The Birth Story of Luca Francisco

Here it is....FINALLY! The birth story and more pictures. Please know that this is a detailed account of Luca's birth. If you are not interested in ALL the details, just skip the reading and enjoy some of the photos. =)

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The Birth of Luca Francisco

Thursday, April 28 (37wk/5d)
We thought this was going to be the birthday. For sure. I had been having on and off contractions for a few days, but nothing regular. That evening though things started to get regular around dinner time so I went for a walk to make sure things kept going. They were about 10 minutes apart. After the kids went to bed, we got some last minute things ready and I showered and went to bed to rest. Around midnight, they were 5-6 minutes apart. Nothing too uncomfortable, but regular, and given how quickly Matteo's birth happened and how similar this was, we decided to call in the grandparents and our doula Lisa. By the time everyone was assembled and in place it was nearly 2 am, and I decided to try to sleep again. **Paul's thoughts: It was around this time, 2am, that I decided to make a pot of coffee. As I was sipping my first cup, Cristina went back to sleep, and I was sitting there, practically twiddling my thumbs realizing what a dumb idea the coffee was...Things were still regular, but not intense, so the more rest, the better. By 7 am, I was still exactly the same. And so it continued to be exactly the same - mild, but regular contractions 5-6 minutes apart from early Friday AM until Saturday night. And then....it stopped. Yep. Just stopped. Talk about frustrating. I was still having contractions, but they became irregular and again, not very strong. It was a very good practice run.

Tuesday, May 3
At my OB appointment the following Tuesday, he explained that the more children you have, the more likely this "warm-up" to labor is likely to happen. Given my history of progressing very quickly in labor, he checked me and I was about 3 cm, and 50%, but baby was still up pretty high. Okay. Some practice run, right?! Patience, patience, patience. I certainly didn't want to rush this baby out. I have been down that road before (my induction with Sebastian) and I have no doubt the the many interventions to have him come before he was ready played a big role in our breastfeeding relationship issues. So although I really wanted to have this baby, I knew that patience would pay off - and lead to a much better labor and delivery. Our wonderful OB, Dr. Gomez was totally on board with waiting it out too and encouraged us to just be ready - it could go quickly - or not!

Friday, May 6
Mother's Day weekend! Yay! This was a big weekend for our family to begin with for several reasons. My cousin Jaqueline is getting married in mid-June in Boston and my "cut off" date for traveling to the wedding was Mother's Day. IF we had the baby by then, we would make a decision within a week or so if we would travel for the wedding. I know the baby would be very young, but we would have lots of family help and I would keep him/her close and just....well, be as careful as possible. Because we REALLY wanted to be there to share this special occasion with much of our family. It was also a big weekend because we were celebrating my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary and they, along with my brother-in-law and his wife were going to be staying at a hotel on the beach near our home. So it was going to be a big fun beach weekend. And everyone would be close by, just in case baby decided to come. =)

Friday morning, I woke up with a mild back ache, but nothing super significant. I was also having contractions on and off, but nothing too regular so I figured it was more of the same. **Paul's thoughts: I got home from work and Cristina told me about the contractions. I suggested a walk around the neighborhood before my parents got there in hopes it would keep things going...Regardless, I went on a walk in the afternoon and things still felt the same. I was trying to not get my hopes up. Friday evening we went out to dinner at Long Doggers with my in-laws, a local dive/surfer/beach joint that is really popular. Don't ask me why, but I ordered a plate full of fried goodness - shrimp, clams, french friend, coleslaw. Yeah. I NEVER eat fried.

Not my actual plate, but looks pretty close. What was I thinking?!?

But for whatever reason, that's what sounded good at the moment and sure enough as soon as we got into the car I was regretting my decision. Big time. I couldn't even make it to the hotel without stopping for a bathroom. The rest of the evening we hung out at the hotel, walked on the beach in the dark with my love, and heading home around 10 pm...still staying mum about the contractions to our visiting family. I timed contractions at about 8 minutes apart, let Paul know, and then decided to shower, and get ready for bed for some resting in case it was really time.

