Juliet One Month!

Oh my goodness gracious, sweet baby girl!! HOW ARE YOU ALREDY A MONTH OLD?!?! I wish my last few months of pregnancy moved this quickly!! 

You've had a busy first month of life with many visitors, Halloween, and Target runs. Life is definitely more challenging now, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't imagine our family without you in it, sweetheart.

You're a champion sleeper and nurser - compared to your older sister at least which is all I have to compare to. You took to nursing right away and we already have a good swing of things in that department. You sleep for long stretches during the day and sleep in later than Olivia most days (which really helps me get the day started since I am only juggling one kid).  We seem to cluster feed starting in the late afternoon till around bedtime, which is slightly frustrating. Though, you do seem to be content during this time if Daddy does the magic baby arm hold thing that you and your sister both seem to like! Most nights we wake up about every 3 hours and I often fall asleep nursing you (sitting up) and will only wake up when you are ready to eat again, meaning I sleep sitting up for most of the night. Good thing you are stinkin' cute and totally worth it!

You have had many visitors come to meet you! Of course, Lolly and G-Daddy were here when you were born. Then Aunt Jessie and Uncle Juan made a weekend visit, followed by Abby and Papa (Olivia started calling Pedro "Papa" this visit even though we had been calling him "grandpa"). Many friends also visited us and brought gifts and food and cuddles. We are so grateful for family and friends who's love now extends all the way down to you!

(Olivia playing with gifts from Abby and Papa)

Speaking of family and friends, Daddy and I have only had to cook TWO times since your birth. We have been blown away by the generosity of many friends and family who brought us meals to ease our burdens during these sleepy days with a newborn.

You're doing really well and are a healthy little girl. You've rocked all your Drs appointments. At your one month well visit you weighed in at 9lbs 13oz and measured 22.25 inches long, landing you in the 75th and 95th percentiles! Woot woot!

this is too over exposed but you started crying and it's the best we've got to shower your length

Olivia has always been on the lower end of the scale, so this is new to us to have a chunkier baby. Proud of those pounds Juliet! All our nursing has paid off!

(Here's a little comparison... Juliet at 5 days old...)

(and here is Olivia at 5 days old)

My life and daily routine have definitely changed, but to be honest, it's all going much smoother than I anticipated! Like I previously said, you're a great sleeper and nurser and have been such an easy baby so far.

(this photo was taken on your 2 week birthday when Daddy was still at home from work)



(and this photo was taken the first day Daddy went back to work...)



Olivia has also blown me away with how well she's doing in her roll as big sister! I was so concerned about how that transition was going to go and how she'd do with sharing attention and welcoming a new one into our family. But so far she seems to really be enjoying it! She is a big helper and likes to bring me diapers and throw the dirty ones away. She always wants you to have a paci and will often "share" her toys with you by placing them on you (I have to keep an eye out for this because she can be a little forceful with her sharing). She also likes to help rock you in your carseat and bouncer and likes to "help" you swing. (Also, so grateful you are a fan of the swing unlike your sister before you!)

Olivia copying Daddy at your 2 week well visit!

Checking on baby sister!

She's pretty cute role playing mommy with her babydoll and animals too. Many times I have to move a stuffed piggy or doll out of your swing before I can place you down. Olivia asks to "HOLD!" you all the time and she gets such a kick out of having you on her lap (with much assistance from mommy!). We have a book that is about becoming a big sister and there is a line that says "when the baby wriggles, give a tickle, baby giggles!". Olivia has taken to this and likes to "tickle" you and then she just cracks up. She also likes to pat you on the head and says, "pet. pet. pet." She's learning "gentle".  I'm not entirely sure that you're comfortable with being Olivia's real-life baby doll, haha! You seem to have a deer caught in headlights look and worried expression whenever Olivia is buzzing around you or holding you. That's totally fair, baby girl! Olivia also likes to tell us when you cry, "baby cry!", and informs us "baby poop!" many times throughout the day.

We celebrated your first fall and halloween at only a few weeks old! We went to a pumpkin patch just the four of us and also trick-or-treated in the neighborhood. As a family we went with a Madeline/French theme with our Halloween costumes this year, but you went as the cutest candy corn pumpkin ever!





