Hear My Thoughts

The past couple of weeks have been very difficult.  Though I’ve tried to hide and put up a smile wherever I go, there’s still a time when one just breaks down and cry.  For me, that time came this morning!  I was already running late as it is, then come down the tears as I drove to work. I am just completely overwhelmed!  There’s so much going on right now… a few different personal and private issues that we have to deal with and when you don’t get to talk to anyone, it gets harder and harder to deal with it every single day.  I wish I can make things right.  I wish I can make it a lot easier for others. I wish I can do a lot more than just put up a front and pretend that it’s not affecting me.  I wish for so many things, but in reality, there’s not much I can do when these trials and challenges are out of my control.

Dear God… please help me… and please help the people around me, those whom I love dearly, deal with the trials they are faced with today. Please God, HELP US!!

SCHOOL IS FINALLY OVER….. FOREVERRRRR!! 

Hell yeah!  I just turned in my very last presentation and it feels SOOOO good!  I can’t believe it… I am SOOO damn proud of myself for being able to accomplish both my bachelors degree and my MBA in a matter of 4-1/2 years… not to mention, I was also able to plan a big wedding and have a baby in between!   Wha-what??? 

Hmmm… I wonder if I should even consider a Ph.D.? 

YEAH RIGHT…. HELL NO!!!!!!!  I’m DONE!

Done…. done…. DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No more school for me…. until Maia starts school, that is.  By then, we’ll be doing her homework together…. Hehe!  Aahhh, something else to look forward to! 

JENNIFER CORTES, MBA… wha-what???

It’s actually really March 29th now, but I’m dating this blog as March 6th because this was the day that my life has changed forever!  On March 5th (at 38 weeks), as I went to my weekly prenatal appointment, my doctor recommended that I go directly to labor and delivery to get some blood work done and to do an ultra sound. Four to five hours later, my doctor tells me that they will need to keep me overnight and we’re gonna have a c-section scheduled by 7:30am the following morning!  It turns out that this little girl was breech and that she only weighed 5.4 lbs (according to the ultra sound) at already 38 weeks.

So… MARCH 6, 2007… at 7:30am I was being prepped for surgery. At 7:45am I was in the operating room with anesthesia from the chest down to my feet and Marlon right next to me.  THEN… at 8:00am…. I heard her first cry……. OUR BABY WAS FINALLY HERE…. our daughter MAIA-SOLEIL F. CORTES was finally here……… and it was the most amazing feeling I’ve ever felt…… and from that moment on, I knew my life has changed forever!!!!!!!!!!!!

From Gelli’s Blog: On a much lighter note, Do grab a hold of the February Issue of MANUAL Magazine. A fun interview in there and the part I love the most, they did include that I am very much taken and loving it that I am by a man that I simply adore! click the manual link! Surprisingly, I was not rejected for my ad, and it is officially out. See it on the March issue of YES! magazine! 

http://www.manualmag.com/relationships.php

It’s a damn shame that radio is not a visual medium (if it were, then it would be TV… duh!). If we could only see the faces behind the voices on our boom boxes, it would be quite a sight indeed. Especially if you happen to be tuned in to RX 93.1’s show, All Access, and DJ Gelli was in the house. Though she’s very much taken and loving it” (sigh) (Jen’s personal side note: She’s “taken” by my cousin, Gary!), Gelli’s doles out a few tips for success with the other single ladies.

10. We women aren’t as desperate to have a boyfriend as you think we are.
We actually enjoy, revel and delight in being single. It’s your job to convince us to think or feel otherwise.

9. You just can’t be homophobic. 
We will have gay guy friends simply because they make great “girl” friends. If you can’t deal with that, bail.

8. If a girl is independent, it doesn’t mean you can’t be ‘chivalrous.’
So what if I can carry a whole knapsack full of stuff on my back? That doesn’t make it any less heavy. At least offer to help! Sure, we have pride and will politely refuse, but it matters if you at least offer to help. You know these darn things are heavy. We’ll be feministic only if you’re chauvinistic.

7. Don’t ever assume we don’t understand your need to have a ‘boys night out.’ 
Don’t be condescending and think we can’t “get it”. You can play with the other boys, just don’t go around playing with the other girls. We’ll find out. You’ll be sorry.

6. On the subject of ‘sorry,’ ‘I’m sorry’ is nice, but just doesn’t cut it. 
Add a hefty dose of TLC and time to let it sink in. Throw in a pair of new shoes, and you’re golden (kidding!).

5. Be the ‘man with the plan.’ 
Please, please, please don’t make a date with us and have “Bahala ka” or “Whatever you want” as an answer to “So, what are we going to do tonight?” There is an awful big difference between being sensitive to our needs and being just plain disorganized. Or clueless.