Saturday, May 7 - THE BIRTH DAY! (38 wks 6 days)
I slept until about 3:30 am when Sebastian woke up coughing and with a fever. =( (Little did I know this would be the start of everyone in this house getting sick...we are still trying to recover...) Great, certainly not what we needed. After calming him and getting him some medicine, I tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't get good rest....the contractions kept coming and although I wasn't timing them they were getting a bit stronger. Finally by 5 I couldn't lay in bed anymore so I got up, started timing them (about 5 min apart, but not too intense), did some laundry, emptied the dishwasher and just picked up in general. At 6 am I woke up Paul and told him I thought it was "show time." =) **Paul's thoughts: I was so tired and it took a few minutes for me to register what she was saying. Then I was like...whoa, alright! We called my parents and then Paul's parents. I was still apprehensive, but things did feel more intense than they did during our "practice" run the prior week.

Sebastian giving the baby a kiss goodbye.

Saying goodbye to my "baby" Matteo one last time before leaving.

Leaving for the hospital. But I'm NOT GOING IN! =)

By 9 am our parents were all assembled and excited at our home, the kids were up and thrilled to have all their grandparents here. We decided to leave for the hospital, but not go in just yet until we knew things were closer. Our doula, Lisa (she was also our doula for Matteo's birth) met us there. We left our things up in the lobby with my parents, called Dr. Gomez to let him know we were actually at the hospital this time, and went to walk around the grounds at the hospital. **Paul's thoughts: Before we walked around the hospital, I went in to Labor and Delivery to let them know that we had changed our doctor a few weeks ago, and that the doctor on our pre-registration form was incorrect. Well as I was doing this, I realized our old doctor, who is really a great guy, was sitting right there when I was talking to the nurse. I felt super awkward, but it was also funny too. During the walk around the hospital I was very nervous. I just didn't want to wait too long until we got the doctor there. Things seemed to be going fast and I just wanted her to be checked in. I knew she didn't want to be stuck to her room, but figured we didn't have to be and I would help her fight anyone who wanted her to be. At that point things were getting more intense, but still very bearable. After one lap around the buildings, we decided we should go check in. I was about 3-4 minutes apart and having to stop to get through each contraction.

Approximately 10 am
We got the "big" room with the tub and lucky for us, a GREAT nurse, Kim. She asked me to get on the monitor for 20 minutes, but didn't make me stay in bed as long as she could get a reading. Whew! Thank goodness! I was 5 cm, but according to her, very stretchy - she could stretch the cervix easily to 6-7 cm. She felt that because the baby was still so high up and in the bag of waters, it wasn't causing a lot of pressure on my cervix so as soon as my water broke, she felt things would start to speed up. At this point I would have expected an "intervention" would have been offered, but it wasn't! Lucky for us, our nurse was very supportive of natural birth, had read our birth plan and just told us to keep working with gravity by staying upright and walking. After she left we discussed the possibility of having to make the decision to break my waters at some point (especially since my water have broken upon delivery with both Sebastian and Matteo), but I knew I would wait as long as I could. No interventions typically lead to less painful, and safer natural births, so I was willing to go with what my body was doing. I trusted that things would happen as they needed to. In the meantime, we took Kim's advice and continued to walk around the L&D area where we happened to run into Dr. Gomez. He couldn't believe I was as far as I was and doing so well, talking and laughing. That was a nice boost, especially since things were getting stronger. He was going to stay around because he knew it would be soon and he knew given my history how quickly this baby might come. He didn't want to miss it! We went back to the room to bounce on the ball for a bit and get monitored again. Our family had all decided to come wait at the hospital so they could be there for the big moment.

Sebastian waiting for the news...he was very excited, but more concerned
about when it would be time to go to the beach and pool as we had
told him was the plan the day before.

Matteo waiting....

11 am
I had just gotten in bed to try sitting for a bit through some contractions when my water broke. YAYAY! I was so happy that my body was doing things on it's own! I knew things would start to speed up soon. I had Paul sneak me some snacks and continued to drink as much water as I could to stay hydrated.

Sebastian came in for a bit to visit while I labored. He quickly decided
the waiting room was more fun. Matteo didn't want to come back.

I bounced, walked and could still talk, but was starting to focus much more inwardly and was less aware of everything going on - my account of things at this point is hazy time wise, but I'll do my best!

1 pm or so
As we expected, things speed up and got much more intense.

I love this photo. I was swept into the trance of labor during transition.

