Mommies in Spanglish

I wrote this post before Baby Ezra had made his debut but sure enough didn't make it to posting live on our blog because baby had arrived :)

I still wanted to share my thoughts on my third trimester to-dos because I thought it would be helpful to any new mommy! Remember, to take time for yourself before baby arrives because your world will be forever changed once he/she arrives!

xoxo,

Steph

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Now-to where it all started...Ezra's birth story is quite a lengthy one so, we will start on Tuesday, September 20th. On this day, I woke up to find out that I lost my mucus plug. I made sure not to get my hopes up but many women have told me that losing their mucus plug was a good indicator that labor was near...

Well...the next day, Wednesday, September 21st, I had what the pregnancy world calls "a bloody show." This is also another good indicator that labor is near. This happened in the morning and throughout the day, I seemed to be feeling contractions, which were sporadic and kind of hard to distinguish at first. As the day led on, I started to recognize that I was in fact having contractions, so I started to time them. My husband Jey and I had a normal night, ate dinner and watched our regular scheduled shows. By 8pm at night, I was finding the contractions to be 10 mins apart and every hour after that, they were closer apart. I had told Jey to head to bed without me and get some rest because I was feeling restless and decided to stay in our living room watching TV and managing these contractions I was feeling. By 1AM in the morning of Thursday, September 22nd, I found that my contractions were 5 mins apart.

At this point, I wanted to hold out as much as possible to head to the hospital if I was able to bare my contractions. A little side note...I was finding them a bit harder to bare then I thought I was able to manage...but I led on. Come 2AM, I found myself having a major contraction that had me leaning over my couch armrest...then suddenly, I felt a POP! My water broke...

I of course wanted to make 100% sure that it was my water and not pee (hehe) and I was right. So, I cleaned myself up and headed into our bedroom to tell Jey it was time! He woke suddenly and realized this is it...we gather our things and headed for the hospital (which luckily is only 5 mins away from our home).

Since I had pre-registered ahead of time, we were admitted into a room right away. The nurse advised me to get changed into the hospital gown and then hooked up the monitors to me and checked how much I was dilated and effaced. I was barely 2cm and 70% effaced but because my water broke, I had to be admitted. Unfortunately, at this point, my contractions began to make me nauseous from how painful they were. Even though, I had really wanted to have a natural birth but because of the nausea and vomiting, I opted to have an Epidural.

The anesthesiologist came in about 30 mins after I made the decision to have an epidural and was very professional and comforting. Immediately, I felt relief.
Now...I knew opting for an epidural would slow things down, so I seemed to be in labor most of the day Thursday and took advantage of the rest time. I was slowly progressing throughout the day but not fast enough, so the nurse added some Pitocin to my IV which helped to speed things up. Well, things were not speeding up as much as we wanted and baby was not dropping into the birth canal to start pushing but 8PM came around and the nurse thought we could try some practice pushing to get things going.

Three hours later and some great effort, I found myself having some intense hip issues. My hips began to hurt increasingly to the point were I could not sit on them or find a comfortable position and I had gotten to a point of almost giving up. My nurse, mother, and husband kept encouraging me to keep going, as I had been in labor for so long at this point. Although I felt a pain I could not bare, the anesthesiologist helped me get through this unbearable pain with another type of pain medication. After feeling some relief, I tried to push a couple more times but my doctor came in to advise where I stood in terms of delivering.

Because I now had been in labor for around 28 hours and was seeing no progress, the doctor advised that we perform a c-section. Although this was the last thing I wanted to happen...I was extremely exhausted and did not feel like the baby wanted to drop. Also because the baby was not in distressed, I decided that I would go ahead with the c-section and deliver a healthy baby as easy as possible.

As soon as I gave the OK, I was immediately wheeled away to the operating room. Everything happened so fast. My husband and mother were able to be in the room as well. I found myself reassuring my husband that everything was going to be okay, as he was so sweetly concerned with me and my health through this all. And just like that, our baby boy was brought into this world!
Born Friday, September 23rd at 4:01AM, weighing 7lbs, 10oz and measuring 20 inches long-Ezra James was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!!

The rest was history...baby, daddy and I were whisked away to recovery and for bonding time. My heart is full and I have been enjoying every moment since!
Although my labor and deliver was not in my plans, it had to happen this way and I am feeling nothing but blessed that God has gifted us with a beautiful and healthy baby boy!

xoxo,
Steph

 The dessert table was absolutely amazing and so thoughtfully curated! C/O @stephssweetcakes on IG. Thanks to my bestie for executing this lovely presentation for the shower!

 Both of our families are so excited for the arrival of Baby Ezra just as much as Jey and I are. We can't thank them enough for all they have done for us and our little bun in the oven.

 Everyone seemed to have such a great time! So many fun and entertaining games were played, these photos are just a glimpse at the many laughs that were had! 

 I was so overwhelmed with joy over all the generous gifts everyone so kindly gave us. So many adorable and treasured gifts, I can't wait to start organizing the baby's nursery!

 This past week, Jey and I had a moment to shoot our maternity pictures and the results could not have been more beautiful and exactly what I had envisioned. They were shot by my best friend, photographer Nessa Esparza from Old Soul Photography. She is so amazingly talented, I cannot express how grateful I am to her for capturing these breathtaking shots!

 We chose to have these photos shot in a nearby hiking trail that showcased an open and desert field. Since our baby's nursery theme is Native American inspired, I chose to keep with the theme and wear a similar outfit to fit the inspiration. My style is casual/free spirited already, so I felt very comfortable and excited about choosing my outfit options.

My bestie really captured the moment and the energy I have been feeling this entire pregnancy: cool, calm and inspired. This baby has given me so much perspective how to view life and I love how these photos captured that.

Please check out my bestie's blog showcasing these beautiful photos and mentioning some funny little tidbits of our friendship over the years. Also check out her Instagram for more beautiful and inspiring photo sessions.

Outfit Details:

White Bohemian Dress: H&M

Turquoise Necklace: Accessory Concierge-Similar

Floral Wrap Dress: Vici Collection-Similar

So excited to share these with everyone!

XoXo,

Steph

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