Dear Lucia-
You are growing so fast!! You were 8 lbs 7 oz at your 5 day appointment and 9 lbs. 3 oz. at 2 weeks! You are my mellow girl, pretty content just eating and sleeping and lately you've been opening your big blue eyes more and checking out the world. You are very tolerant of your very affectionate big sister wanting to hold and touch and kiss you all the time.
Everyone says you are beautiful. Papi's side of the family especially loves your blue eyes and the fact you have dark hair like them ; ) You already look quite different than your blonde curly haired older sister!
You certainly live up to your name and have already brightened our lives so much. You sleep pretty well at night, especially if you're being cuddled and you're warm. For the first few weeks you were up every two hours on the hour but now you seem to be going longer stretches... we'll see if that lasts. In the meantime, I am grateful for the sleep and the fact that you eat quickly and go back to sleep easily.
In general, you are "easy" content and beautiful. We can't wait to see how you and your personality grow over time. I am trying to soak in this awesome time of cuddling you as a newborn, appreciating the little ways you curl up in a ball and how you need me, knowing it will go by so fast. But I also dream of you and Danali being able to take baths together, play tea party and soccer together, and grow that precious sister bond...
We love you so much, Lucia!
Love, your mami and papi
Friday, August 24, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Lucia's Birth Story
Lucia was a little "special" from the beginning. My original due date was July 19th, but was later changed to August 1st at our first ultrasound because I got pregnant about 2 weeks later than would be expected. At the 20 week ultrasound, we went in fully expecting to find out if she was a boy or girl only to leave as ignorant as when we arrived since she didn't let us see- pretty rare nowadays so we were forced to be "surprised" and surprised we were!!
All signs from people's comments as to how I was carrying to supersticions about gold chains swinging and cupcakes led us to think she was probably a boy. We were trying desperately to come up with a name we both liked. Our "backup" girl name I had fallen in love with many months ago- if Danali got a little sister, she would definitely be "Lucia"- "Lucy" for short.
Lucia didn't come on August 1st- that would have been much too predictable... neither did she wait a week like her older sister did to make her entrance. Instead, she gave almost no signs she was ready to appear until late Thursday evening. I had a tiny bit of "show" but read that labor could start anywhere from hours to days after that. We were with Juan Carlos's mom Thursday night having dinner and went out to my car to find it had a flat tire- a VERY flat tire. We had to call JC's brother for a ride home.
Around 10:00pm I got a pretty intense contraction. I waited awhile, took a shower and contraction kept coming but pretty far apart. When I went into labor with Danali, they were close together right away, so this was new for me. I wasn't really sure if it was "real" labor or at what point I should go into the birth center, where I was planning to give birth. After an hour, I called the midwife. We talked for about 7 minutes on the phone and I didn't get any contractions in that time. She said it could well be "false" labor and I should try to get some rest. I probably wouldn't be ready to come in until contractions were less than 5 minutes apart. So, I went to lay down again and did actually doze off several times between very intense contractions. The contractions seemed long and I just did my best to breathe through them and not wake up Juan Carlos or Danali who were sleeping just to my side.
Around 2:00am, I got an incredibly strong contraction and urge to bear down. I moaned and rolled out of bed, waking Juan Carlos up. He held my hands as I knelt by the side of the bed, worried that I had peed everywhere. The contraction lasted several minutes and I just told him, "why won't it stop? why won't it stop?" He kept reassuring me it would. Then, I moved to the bathroom and again got a huge urge to push. This time, I could feel the baby's head crown and I knew this little one was going to come out at home. I told Juan Carlos I could feel the baby's head. He frantically asked me who to call and if we should go to the hospital. I told him I wouldn't be able to make it to the hospital and I didn't know who to call because no one was going to make it in time. He was panicking and saying, "please don't do this to me" The nice thing about "pushing contractions" (for me anyway) is that there is a bit of a break between them, during which time I searched for the midwife's number on the phone and called her to say simply, "the baby is coming" She tried to get directions from me and then my husband. She said she was on the way and told me to lay down and try to breathe through the contractions rather than push. I got through one like that but the next was too powerful. I couldn't help but push. The baby's head was halfway out. She stayed on speakerphone with us. She told me to move to my hands and knees, get the rest of the head out and then wait. I got the rest of the head out, but couldn't really "wait" so I told Juan Carlos he needed to help pull the baby out. By this point, he was focused. He told me later he remembered when he helped deliver baby animals in Mexico. He watched me to see when I was pushing and gently helped pull Baby Lucia out. He placed her on the bed and in my hurry to see if she was ok, I turned around quickly and without realizing it, broke the umbilical cord. Constance, our midwife, was coaching us through and told us to wrap the baby in a towel and she would be there momentarily. She was a little later than she would have been because in the excitement, we forgot to tell her the last turn she needed to take to get to our house.
