Time Management

Wow! Who would've thought that having a baby is an awesome way of sprucing up on those time management skills! Yes, a newborn sleeps on average about 16-18 hours per day, but when you're trying to squeeze in EVERYTHING you would normally do in a regular day in about 10 of those hours you can definitely feel the pressure. It doesn't help that sometime after that 2-week-old mark, newborns will go through a growth spurt, making them feed more frequently than usual and have a little bit more wake time as well. (sigh)

Alyssa is two days away of turning 3-weeks-old! Unbelievable! She is growing so fast. I can totally see the changes her face and little body are going through. She seems to look so different in every picture we take. That's why I am trying to enjoy every second I spend with her. Before I know it, it'll be time to go back to work and I won't be able to have all this time with her.

Well, Tito's back at work... I miss him. I miss him being around and helping out... But it'll be nice to spend some "girl" time together... Me, Annjulia and Alyssa. It's just a matter of getting a schedule together to get things done so we have more play time! We'll make it happen. I feel bad for Annjulia since she's pretty much been stuck in the house with me the last couple of weeks. We've done stuff, just not as much as I would like to be able to do with her.

I'm back at the gym too! Tito and I worked out a schedule for that as well. He gets his gym time right after work, then comes home to baby so I can head out to the gym. I think it'll work out great. It was so nice to have that hour just for me yesterday and get out of the house for a little while. I missed them though. I'm such a homebody. :)

Well, better get going so I can get a few more things done before baby wakes up. TTFN!

16 days old...

Alyssa is two weeks old! She has been doing wonderful, except for a few episodes of throwing up and a mild eye infection, probably from her putting her hands and fingers in her eyes! We saw the doctor for her 2 week appointment and weigh-in this past Thursday. She's gained her birth weight back plus some. She is up to 7 lbs now! I can finally breathe easy knowing that breastfeeding is really working out. And it is so worth it. It's everything we wanted.

Tito's time off from work has come to an end. He heads back on Monday. He has been such great help and he is an amazing father. He loves spending time with his little girl. Now it'll just be us girls in the house while he's at work. I hate to think about it, but I only have 10 weeks left to spend at home with my girls. I have to take advantage of every second. I'm so in love with my family... I feel blessed.

Time flies...

I can't believe how time is flying. Alyssa is already a week old!! She had her first doctor appt yesterday to check her weight and see how she's doing. Everything went great! She's lost about 5 oz since birth, but that is very normal for newborns. They should re-gain their birth weight by the 2nd week, though, so we have another doctor appt scheduled for next Thursday. I am confident that she will be back to her birth weight by then. She's been eating well and breastfeeding has been going way better than I anticipated. If at any moment I feel that something is wrong, I have a great support group to turn to for questions and concerns. So, I'm positive things are going to go just fine! Plus, doctor says she looks perfect! We are very fortunate to have a very healthy child!

She's been an awesome baby. She's starting to stay awake a little bit more in between feedings, which is great. We get to spend a little bit more time with her, talking and singing and just enjoying all her little cute facial expressions. She's amazing.

I am so glad to have Tito at home helping in so many ways. He's been such a great support and I feel truly blessed. Anything, from cooking, doing laundry, cleaning, etc... He's been taking care of most of it while I tend for the baby. And he still gets to spend enough bonding time with her. It's definitely a relief when all I want to do it take a shower, or eat something, or just take a cat nap. :) I can't leave Annjulia behind either. She has been great help as well. She has taken on some additional responsibilities as well and is so proud of being a big sister. Hopefully soon we'll be able to do a few more things together while I have her with me during the summertime. It'll be great!

Monique and Gil are on their way up to come see Alyssa for the first time! I'm sure they are very excited and we can't wait to see them and spend time with them. We hope to be able to see the rest of the family very soon too.

That's it for now! We'll be posting some more soon!

Hugs,
Aixa, Tito, Annjulia & Alyssa

... And she has arrived!

The moment we had been waiting for finally arrived! Here's a bit of how it all went down...

All day Wednesday I had been feeling contractions off and on. Not just regular Braxton Hicks, but different. A little bit more discomfort and a different kind of pain. I was at work, as I was scheduled to work right up until the end, so I went about preparing everything in case I actually did go into labor. Something was telling me that she was coming, either that night or by the next day. I knew I wouldn't make it to the weekend. So, I finished training my replacement, making sure that everything was left in order and I wouldn't have to worry about anything if I did go into labor. I guess you could call it "nesting" at work. LOL It's funny how it didn't really happen at home. Just at work.

Anyway, right before I left for the day I told a couple of co-workers that everything was set and Melissa was up to speed on everything just in case. I went home still feeling contractions every so often, and each one getting a little bit stronger. So I get in the shower and get ready for bed at around 10:30, pretty early considering our usual bedtime.

