1 Month Old

Today my little mister is one month old.  I cannot believe how fast time is flying and how big my baby is getting.  He has already changed so much: chubbier cheeks, darker skin, "taller".  Yesterday was his last day wearing his preemie onsies as they were starting to get a little too snug.  He now fits into his newborn onsies perfectly and even a few 0-3 month sleepers fit him just right, when before he was swimming in them.

I am in disbelief how much I love this child.  I know the pregnancy started out rough but there are days I actually miss being pregnant and feeling him inside (not to mention how safe I knew he was inside the womb: he was sick the last few days with a cold and is just now feeling better).  I was loving being a mom to older kids before but now that I have a newborn baby, I want to relish in he moment of having a baby.  I want to just enjoy him and not wanting to rush his growing up.  I just want to live in the now, live in the moment.  I am done trying to rush my kids growing up, waiting for my life to begin, waiting to "start living". This IS my life and I AM living it.  I am a mother and I am loving every minute of it.  I can't believe how easily this baby has slipped into our hearts and fit into our lives.

I am just so in awe of this baby.  Everyday is a new day with him and a beautiful day at that.  He is just so stinking cute and everything he does makes me smile.  I am taking it all in and loving every minute of it: the sleepless nights, the mountain of poopy diapers, the many times he's peed on me, the nursing sessions (which have gotten so much easier now that we have established some kind of routine) and even his crying. And his brothers and sister are so in love with him as well.  They just love the new addition to our family.  I cannot put into words just how much more wonderful my life has gotten with my miracle baby boy.  Here's to life as a mommy of 4.

A few hours old at the hospital

4 days old... 1st time in his bouncy seat... not a fan LOL

9 days old.  Sucking his finger... something he does when he's hungry

9 days old

10 days old

11 days old

                                      

having some one on one big bro and baby bro time

2 weeks and 3 days old

Hospital Experience

I have to say I was not too disappointed with my hospital stay this time around.  The staff was nice, cordial and friendly.  And the food was top notch...they feed you good food and often.

From the time I checked in until the time I checked out, I had a pretty good stay at Calderon Guardia public hospital.  There are things I still don't like about the public hospitals here but I will get to those later.  Here is a list of my positives:

I) They allowed hubby to stay with me the entire time I was in labor (not sure why he was not with me when I was in labor with JC).
II) I was able to achieve semi privacy in my little bed quarters with the curtain partisans.
III)  The staff was really nice.
IV)  They allowed me, actually suggested that I take a warm shower to help with the contractions.  I was able to take a nice warm shower for 30...just letting the warm water run over my back and belly.  Loved that...AND hubby was able to be with me in the shower room to keep me company.
V)   The doctor was funny and responsive.
VI)  The room was comfortable and I liked the view... bathroom was big and spacious.

Some things that need improving:
I)  The staff gets busy and can seem unresponsive, especially when it comes to personal requests like getting you water.
II)  More privacy... I don't like being lumped into a corner with a million girls.
III)  The hospital needs a makeover... a little sprucing up could make a big difference.  Just because it's public doesn't mean it has to look so run down.
IV)  The visiting times.... only 1 hour for visiting patients while on the maternity floor.  And of course, significant others not being able to sleep over.
V)  Boredom:  No TV to watch.  Baby sleeps all the time and no one to talk to for the most part.  And not having a magazine I can read to pass the time.  Plus, not having a phone:  Boredom.
A side note:  not being able to bring in 2 bags is kind of ridiculous.  I had my hospital bag and baby's diaper bag and could only bring in one... they told me to put my stuff in a black plastic bag.  Odd.  I guess if I had brought in my bag with me when I checked in, I could have avoided that issued.

I am sure I will think of more things for both lists later but that is what tops my list for both positive and negative experiences at the public hospital.

Baby A Is Here

I am finally able to take a few stolen moments to report that baby A is here and healthy and we are all doing great.  He is 15 days old today and growing so big already.

I'll try and go into a brief labor and delivery story...the story of my baby boy's birth.  Hoping I can get into as much details as possible without making this post too long, so here goes.

