Note: I had to re-do this post because I had some updates, but decided to consolidate due to the actual birth! Here's a re-cap of some of the stories:
I had major pregnancy brain while getting my oil changed at the Chevy dealership. I was running errands while my car was getting serviced, and called what I thought was Chevy to come and pick me up to return me to the car dealership. It wasn't until I was already in the drivers car, and being driven back to the dealership that I realized I had called Ford, not Chevy. Thankfully they were really nice about it. Ugh
SATURDAY, JUNE 15th:
While running some last minute errands with Garrett on Sunday at Buy Buy Baby, we were both beyond frustrated with how difficult it was to get some decent help. This is usually not the case, as they are usually really well trained in this store- lucky us, we were there on training day or something, ugh! Four different employees told us it was their first day of work and couldn't help us, I was in the worst mood! It was tough for me to get around, and I had minimal patience. To top things off, my ankles were beyond swollen and I was trying to be efficient but they were making it really difficult.
After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally checking out with what looked like a high school girl, so I was trying to be extra patient with her - not easy. I then get a text from Andrea with a picture of my cousin Jose, down on one knee, proposing to his girlfriend Lila. Lila is covering her face as he holds out the ring. My eyes immediately start to water with excitement, and I'm trying not to have a happy emotional breakdown in front of the borderline worthless cashier. I was so excited for them! Needless to say it made my day, and definitely helped turn my mood around.
Congrats to both Jose and Lila, and hooray for weddings! :)
While running some last minute errands with Garrett on Sunday at Buy Buy Baby, we were both beyond frustrated with how difficult it was to get some decent help. This is usually not the case, as they are usually really well trained in this store- lucky us, we were there on training day or something, ugh! Four different employees told us it was their first day of work and couldn't help us, I was in the worst mood! It was tough for me to get around, and I had minimal patience. To top things off, my ankles were beyond swollen and I was trying to be efficient but they were making it really difficult.
After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally checking out with what looked like a high school girl, so I was trying to be extra patient with her - not easy. I then get a text from Andrea with a picture of my cousin Jose, down on one knee, proposing to his girlfriend Lila. Lila is covering her face as he holds out the ring. My eyes immediately start to water with excitement, and I'm trying not to have a happy emotional breakdown in front of the borderline worthless cashier. I was so excited for them! Needless to say it made my day, and definitely helped turn my mood around.
Congrats to both Jose and Lila, and hooray for weddings! :)
SUNDAY, JUNE, 16th:
I started having mild contractions and other symptoms on Sunday. I didn't think anything of it, since plenty of woman have these events happen and don't deliver for a while. I decided to not tell my immediate family since they were leaving on vacation today and not returning until Thursday. What was the point in worrying them if there wasn't any actual labor happening, right?
MONDAY, JUNE 17th:
I finally worked my last day before going on maternity leave. I figured I would still have about three weeks to finish last minute things. (Big mistake)
TUESDAY, JUNE 18th: OFFICIALLY 37 WEEKS:
First day of maternity leave :)
As many of you know, the duration of pregnancy is 40 weeks, but at 37 weeks is when the baby is considered "full term" and safe to be born! So it'a always a relief to make it this far :)
As many of you know, the duration of pregnancy is 40 weeks, but at 37 weeks is when the baby is considered "full term" and safe to be born! So it'a always a relief to make it this far :)
Frito lay was nice enough to throw us a shower this Tuesday. They made a meeting room look very cute and baby like! We also had some yummy cake- thanks to everyone there for their support of our little one.
I have to admit, I felt less than cute at this point. My swelling feet used to go back to normal after I would nap, or in the morning after getting a bit of sleep, but at this point the swelling would not go down...ever. It was like the elephant man feet....sexy I know. Still, I was determined to get a pedicure so my feet looked as decent as possible for the shower today.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19th:
Today I decided I needed to run a couple of errands. I was determined to go to at least three stores. I still had a long list of things to do, but figured three stops a day would keep me active until I delivered, or at least for another week or so. Unfortunately, my body had other plans. It needed to nap before I ran any errands, and it still wouldn't let me move very quickly. One of my errands was to go to costco and stock up on food. I think I was there for a good two hours. It was as if I wasn't going to be able to go to shop in bulk for the rest of the year and my time was running out! On my way out, I decided I should probably call Garrett and let him know I just charged over $200 worth of food on his credit card. I have no idea how that happened. I know it's super easy to spend that much at Costco and even more, but I seriously only bought food and the most expensive item in my cart was $14.99! I guess, I like to be prepared?
