Transitioning from Mommy to Marriage: February 10, 2014

February 10, 2014 was the greatest day of my life. The day that Armani was born. I look back and can't believe how time has flown by. I love reliving this day over and over in my head. Of course no one can predict what their labor and delivery is going to be like, but I know we all like to think we do.

Friday, February 7, I had gone to the doctor for my once a week checkup. The doctor had told me that by the way I was sitting and how low the baby was that she would be surprised if I made it to my due date which was February 14. I knew that my due date was right around the corner but I didn't get my hopes up that the baby would come any time soon because my mom had gone late with my sisters and I and my sister had gone late with her daughter.

Dlo came up that weekend like he had been doing every weekend. We just relaxed and enjoyed one another's company because we knew any day now we would be extremely busy and there would be little time for just me and him. Sadly, on Sunday he had to go back to Fremont because he had classes the next day as did I. I remember going to bed that night having a thought that my water was going to break in the night. You may not believe me but I really did have this thought cross my mind. Monday morning, the 10th, just a little after 4 am I shot up in bed and felt what was my water breaking. I ran upstairs screaming "I think my water broke!" I've heard stories and seen in the movies that when someone's water breaks that they are instantly having full on contractions and can barely make it to the hospital in time to have the baby. Well they always say don't believe everything you see in the movies. I also thought that once your water was broken that that was it no more "water" but that wasn't the case, I was wrong. Once your water breaks it doesn't stop until you have the baby.

As soon as my parents were ready we loaded up in the car and headed to the hospital. I had tried calling Dlo time and time and time again. It was 4 am and he happened not to have his phone on loud so that he could hear if I called. Finally, after 24 missed calls he answered. We were in the car on the way to the hospital. Unfortunately, Dlo's car had broken down a couple weeks prior so being the amazing sweet guy that my dad is he drove all the way to Fremont to pick up D and back. I can't thank my dad enough for doing that for us because otherwise I really don't know how D would have gotten to the hospital as quickly as he did.

Since my dad was going to pick up D, he dropped my mom and I off at the hospital and headed to Fremont. We checked into the hospital and they sent a nurse down with a wheelchair. At this point in time I had still not had a contraction so I thought this was about to be a piece of cake. I couldn't have been more wrong. We got into the room and I quickly changed into a gown and got as comfortable as I could in the bed. The nurse checked me to see how far dilated I was. Again, I thought that since my water had broken on its own I had to have been at least a 3, nope, I was only 1 cm dilated. Still, in my head I thought that since my water was broken that I would quickly move from one cm to the next. Almost immediately after the nurse was done checking on me, my contractions hit hard. For those of you who have not experienced a contraction I don't even think I can describe it to you. The contractions were by far the worst part! It felt like a menstrual cramp times 100000 that instantly takes your breath away and you can do nothing but grab onto something or someone as tightly as possible until it's over. Thankfully my mom was there and she allowed me to squeeze and grip her hand as tightly as I could. These contractions were about 5 minutes apart and finally after what seemed like an eternity Dlo and my dad showed up. I couldn't have been happier to see Dlo and he quickly replaced the spot my mom was sitting in and let me take out all my pain on his hand. After a couple hours I was still only dilated at 3 cm so I asked for an epidural. I know they usually don't recommend giving the epidural until you are 6 cm or so but for some reason they allowed me to receive one. The epidural did not hurt at all compared to a contraction and once the medicine was in me I could finally relax a bit.

The nurses were in and out of the room for a while checking my vitals and temperature and making sure the baby was doing fine as well. My parents left to grab some breakfast for themselves and for D. While they were gone there was kind of a panic moment where the nurses were checking me and all the sudden they were rushing around flipping me from side to side and even put a breathing mask on my face. I had no idea what had happened and no one said anything to me for a couple of minutes. What had happened was the baby's heart rate had gone down while I was laying on my back so for the rest of the day I had to lay on my side with one leg propped in the air and every couple of hours they would flip me in the opposite direction. The babies head was facing my leg so they thought that by laying this way that the baby's head would eventually face down like it was supposed to be. I was already uncomfortable and laying like this made it 10x worse. My grandma Hartnett volunteers at the hospital I was at so she had come up to see me and handed me a rosary to carry with me. I loved that small gesture so much, my grandma is so important to me so I was so glad I got to see her.

The nurses had gotten my hopes up and thought that I would have the baby by 2 pm at the latest, well they were wrong. Since I had gotten the epidural so early my progress had slowed way down. By 2pm I was only 5 or 6 cm dilated and was running a fever. I was exhausted, hungry, anxious, and uncomfortable; not a good combination. After a while my epidural started to wear off and once again I was starting to experience those awful contractions. I was lucky enough that the doctor came up once again and gave me another dosage of the medicine.

The next few hours consisted of waiting, playing on my phone, and constantly being checked on by the nurses. At one point in time I had a break down. I was so uncomfortable and ready for the baby to be here. I was running a fever, I couldn't rest at all, and I was frustrated that I wasn't progressing quicker. My parents and D never left my side and we were all ready for this baby to get here.

Finally, at 10 pm (my water broke at 4 am) I was able to start pushing. In the room there was my dad, mom, D, two doctors, and about 3 nurses. Again, my epidural had started to wear off so I could feel my contractions again and just about everything! So I like to say that I had a natural labor because I could feel everything. If you ask my sister she didn't even know when to push that's how magical the epidural can be. When I started pushing the doctors gave me pitocin (a medicine used to speed up contractions) so my contractions were coming about every minute. I was told to push every time I felt a contraction coming so with D on one side holding one leg and my mom on the other I would push for 10 seconds, break, and repeat. Everyone in the room knew how exhausted I was becoming so at one point in time I had to play tug a war with one of the nurses. She had me hold onto a towel and she had the other end and we would pull and pull and pull. The doctors kept saying, "We're making progress" so in my head I was thinking ok not to much longer they can see the head. This was not the case. After a little over an hour of pushing they finally could see the head!! Due to the way the baby's head was laying they had to get out a vaccum to help ease his head out. Man was that part painful. (I am trying not to be gory and scar everyone so I am leaving out the graphic details) After a few more pushes the baby's head was out. D'Angelo could see how much pain I was in. I looked over at him and I could see tears building in his eyes. I could tell how much he was sympathizing for me and just how much he truly loved and cared for me. I couldn't have asked for a better partner. After I looked at D starting to cry, I looked over at my mom and she started to cry!! All I could say was "YOU GUYS GET IT TOGETHER! The baby isn't even out yet!" I knew that the finish line was near and with a couple more big pushes and me gripping onto D's shirt, out came Armani! At 11:46 pm, weighing 8 pounds 10 ounces, 21 inches long, and after a 19 hour labor Armani made his first apperance into the world. D instanly burst into tears and I have never felt emotinally closer to him than on that day. I on the other hand was so exhausted I didn't even know what to do or feel. After D cut the cord I finally got to hold my precious baby. I was overhwelmed with the love and joy I felt at that very moment. It is a lifechanging moment to hold your child for the very first time.

After 19 hours of what I call a natural labor I felt a sense of empowerment and I could do anything and everything that anyone asked me to. Delivering a child is something you cannot understand unless you have been through it yourself.

Once the doctors were done "fixing" me back up and doing all the tests that needed to be done with the baby, I finally got to enjoy some time with just me and my family. My mom, dad, and D each took turns holding Armani and around 2 am my parents headed home and D, the baby, and I were moved into a different room.

The time at the hospital flew by and many of our family and friends stopped by to see this beautiful bundle of joy. After two days at the hospital it was finally time to head home and start this new incredible journey.