A BIG congratulations to WryGuy and his wife Sparks! They’re expecting a baby next year. You can go to his site and check out the sonogram pictures.

I tell you, everywhere I turn it seems someone is pregnant. The last time this happened I was pregnant. I kid you not. For some reason, when you’re preggo, you tend to notice ALL the other preggos out there.

I remember when I was pregnant for the first time. I found out I was pregnant with Christopher in late June of 1986. I was 20 years old. I was in the Air National Guard getting ready to leave for my two weeks active duty on the Big Island. I had my ultrasound on September 5th. I remember I had a first year resident doing the ultrasound. She told me I was having a GIRL … HAH! She kept insisting that the “penis” was the umbilical cord wrapped between the legs. Terrific … I kinda wanted a girl first although any sex was perfectly fine. So, with my husband being a licensed painter, he painted the baby’s room a light pink. I bought a whole bunch of pink accessories, clothes, diapers … I believe that year was the first year they brought out the colored diapers … pink for girls, blue for boys. I ate right, I exercised like it was a religion, and I made sure I looked exceptional when I left the house. I was extremely proud to pregnant. I never broke out with acne, in fact, my complexion was the best it ever was … and I rarely broke out in my teens.
My due date was January 25, 1987. Nothing happened on that day. MY doc said not to worry because I had up to two weeks to deliver on my own. The evening of February 1st I started having contractions. They were about 15 minutes apart. I was told only to come in when they got 5 minutes apart … since it was my first. The contractions died about 2 hours later. They started up again the next night about a half an hour into sleep. That was a nice awakening … NOT! This time around I had to go in because my mucus plug discharged and the contractions were 10 minutes apart. This was around 9pm. I’ll cut to the chase and skip the boring part. My contractions were 5 minutes apart all through the night but I was only dilated at 2 centimeters. They sort of hinted that if I didn’t progress, I would be induced. So, they gave me some Demerol to help me sleep because I was in a lot of pain and they wanted me to get my strength. 2 hours after taking the Demerol, the games began. This was at 7:45am. I was still stuck at 2cm. They induced my labor at 11am and all hell broke loose. The contractions came right after the other with no breaks in between. My friend Mary came to visit and she said she could hear me screaming as she got out of the elevator … and the elevator was a nice walk from my room. A nurse had to come in to help me breathe because she said I was scaring the two other women in labor next door to me. With Mary’s help, I was able to control my breathing, but that didn’t last long. Within half an hour I was screaming obscenities. I remember asking my husband for something, and he came back with something else. I called him some godforsaken name and kicked him out of the room. Another nurse came in later and was telling me how to breathe. I was later told (cause to this day I STILL don’t remember) that I asked this nurse if she was ever in labor and she said no. I then proceeded to slap her in the face and I told her to get the fuck out … hahaha … sounds like something I would have done. After being induced for 4 hours, I only dilated to 5cm. I was begging for a c-section an hour earlier. I got my wish. At 2pm they said I needed a c-section because my pelvis could not accommodate the baby’s passing. At 2:50pm, February 3, 1987 I gave birth to a bouncing baby girl. Hell no … it was announced that I gave birth to a boy! I passed out as soon as I heard what I had. I woke up 4 hours later with my mother, brother, Mary, Malia, and a nurse telling me if it was ok to let the husband in … I was laughing. Within 10 minutes they asked if I was ready to feed my baby. I said sure and they brought him in. I refused to feed him at first because I was arguing that I had a girl. The nurse said no, I had a boy. Finally I came to except that I had a boy and proceeded to feed him. Christopher James Alesna was 8lbs 6oz and was 21 inches in length.