THURSDAY, JUNE 20th:
My 37 week check-up was scheduled for today at 4:30pm, so I planned on running my three errands before the appointment. Again my body had other plans, and made me nap instead. I figured I would go to my appointment, and then run to Babies R Us, Target and Trader Joe's after...because I didn't get enough food at Costco!
I also really wanted to finish packing my hospital bag for the baby and for myself, before I left to see the doctor. Garrett promised to do his packing that evening after his softball game, in case we needed to be ready for an "early arrival."
I woke up from my nap feeling a bit more rested, but my back was sore so I thought it would be a wonderful idea to do some squats before I jumped in the shower. Usually the squats help relieve some of the pressure, and help my tense pelvic muscles relax. This time something felt weird. I'll spare you all the details, but let's just say my body made sounds I have never heard before, so I stopped.
When Garrett and I met up at the doctor's office, the doctor was running late with patients, as usual. I was curious to hear how I was progressing because of the contractions and spotting I had been having. The doctor finally sees us, and starts to examine me. He started to push down on different parts of my stomach to feel where the baby was. This isn't usually the most comfortable thing since he pushes a bit hard.
I had just finished telling the Doctor and Garrett that everytime I get on the patient table I feel as though I have to pee, (What pregnant lady doesn't feel that way though?) as I'm finishing my sentence, I feel a warm liquid similar to urine, start to drip.
I'm not really sure what's going on, so I decide to tell the doctor, "Ummm, I feel like I just may have released a bit of urine on your table, I'm so sorry!"
Doctor:" Ok, no prob. Let me finish checking things out."
Me: "OMG! THERE IS NOW A LOT OF LIQUID! A LOT! IT'S STILL GOING! I THINK MY WATER JUST BROKE!"
Doctor: Remains totally cool. "Okay...almost done with checking this out, hold on."
Me: "IS THIS NORMAL?! WHOSE WATER BREAKS AT THEIR DOCTORS OFFICE?!" I am totally freaking out.
Doctor: Finally starts to check things out. "Yes, your water just broke. This is what's going to happen, you are going to go to labor and delivery and eat something now, in case you're in labor for a while. You will be in labor all night, and I will be back by 7am in time to deliver the baby."
Me: "What?! Are you saying I'm going to be in labor all night?!"
Doctor: "At least, yes. So get something to eat now."
You guys get the point, I was in total shock. All I kept thinking was how I still needed to run my errands, and had an expense report that I needed to turn in for work the next day, and how the nursery wasn't fully finished, etc, etc.
The doctor told us, I was 100% effaced at this point, but that I wasn't dilated at all. Which is why he thought I would be in labor all night- he was right by the way.
At this point, Garrett was cool as a cucumber. He was in "go" mode, and totally on everything while I was still shocked and not processing things.
One of the perks to breaking your water at your doctor's office, is that the hospital isn't very far. So literally Garrett drove me for 1 minute and we were at labor and delivery. I still wasn't having contractions, and the plan was for them to induce me by 2am with something a bit more mild than petocin, and if that didn't get me going they were going to give me petocin at 5am. They wanted me to rest and eat at this point. I started feeling more calm once we reached the hospital, while Garrett started having the opposing effect. At least we both didn't loose it at the same time! He felt like he had a million things to do, and he was worried he would miss the birth in the process. So he left to go get our hospital bags, (thankfully I finished packing it before I left!) get some food and get the baby's car seat!
