It's A Girl!!!

Breast feeding and typing... how's that for Mommy of the Year? Everybody has been asking about how it all happened, and I finally have a chance to get to the computer. So here it goes:

So I was determined to have this child before Mother's Day. Her due date was Saturday, May 7th, Mother's Day was Sunday, the 8th... It was the weekend before, which happened to be our 2nd wedding anniversary (May 1st). We went out to a beautiful, delicious dinner at the Stonehill Tavern in the St. Regis Hotel to celebrate. It was a great Saturday night. The next day, which was our actual anniversary, we had planned to run a ton of errands and I was going to bounce like there was no tomorrow on my yoga ball to get this labor started. I thought it would be perfect to have our anniversary together for one last time, then some time that evening, go into labor, and have her the next day... so, I walked and bounced like CRAZY! We ran errands, we even made it to Golfsmith to buy Cory's anniversary present to himself - a new set of irons. (poor thing, he has yet to try them out).. came home, while Cory cleaned out the garage, I bounced...all the while having irregular Braxton Hicks contractions. They seemed to get more and more painful as the day progressed, but still with no consistency. Later that evening we stopped by Target to pick up some things for the house. We ran into BJ and Davis. I should have known that my wish was coming true, since the entire time that we were talking to them, I was having contractions every 10 minutes or so. In the middle of Target, of course, every 10 minutes, I was doubled over, hanging onto Cory in pain... After a handful of those, we decided to go home and rest. We didn't think she was coming, so it was time to give up for the day. When we got home, I sadly put the yoga ball away, sat on the couch and relaxed, watched the Angels game, contractions had stopped... I think I even started to panic a little about the upcoming week and all of those final discomforts of being pregnant. Not sleeping, not being able to breath, heartburn like no other... you name it, I had it, and I was just READY to have this baby and meet the love of my life. We decided to get ready for bed, Cory set his alarm clock to wake up for work the next morning and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. I was still up for another couple of hours, putting me to sleep finally, around 12:30am.

Around 2:00am, I woke up to pee, since I peed like 50 times a day towards the end of my pregnancy... and as I was getting back into bed, I felt this strange pain in my back that eventually radiated to the front. I laid down, didn't think much of it, thought it was just the normal back pain I had been feeling for 9 months. Then, I felt another one. Since, I could never fall back asleep, and I was curious, I decided to download a contraction timer app onto my Droid and start timing these "pains". I was convinced that they were just Braxton Hicks, but still wanted to time them for fun. All of a sudden, it was an hour later, the pain was getting worse, and the contraction timer was showing that the "pains" were coming steadily every 4-5 minutes. I was practicing some of that crap breathing they tried to teach us at the childbirthing class. Apparently, I was breathing loud enough to wake Cory up. At this point, it was 3:00am. I told him that I was having pains, that I had timed them, but for whatever dumb reason, I wasn't sure that they were real contractions. Then I showed him the contraction timer app that I had been staring at for the past hour. He said that if he didn't see it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed me, and he would have made me go back to bed. Sweet! Haha! But, seeing that they were perfectly timed every 4-5 minutes, and that's the magic number for when you should call the hospital to come in, we decided to call. We called, the on-call doctor said to head on in. I wanted to take a shower, you know, at least try to be presentable for the nurses. The contractions started to come 3-4 minutes, so we got moving. Cory called my mom, my mom called my dad at work, Cory text his parents to be on the look out for a potential email later in the day... everybody was on alert.

We got to Saddleback Memorial around 4:00am. They brought me into the admitting room where they checked to see my progress. Would you believe that there were FOUR of us that came in within 5 minutes of each other... it was busy. At my last OB appt a few days prior, I was 50% effaced, and only 1cm dilated. At the hospital, I was 100% effaced, 3cm dilated. They don't admit anyone until they are at least 4cm dilated. The nurse said that she did not want me to go home, so she was going to make me walk the halls for an hour. Great! One of the things I didn't want was to be one of those moms you see roaming the halls, leaning up against the walls in agony, moaning and groaning. But, alas, it had to be done. So, in my fabulous backless gown, my husband and I roamed the halls of the labor and delivery unit at Saddleback hospital. My family had already arrived, so they were waiting in the waiting room at the end of the hall. I felt bad, I didn't want to see them while I was in so much pain. So, I steered clear of that portion of the hall. Every 4-5 minutes or so, a contraction would hit, and the nurse advised me to lean up against the wall and rock my hips to get the baby moving down to make me dilate more and more. Oh, did I mention that I was having back labor. YOWZA! She told Cory to pretty much shove his elbow into my back to alleviate the pain... it really did help. So, for the next hour, there we were, walking the halls, rocking my hips, elbow in my back, drinking lots of water and juice, since that would be the last time I could have any fluids until after the baby was born. It was difficult. A few times, I caught myself saying that there was no way I could go through with this. The pain was crazy. And why the hell would I EVER think that I could do this naturally???? No drugs, what??? An hour later, they checked me, I was at 4-4.5cm dilated, and I was going to be admitted. Whoo hooo! By the time I got to my room, I was 5cm dilated, and YES, I wanted the epidural. The cool thing about being admitted so early in the morning is that it was the shift change. And with the timing of how I came in, I was the first in line to get the epidural for the anesthesiologist that was just coming on duty. FABULOUS, I didn't have to wait.

