I woke up that morning tired and worn out and just 1 day away from being 41 weeks pregnant. Boy was I uncomfortable! My body was just so tired and having an extra 40lbs on it was definitely getting tough. I ended up staying home from church that day and decided to sleep in, well besides waking up every other hour to run to the bathroom.
Finally after waking up I received some motivating texts to get up and get moving. I began my quick walks up and down my steps to get labor starting. After 30+ times going up and down my steps, I was worn out. (No I didn't do the 30+ times all in 1 time... I could only handle about 6 at a time.) Once Carlos got home from church, I was motivated to keep going... so we went to the basement and got the treadmill in place and I walked for 2 miles. Carlos was behind me reading a book as I watched some Cake Boss on Netflix to help time pass by quickly. Man, did that 2 miles feel like forever! I kept having to pause a few times for the Braxton Hicks that continued to happen.
Later on that night we decided to run out to grab dinner, and of course with random cravings, we ran to Safeway to pick up some additional food. I wanted croissants, and Carlos wanted Red velvet cupcakes (he's been addicted to red velvet lately). We went home and after eating all of our food, we decided to head upstairs and go off to bed. While sitting there I realized that the Braxton Hicks I had been feeling all day, were no longer Braxton Hicks, but my body was actually contracting. Around 10pm we began to keep track of contractions!!! Oh yes, the moment we've been waiting for was finally here!!!!
Contractions began to come about every 7-10 minutes so we decided to call the midwife on call and ask her what to do. Since babygirl was still breech I knew I would have to have a c-section. She informed me to drink tons of water, take a warm bath, and then get into bed to have a nice night of sleep. They wanted my contractions to slow down, since it hadn't been 8 hours since I late ate (and with a c-section it's best to come on an empty stomach so you won't have acid go into your lungs) and also then I could get some rest.
Monday August 5th, 2013:
I slept maybe about 6 solid hours, well in between the bathroom breaks throughout the night. I was too excited knowing that today would be the day that we meet our little girl. I knew with contractions, what I needed to do to get them to continue to be consistent (by now they were between 15-25 minutes apart), so after waking up and packing our bags, I began pacing back and forth in our bedroom to get things moving. With each contraction, I would tell Carlos one was starting and he would begin to time it, as I would lay on the bed fully relaxing my body. He would stay quiet and make sure I was relaxed, and if he saw me tensing up, he would remind me to relax that part of my body. This continued for about an hour and a half and he did awesome helping me out! "Done!" One more contraction down, and just a little closer to holding our little girl. As things got more intense, I would continue to pray through the contractions knowing that as much as I might want to tense up, that I needed to stay relaxed. Things sped up quickly and around 11:30am they were 5 minutes apart!!! We made the call to midwife and they told us to come in.
By 12pm we were OFF to the hospital!!! The dogs were put away, our bags were in the car, and we said farewell to our neighbor as she got excited when she saw us head to the car. Ouch, another contraction hit! Wow, it wasn't easy, but Carlos continued to help me through each contraction. Timing them, and reminding me to relax.
We parked at the hospital and walked in and went off to Labor and Delivery. We checked in and sat down. More and more contractions hit and I would lean on Carlos as he timed them, and helped me to relax. Finally we were checked into triage where they checked me and had a monitor on me to keep track of baby and her heart rate and asked me tons of questions. Pause, another contraction! I had to lay still and silent as I handled these ones throughout the questions. By this time 8 family members were in the waiting room and it was only about 1:30pm. People wanted to come in and see us, but we could only have 1 person in there with me.. so of course I wanted my hubby with me to help me out and keep me calm throughout the contractions.
Finally we had the news that yes, she was still breech, so they had to fit us in between other c-sections. I was only 3cm dilated and my contractions were slowing down a bit (7-15 minutes apart) since I was laying down. The only available time would be 4:30 that they could get us in, UNLESS another mom in labor needed to have an emergency c-section. So we began to prepare knowing that we were going to be waiting in this tiny room until the c-section would happen. Carlos ran out to grab some food, and my mom, dad, and sister all took turns coming in to see me, praying with me, and saying hello.