I sat on the birth ball and leaned over Paul with each contraction. I felt like I was in a complete haze at this point and feeling so sleepy. I wasn't horribly physically exhausted, but my body was in such another state. I remember saying at one point right before Kim wanted to check me, that this was the lull, or rest period before transition. What I really meant is the rest period before PUSHING - I was IN transition! **Paul's thoughts: In retrospect, I should have recognized this from Matteo. She labored in a very similar way right before she pushed with Matteo, so we were closer than we realized at this point...I knew it was going to be very soon. Kim tried to check me in a more comfortable position for me (hands and knees), but when it was difficult, I just jumped in the bed. At this point, contractions were coming super close together and super hard so it was so painful. She said I was 10 with a small lip.

1:30 pm
I think she barely left the room when I started saying I had so much pressure, pressure, pressure! Then I thought I had to go to bathroom. I RAN for the toilet. **Paul's thoughts: When she ran for the bathroom I got REALLY scared. I knew she didn't have to go, and what she was feeling the urge for was pushing the baby out. I just remember standing next her saying Please come back to the bed, you don't have to go to the bathroom, thinking how petrified I was she was going to have this baby on the bathroom floor! Then she ran back to her bed faster than you would think a pregnant woman in labor could run...Paul and Kim were next to me and Kim was calmly saying, "You don't have to go to the bathroom. You need to come back to the room. You don't want to have your baby on the toilet." I RAN back to the bed, hit the bed on my hands and knees and could literally feel my baby's body moving THROUGH my body. It was incredible, even in the moment. I had never felt that before. I know I kept saying "it's coming, it's coming!" There was no "ring of fire" sensation this time, I could just feel the pressure of the baby's head as it moved and then it was out and everything happened so quickly. I knew Dr. Gomez wasn't there (which was a bummer mostly because we like him so much and he was IN the building!) but it was also great because Paul really got to catch baby Luca. It was perfect, just like we had wanted! I couldn't believe it. I turned myself over so Luca could be placed right on my chest, skin to skin. He was beautiful. He was perfect. We had done it. Again. Amazing miracle of life. Wow. I finally had that MOMENT I really craved where MY baby was placed directly on me, immediately. I was so happy.

**Paul's thoughts: At this point I was very stressed the doctor hadn't arrived yet. I knew I wanted to be a part of the delivery, but Dr. Gomez and I had a plan. When she said she felt the head and I looked down and saw it, that was it. I shouted out to the nurse, and I remember her being there, totally calm asking Lisa (our doula) to push the help button. When the nurses desk responded, Kim called for another nurse to come in for a nurse delivery. I got a little panicked, but decided that nurses were not going to deliver my son, so when I saw his head coming out, I reached down and cupped it, and helped glide him out. My head was right there, and before I knew it, my face was face to face with my son as he made his way into the world. For a brief second it was just me and him. I was getting the first peek at this precious new life, seeing these tiny features before any other human being. What an honor and privilege. Things got a little hairy when Kim realized the cord was wrapped around his neck and told me to hold on. Panic somewhat kicked in with me thinking that there was no doctor and my son's cord is wrapped around his neck, but thankfully it was loose enough where she was easily able to free it. Then he was fully out and I saw that he was a he :) Somehow Cristina was turned on to her back by this point, so I placed the baby on her to nurse. Almost immediately after I did that I remember looking at the door and seeing Dr. Gomez. I was like, you missed it!

You can tell here how involved Paul really was. So neat that he was the first to hold our baby.

Kim and Paul putting Luca on my chest immediately after the delivery.

The Moment. There are no words...

We did it! What a feeling!

This time our agreement was that if it was a girl, Paul would choose
from our top two names and if it was a boy, I would choose from our
top two names. It took me a little while, but I finally decided he was a Luca.

According to Kim, from the moment I ran to the bathroom until Luca was born only 4 minutes passed. I remember hearing in the background "assistance needed for RN delivery." After that fact I asked Kim if that happens very often and she said in the 10 years she's been in L&D, only 5 times, I was the 6th and the fastest.

Everything in our birth plan was followed explicitly. There were no issues whatsoever! We left the cord until it stopped pulsating. I delivered the placenta about 30 minutes after Luca, with no traction. I still bled a lot, but not as much as I had with Matteo. Luca was left on my chest for a long time...I don't know how long, but no procedures were done immediately and we just had time to enjoy and savor the moment. He nursed on both sides, but struggled a bit to latch. Dr. Gomez stitched up some tears and chatted with everyone as they weighed and measured Luca - 7lbs, 15oz and 19 1/2 inches long. I couldn't believe he was almost a pound smaller than Matteo! My parents, in-laws, Corey and Sarah and of course Sebastian and Matteo were all there.

First nursing.

