Welcome Baby G!

39 weeks, 4 days pregnant

Welcome to the world Baby G!!!!! Today at 10:57am our sweet little Mila Juliette was born. :) She weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 inches long. We are thrilled to finally meet her!



OUR BIRTH STORY

It all started last night. During our walk, I had a few contractions, but they were too far apart to time them and I was convinced they were Braxton-Hicks. Towards the end of the night we started timing them on Jorge's phone, just out of curiosity, not because we thought we were in actual labor. He had installed an app on his Blackberry called Contraction Calc to help keep track of them. It's really great, all you have to do is press the space bar at the beginning and at the end of each contraction and it tells you how long and how far apart they are. But they were 30, 60, 40 minutes apart... nothing major. After our walk we watched a bit of TV and then went to bed around 11:00pm. Jorge and I have been sleeping in seperate rooms for the last few weeks, since he caught his cold. At first I missed him, but then we both realized we were sleeping better in seperate beds. I've been so uncomfortable that I now sleep surrounded by pillows and there's just no room for him!

Jorge and I then did our usual night time routine that we've been doing for a few months now. Even though we were in seperate rooms, it's really special to do our little routine together. It's really sweet: right before we go to bed, Jorge has "Baby G and Daddy Time" where he talks to my belly and tells her about his day. It's so funny, I love it. He tells her what he did, where he went, what he ate... cracks me up! Then it's "Lotion Time" and I rub my belly with lotion as we sing to her. We sing to her "Munequita Linda" which is the song that my parents sang to me when I was a kid. It's also the song that I danced with my dad at our wedding. Sometimes when we sing it, I get choked up thinking about it... We've sung it so much that Jorge has already learned the words! Then Jorge will put lotion on my swollen feet and helps me get into bed. I do my 80 pelvic rocks, which is an exercise taught in our Bradley class that helps relieve pressure from the baby on my back -- it really works! Then he helps prop my swollen feet up on pillows and he kisses me goodnight. Then comes my favorite part: he turns off the light and rubs my back and my butt until I fall asleep. I swear, with that I'm out like a light! Before going to bed I made sure I had the phone near me so I could time the contractions overnight.

Labor Begins

That night I remember waking up every so often whenever I thought I had a contraction. It feels like really bad cramps! But since I was half asleep when I was pressing the space bar on the phone, sometimes I'd forget to press it again to say it'd stopped, so not all the times were accurate. At around 1:30am I woke up with a contraction and I went to the bathroom. I was still convinced that these were just Braxton-Hicks. In our birth class they teach you that a way to determine if these were real contractions or false ones, is to go for a walk, eat, drink, nap and shower and by the time you're done doing all of those, if it's false labor then they will probably stop. I was pretty awake, so I figured I'd try those things not so I could determine if they were real or not -- I was convinced they weren't -- but just so they could go away and I could get back to sleep. So I headed to the living room and didn't even turn on the light. I then did 20 minutes worth of laps around our coffee table. I had a few contractions but they were still quite far apart. So I had some cashews and then had some water. Then I went back to bed and see if that had helped.

My Water Breaks

I slept for a few more hours and around 4:30am I woke up with another contraction... since I was awake, I figured I'd go to the bathroom then so I wouldn't wake up needing to go later. So I peed and then sat for a minute, half-asleep.... until I heard a CRACK-POP! My eyes were then wide open! At first I thought it was my back cracking -- it's been doing that lately whenever I get out of bed. But then I felt a little gush... was that my water breaking?? or did I just pee?? I sat for a bit longer and waited to see if something else happened... nothing. Second guessing myself, I went back to the room and wondered if I really felt what I thought it was... maybe I had just peed?? I mean, I am so big and I was half asleep that it's quite possible that I just peed without realizing it.

I sat on the bed and thought about waking Jorge up. It was 4:45am and I didn't want to wake him since I knew he had to go to work in a few hours and I figured if it was real labor then I would need him to be well rested so he could coach me through labor -- which I thought would end up being an all day event. But I wasn't even sure if it was my water breaking in the first place! In our Bradley class, we learned that only 8% of women's water breaks before real labor starts. In those cases, they tell you that when your water breaks, don't rush to the hospital. Instead, go watch a movie or go for a walk. It'll usually be a few hours before you give birth. For everyone else, the water usually breaks towards the end of labor, when you're closer to giving birth. I was like, "Figures I'm one of the 8%!" Little did I know, I was a lot further along than I thought!

