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.
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| 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.
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| I think I was the top middle screen |
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| Working through mild contractions... |
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.
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| Bilirubin test |
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!
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