Miracle of Birth

Yara has been such a blessing and a miracle!  We are so grateful for all the love and support we have received from all of our family members since she arrived.  Its hard to believe that just last week at this time I was giving birth to her.  I am so amazed at the miracle of birth; the bond that is instantly created with all those in the room.  There is nothing better than the pure love that you feel when you give birth.  My heart is so full right now with the perfect words to say but my mind can't write it out.

Yara Johns Aguilar

Yara Johns Aguilar 8.20.12 7lbs 12oz 20in at 1:02pm

Yara from the Tupi spoken native language of Brazil means Mermaid or Mother of the Water.


Events:

August 20 2012

-Woke up with mild contractions around 3am.  Timed them but they were all random but still knew it was true labor contractions!  

-Finally decided to get up and get ready for the hospital around 7am.  I remember wanting to organize and clean everything that I came across.  I remember telling my mom that it was just false labor that I could breathe thru it and it would be no big deal.  I also remember telling her that if I go to the hospital and I'm not dilated anymore than from my last ob appointment I was coming home.  I didn't want to be put on pitocin.

-Got in hospital bed at 7:45am, dilated 4cm 80% -2 and before I knew it I was being wheeled to the Labor and delivery department!

-Was taken to L&D room at 9am room 163

-Got first round of penicillin at 9:10am since I was positive for strep b/group b

-Saw Dr Mills at 10:30am, dilated to 6-7cm, 100% effaced -1.  She wanted to break my water then but couldn't believe of me needing more penicillin in the body.

-Dad came in to visit from his shift. He was there until mom came through the door and they both saw the spinal block.

-Contractions got intense and felt like needing to push around 11:15am.  Same urges as Kau’e and this got me thinking that I needed some meds so I could make it through a vaginal birth. The contractions were crazy strong and my body wanted to push even though I was trying not to push.  I got in trouble with kau'e when this happened because my cervix started to swell from pushing but not being ready to push.  So this time I knew I needed some help to calm down and get ready for a vaginal birth.

-Dr Mills came back and rechecked, 8cm, 100% plus 1 plus broke water.  She knew that I would be cutting it close with this delivery and not finishing up the meds for strep b but she also knew my body was in control and wanted to deliver this baby.  

-11:30am Tried to get an epidural but cords were preventing the medicine to be injected through, had to take epidural out of back and get spinal block only.  This is when it was crazy intense.  I gave in a said yes to the epidural since it felt so familiar with her as Kau'e's birth.  But for whatever reason when the doctor got everything put in my back for the meds she couldn't push the needle to deliver the meds for an epidural.  There was some blockage somewhere in my back or the cords that deliver the meds to the back area.  Everyone was standing there looking at her while I tried to breath thru the contractions but leaning over which isn't really easy to do when your 9 plus months pregnant and having contractions!  Dr Mills and her decided that if she could get a spinal block in me that within an hour I could have this baby since I was ready!  But Dr Mills told me that I had an hour to have this baby for the meds wore off.  This was like Kau'e.  They gave me a spinal block and told me I had 1 hour until it wore off to have him but it took me 2 hours of pushing to deliver Kau'e so yeah, no meds helped me when I needed.  I had him without the help of meds!  But after telling Dr Mills this she said that there was no way I would be pushing for 2 hours I was ready!

-After spinal block legs were really heavy and numb.  Could still feel contraction pressure coming and going but no pain.  I remember my upper lip and chin area being itchy.  I couldn't stop itching them.    

-Pushed for about an hour, 6 rounds of 3 pushes in a minute.  While pushing I was able to look at myself in a mirror and this really helped me in seeing the progress of my pushing!  Last time I had to rely on Romulo, which was great, but this time I could really see and get motivated to push.  I had Romulo and my mom on one side, my right, and my nurse Ruth, amazing nurse, on the other side…and later my sister Sarah joined from her break from her shift.  

-Around 12:45pm my sister Sarah came in for a quick lunch visit, and that was around round 4-5 of pushing

-Romulo, Mom, Sarah were able to witness birth of Yara Johns Aguilar at 1:02pm

-I tore pretty bad, 2 degree plus two other places.  I also lost a lot of blood.  The labor was fast and furious so this is why I had lost a lot of blood and tore.  

