Happy 2 weeks!

Nico's 2 weeks old!

So crazy to think of all the things that have happened in the last 2 weeks. Nights and days have seemed to merge into one, divided by sporatic naps at odd times, in odd positions and places. Peter and I have learned a lot about Nico and each other.

For me, I can say that there have been a little more tears that I thought I would have. Hearing Nico cry at 3am after being changed and fed for almost 1 hour and 1/2 and with no hopes of him going to sleep any time soon....makes it really difficult to stay positive. But then I try to remember that he has to sleep at some point, and I remind myself that there will be a day when I get sleep again...lol.

However, I must say that when he is still and quiet, I'm still not relaxed or calm. Since he sleeps right next to us in his crib, I place my hand on his chest sometimes just to feel is he is breathing. Sometimes it's to make sure he's okay, sometimes it's to make me feel okay...crazy how I need him almost as much of more than he needs me now.

Peter has been so helpful, loving, and concerned for me and Nico. He constantly reminds me to get out of the house, go walk, go do Yoga, take a NAP, and eat. It sounds silly but you even forget to do the simplest things. I love them both more and more each day.

Last week Peter's parents were in town visiting us.

We went to the park. It was only 1 mile, yet it was pretty difficult...almost too intense for me. We took a break at the park and walked back...a little slower.

We also went to Mass on Sunday. Our first mass together. It was great. Of course all I could think of was all the germs running around that might get on Nico. I just prayed that God would keep him safe.

There are pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/vflores.hearts/NicoAustin110#

NICO: Victory of the People

Nico is a week old today!

I can't believe it! So much has happened this week. Everyday has been a learning experience. All three of us are slowly getting stronger and more comfortable with everything.

Peter and I are in love with Nico, he is in love with my milk. He is finally climbing back up to his birth weight. In the first couple days he lost 11% of his body weight. In the past 3 days he has gained 9 oz....he's gonna be a chunkster.

Peter's perspective of the Labor was awesome to read, especially since I felt like I was in a completely different world in which I would zone everyone out every now and then only to zone back in to see that I was still in labor and that Peter was still at my side...doing everything he could think of to help soothe me. Reading through his notes I realized that I remembered some of the same things but a little differently.

I have been working on my "birth-day" post but haven't quite had the chance to finish yet. It will be up before Nico's next birthday!!! I promise.

On a side note, Here is the meaning of NICO's name:

Origin of the name Nico:

Short form of Nikodemos, a Greek compound name composed of the elements nikē (victory) and dēmos (people, population): hence, "victory of the people."

(http://www.babynamewizard.com/namipedia/boy/nico)

My thoughts on the last 2weeks...

I haven't really had a chance to upload my thoughts on the Labor and what has gone on in the last 2 weeks. It's ironic that I had more posts when I had to trek to a bus stop over muddy roads and creeks, ride a cramped bus for 1 hour, and pay for internet at an internet cafe where the connection was SUPER SLOW.

My thoughts:

Peter and I read and educated ourselves on the birthing process, and did a bunch of other things that made us think we were ready for the final stretch of the journey we began a couple months ago.

WE WERE WRONG!

I don't think anything could have prepared us for the emotions, fears, pain, and joy that we've felt in the last couple days. Throughout this pregnancy, especially towards the end, I heard (various times) "you'll know" as a response to many of my questions. During labor I heard it more than I ever though possible. I'm still hearing it now too. It is apparently the answer of choice for people who don't have other words to descibe something. For example: When I asked, How to you know you're having contractions? How do you know you've lost your mucous plug? How do you know when to push? How to you know when your milk is coming in? ....the answer was always the same.

A little about the labor process:

It was SO LONG AND PAINFUL! More difficult, more physical, more intense than I ever imagined. I thought that I was going to be more physically adpt to TAKE ON the labor process because I have trained and pushed my body to it's limits for many years. But now I realize that the idea of my "limits" was VERY MISTAKEN. Every hour that pasted on thursday brought pushed me a little further beyond what I thought I could handle. Early Friday morning I realized what my limits were and NICO actually PUSHED RIGHT THROUGH THEM. He forced me to dig deeper and work harder than me, anyone in DELIVERY ROOM 4, or anyone watching thru the Ustream thought humanly possible. He believed in me so much, that he bet his life on it.