You have those new-baby blue eyes! This has been such a surprise to Daddy and to me as your sister came out with little chocolate drops for eyes from the very beginning! Plus, Daddy's latin genes seem to win out over mine so it took us by surprise to see those baby blues. They'll likely change but we can't wait to see if they turn green (like mommy's) or brown (like daddy's)! I do think you inherited Daddy's beautiful lashes just like Olivia!!

Sweetheart, we love you so much. It's been so fun to watch you change in just the past month. I'm so glad you're here and part of our family. Love you to the moon and back little one!!!!! XOXOXO 

The professional newborn photos were taken by Misti Finn Photography btw! I had a hard time limiting myself to sharing just these! ;) 

Welcome to the World, Juliet Rose Amador!!

Juliet Rose Amador
October 15th, 2017 at 2:52 PM
Weight 8 lbs 6 oz | Length 21 Inches long

Well, I guess my babies are pretty comfortable in my tummy and are in no hurry to leave. Both Olivia and Juliet were born a week late and I had to be induced with each. This go round was so different than Olivia's birth though! I think it helped to know what to expect and go in with an idea of what we wanted to do differently than last time. Plus, I was so uncomfortable at the end of this pregnancy that I was so excited to have Juliet that that kind of trumped any fears or anxiety about actual labor.

My mom came into town on the 11th to be here just incase I went into labor naturally. I was so grateful and I think it helped me relax going into the weekend. The week before Juliet was born I was having some mild contractions and I really thought that I may go into labor on my own this time. In fact, Saturday, the day I went in to get induced, I was having some intense contractions that I had to stop doing what I was doing to get through the pain.

Playing with new toys thanks to Lolly!!

Unfortunately, I did not go into labor naturally and had to get induced again. As much as I wanted to experience going into labor on my own, there are some benefits to being induced. I was able to pack everything we may need and double check everything in a calm manner as I didn't have to rush out of the house. Both my parents were able to be in town and I was able to leave Olivia knowing she was in good hands. I also appreciated being able to say goodbye to Olivia before we left for the hospital...Though I may have cried my eyes out while Olivia tried to wriggle away from me to go play with her grandparents. Oh man, pregnancy hormones haha. I had so many mixed emotions about bringing a new baby home and how it would effect Olivia and change our special relationship. As expected, it's been so much better than I could have imagined though!

Miguel and I left for the hospital at 4 PM on Saturday the 14th (sooooo grateful we narrowly missed having a baby born on Friday the 13th!!) . The plan was similar to what we experienced with Olivia's birth: cervidil overnight with the plan to start pitocin in the morning.

We got checked in and got me all hooked up and settled in for the night. We turned on college football, ate some dinner, and took advantage of an early night of sleep. 

Contractions didn't start with the cervidil overnight. Early in the morning the doctor checked me and I was only 1.5 centimeters dilated, so they wanted to start pitocin. I asked the nurse to ask the doctor if she could break my water instead. My body didn't react well to the pitocin during Olivia's induction and things only picked up after my water was broken, so I was hoping to cut to the chase this time around. The doctor came in after making her rounds at about 9 am. She said I was close to 2 centimeters and said she might be able to break my water. I was so surprised and hopeful! Dr. Price was able to break my water and I was so shocked and happy!! They started me on pitocin too, but I didn't really care at that point!

The pitocin and my broken water really started to move things along. I started having pretty consistent contractions. They were uncomfortable but manageable. Even though I had eventually had an epidural during Olivia's labor (at 27 hours in), I was still scared to get one! Losing the ability to move my legs was a challenge for me mentally and I wasn't exactly excited about repeating that experience. I knew I was eventually going to get one, but was putting off the inevitable. The super awesome and sweet nurse, Jessica, encouraged me to go ahead and get it so I could stop fearing it and let my body relax. This was easier to consider as the contractions got more intense. When I was around 4 centimeters dilated I went ahead and got the epidural.

I think I was the top middle screen

Working through mild contractions...

