The last post before I will have no time to post...

1 day...Megan will be induced tomorrow.


Yep, the big day is basically here. We will be heading to the doctors and then the Hospital shortly after that. I feel as if this entire pregnancy has been a pretty long process. I know it has felt longer to Megan. During this process we have been through many up's and downs. Not between Megan and I but just life situations. Nothing horrible, some bad stuff that was tough to get through but, we did, and we did it with flying colors. My only hope right now is for the entire delivery/birth process to go smooth. I think Megan really deserves that. Her entire pregnancy has not been a story book one to say the least. As a husband I really pray that this part of the pregnancy ends in an amazing manner and almost brag worthy. I really do think that it will happen, we are in one of the best hospitals in the country, Megan and the baby are healthy and I believe in my heart everything will go fine. You hear about people having kids all the time and I have always wished them well. I never really thought about what the parents go through the night before or during delivery. I now know. I am sure this is just one of many new understandings I will now know as I become a new parent.

THE 3 MOST ANNOYING THINGS I HEARD WHEN I TOLD PEOPLE MEGAN WAS PREGNANT THAT I WILL BE VERY HAPPY TO NOT HEAR EVER AGAIN.

3. " Man your Life is going to change forever, enjoy your life now while you can!" (annoying laugh and slap on the back)

Yes, I understand my life is going to change. But, do you actually think I am hitting the clubs and showing love right now? No, I am a homebody and so is my wife who looks forward to having our baby sit in the lamb swing as we watch Netflix for hours. I think my club days are long gone, and trust me, I tore it up when I had the chance. Ask any person who bartended Downtown Orlando during the years of 2000-2007. My liver still hurts.

2. "Your life is over!"

Thanks to all of the douches who said that. I hope that your kids end up finding a really great step dad in the future and by the way, I am sure you are late on a child support payment.

1. "Get ready to get no sleep, get as much as you can now."

Yes, I know that babies for the first 6 weeks and sometimes longer cry and cry and cry until they finally sleep the night through. I also know that you have to feed them every 2-3 hours there in interrupting your former sleep filled nights. I am sure I will be tired and want to get more sleep, but, you are also talking to a guy that runs on about 3 to 4 hours daily. I have always been a night owl and I really think that will help me with the constant feedings. I just think to myself, of all the things you can think to tell someone. This is the wisdom you wish to pass on? I will never do that. I am sure there will be plenty of other little nuggets of wisdom that I will be able to pass on to future fathers to be.

I do want to Thank all of the great people that have passed on great pieces of advice and wisdom to me and Megan. It is very much appreciated and will be used for sure.

Now..on to meet Baby Meglos!!

Oh My God...the big day is set.

T MINUS 5 days- Megan will be induced on January 19th.



This week has been quite a crazy one. All good, but a crazy one for sure. This is Megan sitting on the bouncing ball, eating pineapple and just hoping and praying for this baby to come early. Luckily her wishes were answered. But I will get to that later.

On Tuesday we went in for the final ultrasound and everything went great! We had to stress to the ultrasound tech to NOT tell us or slip up on what sex the baby is. She was very nice and did not slip at all. We found out that our baby weighs 6 pounds and 7 oz. I was a 10 pound baby and Megan was a 7 pounder so that seems about right. The ultrasound tech pointed out that our baby will have hair! Both Megan and I thought that we would have a bald baby since both of us were bald as babies. So that means two things, either this is not my baby and Megan actually is having a baby with a long haired 80's rocker man. Or my Hispanic roots of hairiness are really coming through. Hopefully it is the Hispanic thing. I don't think Megan is into the rocker type.

On Wednesday we finished taking the final maternity shots of Megan. They all turned out so nice and I feel very lucky to have the ability to take them. I may not know how to fix a car or put in hard wood floors. But I know how to take a nice picture. The only bad part is that I am NEVER in any of them! I wish I could have had a couple with me in them, but, as long as Megan loved them, and she did I am very happy. We will be able to cherish these forever!



