It’s a girl!!! I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and am over the moon about it! Ahhh!! Pregnancy, labor and all that stuff has always amazed me! I mean my body created a human being, nourished it and then delivered it into this world! Isn’t it amazing that our bodies can do that?!

This time around I wasn’t really anxious or nervous like I was with my boys. I was actually pretty brave about the whole thing, I thought however long it takes or whatever way it happens I…will….be…alright!! I actually had the mentality that it is my last pregnancy so I want to capture as much as I can from it. One thing I was very excited about was wanting to capture raw pictures of the whole process. You know, candid type of pictures that truly capture the moment without being told to look at the camera and smile.

To be real, giving birth is hard work! My first born was 38 hours of induced labor, and my second was 16 hours of induced labor. Yes, every pregnancy and delivery is different but laboring a child is no easy task – which is exactly why I wanted to capture all of the not so easy stuff! I wanted to capture pictures of my baby girl all covered in goo and I wanted a mirror to be able to see everything that’s happening. Yup – it’s just so beautiful and amazing that our bodies can do all that and I want to see it all!

So I asked my sister-in-law, Veraliz, and sister Chio to take as many pictures as they could, even if I looked pained or a hot mess or ready to die, just take the picture! I must say they did an amazing job! Well mostly Titi because my sis was busy trying to help me relax – so thank you Titi and Chio!!

I actually woke up feeling mild contractions on the day I was scheduled to get induced, July 30, 2018. So I felt like we were already off to a great start and probably would have happened naturally had I waited but ehhh I still went along with the plan to get induced. After checking into the hospital and getting situated they said I was 5cm dilated, compared to the 4cm I was the week before. Sweet, I thought!

For the first half of the day I was given antibiotics for Group B Strep, similar to my experience with Sebastian. Antibiotics are given every 4 hours until delivery and my doctors wanted to get at least two doses in. So we actually didn’t start pitocin and inducement until about 4pm…that’s when I started timing everything.

I was pretty comfortable and relaxed until about 8pm when I asked for an epidural. I was still only 5cm dilated but was definitely feeling contractions. I’m always so worried about asking for the epidural at the wrong time, like too soon or too late. I don’t want it too soon because then I can’t get up and all the itching starts. And I do not even want to think about getting it too late where I’m too pained to sit still for it. But I thought the contractions are definitely there and if my plan is to get the epidural anyway why am I struggling with all this pain? Might as well get the epidural now that I’m not screaming or crying. HA.

So I got the epidural and like with my first born it felt weird when the anesthesiologist was doing it. It felt like a shock of electricity going through the right side of my body. They explained it was most likely a pinched nerve as the needle was inserted. It went away after a few minutes and shortly after that I was pain free! Woohoo! Time to nap!

At around 1am, July 31, I was still only 5cm dilated so my doctors decided to break my water. It’s never broken on its own before so I was expecting them to do it anyway. After about an hour they noticed that our baby’s heart rate kept dropping so they kept readjusting my position hoping that it would help. By this time my body is definitely tired and aching. Especially after being in one position for too long.

After about an hour of repositioning I started feeling intense pain with every single contraction, making me tense up and curl in pain. I was so confused why I was so pained. It was like I was totally fine one minute and then the next I’m pretty much crying. It was definitely some of the worst pain I’ve felt. I ended up paging the nurse asking her to check me. She checked me and paged my doctors saying it’s time to have a baby!!! Yay!

Once the doctors came in everything just happened so fast! I was struggling to do anything at this point. The pain was so intense I couldn’t move or turn my body on my own. The nurse instructed me to scoot down lower on the bed and yeahhh. I didn’t filter myself and told her I couldn’t. She encouraged me and said “you’ve got to, you got this!” Hubs then begins assisting me at me feet, my sister was caressing my shoulders and arms while encouraging me to be strong and Veraliz began to position cameras.

The next thing I know my body is begging me to push. The pain is so intense I can no longer fight the urge. About 2 pushes and a pretty pained yelp later, we finally have our beautiful baby girl in our arms! She’s instantly placed on my chest as the nurse almost immediately says “oh she already looks like dad!” (DOH! Palm to the face!) We all kind of laughed and a few of us said “ohhh nooo!” One of my immediate questions were “it’s a girl right?” That also caused a few giggles but I just had to make sure nothing had changed since our last ultrasound.

I made sure to clock in my hour of skin to skin before sharing my baby girl with others. I was still pretty pained and numb but at least now I had my baby girl in my arms. I was also rather starved so hubs started to spoon feed me sliced watermelon as I made my first attempt to breastfeed. He’s definitely a keeper!

Everything happened so fast in the end! I ended up dilated from 5cm to 10cm in the last hour and a half. I didn’t get to ask for a mirror, nor be able to take all the raw pictures I wanted. Veraliz said she turned around to position a camera and the next thing you know the baby was out! That’s exactly how fast it all happened! We even almost missed the timeframe to collect umbilical cord blood and stem cells for storing, something we didn’t get a chance to do with the boys but wanted to do with baby girl.

It was definitely my most pained birth, I have no idea how or why anyone would do this without an epidural! Kuddos to all you natural moms, y’all some strong willed and a bit crazy people! In the end I ended up feeling all the contractions, regardless of the epidural. The nurses and doctors said it was because I ended up fully dilating so fast that my body was in shock. That was some crazy stuff but of course all totally worth it.

Rosalia Villa made her debut, after 12 hours of induced labor, on July 31, 2018 at 3:52am weighing 7lbs 13oz and measuring 19 inches. She is everything we were waiting for. She has been blessed with a little family that already loves her and is excited to shower her with love. Welcome to the world little princess. You will love it!

With all that said and done…this baby making factory is now closed!!

Love,

-Mama Bear Mimi

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May the Angels bless this baby, so perfect and pure, and protect, love and guide her through all of life’s doors. May she have good health and happiness and a life full of love, being watched over always by her Angels above. -Mary Jac-

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