-Ellen came walking through the door around 1:10pm…missed the delivery by 8 minutes.

-Yara’s weight at birth 8/20/12 1:02pm 7lbs 12oz 20inches long head 13(something) apcard score 9.9 at 1 and 5 minutes…not sure on 10 minute score

-After, she was given to Romulo to hold.  He held her in the rocking chair and sang to her.  She did not say a word just looked at her dad and the world around her.  It was precious, wish I had a picture of it.  But glad it is in my memory. 

-Dad came back to visit after Yara was born.  He later came to visit her after his shift at 7:45pm.  She was alert and looking around and he got to hold her some more!

-Yara came straight to my chest after birth and stayed there for a long time.  She was looking around and screaming beautifully.  It was so amazing how beautiful she was laying on my chest.  I longed for this experience when I had Kau'e.  He was taken so fast and only given to me for 10 seconds before he was off to the NICU.  But with Yara I had as long as I wanted and this was beautiful.  I kept thinking when they would take her but I didn't care as long as she was breathing and healthy.  It was also a great distraction to hold her while Dr Mills worked to stitch me up.  

-At 1:45pm-2:15pm she came to breast and feed beautifully.  She has such a strong suck and was ready to go at it! 

-After she was finished she went with the nurse and Romulo to be taken for a bath.  She pooped.

-While they were gone I got to be by myself and rest…and email/text pictures of little girl to family/friends

-At 2:50pm got some mortin since I was pretty sore from tearing, pushing, etc.

-3:05pm at to new room (177) and little girl came following after. 

-She has the softest blackest straight hair; might have a widow’s peak.  Little heart shape face, big eyes with my eyebrows, and a memom nose.  She is tiny in structure…not like Kau’e where he had big head and shoulders.  She is long and lean, long fingers, long toes.  She loves her hands near her face/mouth just like Kau’e.  Her ears are little like mine.  Her lips are like Kau’e’s and Romulo’s.  She is B+ just like Kau’e and Romulo. 

-Around 4pm, Marian came and brought Kau’e for a visit.  It was special to have my little family together for the first time!  It was crazy to think that I had another child.  Seeing Kau'e made me realize how big of a boy he was even though he was only 19 months and 3 weeks old!  He smiled and loved on her.  Kau’e gave Yara 2 kisses on the head.  Otherwise he was all interested in the crib, the food chart, and the bathroom door!  The visit was short but sweet.  They brought us a “it’s a girl” balloon.  Marian got to hold Yara for a few minutes before they left.  They then went to visit Grand-Dad. This was the first time I had ever been away from Kau'e.  My heart ached a little to know that he wouldn't be held by me tonight while going to bed.  I knew he was in good hands though.  But my heart still ached since I knew my little boy wasn't my little boy anymore!  

-Yara came in three times during the night to feed.  Every time she came in she was awake and alert, looking around.  At one point we put her in one of our pink poka-dot and white outfits.  She looks so heavenly, plus wrapped her in one of the blankets MeMom made for her.

-Yara shares a special birthday with someone in our family.  She shares her birthday with her other girl cousin, Brighton.  Brighton was the first grand-daughter to be born on the Johns’ side and now Yara is the second and they share the same day.  We feel it will be a special bond between the two.  (Brighton was born 8/20/10.)

August 21

-Hearing Test for little girl was awesome, she did great.  My brother and sister-in-law came to visit us in the hospital.  Brought us lunch and got to meet the little girl!  It was nice seeing them.  Sarah came in too during the evening before heading home from her shift.  

August 22

-That morning I remember wanting to go home so bad.  Sure I loved the stay at the hospital but I knew I wanted to be home with my little kau'e and this new baby girl.  Sure I knew it would be crazy busy but I wanted that experience.  Yara's discharged weight 7lbs 3.5oz

August 23

-Saw Dr Groeber 7lbs 5oz; up from discharge weight

Aguilar Happenings!

 38 weeks pregnant with little girl!  Maybe she will arrive soon!  Yes, no?  At my last appointment I am dilated at a 3cm and 80% effaced.  So yeah, who knows!

 Kau'e channeling his inner-Bruce/Batman!

 Entertaining Kau'e at Best Buy while Romulo looked around!  I think Kau'e loved it!

