Elizabeth's Birth

It is incredible that Elizabeth Michelle is 9 days old! WOW! She is growing more and more every day. Jose and I are enjoying every moment feeding her, dressing her and learning what her needs are. It has hard, very hard...but the love one feels overcomes the tiredness of our muscles.

I wanted to share the wonderful story of Elizabeth's birth. Enjoy!

At 2am on November 28, I woke up with pain on my abdomen, which I thought was indigestion, from all the Thanksgiving food I had. I went to the bathroom but when I got back to my room, I was still not feeling so well. I tried to go back to sleep but 20 minutes later I definitely felt two pressure waves (contractions). I woke Jose up and I told him: "This is it! All hell has broken loose!" From that point forward, Jose started to time my pressure waves because they seem to be coming very quick...after timing a few, we noticed that they were 3 to 4 minutes apart :-P The bedroom was just not working for me, so we moved to the bathroom...sitting on the toilet until a pressure wave would come and I would stand, relax and make sounds with my mouth, to make sure I was staying calm. The thing was, they were coming so close together, that I keep telling Jose: "I need a break! Where are the 20 minute apart pressure waves??!" By 4am, I told Jose to wake up my mom. Jose really needed the help because he was trying to time the pressure waves and at the same time comfort me and keep me relaxed.

Once my mom joined us, it was the three of us in the bathroom, my mom keeping me relaxed and Jose keeping track of the time. A few minutes after my mom had joined us, my water broke. I had heard in class that it would sound like a "pop" and it did, it was crazy! I wasn't loosing too much amniotic fluid but b/c my pressure waves were so close together, we decided to head to the hospital.

On our way there, I remember thinking, "Why is Jose not running the red light?" (I kept my eyes close) and when I opened my eyes, there were 3 cars in front of us. I told Jose: "why are there so many freaking cars in the road??!!" (Well, it was Black Friday, everyone was out shopping!!!)

We made it to the hospital and I was taken immediately to the birth center. It was about 5am by this time. My pressure waves were still 3 to 4 minutes apart and it was a challenge to stay relaxed, deal with the pressure waves, and at the same time having the hospital staff doing all kinds of stuff to you.

When they checked to see how dilated I was, I was ONLY 2 cm!!! "What??" I told myself, how am I going to do this for 20 hours!! Well, I didn't have to do it for 20 hours. Although it wasn't intervention free, my doctor ordered pitocin b/c I wasn't dilating quick enough and my water had been broken 2 hours ago. I knew pitocin would make my pressure waves more intense so I ask for something to help. After that, my waves kept coming and although I was not suppose to stand from my bed b/c of the heart monitor, I did. With the help of Jose and my mom, who kept using my hypnobabies' cues and giving me massages and holding my hand, I went from 2cm to 9cm in two hours!!! I didn't know yet that I was 9cm, so I told Jose: "Call the nurse, I can't deal with this any more, tell her to check me and give me something!!!" (Oh, by the way, when I was in between birthing waves, I told Jose that this was the only and last baby we are having). Jose looked over to the nurse, and the nurse said, "Yup, that's what they all say." LOL

When the nurse checked my cervix she told me: "Good news, you are 9 cm, only one more to go! Bad news, too late for any extra drugs! You can do this!" (Did I mentioned she was great. Very supportive and she was Cuban. :-) )

Once I was fully dilated, it was time to push. At this point, Jose and my mom were holding my legs while I pushed. Believe it or not, it was during the pushing that I was finally given a break (between pushing). It was funny that when I was pushing, the nurse calls Jose to show him that our daughter had lots of hair, which was already visible, even when her head wasn't totally out yet! ;-P

Anyway, I am not totally sure how long was the pushing stage but I remember that when my doctor finally arrived, I told her: "See doctor, you told me to walk and I walked." (See Thanksgiving post if you don't understand) I remember pushing and pushing. Jose, our nurse, and our doctor were very supportive during this stage. They would tell me how great I was doing and that I just needed to push a little bit more.

Finally Elizabeth's head came out and although I didn't see it, Jose tells me that she had her eyes opened and looked from side to side. Then, to everyone surprise, her right arm came out, LOL. After that, one more push and I felt her body come out.

Jose was able to cut the cord and then Elizabeth was put on my chest to bond and stay warm! I was able to breastfeed her immediately and she latched on quickly! It was amazing! Elizabeth is gift from the Lord! We prayed and prayed and God was faithful!

I hope you enjoyed our story! Come meet her soon! Love you!