It’s been almost 3 months now, so I figured it was FINALLY time to share the crazy day our little Nico was born. His birth turned out to be quite the surprise seeing that it was almost a month early. I was so not ready for him to arrive! What follows is a story about a little boy who couldn’t wait to be here and a mom who left the hospital with a new baby… and a very broken and unrecoverable iPhone.
Going into labor… during my baby shower
August 22nd was a HOT day… which is to be expected in Oklahoma. It was also the day of my drive-thru baby shower. I was SO excited for it because after months at home I would finally get to see friends and family IN PERSON. (Thanks to COVID I had quarantined myself away from the world starting in March.) I spent that day relaxing since I knew being 8 months pregnant I would need to save up all my energy for that night. Unfortunately, 30 minutes into the party I started having lower stomach pains coming on. I’d had Braxton Hicks contractions before, but this seemed different. I figured I was just dehydrated so I chugged 4 bottles of water (remember, it was a very hot day) and continued visiting with everyone outside even though I felt like I was probably in labor. I even turned to a friend said, “I *might* be in labor” but I just wanted to get through the evening like everything was fine…
When the party ended, the hostesses were so sweet to have a very nice dinner waiting for us. As we sat down, I said, “Wasn’t that a nice party – and by the way I think I’m in labor.” You could have heard a pin drop! My family started asking a ton of questions, we texted my doctor, and instead of eating dinner I timed contractions. They were irregular, so I decided to go home, take a long bath and go to bed. Everything was fine until about 3am. I woke up with PAIN. But an hour later it stopped, and I went back to sleep. Later that morning the contractions were still happening but were completely all over the place. My doctor suggested I go to the hospital for observation just to be on the safe side but bring my bag just in case.
#workaholic
I really thought they would give me a shot and send me back home. However, on the way to the hospital it started hurting again and I thought *maybe* this might be it! But I still doubted it since my due date wasn’t for almost 4 weeks. (It’s also important to note that I had a project due THAT day. And because I was tired the night before, I hadn’t finished it.) Even though I was in a hospital bed dealing with contractions, I actually had my laptop out and worked on my project in between the pains. I looked like a crazy workaholic! And it was doable until my water broke. That’s when the excruciating pain started. PAIN LIKE I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED. And I’m a tough girl!
To put this into context (warning: a bit TMI) I went from being dilated at a 3 to an 8… in an hour… on no medicine. If he wasn’t breech, I probably would have had to give birth naturally because there was NO time. So, I went from what I thought was going to be a quick visit for observation to having a baby in the next hour. I couldn’t believe it because mentally I still had so much to do!
Another thing… my doctor had been on vacation and had JUST got back in town. Actually just 12 hours before. Thankfully he rushed to the hospital even though he wasn’t scheduled to be there, and at 11:31 am on August 23, our sweet little Nicolás Alexander Noriega was born by c-section. And he happened to be a huge 7 lbs. 3 oz. (Keep in mind he was born almost a month early!) We joke he was running out of room and he likely was because he stayed under my rib cage and never dropped. His poor little body had a lot of edema from being squished!
I wish I could say the next couple hours with my newborn were spent blissfully looking at my newborn… but they weren’t. Actually, I don’t remember much! I remember going into the OR and being delirious from the pain. And the feeling of when my spinal kicked in… that was magical haha. All the pain disappeared, as did my MEMORY. I’m really sensitive when it comes to medicine. (An Advil will make me sleepy!) Whatever else they had me on left me feeling loopy and nauseated. It took about 48 hours for the drugged feeling to pass.
During those hazy moments I would look over at him and have these completely surreal feelings. I was a mom! It didn’t seem real! What I remember the most was looking over at my husband who lovingly changed every diaper and held him constantly. It just melted my heart. And considering this was during the time of COVID, no family or friends were allowed to see us. Which was honestly for the best. I was not up to seeing anyone. I was a mess! (I’ll share more about that in a future post.)
On our third day in the hospital I finally felt less drugged up and hungry. Like CRAZY hungry. Even though we couldn’t have visitors, our families took turns bringing us food. And I pigged out! It was on that third morning when it set in that I had a little boy.
I wanted to look at him for hours and actually didn’t want to go to sleep because I would miss him. It’s crazy that you don’t understand the love a parent has for a child until you become a parent yourself. It’s an indescribable feeling that I now have the privilege of experiencing. Little Nico we are so happy to have you in our lives and can’t wait to watch you grow. We can only hope we make you as happy as you’ve already made us. We love you little one!
*Nico notes*
I know this post is long, but I still should mention a couple things…
FOMO baby – One of my friends joked that I went into labor at my shower because he didn’t want to miss out and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the reason. This kid already seems ready to grow up! He tried to roll over at a month old, he already wants to stand, and he refuses naps but will sleep 8 hours at night with no problem. Next he’ll be trying to drive, I swear…
Missing newborn pics and a broken iPhone – Sadly, while in the hospital my phone was completely destroyed by a nurse accidentally. During our last night in the hospital Nico was taken to the nursery for some tests and we took the opportunity to pass out for a couple hours. While we were sleeping the nurse brought a fresh jug of water and a bag of ice and put them on my tray. (No one had brought ice in a bag before.) While we slept the ice melted and caused a puddle of water to form underneath my iPhone where it sat for hours. (I should also mention my birth photos, videos and texts did not get automatically backed up because my room HAPPENED TO BE the room that didn’t have Wi-Fi.) I blame 2020 for that terrible luck! I left the hospital with a busted phone and all my photos/videos gone. Luckily, my husband got some, but my phone had the bulk of them. I lost a couple photos that I really loved (like his little footprints being made) and I’m pretty sad about it. I know it was a total accident, but I still wish I could get those memories back!
xo