 At the Mall, Kau'e loved the carousel.

 Kau'e got his 2nd hair cut!  He doesn't look happy in this picture because he was wanting a nap!  But again, he did amazing in the salon's chair!

 Kau'e loves computers and loves to distract Dad while he's working!

See why I needed to get his hair cut!  It gets out of control sometimes!  Ha-ha!

Full-Term

Well, I made it to 37 weeks!  Hard to believe, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me at the beginning of this pregnancy!

This morning I'm defiantly feeling something brewin'!  And after my ob appointment this morning something sure is because I'm 2cm dilated and 60% effaced!  Yes, yes I know I could stay this way until I reach 40 weeks but still I think something is going down soon!

Random Events

 Kau'e and dad on a lazy Saturday afternoon!  It was a busy Saturday for the Aguilar's.  We started it off with some shopping at the Leesburg Outlets because this weekend was VA Tax-Free shopping and let me tell you I wanted to benefit from that!  Since we've had Kau'e we have been blessed to be given clothing and shoes for him so we haven't spent too much money on him but now that he is bigger we are running out of hand-me-downs.  He started this summer off in 2T and now he's in 4T.  He has grown so much that I feel bad stuffing him in 2T clothing.  Sure some 3T stuff still works but with it being hot and all I like him to have plenty of room to move freely.  I'm just hoping he stays in 4T for at least a whole year!

Then after shopping we met with a realtor to look at houses!  It's exciting to think that we could be in a home by the end of the year!  We are feeling blessed too that Romulo's company moved him out East but now have decided to open up a "shop" or his department in the Tyson's Corner/McLean area.  I was looking forward to Philly but I'm liking the VA/NOVA area better!  But we are taking our time looking for a home since Baby Girl should be coming soon.

 The other morning I found Kau'e on the couch with this book in hand!  I couldn't resist taking a picture because he rarely sits still, let alone with a book!  He is every where and into everything.  So this little picture is rare.

 See this is what I mean, he's the boss (his shirt) and is into everything.  Here he is with the mass of cars that Me-Mom has in her collection!

The other week Kau'e's oldest cousin, Hudson, was in a baseball tournament and we got to see him play a few games.  Here he is on the mound pitching!  He did great and they won!

36 weeks and 1 day

At my last ob appointment I was told that if I reached 36 weeks I would be considered full-term so I feel blessed that today I am one day over that mark! If you would have told me that I would go full-term at the beginning of this pregnancy I would have beat against you!

But here I am and feeling so thankful for a full-term baby.  Trust me if there were no risks at having a baby at 32 weeks I would because these additional 4 weeks are tiring!  At 32 weeks I was just starting to feel pregnant and now I am really feeling what its like to be pregnant.  I'm loving it but there are moments in the day that I have to stop complaining and remember how lucky I am to be pregnant again and to have this little girl.  I will never complain about being pregnant its just that this pregnancy feels like my first pregnancy and experiencing this new territory of full-term pregnancy!

35 weeks

It's hard to believe that I've made it 3 weeks past the mark that I delivered with Kau'e!  I know all pregnancies are different but this one is for sure interesting!  I mean if there weren't risks at having at baby at 32 weeks I would because these past 3 weeks I feel like a whale or a duck waddling around!  I never knew 3 weeks would feel different!  But in all seriousness, I am extremely grateful that baby girl is behaving and my body is allowing me to keep her in as long as possible!  As of now, I'm 1 week shy of being "full-term" so that's a blessing. I went today for my 35 week ob check up and things look good. I'm measuring on target, I've gained 2 lbs in the last two weeks (total 14 lbs since 1st ob doc appointment), I had my screening for strep B done, and heart rate of baby girl is around 150s. I can feel baby girl move around/poke/kick/hiccups etc a lot during the day. She doesn't like to sit still and this worries me and her daddy! Ha! The waves my stomach create is amazing! There are times when I put Kau'e down for the night or a nap and I took try to lay down or go to bed and baby girl starts "acting up" and it takes me a while to fall asleep or sometimes not at all and nap time is over! I do enjoy the moments when I'm holding Kau'e or rocking him to sleep and baby girl starts punching/kicking/moving and its her way of saying "Hello Brother!". Here's baby girl and I at 35 weeks.