The epidural was wonderful! Of course, I was freaked out about it. I actually had a mini panic attack as the anesthesiologist had me hunched over and prepping my back. Cory was holding my hands, I calmed down... all I felt was the prick of the local, and that was it. I didn't even know when the epidural was administered. I just felt this lovely sensation in my legs, the doctor told me that I would feel the effects of the epidural in 15 minutes... nah, I was feeling them right then and there. THANK GOODNESS! After that, it was all a waiting game. I dilated 1cm every hour. In the middle of it all, I don't know how, but I managed to fall asleep for a couple of hours, while my family all ate Mickey D's for breakfast. Thank god I was sleeping, I would have been jealous. At 7cm, they woke me up to break my water. Eeuw is all I have to say about that. Around noon, I was dilated to 9... then to 9.5cm. For whatever reason, it took a couple of hours to get to the full 10cm. It was in these next couple of hours that I felt (down there) what nobody likes to talk about when in labor. The PRESSURE. At first, I thought that my epidural was turned down or something. I mean, I felt no abdominal pain, but the pain of the pressure down below was starting to get unbearable, and it HURT. I had always heard of the "uncontrollable urge to push", but not this type of pressure. Without getting too graphic, Tina said that when it felt like I had to "sh*t out a car", then it was time to start pushing. NO DOUBT! When I did finally reach 10, the nurse (her name was Tina, and we LOVED her) asked if I wanted to do a trial push. ANYTHING to get rid of this pressure. PLEASE! So, we did a trial push. With the legs up and everything. Apparently, I was pushing all the right ways, so they called in Dr. Han (my OB). I did a couple of pushes when she arrived, and she said that the baby still had some way to go, so to keep going and she would be back later. WHAT? So, I kept pushing. I swear, I felt like it was HOURS. At one point, I was so exhausted, that they made me push every other contraction, which, btw, were coming every 2 minutes. After a while, I was freaking out thinking that I was pushing and getting nowhere, so I asked for the mirror. I wanted to see my progress. As gross as it may have been, figured it would be a good idea. It was kind of amazing, to be honest. Gross too, but amazing all in the same. It did help to see this FULL HEAD OF HAIR getting closer and closer. Finally, after what still felt like HOURS of pushing, they called Dr. Han back in, they called the neonatal nurse, and Alessandra was almost here. It was gnarly. All I can remember is seeing her crown, then seeing her entire head, her shoulders, then her whole body, and ohhh the pressure. Before she was born, I thought that I would be grossed out by them putting this slimy, bloody baby on me right after delivery. Weird, I know, but it's what I thought. NO. As soon as she was out, they put her on my chest, Cory cut the umbilical cord, we were all in tears. After what felt like forever and a day, our little baby girl was here. Like I said, it felt like I was pushing FOREVER... would you believe it was only 45 minutes? HA! And she was here... Alessandra Victoria Smith, born Monday, May 2, 2011, 3:43pm, 7lbs 6oz, 18.5in.

They took her to clean her up and do all of those newborn tests they do. Cory busted out the camera to take all of her "first" pictures. She had the cutest little dainty girly cry. It was everything I had imagined in my baby girl's cry. Shortly after, it was skin to skin time and our first attempt at breast feeding. I am proud to say that she latched on with no problem on the first try! I thought that breast feeding would be this weird sensation, weird experience that I wasn't really sure I'd be into. I mean, I knew that I had to do, but just wasn't sure about it. As soon as she latched on, I was sold. After she fed, she got her first bath, Daddy did his first diaper duty, we learned how to swaddle...and now we are a family of 3. Ok, well, 5 if you count the dogs...

Before, my days were filled with Cory, work work work, going out with friends, drinking it up, having a blast, shopping for whatever I wanted, date night whenever we pleased, planning our next big vacation, nonstop concerts and Angels games, did I mention work work work? Then I got pregnant, and it was all about slowing down to prepare for this baby. Then I became a stay at home mom a little earlier than expected, but at the perfect time. Still trying to slow down, rest, and prepare for this whirlwind life of becoming a parent. And now she is here. Our lives have completely changed. We are sleep deprived, we rarely go out, we rarely see anybody, our conversations revolve around when the last time she was fed or changed, diapers are our most exciting purchase, and the muscles in my left arm are getting quite the workout, as this is the arm that I carry her with. Half of my clothes smell like breast milk or spit up, the house is a mess, showers have become a luxury, and cooking dinner consists of take out or frozen pizza. We are told that it will all get easier, and we have no doubt about that. Despite it all, we have an amazing, healthy, not to mention, absolutely stunning baby girl. Such a glamorous life…haha… and we would change it for nothing.