I wasn't a huge fan of the anesthesiologist who administered my epidural. I could definitely feel it and had to tell the Dr. to "go right" or "go left" depending on where I could feel in my back. Ick! Once the epidural was in, the nurse told me we could keep the amount pretty low and could up it depending on how I was feeling. I was grateful because I was able to keep it mild enough that I could still move my legs. However, it was definitely stronger on one side than the other. I could feel a good deal on my right side, including contractions and pressure. 

The afternoon was kind of a blur. We watched the Falcons game (they lost, boo) and my dad stopped by, brought Miguel some food and sat with me for a while. When my dad was there I started noticing a good deal of pressure, especially in my right side. I remember thinking that I wanted to talk to my dad but I was finding it difficult because of the pressure. After my dad left I tried to get some sleep but wasn't too successful, again because of the pressure. 

The nurse came in I guess maybe around 2 pm and asked me if I was feeling anything interesting? I said, "um yes, a great deal of pressure!". She checked me and I was close to 10 centimeters (woo hoo!). Juliet was turned upside down (sunny side up) which wasn't ideal, so they turned me on my right side with my left leg help up to try and turn her around until I was actually at 10 centimeters. 

Things seemed to move fast at that point. Fast and then super slow at the same time. The doctor came in and they told me I was ready to push. I'm not sure if I was anticipating a longer labor or what, but I all of a sudden felt a huge sense of fear. Not fear of pushing, more like a fear of "omg, this is actually happening! We've waited for this moment for so long and now it's here. There's no going back and my life is going to be forever changed in ways I can't even imagine!".  I started to cry and Miguel encouraged me and held my hand. 

Funny thing about Miguel is that he was my absolute ROCK during Olivia's labor and birth. That labor was so drawn out and different than Juliet's (apples and oranges type of thing) and Miguel wasn't not supportive this time... it's just that as we got ready to push, the nurse holding my left leg, the doctor ready to catch the baby, and Miguel holding my right leg... down went Miguel! Hahaha! One second he was there holding my leg and the next he was gone! On the first push he dropped to the floor. Now anyone who knows Miguel knows that he is incredibly squeamish and has fainted when he gets shots in the past. So this reaction wasn't terribly shocking except that he really rose to the occasion last time, which - to me - seemed a much more gruesome labor. 

As the nurse called for reinforcements and nurses rushed in to take care of my husband (reclining him on the sofa, giving him wet washcloths, having him drink orange juice and soda) I started pushing. Juliet was still sunny side up and I could definitely tell the difference with the amount of pressure on my tailbone. I was given oxygen to help Juliet and kept pushing as Miguel called in my mom for backup. My mom got there while I was still pushing and she held my hand. The energy in the room was amazing. Because Miguel fainted the room had filled up with all these nurses and everyone shouted encouragement at me that really truly helped me! I definitely remember singling out my mom's voice and Miguel's voice from the corner of the room saying, "you've got this!". 

I pushed for about half an hour and it was hard work. I almost got to the point of thinking, "there is no way I can do this!". I felt as if I would push and push and as soon as I stopped all the hard work I had just done vanished. But eventually out she came and the sense of relief was immediate! Juliet Rose was born at 2:52 PM. I couldn't believe it and honestly looking back on it now I feel like I maybe was numb in a sense of shock. I remember crying and being handed the baby and it all felt very surreal. 

Unfortunately, soon after Juliet was born, the doctor had to scrape my uterus as some of the placenta stayed attached (ick! gross I know) and that HURT! I was so distracted by the pain when all I wanted to do was hold my new baby! 

So weird things tend to happen to me medically speaking, and Juliet's labor was no different... After the birth, while we were still in the Labor and Delivery room, the nurses were cleaning things up and I guess they have to count everything to account for all the objects they used during labor. Well, anyways, when they got around to counting some surgical sponges (used for what I don't know and don't want to know) they could only find 9 of the 10. Awesome. So they "checked" ME to see if they could find the missing one. Nope. Next they used this machine to scan me, Juliet, the linens, and even the trash. Still they couldn't find this mystery sponge so they called in an x-ray machine. I then had to maneuver myself onto this really flat, cold, and uncomfortable plate thing only half an hour after pushing a baby out of my body. Not fun ladies and gents, not fun. X-rays came back and still no sponge. 