4. Don’t say, ‘I’ll call you,’ then don’t. 
If you don’t want to ever see us again, just don’t say, “I’ll call you.” “It was nice meeting you” and never calling is enough. We get it. What did we learn about being condescending towards women?

3. If you’re seriously involved with us, e-mail, text, call, scream at the top of your lungs, put Post-its all over our cubicle at work, whatever, but don’t ever disappear to a sales conference abroad or under a mountain of paperwork without letting us know where you will be, what you will be doing and when you will get back. 
No, we’re not clingy. Just trying to avoid developing issues of abandonment.

2. Our lives, work or career do not and will never revolve around you. 
Not even if you’re Hugh Hefner. Especially if you’re Hugh Hefner.

1. Like you guys, there are women who think marriage is nice, but don’t believe it to be the be-all and end-all of life. 
Marriage is great—eventually. And with the right person.

We’re going on 36 weeks this Saturday! That means, one more week and our sweetheart will be "fully-baked" and it’ll be okay for me to give birth anytime after next Sunday, Feb 25th! Oh, and our maternity classes have been pretty fun and educating, too! Lots of good stuff to learn!! 

Message to our baby: "We can’t wait to meet you, sweetie!!"

How your life’s changing: While your baby continues to grow and crowd your internal organs, you may find that you’re not as hungry as you were a few weeks ago. Smaller, more frequent meals are often easier to handle at this point. On the other hand, you may have less heartburn and have an easier time breathing when your baby starts to drop down lower in your pelvis. This dropping — called lightening or engagement — is more likely to happen before labor if this is your first baby. When it does, though, you may feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen, making walking increasingly uncomfortable. Some women say it feels as though they’re carrying a bowling ball between their legs, or as if the baby is going to fall out. (Don’t worry, she won’t!)

You might also notice that your Braxton Hicks contractions are a little more frequent now. Be sure to review with your practitioner exactly when and where to call her when you think your labor has started. As a general rule, you should call when you start having regular contractions coming every five minutes for about an hour. Of course, you’ll want to call right away if you’re not yet 37 weeks and have signs of preterm labor. You should also call without delay if your water breaks (or if you even think you’re leaking amniotic fluid), if you notice a decrease in your baby’s activity, or if you have any vaginal bleeding, fever, severe headaches, abdominal pain, or changes in your vision.

Even if you’re enjoying an uncomplicated pregnancy, it’s best to avoid flying during your final month, when you’re more likely to go into labor. In fact, many airlines won’t let women on board who are due to deliver within seven or sometimes 30 days of the flight.

Surprising Facts: The stages of labor

For most moms, labor takes an average of 15 hours, though it’s not uncommon to last more than 20. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be pushing the whole time. In fact, the actual pushing stage of labor lasts from a few minutes to a few hours. There are three main stages of labor. Here are the highlights on exactly how childbirth progresses:

Stage one: Once your contractions are coming at regular intervals and your cervix begins to dilate, you’re officially in labor. Although this period, called the early or latent phase, can take from 12 to 14 hours or longer, the contractions generally aren’t as intense as they’ll be in the later stages of labor. Try to relax at home until the contractions are coming frequently enough (usually every five minutes for an hour, but check with your provider) to go to the hospital.

When your contractions become more frequent, longer, and stronger, and your cervix begins dilating faster, you’ve hit the active phase of the first stage of labor. This phase can last up to six or more hours.

The last part of the active phase is called the transition period because it marks the transition to the second stage of labor. This is the most intense phase of labor with contractions that are usually very strong and fast — coming about every two and a half to three minutes and lasting a minute or even a little longer. These powerful contractions will dilate your cervix from 8 to a full 10 centimeters.

Stage two: Once your cervix is fully dilated, the second stage of labor begins: the descent and emergence of your baby. This is the "pushing" stage of labor, and it can last anywhere from minutes to hours.

Your baby’s head will continue to advance with each push until it "crowns" — the term used to describe the time when the widest part of your baby’s head is finally visible. After your baby’s head comes out, your midwife or doctor will suction his mouth and nose, and feel around his neck for the umbilical cord. His head then turns to the side as his shoulders rotate inside the pelvis to get into position for their exit. With the next contraction, you’ll be coached to push as his shoulders deliver, one at a time, followed by his body.

Stage three: The final stage of labor begins immediately after the birth of your baby and ends with the delivery of your placenta. The contractions in the third stage are relatively mild.

This Week’s Activity:
Create a grapevine. Make a list of all the people you want to hear about your baby’s birth — with their phone numbers or e-mail addresses — and pass this along to a friend who can spread the news for you in the early moments after your baby’s birth. That way, all you have to do is make one call. Include at least one person from work on the list, so they can spread the word there. Ask your partner or birth coach to be in charge of the phone tree; he can set it in motion and troubleshoot if there are any problems.

