officially a mama! :)

ok.. so it's january.. i've been a mama for almost 3 months now.. can you believe that??? my posts are long overdue.. but i wanted to write about our birth story.. here it goes.. :)

--- LYLA EMERSEN ---
Born: Monday October 11th, 2010
Time: 5:10 am (via c-section)
Weight: 6lbs 9oz
Height: 19 ½ inches
Time in labor: 18 hours

Baby girl,

There will come a time (in a few years) when you will want to know allllll about your big day.. so here it is.. officially in writing so that we can all remember how you came to be.. ready?

You were conceived on Saturday January 9th, 2010 (we thought it would be great to have a 10.10.10 baby – we had no idea how close we’d be!!!).. this may be more information than you’d like to hear but it is what it is and you were due on Tuesday October 5th, 2010. The pregnancy itself wasn’t bad at all.. you ended up joining us on our honeymoon (which we took a year after getting married) and we had a great time in Italy.. though, all we ate was spaghetti marinara everywhere we went (and lost 8 pounds in the process!!).. the cheese is not pasteurized in Europe and we obviously didn’t want to take any chances.. I promise that we’ll go back and eat pizza.. and cheese.. and all the other good stuff ☺

The first trimester sailed by.. there were days that were harder than others but for the most part.. you were easy peasy.. the second trimester was great.. everyone says that’s when you start to feel like yourself again, and it’s true.. we weren’t big enough yet to be uncomfortable so it was a good time all around.. then came the third trimester. As far as the actual pregnancy went.. I was bigger, obviously.. but no real issues except for my foot / leg which I somehow messed up at some point in july.. to this day, I have no idea what I did.. but I spent the last 2-3 months hobbling around.. I had the waddle going.. as well as my limp.. sexy, is all I have to say..

And then the baby pool.. people were placing bets on when you’d join us.. we had dates from September 20th – October 8th.. we were fairly certain you’d be early.. why, you ask?? I was 15 days early and supposedly that plays a factor.. clearly, in your case it did not.. The first 10 days of October were the longest 10 days ever.. I had a doctor appointment (Dr. V.) every week from 35 weeks onwards.. and every week I got checked.. and again.. every week was at 1 cm.. By October 7th.. you were 2 days “late”.. and the Dr. was concerned that you’d be a big baby since an ultrasound we took 4 weeks prior had you weighing 6lbs 8oz.. we thought you’d be an 8lb+ baby! My blood pressure wasn’t cooperating so we decided to schedule an induction on 10.10.10 (Sunday).

We checked in to Cedars Sinai at 11:30 am.. and by we, I mean.. your daddy, grandmas and me.. by 12:30.. they had started the “induction” process which started off with some sort of pill to “soften” the cervix to help with dilation.. at about 5:30pm, they checked me and I had progressed to 2cms.. still nowhere near we needed to be so the next step was a foley balloon along with pitocin (to induce contractions).. I will not get into the details.. but basically this is a balloon that is inserted and helps you dilate.. once you reach 3cms the balloon falls out.. strange, but true. By 8:30pm, I had reached 3cms and pitocin was still going – at this point we knew you wouldn’t be a 10.10.10 baby but we had been waiting, what seemed like forever to meet you.. so really couldn’t care less ☺

They moved us to a larger room once I reached 4cms (around 11:00pm).. the actual labor and delivery room, the grandmas decided to go home since we thought it would be hours and hours more.. it was now decided that they would break my water.. I was between 4 and 5cms so I asked for the epidural since I knew it was going to be way more intense once that happened.. I got the epi a little before midnight, they broke my water and by 2am, I was fully dilated (10cms!).. they stopped the pitocin a little after midnight because the contractions were super strong and labor was progressing on its own.. you were still pretty high up so they decided to let you “labor down” for a bit.. a little before 3 am, they asked me to start pushing.. which is what I did.. they were monitoring you this whole time and saw that when I pushed, your heart rate would slow down.. this had them worried and had us worried as well.. at one point your heart rate went way below what they were comfortable with so we were in the operating room within 2 minutes.. ready to go.. but then you stabilized.. thank goodness..

We went back to labor and delivery and pushed some more.. Dr. V. was there at this point and mentioned that you were stuck behind the pubic bone and because your heart rate kept dropping with the pushes.. suggested we consider a c-section.. baby girl, let me tell you.. she’s not one of those doctors that likes c-sections.. so when she said that, I knew that maybe that was best.. even the midwife said you were not going to come out the birth canal.. so daddy and I looked at each other and decided that we would go for it.. better have you with us.. safe and healthy.. we were never very set on a birth plan anyway.. this way, we tried.. and we got the experience..

We went back to the operating room at about 4:45.. they prepped me.. did whatever they needed to do and then your daddy came in.. I was super happy to see him (as always).. they had random 80’s love songs playing in the background.. I was very groggy.. from being up for hours and from the drugs.. but I remember a “time out” and then surgery started with “time in”.. daddy can explain that to you ☺

I felt some pressure.. lots of people were talking.. daddy was right by me.. and then they said.. she’s here.. and we heard a tiny cry.. nothing like we were expecting.. they took you to the warmer and were trying to get all the fluids out of you to get a real cry.. we were a bit worried and I kept asking if you were ok.. they didn’t seem to be too worried.. but you didn’t cry.. and I kept waiting for that.. we kept waiting for that.. they then decided to take you to the nursery to continue working on you and get a real cry out of you.. your daddy went with you.. (turns out the umbilical cord was wrapped around your neck.. not once but twice!)

Eventually, I was wheeled into the recovery room.. my mom came in to congratulate me.. she had just seen you in the nursery.. and then j’s mom came in.. and finally your daddy came in.. can’t tell you how happy I was to see him.. he was so awesome throughout this whole thing.. he’s the best lyla belle and I’m sure that you will see that as his baby girl.. he’s already so in love with you ☺ Everyone says you look just like I did when I was born.. and that may be so.. though your hair is lighter and something tells me you will be blessed with colored eyes.. also.. you have the cutest dimple in the world and your daddy’s expressions / mannerisms.. you’re simply perfect!!

We met face to face a little bit after 8 am on the 11th of October (I saw you in the operating room but I was too out of it to really concentrate).. and baby.. you were breathtaking.. you still are.. we cannot believe that you are ours and that they let us take you home with us.. pure insanity.. you’ve been home for 6 days now and we are slowly getting used to one another and the cute things you do.. so far we have been calling you glowworm because of your perfectly round face.. we also call you popeye because when we’re holding you.. you peek at us with one eye to make sure we’re still there.. it’s pretty funny.. you do a lot of really cute things.. yesterday, for instance (you’ll appreciate this when you’re older).. you projectile pooped on me.. not once.. but THREE times.. you’d think I’d learn and get out of the way.. I’m still a newbie though.. so we’re learning together baby girl.. daddy laughed and laughed and laughed.. I think he told everyone.. see.. told you he was so in love with you ☺

I promise to update this on a monthly basis and I will try not to embarrass you with these stories when you’re a teenager.. the key word is try.. ☺