Peter and I planned on having a natural vaginal birth without pain medication. We thought that it would be the best for Nico. We didn't know that the process would be so long and draining. When we arrived at the Hospital Thursday morning (9am) I was already having contraction that were between 3-5 minutes and I was 5cm dialated. My doctor thought that we would have our baby soon, well we all did. I started having stronger contractions by the early afternoon. My doctor, Kathy, said she would be back to check on me around 4:30pm. I could have bet my life that Nico was coming out before.

A couple hours later, contractions were still 1-3 minutes apart really strong, 6cm dilated...and no baby coming. When the midwife checked me at 8pm and told me I was 7cm dilated...I felt like a bucket of cold water was dropped on me. I was in so much pain and I wondered how i could possible be so far from 10cm. The contractions were really strong and continuous. sometimes i wouldn't get breaks between them. This was affecting Nico's heart rate. The nurse gave me some medicine to slow the contractions down a little to give Nico a break. Around 10 pm I couldn't take the pain anymore. In tears and exhausted I asked, more like screamed, for an epidural. I had to wait 30 minutes for an IV to be put in me. Then the doc came in a punctured me. I kept thinking: this is going against everything we have learned and discussed for the last couple months! But thinking back on it now, I don't think I could have continued without it. I fell asleep for about 1 hour which seemed like 30seconds to me. When I woke up, the pushing began. I tried crunches, I tried pushing on my knees, I tried pushing sideways, I tried pushing with stirrups, I tried pushing flat on my back, I tried pushing by squatting....NOTHING worked. Nico wasn't coming down and I was only 8cm.

The Midwife suggested calling Dr. Schmitz to come in and see if she can help out with forceps. Again...this was against what Peter and I had planned.....but at this point, I just needed HELP. She said that she thought she could help me have Nico. 8 women looking like smerfs flooded the room with a bunch of rolly carts, gauzes, and metal things in baggies. I was in so much discomfort and so tired that it was all a haze. I could barely see cause I had an oxygen mask on my face. She organized her salad tongs, the women positioned me on the bed with the stirrups and then...I pushed for what seemed like an eternity. In the midst of everything, my legs started jerking as Dr. Schmitz hit nerves in my hip with the forceps. Finally...I heard commotion. Peter, my mom, my dad, the nurses...all told me that he could see Nico's head. For all the pressure and pain i was feeling, I would he was completely out already. A couple pushes later...riping his was out...his head came out, with his umbilical cord wrapped around his head...TWICE. The Doctor told me NOT to push anymore. Peter cut the cord 2 times. Then the doc gave me the okay to push the shoulders out, they weren't as painful as the head. I was shaking, and exhausted, and worried cause I couldn't hear him crying. In the midst of the shuffling in the room, I heard a little cough..It was Nico!

My parents and Peter saw him first and walked over to me and told me he was beautiful and perfect. I didn't hold him right away cause his heart rate was really high. After they cleaned him at the little baby area in the room, they put him in my arms like a little burrito. I will never forget how he smelled... nothing like I was expecting....Then again...NOTHING HAS BEEN ANYTHING LIKE I EXPECTED.

Peter went with the baby to the nursery to check him out, clean him up and measure him. While they were gone, I pushed the placenta out and got sown up with a couple stitches. I even got a little FOOD! A little while later I gathered my things with my parents and got wheeled over to the RECOVERY area of the hospital, by this time is was 4:30am.

Since then...

The hospital days were rough. I was in pain and sore and tired and my nipples were bleeding....and the idea that I was actually a mother was slowly sinking in. In part I was scared cause I realized that now there was a LIFE that depended ON ME! I cried a lot.

In the last two weeks, as he has been getting stronger, so have I. I can walk normally and sit up in the bed. We have learned what helps to stop his crying. We have gotten a lot better about feeding. It's not as painful as the first couple days when I had that shooting pain up my arm to my fingers....a pain that would make my toes curl. Nico lost 1 pounds in the days following his birth....but gained it back once my milk came in.

Nights and days have merged...only to be divided by tiny naps.

