Welcome, Soren Charles Soto!!!

I will attempt here to recount the day of our little Soren's birth.

(Little did the St. Joseph's medical staff know that Lady Starbuck's helped kick things off with a vanilla late with a triple shot of espresso. hehe)

 

 yes, I was kidding. (It was only a double shot!)

Ok, so here's the breakdown:

6am - arrive to hospital and check in. I'm feeling excited yet a little nervous

 7:45 - start the vitamin P (Pitocin) to get this baby out!

9:30 - Dr Linzey checks in, breaks my water and prays with Dean and me, committing the labor, the delivery, his decisions and the life of our child to the will of God and His Son.

11am - Lori, the RN convinces me to take advantage of an amazing, available anesthesiologist to be comfortable for the rest of the labor. I was hesitating because I was only 3 cm dilated, however, the staff assured me the epidural would not slow things down, so I relented my  prideful, rather odd desire to push myself to experience more pain.

11:30 - 5:00 entailed a lot of waiting, napping, changing positions, monitoring, texting, resting, asking nurses questions, worrying, praying, did I mention sleeping? 

And Ellen, the nurse that labored with me with Genevieve just 18 months ago popped in to say "hello". Not sure if she really remembered me or my experience but I sure remembered her and it was so neat to see her and all the memories and emotions of Sweet G's birth racing back in my mind and heart, giving me so much strength.

At one point in the last few hours, Soren's heart rate started dropping with the contractions, which is a sign of distress on the baby. I was very worried and anxious, especially when Lori mentioned it was probably due to the cord being near (or around) his face. I thought that meant automatic c-section and expressed to her my fears. She was so comforting, reassuring,  positive and confidant in her response and explained that they would inject my womb with fluid resembling amniotic fluid to help the cord "float" and amazingly, it worked and the baby's heart rate started doing what is expected (increasing with each contraction). Ah, the wonders of modern medicine and experienced medical professionals! Phew! When I hit 8cm, I began to get excited again, hoping and praying I would continue progressing and hear that wonderful proclamation "let's start pushing" very soon. 

5pm - I am told I am "almost there" (between a 9-10)

5:30 - 6:00 An interaction between Doc & nurse where nurse updates him on my 'status' (fully dilated, dropping but not totally crowned), doc makes the call to start pushing

6:00pm - Dr Linzey got "suited up", gave me a refresher course on pushing correctly and we began the most physically exhausting part of the day.

After a couple pushes, I hear Dr. and nurse mumbling to each other and then the horrible, terrifying 2 letters announced...OP (Occiput Posterior) which is the position of the baby, specifically his head. Without hesitation or thinking, I remember whipsering "Oh Shit" as all Iknew of this dreaded acronym was that because of this, Spicy was 1 failed suction/vacuum attempt away from a c-section...Dr. Linzey told me not to worry, that he thought he could help rotate his head as I pushed and sure enough, a couple pushes later, Soren was in an Optimal Position (my kind of OP). HUGE sigh of relief! 

 We took '5' to rest and then resumed our focused work...about 2 or 3 more pushes and with the help of the trusty vacuum suction, he slipped right out!

6:48pm

And there he was...

My beautiful son!

All 9 pounds, 1 oz and 20.5 inches of him!

Finally after 9 1o months of anticipation, excitement, waiting, wondering, dreaming, praying... from the moment I found out I was pregnant again to the moment we discovered we were having a boy, to the horribly uncomfortable, sleepless nights and back aches that stopped me dead in my tracks at any given moment, finally, yes finally, I was holding him in my arms & staring him in the face.

Oh Yes, our God is good.

 We spent a good 45 minutes together, Daddy, Mommy and baby. 

And then the excitement and love bursting out of the waiting room couldn't contain itself any longer. The laboring room door swung open and I saw her little feet in those cute white strappy sandals and my heart jumped. Our very first visitor to meet her baby brother.

Our first born. Our special little girl.

And the proud very proud big sister. 

What a moment! 

And the excitement continues. Its contagious. The love and joy a child brings to this world. 

More visitors to meet the little guy.

Thank you Jenny and Aunt Sherry for your tremendous love and support. 

The visits on your work breaks, the bag 'o' goodies to keep the girls entertained while waiting hours to meet their brother, the bag sack 'o' goodies for mommy which I devoured within the 1st 15 minutes after giving birth after feeling completely famished, for the waiting, the concern, the excitement, the love.

 Hospital stay Day #2: Soren attracted a few more visitors and many joyful memorable moments created...

 Thanks to my wonderful parents who were taking care of the girls, Daddy and I got to spend our 1st night together and shared a lot of fun, special conversations at the hospital. Some deep, others so humorous that I had to hold my bowl of jell-o tummy as it jiggled like that of Santa Claus. We imagined all three siblings interacting and envisioned some possible scenarios. We analyzed his looks and for now, we've decided he's got Spicy's mouth shape, (very evident when he cries) Sweet's head shape and full, round cheeks, mommy's high nose bridge and daddy's ears (the top of both of his ear lobes fold exactly like that of daddy's left ear.) Skin tone and eye color is yet to be determined.

 But he's absolutely gorgeous. Er, I mean handsome.

And we all love him so.