In the meantime, I was trying to get a hold of my parents who were on their drive back from LA. Susi would pick up and then cut-out, I just caught that they were on the grapevine. They arrived a couple of hours later and dropped off my Mom in time for her to be there with me.
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| Contractions were still mild at this point- hence the thumbs up |
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| The baby's heart rate and my contractions were being monitored. So when Garrett would make me laugh, it would sound like a monster was talking really loud on the monitor, and that made me laugh even more!
FRIDAY, JUNE 21st:
So we go for the first try. Dr. Pont uses the suction and attempts to flip him, and I start pushing like crazy. It worked on the first try, his head was out! I pushed once more to help get the rest of his little body out and then heard him start to cry :)
7:35AM BABY POUNDS IS FINALLY HERE!
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Susi's final chalk board- thanks Suz!
My Mom kept raving about how great my doctor was to everyone. It's not uncommon for doctors to not even try an alternatives when the baby is facing up, and to just go to the c-section. Like Dr. Pont says, delivering is an art. :) He is a character!
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| William's First Bath |
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| Poor little guy isn't happy, and I don't blame him! |
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| He loves sucking on his hands/ fingers to this day. |
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| Little guy stretching out |
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| All cleaned up and ready to cuddle |
Top 5 things I learned while in labor:
- Chapstick is AMAZING! Your lips are much happier when chapstick is around with all the breathing!
- Sense of smell is heightened even more during labor than in pregnancy! Onions or other strong flavors are probably not the best idea for your Spouse to eat before all the breathing exercises begin. Garrett had a sandwich with red onions (which I usually love) around 7pm. Later that night, while he was helping me breath through contractions, I couldn't take it anymore. I asked him to please brush his teeth immediately. Not that that ended up helping too much. I couldn't eat onions for a couple of days after labor. I heard a similar story from another Mom, except her husband had clam chowder.
- Not a great time for questions. Asking if we can have a second child during labor, does not increase the chances of getting a "yes honey, that's great idea" as a response. I think Garrett was really worried that everything was so rough that this was his way of finding out just how bad I thought it was. I actually laughed, and responded with a, "Seriously? Are you really asking me that right now?" In my defense, at least I didn't say no.
- Epidural? I went into labor with an open mind when it came to the epidural. If I could do it naturally I would, and if my body needed relief and couldn't take it anymore, then I would get the epidural. I didn't feel super strongly about one or the other. After going through labor, I now have an opinion :) I believe that an epidural is God's way of making it up to us woman, that we are the ones that have to bear children. Thank you God, for helping man-kind develop this wonderful, amazing medicine! I was having abnormally long contractions, and dilating extreamly quickly- which didn't feel awesome. The contractions were lasting an average of 45 seconds, most contractions usually last around 15-20 seconds. I held on as long as I could, but by the time the anesthesiologist came in, I think both Garrett and I were ready to give him a big ol' kiss! He was awesome! I was lucky that he was on-call that night, apparently he is one of the top anesthesiologists in the area!
- Take your time. After delivering the baby, I learned that it's important to take your time sitting up to go use the restroom for the first time. I think I thought I was feeling better than I actually was, which resulted in me passing out. Luckily, the nurses had a wheelchair next to me in case this happened. They said it was normal, but I'm not sure if they were saying that to calm Garrett and my Mom down. I honestly didn't even think I fainted. I thought I came close, but then Garrett and my Mom were telling me what they saw and that wasn't what I remembered. Oh well thankfully I'm ok, and so is baby. Lesson learned!
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| Happy new Grandma |
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Slightly tired
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| Getting ready to go home. |
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| Going home in style with his Ralph Lauren Onsie, thanks to Kathy :) |
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| Already baseball buddies:) William is all pictured out at this point and ready to go home! |
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| First visitors at home: Aunt Loli, Uncle Juan Diego and Cousin Loli |
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| Enjoying his bassinet |
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| Nice big yawn |
There is more to blog about since he's been home, but it's been tough since we are severely sleep deprived and short on free time. We are slowly getting the hang of things, so I'll try and update this a bit more often with his little facial expressions, now that he isn't as swollen anymore. :)
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