Nellie's Birth Story

Nellie Lyn Rodriguez was born on Thursday, December 18th at 8:11am.  This is her story.

Disclaimer: Nellie, it doesn't matter what the experience was of how you came into this world, I just wanted you to know your story in case one day you had questions.  Regardless of how you were brought into this world we were so happy and excited that you were a happy and healthy baby.

We showed up at the hospital at 5:45am in preparation of our scheduled c-section at 7:30am.  The nurses at Orange Coast Memorial are truly fantastic and we had great ones the entire time we were there.  Robert and I were put in Prep Room A, which, coincidentally, is the same room that we were in when I was in labor with Mila.  The nurse administered my IV and we went over a million questions in regard to my medical history.

Robert was given scrubs to change into (paging Dr. Rodriguez...) and the anesthesiologist came in to introduce herself and Dr. Nguyen stopped by to see if we had any questions.  

At this point it was time to head over to the operating room.  I went in alone so the anesthesiologist could administer the spinal block and Robert had to wait in the recovery room until this was done.  The operating room was not what I expected: it was bright, white, cold and there were no less than 6-8 people in the room preparing for the surgery.  The spinal block was very similar to an epidural so I knew what to expect.  One difference, though, is that I had to practice active breathing; the anesthesiologist said one side effect is that the body doesn't always breath on its own so I needed to make sure to focus on my breaths.  I was laid down on the operating table and my legs strapped down; a sheet was put in place above my chest to block the surgery area from our view.  There were so many people talking and I kept hearing them say, "Okay, are we ready?" but Robert wasn't in there yet and I was starting to get worried.  I started to cry (not an ugly cry, just tears) but soon Robert came into the room and I could tell that he was shocked by the whole production as well.  He held my hand and told me how great I was doing; I continued to cry but things were better just because he was there (and because he wiped my tears away).

After just a few minutes we heard Dr. Nguyen say, "Now that's why we couldn't turn her!"  Apparently Nellie had a short umbilical cord and it was wound over her shoulder like a seatbelt; no matter how much we pushed and prodded her there was no room for her to move since she was tethered.  Not much after this Dr. Nguyen said "She IS a chunker!;" the sheet was lowered down so we could see her and then she started to cry and suddenly nothing else mattered.  Robert and I both cried and soon he was called back to cut the umbilical cord.  Nellie measured at 19.5in and weighed 7lbs, 12oz.

The nurses brought Nellie over to me to see her and I remembered asking if I could touch her.  They moved her close and I was able to nuzzle her cheek with my nose, but it just wasn't enough; I wanted to hold her.  By now it was time for Robert and Nellie to leave the operating room and head to recovery so I could be stitched up.

The final stitching took about 20 more minutes and I hated this part.  I could hear the doctors talking about their own lives, specifically about a nurse that had recently traveled to India and they were wondering if she would return to work; I wanted to scream, "Hey! I just had a baby! I don't care about your gossip, let me enjoy it!" Instead I spent this time thanking God for a healthy baby and thinking about Robert, Nellie and the beginning of or new life in the other room.

finally able to hold my babe

proud daddy

Soon was I finished and wheeled into the recovery room, where we spent about two hours (although it only felt like 20min) before heading to our final recovery room, where our parents were able to visit and meet Nellie for the first time.

By this point I was STARVING because I had last eaten at 7pm on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, they had to make sure I wouldn't be adversely affected by the spinal block and the removal/replacement of my organs so all they would give me was ice chips...not even water!  Thankfully Robert snuck in a bottle of water and would give me sips when the nurses left the room.  I wasn't allowed to eat until dinnertime on Thursday and even then it was only a liquid dinner (a popsicle, jello, tea and chicken broth); I was scared to eat the snacks I had brought with me because I was worried my digestive system couldn't handle it.  Thankfully I was cleared for a full breakfast on Friday morning and I scarfed it down!