A long 3-5 minutes later, she arrived and quickly started helping to check the baby and me and clean up (I hadn't really been thinking about the mess I was making in this whole process). She realized the cord had broken and the baby was a little pale from some blood loss due to that, but ultimately, everyone was ok. My mom and sister arrived shortly after the midwife and everyone stayed a couple hours helping to clean up, get me food and water, help me bathe, etc. I am so grateful to have been cared for so well and so proud of my brave husband for delivering our perfect little daughter.
You may be wondering what two year old Danali was doing this whole time. Well, she woke up during my very strong contraction, according to Juan Carlos (I was oblivious) and sat calmly from her crib at the side of our bed watching the entire thing. So, if they can get people to recall memories from back when they are two at some point, she'll be able to tell the story better than me. Lucia Yareli Garcia Martinez was 8lbs. when she was born and today, at her 5 day visit, she weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. so she is growing quickly. She was exactly as long as Danali when she was born at 21.5 inches. She has a headfull of dark hair and is absolutely beautiful (but then again, I am biased). Danali is loving being a big sister. When Juan Carlos delivered Lucy, he turned to Danali and said, "mira, tu hermanito" (look, your little brother/sister- we still hadn't looked to see which) and Danali just started smiling and laughing. Later, when my Mom said, "look, Danali, your sister Lucy" Danali said, "I love you sister Lucy." She gives Lucy a lot of attention with kisses and pointing out when she opens her eyes and makes funny faces. It has been hard occassionally for her to not have all the attention but overall, she is doing great and still has plenty of people around to dote on her. I am so excited for the years when they will be able to play together and become great friends.
I am doing fantastic. No tears this time around has helped me to be incredibly comfortable and I'm shedding the baby weight faster than expected this time. I would feel a bit more overwhelmed I think if Juan Carlos hadn't been around this past week and without all the help and support from my parents, just because it is a BIG transition to taking care of two. I feel bad for Danali that we have to tell her "no" so much now because she'll want to be too rough with the baby or get into the baby's things, etc. and I can't take her out so I feel like she gets bored at home, but I trust with time we'll get into a routine and it will get a little easier...
Juan Carlos is a proud papa and has still been able to get away and spend time with friends, etc. so I think that is helping him keep his sanity too. He is trying to stay busy with work the rest of summer, so keep him in mind if you need any work done like decks, roofs, siding, etc.
We feel so incredibly blessed. There are always innumerable things that could go wrong during pregnancy and birth and the following days and thankfully, everything has gone miraculously right. God is so good. I remain in total awe of the miracle of life and how simple, yet miraculous it all is. Thanks for all your support, wishes, and prayers. I have no doubt they have contributed to a smooth transition for us. Please keep in touch.
All signs from people's comments as to how I was carrying to supersticions about gold chains swinging and cupcakes led us to think she was probably a boy. We were trying desperately to come up with a name we both liked. Our "backup" girl name I had fallen in love with many months ago- if Danali got a little sister, she would definitely be "Lucia"- "Lucy" for short.
Lucia didn't come on August 1st- that would have been much too predictable... neither did she wait a week like her older sister did to make her entrance. Instead, she gave almost no signs she was ready to appear until late Thursday evening. I had a tiny bit of "show" but read that labor could start anywhere from hours to days after that. We were with Juan Carlos's mom Thursday night having dinner and went out to my car to find it had a flat tire- a VERY flat tire. We had to call JC's brother for a ride home.
Around 10:00pm I got a pretty intense contraction. I waited awhile, took a shower and contraction kept coming but pretty far apart. When I went into labor with Danali, they were close together right away, so this was new for me. I wasn't really sure if it was "real" labor or at what point I should go into the birth center, where I was planning to give birth. After an hour, I called the midwife. We talked for about 7 minutes on the phone and I didn't get any contractions in that time. She said it could well be "false" labor and I should try to get some rest. I probably wouldn't be ready to come in until contractions were less than 5 minutes apart. So, I went to lay down again and did actually doze off several times between very intense contractions. The contractions seemed long and I just did my best to breathe through them and not wake up Juan Carlos or Danali who were sleeping just to my side.
