It’s a GIRL!!!

Our little bundle of joy came on Wednesday, October 13th at 7:21 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 12oz. and was 20 inches long.  She was rosy pink and eyes wide open, very alert, and came with a head full of hair!  Those 40 weeks of heartburn really paid off!  She’s absolutely gorgeous (I know I’m biased, but I have pictures to prove it), and has stolen all of our hearts.  Her grandparents, great grandma can’t get enough of her, and neither can my husband and I. 

So we were a little sneaky when it came time to have her, we didn’t tell anyone I was going to be induced.  I went in for my weekly check up on Monday and all of a sudden there was a spike in my blood pressure and protein in my urine.  I’d never had any issues throughout my entire pregnancy until that day.  The doctor checked my cervix and I was 0 cm. dilated.  Awesome, right? I thought for sure I would be at least 1 cm. with all the pressure I was feeling!  So the doctor decided we’d better induce because he didn’t want me to develop preclampsia.  So we made a date for 4 p.m. for the next day.  We were so excited to finally meet this babe.

Tuesday comes and we go to the hospital with overnight bags, pillows, and my birthing ball in hand, we check in, they get my IV going and I get my first round of prostaglandin at 7:45, then the 2nd at 11:45 (btw, my cervix is still at 0 cm. at this point), and finally my 3rd round at 3:45.  At this point I am starting to feel little contractions and am doing my visualization exercises, like I am totally seeing my cervix open because I am convinced this baby will be here by noon…yeah right!  So the pitocin comes at 7:30 a.m. they start on a super slow drip because everyone is different and some people only need 3 mg and others 5mg…I am having contractions but not feeling them at all.  All the while baby and I have great heart rates and my blood pressure is perfect.  At around 6:00 p.m. when I’m on 18 mg of pitocin and the contractions are stacking up on top of each other, I think something is happening, even if I am only 2 cm. dilated, they can rupture my bag and get this show on the road…the doctor comes in at 7 p.m. to  check progress and my cervix is open to a big fat ZERO!!!! It has softened and effaced about 60%, but absolutely no dilation at all.  At that point my doctor starts talking c-section…he said he could send me home, but then the baby would get bigger and I ran the risk of having my blood pressure spike again and then we’d be back at the hospital to perform an emergency c-section and baby and I would both be under stress.  He assured me I had done all I can do and 24 hours of labor is nothing to be ashamed of.  So my husband and I decided that while both baby and I were in good health, we should have the c-section.  At this point we called our parents and let them know.  They were concerned, but understood how we didn’t want to stress them out or have them stress me out!

I was in the OR at 7:05 p.m. getting a spinal block, and MariLuna Izabella Villa was born at 7:21 p.m.  She is the most perfect little thing.  I can’t believe I helped make her.  She is a good baby and took to breast feeding like a pro.  She is a little over a week old now and is sleeping at 4-5 hour intervals.  She has the chubbiest cheeks and loves to snuggle with her daddy and grandpa the most.  I knew I would love this baby, but I didn’t know how full my heart would feel to see my husband care for her the way he does.  It’s just amazing to see all of our family love on this little girl.  She is pretty amazing, and I’d do all over again tomorrow.   Every single time I was yacking my guts up or peed my pants, I told myself that it was ok because the only thing that mattered was that I was incubating a healthy baby, and I did.  Her birth didn’t go how I planned, but that’s ok, she’s healthy, happy and LOVED! 

Here she is:

We just LOVE her to pieces, even at 2 in the morning when I can’t pump fast enough for her ferocious appetite!  Thank you all for your advice, prayers, and well wishes.