Saturday, October 20, 2012

It' My Party...and I'll Cry if I Want to!

Phew....I am finally awake enough and have found a few minutes to type up an update. I knew being a mommy was going to be busy but someone forgot to mention a few minor details. Everyone's advice to me was, sleep when she sleeps. Ok sounds easy enough. WELL....they also forgot to mention all the other things you have to do as a new mommy. Here is a quick rundown:

Baby goes down for nap, you go down for nap right? Wrong...here is a snapshot of how things really pan out.
  • Baby is finally asleep...now would be a good time to eat, you didn't realize you hadn't had breakfast and it's now lunch time
  • Pump...oh joy, since I have to both breastfeed and bottle feed I also have to pump, there goes at least 15 minutes of my supposed nap time
  • Wash bottles and prep bottles for next round of feedings
  • Oh yeah, I have to pee...now would be a good time to go
  • Don't forget to tend to your mommy birthing wounds (won't go into detail here because I don't want to frighten you non mommies)
  • Catch up on your social life (respond to text messages---sadly some are 3+ days old, emails, etc.) phone calls are usually out because those would require some semblance of brain power which you do not have and the reserves that you do have must be saved for baby
  • Lie down and finally time for nap....WUAHHHHHH (welp that was a good 15 minute nap)
So that's kind of how my day goes. Some days SG naps a little longer and I can catch some good zzz's. I will say week three (yes she 3 weeks now...time is flying by!) is easier. She is napping longer and on a pretty decent schedule (thank you Baby Wise!).
So before my lil egg roll wakes up I wanted to post some photos of SG's birth. As you know we opted to induce a week early because my OB was going to be out of town. Thank goodness we decided to do so because had we waited another week SG would have been even bigger than she was and I would have likely had a C section which I was not interested in. On Monday, September 24th Husband Daddy and I loaded up and headed to the hospital. I had a lot of nervous energy and didn't know what to do...my adrenaline was running. So I decided to do what any expectant mom would do...put on some good jamz...hello Jay Z and Kanye. Husband laughed at my choice in music but this is the same stuff I listen to when I am about to go on a long run. We were promptly greeted by my amazing LD nurse. Once we were settled in they started me on the smallest dose of Pitocin since we discovered I had already started labor.
The next few hours flew by. Every hour I seemed to progress by about 2 cm. Once my contractions were two minutes apart I finally asked for my epidural. Then at 6 PM my nurse asked me if I was ready to have a baby and start pushing! She and my doctor both thought I would have Sofia Grace by 6:45. And so the pushing began. This was it....I felt like I had been training for this for months. All the working out was about to pay off. But....as God and SG would have it, they had a different agenda. I kept pushing and pushing and pushing and nothing. Everyone kept saying, "you're so close." So close to what?! Nothing was happening and by 7:10 there was still no SG. I grew very frustrated and wondered why I wasn't able to push my lil nugget out. Like I said, I was ready and had "trained" for this (like having a baby is a race or something...silly me). Finally, my doctor said, "Lissette, I don't want to keep making you push for another 2 hours. I would like to use the forceps. Sofia is getting stuck on your coccyx bone so every time you push she progress but then gets stuck on your bone. I would rather save your energy, use the forceps than make you keep pushing, exhaust you and then have to resort to a C section because you are too tired." Ugh, this was NOT my birth plan but as I have learned the last nine months I am not really in control of much and I knew this was what God had intended so I conceded.
I will spare you the gory details but let me tell you...I definitely felt some discomfort. By my second to last set of pushes I started to get so angry and it hurt to push (my coccyx bone was being pushed on to make room for our nugget...NOT comfortable, I felt like it would break if I pushed any harder). I finally yelled out, "I can't do it, she's not coming!" I was so upset and tired and then finally I snapped out of it after saying a quick prayer. "That's it, let's get her out." Seriously, I said all of this and then the next set of pushes our sweet lil angel was here...major cone head and all! She arrived at 7:47 PM on September 24, 2012 and weighed a whopping 8 lbs. 6 oz and 21" long. We still aren't sure how she fit inside of me...we were expecting a pettite 6+ pounder!
I really don't recall much after SG arrived because I immediately came down with a high fever and became sick. Daddy was there to hold SG and welcome her into the world. He was with her the entire time they cleaned her off, checked her stats, got her footprints and more. I was amazed to see my husband who has never been around infants take on the role of daddy so effortlessly. It was as if he had been a daddy all his life and I immediately fell deeper in love with him. After about two hours I felt good enough to finally hold my lil miracle and it was magical. Words cannot describe the intense emotion you feel holding something that you and your spouse created. For those non-believers, holding a baby will at least make you question God's existence. I was in awe as I stared at perfection personified...ten lil fingers, ten lil toes...all perfect. Every coo, gurgle, grunt and sigh made my heart melt and I could not believe that WE created this beautiful lil being. One of the most magical moments was when Sofia looked up at me with her big eyes. She stared at me as if she knew exactly who I was. I had waited so long to meet my sweet girl and the bond she and I shared as we locked eyes was one of the most powerful, overwhelming feelings I have ever felt in my life. In that moment it was as if the world stopped, everything grew still and it was just me and my Sofia Grace.
Now SG is almost four weeks old and although the mommy journey has been much more than I expected I am more in love with her than the moment I first laid eyes on her. Her personality has already made itself known (that's for a whole other blog posting). For now, here are some shots from Sofia's debut...it was her party and she definitely cried when she wanted to.
 
"Hello world...ugh, I am exhausted!  It was a lot of working being born!"


Finally able to hold my Sofia Grace.

Perfection.

"Mom, dad, I've only been here a few minutes and you guys have already kissed me about a million times!"

Love at first sight.

She's already got him wrapped around her fingers.

My cup runneth over.

We were so excited...our SG was finally here!

We did it!

Snug as a newborn bug in a rug!

I love being in my mommy's hands.

"Ahh this is the bestest sleeping position!"

Sofia Grace, the human Gloworm!
 

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