On Thursday after the surgery I was feeling pretty good and couldn't believe I wasn't in more pain.  I was able to get up on Thursday night and walk around the room and sit in a chair, which was great progress!  This was short lived by Friday morning, however, because by this time my spinal block had worn off and I was in some PAIN!; thank goodness for pain pills!  I have come to find out, through all of this and labor with Mila, that I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but between the internal cramping and external incision pain I was thankful to have the medication.

One of the worst things about the whole process was that I had a catheter in (and a bag of urine tethered to me) and I was hooked up to an IV.  What this meant was that any time I wanted to get up and move around Robert had to follow me around holding my bag of pee and IV cart...now that's love!  Thankfully I made sure to make getting up to pee on my own as soon as I could a priority so the catheter and IV could be removed. After that I began to feel like a normal person again.

By Friday afternoon we had been moved to our private room and I was ready to see Mila.  She came to the hospital with all four grandparents and we captured the sweetest moment of the two of them meeting:

She wasn't super interested in Nellie and I think she was overwhelmed by the whole situation of seeing mommy in the hospital and having all four grandparents there in addition to mom, dad and a new baby.  Nellie and Mila exchanged gifts (Mila got Nellie a purple stuffed hippo and Nellie got Mila a pink stuffed bunny) and Mila had a piece of chocolate cake while we sang happy birthday to Nellie.

In addition to our families, a handful of our good friends stopped by to meet our little bundle as well. Aimee and Matt stopped by with our friend Kristen, but I forgot to take a picture (dang!).  Kerry also came up, and gave Nellie the most beautiful blanket.

Right before we were discharged Lindsay and Allison stopped by as well. It was so nice to have so many visitors in the hospital; they gave the long boring hours in the hospital something to look forward to!

Typically after a c-section they like to keep you in the hospital for 3 days, which meant that we would've gone home on Sunday morning, 12/21. However, since the c-section was so early on Thursday Dr. Nguyen said there was a chance we could go home on Saturday night.  Originally I had planned to stay until Sunday but come Saturday morning I was just ready to be home. The pediatrician stopped by early in the morning, said Nellie looked great and said he would discharge her to go home that day.  When Dr. Nguyen stopped by later that afternoon she was surprised that I was ready to go home but said that I had already done the three things that she requires before being discharged (pass gas, pee on my own, get up and walk around) and that if I thought I would be more comfortable at home then she would discharge me.

That being said we bundled Nellie up and headed home.  The drive home was slower than usual, but not as slow as it was with Mila.  

We introduced Roscoe to Nellie the same way we did with Mila, by going to say hi to him first and then bringing her in. He did great and was very interested in this new tiny being.  It might be my imagination but it seems that Nellie is not as tolerant of Roscoe as Mila was. I don't remember Mila crying when he would get in her face and sniff her but Nellie definitely doesn't like it.

Mila spent Saturday night at my parents to give us another night to adjust and that was definitely a good decision. By Sunday morning, though, we were missing her dearly and wanted her home.

Although I have had what seems to be a great c-section experience (I've been reading horror stories on the December 2014 birth board!), I would never recommend a c-section to anyone; it's just not for me.  It was not the birth experience that I wanted, and I am torn between being happy and sad that I didn't go through active labor.  My incision is pretty gnarly, although I hear that the scar fades pretty well.  I had expected it to only be about two inches long but mine is about four to five inches long (about the size from thumb to pinky if doing the shaka sign)!  The entire incision is still swollen and numb, which I find surprising after all this time.  I am not allowed to lift anything heavier than Nellie and I can't drive anywhere so that really limits what I can do. Robert takes on the brunt of this because he now has to solely care for Mila, make all our dinners and clean the house, run all my errands and be my chauffeur to Nellie and my's doctor appointments. It makes me sad that I can't pick Mila up (especially when she runs up to me and says "Uppy Mommy!") so I can't change her diaper and I can't put her to bed; I also can't get down on the floor and play with her and every time she gets close to me I tense up and remind her to be careful of Mommy's owie.  (Speaking of, she got bandaids for Christmas and wanted one put on her stomach; she later told Robert's mom that she had a bandaid there because she had an owie like mommy...precious).  One thing I am grateful for, though, is all of the support I received from family and friends when I found out that I DID have to have a c-section.  Everyone was super positive and I am grateful for that.

