Julian's Big Day!

August 23, 2011

 Julian's birthday was beyond amazing and as perfect as I believe any birth of a miracle could be. He made his arrival on August 23, 2011 at 9:15 PM weighing in at 6 lbs 15 oz and 20 in long. The day started with a trip to the midwife for a scheduled 40 week 2 days appt. I was dilated to a 3-4 and 80-90% effaced...still with no contractions other than some Braxton Hicks. Boy, was I getting impatient to meet this little guy! I expressed my impatience with the midwife, and she quietly suggested that I try Castor oil...she is not "supposed" to suggest this, but she said that in her experience it works and I would be very favorable. So, Ruben and I left the appointment and headed straight to the grocery store to pick the Castor oil up, as well as some orange sherbet to mix it in, which we were advised makes it "not taste so bad." I was a little hesitant at first at actually following through with this Castor oil thing...am I really that desperate? YES! It was about noon, and after a little lunch on the couch, Ruben served me up my magical desert....hopefully something will happen soon after! I sat on the couch and watched TV, waited, and waited, and waited. Nothing was happening....not even a trip to the bathroom...ugh. Two hour later, I called my midwife friend, Katie, to express my disappointment....this stuff does NOT work! I guess I am just going to wait on Julian to come on his own terms.

   Then everything changed at about 5:30. I was noticing I was getting a little more uncomfortable with these "Braxton Hicks" contractions that seemed to be happening more frequently than they normally do. I was talking to my Mom on the phone, and she asked "have you timed these contractions?" Of course, I hadn't because they were not REAL contractions...right!?!? So out came the timer, and to my surprise....I was having contractions at around 3 minutes apart. Wow, I guess we might be having a baby sometime soon! I called Katie to tell her the news, and she was going to head over to the house...the plan was to labor at home for a while then head to the hospital. Now, I really had to get the rest of my bags packed! While doing this, of course, my water broke and into the tub I went to try and relax through the contractions and wait for Katie to arrive to check to see how far dilated I was. Well, I lasted about 10 minutes in the tub before I felt an overwhelming sense of urgency to get to the hospital...NOW. This baby is coming!!!

   So, no more waiting around, it's game time! Ruben and I rushed out of the hospital barely grabbing half of the stuff I had planned to take. He couldn't drive fast enough. It was straight out of a movie, we drove with the hazard lights on as I tried to hold this baby in....whatever you do, do NOT have this baby in the CAR!! We arrived at the hospital at about 7:30pm, and Katie met us at the entrance with a wheelchair to run me up to the labor and delivery unit. And, ran she did! We got up to the unit, skipped registration and went straight into a room. I was in so much pain, I don't think I can do this...I need an epidural...no, be strong....OUCH! The nurse checked me, and I was 4-5 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. ONLY 4-5 centimeters?!? I definitely can't do this...Lord give me strength....breathe....breathe. Katie kept encouraging me, saying it would happen fast and it sure did. 15 minutes later I was feeling the urge to push and I was checked again...8-9 centimeters! Now that's more like it!

    My Mom finally showed up as well as the midwife. As soon as the midwife showed up, I decided to get into the tub to see if it would ease some of my back pain. Ruben had his arms into the tub to try and support my back, he is so sweet. Then, I started pushing, and about 15 minutes later....Julian came into the world!!! I can't believe I just had a baby! He's here!! They placed him on my chest and I just stared at him in amazement.

   I am so proud of myself for following through with my plan of having a natural birth. It all happened so fast, but it was so perfect. I guess Julian is like his Mommy, when we put our minds to something, we will do it right then and there! Why wait around?!? Ruben and I are beyond happy with our little gift from God. He is perfect.

Here is a slideshow put together for my by Kate, of some pictures that were taken during and after the delivery:

Proud Mommy and Daddy

Long time no blog...

  So, as it turns out, I am not very good at updating this blog thing as often as I should! So much has been happening over the past few months while we prepare for our little angel...who, by the way, should be making his debut in about 6 weeks! I can't believe it has flown by so fast. My pregnancy has been so easy, and I am enjoying evey minute of it. Surprisingly enough, I am loving watching my belly grow! It is so hard to think that soon these kicks, jabs, and hiccups will no longer be inside by belly, but in my arms! I find myself picturing what he will look like, whose eyes and ears and feet he will have.

33 weeks!

