You’re growing so quickly, and we’ve been enjoying every minute of having you in our lives. You’re such a sweet, calm baby. The only time you get really upset is when you’re hungry, gassy, or poopy. Once the problem is fixed, you go right back to your sweet, contemplative self.

You love napping with your Daddy…

And you’re also a fan of hanging out with your big sister.

You’re a great eater and champion cuddler, too.

We can’t wait to get to know you as see more of your personality comes out.

Born on July 10 at 11:50pm.
7 lbs, 9 oz
19 1/2 inches long
Full head of beautiful, dark hair
She’s absolute perfection.

After the jump, our very long birth story. (I brought my laptop with me to the hospital so I could watch movies, but I ended up writing a ton, instead.) Hope you enjoy.

On Tuesday, July 8th, I went to the midwife and was told that I was dilated 2 cm. I’d been having contractions for about a week and half, but I wasn’t expecting to hear that I was already dilated. Two days later, on Thursday, I went back for some bloodwork. When the midwife, Ms. Tanksley, found out that I had been having stronger contractions, she examined me again and we discovered that I was already at 4 cm.

She decided to admit me on the spot. Only, I couldn’t stay just yet. I asked if I could go home and get Alan. We hadn’t even finished packing our hospital bag yet, nor had we even started packing Nia’s overnight bag. So, I made a few phone calls, got home, and we managed to throw the rest of our stuff together. We dropped Nia off at Yolanda’s and headed off to the hospital. I think we got there around 2pm. After being admitted and settled in, I was examined again and was at 5 cm. By this point, I figured this was going to be one pretty easy labor. I was halfway there, with minimal effort on my part. The contractions were a little more than uncomfortable, but I was still able to laugh and carry along.

Kat, our doula, showed up around 4 pm. Thank goodness for her. Having a third person on our ‘team’ really made a huge difference. It took a lot of responsibility and pressure off of Alan and allowed us to an extra layer of support. The three of us listened to music on our stereo while we swayed, talked, and laughed.

Oh, because the results of my Group B Strep test hadn’t come back yet, I was given two doses of antibiotics, ‘just to be safe.’ This meant that I had to be hooked up to an IV – something I didn’t want to happen. I was also on almost constant monitoring, especially towards the end. While I was still able to move, I was getting annoyed with the chords that kept getting in the way.

Around 7pm I received my second dose of antibiotics, so my midwife and I decided to get things moving. While I was contracting and dilating fine, the contractions weren’t strong enough to push the baby down. As my midwife said, “I don’t want you laughing. Laughing means the contractions aren’t doing their job.” She broke my bag of waters around 7:40. By then, I was at 6cm. I’m not sure when my mom and the Aunties showed up, but it was sometime shortly after that. My contractions were getting a little stronger, but I was still able to laugh and joke in between them.

Around 10pm, I was checked again and was at 8 cm, but only 70% effaced. It was somewhere about that time that I think I hit transition. The contractions came stronger, and I needed to keep leaning on Alan while Kat applied pressure to my back. I swayed and stood, then moved to the bed to get on all fours. Those two positions seemed to give me the most effective contractions. I had a lull during transition. I’m not sure how long it was, but I was grateful for it. I was also scared. Somehow, I knew that my body was giving me a rest to prepare me for even harder contractions. Sure enough, after the lull, the contractions came back even stronger. Ms. Tanksley told us that my contractions were ‘coupling’ – I would get a strong one followed quickly by a smaller, shorter one. This was so incredibly tiring, especially as the contractions started getting stronger and closer together.

There was a moment when I looked at Alan, tears in my eyes, and told him that I didn’t think I could go through with this. I was exhausted, my body hurt and I just wanted to sleep. I wanted the pain to go away. It had been such a long day, and I hadn’t been getting very good sleep for the past few nights. I was going to bed at 1:30am and waking up at 5am, taking short naps throughout the day – I started feeling like my body wasn’t up to this anymore. Alan put his hands on my face, looked into my eyes, and told me that I was strong enough. I could do this. I was going to do this. He told me to get lost inside myself and give in to the contractions. Those simple words helped me find the strength to get through the next set of even stronger contractions.

Eventually, I ended up lying in bed with the head raised all the way. In this position, I was able to rest more, but my contractions weren’t as strong. I knew this was a bad thing – the stronger the contraction, the more productive they were. I needed the contractions to keep pushing the baby down. Somehow, I managed to flip myself over so I was on my knees and leaning against the head of the bed. Alan said this was the moment when he and Kat looked at each other and knew that the end was near. I had four or five ridiculously strong contractions – I was biting the bed and grabbing Alan’s shirt. Suddenly, I looked up and told Alan and Kat that I had to push. Up to that point, I wasn’t really feeling a whole lot of pressure. All of a sudden, though, it felt like she was about to come flying out.

Ms. Tanksley checked me again and told me to push whenever I had a contraction. I pushed for what felt like hours, but it was really only about 7 or 8 minutes. Lucia was born at 11:50 PM on July 10th and instantly let us know that she was in possession of some very healthy lungs. She was 7 lbs, 9 oz and 19 ½ inches long. Thanks to my wonderful midwife and her assistant, who applied pressure as Lucia came shooting out of me, I managed to make it through without tearing at all.

