I'm here!!!!!

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!!

I'm here now! I made my grand entrance on November 3 (2 weeks early) at 6:37 pm. I weighed 7 lbs., 4 oz. and was 20" long.

Mommy was at work that day when her water broke, so she called Dad and off to the hospital we went. We checked in the hospital at 1 pm and 5 1/2 hours later I was here. I was really ready so I was in a hurry.

We got to come home from the hospital on November 5 and that day we also closed on our new house. So everyone else spent the weekend moving while Mommy and I were lazy. We're all settled in now and have plenty of room so that means you all need to come visit!

Papa Marco and Teresa were at the hospital when I was born (they almost beat us there). The next day Grammy Pammy came and the day after that Nana Cathy and cousin Neely came. I'm told I have lots of aunts and uncles that I can't wait to meet either.

Right now, Mommy and I hang out all day. My day is usually filled with eating and sleeping, but I'm starting to stay awake a little more now. When Daddy gets off work, it's his turn to feed me so Mommy can rest up for my nighttime feedings. That reminds me, it's time for me to eat so I better go start crying so Mommy will make me a bottle.

I hope to meet all of you soon!

Love,
Marco III (Tripp)

3 weeks!

The big day is almost here! Officially, there are 3 weeks until I'm supposed to arrive, but as of today I am considered "full-term" so it could really be any day now. Mom and I are hoping I come sooner rather than later, but Dad wants to wait until we get all moved. Mom is tired and says I'm really heavy on her back and pelvis and I'm just cramped so I'm ready to get here!

Speaking of moving, we close on the new house on November 5th (that's also when Aunt Nina turns 18)! It's getting really close and Mom and Dad are really excited. Mom is most excited that she doesn't have to take part in too much moving - hehehehe.

We go to the doctor every week now to see how I am growing and how close I am to getting here. Last week Dr. Irwin told Mom that I have "dropped" down to where I'm supposed to be and things are getting closer. She also lost one pound (good job Mom!!). Dad says he can't understand how that is possible with the way she eats, but let's face it, I'm a growing boy! Mom's belly measured normal this time, so there is hope that I might not be as big as Dr. Irwin originally thought - keep our fingers crossed Mom says. As soon as I figure out where my fingers are, I'll be sure to do that. He did give Mom the info as far as when to call and what number to call so we're ready whenever it's time.

We went and toured the hospital where I will be born yesterday. It's really nice. It's a little far away from our current house (25 minutes) and even farther from the new one (45 minutes), but Mom feels most comfortable with it because it is where our doctor always delivers and they have a NICU in house that babies are flown to a lot, which means if I were to need extra care, Mom and me wouldn't have to be separated. With what Aunt Val and Cousin Landon went through, this is really important to Mom.

I almost forgot! Today is Papa Marco's birthday - I won't say how old.... Mom has been trying to get me to come out all day so I could be born on his birthday, but I'm just not quite ready. Happy Birthday Papa!!!!

That's all for now folks - I'll keep you posted as things happen!

Love,
Marco III (Tripp)

6 1/2 more weeks!!!!

Hello again all!

Let's see what all I've done since the last time I wrote...

Well, we got to go to Mom and Dad's old stomping ground, Pittsburg State University. We watched a football game there and saw a lot of friends who are all having little boys of their own too (or already have them)!! Then we went to Grammy Pammy's where we had another baby shower with the family. I have so much stuff!! Nana Cathy made us a bunch of really great afghans too! I got a few of my own and she even made Mom and Dad each their own! Grandma Dolly made me a KU and OU blanket - I'm still really confused about this KU - OU thing...

Mommy and I have been traveling for her work. I feel like I should already be in college - so far we've been to what Mom calls Heaven, the University of Kansas, then the University of Nebraska, Purdue University and Louisiana State University. After we recruited at Kansas, we got to go watch Uncle Bobo play football (he did great!!), I think between him and Daddy I'm going to learn a lot about that game. Then Mommy's friends threw us another shower (I think that's the last one). It was a lot of fun and we got lots more stuff!!! After all that, I'm not really sure how I feel about flying, I like to start moving around a lot right before we land. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it sooner or later.

Oh, how could I forget, we're getting a new house! It's going to be finished around the time I'm supposed to get here. We are all very excited!! It's in Katy, Texas and is a lot closer to Daddy's work.

Mommy and I went to the doctor today. We are going every 2 weeks right now. Mommy is a little upset because she gained 8 pounds since the last visit 2 weeks ago which puts her at 23 pounds total. She is not very happy about that... Apparently I'm going to be a big boy. According to the doctor, I'm probably about 5 1/2 - 5 3/4 pounds right now which puts me on track to be around 8 1/2 to 9 pounds when I'm born. If Mommy measures big again at our next visit on the 15th, they will do a sonogram to see just how big I really am so we can be prepared! Mom said she's putting me on a diet, but we'll see if that actually works out.

