Giuliana's Birth Story

Here is the story of our Giuliana's arrival on May 25. Her actual due date!

On the morning of May 25, I woke up to some light spotting which I heard was pretty normal prior to labor. Mauricio was planning on playing in a soccer tournament on Saturday and I remember telling him that I didn't think he would be playing soccer that weekend. I continued about my day with a light contraction here and there. In the afternoon they increased in frequency and pain so I decided to time them. Still nothing consistent enough to go to the hospital. They ranged anywhere from 3 to 12 minutes apart and my Doctor had instructed me to go to the hospital when they were 3 minutes apart for an hour. I decided to take a nap and later joined my neighbors for a walk in the evening. While walking, they suggested I time my contractions. They were 2-4 minutes apart for 30 minutes. I text Mauricio to give him a heads up. I told him it wasn't time but I was going to continue to time them and there was a possibility that tonight was the night. I continued to time my contractions and they were 2 1/2 - 3 minutes apart for an hour. It was time to go to the hospital! I called Mauricio and he left work. While I waited for Mauricio to get home I did the dishes, took a shower and packed some last minute items in my hospital bag. Mauricio arrived home, we called Labor & Delivery to let them know we were on our way and off we went.

When we arrived at Labor & Delivery at 10 pm and they put me into a room while Mauricio filled out paperwork. Our nurse decided to check me to see how far dilated I was and I was only 1 cm! She decided to monitor me to see if I would progress. After an hour my doctor came into our room and told us my contractions weren't strong enough and I should go home and return when I can't walk, talk or breathe through them. They suspected I would return in the next few days but explained that false labor or early labor could last for up to a week. I was disappointed and sure that knowing my luck I wouldn't go into actual labor for another week. So at 11 pm we headed home. My contractions drastically increased in pain on the way home but I didn't want to be that patient that cried wolf so we continued home and I figured I would wait until it was blatantly obvious that I was in labor. We got home and got ready for bed and I continued to have contractions 3 minutes apart and increasing in pain. I wasn't able to talk or move through them but attempted to get some sleep. At 1 am we finally laid down in bed and not even 5 minutes later I heard a "POP" and a rush of water. I jumped out of bed yelling "my water broke!". Mauricio called the hospital to let them know my water broke and we were on our way.

I was admitted at 1:30 am and my nurse checked to see how far I was dilated and was at a 3. I told our nurse I wanted an epidural and she began the paperwork and had my blood drawn so we could get started. She told me it would take about 30 minutes to get the blood results back and get the anesthesiologist to our room. Not even 5 minutes later and the results and anesthesiologist were in our room and ready! The hardest part of the epidural was staying still during the contractions. But just like they tell you, pressure is pretty much what you feel. After my epidural was in place my nurse checked me again, at 3 am, and I was now 8 cm dilated. Wow! I couldn't believe how fast it had gone!

I tried to get some rest but was so nervous and excited that I couldn't sleep. At 5:00 am my nurse checked me again and I was at a 10! They called my Doctor to let him know I was ready. But I really felt the need to push before he even got there. He arrived to witness my last 2 pushes! 20 minutes and 6 pushes later and we had our beautiful Giuliana!

I was terrified about labor since I found out I was pregnant but our experience was flawless and not as bad as I had anticipated. We had 2 lovely nurses, luckily the on the call Doctor was my actual Doctor, and a short labor! I was admitted at 1:30 am and Giuliana arrived at 5:26 am. Giuliana's birth was the most incredible and amazing experience I could ever imagine!