After the sponge ordeal we were allowed to get packed up and were moved to Mother and Baby. They wheeled me out holding Juliet and Miguel followed. The nurse had Miguel press the "daddy button" which made a lullaby play throughout the whole hospital. Cue crazy hormonal new mom tears. 

We settled into our new room, I ate for the first time since the night before, and my dad came to meet Juliet. I don't remember much of the rest of the day, I think I drifted in and out of sleep? Juliet took a three hour nap on her daddy's chest for some skin to skin which of course melted my heart. 

The night was pretty uneventful except for the lack of sleep which was not due to Juliet, rather due to the fact that a nurse or tech was coming in every so often to get vitals or blood work or what not. Sometime in the middle of the night they were able to unhook me from the IVs and that helped me get some better sleep. 

The next morning I woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed but in some good amount of pain. I was only taking some strong Motrin as I asked for no Percocet because I learned from Olivia's birth that it makes my blood pressure really low. I missed the good meds this time!

There is something really special about waking up the next morning to a brand new baby. You just want to stare for hours and pinch yourself. I think her arrival sunk in more after some sleep. 

Miguel and I both showered, ate breakfast and anxiously awaited Olivia's arrival to meet her baby sister! While we were waiting on Olivia, the pediatrician came in and gave Juliet the a-okay to be discharged later in the day as long as her bilirubin test came back in the normal levels. 

My parents brought Olivia to the hospital to meet Juliet around 10 am. I was so excited to see Olivia! I felt like I hadn't seen her in ages and I truly missed that little stinker! And of course I was really excited to introduce the girls to one another!! As expected I was also curious to see how that interaction would go. My whole pregnancy people (family, strangers, the pediatrician, etc) had been warning us about how the interaction could go sour quickly, so I had pretty low expectations. However, Olivia impressed us all!!

Olivia was pretty excited and just kept saying, "baby!". She was all smiles and just so cute and excited! Of course, I don't think she understood that baby was coming home to live with us permanently and wasn't just a real live babydoll. ;) Either way though, I was tickled with her reaction and so thankful that there were only smiles and giggles and zero tears! 

On her way out the door, Juliet gave Olivia a "big sister present". A little bribing never hurts when you're almost 2 ;) 

I'm so glad my parents were able to be here and watch Olivia while we were in the hospital and of course meet Juliet the day she was born! So special!

My dad took Miguel to get some lunch and for a break from the hospital and my mom and the girls and I hung out for a bit. When the guys got back Olivia needed to go take a nap so the grands and Olivia headed back to our house. 

At some point while my parents were at the hospital (my timeline on that is a little fuzzy) Juliet had her hearing test and didn't pass her right ear which was a little alarming. We were told, however, by multiple nurses that this was really normal and probably just due to fluid in her ears from birth. We had her retested a week later and she passed with flying colors. Woo hoo! 

The rest of the afternoon was mostly Miguel and me just waiting for Juliet's bilirubin test results to come back so that we could be discharged. I felt like we had been at the hospital for days and days at that point and could not wait to get home and sleep in my own bed. It took forever though. We didn't end up getting discharged until well past 8 PM. 

Bilirubin test

I had cute outfits picked out for all of us to leave the hospital in and take "leaving the hospital" photos in, but by the time we were discharged we just wanted to escape the hospital and were so over everything that we all stayed in our jammies. I did, however, remember to ask the nurse who wheeled me out to the awaiting car to snap a photo of Juliet and me.

Oh goodness. Is there anything better than the MIRACLE of birth?! It's just amazing. It's amazing that a whole new LIFE and PERSON is on the planet now. I cannot imagine our family without Juliet and am so so so so so so so grateful that the Lord chose us to be her parents. God is so good to us. It is our prayer that we raise our girls to seek after him and be a light for the Lord.  We thank God daily for Juliet and thank him for the smooth delivery and for both of our health. 

Welcome to the world, sweet baby girl! Mommy and Daddy LOVE YOU SO MUCH!