On Friday, me and Mom are flying to Florida to see Grandpa Ronnie. We also get to see Mom's favorite football team, the Miami Dolphins. The doctor told us we could fly this one last time, but after that we're done until after I'm born.

Speaking of, it's just about my bed time. Sorry this update wasn't too exciting, but there aren't too many more of these left! I hope to meet you all soon!

Love,
Marco III (Tripp)

Sorry it's been so long!!

Hello again! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written. My typist (a.k.a. Mom) has been pretty busy.

But now here we are, I'm 29 weeks old and only 11 more until I get to make my real world debut! I think everyone is getting really excited for me to get here - I know I'm sure ready!!

There's really not a lot going on in here right now. I'm slowly creeping my way towards 3 pounds and Mom has gained a total of 10 so far, but she says she knows it's going to start coming on strong soon! From here on out I'll start packing on the fat so I'll be nice and plump when I arrive. I'm taking more and more practice breaths every day and have learned how to blink my eyes. I have definitely gotten a lot stronger. Mommy feels every move I make now and Daddy can see and feel most of them too.

Mom had a glucose test done at our last appointment and the first one came back a little high. So they had us come back a few days later and do another one and it was A-OK! So no gestational diabetes for us!

A few weekends ago we went and saw some man named George Strait in concert. Mom called him the King of Country Music. It was pretty boring for me and Dad, but Mom really enjoyed it. Daddy's big excitement is college football starting this week. In fact, at this very moment he is out watching his man-love Adrian Peterson play NFL football here in Houston. He has been looking forward to it for a long time!

On Friday, the people Mom works with threw her a baby shower. I'm really confused about this shower business, as far as I could tell there was no showering going on... There were definitely lots of "awwwws" and "how cutes" though. There was also plenty of good food that Mom ate too much of.

This weekend is a big weekend for us, we get to make a road trip to Pittsburg where Mom and Dad went to college, it's also where they met. We're going to watch a football game there. Dad is so excited he can hardly stand it. He keeps saying something about "stomping ground" whatever that means. And we get to see Grammy Pammy and Nana Cathy too!!!

It's time for mom to eat because I'm getting hungry so I need to go. I will try not to wait so long to write next time!

Love,

Marco III (Tripp)

15 more weeks!!!

Only 15 more weeks and I'm out of this place!!! I can't wait (and neither can Mom and Dad)!

I'm about a foot long now. Hard to believe I can fit inside here! I'm starting to gain some fat in these skin wrinkles and I think I might even have some hair on my head (maybe)! I move around a lot more now just to let Mom know I'm still here in case she is wondering. Daddy is getting a lot better at seeing and feeling me move around now. That makes him happy!

Since I'm getting bigger, Mommy is too (she's really happy about that let me tell you). She's had to force herself to go to the maternity clothes now. Thank goodness! I couldn't breathe in those pants she was squeezing in (neither could she) ;).

We've done lots of exciting things since the last time I wrote. This past weekend, Grammy Pammy, Uncle Bobo (Billy) and Aunt Nina (Christina) came to visit us. We went and saw a movie (The Hangover) that made Mommy laugh so hard I was bouncing around all over the place and she had already seen it once! I'm pretty sure there were some things in that movie that I shouldn't have heard, but Mom enjoyed it.

We went to the ocean on Saturday and played in the saltwater, it was a lot of fun, but it wore us out. Sunday was Daddy's 33rd birthday! Mommy and me gave him tickets to some concert he wants to see, something called Incubus, whoever they are. I even got him a card just from me! That night Mom and me, Bobo and Nina went to see some lady named Katy Perry at a concert. It was really loud to me and mom griped about having to stand the whole time, but the music was great!

Yesterday we got to go to Daddy's work and see him for lunch. Mommy says he's the big bad boss man now. I already knew he was my boss though... Then we went to an Astros baseball game last night. We got to see 2 home runs! And Mommy was lucky enough to set next to what is apparently called a heckler...he taught me some new words!

Man, I'm tired all over again just thinking about all that I've done since last time I wrote. I'm going to take a nap. Talk to you all soon!

Love,

Tripp

What a fun weekend!

Hello again from the womb! Man, have I experienced a lot of things since the last time I wrote...