We are now more than a week out out from the birth and I am feeling better but I can see how it can be a slow road to recovery.  I do feel much better today than I felt yesterday but I am still extremely sore and limited in what I can do.  I am off my pain pills now and my bleeding has pretty much stopped (for some people it lasts a month!); note: I don't think it's fair you still have to bleed when you have a c-section!  I am also surprised this time around how quickly the weight DOESN'T fall off :(  Once I was back home and initially weighed myself I had only lost 4lbs (with Mila I lost 10lbs by the time I came home from the hospital), which was very discouraging considering Nellie weighed almost 8lbs!  After one week, and two horrific bowel movements, I have noticed that my stomach is getting flatter so it must just take some time.  This dramatic post aside I am feeling more like myself every day and I'm in a good place now.

The breastfeeding is going great and I am hoping/looking forward to continuing for months to come.  I've been taking my placenta pills religiously and I am really happy with the results. Who knows if my milk production, recovery and mood are a direct result of the pills but I definitely feel in better spirits this time around and haven't really had any baby blues. I absolutely would recommend placenta encapsulation!

I must admit, t's pretty nice spending our days at home, Robert in his chair, me on the couch holding/nursing Nellie and Mila running around the house like a crazy person.  This is what it's all about <3.

Week 1 - Nellie

I can't believe that it's already been a week since Nellie was born, or that today would've been her actual due date!

The first night in the hospital was a little rough because she started cluster feeding immediately and wanted to nurse pretty much the whole night.  This was a little rough since it was our first night back in the game and we weren't used to it!  Since then, though, she's pretty much consistently slept at least five hours at a time and I have to set my alarm to wake up to nurse her.

Breastfeeding is going really well, mostly because I think I am much more relaxed this time around and I know that it does take some work to make it happen.  My milk came in quicker than I thought and Nellie is latching on well.  Last time I started pumping very early and I think that affected my milk supply; this time around I'm armed with experience and know I don't need to have a freezer stocked full of milk!

Roscoe AND Mila are both interested in Nellie but spend most of their time ignoring her.  Roscoe likes to get right in her face and sniff her, which she is not a fan of.  Mila wakes up asking about the baby and likes to know where she is at all times but other than that just continues about her business, occasionally stopping to check on her little sister.

My parents and Robert's parents have both been here to help out and it's so nice to have that extra help since I am recovering from the c-section and to help out with Mila.  Going from one to two kids is a little rough and I can't imagine being a single mom!   Robert has been great again this time around, however most of his time is spent taking care of me, the house or Mila since I can't do much. When Robert and I have been alone this week we've found it's best to divide and conquer, each of us taking one kid.  That seems to be working now....and pretty much confirms we won't have any other kids unless we can hire a live in nanny!!!

Christmas (Eve) at our house was nothing short of exciting, especially seen through a toddler's eyes.  Mila was so excited to open the presents, much more so than about the actual presents themselves! We had to keep an eye on her as a couple times she just started unwrapping any present she could get her hands on.  It's hard to believe this time next year we will have two crazy little things ripping open gifts left and right!  Probably my favorite part has been Mila saying "Feliz Navidad," which sounds nothing like it but sort of like it at the same time; it's absolutely hilarious!

We truly are so blessed.

Merry Christmas.

39 Week Ultrasound - Nellie

We had an ultrasound today to check Nellie's size...she's measuring 7lbs, 15oz!  However there is a 1.2lb difference either way so her weight range could be between 6lbs, 13oz to 9lbs....so they pretty much don't know how big she will be :)  Pretty much everything on her body is measuring at 38 weeks, except for her head and her legs, which are measuring 40 weeks; so we've got a tall brainiac on our hands!  Needless to say, we won't be going forward with a breech vaginal birth, we just went ahead and changed the induction appointment to a C-section appointment, so that will be at 7:30am tomorrow morning.  The whole thing should only take about a half hour and then I go to recovery for two hours and then on to our private room (which is nice).  I will likely stay in the hospital until Sunday, but might be able to go home on Saturday night if I am feeling up to it.  Dr. Nguyen said that it IS major surgery so I likely won't be up for visitors until Friday; going forward I probably won't be able to do much except care for Nellie (and she put Robert in charge of Mila!).

