's ulcerated. He is referring me to an ENT who specializes in throat and neck cancer. The next part that was concerning was that HE called the ENT and HE waited 25 minutes on hold to let them know he was sending me their way. So when I called and asked for a specific person and she told me she was waiting for me to call that alarmed me a little bit as well. Then, how many people can get into a specialists office quickly? Well I'm going on Wednesday!! So all of these things are adding up to not good information in my mind.

So now I'm looking at having more of my face removed to make sure they got everything where the mole was as well as a lymph node mapping to see if the cancer has spread anywhere else. I'm not sure when this is going to happen. All I know is that the best case for me right now is that they can get everything and it does not involve any nodes. The more nodes that it does involve the worse it is for me and the higher the risk that the cancer is in another body system. Unfortunately this age of computers and internet has its disadvantages. Instead of just talking to the doctors finding out things and asking questions, as I wait to go to my appointment, I'm looking up everything I can find about melanoma and the treatments, as well as the prognosis for all of it.

Obviously there is never good timing for things like this but in my case I'm 31 weeks pregnant and I'm scheduled to take a very important test next week which will need my full attention. Unfortunately this test as well as this melanoma will determine my future and what that holds. I do realize that melanoma is not necessarily the worst cancer you can have and maybe I'm blowing this all out of proportion but the signs all have been pointing in a negative direction so far.

Well I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens on Wednesday and go from there. Thanks in advance for keeping me and my family in your prayers and I'll be sure to update as things change and new information comes.