4pm hit and Carlos was back, and was getting dressed in the scrubs so we could go in for surgery! YES!!! Not much longer until we would be meeting our baby girl! Phew, the time was coming to an end of having this head butting baby push my ribs around, and to finally hold her and kiss her.
4:30pm came and we were walking to go into the O.R. for surgery! YES!!! I was a little anxious, but thanks to Ellen preparing me the week before for what would happen, I wasn't scared, I was ready! This moment is what we've been waiting for the last 9 months!!! We didn't expect that we would have a baby through a c-section, but this is the way that God allowed this to happen, and we were ready!
I got in the room, sat on the table, and the spinal was in my back 2 minutes later. 10 seconds later, I was already getting numb, and by the time I laid down a minute later I was numb from the stomach down to my toes. Wow that stuff worked fast! Wow, they moved quickly in there, and of course I was joking the whole time with the O.R. group and so that made it easier. Finally a a few minutes passed by and they let Carlos into the room.
By 4:40pm we were READY to get started! Carlos sat down, and I began to cry. They thought something was wrong with me, but I was so overwhelmed with joy knowing that we were minutes away from holding our little girl. Carlos all the sudden asked me if I heard what song was playing on the radio, and I heard it... "Killing me Softly" by the Fugees. haha of course, I say "I love this song!" and Carlos starts singing it, and the midwife joins in. Lol, while they're cutting me.. this is the song that plays... how exciting! LOL, good thing we joke so much that we laughed about it.
They finally say that they see her and have her butt out, and of course my little girl begins pooping and peeing, so lady like! Next her legs are out, and then her arms are out, and then her head! Leeana Eva Gonzalez was born at 4:50pm, weighing 7lbs 10oz! Her scream was loud, and wow I was crying like crazy! I couldn't breath because I was crying so much and so excited to hear her!
Carlos was able to go and see her on the table and was so amazed at her. It all happened so fast and minutes later she was brought over to me, and Carlos was holding her while I laid on the table being stitched up. I remember seeing her for the first time and thinking how amazing it was that I helped to create this amazingly beautiful child, and yet I carried her for so long, and now she was outside of my womb and laying on top of me. What just happened?!?! How is this possible? This amazing moment was here and she was alive! Praise God for this gift!
Once things were done, I remember throwing my hands up saying "Thank you guys, you did a great job!" as I was being rolled out of the room. Oh my goodness! We were now in the recovery room and a lactation consultant came in and Leeana was already eating and doing amazing! This little girl nursed for an hour right away! Wow, I thought I loved her a lot, but this was incredible! So much happened in this tiny room too and then it was time to go to our postpartum room. YES! Finally we were able to see family, and it was after 7pm! Wow time was going by fast!
Seeing our family was amazing after they waited so many hours to see us and meet the newest addition to the family! It was quite the amazing day and yet it went by so fast! How did the last 41 weeks go by so fast and yet felt like so long. This little girl is the one who we've been waiting to see, and yet she was here! Praise God for finally allowing us to meet our little girl! We were so in love with a precious babygirl!
Thank you to my coach:
Carlos, thank you so much for your love and support throughout this whole time of being pregnant and preparing for the birth of our child. You stuck by me throughout the Bradley classes that we took, and when we found out that she breech, we never once gave up and yet stuck to our birth plan. Although we knew we couldn't have her naturally, you helped me to keep calm and talked to me about the best options, and having your support was the greatest thing! When time came for the contractions, you were so helpful in keeping me calm and reminding me to be relaxed which is just what I needed. The nights in the hospital you would wake up with me to help me feed Leeana, and changed all of her diapers! You really did an amazing job to help me out in my time of need. You've been my rock throughout this pregnancy when the last 2 weeks got tough, you made sure I was as comfortable as possible. You slept in our cold house, so that I would be comfortable, and I'm so sorry for keeping you so cold! You're an amazing husband and now father, which I always knew you would be. You've proved me right when Leeana was born, because you've been so amazing with her, and seeing the love that you have for your daughter melts my heart. Thank you so much for all that you've done my love! I love you more than words can express, and I can't wait for us to have more amazing children together!
She's a daddys girl already! I can't wait to see how her love for you grows over the upcoming years! She already has you so in love with her, and I know the love you have for her will only grow more and more.
