Christmas Day
Santa that Lyla made at school
Our Christmas tree
My parents came into town from Arizona on December 17th. I wanted them to come before I was due just in case baby decided to come early. Well, obviously that didn't happen! My due date, December 19th, came and went. But it was truly a blessing to have my parents around to help with every little preparation for the baby and Christmas. Any project I could think of they did right away--they just served us to the max. I am so thankful for wonderful family! The nice thing about going overdue was that I really felt prepared (well as much as you really can be) for baby. Another blessing was that we were able to spend Christmas Day with my parents--this doesn't always happen since they live in Arizona. It was a special treat. :) Christmas morning I started feeling a little different. I started feeling contractions! I kinda knew they weren't just Braxton Hicks because there was a little pain with the contractions and they felt different from any I had felt before. Now remember, I never felt contractions with Lyla because they took her via emergency c-section before I ever went into labor, so I was a rookie with all this labor stuff and really didn't know what to expect. Well, I knew something was different on Christmas Day. Throughout the day the contractions slowly became more frequent and a little stronger, but still not real painful or anything. We had a wonderful Christmas Day service at church and a really nice Christmas at home with my parents. That night I laid down to bed at around 10:45 and my contractions started picking up. I knew I was supposed to call into the hospital once they were 5-7 minutes apart. I started timing them in bed and they were about 4 minutes apart. I started to think, maybe I should wake up Joel. Then suddenly at 11:30 my water broke, BIG time. It was very obvious, so I woke up Joel and said we need to call the hospital! Joel started flying around and packing and telling me we needed to get going. The nurse in labor and delivery said we needed to come in as soon as we could. Then the real contractions started. WOW. HORRIBLE. I couldn't talk, walk, move, think. They were so, so, so strong and were coming every 2-3 minutes. Joel was trying to hurry me up to get in the car but I just couldn't move unless I was between contractions! I started to think maybe I would have the baby during the 25 minute drive into the hospital because the contractions were so strong and close together! Well, Joel drove in at about 80 mph and my mom followed. My dad stayed at home with Lyla. All I could think during the drive was, dear Lord please help me not to have this baby in the car, and I want an epidural STAT!!!! When we finally got up to labor and delivery they checked me and I was dilated to 2 cm. I could not believe it. They said that the contractions were so strong and painful because my water had broken. All I can really remember is asking for pain medication or an epidural, and telling people not to touch me. I felt out of my mind. I labored for about another 2 hours until I was dilated enough that they could give me an epidural. Let me tell you, that epidural was the most amazing thing ever! Total relief! After that I was on track with dilating about 1 cm every hour, which I guess is very typical for first-time labor. The only glitch now was that baby was decelerating (her heart rate was going down) with a lot of my contractions, so they were constantly repositioning me to get her heart to stop doing that. Nothing really seemed to help, but she didn't seem distressed enough that they had to do anything drastic. Then when I was dilated to about 7 the epidural started to wear off and not matter how many boluses they gave me, it kept wearing off. Back to strong, steady contractions that I could feel. Yuck. By the time I was dilated to 9 cm they didn't want to give me anything for pain because they feared I wouldn't feel the need to push. Well, that became a non-issue because baby girl started having severe decelerations (we found out later her heart rate got down to 38. It's supposed to remain between 120 and 160). When she was showing that much distress the doctor said, "You're going in for an emergency c-section right now!" People started flying around and we were on the OR in no time. I was pretty freaked out because I was worried about our baby and I was still having the horribly strong contractions. They decided to put me under general anesthesia, which I am thankful for because I was so worried about baby girl. Next thing I know, I'm awake and next to me is Joel holding our beautiful, perfect, healthy baby girl. I took her in my arms and wept--that is a moment I will always cherish. She is just so beautiful.
Pearl Noelle Alameida was born on December 26th at 8:49 am. She weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. What a blessing. So that's the birth story. It was quite a ride.
Later I was told by the surgeon that if we have another child, I should not attempt VBAC again. I said, don't worry, I got that out of my system--a scheduled c-section is just fine by me!
After staying at the hospital for 3 days, we got to take our little bundle of joy home.
My first glimpse of Pearl after waking up from anesthesia.
Proud Daddy
Grandma Carol
Grandma Cathy
Her first bath
Lyla taking her sis for a walk at the hospital.
Well, today Pearl is 3 weeks old. How quickly time flies! She is doing well at nursing-we are both figuring it out together! I am so glad to be able to nurse her, as that was something I really wanted to do with Lyla but it wasn't meant to be with her. Lyla is adjusting to being a big sister. Sometimes I think she has a bit of jealousy, and it's hard for her to understand why mama can't pick her up and snuggle with her as often. I am not allowed to lift more than 10 lbs for 6 weeks after the surgery, so obviously I can't pick up Lyla, who weighs 30 lbs! My mom came back to help out for 2 weeks (what a blessing!) otherwise I have no idea how I would've cared for Lyla since Joel went back to work. My mom has been the best ever nanny/cook/housekeeper! After she goes back to Arizona, Joel's mom is going to help with Lyla until I am off my weight restrictions. That day can't come soon enough! Thank the Lord for moms. :)
Also, thank you for so many prayers and so much support in the way of cards and gifts and food during this time of transition for our family. Our hearts are full of gratitude and love.
All ready to go out and about!
Lyla and Pearl
Big yawn :)
Pearl and Papa
Getting to know her little sis
the cutest little hiccups :)
Congratulations Jen and family. Sarah just told me you had a baby and I didn't even know you were pregnant. I've not been good at keeping up with my blogs. She is beautiful. I'm glad you are all well.
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