A little late but…

Introducing the littlest love of my life. Luca James Mendoza arrived December 13th, 2017 at 8:26pm. I knew that I wouldn’t make it to my due date, but I wasn’t expecting him to arrive that day!

On December 12th, I was having a rough night. I couldn’t sleep, I was tossing and turning and getting up a million times. I was incredibly uncomfortable. Turns out, my husband was having a sleepless night as well. I think we were starting to get the feeling of “baby’s coming SOON!” and my brain was not letting me relax.

December 13th, I went to my OB’s office for my weekly appointment at 9am. I had been having a really smooth and easy pregnancy. My blood pressure was perfect every time, the baby’s heart rate was perfect every time, we were both in really great shape. My main complaint during pregnancy was heartburn but aside from that, I had very little negative symptoms during my pregnancy. Don’t hate me but I had zero morning sickness and very little nausea. I wasn’t getting swollen much and I felt fine, but ginormous. 

That day, my nurse took my blood pressure and frowned a little. It was higher than normal for me. She retook it 5 minutes later and it was still high. She left and I waited for my doctor. When my doctor came in, she let me know that she was just up the road at the hospital as she had two mamas in labor & delivery already that morning. She reviewed my blood pressure and said “Alright mama, it’s Baby Day. We’re going to induce you.”

Ya’ll. I started sweating. My doctor started giving me more information and let me know that I was already 3.5 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I called my husband and tried to stay calm but ain’t no getting rid of that nervousness. I headed to the hospital, bought some snacks because I was in a hurry to get to the doctor’s and neglected to get breakfast. If I could go back and do things differently, the first thing I’d do different is I’d definitely eat a really good breakfast!

I got into my room and got settled in as my husband arrived. They started Pitocin at 11:30am. I had wanted to labor naturally and freely. I wanted to labor in the shower, walking up and down the halls, on a yoga ball. But since I was induced and had to be monitored, I was restricted to the bed. I labored on my own for a couple hours and my doctor came in to break my water. Contractions kicked in, strong and hard and intense. My husband (who was an incredible support to me during labor) held my hand as I went through intense contractions. I caved and requested an epidural at 3pm. I wanted to labor naturally but I was okay that I got the epidural, I don’t regret it at all. Especially since after the epi took effect, I felt zero pain. My doctor came in to check in at 5pm and after a check, she said I was actually ready to start pushing! However, she got caught up delivering another baby so with the zero pain from the epidural, I managed to take a two hour nap and get some energy ready for pushing. At 7pm, she came back in and nurses got things ready for delivery. At 7:30pm, I began to push. I felt pressure, but zero pain. It was bliss and I definitely want that again for future deliveries lol! My nurses and husband coached me through every contraction and push. I pushed as hard as I could, it felt like my face was going to explode from pushing so hard. Finally, at 8:26pm, I gave my last push and Luca James was born,

8 lb, 9 oz. 21 inches long. The sweetest thing I’ve ever held, the best moment of my life.

Unfortunately, at some point during labor, he had a bowel movement and swallowed meconium on the way out. I’m so thankful for the team at St. Francis who took such great care of Luca. They realized it right away and took him to the nursery then to the NICU to help him breathe since it was higher than normal. After 4 days in the NICU and 1 day in the nursery, Luca was breathing perfectly and was ready to come home with us. Those were some high-emotion, sleepless days. I can’t thank the NICU team enough, they took incredible care of him and as much as I hated that he was in the NICU, I knew he was in good hands. 

I’m thankful for our medical team, for our friends and family who sent up prayers for a speedy and healthy recovery for Luca. Now he’s growing like a weed, he’s healthy, his breathing is perfect. He is perfect. Being a Mama has been exhausting, lots of emotions and tears already but so so so much joy. Luca is such a joy, my heart explodes every time I look at him. We are truly blessed to be his parents.

PersonalJanuary 3, 2018