After the appointment I was much more upset than I anticipated (dang pregnancy hormones). Not solely because I have to have a c-section but more because all of the plans and desires I had for this birth aren't going to happen.  The easiest way for me to explain it is the same mourning feeling I had when I had to stop breastfeeding I have now.  Regardless, I am SO happy that she is going to be here tomorrow and I can't wait to meet her. I know this is what's best for Nellie and me, now I just need to get over what I thought I had planned.

Letter to Nellie

Our precious little Nellie.  Oh how excited we are to meet you.

You are our last little one and we are looking forward to soaking in all of your firsts because they will likely be our lasts as well.  I can't wait to see what you look like and to eventually meet the little personality that you have bursting inside of you.

Your daddy keeps talking about how he can't wait to snuggle you and says he can't wait to spend his days lounging in his chair with you laying on his chest.  Mila, your big sister, kisses my belly and when asked where you are she pats my stomach.  Since we've gotten out all of the baby stuff she likes to say that it's for her "sister."  It's so exciting that you and Mila will be sisters; you already have a built in best friend and will be close your whole life.  I cannot wait for all of the fun that us girls will have.  Daddy already refers to us as "his girls" and his eyes light up when talking about his family; it's absolutely amazing.

You're not even out of the womb yet and you are already a feisty one.  You have been sitting breech (head up) for a couple of weeks now and we have tried everything to move you but you are just not having it.  Not only will you not move, nothing we try seems to affect you in the slightest.  I think you may be our strong willed child, but that's okay with me.

It's almost time for you to be here and I just absolutely cannot wait. I am so excited but I am trying to relish in all of the kicks (and stomps!) that you have for me.  After all this time I can't wait to hold you in my arms and stare into that beautiful face of yours. It's almost time, my darling, and we couldn't be happier.

Love,
Mommy

House Updates

When I was pregnant with Mila my parents had just purchased a condo in Huntington Beach and the entire kitchen needed to be updated.  I essentially became the contractor of the project and spent many days over at the condo dealing with painters, installers, tile layers, countertop installers and more.  Apparently this is something I DO when I am pregnant because this time around with Nellie we have made some improvements on our house and have had workers in and out of the house for the last month or so.

The first update we did was to replace all of the interior doors in the house; this was probably 60% out of necessity and 40% cosmetic.  The doors in our house, I would imagine, were original from the 1960s and they had issues.  The bathroom door jamb was stripped and would no longer fully close; the guest room door would "stick" and make a very loud noise whenever it was opened (it would seriously wake up the whole house if we had guests over!).  

Robert did a great job picking out the doors and the door frames; I just had one caveat: the doors couldn't have any kind of design on them because they are too hard to keep clean.   We had the doors installed by Home Depot and then a week later we had a guy come and paint them.  I think they look awesome and really change the look of the house and the hallway.

Next, you may or may not remember but the entry way wall used to be purple, which Robert hated and said made it look like you were walking into a strip club (what?!).  So Robert jumped at the chance to paint the entry way door the same color gray as Nellie/Mila's room. I do miss the purple statement wall but the gray really does tie in better with our house.

Now that Mila and Nellie are sharing a room I thought it would be nice to have an area outside of the room that Mila can use if/when Nellie is sleeping and she can't play in their room. I saw this art station on Pinterest and knew I had to create a little nook just like this for the girls. 

The boxes on top hold crayons, markers, play dough, paint, stickers, coloring books, etc.  It's nice that it's located in the middle of everything so Mila can sit there and do activities while I am cooking dinner. I've found that the best toys for her (and me!) right now are the ones that keep her occupied.

