Sophia's birth story

Every day on their birth days my kids love to hear their birth story.  They love to hear the little things that made me happy, and the ones that made me unhappy, the things that I liked and the ones I didn't like.  It is hard to remember all the details.   Since they like perusing this little blog of mine I thought of writing a post about the highlights on their birth stories.  I usually do not write this much so I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors :/

I will start with my first born Sophia, she is 11 years old now.

We were newlyweds when we decided that we wanted start having babies.  I left my job at the school and started my career as a housewife.  I knew since the beginning that getting pregnant wasn't going to be an easy journey since my periods had always been irregular.  Early on I started seeing a doctor.   After various cycles of treatments with clomid (a drug that induces ovulation), pregnancy tests failed month after month after month.  I was so eager to get pregnant, there were low points in my life that I even though 'What if I never get pregnant?  what If God does not want me to have any babies?'  My husband always by my side assured me that the pregnancy would come when the time is right.  There was disappointment after disappointment until it came to the point that I decided no more cycles of clomid, no more waiting anxiously to see if my period comes, no more pregnancy tests, I'd just let it happen. With those thoughts in my mind the letdowns were easier every month. I still kept record of the first day of my periods on the calendar.  Six months after my last failed pregnancy test I noticed that I  was going onto week 8 without a period.  The urge to find out came again as I thought this is it!  and it was!!  I was finally pregnant.  I found that two days before my husband's birthday. When I told him the news, the first words that came out of his mouth were 'No!' (meaning he could not believe it) and 'What are we going to do now?' (he is the type of man that always is thinking about the future even though he cannot control it, he gets anxious with every new change)  I started crying as he said those words, my hormones were doing their job.  It took him a couple of days to realize he was going to be a daddy again (as he already had a daughter from a former marriage) it was really a great birthday present for him. It was like a dream come true for me.

It took me 1 1/2 years for that dream to come true and now I think back and realize is not that long of a time but back then it felt like the longest time ever.

The pregnancy went well without complications. I started drinking more water and eating better.  I took my folic acid and my prenatals. I gained exactly 25 lbs and all thorough the pregnancy, my boobs grew and so did my curls.  I craved and ate fried plantain with lots of condensed milk.  Yes I did!

My husband had had a not so pleasant experience with the birth of his daughter that he asked me not to be present during labor. In fact he never went with me to a doctor's appointment (except for one). I was fine with that.  My sister was my Lamaze coach and went with me to the hospital tour and my mom was to be present during labor for support also.

It was a lovely feeling every time I heard the rapid and loud heartbeat of that little being growing inside of me and feeling the little kicks was like magic.  My husband always refered to the baby as a boy and I was also positive the baby was a boy! At the time I was driving a small Toyota truck  that left me stranded a couple of times.  I had to call my husband very emotional and scared to come and save me.  That is when he decided we can't have that with a baby on the way and bought our good old Toyota Tundra ( almost 12 years ago!) The time came for the 20 week ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby and he waited in the parking lot with his new truck (weird ah??)  Oh yes, I have to tell you that he called it 'his' truck first now after the kids and 12 years he calls it 'my' truck.  Valeria my stepdaughter was 5 at the time and it was just us girls that went in the Doctor's office.  The first words that came out of Valeria's mouth when she heard it was a girl was 'my daddy is going to be mad'   Of course he wasn't and I quickly fell in love with the idea of a girl.  As  a diy'er I made the crib bedding set,  fixed a pink nursery and started buying lots of dresses. The tragedy of 9/11 came when I was about six months pregnant my husband called me to let me know of the news and I got very nervous.  The little girl inside me got very nervous also as she wouldn't stop bouncing inside of me.

My due date was January 20, 2002 I spent my last trimester and the winter of 2001 very warm and cozy with a rounded belly. On one of my last  doctor's appointment I had been warned that my amniotic fluid was low, they advised to drink lots of water during the weekend and come back to my next appointment the following Monday.  So I went, it was Martin Luther King's Day my husband had the day off and finally made it with me to an appointment!  Sure enough that was it!  they sent us straight to the hospital to deliver, they said straight to the hospital!  Did we go straight to the hospital? no!  We went to the house to get my suitcase and the baby's diaper bag and we stopped for a burger for my husband.

We got to the hospital and registered, I was started  on meds  around noon.  I felt fine, no pain no discomfort.  Until some hours later I started feeling pain on my lower back!  I thought it must be because all of the time laying down.  I remember asking a nurse about the pain and she said those were contractions.  Oh my!, since then my perspective on cramps will never be the same!  My husband left the room every time nurses or doctors came to check on me. He got to the be  known as 'the dad that leaves' the poor guy! 

Lots of details during the delivery are very vague now.  They broke my water I remember they showed me something that look like a wire clothes hanger.   I never had the idea of natural childbirth, I knew all thorough the pregnancy that I was going to try to deal with the pain and if I needed drugs I'd ask for them.  I didn't really asked but when they offered them I said yes.  Oh glorious drugs that put you out of pain instantly and make you sleepy! When I finally decided I was ready for the epidural the anesthesiologist was very busy tending to another moms to be, inevitably I had to wait.  So I endured pain until 9 1/2 centimeters. But that last half centimeter took forever to open.  I later pushed for almost two hours, like I mentioned earlier my husband wasn't in the delivery room.  My mom was there with me and my sister who was at the time about 8 weeks pregnant and was supposed to be my coach got sick and nauseated and all she could do was sit in a little corner of the room.  There was a point where I was told that a c section was a possibility because the baby was stressing but luckily that did not happen.

Sophia was born on January 22, 2012 at 3:58 am exactly 6 lbs, she was perfect.  The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck so I just saw her for a little while and then they took her from me to watch her breathing.  I spent the morning hours sleep.  Me and my newborn attended a first time mommy class she was the only baby crying there.  A nurse showed me how to hold her close to my heart.  She stopped the crying!  I had family and friends visiting.  One friend asked me how are things and I recall telling her she cries and I don't know how to calm her.  She said it's just a matter of time until you get to know each other and so it was.

When we got home I remember being in the kitchen with that tiny baby in my arms not knowing what to do next, I started crying my husband hugged me tears rolled down his face too.  Hormones were still doing their nasty job on me.  The breastfeeding didn't go very well, I pumped the milk for about three months.  I won't deny the first few months were very exhausting  and stressing.  But the good news is that we survived!!

Soon I will share my second experience, somewhat different.  Thank you if you made it to the end of the story after all it took more than nine months right??

  

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