As you may know… I am in the process of wrapping up my last two MBA / Health Care Management classes. My last day of class is on April 9th and graduation is scheduled to be on June 30th!  That’s another thing I’m SUPER excited about… I’ll FINALLY be done with school and I am SO HAPPY that I hung on and will be completing it very soon!

Reading this article just now made me felt really good (particularly the "Business" section of this article)… and hey, even proud of myself!  I’m just TOO HAPPY right now!  So, SO happy!! 

Serving as assistant principal at Hilton Head High School (Hilton Head, S.C.), Rhone-Bush saw the opportunity she’d been waiting for — one that would not only enhance her career, but ultimately her education, too.

"I saw the proposal for the bond referendum to build the [new] school," she says. "When I was hired as an assistant principal at Hilton Head High School, I told my principal I wanted the opportunity to lead the school."

And, after she led a 55-member committee through the design and build process of Bluffton High School, a state-of-the-art technology school, Rhone-Bush was unanimously chosen as principal. At age 34, she is one of the youngest high school principals in the nation.

"This position is my destiny," says Rhone-Bush. "I didn’t just happen upon this job." Which is why she decided to expand on her existing knowledge by enrolling in an online Ph.D. program in Leadership for K-12 Programs Specialization through Capella University.

NURSING
It’s time to help others and help yourself by exploring a career in health care, specifically nursing. With almost 500,000 health care establishments across the country, professionals who can fuse human compassion with advanced medical technology are in great demand. From cleansing a child’s scraped knee and caring for the terminally ill to working side by side with doctors and surgeons, professionals like yourself work hard to improve the lives of those around them and are recognized accordingly. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing is among the top 10 occupations with the largest estimated job growth. Choosing an educational program that fits your life is an excellent prescription for advancement in this flourishing industry.

Take Terri Welborn, RN, manager of trauma services at a 415-bed hospital in Midland, Texas, for instance. She completed a legal nurse consulting certificate online at Kaplan University last April, and is now enrolled in Kaplan’s newly launched online bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN) program. "I am married and have three kids, and three grandkids under the age of 7. And, my husband is a police officer and is looking at retirement in about five years," says Welborn. "So I’m looking for a way to take my career in a direction that allows me to utilize the experience and knowledge I’ve acquired in the past 25 years, but not to be tied to the hospital 40 hours a week."

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
If you’re driven by the digital world, why not capitalize on your cyber-savviness? With fast-growing fields such as Web design and development, systems engineers, and database management, you can connect to a career opportunity that is exciting, cutting-edge and creative.

One stepping stone to an IT degree that many are taking advantage of is certificate programs. In fact, computer systems design and related services industry is cited by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as one of the top 10 fastest growing industries in the economy, adding more than 600,000 jobs between 2002 and 2012.

Statistics like that are encouraging, especially to someone like Debra Wall-Czech. When she got laid off, she immediately faced difficulty finding another job because she didn’t have a college degree. With so many responsibilities to juggle — taking care of a family and traveling the world with a country/rock band — the 41-year-old decided the best option for her was to get a degree online.

"I can log onto classes from home or when I’m traveling." In fact, Debra has even accessed her classes at Internet cafés and military-base computer labs. Even with her demanding schedule, Wall-Czech successfully earned two bachelor’s degrees from DeVry — one in computer information systems and one in business information systems. She has since enrolled at DeVry’s Keller Graduate School of Management where she’ll complete a master’s degree in project management this year.

BUSINESS
If you’re intrigued by all things business — yes, even beyond ‘The Apprentice’ — it’s time to make your corporate mark. Power your pursuits with a degree; advanced study is especially impressive in the boardroom of any business. MBA earners are consistently courted by corporate bigwigs, and with some programs offered entirely online, there are more options from which to choose. You can specialize in areas such as accounting, project management, marketing and more.

Two days after her son was born, she wrapped up a statistics class; less than one week after that, she registered for two more courses. Crazy? Ambitious is more like it. Deb saw an opportunity to make professional and personal advancements through online learning, and now that she’s latched on, she’s not letting go.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Crime prevention, litigation and legal disputes — and the need to protect confidential information and property of all kinds — will always create opportunities for people with degrees in criminal justice. In fact, employment of private detectives and investigators is expected to grow faster than the average occupation across the next decade. Accordingly, various certificate and degree programs focusing on these exciting and important career avenues are flourishing.

For Brenda McGreevy of Guilderland, N.Y., the convenience of distance learning allowed her to earn her associate’s degree in criminal justice almost entirely online, while working full time for the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, and volunteering 20 hours a week as an emergency medical technician for the Western Turnpike Rescue Squad in Guilderland. "I decided to go to school for a degree after my youngest daughter went to college and that left me being the only one in the household that hadn’t gone to college," says the now 49-year-old McGreevy, who’s a mother of two grown daughters. The academic fit she found helped her graduate with a 4.0 G.P.A.