I find myself staring at Nico for a lot of the day's hours....looking at his million faces, at how he frowns and focuses when he's pooping, at how he crosses his eyes to look at things, at how he flails his arms around, at how he stretches his arms and legs out, at how he shakes his lower lip when he cries....and how he sleeps so peacefully. He is beautiful and i'm so in love. This love causes me to wake up in a bolt at the sound of a hiccup, and make dermatologist appointments for bumps i feel.

Every day I realize how lucky I am for having Peter at my side to help me through this. He is the greatest dad and the most loving and concerned husband. He reminds me to take care of myself, nap, take walks, relax, and eat...it's funny the things you forget to do.

It's hard and exhausting...but it's amazing to think that there is a little person in the world that we are in charge of helping, nourishing, and protecting. I love him more than I ever thought I could...and I've only known him for 2 weeks.

Labor: Dad's Persective

Dad's Perspective

It has been about 36 hours since Nico was born; about 60 hours since the contractions started. Of those, about 8 hours have seen us sleeping. I expected that. That is more than I can say about almost everything else that has happened.

After hearing the wonderful news that we will be having a baby, we did everything to prepare and make up for the 4 months that had so casually slipped by. We polled parents, cousins, and friends that have been in our shoes before to get an idea of all the blessings and hurdles that were to come. I read 3 books in one weekend on the labor process and newborn care. We took a 10 week class on the Bradley Method of delivering a baby naturally. We visited 4 different OB/GYN's in 3 cities until we found the one we were most comfortable with. We were ready to go!

The past 3 weeks have been exciting. We found it a challenge to find things to do without making too many plans. We had to stay busy and not wait around for the baby. Valeria found and tried just about all the old wives tales on how to start labor. Even after eating eggplant and drinking red raspberry tea, January 7th, the official due date, came and went. We know the due date is a guesstimate and is rarely correct, but it definitely did bump up the anxiousness. We continued the stretching exercises we learned in class and walked everyday. I went to sleep reviewing all the steps of labor in my head. I was going to be the coach and had to be ready for when the big game came.

On Wednesday (1/14/10) morning I sent the email my manager had been waiting for: "I won't be in today, the baby is coming!". Valeria had been waking up from contractions since 11 pm the night before. I was awake since 3 am helping her through them about every 20 minutes. Valeria counted the minutes until 7:30 am, a decent hour to wake up and get out of bed. She showered and we went for a slow walk. Once the contractions were 5-10 minutes apart, lasting a minute each for an hour, we called Dr. Sebestyen's office. We saw Lisa (one of the certified Nurse Midwives) at 9:30 am. She said it looked like we were having a baby and directed us to go to the hospital. The time was finally here!

We walked in the brand new Women's Center at St. David's North Austin Medical Center. We had toured the place a couple times, but this time was different. We walked right into Delivery Room #4 stopping every couple of minutes to let Valeria's contractions pass. Valeria's parents were with us, so they went home to grab a couple essentials (food). We got comfortable, unpacked our stuff, and talked about how we are finally here! Late in the morning, the contractions were a bit stronger, and harder for Vale to talk and think through. I directed her to breathe and try to keep her muscles loose. There's only so many times that I can tell her to do the impossible before she starts rolling her eyes and I can tell her grunts are directed towards me. There were comments about adopting our next child and pleas for help from God: I could tell this was becoming harder.

Valeria was changing positions from laying on the bed to sitting on the stool and even sitting under the warm water in the shower. This helped distract her at the beginning, but each contraction was now very intense and she was finding it hard to hide the pain. Kathy, the Nurse Midwife that was on call that day came in around 6 pm. Things were very hard for Valeria at this point and jumped at the opportunity of any kind of pain medication. Before the anesthesiologist could insert the epidural in her back, we had 30 minutes of IV fluids to take. Kathy and I tried helping Valeria relax and breathe. If she was ready to push soon, we could avoid the epidural. I was nervous about the needle in her back. We came into the hospital trying to avoid it, and I did not like surrendering to the small chance of slowing labor or anything worse. Turns out it worked great. Valeria was able to relax, stopped fighting her body and let the process continue.