Getting weighed.... 7 lbs and 14.8 oz

Sebastian meeting his new little brother.

Matteo not so sure about this new little squirmy person.

With Dr. Gomez, Luca, Paul and Sebastian.

So happy!

They didn't bathe him right away as we had requested and were left to just spend some time together until I was cleared to move to our postpartum room. That's when things got interesting.

3:30 (maybe??)
They were just talking about having me move to postpartum when all of the sudden while I was nursing Luca I got a super intense and painful nursing/after birth contraction. Supposedly, the more children you have the more intense they become and this one felt like a full-on transition period contraction. I called Paul over to take Luca because I was afraid I would drop him. A couple seconds later I said, I didn't feel so good and I thought I was going to pass out. Then....blank. I passed out. **Paul's thoughts: After I took Luca, I just kind of held him while Cristina tried to pull herself together. It was obvious she wasn't getting better. I remember her saying she wanted me to get the nurse because she felt like she was going to pass out. I couldn't find the call button on the bed, and was holding Luca, so I remember telling my mother in law Maria to just run out and get someone, in a somewhat panicked manor. Once the nurses came in, I backed away for a few minutes until Cristina called me over. Then I went over and handed Luca off to Maria to be next to her. At this point, she was still in and out of passing out. I was beyond petrified at this point, she looked like I had never seen anyone look before. Just totally limp and lifeless, not even able to open her eyes. I remember thinking "Why are these nurses not moving any faster to help her?!" One of the nurses broke the smelling salts, and it brought her back. I kept talking to her trying to keep her conscious, and then she kept asking me if it was bad. Not wanting to freak her out, I just had to say that everything was fine, it's no big deal, you just need to get some fluids, but in my head I was a wreck. We just kept talking and I kept staring at the blood pressure monitor and looking over at the precious new life we had created. It seemed like an eternity before any improvement started happening, but then when it finally did and she started coming out of it a little I just remember myself shaking and trying not to burst into tears. I think that was probably the single most scary moment of married life, having to see your wife like that and not be able to do anything to help. Not sure how long, but next thing I knew I could hear everyone talking to me, but I couldn't move or open my eyes I felt so weak. It was a very scary, scary feeling. I just called for Paul to come next to me. Slowly, I was able to open my eyes and start talking again, but I couldn't move my arms, I was just limp. They started me on IV fluids, took a blood sample and just kept monitoring me. Apparently my blood pressure and pulse both dropped alarmingly low and I was a scary white/grey color. After a while I slowly felt better and could move around more. They think that it was a combination of how my body reacted to the pain (shock) and dehydration. As Dr. Gomez explained I was in labor for a total of almost 8 hours. No matter how much water I drank it would probably not be enough, especially after all the fluids that are lost after delivery. Labor for 8 hours is MORE intense than running a marathon for 8 hours and thinking you can stay hydrated. Sooo....that was certainly the most scary and not so perfect part of the birth, but thank God, I recovered pretty quickly, all blood work came back normal and I was able to continue recovering just fine. Once I was stable and doing well, my parents left after a long day and we just had some time to ourselves.


6 pm and the evening
Finally got moved to our (tiny!!!) postpartum room, got settled and Paul headed back to do the bedtime routine with the older boys. My parents went to the house so Darlene and Jim could come to the hospital to spend some time with Luca and I. I was certainly exhausted at that point and ready for some rest - which I was able to do while they enjoyed the baby for a bit. Bedtime was rough for Sebastian because he really wanted Daddy to stay at home and the poor grandmas were up at all hours of the night with him until he finally fell asleep sometime around 3 am I think. Poor kid. But he was still very excited to have a new baby brother. Matteo, at this point didn't seem interested either way.

The rest of the hospital stay
We figured that due to my passing out episode we probably wouldn't be able to leave the hospital quite as quickly as we would have liked. But that's okay, I wanted to make sure I was healthy and strong to be home. Turns out, our little Luca was the one that almost required us to stay longer because of his jaundice. Most newborns seem to have jaundice nowadays, but his jaundice was because he was Coombs postive which essentially means that at some point our blood was mixed and since our blood types are different his body has to work harder to get rid of my blood cells and in the process makes it harder to process the bilirubin so his levels were elevated. Not super high numbers, but just high for his age in number of hours. Luckily, they brought the bili lights into our room so we were able to hold him under the lights and I could nurse him there too. When the numbers kept going up, our ped wanted me to pump and supplement with my own milk, but it still hadn't come in fully so there was not much more to give besides the colostrum I was already producing. I put out an early morning plea to a few breastfeeding friends and one angel of a friend pumped a few ounces for me to use that morning until my milk supply was higher. In the middle of the night I did end up giving Luca about 40ccs of formula (which I finger fed to him with a feeding tube - interesting new experience!), but I was more concerned with getting us all home together at that point than anything else. I DID NOT want to have to leave him there. It was a stressful time for sure, not because his health was in big danger, but because I didn't want to have to continue with bili treatments, blood work and the rest. I think he spit all the formula up anyways...poor kid.