In addition to state and other public service career opportunities, the field of criminal justice is booming in the private sector as well. Attorneys always need assistance from skilled professionals with a working knowledge of the field, not to mention the endless demand for investigators in the corporate world. Corporate investigators monitor the tumultuous financial activity of the world’s businesses and are experts at assessing internal and external financial losses and preventing industrial spying by competitors. Additionally, two newer fields — cyber-security and homeland security — are rapidly growing alternatives for those looking to apply their business degrees to criminal justice.

Seven weeks or less?  I can’t believe time has gone by SO fast! Our baby will be here soon… real soon!  I’m excited, anxious, curious, excited, excited, excited!

I’m looking forward to these next few weeks… though it is getting harder and harder waking up 3 or 4 times in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, I keep telling myself that I need to be able to tolerate the little aches and pains I’m feeling now because I know birth is gonna so much worse! Walking is also getting a little tougher because the baby moves a lot and she makes my tummy hard, but I totally love it though because I can feel her presence even more. I swear, she’s always on my right side… IT’S SO CUTE!!  I love that feeling!

Anyway… here’s a few more of the maternity photos we took… we did a "Demi Moore" shot… haha… DON’T LAUGH!  I had a great time with our photographer, Tiffany! She’s awesome! 

http://adelineandgraceweddings.com/slideshows/jenmaternity/   

So two Decembers ago, Marlon and I were busy with wedding plans and our bridal registry. This December, specifically last Wednesday, Dec 27th… we were busy with yet another registry… OUR BABY REGISTRY!    It was a lot of fun!  Confusing and frustrating as it was (since this is our first time doing this)… we got through it and spent about 3-1/2 hours reading and scanning for baby stuff at Babies R Us.  Scan, scan, scan… beep, beep, beep!    It was lots of fun!! Right, Dad? 

Incase anyone wanted to view our baby registry (and plan on being generous (haha! just kidding!)… you can search for it under www.babiesrus.com (Jennifer Cortes / Marlon Cortes)

or visit this link directly:

http://www.toysrus.com/ControllerServlet?target=viewDetails&operation=authenticate_user&registryNumber=34826076&from=registrySearch

To all the Moms and Dads out there… if there’s anything else you’d like to suggest that you think we’ll need, feel free to message me! We’d really appreciate it!

*Saturday, JUNE 30, 2007 - My MBA Graduation at the HP Pavilion in San Jose!

*Sunday, JULY 1, 2007 - Possible double celebration still to be announced/determined!

This coming Saturday, Dec 23, I am going on my 7th month of pregnancy… my third trimester! Can you believe it? I CAN’T!! It’s gone by soooo fast! I could’ve sworn I was just getting over my morning sickness (and that was back when I was only 11 weeks!) and now I’m going on my 28th week! Whew! Yeah, it’s definitely getting heavier… but surprisingly, I’m still loving it! I LOVE BEING PREGNANT!! It’s sooo much fun… really!! I’m hella big… but I don’t even care… I FEEL SEXY AND I LOVE IT!! Haha….

Anyway… so here’s how the baby is growing…

How your baby’s growing: By this week, your baby weighs a little over 2 pounds and measures about 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can open her eyes — which now sport lashes — and she’ll turn her head toward a continuous, bright light from the outside. Her fat layers are beginning to form, too, as she gets ready for life outside the womb.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby’s development.

How your life’s changing: You’re in the home stretch! The third trimester starts this week and lasts until 40 weeks. If you’re like most women, you’ll gain about 11 pounds this trimester.

Do your legs feel creepy-crawly at night? Tingling in your lower legs and an irresistible urge to move them is known as restless legs syndrome (RLS), and it can make it hard to relax when you’re settling in. No one knows what causes RLS, but it’s common among pregnant women. Try cutting down on caffeine, which can make the symptoms worse, and massage your calves when they feel tense. Some studies also show that taking iron supplements helps ease your discomfort.

At this point, you may visit your doctor or midwife every two weeks; then, at 36 weeks, you’ll switch to weekly visits. Depending upon your risk factors, your practitioner may recommend repeating blood tests for HIV and syphilis, plus cultures for chlamydia and gonorrhea during your third trimester, to be certain of your status before delivery. (Identifying and treating these infections is crucial for your health and your baby’s.) And if the blood work done at your first prenatal visit showed that you’re Rh negative, you’ll receive an injection of Rh immunoglobulin to prevent your body from developing antibodies that could attack your baby’s blood. If your baby’s biological father is also Rh negative, the shot isn’t necessary, but most practitioners will do it routinely rather than test the father. (You’ll receive another shot of Rh immunoglobulin after you give birth if your baby is Rh positive.)

Many dads worry about watching childbirth. "We don’t like childbirth," writer Rick Epstein says. "It’s spooky and iffy and it takes too long. Also it hurts, and we don’t like to see that."