So Thursday rolled around and we already had our appointment set with the Doctor. We were really hoping to hear some news of Megan progressing along more then she had been at last weeks appointment.
Megan had been having pretty bad headaches the past week and mentioned that to the doctor. Our doctor showed concern and her headaches coupled with high blood pressure only meant one thing. Early signs of Preclampsia. It is a condition that some women get that can affect the over all health of the mother and the baby. She was not in the danger zone just yet, but the early signs are all there. Our fantastic doctor immediately took out her planner and said "We need to plan a date to get this baby out." Megan and I looked at each other and we did a mental chest bump in the room. We were both smiling ear to ear. It was what we had been hoping to hear for a long time! The day is finally here! We both were so excited to hear her talk about the inducement that we kind of brushed aside the seriousness of the condition. The doctor said "If you continue to get the headaches, and it doesn't go away with Tylenol..go to the hospital." That scared me. She told Megan that she is on bedrest until she induces her on Wednesday the 19th. She also has to check her blood pressure twice a day just to make sure the levels don't get too high. Before we left our appointment Megan was put on a fetal heart rate monitor to monitor the baby's heart rate for about 30 minutes. Our doctor just wanted to be absolutely sure everything was fine with our baby. Megan and I sat in this little room and listened to the heart beat and watched the baby's heart rate levels. We had no idea what we were really looking at, but we knew we were glad we didn't have one of these at our house or it would scare that crap out of us! We would see the heart rate spike up then go back down and just prayed that was ok. After 30 minutes our doctor came back in and checked the levels and she said much to our relief that the baby is perfect! So we will go see the Doctor on Tuesday and straight from there go right to Winnie Palmer to spend the night! Our doctor told us that Megan was ok and not to worry too much, but she wanted to be safe and not sorry, so that is why she was inducing. As we left the office we gave each other a big hug and we both could not stop smiling. I know that a week from now we will have our baby. We will know whether we will have a son or a daughter and that in itself is such a surreal thing to think about. This long journey of pregnancy will be over and an entirely new chapter in our lives will begin. I am ready and excited for this chapter to begin.

Man..this baby really makes me feel like a grown up.

2 weeks and 1 day....1 cm and 80 percent effaced as of last Thursday. It's almost go time.

If there is one thing having a baby should do for you is make you feel "grown up". If it doesn't then, you are probably not ready to have a baby. I have bought a house, been married, had jobs with responsibilities and had to pay my bills. All things most would consider "grown up" stuff. But, most all of those things are stuff that only involve you and not really anyone else. That all changes when you know that you will be in charge of another human being. There is a real weight and pressure applied that makes you really lose some of your "youthful innocence". I always wondered how old I would be or what I would be doing when the stork dropped that baby in my lap. I am sure that it is rare to find anyone that says "Everything is exactly how we would like it to be" as they are having their baby. If you are that person, well, congrats to you and you win the responsible person of the year award. Megan and I might not have been fully ready to have the baby when we first found out, but after a long 9 months of prepping and planning we really feel like we are. The nursery is 90 percent done minus a few decorative things still left to put on the wall. Our hospital bags are packed, we have our stroller, car seat and swing all ready to go! Now, we wait. The waiting is the worst part. I can do nothing but hope for Megan to yell "My water broke" which only happens to 10 percent of woman. And she can do nothing but anticipate a delivery that most call "the most painful experience of their life." We are really hoping to have an early delivery not only because Megan wants this baby out and we want to start our life as a little family. But, there is a massive oppourtuniy for me that would have me travel out of state during the actual due date of Jan 27th. So, if the baby doesn't come, I will miss this opportunity which would suck, but, NOTHING in the world would make me miss the birth of my child. Nothing. I really think it will all work out for the best, the most important part is just having a safe delivery and a healthy baby. Everything else can be worked out.




We went on the tour of the Winnie Palmer Hospital last week and damn what a nice hospital that is. Everything is so top notch and a perfect place to bring a baby into the world. We took the tour with some other soon to be parents and it only took about 30 minutes. As we walked around I just thought to myself "Wow, this is really happening." Not like I ever thought it was NOT going to happen, but as you stand in the delivery room knowing that your baby will be greeting you in this place in less then a month, it just all sinks in. It was a great feeling. Megan actually started to tear up when we were in the delivery room, those crazy pregnancy hormones :) Not one bit of me is scared, I am overly anxious to say the least. Megan is going to have to deal with the tough parts like pushing the baby out, the breast feeding and the over all effect it takes on your body. I just have to be daddy and I know that I can do that.