You can also see from the photo above that we added a teal "runner" rug right inside the front door.  While we all love it, no one as much as Roscoe, who hates laying on the tile and can now lay on the rug and still look outside.

The biggest change to the house was the updating of our kitchen countertops and backsplash, which we have wanted to do for a while now and only recently decided to pull the trigger on.  Robert has been talking about changing out the cabinets for a while but, after discussing it, we concluded that our house IS a beach house and we couldn't go much darker without it looking out of place. That being said, we replaced the stainless steel countertops with a lighter, quartz option. Once that was done the red and tan backsplash was too dark for the space so we changed that out for a tile and glass mosaic.  We could not be happier with the end result and think it completely changes the look of the kitchen.

We ended up replacing our garbage disposal as well as the sink, which is now an undermount sink so we can just sweep crumbs directly into the sink, which is sooo nice.

I cleared off a bunch of the items and appliances from the countertops that we weren't using on a daily basis and it really de-cluttered the space.  We added a new gray, turquoise and green rug in front of the sink and a sand colored valence to the window to keep me from being blinded when cooking in the afternoons.

The last update we made was to tie in the colors from the kitchen into the living room.  The brown rug had been good to us but with since we had previous changed out the curtains and couch it was really too dark for the area.  We bought the brown one at Home Depot so went back there in search of another one and ended up finding a similar rug in gray, which we both loved.

We are so happy with all of the changes....and happy the process is over! It's almost like having a new house again!

38 Weeks - Nellie

How far along? 38 weeks...the size of a piece of a leek!
Total weight gain: 17.6lbs
Maternity clothes? comfy ones
Stretch marks? still none!
Sleep: ha!
Best moment this week: (possibly) our last date night (for a while) on Saturday
Worst moment this week: nothing, just enjoying life and lots of time with my girl
Miss anything? nope :)
Movement: still lots of movement up high; although it's been a little weird because lately I am feeling high and low movements at the same time (I assume it's her head and her feet).
Food cravings: nothing overpowering
Anything making you queasy or sick? nope
Labor signs: pretty sure I started having contractions yesterday; I had two pretty strong ones that were 20min apart...and then I fell asleep so they must have stopped.
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time? happy
Looking forward to: our last week as a family of three <3

For a look back at Week 38 with Mila, click here.

Nellie is still breech as of my doctor's appointment on Monday.  It was a pretty uneventful appointment, we just discussed the ultrasound next Wednesday and then the induction/c-section on Thursday. My doctor and I are on the same page, though, so that's great.  Dr. Nguyen DOES go out of town today through Sunday so Nellie needs to stay put until at least Monday evening!

I came across this photo in my many hours of scouring the internet and I like to think that Nellie is staying breech because she likes to sit up closer to my heart; all snuggled up in there right next to mama.

It's like we're as close as can be and she just doesn't want to let me go :)

37 Weeks & ECV - Nellie

How far along? 37 weeks...the size of a piece of swiss chard!
Total weight gain: 17.4lbs...there's those pesky extra pounds, although Dr. Nguyen says it's likely water weight
Maternity clothes? comfy ones
Stretch marks? still none!
Sleep: not sleeping very great...mostly because I can't stop thinking about breech babies and having random theme songs from Mila's shows in my head ("Dora, Dora, Dora THE exploraaaaaaa!")
Best moment this week:  Mila gave me a kiss and said "I love you" first, before I said it. BEST FEELING EVER.
Worst moment this week: by far the ECV (details below)
Miss anything? actually no...feeling pretty content
Movement: all kinds of movement, just not the kind we want! Sometimes it feels like she is jumping on my bladder and I am afraid I might pee myself!
Food cravings: soup
Anything making you queasy or sick? nope
Labor signs: pretty much all of my labor signs have stopped...although today the nurse asked if I had been having contractions and I said no. Then, at the moment, she was like "oh, you're having one right now!"  So apparently I AM having contractions but have no idea.  Just the way I like it :)
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time? usually happy but have been feeling sad the past couple of days, most likely because of the breech situation. This post makes it sound like I'm super depressed about it...it's coming across worse than I actually feel though :)
Looking forward to: having our kitchen back! We've been doing work throughout the house (pictures coming soon!) and haven't had a sink or dishwasher for the past two weeks...that's rough!

