For Josh: The Day You Were Born

At midnight on October 11, 2011 your dad and I headed to San Antonio Community Hospital to have you delivered. I couldn't believe that the 9 months of agony were finally coming to an end! I always believed that I would have a Hell of a time delivering you because delivering your sister was so easy and perfect. There was no way I'd be that lucky twice. I was actually more scared and anxious the second time around!

Anyway, I was admitted to the hospital and was put on Pitocin to induce my contractions around 1:30am. It took a while for the contractions to actually start coming regularly. Hours passed and there were still few signs that you were on your way, so your dad and I slept as much as we could that night.


My contractions became regular around 7am, after the nurse's shift change. Unfortunately, the night nurse never asked me when I wanted an epidural to ease the pain. When the day nurse asked me why I was waiting to get it, I told her I thought I had to be closer to delivering to get it. NO! I could have gotten it at any time, so she immediately had me sign off the authorization for the epi and said that the anesthesiologist would be here as soon as he was finished with a c-section. Ten minutes passed and now all of a sudden it seemed that you were determined to come. Soon. Like real quick. 


Another 10 minutes passed and the pain was getting really bad. Where was the anesthesiologist?! Will he get here soon? After another 10 minutes, the pain was so bad, I felt like I just wanted to die. I was on my side begging for any kind of pain killer, but it was too late. The nurse checked me and you were ready to come out. This couldn't be happening. Not to me. I NEEDED an epidural. I screamed "NO NO NO NO!!!" with every contraction. I was told to resist the urge to push until the obstetrician arrived. I think even the nurse was freaking out at how quickly you wanted to come out! Finally, Dr. Johnson arrived. Just in time to hear me scream at the top of my lungs, still begging for the epidural that I knew I was not going to get. He said forget the epi, you're delivering this baby now. I couldn't. I kept saying I can't, I can't. But really, did I have a choice? Dr. Johnson wasn't the charming and funny guy this time that he was when Rachel was born. He must have had a long night because he was very short with me (he said screaming wouldn't help the situation, even though to me it seemed like it did), but I think that's what I needed to get me in the right state of mind to get you the heck out. He said I could do it in 5 minutes or 50, it's up to me. Well, ok then, 5 minutes sounds damn good. 


So with the next contraction I began to push you out. Your big ol' head came out and everyone in the room got all excited. Easy for them! I was still in the most horrible pain of my life! I think it was the nurse that said with the next push it will all be over. That was the best news I'd heard all day. I was ready. So with another push I felt every curve of your little body coming through. And that was that. You were born at 8:22am. Everyone in the room again was all excited and congratulating me, complimenting me. Dr. Johnson laid you on top of me and the first thing I said to you was "wow, you're a little chubby." Sorry, it's just the first thing that popped into my head when I saw your fat little arm on me. You weighed 8lbs, 6oz. Big boy! 

I know how you feel, darlin'. This was me only 10 minutes before.

Anyway, I know it's a cliché, but in the end, it was all worth it. You have made my life complete and I wouldn't change anything. Well, ok, I would definitely get an epi if I had to do it all over again, but that's about it.

Both of us getting some much needed rest after that ordeal.

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch...An Outing I'll Never Forget

On Sunday, October 9, we took a trip to the local pumpkin patch. We didn't get to take our annual trip to Live Oak Canyon this year because I was just about ready to pop. I could hardly walk anymore. Exhaustion set in almost immediately, so we decided to stay close to home and keep it short. 

 We knew this would be our last outing as a family of three and we wanted to do something special with Rachel. Though not very big, the pumpkin patch still was enough to entertain her. She loved the bounce house and it melted my heart to hear her screams of joy while running around in there with other kids. 

She had a blast hugging the goats and chasing the chickens around in the petting zoo.

But most of all, she enjoyed the mechanical swings! She rode them about 5 times and threw the biggest fit when we made her stop! Ahhh, it wouldn't be Rachel without her famous tantrums.

The last one was more like the Tea Cups, but a spinning swing nonetheless. 


The weather was typical So Cal in October...90+ degrees, so we stayed as long as we could bear it. We purchased our pumpkin and headed home. It was bittersweet for me because I knew that it would be the last time in a while that we would be able to go off and do something fun with Rachel as our baby. We would soon have a newborn to cater to, so Rachel will have to wait for the next adventure until her brother is old enough to go on outings with us.

                                                         Our pumpkins, 2011.

A Day at the Park

A friend mentioned that there is a *free* water park nearby, so today we took our kids to explore this marvel. It was nice to do something different for the kids, especially when what we can do is so limited in the Summer heat. 


Swing time was short, but thoroughly enjoyed.

When the water came on at 10am, Rachel seemed interested in the water and the splashing that the other kids were doing but would not get near it.