Our Kau'e

I haven't done a very good job at posting about the happenings of Kau'e. With the move, this pregnancy, and running around after him it's hard enough to complete a thought let alone follow thru. So this post is all about Kau'e.

-On July 28th he will be 19 months old; hard to believe.

-Last doctor's appointment he had was last week for a follow up on the last ear infection he had.  Since moving to Va, end of March early April, he has had 3 different ear infections.  Great!  But at this last appointment he weighed in at 36 lbs 2 oz.

-As of last Wednesday, I have started putting him in size 4T clothes!  Seriously!  We went from 2T straight to 4T.  At the beginning of the summer my mom bought him some really cute 2T clothes and that's what he's been wearing and a month ago I was at the store and with an amazing sale going on I bought 4T clothes for the FUTURE.  I didn't think it would be in the near-near future!  But sure enough with this weight and size of clothes that goes with he's in a 4T.  Sure some brands I can put him in a 3T but he's mostly in 4T.

-He is talking more and more.  He still calls me "Bah" and my mom "Mom or Mom-Mom". And I'm okay with that!  He says, "Ready, Set, Go" all the time.  He responds to yes or no questions with "No" or "Yeah".  Too cute!   He still calls Romulo "Dad" or "Dadda" and my dad "Grand-Dad".  Whenever he goes down to the bus stop with his cousin Winfield the second he sees the bus he says, "Bus".

-When he is hungry he pushes his high chair to the normal spot I place it during his feeding times!

-He is too strong for his own good! Seriously!  He can move anything!  He can move people on the bench at the dining table.  He flips everything over to examine it.  He wrestles with his cousins all the time.

-He's out of the crib and on to the second stage of the crib; the day bed style with little rail.  One day he decided it was enough and climbed out of the crib.  It's been almost 2 weeks now and we are still "training" him to stay in.  He gets out of bed, opens his door, comes into our room, and comes to the side of the bed and pats it!  But we are getting him to go back to bed by guiding him to his room and Romulo's been laying beside him until he falls asleep.  We've done that method for the past 3 nights and its been great.  It's just scary to think that my little boy is growing up!  But I guess I need him too since little girl is coming FAST!

-Kau'e has had popcorn twice in about a week and a half time.  The first time was by accident but after seeing no signs of allergy we tried it a week later.  Now that doesn't mean he isn't allergic its just one step closer to seeing if he is more like his dad or not.  When he can fully talk and tell me things I will try corn but for now I'm okay with popcorn.

-Kau'e has always been a good eater and continues to be!  I can give him anything and he eats it...all of it!  One night my mom called me while I was out when he was eating dinner to tell me the list of items he had already eaten and wondered if she could give him more!  Seriously, this kid can eat!  He still loves his white grape juice.  And only drinks about 2 bottles of milk a day...which is great considering he LOVES his milk!

-He loves the outside.  He has actually found a love for basketball and of course can kick a soccer ball well!

We love Kau'e and are very grateful that he is part of our family.  He wears me out daily but I love to see him learn and explore the world around him.

Around the Home Front

My parents have a huge garden in the back of their home and its always fun to see what we can do with the goods. This week we picked green beans and zucchini.

Plus another project was completed for baby girl; her crib bed skirt. Now to just put it on the bed.

Nothing major to report that I'm still pregnant, Romulo had a birthday, Kau'e moved from his crib to his big boy bed, and more projects to keep me busy.

 Here Kau'e enjoying his first nap on his big boy bed!  After one night of him climbing out of his crib I knew I couldn't sleep any longer knowing he could do this and hurt himself!

 Love this picture of Romulo holding Kau'e while he is on the phone working.  But Kau'e didn't want anything to do with me at nap time!

 Kau'e loves to look at these old family pictures on the wall.  My Great-Grandparents are on the left of Kau'e.

 This blanket that Kau'e loved to roll around on is a blanket that my Great-Grandmother made but didn't finish right before she died.  My mom and I are going to finish it and put it in Kau'e's room.

 Happy Birthday my love!  34 looks good on you!  It was a quick celebration since he had to leave for business, Brazil, on his birthday!

And here's baby girl and I in all of our pregnancy glory.  34 weeks and 1 day pregnant.