We also went to our first open house at a pediatrics office today. There were several parents there, most with Mom and Dad and some Mothers came solo. I felt bad for them. I know I am not supposed to feel bad, but this should be an experience and a responsibility that both parents should have and want. Maybe the dad hauled ass on her or maybe he just had to work. But either way, I felt bad. The place was nice and the people were nice. But, I think we are going to keep looking. I am sure the place would do a fine job but just something didn't click for Megan and I. We both said it got a 7 out of 10 on our arbitrary scale of goodness. We are looking for a 9 at least. I will keep you updated as to when we find one.

Last Christmas without a Baby..

4 weeks and 3 days..


Merry Christmas! Ok, so I am a day late, but I still want you to feel that holiday cheer.

I am a blessed man. I had a fantastic Christmas weekend eating lots of delicious food and being surrounded by family that loves me as much as I love them. Even though our financial and job situation is not EXACTLY where we would like it to be...I feel so lucky. There are so many people in this world that have no one and have nothing during the holidays. It really makes you appreciate everything you have and it also gives me great perspective.



I spent Christmas Eve with my Dad and my sisters family and then I spent Christmas day with Megan's side of the family. At my Dads, Megan and I had the best time opening gifts with our adorable 2 year old nephew Alton and watching him get so excited. He is a big Buzz Lightyear fan and when he would see anything with Buzz his face would light up and it just warmed my heart. I can see how much joy Martha and Jon get from Alton and I cannot wait to feel that myself.



This is the last Christmas before Meglos comes into this world. Megan is at that stage where she just is ready to have the baby and we are both ready to hold MegLos in our arms. It is very fitting in so many ways that this will be our last "solo" Christmas. I am 30 and by this time in my life I am ready to see Christmas in another light. I want to see Christmas through the eyes of a child again. As you get older Christmas is more about getting the presents for others, making sure you have the money to spend on them, traveling here and shopping there. Christmas while not being bad in the least. is a lot different then when you where a kid growing up. I remember staying up all night in your bed and hoping to maybe spot Santa. Getting that one toy you were really hoping to get and then playing with it for less then a month until you moved on to something else. I am ready to do the whole build up of Santa to my child, the cookies and the milk thing and decorating the tree and house just as good as my Dad did for me. I am a softy at heart for sure and Christmas is something very special to both Megan and I cannot wait to share it with our child. It will be like I am a kid all over again.



GESTATIONAL DIABETES UPDATE- Megan passed the second test with flying colors so she DOES NOT have gestational diabetes! It was great news to hear during the holiday season. :)

Glucose test and other things that suck...

7 weeks..5 days....



This was taken about 2 months ago, the belly is much bigger now. We are taking some new ones tomorrow.


Tests...Tests and more Tests.

As the time clicks closer to Baby Meglos coming into this world, I reflect on the much easier journey I have had to take then Megan. I have seen Dad's who act as if they are going through just as much as their pregnant wife and I have to laugh. There are so many random things that you don't know about pregnancy until you actually go through it. You never realize how many tests you have to go through before the baby actually pops out. My poor wife has been poked and prodded more in the past 7 months then a Muslim man going through a TSA screen check. One of the many tests that they do is a glucose test.

The glucose test is to see if you have gestational diabetes. Most women who do have it do not end up with the diabetes after the baby is born, but the test needs to be done anyway to make sure that the baby is taken care of. The way the first test works is you have to drink a very sugary drink, like Orange Fanta on steriods, and then they test your blood an hour later to see how your body breaks down the sugar. You have to get a score of under 130 in order to pass, well, Megan got a 139, then our doctor told us that they just changed that score to 140 and that it use to be 130 four years ago, and she would have passed then. Our doctor also told us that she thinks Megan will pass the second round of test because she was not that far off and most woman do. So, after you don't pass you have to do a 3 hour test where you do the same thing but they have to take your blood every hour for 3 hours. The labcorp Megan goes to get the blood work done as does any labcorp is packed all the time so we decided to get there super early at 5:30 AM and they open at 6:30AM. When we got there 2 people were already waiting outside. Regardless we got in early and we sat and she got her blood taken at 7am, 8am, 9am and lastly at 10am. Thank god they let us sit in our car in between so we listened to Howard Stern which helped make the time go by. We did that on Thursday, and we have an appointment at the doctors on Tuesday when we will find out the results. I am hoping and praying all will be good because the next process will be a daily finger poking and blood taking in order to keep the sugar levels under control. Me on the other hand, I don't have to do anything but support. I wish I could do something to help her but I can't. It is all on her. I have a good feeling she will pass, but the only way we will know is by the test.