I wake up at 12:30 AM feeling stronger contractions. I lied in bed for about 30 minutes, tossing and turning hoping the contractions would go away, thinking it would be another episode of false labor like I had a week before. I finally get up, walk around the house, turn on the tv and sit on the stability ball for a little while, hoping the pain would dissipate. I didn't want to wake Tito up if it wasn't going to be the real thing, so I tried to be as quiet as possible. I finally get to the point were I am breathing through contractions to manage the pain. They are not terribly painful, but strong enough for me to have to do my breathing exercises. I finally go back to the room and start timing contractions... Hmmm... Looks like about 4-5 minutes apart, and about a min long, but not consistent. Some were shorter than others. Okay, seems like this is it! I turn on the TV in the room and Tito wakes up. He asks if I'm still awake from earlier and I said yes. I'm still having contractions and they're just getting worse. I think it's time. The funny part about this whole thing is that Tito's day to do his haircut and shave and all is Thursday nights. So, he looks at me and says: if you feel like this is it, then I need to get up and cut my hair! LOL I couldn't help but laugh. He wanted to make sure that he would look good in the pictures if I did have this baby! Only Tito.

So, he gets up, starts cutting his hair and shaving. This is usually an hour to an hour and a half process. So, I patiently wait. While I wait, I walk a little bit more, clean the dishes, pack up Annjulia's bag to take to grandma's, finish packing up my bag with the last minute items (toothbrush, hairbrush, iPod, cell phone charger, etc.) All this while having contractions! I finally call mom at about 4:30 and let her know that it's time and we'll be dropping off Annjulia within the hour. We are definitely headed to the hospital. Contractions are still about 4 minutes apart, but I'm starting to feel a lot more pelvic pressure. Hospital is a good 35 minutes away, so I didn't want to risk not making it. We finally head over to my parents' at around 5:30. We drop off Annjulia, exchange a few words with my parents, and head to the hospital.

We made it in right after 6:00, and the nurse sets us up in triage to monitor me and have someone come in a check to see if I've dilated any. They monitor my contractions for a few minutes, get my paperwork done, and nurse finally comes in to check me. Yup... I'm 5 cm dilated. It's time to check you in to the hospital, she says. We'll find a room for you and go ahead and get you registered. Through this whole time, I'm still laughing at jokes Tito is making, I'm nice and friendly and simply having a good time. LOL I couldn't believe that it hadn't gotten that bad yet.

We call mom once we're in the L&D room and let her know I've been admitted and it's the definitely the real thing. I knew she'd want to be there during labor to help out, so she gets ready and makes her way to the hospital. About an hour and a half after being admitted, doctor comes in, checks me again to see how things are progressing, and I'm already at 7 cm. Things are moving pretty fast. They don't think it'll be past noon before baby gets here. I'm excited. It's time. This is the moment I've been waiting for since I found out I was pregnant!

I'm starting to get a little bit more uncomfortable. Nurses come and go preparing everything for baby's arrival. Asking the same questions over and over... At one point I thought it was their strategy to keep my mind off the pain... But oh how annoying. Specially through contractions. I finally start getting a little bit more moody and grouchy. Feeling lots more pelvic pressure and contractions climbing up to 9 and 10. Oh boy, was I in pain. Breathe, breathe... That's all I kept thinking. Nurse comes check me again, per my request, and I'm still at an 8... Not much longer. Tito had the TV on watching Wimbledon or something. I think Serena Williams was playing. Not sure, just a few things I picked up in between contractions...

Finally I start feeling more pressure and the urge to push with every contraction. I request to be checked once again. I am at around 9 1/2. Finally, more progress. It's almost time! So they call the doctor. Now we just wait for the doctor to get there. 20 minutes later, still no doctor. She finally makes it in and it's show time! We start the whole pushing process... It didn't really take that long. I think 10 minutes is what the nurse said it took for me to push her out. But it was only because she wasn't completely down yet when I started pushing.

So, baby's head finally crowns. Tito's all up in there checking things out, I'm relieved that she's finally about to come out. Although I had to wait until my next contraction to push her out all the way. That sucked. Then one other push and her head comes out! Finally. But wait, there's something wrong. Her umbilical cord is wrapped around her neck. Doctor looks at Tito and says ok daddy, we need to do this very quickly. I need you to cut her umbilical cord, here, now. So, I'm calm but thinking a thousand things... Is baby ok? what's wrong? Is she going to be ok? Tito cuts the umbilical cord, I do another push, and here comes baby! She's all limb and a little blueish. They put her on my chest and I check her to make sure everything's ok. No breathing or crying yet. They sweep her away to get her cleaned up... When i finally hear it. Oh, that sweet baby's cry! The doctor starts asking the nurse if we need get oxygen or something, I look at her all confused, but I know she's just taking precautions just in case. Finally she asks for Apgar scores. She had to ask several times, until I hear: 7 and 10. She looks at me and she says, perfect! Hardly anyone gets a 10. So, there's a huge sigh of relief. Everything is fine. Respiratory therapist was on site just in case since the baby had a bowel movement in the belly. But everything was fine!

They finally bring her to back to me and she's just perfect. I am in awe... Love at first sight. They ask me if I am planning on breastfeeding, I say yes. So they suggest that I try to breastfeed now. I am all up for it. I couldn't help but just stare at her. What a miracle. Our baby, this little person that had been developing inside my body... A little person that Tito and I created... She was finally here.

So, Alyssa Monique arrived 7/2/09 at 11:55 AM. She weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long. Pediatrician came to see her before we were moved to our room and said she was just perfect. Everything was great. I couldn't have asked for anything else.

We've been home since Friday and it's been wonderful. She's a very good baby. She sleeps through most of the night, waking up only once for the most part. We are so very blessed.