Around 2:00am, I got an incredibly strong contraction and urge to bear down. I moaned and rolled out of bed, waking Juan Carlos up. He held my hands as I knelt by the side of the bed, worried that I had peed everywhere. The contraction lasted several minutes and I just told him, "why won't it stop? why won't it stop?" He kept reassuring me it would. Then, I moved to the bathroom and again got a huge urge to push. This time, I could feel the baby's head crown and I knew this little one was going to come out at home. I told Juan Carlos I could feel the baby's head. He frantically asked me who to call and if we should go to the hospital. I told him I wouldn't be able to make it to the hospital and I didn't know who to call because no one was going to make it in time. He was panicking and saying, "please don't do this to me" The nice thing about "pushing contractions" (for me anyway) is that there is a bit of a break between them, during which time I searched for the midwife's number on the phone and called her to say simply, "the baby is coming" She tried to get directions from me and then my husband. She said she was on the way and told me to lay down and try to breathe through the contractions rather than push. I got through one like that but the next was too powerful. I couldn't help but push. The baby's head was halfway out. She stayed on speakerphone with us. She told me to move to my hands and knees, get the rest of the head out and then wait. I got the rest of the head out, but couldn't really "wait" so I told Juan Carlos he needed to help pull the baby out. By this point, he was focused. He told me later he remembered when he helped deliver baby animals in Mexico. He watched me to see when I was pushing and gently helped pull Baby Lucia out. He placed her on the bed and in my hurry to see if she was ok, I turned around quickly and without realizing it, broke the umbilical cord. Constance, our midwife, was coaching us through and told us to wrap the baby in a towel and she would be there momentarily. She was a little later than she would have been because in the excitement, we forgot to tell her the last turn she needed to take to get to our house.
A long 3-5 minutes later, she arrived and quickly started helping to check the baby and me and clean up (I hadn't really been thinking about the mess I was making in this whole process). She realized the cord had broken and the baby was a little pale from some blood loss due to that, but ultimately, everyone was ok. My mom and sister arrived shortly after the midwife and everyone stayed a couple hours helping to clean up, get me food and water, help me bathe, etc. I am so grateful to have been cared for so well and so proud of my brave husband for delivering our perfect little daughter.
You may be wondering what two year old Danali was doing this whole time. Well, she woke up during my very strong contraction, according to Juan Carlos (I was oblivious) and sat calmly from her crib at the side of our bed watching the entire thing. So, if they can get people to recall memories from back when they are two at some point, she'll be able to tell the story better than me. Lucia Yareli Garcia Martinez was 8lbs. when she was born and today, at her 5 day visit, she weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. so she is growing quickly. She was exactly as long as Danali when she was born at 21.5 inches. She has a headfull of dark hair and is absolutely beautiful (but then again, I am biased). Danali is loving being a big sister. When Juan Carlos delivered Lucy, he turned to Danali and said, "mira, tu hermanito" (look, your little brother/sister- we still hadn't looked to see which) and Danali just started smiling and laughing. Later, when my Mom said, "look, Danali, your sister Lucy" Danali said, "I love you sister Lucy." She gives Lucy a lot of attention with kisses and pointing out when she opens her eyes and makes funny faces. It has been hard occassionally for her to not have all the attention but overall, she is doing great and still has plenty of people around to dote on her. I am so excited for the years when they will be able to play together and become great friends.
I am doing fantastic. No tears this time around has helped me to be incredibly comfortable and I'm shedding the baby weight faster than expected this time. I would feel a bit more overwhelmed I think if Juan Carlos hadn't been around this past week and without all the help and support from my parents, just because it is a BIG transition to taking care of two. I feel bad for Danali that we have to tell her "no" so much now because she'll want to be too rough with the baby or get into the baby's things, etc. and I can't take her out so I feel like she gets bored at home, but I trust with time we'll get into a routine and it will get a little easier...
Juan Carlos is a proud papa and has still been able to get away and spend time with friends, etc. so I think that is helping him keep his sanity too. He is trying to stay busy with work the rest of summer, so keep him in mind if you need any work done like decks, roofs, siding, etc.
We feel so incredibly blessed. There are always innumerable things that could go wrong during pregnancy and birth and the following days and thankfully, everything has gone miraculously right. God is so good. I remain in total awe of the miracle of life and how simple, yet miraculous it all is. Thanks for all your support, wishes, and prayers. I have no doubt they have contributed to a smooth transition for us. Please keep in touch.
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