This situation got me thinking about the multiple other things that Megan unfortunately has to go through during the pregnancy while I stay the same old Carlos as before. Let me list a few..

I don't have to pee every 10 minutes like a college freshman after a 24 pack of natty light.

I don't have mood swings that rival the ups and downs of the Hulk coaster at Island of Adventures.

I don't have a living creature in me that will eventually pop out in a little less abrasive way then that alien that jumps out of John Hurts chest in alien.

I don't have to deal with the weight gain, ok, maybe a little. But that's because my motto is "If she eats, I eat!"

I don't have to deal with strangers coming up and rubbing my belly out of nowhere. I don't count the one time it happened to me, I was young, hungry and needed the money. ;)

I don't have to deal with the judgments on how and what you have been doing during your pregnancy and how the person you are talking to is doing it "the right way".

I just get the good stuff. I get the great feeling of knowing I have a wonderful baby on the way and that I will be a father soon. I also get the great honor of knowing that I will have an amazing mother to take care of our baby. The clock ticks and gets closer until Megan gets to feel "normal" again and we will be a family. Jan 27th could not come sooner. See you soon Baby Meglos. :)

Car Seats and feeling Guilty.

Carseats...

Carseats and the selection process can be as difficult as a 400 pound man walking into a Krispy Kreme and not snorting down a half dozen. There are a million with all sorts of funny names, chicco, graco, peg perego, eggo ( ok , last one is the waffle brand) and they all do different things. We have read the reviews and safety concerns and we went with the Mico Maxi-Cosi. It looked cool and the safety reviews were great. We were lucky enough to get the car seat at our Baby shower from our Grandma Carolyn, Grandma Ada and our Aunt Beth. When Megan and I decided to test out the car seat in our small car ( 2 seater IS250Lexus) we had some problems. The base was REALLY big and the seat had problems latching into place. After going back online and reading more reviews we learned that we were not the only ones with the issue. So my advice to any parents to be is when shopping for a seat, grab the seat from the store and pop it in your car. If we would have done that with this model we would have seen the problems early on. Here are some shots of us testing with a test baby in place of our future one. And yes Megan knows I have put these pictures up and she doesn't care. At this point she figures "Aw what the hell! I am embracing my pregnancy weight gain!". I am proud of her for that.

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So unfortunately we are going to have to return it and find another. We have found a couple of options and I will let you know when we decide which one. I am sure you will be sitting on the edge of your seats to find out.;)


Why I feel guilty...

As I await the birth of my first child I pay so much more attention to babies and children I see in public now. How they act, what they look like, the good and bad things they do. I wonder how my child will be and how healthy physically and mentally it will be. When I see "bad" kids I wonder how much of that is from the child and how much is from the parenting. I know not all cases usually the parent carries most of the blame. 9 times out of 10, bad parent, bad kid.

But, when I see a baby or child with a permanent disease or physical handicap, I can't help to think "I really hope my child doesn't have that." I hate thinking that. I hate feeling bad or pity for someone who doesn't want it. But I do. I also feel guilty for even thinking that but I think it is probably a natural reaction for someone expecting their first baby. I know that if something happens and we have to deal with a tough situation we will. I know we will still love our baby regardless. But it is the not knowing that is killing me. I saw a cute little boy with Tourettes today, he must have been 8 or 9. His father was so nice and patient with him, the kid seemed so sweet that i just wanted to give him a hug. I know his father would not want me to feel bad for him but, it is in my nature to want to make people feel good, especially those who really deserve it.

Thankfully Megan's pregnancy has gone fine with no real complications. I hope and pray the delivery and our baby's health will go just as smooth. This is not a judgement on any parents of children with disabilities or the children themselves. It is nothing more than a real and honest observation about myself.

Baby Meglos get's a Blog..