   I am beginning to believe he already has a little personality inside me. He definitely does things on his own terms. Point in fact, he was breech up until today when we had our 33 week and 4 day appointment which ended in a sonogram confirming he had FINALLY turned! Ruben and I (as well as family and friends) have been waiting so impatiently for him to turn. I would constantly push on my belly to figure out which body part was where, and for so long his head was not where it should be! My friend, Katie, suggested I go see a chiropractor because they have a technique called the "Webster's Technique," in which they loosen certain smooth muscles and align the pelvis to facilitate breech babies to turn. It is a very simple, non-invasive, and most of all, painless intervention which has an 80 something percente success rate. I am proud to say that I am included in that percentage because after only 2 visits, and $60...we have a baby who is head down! Praise the Lord!! I am so thankful because a C-section is on the bottom of my to-do-list for the birth of Julian =) God willing, I will be able to have an uncomplicated birth without the use of any drugs or an epidural. I pray everyday for strength and courage.
  This past Saturday was our first baby shower. Three of my good friends, Kara, Katie and Lisa threw it for my at my house and it turned out absolutely beautiful. They had all kinds of hand-made decorations and transformed my house (while I was kicked out =) into the best baby shower I could have imagined! We had a great turn out with about 20-25 people who showed up. It was a bit risky holding it on July 4th weekend, but we had so many women who wanted to help celebrate for Julian's arrival! I am so blessed and received so many wonderful gifts....cute clothes, a diaper bag, 2 handmade quilts, a bouncer, a stroller and many other great things. Julian's room went from sort-of-empty to where am I going to put all of this stuff?! It was great to see everyone, and I had much pride getting to show off his nursery...which, by the way, is about 90% done! I made the bedding as well as the curtains and it turned out better than I expected! Now, we have our first complete room in our house! Here are a few pictures from the shower and the nursery...there were so many so I put them in a collage (click on the collage and the pictures will get bigger).

Pictures of the room with all Julian's loot!

All the wonderful decorations! They had an "owl theme."

My wonderful friends who threw the shower for me!

4 generations!

   Ruben is busy at work, as always, but somehow still finds time to be an amazing husband. He is so great at taking care of me and helping me with anything I need. Every Sunday night before we go to sleep we read the next week of "what to expect when you're expecting." I really enjoy this time with him, and it is a great ritual we have gotten into. As the weeks progress, it seems the book just states that the baby is basically getting fatter =) It is not as interesting as the first 2 trimesters where everything is forming, but that just means we are getting so close! I bought a new book for us to start reading together, it is by Ina May Gaskin called "Guide to Childbirth." She has been described as the "mother of authentic midwifery," and the book is about natural childbirth. We will add that onto our weekly Sunday night readings. =) Also in preparation for Mr. Julian's arrival, we will be taking a Lamaze class this next weekend followed by a tour of the hospital. I am interested to see Ruben's reaction, and hoping he/we will learn a lot! 

   Well, I think that sums up the past few weeks in our lives...until next time! Thanks for reading!

Where to begin?

So, I figured I would jump on the blog bandwagon considering we now have a lot to talk about! My husband, Ruben, and I are expecting out first baby on August 21st! We are 20 weeks pregnant with a baby boy we will name Julian.....still working on a middle name =). I feel so blessed to have this miracle growing inside of me, and he just started letting me know he was in there....I felt his first little kicks a couple of days ago. It is the most amazing feeling! He seems to like to say "Hi" around 10pm each night, and I look forward to it becoming more frequent. We shall see if I change my mind about that when he gets a bit bigger =) Here is the latest sono


16 weeks 1 day



Its a BOY!!



Julian has been treating his Mommy very nicely and is growing right on schedule. My prediction: he will be 2 weeks late and be a BIG baby! Haha. This week I have started to have much more energy, and I am feeling great! We are seeing a midwife group, which I absolutely love. No, I will not be having the baby at home, or in a tub (yuck!). I will deliver at the hospital, and if all goes as planned, with the help of my wonderful husband and soon to be midwife friend, Katie, it will be an al' naturale birth! We have been super spoiled from having a friend as a midwife, and have had...not 1, not 2 or 3, but 4 sonograms so far! It is neat seeing him grow so fast. Lets see, according to my readings, he should be about as big as a mango so far weighing in at about 10 ounces! Julian must agree, he just kicked! =) It is crazy how much I love this little mango already!