Baby's Arrival

For the detailed version of Juliette's arrival continue reading here... 


Monday (October 10) it was great having the day off. I'm so glad I started maternity leave a few days early. I slept in, took Baxter on a walk, watched Parenthood, cleaned the house- dishes, laundry, hung up some of Juliette's clothes and then went on a very long walk with Baxter to the park. That night Matt and I had dinner (he of course added spice so our baby would come sooner) and he went to bed around 10:30. PS Matt bought a very cool Food Saver thingy that I love. I couldn't fall asleep and Kady was sleeping over cuz she was coming in from Mexico to the Salt Lake Airport and didn't want to drive all the way to Cedar at 1 am. So i waited up for her playing games on my phone and eating cereal. After she settled in for the night I tried to finally go to sleep around 1:30 and my stomach was just so tight. I couldn't get comfortable and woke up every half hour to go to the bathroom. I woke up at 3 with some contractions, this was the first time I KNEW I was having contractions. I was worried I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the baby moving around and a contraction, but I for sure did. I fell back asleep and around 5 am I went into the nursery and tried to sleep on the recliner. My contractions were about every 10 minutes for an hour.

At 6 I thought "Today is the day!!" and got so excited. It didn't event matter that I hadn't slept. I took a shower and got ready. As I stood up the contractions were closer and closer together. I woke Matt up at ten to 7 and said "Today is the day!" He timed my contractions for me (about 4 or 5 minutes apart) and we got our bags together and drove over to IMC. I had a feeling to read our patriarchal blessings. I am so thankful for the gospel. I'm also thankful for the priesthood and had Matt give me a priesthood blessing.  I am SO excited to be a mother!! I know our children will be a joy. On the way to the hospital I only had one contraction so we decided to walk around for a while in the cool morning air. I love October! I loved the rain the night before. We ate breakfast at McDonalds and came back to the hospital. My contractions were slowing down to about 10 or 15 minutes apart but getting stronger and I just wanted to see where I was. I was dilated to a 3 and told to walk for an hour. After an hour of walking around my Doctor decided to check me in. 

I got checked in around 11:30 am. My nurses were awesome. I got some IV's and baby monitors hooked onto my belly and Dr Barton broke my water around 12:30. That really hurt and I had to just breath through it. There was meconium (infant poop) inside the amniotic fluid so he told me they’d have to squeeze out the meconium from her nose and mouth to avoid her breathing any of it into her lungs and risk getting pneumonia, so not to worry if she doesn't cry right when she comes out. My contractions were stronger and harder and when I was about a 4 I got an epidural and Pitocin. It was GREAT! I couldn't feel anymore pain. Getting the epidural made me cry but it's well worth it. My legs immediately got warm and numb and my whole body felt like Jello. 

Matt is so great and always there for me. I was so excited and couldn't believe that we are really having a baby and she is coming today! Matt fell asleep on the tiny little couch after getting some lunch and by 3:30 I was at a 5. I tried to sleep but I couldn't. Around 5:00 I was dilated to a 7 and could start feeling the pain. She was in transition phase and moving on down the birth canal. Karine (Matts mom), Lauren, my mom and Melinda came to the hospital to see her arrival.

I was in a lot of pain and upped my dose of the epidural. Then I fell right asleep. I woke up around 5:45 and the Nurse, Heidi, told me I was dilated to a 10! I thought oh my gosh I’m having a baby! This is really real. I was way too tired to push and felt so out of it and groggy. I told her I wanted to go back to sleep because I didn’t want to feel like that when my sweet baby arrived. So I slept for another half an hour or so and when I woke up I knew she was coming soon! My mom held one leg up, Matt held the other leg and the nurse had me a do a few practice pushes during each contraction. After about 3 pushes we could see her head! They brought in a mirror and told me to stop pushing until the doctor arrived. Dr. Barton came into the room around 6:30 pm, put my legs in the stirrups and had me push during each contraction. 3 contractions, 9 pushes and just 20 minutes later our sweet baby came into this world. The doctor pulled her out and placed her on my stomach at 6:51 pm. I said, “She’s so tiny” touched her head and said hi. 

Then the nurses took her over to a table to clean her up. Juliette Kay Romero weighed 5 lbs 8 oz and was 19 ½ inches long. It took her a little while to cry but after flicks and pats she turned red and started crying. She is so sweet. The nurse brought her over to me. I am a mother, I have a daughter, it is a miracle! She is so perfect and amazing.

I breast feed her and it was so cool that we just knew what to do. She latched on well and ate some colostrum. It felt so nice to have her tiny body pressed up against mine. I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy! It wasn’t as dramatic, fast or painful as the movies make it out to be. But I was exhausted. And I’m SOO thankful for epidurals and modern technology and drugs. I don’t think the second dose was necessary but still I’m grateful and think I woulda died without it. By the time I was pushing I could tell when I was having contractions. The doctor didn't know she would be so tiny, and I didn't want to tear so I had an episiotomy and had a few stitches afterwards. 

 Matt is the best husband ever and world’s greatest dad! I love watching him hold her and look at her.

After a while they wheeled me up to my recovery room and my family was there to visit and see little Juliette. Matt’s mom, gramee and sister were there as well. 

We had a good night and just held her, looked at her and loved her. The nurses gave her a bath in the sink in our room and she was a screamer. 

Other than that she didn’t cry much or really make a peep. We didn’t know she was going to be so tiny and she doesn’t fit into newborn clothes. Karine and Lauren went and got me some premie outfits and they are so darling! I have the best mother-in-law and sister-in-law in the world. Juliette passed the apgar test and is a healthy little baby. Her blood sugar was low so after I breast feed I have to supplement with formula. I had to do this every feeding until my milk came in. She had to get her blood sugar level tested every 3 hours. It's sad cuz her foot is like a little pin cushion. But by the time we left the hospital her blood sugar level was good and she was peeing and pooping just right. 

Back to the night of her birth- All of our visitors left and Matt and I just enjoyed our new baby. We had Juliette sleep in the nursery so we could get some sleep. I slept from like 1 am to 11 am, waking up every 3 hours for feeding and 6 am to get medicine and urinate (I say urinate because I couldn’t go to the bathroom- I could walk to the bathroom but nothing would come out. I was in a lot of pain because my full bladder was pressing on my uterus. So I had to have a catheter and I peed soo much, the nurses said it was record breaking and the container almost over flowed haha.) TMI sorry. Anyway…besides this painful surprise I had a pretty good sleep. I think my days of actual good sleep are over but holding my baby in my arms makes it totally worth it. I love being a mother more than anything else in the world. I cant wait to hear her say mama. I love Matt so much. He is the cutest dad and I love watching him with Juliette. We are glad to be home now and have three in our family. Our new life has begun!

Funniest moments during labor- After I upped my dose for my epidural I was a little out of it. My nurse came over to have me do some practice pushes before my doctor got there since I was dilated to a 10. I got my legs ready and then I heard my nurse say something weird so I said to the nurse, “Did you say hairy crotch!?” haha She laughed and said "No I was calling for a nurse, Keri Cotch.” Haha It really sounded like she took one look at me and said "hairy crotch" Everyone burst out laughing and we got a good kick out of it.

A few minutes later another nurse brought in a mirror. All of the sudden I got nauseous. I said I think I’m going to throw up. The nurse asked if I needed medicine or oxygen, I said “Oh no I think it was just the view.” Haha everyone laughed again and said I was pretty funny on medication. 

Overall I think I had a great delivery and the baby delivered is the best!! We love our sweet Juliette. Today she is a week old! I can't believe it. She is such a doll and we love her more than words can describe!