This past weekend we went to Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma (God's Country is what Daddy calls it) for Mommy's family reunion. What a family!! It's ginormous! There were lots of little kids everywhere, it's nice to know I won't be alone! I got to take boat rides and watch everyone bob around in the water. They look so silly wearing these life jacket things upside down like diapers...and here I thought I was supposed to be the baby. Mom spent plenty of time practicing for me with my cousins Keegan, Ethan and Landon. They are pretty funny boys. Daddy spent the weekend griping about some man named Tiger Woods and golf, I suppose that is something I'll be learning about soon.

I did some growing over the past week, I weigh over 1 whole pound now. And those weights I've been lifting have paid off, Mommy and Daddy can now see and feel me move from outside Mom's tummy. Daddy is really excited now that he can feel it! He was beginning to think Mom was crazy...

Mom and me went to the doctor today for our monthly checkup. All is great! My heart beat is strong and my movements are good. And Mom has gained a total of 7 pounds so far even though she says it feels like a lot more than that! That's okay Mom, keep the food coming!

It's time for me to take a nap now, but I'll try to check in again next week.
Love,
Marco Romeo DeGiusti, III (Tripp)

18 weeks and counting!

Hi all,

It's time for my weekly update while I have a few minutes to spare... It's a busy life here in this womb you know!

Over the past week I've grown to a full pound now! Trust me, with all the junk Mommy eats, it's amazing I only weigh that much. My sense of taste has developed too - I can tell I'm going to be a huge Mexican food fan like Mommy, we can't get enough of that stuff. I hear her say Taco Bell is the devil, but I kinda like it!

I'm still kicking and flipping away in here. Daddy swears he still can't feel it, but I am kicking as hard as I can. It still makes Mommy laugh everytime which of course makes me want to do it more. But Daddy says he still loves me anyway so that's good, I think I'm gonna like him.

IF I'm going to have hair when I'm born - I have some now... I don't know though, Mommy and Daddy saw Grandpa Marco last week and he didn't have any, I'm a little scared! That's ok though, Mommy says I'm still handsome anyways.

Daddy says there is only 6 more weeks until college football starts. I guess this is a big deal, I sure hope I'm good at this football thing!

This weekend they tell me I'm going to get my first lake experience at Mommy's family reunion. I hear they are a really loud bunch so it should be interesting since my sense of hearing is developed now. Wish me luck!!

It's time for me to take a nap now so that as soon as Mommy eats I'll be ready to start kicking away. I'll talk to you all soon!

Love,

Marco Romeo DeGiusti, III (Tripp) - NOT Rufus like Great Grandpa Jack calls me....

Better late than never...

Apparently a lot of my friends' parents start doing this stuff a lot earlier, but lets face it, my parents aren't like most!

Mommy and Daddy found out all about me in late March. Man were they surprised! They'll learn I'll keep on surprising them the rest of my life. From what I can hear, they seem to be pretty excited.

Although I've always known, Mommy and Daddy just found out that I am a boy. Wait, scratch that, I'm a man (as Daddy would say)! Apparently my name is Marco Romeo DeGiusti, III... I'm still not sure how to say it all quite right, but it sounds pretty cool! I know Dad is stoked to have a namesake. And Mom seems to call me something different everyday...some days it's Marco, some it's Tripp and sometimes it's just 3 (just like the late, great Dale Earnhardt - whoever he is).

I'm a whopping 21 weeks old now, only 19 more weeks left in this dark place! I have ears so I can hear everything loud and clear now. I'm not sure what these Oklahoma Sooners are, but I'm pretty sure it's all Dad ever talks to me about. It's usually followed by Mom talking about some things called the Kansas Jayhawks. I have a feeling I'm going to lead a really confused life... And whatever football is, my Dad is obsessed with it so I bet I will be too.

Besides my ears, at Mom's last appointment the doctor said all my tests (I didn't even know I was taking any) have been completely normal and that I am on track to be a healthy baby boy. I guess in this thing called the ultrasound, they could see me playing with my feet. It will be really cool to check these things out in the daylight. Until then, I really enjoy doing somersaults. I've started to hiccup a lot lately and I'm really working out my arms and legs too. It makes Mommy laugh, but Daddy is upset because he can't feel me yet... Don't worry Dad, I'm working out everyday and you'll feel me soon enough!

19 weeks seems like an eternity, I'm ready to get out of this place, but Mom says I'm not done cooking yet. I can tell I have a really awesome family to meet once I escape complete with Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins (3 boys to beat up on me and 1 girl to show me how to kick their butts in karate)! I can't wait!!

I need to go for now, I'm trying to figure out how to jump rope with this cord thing that's in here. I'll try to give you all an update again next week.

Love,

Marco Romeo DeGiusti, III (Tripp)