As I debated whether I should wake up Jorge, I felt another little gush -- and this time I was certain I did not just pee. Then I had a contraction that was a lot stronger than the others I'd been having. I went to our room and woke up Jorge, "I think my water just broke!" I told him. He was so calm when I told him! What a good coach! He said matter-of-factly, "Ok, let's call Lorie." Lorie was our doula. The plan was she would come to the house and stay with us until it was time to go to the hospital. She's been to over 100 births and knows everything there is about childbirth. She would help me get through the contractions and could help us determine when was the best time to go to the hospital. So Jorge calls her up and tells what had happend. She asks how far apart are my contractions... Jorge looks at the blackberry I'd been using all night. He tells her they were about 10-15 minutes apart. I hadn't even realized that! She says that's great, that we still had time. She suggested that we hold off to going to the hospital until the contractions were closer to 3-5 minutes apart. Since it was 5am, Jorge told her he was concerned that it was getting close to rush hour and that we'd get stuck in traffic. Also since we'd be driving from Fort Lauderdale to Boca that it would take us a bit longer to get there. Lorie agreed and suggested that we take a shower and start packing up to go.

Laboring At Home

At this point, the contractions are getting stronger, but they are still a few minutes apart. I was able to take a shower but I had two really strong contractions in there and when I got out I barely got dressed and just went back to bed -- they were getting really strong! At this point I lost track of time... all I could think about was how painful these contractions were and I was just trying to get through them! As my coach, Jorge's job was to remind me to relax my body and not fight the contractions. He helped me focus on my abdominal breathing and would tell me how far into each contraction I was. In class we'd learned that contractions last on average about a minute to a minute and a half, but the pain peaks at 30 seconds. So when Jorge tells me it's been 30 seconds, I know that's as painful as it's going to get and then it should start to taper off.

As much as Jorge wanted to be by my side through the whole thing, it was starting to get late and he needed to get our stuff together to take down to the car. We had our bags ready to go, but we had a last-minute list of things to put together that we thought we would be able to grab together -- but Jorge was stuck trying to do them alone AND at the same time try to help me through my contractions. The contractions were now coming stronger and were now even closer together. They were getting to the point where they were so strong I couldn't help but be vocal about it and I would cry out in pain! It surprised even me how vocal I was being!

The contractions are now about two minutes apart. I am really in pain! Each contraction lasts about a minute and a half so there's only like a 30 second window between contractions where Jorge can get back to grabbing stuff -- but he still needed to go downstairs and get everything in the car AND I need him with me to get through the contractions! He needed help! His original plan was to call his sister Blanca for help, since she lives like 10 minutes away. But she was just getting over a cold and was on antibiotics, so the next person on our list was my sister Cindy. She lives like 25 minutes away, but was our next best option. He calls her and tells her in his calm voice that I'm in labor to come over. I'm yelling in the background, "Tell her to come over NOW -- it's URGENT -- no time to shower, just come!!!"

The contractions are almost on top of each other now and I don't have that much of a break in between... I didn't know what to do... At this point, I couldn't stand having any lights on and I had my eyes tightly closed... between contractions I was thinking to myself, "How am I going to make it downstairs??? Forget that -- how am I going to make it out the door???" I contemplated a home birth scenario in my mind... how would we do it?

Cindy arrived in what seemed like 5 minutes. Jorge called Lorie again to give her an update and to tell her my contractions were now 2 minutes apart. Lorie told him that we had to leave now to go to the hospital. Jorge hung up with her and tried to get me out of bed. But I couldn't! The contractions were too close together! Jorge called Lorie again to tell her he can't get me to move. She tells him that he's gotta be firm. Jorge comes back and tells me, "OK, after this contraction, we're going to get going." I reluctantly agreed. The contraction ended and he helped me get out of bed. I took one step and another contraction came. I doubled over and got on the floor. My squeemishness about being on the floor went out the window. "Pass me my pillows!" I yelled -- totally disregarding my huge pet peeve about my pillows touching anything but my bed.

The contraction passed and I told Jorge I had to stop in the bathroom to pee. I also hadn't brushed my teeth yet and I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to make it through labor if my mouth felt dirty. I kept telling Jorge "I gotta brush my teeth!" and I even had a contraction as I brushed them, but I was determined! Jorge was incredulous!

