So Blessed

It is a great honor to be able to say-"I remember the day you were born." I will always be able to say that to my precious Josue. Today he is 1 year old.

Josue was born on a Wednesday at 1:14 p.m. Early on Tuesday morning, I had decided that I was too bored sitting at home confined to bed rest!! I am not one of those people that can just sit around and do nothing for a long period of time. I have to be doing something all the time or I just get bored and depressed! I had had enough of the bed rest and decided that going to watch a movie didn't break any of the bed rest rules. I would still be sitting and not doing a lot of walking. That day I really wanted to see "Step Up 2:The Streets." I know it's a totally cheesy movie but I had seen the first one and I wanted to see the follow-up. Later I was going to watch another movie and just basically enjoy my day going out to eat, watching movies and then going to Barnes and Noble.

I went to eat at Olive Garden which I am so glad that I did! I didn't know that for the next 24 hours, I would not be allowed to eat anything!!! Then, I went to the Rave and sat down in my seat to watch the movie. Nothing was unusual. I was three weeks away from giving birth to Josue and he hadn't yet settled lower in my stomach so I didn't feel that there was any danger in being 40 minutes away from home and the hospital. After the movie, I had to make a little detour to the restroom. When you are pregnant, it seems like you go to the bathroom every 10-15 minutes and of course, it doesn't help when the baby decides to kick you in the bladder! I went about my business in the bathroom and all of the sudden I heard a pop and felt water rushing out. For a minute, I thought my water had broken but couldn't be sure because I had never gone through the birthing process! As I left the bathroom, I decided to call my mom, my husband and my dad(in that order) to tell them what had happened. My mom suggested that I call my nurse midwife and go back to Cleveland right away.

Later, on my way home, I called my friend Lainey and told her what had happened. Since she had just gone through giving birth two months prior, I felt she would be the authority on the subject. We talked and she also suggested for me to contact my nurse midwife. I called Daryl a few minutes later and explained the situation. She asked me to go to the hospital and that she would meet me there later. Throughout everything, I felt such a mix of emotions. I was excited, scared, nervous but above all of that, I just wanted to know if Josue was okay and if this little incident meant that he had decided to make his first appearance a little earlier!

Halfway through my 40 minute drive back to Cleveland, my dad called me and told me to meet him at the first exit going into Cleveland. He was going to take me to the hospital while my mom gathered the family together and made sure my husband Roberto got everything I needed and Josue needed. A word of advice-Pack your Bags!!!! Don't leave it for your husband to do! He will bring 5 outfits for the baby and one shirt and maybe a toothbrush for you! Men don't work well under baby being born pressure. They totally freak out or faint!

As soon as I got to the exit, I parked my car at the nearest gas station. When I got out of the car, reality set in. I started gushing water and it was not pretty! I couldn't believe that my water had actually broken!! I was freezing to death when my dad got there. He quickly took me to Skyridge to get admitted. On the way there, I kept saying-"He's coming, isn't he?" "He's going to be born in the next 24 hours!!" I was scared to death!!! Knowing that that baby has to come out some way out of your body does not give you pleasant thoughts!

When I got to the hospital, I was wet and cold and all I wanted was to get into dry clothes and have Josue! It took much longer to do that and pretty much I was uncomfortable for the rest of the time until after Josue's birth. From the moment I got into my birthing room to the time I was wheeled into my C-section, I was given so many different medications, that I just stopped asking!! I won't lie to you and tell you that the whole experience was not painful. It is the most pain I have ever had in my life!!! On top of that, most of the time you can't drink nor eat anything, which is torture to me!!!

Throughout the night, I had the worst cramps of my life!! I was not a happy camper. I could see the advantage of getting the epidural and by the time 7 a.m. rolled around, I was ready for that big shot in my back!! The shot didn't even hurt and the pain suddenly went away. It was heaven!! The rest of my time was spent waiting to see what would happen next.

Even though I had been given all those medications to help me give birth naturally, Josue still didn't position himself correctly in the birth canal. Although I was disappointed, I knew that the most important thing was for him to be healthy when he came out so I opted for the C-section. It seemed like 5 minutes after I said "Okay, give me the C-section", I was wheeled into the operation room. I was terrified!! Would I feel the cutting? Would Josue make it out?? I just held on to Roberto's hand and asked God to give me strength. All of the sudden, Roberto and I heard the most beautiful sound-Josue crying!! There are few sounds that inspire such overwhelming emotions. To know that you have given birth to this precious child and have gotten to see your child come into the world, is the biggest honor.

After that, Roberto proudly cut Josue's cord(which by the way, he had talked about forever and probably at some point practiced to make sure he got it right!). I was able to kiss Josue before he was whisked off to another room. Surgery finished later on and Josue was brought back to me and even though I felt pretty horrible after the surgery, I just looked at him and thought that he was so tiny and so fragile and I hoped that we would do a good job in taking care of him.

Josue has grown so much in this year. A friend of mine told me that the first year is one of the most amazing years in a child's life. They go from being quiet, sleepy, fragile and tiny creatures to loud, always awake, sturdy, laughing, smiling, crying, talking, walking, screaming, loving babies!! When I get home from work, the first person I see is Josue and he always has that beautiful smile for me. He is happy to see his mom and I am happy to see my boy. Roberto and I feel so blessed to have him and to see him grow up. I just want to enjoy my time with him because the time really does go by so fast. Happy Birthday Josue!!