 I figured she just needed some time to develop the courage, but all she wanted to do was run on the grassy knolls the whole time. Here is my kid again just doing her own thing. She doesn't care that other kids are having the time of their lives and that she could too. There is no convincing her to follow the herd. 


A couple of hours passed and Rachel still wanted nothing to do with the water until some kid shot her with his squirt gun. She loved it and it made her more willing to get closer to the water, albeit the rinse fountain!

After this, she was more willing to try the actual water play area, though she remained leery and still didn't go in all the way.

Unfortunately, by the time we reached this milestone we had been there for nearly 3 hours and I was ready to go. So I got her all changed and we made our way home. After her initial tantrum for not wanting to leave, she quickly crashed and slept the whole way home.

Rachel's First Trip to the Zoo

Ben and I decided that we wanted to spend our 6th wedding anniversary on July 2 with family at the San Diego Zoo. We knew Rachel would love it, and she did. It was a much more pleasant experience than what we had at Disneyland back in March. 

Among her favorite moments was the gorilla exhibit. Those apes were hamming it up for the crowd and Rachel had front row seats for it. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that, but here she is with the gorilla statues, which she loved!

At almost 6 months pregnant and in 90+ degree heat, I was dying, but it was all worth it to see my baby girl enjoying herself with the people she loves most: me (at the top of the list), her daddy, her grandma (Bubbie), and grandpa (Abba, seen below).

I have to add that my favorite part of the zoo was the foot massager. It's a really intense machine that vibrates so hard on your feet that for the next half hour you feel like you are walking on pillows. I need one of these at home to soothe my swollen prego feet! Notice the look of ecstasy on my face!

After the zoo, the in-laws were kind enough to treat us to a great anniversary dinner at Claim Jumper. Rachel had a blast there too. :)

Rachel's First Trip to the Movies

Yesterday was Rachel's first trip to a movie theater. I can't say that I am totally surprised that she couldn't sit still through most of Charlotte's Web, but at least it was a Summer Movie Express for all ages at Regal Cinemas. My kid was not the only one making a fuss, but she did try to steal the show.

In all fairness to her, she did make it through at least the first half-hour and was impressed by all the little creatures in the movie (Dakota Fanning excluded). Then, I had to take her out for a diaper change. Stupid me, I decided to get snacks while we were out. Needless to say it was not easy trying to get back into a crowded aisle with my hands full of snacks and a tantrum-throwing toddler. I decided to just make my way all the way to the top of the stadium and sit in an empty row, leaving my friends and their obedient kids to wonder "what happened to Baby Rachel?" There, in isolation,  she had her snacks and a multitude of fits because I refused to let her run up and down the aisle stairs. We managed to get to the end of the movie and then I high-tailed it out of there. 


I think the most fun Rachel had on this adventure was getting chased around the theater lobby by my friends' boys (ages 2 and 4). If this is a sign of things to come, please kill me now.

Gymanstics success

I signed my baby girl, Rachel, up for "Twinkling Stars" gymnastics for summer through our community parks and rec. It was a 4 week class and today was the last meeting. The first 2 meets were a complete bust, where I left in tears because my kid is so independent and WILL NOT LISTEN! 

While all the other kids were having a blast walking across the balance beam, climbing the rock wall, or doing somersaults, my kid is throwing tantrum after tantrum because she just wants to run around doing her own thing. I guess it's a good thing that she is independent and I hope she will always have that quality to her, where she marches to the beat of her own drum. But I desperately wanted her to just be "normal" and follow the coach's instructions and the other kids' examples. Why did I have to be the one with THAT KID who was wreaking havoc? "She's only 2 years old" you say? Well so were the other 13 kids! Oy.

I told Ben I was ready to give up after the last session, which I had to leave early because my little demon was unbearable. He said I needed to keep challenging her. I can't just give up on her and give up doing good things for her because it's easy or because I want to avoid negative situations. She will never learn to be in those kind of settings if I avoid them. He's right.

So we missed a week due to our trip to NY and we were back today for another session. I told myself on the drive to the studio, "have a clean slate, it's a new day. Don't expect the worst." Ahhh, the power of positive thinking! Rachel was so great! She sat with me (instead of running off to avoid me), she watched the coach's examples of the exercises and instructions on how to use the apparatuses, and she had fun! Full moon, Armageddon?  I don't care! The most important thing is I made progress. And I didn't give up on her. This particular class is now over, but in 2 weeks we start "Tumbling Teddies." I hope it will be another step forward, but if it's not, I will just keep challenging her anyway.

Long time no see...

Since the last time I posted, in May 2008, we've had a baby, Ben had a book published, and we're now expecting a second baby. A few things have happened in between, but I can't remember it all. I guess I should start blogging more.