Life with Lila

One challenge we faced with this birth is that labor was too fast for me to get the antibiotics I needed because I tested positive for Strep B.  We didn’t know this until later in the day when the nurse came in and told us that they had to take the baby to do some blood tests.  Then they came back after a couple of hours and said that they were going to have to give Lila two rounds of antibiotics since I hadn’t gotten them in time.  They would be given over the course of the next 24 hours several times.  So, the first day, poor Lila spent most of her time in the nursery.  And she was poked several times before they could get a good IV in. 

Then on day 2, she started looking a little yellow.  Hector noticed it first.  We asked that they test his bilirubin level, and sure enough, she was high for her age.  So we had an awesome night nurse, named Joni, who helped me pump and syringe feed Lila extra colostrum to try to flush out the bilirubin.  Well, they tested her the next day, and it appeared that her numbers had leveled out, so they sent us home.  Unfortunately, the next day, they went up, and we got the wonderful home bililight again.  I’m not complaining though, because even though we had to do that for a few days, we didn’t have to go back to the hospital to put her under the big light!   

Since we’ve been home, things have been great.  Especially after we were cleared of the jaundice.  One thing that’s very different about her from her brother, she loves to eat!  She’s far ahead of schedule for weight gain.   We took her to get a sonogram last week, and it looks like she has reflux just like her brother, but that’s ok.  We’ve been through that once, so we are better equipped to handle it.  Things definitely seem to run smoother with #2.  She eats and sleeps better than Ben did.  She eats a lot more than Ben did!  One interesting difference is that she just now is willing to take a pacifier and does so very sparingly.  Ben loved his.  Hopefully that means separation will be easier down the line.  For now, it means she’s a little more difficult to please when it’s not feeding time.  Actually, for the first couple of weeks, I fed her pretty much any time she fussed.  Thus, the overweight issue.  So, we’ve toned the feedings down a tad.

Overall, we love being a family of 4.  Hector has been a life saver.  I don’t know how I would have done this without him.  He’s taken 6:30AM morning duty with Ben, and has taken Ben to do a ton of fun things, like Six Flags, the Zoo, and the Dallas Vigilantes, not to mention swimming just about every night.   It’s been a wonderful summer so far.  We are so blessed to have our baby girl here.  Ben loves her as much as we do.  His melt downs have definitely gone up a notch, but at least they’re directed towards us instead of her! 

Thank you Lord for the perfect family you’ve given us.  Hector and I are so humbled by the honor of raising these two precious children for your Glory!  Please continue to guide our steps. 

Lila Grace Santiago has arrived!

OK.  So, I'm obviously not very good at this blogging thing, considering my last post was four months ago.  In my defense, I've been a little busy.  So, I'll do my best to sum up what's happened since my last post.

As I've mentioned before, this pregnancy was really hard on me.  My poor husband had to deal with no cooking and very little cleaning for the second half of it.  I was exhausted all the time.  It's like I had a bad case of mono.  I don't know what I would have done without my mother.  Thanks to her, my son remained in one piece, and groceries stayed in the house!  Any home cooking we did get was from her or one of the sweet ladies from church.

At 32 weeks, I went on modified bed rest.  I was supposed to stay on bed rest until 37 weeks, to try to prevent Lila from coming earlier than Ben did, since the second often comes sooner than the first.  I didn't change much at first, but at 34 weeks, my body really started telling me to stay down, so I did.  That is until 36 weeks and 3 days.  That was the day Ben was born in my first pregnancy.  So, I thought to myself, this one is going to be different.  I had actually convinced myself that I was going close to full term this time.  So that day, we went out to Lewisville for Hector's mom's 60th birthday.  We went to Chili's for dinner, and didn't leave until about 10:30PM.  We were standing outside saying goodbye to his family, and I finally told him that I was exhausted and had to go.  On the way home, I told him that if he wanted me to go into labor, I just needed a day or two more like that!

Typically I went to bed around 9PM.  That night, I didn't get to sleep until midnight.  And guess what happened at 1AM?  Yep, you guessed right.  My water broke!  It was the strangest feeling, because it woke me up out of a dead sleep.  I jumped out of that bed so fast that I didn't get a drop on the sheets.  Go me!   You would think that the second time I would be much calmer.  But I wasn't.  I ran to the bathroom.  My heart was pounding out of my chest.  After weeks of saying that I was so ready for her to get here, I kept saying to myself, I'm so not ready yet, I'm so not ready yet!  But I knew it was time.  So this time, instead of yelling at Hector from the bathroom.  (My water broke with Ben at 8AM while I was on the toilet.  Very clean way to do it!), I crawled up next to him in bed and gently woke him up to tell him.  His response was the same as it was with Ben - "You're kidding.  No you're not. Stop lyin'.  Don't mess with me." The only difference was, this time he didn't think I was just saying that to try to get him up for church!

So, we called Mom and Dad to come over and watch Ben while we went to the hospital.  The story continued just like Ben's.  When the nurse checked me, I was only 2 CM dialated.  At first, she couldn't even tell that my water had broken.  Lila was blocking the flow.  (Sorry to be so graphic).  We she finally saw that it had, they checked me into a room and put me on Pitocin.  Last labor, Pitocin and I didn't get along.  I didn't think I would need it this time, because I was having contractions on my own once I got to the hospital.  But get this.  The nurse said my contractions were too close together, so they needed Pitocin to stabilize them.  I told her I would be fine with Pitocin if she promised to give me the epidural as soon as I asked, even if I hadn't dialated past a 2.  She agreed.  And sure enough, my labor wasn't progressing and I needed an epidural at a 2.  My anathesiologist was awesome.  My epidural was perfect.  I could still feel my legs and even lift my hips, but felt no pain for most of the labor.  Several hours past and I was still at a 2.  When she checked me at 7AM, I was still at a 2.  Then I told her, I was feeling pressure, so she checked me again about 8:30, and said "let me recheck to make sure I'm right".  I thought she was going to tell me that I was still at a 2.  Instead, she tells me I'm complete. I said "huh?".  She said, "Well, about a 9 1/2".  No one but Mom and Hector were at the hospital at that point, because everyone including the nurse and doctor thought I would deliver around lunch.  She mom got on the phone to get Dad, Ang, and Sav up to the hospital asap.

Everyone made it in time.  Lila Grace Santiago came into the world at 9:01AM.  She weighed 16 lbs 15.8 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.  Delivery was fast.  I pushed through about 3 contractions with the nurse and then about 2 with the doctor for a total of about 15 minutes.  My epidural had worn off some, but I was glad it did, because I felt the delivery which was really cool, even though a little painful.  No bruising, no trouble breathing.  A healthy baby girl!

OK.  What happened after delivery is going to be in a separate post.  This is getting ridiculously long! :)