After some waiting, pushing, waiting, and more pushing, we were presented some options: hours more of exhausting pushing, forceps, or c-section. We hesitantly allowed Dr. Schmidtz to evaluate the possibility of using forceps. She said she thought they could help. Within minutes, our room was full and ready for our baby. The lights came on, the protective goggles were on, 3 nurses waited to attend to Nico right away. This time, he was coming for real. Valeria pushed a couple more times, and the giant salad tongs helped guide Nico's head to day light. I cut the cord (from around his neck) and he was out! The next 5 seconds were the scariest of my life. Our baby flopped into the Dr's arms and his cone-shaped head was not crying. The nurses grabbed the baby, cleared his mouth and nose. We heard him cough! Valeria and I hugged and cried; he was here.

Sitting in the hospital 2 days later, Nico's birthday seems so long ago. He is looking bigger and healthier every hour. Mom has lost the possessed look from her eyes. I am saddened to realize that we mistakenly thought labor was the hard part. This first week has been filled with miracles, emotion, new relationships, and so much learning. It was also been empty of sleep, rest and peacefulness. I wouldn't trade this feeling for anything.

Valeria is recovering from a draining labor, experiencing her body start the transition to not-pregnant, and learning to breastfeed. I am starting to wonder when her body will get a break from this all out assault. My mom joked that we won't get a break for 18 years! I think she is right.

I feel completely exhausted until I am holding a sleeping Nico and watching over his resting mother. The only thing I can do for them is hold the baby and let mommy rest. It makes me so happy and proud and powerful to be with my family.

As I wrap this up from home, Nico is 5 days old. Mommy is feeding him with ease in her rocking chair. We are finally getting some rest, and starting the rest of our lives. It is amazing when I read the first paragraphs of this account. I barely remember the pain, confusion, and frustration that overwhelmed me just a couple days ago. We can vividly remember the miracle that happened and how happy we were to hold Nico for the first time. Amazing how that works. Good thing, too, or else we would be adopting from now on!

We love and miss all of our family and friends. It has been amazing to learn all these things on our own, but can't help but miss the support and presence of you guys. Hope everyone gets to meet and fall in love with Nico very soon!

Nico Samuel Flores

Our son, Nico Samuel Flores, has arrived! After about 24 hours of hard labor, Valeria delivered a very healthy baby boy.

Birthday: 1/15/09
Time: 1:32 am
Weight: 8 lbs 2 oz
Height: 21.5 in

Buenos Dias!!

Casi que no llega la manana. Anoche se me hizo una eternidad. Empece a tener contraciones a la media noche. Me levantaban cada ratico, unas veces con largimas, hasta que al fin me tuve que levantar a las 6 y empezar a moverme. No son tan dolorosas las contraciones cuando estoy parada o moviendome. Me estan sudando las manos y con cada contracion nueva es un poco mas dificil respirar normalmente. Creo que esto va en serio ahora si....=)

Nos estamos preparando para llamar a la doctora dentro de un rato a ver que nos dice que debemos hacer. El bebe se sigue moviendo muchisimo entre contraciones.

Creo que hoy llega nuestro bebesito. Les avisaremos. Gracias por nosotros y por tenernos en sus pensamientos en estos momentos tan importantes para nosotros.

Good Morning!!!!

Finally it's morning. It seemed ages ago when I was first woken up by not so nice contractions. I told myself to relax and wait til morning...a feat that became increasingly more difficult as the seconds seemed to be crawling by. A million things crossed my mind as the contractions started. I wondered if they were painful because there might be something wrong. But I was glad to feel the baby moving ALOT between the contractions. I managed to catch some ZZZzzz in between contractions only to be awakend, startled, confused, and in pain shortly after.

Peter woke up what seemed to me like days after the contractions began (3am) and started comforting me and timing some of the contractions. We both new we needed to get rest so we tried to sleep as much as we could.

Come 6am I was ready to get up and get going. The contractions feel a lot less intense when i'm standing or moving than when I was in bed. My palms are getting sweaty and breathing is becoming a lot more difficult with each new contraction. It's gonna be a painful day...but I'm excited...the BIG RACE has finally arrived.
Peter made me a yummy breakfast and we are going to walk around a little, and then call our doctor, see what she says...

Forecast says there's 80% chance of storms this afternoon....I say there's 99% chance of a baby.

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. We'll keep you posted.