This is where the story gets a little graphic…
As everyone was busy oohing and ahhing over the baby in her basinet, the midwife was having a hard time controlling my bleeding. My placenta had an extra lobe, which is rare. The larger placenta, and the fact that this was my second, made it harder for my uterus to start contracting after the birth. I was losing blood quickly. I remember holding Alan’s hand and seeing the worried look on his face. I remember the midwife asking for pitocin, and then screaming for them to get me a shot of something for my thigh. The midwife and her assistant pushed on my uterus to try to get the blood out and to get it to start contracting. I remember feeling blood gushing out of me. There was blood dripping off the bed and onto the floor. At one point, I started screaming from the pain of having them press against my uterus. I wanted them to stop. I remember yelling at them, and I remember that I was in pain, but I don’t actually remember the pain or how loudly I was yelling. When I asked Alan, he said that I was red in the face, veins popping out of my head and neck as I was yelling at them to stop, please stop. Honestly, I don’t remember it being like that. I’m glad I don’t. There were large clots coming out of me. I was getting dizzy and there were two or three moments where I thought I was going to fall asleep or pass out. Finally, after a few very scary minutes, they were able to get the bleeding under control. While the bleeding had been managed, I had to be on pitocin through the night and into the next day to ensure that the bleeding wouldn’t start again.

After the scare was over, Alan and I were able to enjoy our baby. She nursed right away and promptly passed out. She’s beautiful, with a full head of dark hair, chubby cheeks, my ears, and Alan’s nose.

This was a hard labor. Honestly, I rate the pain from this one higher than the pain from Nia’s drug-free birth. This labor was much shorter, which may be why it hurt more. My body was just overcome with the contractions and I was so much more tired this time around. The blood loss didn’t help with the tiredness afterwards. I’m still pretty exhausted. However, nursing has so far been going so smoothly this time around. Lucia is a sweet baby with a calm disposition. She loves to be held so she can look around at her surroundings. We’re all completely smitten with her.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone for your support and love through all this. A big thanks to Kat, our doula, who was so awesome during the labor. She wore a myriad of hats during the whole thing – birthing coach, a pillar for me to lean on, a hand for me to squeeze, a fetcher of ice and water, and a calm voice during my hysterical moments. Words cannot express how much we appreciate what you did for us. And, of course, many, many thanks to our midwife, Ms. Tanksley, for respecting our wishes and working with us to help make our drug-free birth possible.

Next week is our shower to help welcome you into the world. Keep your fingers crossed that we get tons of great swag.

Here we are at 35 weeks…just a few more to go!

Here we are with Mommy’s gang of fellow running mommas.

We grew a little:

30 weeks

Then a little more:

33 weeks

We also moved into a bigger apartment so that Mommy and Daddy can both have all their junk under one roof. No pictures of the new apartment, but we do have a picture of you and my newly pedicured toes in the bedroom:

We’re down to seeing the midwife every two weeks, which is kind of a pain for mommy. The midwife says you’re looking great! I still need to gain a little more weight, though. Daddy has been good about ensuring that we eat big meals full of lots of cream and butter. He’s been such a good sport about packing on a few pounds in the interest of making sure that you and I are healthy.

We’re meeting with a potential doula on Thursday. She sounds nice, and I’m hoping the meeting goes well so we can stop looking for someone to help us out at the hospital.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention: some of mommy’s amazing friends got together and decided to welcome you in their own special way. Take a look. Look at how much love you’re already getting!

Honestly, I think the slow weight gain has had one huge benefit – I’m still able to get around just fine. I do need to rest every afternoon (mmm, naps…), and I definitely run out of energy a lot quicker than before. Overall, though, I feel great. You are so incredibly active. So much that you’ve been known to wake up Daddy in the middle of the night, too. You’re very protective of your personal space, and are quick to bop and elbow if anything presses against my belly. I don’t blame you, though. I guess I’d be the same way if I lived in such a teeny, tiny apartment, too.

One thing I do ask, though – can you please quick punching my stomach? Please. It’s been giving me horrific heartburn, and that’s really no fun at all. Oh, and the nosebleeds. Not sure how much control you have over those, but can you try to cut back on those too, please? It’s not fun walking around all paranoid that you’re going to bleed all over yourself in public.

Here’s the bump at 26 weeks.

We laid there quietly, Daddy tapping out your heartbeat on my side, enjoying this amazing thing that’s going on….and then you kicked him squarely in the temple.

I believe that’s the first time you’ve had them hard enough for both me and daddy to feel them.

Your daddy and I took a trip last week. We lounged on the beach, went snorkeling, and spent our afternoons thinking up names for you and talking about how we’re looking forward to meeting you.

I took you out sunning in my bikini.

We also took a dip in the crystal clear ocean….

and went snorkeling along the coral reefs. Your daddy and I had a system where I wore a life vest and he pulled me along. Trying to float with you in my belly tired me out pretty quickly, but we still snorkeled for well over an hour.

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Daddy and I also spent our days walking along the beach enjoying the sunset. You were so well-behaved, dancing and kicking for daddy and me to let us know that, like Mommy, you seem to love the warm weather, too.

Just three more months until we get to meet you. We can’t wait!