For a look back at Week 37 with Mila, click here.

This morning was my External Cephalic Version (ECV) to try and move Nellie from head up to head down and, let me tell you, it was quite invasive!  I had to be at the hospital an hour early and was in a hospital bed, hooked up to a fetal monitor, with an IV...the whole deal.

The gave me a shot of something to relax my uterus so it wouldn't contract (and it stung SO bad, like 100 little bee stings) and then also gave me morphine for the pain (although I can't imagine it hurting more than it did!).

morphine smiles

The ultrasound tech came in and confirmed, again, that Nellie is still breech before we got started.  The positive in all of this is that we get to see our little girl much more than we did with Mila!

Then it was time to start the ECV, which consisted of Dr. Nguyen pressing down (as hard as she could??) and pushing all over my stomach; like imagine molding clay, that's what it was like.  It was SO uncomfortable, the pain did stop when she stopped but it was not pleasant at all.  We tried for a very long time; Dr. Nguyen broke out into a sweat and said that I could call it whenever I wanted to but I said I was up for it as long as she was.  Pretty much the entire time Nellie was not budging and at one point put her arm behind her head like, what else do you got??  After about an hour with Dr. Nguyen she said that we would take a break and she wanted another doctor to come in to see if they could push and pull to get her to turn.  We tried that, again, to no avail, and Dr. Nguyen said that she was calling uncle because Nellie just did not want to move.  Nellie's heartbeat stayed in the "140s" the entire time, which is apparently good and Dr. Nguyen couldn't believe how the ECV wasn't even affecting her.  I think we may have a VERY stubborn girl on our hands!

While we were waiting for the second doctor to arrive Dr. Nguyen actually had to go and speak with the maternity board chair to get special approval to deliver Nellie via breech vaginal delivery as, apparently, it's not usually done at this hospital.  I had no idea it was such a process and am SO thankful that I have a doctor that will go to bat for me to have the labor and delivery that I want to have.  You don't realize it when you have a normal, perfect birth (like Mila), but the fact that Dr. Nguyen gave me her all this morning (and I am sure had to cancel other patients since she was with me for 2 hours) AND went to the hospital board for permission, rather than just saying no, is so awesome and makes me so happy she is my doctor.

At this point we talked about our options. She said that a vaginal breech birth is riskier than a normal birth because the head is the last part to come out and what if it doesn't fit?  She said the only way she will be comfortable doing it is if Nellie is the same size or smaller than Mila (7lbs, 7oz) since we know a baby that size will fit.  We have an ultrasound scheduled for 12/17 to check her size and then I will meet with Dr. Nguyen to discuss the next step.  We are going to wait and see what the ultrasound shows on 12/17, because Nellie COULD still move on her own.  Dr. Nguyen has been so accommodating as well; at this point we are planning for a vaginal (breech or no breech) delivery on 12/18; once they give me the epidural they will try to move her once again, assuming she is still breech. If she can't be moved on that day then we will go ahead and proceed with a c-section.  As much as I want another vaginal birth, I also want what is best for Nellie.  At the end of the day I want to be able to look back and say I did everything I could to have the labor and delivery that I wanted and with this, I think I can.

I was so glad Robert was there today, even though he didn't get to do much but watch his very pregnant wife cry out in lots of pain, but it was nice having him there nonetheless.  I am feeling okay right now, still a little queasy from the morphine and my stomach has broken blood vessels and some bruises on it.  This definitely isn't the way I thought this labor and delivery would go, but it rarely is, right?  And the icing on the cake? In two weeks or less we will have a new little babe to love on and snuggle and all will be right in the world :)

Upcoming Appointments
12/8 at 9am - regular OB check
12/17 at 2pm - Ultrasound
12/17 at 2:30pm - discuss plan with Dr. Nguyen
12/18 at 5am - induction (or possible c-section)