Doing great!
We've been doing well these past few days. Jada basically sleeps... all the time. So, we're counting our blessings knowing that it could change any day! She goes about 3-4 hours without waking up, then nurses, then sleeps for another 3-4 hours. Joli is a huge help - she helps us change diapers, comforts Jada when she cries (which is rarely happening), and holds her when I need to get something. Awesome big sister! Jorge goes back to work on Monday, so I may be singing a different tune next week, but so far so GREAT!

Jada already went to the pediatrician, and she now weighs 7 lbs 10 oz.. still big and healthy! Joli got to sit up on the table with her, and she was such a pro! After the visit, Jorge and Joli spent a nice afternoon at the movies and saw "The Wild."

Next week, Jada has an exam with Joli's retina specialist at Mass Eye and Ear. Joli also has an MRI coming up at the end of May, too, so we'll keep you posted on those medical things. But, it IS nice to be focusing on the fun we're having with Joli and Jada rather than all the hospital visits and doctors appointments!

3 days; 33 months
Here are the girls at 3 days old (exactly at 1:06pm on Tuesday) and 33 months (Joli was 33 months on April 17th).

Doing well, despite doing 2 hours shifts all night... Joli is at the park with Jorge. Jada, Lola and I are going to find a reclining chair. Yup, nothing like going shopping when you are 3 days old!

The Talusan-Vega sisters meet!
I'm gonna take this quiet opportunity to blog real quick! We're finally home - Jorge is out buying "feminine supplies" (what a good man!), Jada is sleeping, Joli is watching 'Annie', Gordon is trying to get some lovin' time and is snoring at my feet, and I'm sooo happy to be home! Jada is doing great and already nursing well. Joli LOVES Jada! Here are some pictures while still in the hospital of them meeting. Labor, as Jorge wrote earlier, was fast and good! Jorge's trying to get our new blog up and running, but for now we'll use this one for the two girls. Enjoy! Thanks for all your nice comments and for checking up on us!

INTRODUCING JADA!

Jada Grace Talusan Vega, or "Baby Sister" as Joli calls her, was born yesterday afternoon at 1:06PM. 8lbs and 7 ounces! That's a BIG baby.

Liza was AMAZING-- pushing for only 26 minutes because she refused to let up. With every contraction she grabbed me and the nurse and said "Let's go!"

More details later cause we all know what we're here for... the pics!

2 cm and counting...
I'm going to hog the blog today - went to my OB and he said I'm 2 cm. I couldn't feel baby sister moving today - even after I had eaten both breakfast and lunch, so I was sent in for a Non Stress Test (NST). She was, in fact, moving, and I'm having some strong (but irregular) contractions. They sent me home and the OB who was at the hospital thinks it's gonna happen in the next few days (let's not get our hopes up, though). I've taken a new Zen-like approach of "it'll happen when it'll happen" rather than "it's gonna happen any day now!" I'm feeling HUGE, swollen, tired, and heavy.... when they took my blood pressure, I felt like my arm was going to explode from all the water retention I have in my hands!

Will keep you posted!

MARATHON DAY!
Okay, we admit.. we watched much of the marathon from our couch.. in our pajamas... while Joli's runner (and 22,000 others) were making their way through the first half of the course. We did finally head into Newton and actually saw Nirali on the course! Congratulations, Nirali! Team Mass General was awesome and we had such a great time!

Happy Easter and Boston Marathon Fun!
Happy Easter everyone! Joli had a fun and busy day! First of all, we let her pick out her Easter outfit, which consisted of a fuschia Polo dress, ONE lime green sock, ONE faded pink sock, a purple hooded sweater, and purple/pink sneakers. She was adorable!

We also went to the Boston Marathon Mass General Hospital pasta dinner where we met the runner who was running in honor of Joli. She is so great and running the marathon for the first time! I'm feeling some irregular contractions, so Jorge and Joli will be the ones at Mile 20 to cheer her on with our huge signs! Way to go, Nirali! The pasta dinner was awesome because there was a huge awards ceremony where each cancer patient was given a personalized gold medal. More after the race tomorrow!

GOOD EYE EXAM
After being in the hospital for hours, hours, hours, and hours, (we left at 8:30am and just got home around 4:45pm) we are finally home. Joli's eye exam went well. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get her bone marrow and spinal tap because of the delay in one of the doctor's schedules (which means we need to go back.. again.. and do it), but her eye exam showed no tumors in her socket nor her good eye. Hurray! We'll do the spinal and bone marrow as soon as we can schedule it (oh, joy) and she returns back to Mass Eye and Ear in July (3 months).

Baby Sister.. still snug, although this was the milestone we were trying to get through before delivery. Thanks for checking on us!

PARTY TIME!
Joli went to her friends Leo and Lucky's birthday party this weekend and had a great time! Deirdre and Chase held it at TotGym, which is this great padded fun gym place where all the kids could run around and climb like crazy! Soooo much fun! Thanks for inviting us!

STILL PREGNANT....
Thanks for checking in, everyone, but yes, Baby Sis is still snug as a bug.

Joli had her hearing test today at Mass Eye and Ear. She did experience some hearing loss in her right ear in the highest frequency range. The doctors told us to expect slight hearing loss due to the carboplatin, so we weren't surprised. The good news is that, once she's off carboplatin (which, her last dose was in February) there isn't any residual once it's done. She'll pass any school hearing test, etc., and the MEEI really is a refined, highly detailed test. The actual make-up of Joli's ears are fine (they took pictures of her inner ear!), so the hearing loss is due to the chemo rather than to anything structural.

She did so well during the test, and I'm constantly amazed at how much she's grown and matured over the past 9 months. When I took her for her baseline in September, she was kind of shy, didn't want to do the tests, anxious, etc. Of course, after all that she's been through, this hearing test was nothing. She introduced herself to EVERY person she met, even ordered her own food at the hospital cafeteria, and was talking to people in the elevator. She's also so patient (no pun intended). We waited in the hospital for over 45 minutes, and not once did I have to say anything to her about behavior. She just sat quietly. People are pretty shocked when I tell them she's only 2!