40 weeks 4 days

Yesterday I had an appointment with Dr. Sebestyen, who, thanks to Boglarka, I learned is Hungarian. This week I reached 170lbs!!

The appointment went great. She checked the baby's heart rate, and his movements. She also checked my cervix, 2-3cm dilated and I'm 50% effaced....which means I've made some progress. It's been some good news in the midst of no news.

One of the difficulties of going past your due date is the feeling of incompetence-that's kind of a strong word but it's kinda true. You can't do anything about the delay and yet you are the one thing between the world and your baby...you can't help but feel helpless.
Anxious and excited family and friends "ahh" and sigh sadly when they call and there is no baby news. They mean well with their questions and concerns but at the same time, each is a reminder that you are LATE, that you missed the deadline. I know I'm late for a lot of things but this, I had no control over...I guess it just runs in the family.

There are millions of websites with suggestions of things to do to INDUCE labor...most of which i have tried in the last couple days, and most of which are myths because ultimately, babies come out when they are good and ready. There are some people who believe that it is dangerous to go past your due date. However, it is okay for a couple days because due dates are not scientifically proven to be correct, they are a guesstimate. The due date might be off due to your menstrual cycle, the start date of your last period, or a number of other things. Even if the due date is correct, the baby doesn't have a calendar inside the placenta on which he is crossing days off until his B-Day.

It breaks my heart that my parents might miss the arrival of their first grandson. They are so excited and so nervous that it shows in the way they talk to me and look at me. They keep telling me that they are so happy to just spend time with me and I believe them, but I keep thinking about their 1pm flight Friday afternoon and I wonder if the baby will be able to make it out before then. All I can do now is eat my eggplant and pineapple, drink my red raspberry tea, and walk till this baby comes out...and just hope it's soon.

One of my friends, Lynsdi, had her baby a WEEK ago. She is so in love, so exhausted, and so happy...I can't wait, but I have no choice but to be patient.

Nothing yet....

So the due date came and went...WITH NO BABY =(

I've had some contractions but none have been too serious or too consistent. Every now and then i'll have a couple in a row that are a little stronger but then they stop or spread out more. I've been trying different things that are said to INDUCE labor....but none are scientifically proven, just myths. I've tried: Evening Primrose tablets, Red Raspberry Tea, fast walking, yoga, relaxation/visualization exercises, and lots of pineapple eating.

My parents arrived Friday morning. Anxious, nervous, and excited, they are ready to head to the hospital at any time. Manuela has been crossing her fingers for more contractions hoping that the baby would be born while she was here...however, she is leaving in about 1 hour without seeing her godson. Adult life awaits her, work from 8am-6pm. But once our baby decides to come out...I'm sure she will be on the next flight out here to see him.

01-05-10 Cash Dylan and Lyndsi are done with their Marathon!

Another Baby Friend has been Born!!!

Lynsdi had Cash Dylan at 7:20pm last night. The chunkster weighed 9lbs 2 oz and measured 20 inches. They are both happy, healthy, and EXHAUSTED!!

I'm so happy for her!

That leaves me next in line!!!

When is he coming????

Our Foto shoot

Getting caught up...

I want to get the blog as up to date as possible so that when the Baby arrives, I can start uploading all his pictures.

This was the last Belly Shot taken in 2009

From December 09

These are my Bradley Classmates

From December 09

From Left to Right:

Karina (the teacher), Monica & Tom, Lyndsi & Her mom, Me & Peter, Meghan & her husband , and Stephanie & Brad, and Sarah (an assistant teacher, doula). We stood in the order we were due...Monica was first (she already had Dylan), Lyndsi is second (and his at the hospital right now)....I'm third in line so we'll see when it's my turn!

Making my Belly cast a couple weeks ago at the Dr.'s Office:

From December 09

Peter with my belly cast =)

From December 09

My Possible Doctors:

From December 09

And here is a slide show of some of the stuff we did towards the end of 2009:

Lyndsi is in Labor!

This morning, another one of the girls in our Bradley class texted me: 12:01am " I'm not going to be able to make it to our lunch date today, I am starting to have contractions." By 1:45am they were really uncomfortable. At 8:15am, I received a text message: " I'm at the hospital, they just broke my water, I developed Preeclampsia. I'll let you know how it goes." Preeclampsia is pregnancy induced hypertension. Because she got induced, she has a higher risk of getting a C-section later today if the labor doesn't progress, which she is not very happy about...but she will have a BABY BOY TODAY!

