AnnaLynne Rose Valero was born on June 3, 2019 at 6:29 am, weighing 6 pounds 8 ounces with a height of 18 3/4 inches. And let me tell you, this little girl was trouble from the very start!
Finding Out
Well, this time around it was not my first rodeo! Early on I put a few things together: I'm super hungry, I'm nauseous, my boobs are swollen, and I haven't gotten my period in weeks. And all I could think about was how perfect it was. Marc and I had always talked about having our kids within two to three years of each other. And let's be honest, we weren't really not trying to have a baby.
This time we ruled out trying to take pregnancy tests, because not a damn one worked with Christopher. So instead I just tried to calculate how far along I was and scheduled an appointment with my OBGYN around 8 to 9 weeks. On November 7, 2018 my pregnancy was confirmed at 9 weeks 4 days. It was clear as day!
IT'S A...GIRL!!!!
On January 23rd it was the day of our anatomy scan! We definitely could not wait to know exactly what we were having. We of course wanted to have a little girl. It was always what we pictured, even since we were in high school. A boy first and a girl next. The perfect mixture of both.
And we were not disappointed (not that we would have if she was a girl). I went to the ultrasound by myself this time around. I was so nervous. I knew that Marc wanted his little girl, I mean what man doesn't want that father-daughter experience. So I wanted to be able to provide that for him. But there is there is of course that pesky Valero curse of boys! Marc was determined to break it, and he did! As soon as the ultrasound tech placed that wand to tell the gender, it was plain as day, three little lines painted across that big screen, A GIRL! I had the biggest smile across my face. I couldn't hold in. I called Marc right away and texted all of our family. And it was perfect, my new OB sent electronic pictures right away so I was able to show her off to everyone! Even before my follow up appointment with the doctor directly after.
Before the appointment we knew exactly what the name would be, boy or girl. And the girl was the hardest decision ever. Early in my pregnancy we really like Jacqueline. My husband more so because he loves Jackie from That 70's Show. But I just could not fall in love with it. So we sat down one day discussing all of the people's names we like and he brought up AnnaLynne Mccord, the actress that plays Naomi from 90210. And it was perfect. I loved it! Spelling and all. As far as Rose, it comes from his grandma's name of Rosa. She is one of the most important people in his life and I wanted to use her name in our daughter's.
The Pregnancy
My pregnancy this time around was very difficult. It involved everything bad that other moms tell you about. Well actually everything and then some.
I HAD SWITCH OBS HALF WAY THROUGH
I was planning on using the OB that I had used with my first child, but apparently that was not going to work out this time. I had my first appointment with them where they confirmed the pregnancy. And then the next appointment was where it went to crap. I had went in for a routine check up with the doctor, started filling out the pregnancy forms, and then it hit! He was trying to play the system. I don't know if it was because my name had changed (because we had gotten married in between kids) or what, but I was a target. Even though I had insurance, good insurance in fact, they tried to suck more money out of me. They told me that I had four months to pay TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS for "the insurance of delivering my kid". Now listen, I am not dumb. I had my first kids with you, and I also worked at a hospital at the time. So I knew exactly how insurance worked for both the patient and doctor. So before signing any documents I called my insurance who didn't know anything that they were talking about and advised me to switch doctors right away! And that's exactly what I did.
But of course it also brought it's own challenges. I was farther along in my pregnancy and since I had already been seen for this pregnancy they needed my files. So I had to go back to that horrible doctor, fill out papers to release my file, and still got a runaround with them. I was told that it would take a MONTH to send out my files and that all I could do was wait. But I was not having any of that. Part of the job that I had at the hospital was sending out files. So I knew exactly how long it takes to not only get permission to send the files, but also to receive them. I was frustrated beyond belief. They were basically holding my files hostage. That's when I raised all hell. I called EVERY DAY, talked to managers, and then when none of it worked, I physically went down to the office to schedule a meeting with the doctor. But before I could do it, my files magically appeared at every office I wanted them sent to.
Then I found my amazing doctor! I guess sometimes it really does take going through it all to get to where you want to be. The new office was beautiful. The receptionists were professional, it was organized, they had a big screen connected to the ultrasound, I got to see the doctor right away, and she also took the time to be connected with me. In some ways, all of it was a blessing because I knew that at this office I was getting the best care for my baby.
SO MUCH MORNING SICKNESS
I threw up EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. All damn day. There was no such thing as "morning sickness"...it was just sickness. Do you know how bad that delicious food tastes coming back up? Horrible. Which lead to no weight gain. I know, that sounds good doesn't it? No weight gain. Well you're wrong. It was anything but. It meant that I had to visit the doctor more and get more ultrasounds just to make sure that my body was providing nutrients to the baby. The one job that I really had to do was just eat, so I feel like I failed as a human incubator. And trust me I tried every remedy out there, medicated and natural. Nothing worked. So I was put on bed rest at only five months along. In the end, I only gained three pounds my whole pregnancy.