Jorge, Cindy and I finally made it out of the apartment and I slowly walked down the hall. I walked as fast as I could, but I know I was still really slow. I was huge and waddling and I was hoping that the walking wouldn't precipitate labor. Another contraction hit before we made it to the elevator. I stopped and I made it through by hanging onto Jorge. After it passed, we got in the elevator and thankfully there were no stops along the way. It was a straight shot down to the lobby. The entire time I have my eyes closed but I got a brief glance at Darryl, the security gaurd, and he looked taken aback. All he could say was "Good luck!". As we walked towards the exit to the car, I had another contraction and I had to stop and get through it before I could move again. In our Bradley class we were taught that you can tell when a contraction is really strong when you feel that if you had one while crossing the street, that you would have to stop in the middle of the street to get through it.... I was at that point.

We had originally planned that we would take my car to the hospital. Jorge's car is a two-door and has been giving us problems (it has 187,000 miles on it!), and since mine is a four door we had previously decided my little Honda Civic would be best. Jorge installed the car seat in my car though and it was placed in the middle of the backseat. But as I was having contractions, I knew I wanted to lie down for the car ride. I told Jorge we should take Cindy's car, which is a four door and had room in the backseat. I had already tried getting in the front passenger seat and reclining it a bit, but since my belly was so big I couldn't lie on my back. I needed to lie flat on my side. I moved to the backseat and it was better. Jorge was a bit anxious and had to readjust everything in Cindy's car -- the seat, the mirrors. I was having one contraction after another in the backseat, yelling and moaning with each one that passed.

At this point it's 7:15am. As we drove to the hospital, Jorge kept trying to time the contractions on his Blackberry, while at the same time calling our midwife's answering service so she could call us back to tell her we were on our way, calling my mom who lives an hour away to tell her we were on our way, driving a car he's never driven before, trying to get through morning rush hour with me yelling in the backseat. Talk about pressure! And as we got on the highway, he got in the HOV lane. But since I was lieing down in the backseat, any cop that sees us won't see me and he's just hoping all the while we wouldn't get pulled over. Thankfully, we didn't.

At the Hospital

We made it to the hospital in about 30 minutes, but it seemed like we got there in no time to me. Next thing I knew, we'd pulled into Maternity Services at the hospital. Jorge ran in to tell them I'm in labor and he leaves me in the car. Lorie had already arrived and she came to help me out of the car. The contractions were so strong, I didn't want to get out. Lorie was very firm with me and she helped me up. That morning had been really cold and I had been sweating in the backseat during contractions. I was soaked with sweat and as I got out of the car, the cold air hit me hard. I had my arms draped over Lorie's neck as we walked towards the entrance of the hospital and I had another contraction right there at the door. I couldn't walk on my own, thank God she was there! Jorge was at the registration desk and we passed him as Lorie and I walked toward the elevator. (Later Jorge tells me that the paperwork we filled out weeks ago to pre-register at the hospital had an error in them and he had to fill out everything again! He was so angry!)

Lorie and I went upstairs and we shuffled past the security desk. I'm still hanging onto Lorie with my eyes closed. I hear the security guard call for someone to bring a wheelchair. A second later I'm being wheeled down the hall to a labor and delivery room. The breeze as I was being pushed felt good on my face -- despite the cold weather outside, I was so sweaty!

I opened my eyes when we got to the room and I was momentarily impressed by how big it was. I rememeber thinking to myself, "Holy moly! This is where I'm going to have my baby!"

I was helped onto the bed and the nurses helped me change into my nightgown. I was anxious because I knew what was coming next -- they were going to check me to see how dialated I was. You can be anywhere from 1cm to 10cm dialated. At 10 cm is when you push. I was praying to be at least somewhere around 7cm... if I wasn't, I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take! The nurse checked me and I was thrilled to hear I was 8-9cm dialated!!! I couldn't believe how far along I was! The baby would be here soon!

Seeing I was so far along, the nurse didn't even connect me to a hep lock or anything. I wasn't connected to any machines. They would monitor the baby every 15 minutes or so. They encouraged me to move around, although I didn't really want to. Lorie suggested I change positions and labor on the toilet for a bit. I was reluctant to move, but I did. And once I was there, I didn't want to move back! After a few minutes, I seemed to have made some progress and Lorie and my midwife Terry helped me move back to the bed.