I can't wait to hear updates!!!!!
Her due date is tomorrow by the way!

A year in Retrospect...

Last year was full of many new, exciting, and life-changing experiences...I took a walk down memory lane and this is what I recalled from this past year:

I got to run a couple races at the beginning of the year; ING Miami Half Marathon, Palm 100, Nautica Celerity triathlon, and the Mardi Gras 5k (Austin).

As Obama was sworn into office, I received my Peace Corps Invitation to serve in Panama as a Sustainable Agriculture Systems Volunteer. From then my focus became my preparation for my trip...A trip that I thought would change my life.

I thought right! I arrived in Panama Mid April. Difficult, hot, and harder than what I expected, the first day at my training site, Santa Clara de Arrijan, was almost unbearable. I fell asleep on a cot, under my bug net in tears wondering what I had gotten myself into. Everyday was a battle to stay positive and learn to accept the things that I couldn't change, and work hard to improve those things that I could change. It was difficult to see how an entire people could conform to such a way of life. It was hard to help people who had given up on helping themselves. But at the same time, it was rewarding to connect with people that never believed in the power of change. It was incredible to feel that I represent HOPE to so many people. When I graduated from UF, I was just one of a couple hundred that graduated that semester and one of millions that had graduated from UF....in Panama, in Santana, I was the only American College Graduate that they had ever met. That trip made me value so many simple things in life that we take for granted. I learned to appreciate the diversity(cultures, ideas, types of people, careers, and ways of life) that the melting pot of our country exposes us to everyday.
Throughout my time in Panama, I met a lot of interesting people who taught me a lot about themselves and about my-true-self.

When the Peace Corps told me that I would refer to my life as B.P.C. (before Peace Corps) and A.P.C. (after Peace Corps). I didn't believe it when I heard it at first but now I do. However, not for the reasons that they meant, but I am a believer.

One afternoon in August I found out that I had been a mom for 18 months. When I told Peter, we knew our lives had changed forever. Leaving Panama was difficult, I knew that the life that awaited me was the beginning of the greatest life-changing adventure. By the end of August, we were engaged.

In September I moved to Austin with Peter where we began to prepare for our babies arrival. We started Bradley Classes, and we picked our OBGYN. Manuela, my mom, and Veronica threw me a Baby Shower in Miami with friends and family that was a day to remember.

In November, Peter, Ashish, and my dad ran the San Antonio Half Marathon where they all ran great, and I longingly cheered along on the sidelines...envisioning my return to running as a Mom with her jogging stroller! Towards the end of November Peter's family and mine came to Austin to visit and witness our Civil Wedding at TOWNLAKE.

In December, we went shopping for our 1st Christmas tree. We finished preparing for the arrival of our baby boy as we decorated our home for the holidays! Manuela showed up as a birthday surprise for me has been here since. Kelly, one of my best friends, got engaged. Together we celebrated Christmas! Santa was great to all of us!

I crammed a lot of milestones in this year. Thanks to Peter, who made it his job to make each event as special as possible, I enjoyed each and everyone of them.

2009 was a year for the BOOKS...FOR SURE!!!

It's 2010

Happy New Year!!

2010 is here and so is the last week of our wait for our baby boy!
Here we are....waiting until he decides to come out. We have a busy couple days getting the final preparations done, taking down christmas decorations, organizing, preparing meals for the next couple days, buying "easy snacks" that I can eat while breastfeeding, and racking up the sleep hours.

I have so many questions about what is going to happen and when but I can't seem to find the answers anywhere. Because every woman and every pregnancy is different, THERE ARE NO STRAIGHT ANSWERS ANYWHERE!!!! SO annoying!I've had some contractions but no signs that i'm going into labor any time soon.

I have a great read, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, so i'm hoping to get through the book so that it keeps me busy and entertained instead of anxious for the arrival of the baby.

I hope Peter and I can decide on a name for the baby one of these nights before he arrives...talk about procrastination.....AHHHHHH!

ANY GUESSES of when the baby is coming?