I found out I was pregnant with Sianna in late June in 1990. I was going through so much this time around (a pending divorce, and issues with my boyfriend) that I hated being pregnant. I didn’t care what I looked like … I wore no makeup, my hair was always in a ponytail, and I continuously broke out with acne. The original due date was for her was January 29. I know what you’re thinking … and yes, I pretty much ovulate the same time every year. When I took my first ultrasound, it showed that she was too small to have an early due date. They took measurements and whatever it is that they do, and came up with a new due date of February 14. I remember taking a 2nd ultrasound and both times they could not tell what I was having … even while she was in my womb, she was hardheaded. On the morning of February 1st, 1991, I started bleeding. I called my doctor’s nurse and she said to come in anyway, even though I had no contraction, just for observation. Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention that when I was two months pregnant, I almost lost her. I was at work and I fell in the refrig walk-in … I fell on salad dressing that someone forgot to clean up. I was in there for 45 minutes before a cook found me. Back to the story, I called my mom because I didn’t want to drive in case something happened. So, she picked me up and we left for the hospital. This was about 9:30 in the morning. After they hooked me up on the fetal monitor, it showed I was having contraction 3-5 minutes apart. That was news to me since I couldn’t feel anything. Long story short, since I had eaten before I came in (juice and crackers), I had to wait 8 hours before they could operate. Sianna Brieann Kauilani Mangus (she took my maiden name)was born at 3pm that day. She was a whopping 8lbs 2oz, and was 18 ¾ inches. She had a set of lungs on her, let me tell you … she STILL does to this day.

So there you have it … the story of how the kids came to be. Sorry it was so long, but I like reminiscing about them.

A few advises for WryGuy and Sparks … take a lot of pictures … and when you think you took enough, take some more. They change in appearance everyday. On potty training – you HAVE to be consistent! This next thing sounds gross, and I couldn’t believe it when the pediatrician told me this, but when you see the baby picking up small things from the floor and putting it in their mouth, be reasonable of course, but let them. They will build immunity to germs that way. Sensible things … of course you’re not going to let a bug in their mouth, or sharp objects. Lately, I’ve been hearing this a lot so I know the doc was not a quack. Good luck and once again, congrats!

Keep enjoying your weekend …

Hapa

So, blogger was down the past 24 hours or so. That was a bitch.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, I surely did. John spoiled the kids and me. The kids left Christmas morning and won’t be back until next year … my home is eerily quiet now. Looking back to when the kids were younger, all I looked forward to, without sounding mean or anything, was when they got older and was gone for than a weekend at a time … quality time for myself. Now that it is happening on a more frequent basis, I am bored as shit. Sure, I get my quality quiet time, but there’s only so much things one can do while they are alone. John has been spending more time at his boat getting it ready for New Years Eve. I have already taken the Christmas stuff down, took out the tree, and cleaned like I have never cleaned before. I think I’ll wait until next week to do the returning of the gift thing.

May I never see any baking ingredients for a long time. I have no choice in the matter. As of a few minutes ago, I have a few orders for Monday night’s festivities. I have several cheesecakes to make as well as a small catering gig. Doesn’t hurt to make a few extra bucks when you can.

The kids just dropped by to pick up some clothes. Looks like they’re having fun at Chris’ dad’s place.

Over the years I have become pretty good at swallowing my pride and making amends with people I have lost contact with. Last night I added another name to that list. I’m not sure as to what happened, all I know is that a little over three years ago I get an e-mail from this person blasting me for something I was not aware of doing. He then cancels his AOL account so there was no way of responding to him. For me, I need closure of some sort. I was not able to do any of that and it has bothered me over the years. I was fortunate to come across his new screen name and I got to write that response, with a few other choice words and well wishes, and got my closure. I told him that I would still like to stay friends, and that I would leave it up to him. He’s read the e-mail, with no response, so I’m taking that as a no. No loss to me. I know I didn’t do anything wrong. He blew a comment I made out of proportion and never gave me the chance to explain, rather clarify, what I meant. He chose to take the childish way out, like a kid having a temper tantrum. Who cares, all that matters is that I got to say my peace. End of story.

I was going to head out to the North Shore … they got waves of at least 15-20 feet. I woke up late and decided that I wouldn’t have enough time to enjoy myself out there. The drive there from my place would have been about 45 minutes to an hour. Times that by two and that’s almost two hours of driving. I have to be at work by 5pm. I like to relax for an hour or two before I leave for work, so I would have been rushing. I don’t particularly like to rush. It’s still early in the big surf season, I’ll just head out there on a day I have off from work.

I got a meal to plan, so I’ll end here. Have a great weekend!

Hapa

Mele Kalikimaka!

Aloha,

Hapa