On Wednesday, August 28, I went to my routine prenatal appointment.  I told my doctor that I'd been having contractions... Monday night I had contractions steadily all night starting from 12 until 4 am in the morning.  I wanted to know if I had dilated at all.  I thought for sure I was going into labor that Monday night.  Doc checked me out and told me my cervix was still closed, which kind of relieved and bummed me out at the same time.  How could I be having so many contractions and still not be dilated at all??  My doctor was a little concerned too and so wrote up a reference for me to take to the hospital.  She wanted me to go to the hospital right away and get checked out... she wanted them to monitor the baby and make sure all the contractions I was having was not putting stress on him.

I was sort of like, whatever,  I'll go.  But I thought I'd go in and then be released quickly since I wasn't dilated.  I knew baby was OK... he was moving and so far I had not had the "bloody show" nor had my water broken.  I went home and ate and just to be on the safe side, decided to put my hospital bag and baby's diaper bag in the car.... just in case!  I was in no hurry to go the hospital but my mother in law seemed to be, so we headed off.

I was checked in immediately and went through all the routine 'stuff'.  After a pelvic exam, I was told I was 2 cm dilated.  TWO CENTIMETERS dilated!  Shows how much my doctor knew.  I was dilated.  I was then hooked up to the monitor and after a few minutes, I was given the news.  Not only was I 2 cm dilated, I was contacting every 2 minutes.  They had to check me in... I was considered to be in early labor.  It was the last thing I wanted.  I did not want to spend the majority of my labor in the hospital.  I wanted to labor at home then show up at the hospital just in time to give birth.  But I had to stay in the hospital.  Luckily my mother in law would stay with me until Hubby could show up.

Hubby was excited and thought I was in active labor when I called but my mother in law and I assured him I had a LONG way to go.  At just 2 cm and my contractions slowing down, it looked like it would be a LONG night.  I was stuck at 2 cm for a while.  Since I checked in around 2:30 until just before 10 pm, I was at 2 cm.  I wanted to just go home and labor on my own, maybe even go for a walk but they had to keep me at the hospital because the baby's heart rate was all over the place and they needed to make sure he was OK.  I was told by the nurse that they would give me pitocin to help speed up my contractions (or better yet, kick them into gear again).  If the pitocin didn't work, they would have to do a cesarean section because the baby's heart rate was not steady enough for me to go home and labor on my own, even though I was just 39 weeks and a day.  The word C-section is scary but I was calm and hoped for the best.

I didn't want pitocin.  I heard bad things about that drug and just wanted to go naturally on my own but the doctor assured me that if while on pitocin, the baby was put under too much stress, he would take me off the drug.  So I went along and agreed to the pitocon.  Good thing I did and thank God it worked. In about 3 hours I went from 2 cm to 10 cm and in no time I was ready to push.  The first push was hard... I wasn't expecting to have to push since I didn't have to really push with Princess or JC.  But after the 1st push, the other ones were pretty much automatic.  Baby was coming.  Hubby went to put on scrubs and when he came back, baby was almost crowning.  He told the doctor and I was rushed to the delivery room.  I was told to not push but at that point I couldn't help it.  Baby A came out soon after that, surprising the doctor just a little bit.   Being so slippery, the doctor had a hard time at first grabbing a good hold on the baby and seemed to almost drop him.

I was so relieved.  I had just gone through the most horrible pain.  I had just pushed a small human being out of my very private part and I was so glad it was over.  I NEVER want to go through that again.  Hubby was amazed at how well I did but it was so hard for me to not scream and cry out in pain.  All the pain of labor made me nauseous that I eventually threw up a few times on 2 separate occasions, causing me to wet myself and the entire bed.  The second time I threw up was actually a good thing because my bladder was so full but I couldn't pee... the heaving I had to do while throwing up caused me to empty my bladder, which helped the baby drop significantly.  And that was when I was able to start pushing.

Baby A was born Thursday morning, August 29 at 1:28 am.  He was 49 centimeters (around 19 inches long) and 2970 kilos (6lbs and a few ounces).  He was smaller than I thought he would be and whiter too.  He looks just like his big brother and I could not be happier with my little baby boy, the newest addition to our family and my miracle baby.  I love him so much and am happy to be a mother of 4.  Yes, I am exhausted.  Yes, I am still fat.  And yes, I could use a break.  But I am trying to live in the moment and enjoy every minute of it because soon Baby A will be a big boy running around with his siblings and I might just miss out on him being a baby.