Since he had to go under the lights, he had to get a quick bath earlier
than we wanted. But that's okay. Luca LOVED having the water run over his hair.

He did not like any other part so much...

For a few stretches, Luca would actually sleep in his little plastic box under the lights. But as soon as he would start fussing, I couldn't take it so we would take him out and sit very awkwardly and uncomfortably holding him (or I would nurse him) under the lights.

Daddy holding Luca. Poor baby. =( I can't begin to imagine how moms
do it with much more serious health situations. Breaks my heart!

We did spend Mother's Day in the hospital, but it was not too bad. My in-laws dropped the kids off with McDonald's meals for us to have a little picnic and some time with just the 5 of us.

Big boys were more concerned about who got to hold Mami's balloons
than saying Happy Mother's Day or seeing their new baby brother.

McDonalds for Mother's Day. At least I got to spend it with my boys!

Finally a picture with the three of them!

A very proud face.

The closest we have to a family picture while we were in the hospital.

Thankfully, his numbers finally started to stabilize and we got the go ahead to be discharged sometime Monday afternoon and were home by dinnertime. So nice to be home!

Ready to head home!

Luca is ready too! Same car seat and outfit his brothers
wore when they come home.

Mami is VERY happy to be headed home!

Today
As I write this, Luca is two weeks old and we are still all adapting to life as 5. We have had so much family help, meals from friends and family, and great support. Everything has been a bit more complicated because ALL of us with the exception of Luca, thankfully, have been sick during this time with colds and now Matteo has strep throat. So the big kids weren't sleeping, Luca has been turned around and Paul and I are also getting little sleep. We are hoping now that everyone is on the mend and soon at least the "big boys" will be sleeping normally again.

Sebastian is over the moon about having a little brother and wants to help with everything - diapers, clothes, baths, Dr. visits. He is so proud and happy. The other day, Luca was in his bouncy seat and we were sitting on the floor watching him when Sebastian says, "Mami, can you watch Luca for a minute, I have to go get a drink of water." =) So responsible. But he has always loved babies.

Matteo on the other hand is having a difficult time adjusting and it certainly hasn't helped that he has been sick for half the time Luca has been with us. When he saw us in the delivery room and at the hospital we mostly got blank stares. He finally was a little interested on the last day before we came home. But once we got home....boy....that's been another story altogether. He doesn't like it when I hold or nurse Luca. Most times he will stand next to me and scream for his turn, or he will run into another room and hide. He often says "No more Mami," "No baby," "No Luca," and "bye, bye baby." It's heartbreaking to see him struggle so much. I am making sure we have individual playtime, but sometimes he doesn't even want me to come close to him. =( I know that this will pass and some kids just react this way, but it's been very hard. And I'm sure compounded by the fact he doesn't feel well. He has never been interested or fond of babies so we knew it was bound to be a more challenging transition, but I didn't imagine it would be this difficult.

Other than that, we are doing pretty well. I feel good and am slowly getting back into doing things. I've done a school drop off with all 3 kids by myself and we even went to Mass on Sunday successfully. We are having such fun welcoming our new little one into our family - he is so cute and already seems to be growing so fast! Hopefully I will find a way to continue updating the blog regularly so you will see lots more of what we are all up to this summer! There are still more pictures I'd like to post from the first few days. Someday I know I'll catch up!

Note: I hope that our story and photos helped you almost feel like you were a part of our birth! I firmly believe that birth is a natural, beautiful process and that the journey of labor is deserving of much preparation, thought and reflection following. The more women that birth naturally and tell their beautiful story, the more likely it is for birth to become "normal" again in our society and not be treated as a medical condition. Certainly, there is a time and place for medical intervention as well and I am thankful that it exists - as you can see, I certainly needed it after my delivery!

Read Sebastian's Birth Story - Click here

Read Matteo's Birth Story - Click here