It's amazing how focused you become during labor. I didn't care that I was half naked or that nurses and people I didn't know would come in and out of the room. All I kept thinking about was my breathing and the pain and I just kept telling myself, "It's almost over!" I kept my eyes closed during the contractions and that made time go by in a blur.

The Delivery

Next thing I knew, the contractions were coming with pressure down "there", as if I had to poop. I knew this feeling would come and this was my body telling me I had to push. It's amazing how your body just takes over though. I didn't have to think about it, I just gave in and pushed. Honestly, the closest thing I can compare this to is to being constipated times 10 and then finally being able to push. I know, not a pretty picture, but that's what it feels like.

I'm not sure how long I pushed for, but at least when I was pushing I felt like I was doing something about the pain. It was purposeful pain. I knew that this was the finish line.

The contractions were now so strong and the urge to push was so hard that I couldn't help but yell with every contraction. I even surprised myself!! I yelled so hard that for days later I was still feeling how raw my throat was. They refer to this point in labor when the baby is starting to crown as "The Ring of Fire" ... it is actually a very accurate description! Ring of Fire indeed!!! There's a reason it's called LABOR! This was HARD!!!

The whole time, Jorge was at my side telling me how great I was doing and he was just cheering me on. He was so motivating and encouraging... I don't know how I could have done it without him. He would tell me how much he loved me and how we were so close to meet our little baby girl. He would tell me I was strong and he knew I could do it... his words meant so much. His support and his love is what really got me through it. This was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life.

After several pushes I was starting to wear out... I honestly felt like I didn't think I could push again. I opened my eyes and could see Jorge smiling at me. I turned to my right and Lorie was sitting with Cindy right next to her. They were all just cheering me on telling me I could do it. In my mind I felt helpless though... I didn't think I could. I was in pain and I was crying. It got to the point where I didn't think I could go any further. I looked at Cindy and I just asked her to pray for me. I honestly thought the pain would never end. She tearfully said the most beautiful prayer. I have no idea what she said but I felt like it helped... I had another strong contraction, but then I had a small break -- it was only about a minute but it was long enough to gather myself before the next urge to push. That was all I needed. I could feel she was right there!

The baby was crowning and with all the pain, I'm totally oblivious to what is going on around me. Jorge told me later that the nurse asked him to give her his hand. He tentatively gives her his hand and she puts it on the baby's head, which still hadn't come out yet. He was totally not expecting that, but later he was telling me with great pride that he was the first one to touch her -- that he got to touch her before she was born. :) I was so in my head that I had no idea this had happend until he told me about it later.

All of a sudden, Lorie then turns to me and says, "Connie -- stop pushing. Don't push. Hold it." In my mind, I thought her head was already out and that she was telling me not to push so they could suction her mouth. I had another contraction and an overwhelming urge to push... "I can't hold it!" I tell her. And then my body just took over and I pushed and I felt her come out. (Later, I realized that it wasn't that the baby was out yet, she was just crowning and if I had held it for just one contraction like Lorie said, then I wouldn't have torn. This last push caused a second degree tear. Fourth degree is the worst.)

The Birth

When she came out, I immediately felt relief from all the pressure that had been building. I then heard Lorie exclaim, "Connie, open your eyes! Look at your baby!" I opened my eyes and looked down past my pregnant looking belly. All I could see were two little hands, as if she was lying on her back. I heard her whimper a bit and then my midwife told me to hold out my hands to pick her up. In shock, I put out my arms and with Jorge's help and his hand on her back, we pulled her onto my chest... we were in complete awe... This was our baby. I couldn't believe it! I just stared at her in disbelief... She was the most perfect baby I could ever imagine. She was covered in vernix, a creamy substance that protects her skin in the womb. She was all red and had a head full of hair. She calmly stared back at me. She was so awake and aware! She curiously looked all around. Then she took her hand and jammed it in her mouth and started sucking her thumb! It was the cutest thing ever!! I loved the way she looked at me. She was so beautiful! Seeing how awake she was after the birth was so rewarding, so moving... I knew that I did everything I could for her to have the most natural birth possible, and it really paid off. After seeing her precious face, I knew I would do it all over again just to see her this calm and this happy.





Up until this point, Jorge and I had not shared her name with anyone. After having finally met her, we were then certain of what her name would be... Mila Juliette. It was the perfect name for her.