I am going to be a father in 10 weeks. I can't wait. I am ready to hold Baby Meglos in my arms and I know Megan is too. I have wanted to write a Blog about the entire experience for a while now and I didn't want to put it off any longer. The reason for this blog is I think it will be nice to look back at weeks before my life changed forever! I doubt it will change that much though, babies aren't that much work, right? (Totally kidding about that last part )

BABY MEGLOS NAVARRO FACTS

Meglos is NOT the name of our baby

Our friends Eric and Andrew gave Baby Peanut (former nickname of Meglos and not nearly as original) the name MegLos during a trip we were all on in New Orleans. The name reminded me of some sort of Roman god so I liked it. We posted the name on Facebook and the rest Is baby nickname history. Megan and I do have a name for our baby but we have not told a soul. People have tried to bribe us into telling them the name (random waitress at Elephant bar) people have tried to trick us into telling (Martha) and they have also stayed up all night trying to think of the name after we gave them a hint (Grandma Carolyn) and still no one knows. The only thing we are telling people is that the initials for either a boy or a girl will be L.L. N. No one has guessed it so far and that really adds a lot of fun to this whole experience. And if anyone did really guess it..we would never tell them they did.

We have not found out the sex of the baby nor have we been to the doctors yet.

If you are shocked about the not going to the doctor part you should be because I am kidding of course! Our doctor is great and most of all Megan loves her. It took 3 tries before we found the right doctor and I am glad we didn’t settle. If you are looking for a great doctor I totally recommend Dr. Odom in Longwood. But, I digress. Megan and I made a choice not to find out the sex of the baby early on. The closer the due date gets the more anxious I become! Megan is doing a little better than me but she is dying to know as well. Most everyone we have told that we are waiting to find out is always shocked and the next words out of their mouths are usually “ Oh I had to find out the second I could” or “ I would have to know”. Our doctor said we are in the 1 percent of people that actually wait to find out. I really do recommend it if you can do it. It is fun to hear people guess based on the way Megan’s belly looks or what she has been craving. Some people act so sure as if they can see through Megan’s belly and some people sit back and look, ask some questions like a reporter and then make their guess. Either way everyone’s guess is 50/50 so some people are bound to be right. Megan thinks we might be having a girl because she has had some dreams where she sees a little bald baby girl in her dream. I think Baby Meglos will be a girl, no real reason other than the fact that my physical features are so feminine ( last part not true.). Whatever Baby Meglos is, boy or girl , I just really hope and pray that our baby will be nice and healthy. I think that is the biggest thing a parent to be can hope for and If you are worried about anything else, then you don’t have your priorities straight.

.I want to have a cute, big, baby with fat rolls.

Is that too much to ask? I was a 10 pounder and Megan was a 7 pounder so I think we have a good chance. There is something about a fat baby that is so damn cute. If our baby comes out skinny and little of course I will still love it. But, I will began to put some extra sugar in the breast milk to fatten it up for photo purposes and future diaper modeling opportunities. (last part not true)

Saturday Nov 13^th is a day that I will not forget anytime soon. It was my first baby shower! Normally baby showers are an all girl affair. But Megan wanted to do something different and she wanted me and the rest of the husbands to be there as well and make it more of get together with drinks and food . At first you may be thinking that a Baby shower is probably the last thing a guy would want to go to. But, this was not a typical baby shower to say the least. It was held at the Hard Rock Hotel in one of their hospitality suites. The shower was thrown by Megan's best friend and newly married Jessica Barisono. Megan had I have been anticipating the shower for a while now. We really didn’t know what Jessica had in store for us but we knew she had been preparing for months. Every detail was on the hush hush and people who knew what was going on kept telling us " It is going to be amazing!". Another fun factor to the whole situation is that our baby shower is going to be featured in the spring issue of Playground magazine. They were looking to do a story on unique baby showers and heard about ours through our good friend Erica Berman. Erica owns her own event planning company and also had a big hand in planning the shower. The baby shower to say the least..was truly spectacular. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that one day we would have such a unique and special celebration for the birth of my first child. I was so happy to see Megan enjoy the shower so much because she is the one that has had to do the really hard stuff. I have been there the whole time for her in the good and the bad. I know that rubbing her back when she has had morning sickness and giving massages to her aching back and feet does not make up for the huge task and responsibility it is to carry a baby. So to have a beautiful party thrown in honor of us and our baby was truly something special, and something I will never forget. Enjoy these pictures, some of these shots will be featured in the spring issue of Playground magazine.