ACID REFLUX
Oh and do you know who morning sickness best friend is? Acid reflux. I would have to sleep basically at almost a full sit, cut off all food and water before 6 pm, and STILL had it going strong.
I WAS SO SCARED
I was scared every day. They had to make sure almost very month that she was even developing like she should. So when I couldn't feel her kick as strong as my son did or not kick for a long period of time, I freaked out. Especially when braxton hicks started rolling around at the early stage of four months.
EXHAUSTION
I also experienced a lot of pregnancy insomnia. Between midnight bathroom breaks, out-of-control hormones, and that friendly acid reflux, I spent a lot more time out of my bed than I did in it. Some nights I would wake up at around 2 am and just lay there in bed for hours unable to fall back to sleep. Some nights I would just spend lying on the bathroom floor because there was no point of laying back in bed just to throw up a few minutes later. Some nights I just couldn't deter my mind from thinking that something may happen to me baby.
And I had another kid to look after. With my first, I could lay around all day, but with my second I just simply couldn't do that. I was a mom. I couldn't just abandon everything that comes along with it. I couldn't just abandon him. I had to push it all to the side and be present for him.
PAIN, PAIN, AND MORE PAIN
There was back pain, head pain, stomach pain, and chest pain. I already had a bad back from a cheerleading injury in high school before even having my first kid, but being pregnant this time around amplified it. Plus the added pain where I had the epidural with my son. I got a ton of headaches. There was a lot of stomach pain from the excessive throwing up, cramping and, sorry for the TMI, but constipation. And also there was the chest pain from all of the acid reflux.
But through it all, I tried to remain positive. Not only because our attitudes reflect onto our babies, but also because I know how lucky I am to even be experiencing it.
June 3, 2019 - The Best/Worst Day of My Life
Oddly weird,I had both my kids at exactly 39 weeks and 1 day and pushed in only a few minutes. But that's where a lot of the similarities ended. Everything else was completely different. Our little girl must have known already that she was the only girl, because she was going to make us work for it to have to meet her.
At midnight I was woken up by my water breaking. Just like with my son, there was nothing much to it. Just a small gush. And this time I knew for sure that it was it. So I calmly got up, changed my underwear and pants and sat down on the edge of my bed. Then they hit. The contractions, and hard. I knew that it would take a while for them to get stronger and closer together so I decided to wait before rushing off to the hospital. After they were about three minutes apart, I woke up my three delivery partners: my mom, mother-in-law, and husband. We grabbed the packed bags and our son, and took off. But we had to make a pit stop to drop off our son. And then headed down to the hospital.
When we got to the hospital, apparently it was birthing central. There was a line of moms waiting to be checked out. I had waited my few minutes and was brought to the triage room where they hooked me up, confirmed that my water had broken, and checked to be at only 3 cm with 50% effacement. Shortly afterwards I was placed into my delivery room. Then things progressed pretty fast from there.
Around 6:15 am, I decided to get the epidural. I was feeling so much pressure and my nurse didn't think that I was going to give birth anytime soon. The contractions were one minute apart and I was feeling them all. So I got the epidural. My nurse did not check me beforehand and directly after it, she decided to check at I was at an 8! I should say that I was scared even more at this point because I knew that you aren't supposed to get an epidural this far along. Then ten minutes later she returned to place the catheter, and checked me again just to do it, and BAM I was at a 10! It was go time!
At 6:27 am I started pushing. This is where the ball really started rolling downhill. I did the first push...all good. Second push...I could hear the doctor tell my husband "I'm going to cut the cord real fast, actually" as I felt the baby come out. And accompanied it was silence. There was no cry. No cry at all. I could see in the reflection of the ceiling the doctor unwrapping the cord around my baby's neck. And struggling at it. Then I saw the scissors, and the tears came rushing down. Moments later they placed her on my chest BLUER than BLUE. She wasn't breathing. They were rubbing her body and suctioning, and suctioning, and suctioning. And after what felt like forever this little cry came out, as perfect as can be. I had never felt such relief in my life.
And then I realized that the doctor still wasn't done with me. I was too focused on the baby to notice that the doctor was scooping blood away and pushing with a ton of force on my stomach. While she was extracting the placenta, the cord broke, and she couldn't get it out. Now I was able to feel it all. The tugging, the pulling, the pushing, and the cold setting in. Then it all stopped. She got it! The worst part was over, now we had to focus on getting AnnaLynne some heat into her body. It took a lot of time, a warmer, skin-on-skin cuddling and lots of blankets, but it happened and her blue slowly started to fade into pink. It was the most draining and emotional times in my whole life. But I am so thankful for the calmness of the doctor and nurses that delivered my little munchkin.
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