The First Hour

The nurses left her on my chest for over an hour so she and I could bond and I could attempt to breastfeed. This was really important to me because in other hospitals when the baby is born, they take the baby away to get them cleaned up and you lose valuable bonding time. I was so happy that the first hour of her life she was in my arms and in no one elses... During that hour, Jorge and I just stared at her in disbelief. We were amazed that this was our daughter... She was just so perfect. So beautiful. Such a little miracle! Jorge and I just stared at her and hugged each other and shed tears of happiness.





While we held her, she started to whimper so Jorge and I sang to her the song we sung to her every night, "Munequita Linda", which was also the song my parents sang to me as a kid... she calmed down as we sang... it was so beautiful!

After 20 minutes of her being on my chest, as we had requested in our birth plan, our midwife let us know that her umbilical cord had stopped pulsating and that if Jorge wanted, he could cut it. Jorge had always been uncertain if he would actually do it, but he had seemed to have been warming up to the idea. When our midwife offered, Jorge accepted and he cut the cord. Way to go Papa G! :)

After the first hour passed, she was taken by the nurse to be examined and to have her first bath. They did everything in the room in our presence and they never took her away to the nursery for anything. I was really happy in our choice of hospital. After all the research we had done, Boca Raton Community Hospital was the very best choice by far. It was very natural birth friendly and was open to all our requests about not being continuously monitored during labor, about the baby never leaving our room, about the baby exams being delayed until after we had a chance to bond. (Here's a copy of my birth plan if you're interested in learning more about what you can request from a hospital during birth. We had our midwife, doula and the nurses read it over and they were completely ok with all our requests.)





After her bath, which she seemed to enjoy, the nurse taught Jorge to change her diaper and to swaddle her. Then Jorge was finally able to pick her up and hold his little baby girl for the first time. He was so calm and gentle... such a proud papa! Doesn't he look like a natural?









The only ones that were present during the birth were Jorge, Cindy, my mom as well as Lorie, our doula and Terry, our midwife. My mom had arrived right before I started pushing and my dad arrived shortly after the birth. My parents were so sweet with her! They are both so excited at the birth of their first grandchild! My sister Cathy came over that evening and Jorge's sister Blanca came over the following morning.









Looking Back

Looking back, the birth could not have gone better. My birth team was fantastic: the hospital, our nurse, our midwife, our doula, Jorge as my coach and Cindy as my assistant coach. They were all incredibly amazing. I couldn't have done it without them! I was so glad I was able to labor at home and that when I arrived to the hospital I was already very far along. The Bradley classes were indespensible. I wouldn't have been able to get through the pain and have the natural, spontaneous, unmedicated childbirth I wanted without everything I had learned.







Ultimately, I wasn't in labor for too long. I would say labor began around 1:30am when I woke up the first time, but I just didn't realize it was real labor. I think I was in Early First Stage of labor from 1:30am until 5:00am when my water broke. After my water broke, contractions got stronger and I believe I was in Late First Stage from 5:00am until about 9:00am. The worst part of labor is what is called Transition, which is the phase right before pushing. That part I think was somewhere between 9:00am and 10:00am. The Second Stage of labor which is the pushing stage, was probably the last hour, between 10:00am and 10:57am when she was born. So it was about 10 hours of labor, but the hardest part was really after my water broke for those last 5 hours, which really isn't that bad for a first timer!

I am so happy I was able to reach my goal of no medical interventions for the birth. Although I am proud of myself of what I was able to accomplish, what I am really left with is a great appreciation to my wonderful husband. He was truly the most indespensible part of the whole pregnancy, labor and the delivery. He went to the childbirth classes with me, he read the books I asked him to read, he encouraged me to eat healthy, he went to all my doctor's appointments with me, he went to all of our doctor/midwife/doula/ hospital/pediatrician interviews with me... Most importantly though, he was my friend. He listened to me vent and complain whenever I was upset, he let me cry on his shoulder when I was frustrated, he encouraged me when I felt I couldn't do it anymore. He was my rock that I could lean on and he showed me his infalliable support and his unconditional love every step of the way. I am more in love with him today than I have ever been. And now we have a daughter together and I'm so incredibly happy to start a family together. In the short time we've been parents, Jorge has really shown to be a such a caring and devoted father and a supportive and loving husband... and Baby Mila is a sweet, curious little girl and we are so in love with her. I'm so blessed to have them in my life!